Steamroll
huh?
QC: Tennisace, Omicron, Zebraiken
GP: sirndpt, RitterCat
[Overview]
<p>Game Freak's remake of Butterfree makes another appearance in the fifth generation of Pokemon. Notably, BW gave Beautifly a huge buff in the form of Quiver Dance, which, despite being an excellent boosting move, was sadly also given to almost every other Bug-type in NU. Beautifly sports an outstanding special movepool coming off of a base 90 Special Attack, which is pretty much the only good thing going for it. </p>
[SET]
Name: Quiver Dance
Move 1: Quiver Dance
Move 2: Bug Buzz
Move 3: Psychic
Move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Rock
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Swarm
Nature: Modest
Evs: 252 SpA / 244 Spe / 12 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Given that Beautifly lacks bulk, even with maximum investment, the best thing going for the little butterfly is an all-out offensive Quiver Dance set. Quiver Dance is the standard set-up move for Beautifly and is really the only way it can manage to kill something. Bug Buzz is its standard STAB attack, and after a Quiver Dance boost, it can send any of the overabundant Psychic-types and Dark-types in NU packing. Psychic achieves good neutral coverage with Bug Buzz by letting Beautifly check Fighting-types, and gives it a powerful neutral hit on Fire-types, who resist Bug Buzz. The final moveslot comes down to preference; Hidden Power Fighting checks Steel-types that otherwise wall Beautifly cold, such as Probopass and Bastiodon, while Hidden Power Rock nails Flying-types and other Bug-types, most importantly Swellow, Fearow, Pinsir, and Butterfree. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is meant to capitalize on the only thing Beautifly can effectively accomplish: hit as hard as possible. 244 Speed EVs allow Beautifly to outspeed base 105 Pokemon after a boost, notably Kadabra, Cryogonal, Simisage, Simipour, Simisear, and Miltank, while a Modest nature and maximum Special Attack investment lets Beautifly 2HKO every Psychic-type in the tier, or even OHKO after Stealth Rock damage. The remaining EVs can be dumped into either Defense or Special Defense; investing in HP allows Beautifly only one switch-in if Stealth Rock is. Giga Drain can be used over either Hidden Power or Psychic to help Beautifly live longer, but really takes away from its coverage. Substitute can also be used to achieve more boosts but again, it hinders coverage, and the likelihood of Beautifly getting more than one or two boosts is very slim. Most switch-ins will aim to either kill it or scare it out anyways, so Substitute will only be delaying Beautifly's death.</p>
<p>With its lack of bulk there is a high chance that anything that survives an attack is going to KO back. As such, Beautifly needs a ton of support in order to sweep. Sawk can pick off any Rock-types that check Beautifly; Camerupt, Flareon, and Magmortar can take on Ice-types, while Regirock can wall Flying-types, such as Braviary and Swellow. Beautifly also needs Rapid Spin support in order to safely switch in multiple times; good candidates for this job include Torkoal and Cryogonal. </p>
[Other Options]
<p>Beautifly has a wide variety of moves it is able to use besides what is mentioned in the set. Roost can be used to reliably recover HP, but takes away from Beautifly's coverage and also will likely be useless if your opponent decides to just keep on attacking. Stun Spore can be used in order to paralyze switch-ins, such as Swellow, Regirock, and Probopass, and then switch out to a check clearing the way for a later sweep. Shadow Ball can be used to hit Misdreavus super effectively, but there's no real need to take away key coverage just for Misdreavus.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p> Even with support, quite a few Pokemon can switch in and either wall Beautifly cold or just flat out kill it. Probopass, Regirock, Lairon, and Bastiodon can come in without fear if Beautifly lacks Hidden Power Fighting. Camerupt, Lickilicky, and Misdreavus can easily wall Beautifly, but Lickilicky has to be wary of Hidden Power Fighting. Swellow can outspeed Beautifly even after a Quiver Dance and OHKO with Facade or scare it out and U-turn to a check of your chosen switch-in. </p>
[Dream World]
<p>Beautifly receives Rivalry as its Hidden Ability. Sadly, the ability is outclassed by Swarm and is pretty much useless coming off of Beautifly's below average base 70 Attack. To add insult to injury, Beautifly has a barren physical movepool too.</p>
GP: sirndpt, RitterCat
[Overview]
<p>Game Freak's remake of Butterfree makes another appearance in the fifth generation of Pokemon. Notably, BW gave Beautifly a huge buff in the form of Quiver Dance, which, despite being an excellent boosting move, was sadly also given to almost every other Bug-type in NU. Beautifly sports an outstanding special movepool coming off of a base 90 Special Attack, which is pretty much the only good thing going for it. </p>
[SET]
Name: Quiver Dance
Move 1: Quiver Dance
Move 2: Bug Buzz
Move 3: Psychic
Move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Rock
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Swarm
Nature: Modest
Evs: 252 SpA / 244 Spe / 12 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Given that Beautifly lacks bulk, even with maximum investment, the best thing going for the little butterfly is an all-out offensive Quiver Dance set. Quiver Dance is the standard set-up move for Beautifly and is really the only way it can manage to kill something. Bug Buzz is its standard STAB attack, and after a Quiver Dance boost, it can send any of the overabundant Psychic-types and Dark-types in NU packing. Psychic achieves good neutral coverage with Bug Buzz by letting Beautifly check Fighting-types, and gives it a powerful neutral hit on Fire-types, who resist Bug Buzz. The final moveslot comes down to preference; Hidden Power Fighting checks Steel-types that otherwise wall Beautifly cold, such as Probopass and Bastiodon, while Hidden Power Rock nails Flying-types and other Bug-types, most importantly Swellow, Fearow, Pinsir, and Butterfree. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is meant to capitalize on the only thing Beautifly can effectively accomplish: hit as hard as possible. 244 Speed EVs allow Beautifly to outspeed base 105 Pokemon after a boost, notably Kadabra, Cryogonal, Simisage, Simipour, Simisear, and Miltank, while a Modest nature and maximum Special Attack investment lets Beautifly 2HKO every Psychic-type in the tier, or even OHKO after Stealth Rock damage. The remaining EVs can be dumped into either Defense or Special Defense; investing in HP allows Beautifly only one switch-in if Stealth Rock is. Giga Drain can be used over either Hidden Power or Psychic to help Beautifly live longer, but really takes away from its coverage. Substitute can also be used to achieve more boosts but again, it hinders coverage, and the likelihood of Beautifly getting more than one or two boosts is very slim. Most switch-ins will aim to either kill it or scare it out anyways, so Substitute will only be delaying Beautifly's death.</p>
<p>With its lack of bulk there is a high chance that anything that survives an attack is going to KO back. As such, Beautifly needs a ton of support in order to sweep. Sawk can pick off any Rock-types that check Beautifly; Camerupt, Flareon, and Magmortar can take on Ice-types, while Regirock can wall Flying-types, such as Braviary and Swellow. Beautifly also needs Rapid Spin support in order to safely switch in multiple times; good candidates for this job include Torkoal and Cryogonal. </p>
[Other Options]
<p>Beautifly has a wide variety of moves it is able to use besides what is mentioned in the set. Roost can be used to reliably recover HP, but takes away from Beautifly's coverage and also will likely be useless if your opponent decides to just keep on attacking. Stun Spore can be used in order to paralyze switch-ins, such as Swellow, Regirock, and Probopass, and then switch out to a check clearing the way for a later sweep. Shadow Ball can be used to hit Misdreavus super effectively, but there's no real need to take away key coverage just for Misdreavus.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p> Even with support, quite a few Pokemon can switch in and either wall Beautifly cold or just flat out kill it. Probopass, Regirock, Lairon, and Bastiodon can come in without fear if Beautifly lacks Hidden Power Fighting. Camerupt, Lickilicky, and Misdreavus can easily wall Beautifly, but Lickilicky has to be wary of Hidden Power Fighting. Swellow can outspeed Beautifly even after a Quiver Dance and OHKO with Facade or scare it out and U-turn to a check of your chosen switch-in. </p>
[Dream World]
<p>Beautifly receives Rivalry as its Hidden Ability. Sadly, the ability is outclassed by Swarm and is pretty much useless coming off of Beautifly's below average base 70 Attack. To add insult to injury, Beautifly has a barren physical movepool too.</p>