http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/golbat
[Overview]
<p>Crobat's little brother, Golbat, may seem like a strange choice due to its NFE status. However, Golbat is able to play the same role as Crobat within the lower tiers. Inner Focus allows Golbat to counter Ambipom leads, making it quite effective in the metagame. Furthermore, access to Taunt allows Golbat to shut down set-up leads such as Qwilfish, who try to lay entry hazards. Golbat's typing allows it to switch into the likes of Venusaur, Hitmontop, and Torterra with ease, resisting or being immune to many of their attacks. Nevertheless, as Golbat is part Flying-type, it has a weakness to Stealth Rock. Another downside to Golbat's typing is its weakness to the common Ice-, Electric-, Rock-, and Psychic-type moves of the UU metagame, giving it a hard time switching in. What sets Golbat apart from other Flying-types such as Swellow and Moltres, however, is that it has access to Taunt and Hypnosis. If you can cover Golbat's many weaknesses, it can become a great asset to your team.</p>
[SET]
name: Scout
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Roost
move 4: U-turn
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Golbat makes an ideal scout as it has the ability to shut down walls with Taunt, while U-turn allows it to escape the battle safely, effectively revealing the opponent's team. Golbat is able to switch in quite easily, due to its decent defenses, Ground immunity, and three 4x resistances. Although Stealth Rock may be a problem, Golbat can remedy this by carrying Roost, which allows it to restore 50% of its health, while simultaneously losing its weakness to Ice-, Rock-, and Electric-type moves. Brave Bird is Golbat's primary attacking option due to its high power and STAB. However, you must note that it is illegal to use in conjunction with Hypnosis, so if you wish to use Hypnosis, Aerial Ace must unfortunately be used instead.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>If you want Golbat to be more defensive, you may forgo the Attack EVs and use an alternative spread of 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe, which gives Golbat much more bulk than the previous set, while maintaining its high Speed to outrun the opponent. 248 HP EVs give Golbat the highest bulk possible and it ensures that Golbat survives a fourth switch into Stealth Rock. The remaining EVs are placed into Defense for additional bulk. Alternatively, you may choose to lower Golbat's Speed and use a spread of 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe, giving Golbat even more bulk. 216 Speed still allows Golbat to outrun dangerous threats such as Venusaur and Toxicroak, though it loses the tie with Moltres. More EVs can be placed into Defence to give Golbat more bulk, however, Golbat cannot afford to lose any Speed or attacking power. If using a defensive set, Super Fang is an excellent alternative to Brave Bird or Aerial Ace as it is not affected by the lower Attack, while making it easier to defeat bulky walls such as Registeel.</p>
<p>As Golbat is unable to deal a lot of damage to Steel-types, you may choose to use a Ground-type, such as Torterra or Donphan, as they can hit Steel-types super effectively with Earthquake, while also being immune to Thunder Wave. Donphan is the better choice as it can Rapid Spin away Stealth Rock, allowing Golbat to switch in freely. Fire-types are also another wise choice, as they can scorch Steel-types with their STAB attacks. Moltres is an excellent example as it has one of the highest Special Attack stats in the metagame. However, Rapid Spin is even moreso recommended as Moltres is weaker to Stealth Rock than Golbat. Arcanine is another great choice as it can switch into most physical attacks with Intimidate and hit the opponent with STAB Flare Blitz, while using Morning Sun to recover from any recoil damage. Finally, Blaziken can blast its way through the opponent's Steel-types with a variety of physical and special STAB Fire-type moves, or any of its Fighting-type moves.</p>
<p>As for the item choice, using Leftovers is the preferred option as it allows Golbat to recover recoil damage from Brave Bird and Stealth Rock, though Life Orb also has its merits. When using a Life Orb, Golbat becomes more of a sweeper, allowing it to potentially 2HKO standard 252 HP / 200 Def Milotic with Brave Bird. As another option, Golbat may use a Lum Berry, allowing it to switch into the likes of Venusaur with Sleep Powder, then scoring an OHKO with Brave Bird.</p>
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Air Slash / Roost
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Golbat has a horrible Special Attack, after a Nasty Plot, it becomes an effective special sweeper. Sludge Bomb provides a decent STAB move, while Heat Wave provides great type coverage against Steel-types. Hidden Power Grass scores an OHKO against Rhyperior and deals with Omastar and other Rock- and Ground-types who expect a Brave Bird. Air Slash is a secondary STAB move that deals more damage to Fighting- and Grass-types than Golbat's other attacks. Roost is an option to recover from Life Orb and Stealth Rock recoil, though Golbat is usually KOed before it has chance to use it.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>For additional bulk, you may lower Golbat's Speed to 216 and combine the leftover EVs and the 4 Def EVs into HP, to ensure that Golbat's HP remains odd, allowing it to survive four switch ins to Stealth Rock without fainting. This spread given allows Golbat to reach 297 Speed, beating all base 85 Pokemon such as Toxicroak, though losing to base 90s such as Moltres.</p>
<p>Being completely specially-based, this set is walled by Chansey and Clefable. Their huge HP and high defensive stats will slow Golbat down while they slowly KO it with Seismic Toss. To deal with them, you may decide to use a physical sweeper such as Blaziken who can hit Chansey with its STAB Fighting-type moves, or Dugtrio, who can trap them with its ability and hit them with STAB Earthquake. Alternatively, you may choose to use Taunt Mismagius with Nasty Plot and Hidden Power Fighting. After three boosts from Nasty Plot, Mismagius is able to 2HKO Chansey with Hidden Power Fighting.</p>
<p If you decide to use Roost, Lum Berry is the better option as Golbat can set up multiple boosts from Nasty Plot while recovering health when necessary. Also, when using Roost, Toxic Spikes are helpful as they slowly drain walls of HP, such as Chansey and Milotic. Qwilfish is the best option to set up Toxic Spikes as a lead due to its above-average Speed and the ability to use Explosion on the opponent. Drapion and Nidoqueen are good choices too due to their great bulk.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Being part Flying-type, Golbat has a weakness to Stealth Rock, making a Rapid Spinner almost essential. In UU, there are a few reliable users of Rapid Spin, the first of whom being Hitmontop, who carries useful priority moves, Intimidate, and Foresight. Donphan is another great option due to its huge physical stats, support moves such as Stealth Rock and Roar, and Assurance to hit Ghost-types who may attempt to block its spin. Donphan is also immune to Thunder Wave, which is commonly seen on Registeel. Blastoise is another good option as it has great defensive stats, sleep support with Yawn, and unlike Cloyster, does not have a weakness to Stealth Rock. Finally, Claydol can be considered as it resists Rock-type moves and is immune to Electric-type moves, while having a few great support moves such as Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, and in some cases, Explosion.</p>
<p>Steel-types cause trouble for most variants of Golbat, barring variants with boosted Heat Wave. Torterra is an excellent teammate to deal with them due to its immunity to Thunder Wave, access to STAB Earthquake, and decent Attack. Fire-type Pokemon complement Golbat as well, as they can hit Steel-types with their STAB moves. Moltres is the number one choice due to its massive Special Attack and decent movepool. If you wish to go down a more physical or mixed route, you may decide to use Arcanine, who can wield physical and special attacks at the same time, sporting both Flare Blitz and Fire Blast. Blaziken is another excellent choice as it can use both Fire- and Fighting-type attacks to destroy Steel-type opponents with ease.</p>
<p>As for defensive partners, Steelix is an excellent choice as it is immune or resists Electric-, Rock-, and Psychic-type moves, all of which hit Golbat super effectively. Furthermore, it has access to support moves such as Roar, Stealth Rock, and Torment, and has a massive Defense stat. Lanturn is also a good partner as it resists Ice-type moves, while Volt Absorb allows Lanturn to restore its health when hit with an Electric-type move. Ironically, despite being one of Golbat's biggest counters, Registeel makes an ideal partner as it can switch into most Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves aimed at Golbat with little trouble, support the team with entry hazards, provide paralysis support, and deal with physical attackers such as Scyther and Swellow.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Golbat may use Choice items to some success, though its physical movepool is nothing spectacular, limiting it to Brave Bird, U-turn, Steel Wing, Zen Headbutt, and Pursuit. Haze is another option to reset stat boosts, but Golbat lacks the opportunity to use support moves most of the time due to its lackluster defenses. Substitute may be used with Roost to stall opponents, along with Toxic Spikes or Toxic to wear down walls such as Chansey, Slowbro, and Milotic. Super Fang is useful in stripping walls of half their health, which is useful against the likes of Registeel and Steelix. Finally, Screech can be used to lower the opponent's Defense, making Golbat's attacks more powerful, while forcing switches at the same time.</p>
[Counters]
<p>The main way to beat Golbat is to figure out what set it's running. All of its physical sets can be defeated by Steel-types, such as Registeel and Steelix, as they can wall Golbat forever due to their massive Defense and resistance to Brave Bird. Registeel can wear it down with Iron Head, while Steelix can defeat Golbat with Stone Edge, followed up by Earthquake when it uses Roost. Rhyperior and Aggron are also great counters to Golbat as the bat is unable to deal a lot of damage to them with its physical sets, while they can easily set up Substitute or Rock Polish and proceed to sweep Golbat's team.</p>
<p>Rotom and Lanturn are both decent counters to Golbat as they resist Brave Bird, carry STAB Electric-type moves to hit Golbat super effectively, and have many great support moves. Rotom may set up Substitute , Reflect and/or Light Screen, or be a sweeper, while Lanturn can support its team with Thunder Wave and Toxic.</p>
<p>Basically any Pokemon who can outspeed Golbat, survive a Brave Bird, and hit it super effectively can be called a counter.</p>
