Manectric (QC 3/3)

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/310.shtml

[Overview]

- Wide movepool among Electric-types.
- With some of the main threats, most importantly Claydol, gone, Manectric has a better shot at sweeping.
- Great Special Attack and Speed can make it a dangerous threat.
- Gets Switcheroo, which allows it to be one of the best Choice users in RU; this allows Manectric to cripple walls and other Pokémon.
- Lightningrod now raises Sp. Attack and gives Manectric an immunity to Electric-type moves, making it even more threatening.
- Faces competition from Galvantula, who has Compoundeyes Thunder and secondary Bug-type STAB.
- Quite frail with only 70/60/60 defenses.
- Don't use it like Galvantula or it'll be mediocre.
- Manectric is freaking badass; scram, Luxray.

[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Overheat
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Thunderbolt
move 4: Switcheroo
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Lightningrod
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

- Either very powerful or blindingly fast.
- Volt Switch allows you to scout and switch out if you're in trouble while still hurting the opponent.
- Fire-type move is a choice between Overheat and Flamethrower, important choice with the way of playing Switcheroo.
- Overheat is ridiculously strong and hits like a truck, especially with Specs; two Overheats > two Flamethrowers, no matter the stat drop.
- Flamethrower can prove more effective with Lightningrod abuse, though, and still burns the butts of Grass-types and Steelix.
- HP Grass gives Lanturn a lot of pain and makes Quagsire cower in fear.
- If the aforementioned Pokémon are no problem, then run Thunderbolt for more powerful coverage.
- Switcheroo cripples walls like Munchlax and Quagsire when they switch into Manectric.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

- Both items work very differently.
- Scarf makes Manectric a powerful revenge killer that outspeeds most of RU.
- Specs, on the other hand, makes Manectric hit like a truck and put a huge dent in its foes.
- Manectric switches a lot, so Rapid Spin support is greatly appreciated.
- Water-types have excellent synergy with Manectric, as Manectric can benefit from all Electric-type moves aimed at the Water-types. Good examples are Omastar, Feraligatr and Poliwrath.
- Levitators and Flying-types, such as Uxie and Mesprit, are great partners, as they can take any Ground-type move aimed at Manectric.
- The Water-types help deal with walls such as Rhydon and Sandslash.
- Modest nature is optional for more power, but Manectric cannot outrun positive Base 95s if Modest.
- Uxie, Rotom, Scyther, Primeape and other users of U-turn can make a VoltTurn core with Manectric for momentum.
- Flamethrower is another option if you need to fire off more than 2 Fire-type moves, but as this rarely happens, Overheat is superior. Flamethrower can still be used to take advantage of Lightningrod buffs.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Volt Switch
item: Life Orb / Expert Belt
ability: Lightningrod
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

- LO gives Manectric freedom to switch attacks.
- Expert Belt bluffs a Scarf and is a good option since Manectric's coverage already hits over half of RU supereffectively.
- Thunderbolt is reliable and strong STAB.
- Flamethrower is the prefered Fire-type move to benefit from the ability to switch moves.
- HP Grass is necessary if Manectric doesn't want to be deathwalled by Lanturn and Quagsire.
- Volt Switch allows Manectric to switch out and still land a decent hit.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

- Rapid Spin support is a must for this Manectric, as the accumulating Life Orb damage can really take Manectric's toll if entry hazards are still up.
- Unable to use Manectric's distinguishing trait, utilizing Switcheroo to cripple walls.
- However, this Manectric can defeat Pokémon that would usually wall it, such as Quagsire, Sandslash, Lanturn and Rhydon, because it's never locked in one move.
- Again, Water-type partners are great partners; Manectric can take the Electric-type moves launched at the Water-types, while in return, they can take down the Ground-types that plague Manectric.
- Flying-types and Levitators, such as Uxie and Mesprit, can absorb Ground-type hits for Manectric as well.

[Other Options]

- Discharge and Charge Beam are alternative Electric-type moves, but usually tend to be less effective than Thunderbolt in lost situations.
- Manectric has a decent physical movepool with Hone Claws, Wild Charge, Ice Fang and Crunch, but its Attack is too low to use those and it's easily outclassed by Pokémon such as Electivire.
- Manectric has some support moves, like Light Screen, Thunder Wave and Roar, although there are other Pokémon that make better use of those moves.

[Checks and Counters]

- Ground-types, such as Sandslash, Quagsire and Rhydon, can get rid of Manectric with ease. The aforementioned Pokémon, alongside Lanturn, must be wary of Hidden Power Grass, though.
- Be careful with your own Manectric's STAB, as an enemy Manectric can switch into it and nab a free Sp. Attack boost.
- Bulky Pokémon, like Hariyama and Bouffalant, can handle it quite well due to their bulk, regardless of Switcheroo.
- Special walls such as Clefable, Munchlax and Roselia, can wall Manectric, but hate Switcheroo; Roselia and Munchlax especially, since they'll lose their Eviolite.

[Unreleased]

Manectric's Hidden ability is Minus, which is utterly useless in Single Battles.
 

Texas Cloverleaf

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-Edit the thread title to have a Quality Control tag
-First set should look like this
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Overheat / Flamethrower
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Thunderbolt
move 4: Switcheroo
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Lightningrod
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-remove the following from the overview imo, " Flamethrower and Overheat are amazing, powerful coverage and dispatch of the Grass-types that resist its STAB.", its covered in SC
-Mention specific water-type teammates in partners, feraligatr, poliwrath, omastar, etc
-Include specific Levitators and/or Flying-types in partners, such as Uxie
Comment on the viability of VoltTurn with Manectric

Other options and Checks and Counters are yet to come of course
 

Texas Cloverleaf

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In the AC, comment on partners that can use U-turn or Volt Switch, such as Uxie, Rotom, Scyther, Primeape and other that can make a VoltTurn core. Similarly to OU, this capatalizes on switching to maintain and increase momentum.

re: checks and counters; bouffalant carries earthquake; the bulky pokmeon can beat manectric because of their bulk, not because they cant hit it super effectively; special walls such as munchlax, clefable and roselia can switch into Manectric constantly, although they hate switcheroo (the former wall it even after switcheroo)

re: set 2; mention examples of what LO beats that would normally beat Choice; the item is listed as choice scarf/specs, replace with life orb
 

complete legitimacy

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I think Expert Belt would be cool on Manectric, since so many of them are Choice Scarf. It could get a slash behind Life Orb since Electric / Fire / Grass hits over half of RU for super-effective damage.
 
Hmm, I wonder, is there any reason why Flamethrower is slashed with Overheat on the Choice sets? Two Overheats will deal more damage than two Flamethrowers, and Manectric will almost never fire off more than two Fire-type moves before switching. An AC mention might suffice that Flamethrower is superior if you think that Manectric will hit three or more times, and that the superior accuracy can sometimes help out. What do you think?
 

kokoloko

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14:24 Texas post the changes you believe should be made and I'll (probably) post support for them

Basically, I belive the Specs and Scarf set should be separated completely. They don't play similarly at all, you even say so yourself in the AC.

Scarf is primarily a revenge killer, and due to the lack of power, I'd always keep Switcheroo as the primary slash so it can somewhat break walls.

On the other hand, the Specs set is meant to hurt stuff. Switcheroo should probably be AC or a secondary slash at best with the set looking like so:

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Overheat / Flamethrower
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Volt Switch / Switcheroo
item: Choice Specs
ability: Lightningrod
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Another (less appealing) option is to merge it with the Special Attacker set instead, since if anything, it plays more similarly to that one. I'm not exactly a fan of this idea though.
 

Texas Cloverleaf

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I support this, having used Scarf Manectric a lot and knowing how it outspeeds basically everything, with how much slower (relatively) Specs is there's no doubt they play differently. Please separate the Choice set and write them up separately, focussing on the differnece in play between the two, and the adjusted teammates needed. For example, the Specs set doesn't need Rapid Spin support as much, as it switches less, but prefers hazard support more to weaken incoming walls.
 

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