Bouffalant (Swords Dance) [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

Oglemi

Borf
is a Top Contributoris a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus

http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/bouffalant

This set was taken out at the last revamp due to it sucking in the hail/Cress metagame, iirc. It's far better now due to the popularity of slower, bulkier teams, and it completely devastates stall teams.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Stone Edge / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Sap Sipper
nature: Adamant
evs: 248 HP / 160 Atk / 100 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Bouffalant is an awesome switch into a huge majority of the Grass-types in the tier thanks to Sap Sipper giving it an Attack boost on any Grass-type move, including Spore and Leech Seed. Ideally, Bouffalant should get in on something with low offenses like defensive Amoonguss, boost up with Swords Dance as the opponent is forced to switch out, and annihilate whatever is bold enough to switch in on the next turn. The reason this set works the way it does is due in large part to the fact that Bouffalant is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a STAB Fighting-type move. This means that whatever switches in isn't going to be able to OHKO Bouffalant and faces a +2 or +3 attack in return.</p>

<p>Return is chosen as the STAB move of choice due to its lack of recoil, which would otherwise be non-conducive to the tank strategy this set relies on, and the fact that at +2, Return gets almost all the same KOs that Head Charge would. Stone Edge and Earthquake give the best possible coverage with Return. The EdgeQuake combo reliably hits all of the Ghost-types in the tier, including Rotom, which will most likely to switch in on Bouffalant. Finally, Substitute can be used to block status and is Bouffalant's best weapon against Alomomola, which can then no longer fish for a burn with Scald or poison with Toxic while Bouffalant can boost up to +6. However, opting for Substitute leaves Bouffalant totally exposed to Rotom and Misdreavus, necessitating Pursuit support.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread is designed to give Bouffalant as much bulk as possible and enough Speed to outpace minimum Speed Lanturn. 216 Speed EVs can be used to outrun Adamant Aggron and nail it with Earthquake, but this lowers Bouffalant's damage output or bulk slightly depending on whether the EVs were taken from; if taken from HP, Bouffalant is exposed to a guaranteed OHKO from Hitmonchan's Drain Punch, a near guaranteed OHKO from Choice Specs Sceptile's Focus Blast, and a much higher chance to be 2HKOed by Life Orb Rotom's Thunderbolt. However, most of these attacks are guaranteed on the 248 HP EV spread with Stealth Rock anyway, so running that much Speed may be worth it depending on how you want to use Bouffalant.</p>

<p>Megahorn can be used to hit Slowking and Grass-types such as Rotom-C and Tangrowth slightly harder, but it leaves Bouffalant significantly more open to Ghost-types, Rotom in particular. Lum Berry can be used over Leftovers to absorb status from the likes of Rotom, Uxie, and Slowking and continue Bouffalant's rampage. Chople Berry is another cool alternative option for tanking Focus Blast from Tangrowth and Sceptile, or a probable Fighting-type revenge killer switch-in. Running either Berry allows Bouffalant to bluff a Choice item as well, possibly luring in Pokemon thinking Bouffalant will get locked into a move, only to be met with a +2 monster and no way to OHKO it or safely switch any Pokemon into it.</p>

<p>Bouffalant works as a tank-meets-wallbreaker, opening up holes for a Pokemon like Druddigon to clean up later or vice versa. OTR Slowking is a cool partner for Bouffalant in particular, as it can set up Trick Room and open up holes in the opponent's team or let Bouffalant to come in with Trick Room up and sweep itself. Bouffalant's Speed should be dropped to as low as possible if you want to center around a Trick Room sweep with it. Bouffalant can fill the role of sleep absorber for the team thanks to its immunity to Spore and Sleep Powder, and it makes an excellent counter to Lilligant, Amoonguss, and Rotom-C, as well as a great check to Sceptile. Choice Specs Slowking and other offensive Water-types like Feraligatr and Samurott also make great teammates due to Bouffalant's great ability to take on Grass-types, and Slowking in particular makes a good teammate as it can take on Emboar and other Fighting-types.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock setters are naturally good partners for Bouffalant as well, particularly Rhydon and Golurk. Pursuit support is also great for Bouffalant, because it can take out Ghost-types without having to rely on Stone Edge or Earthquake. Absol, Spiritomb, and Druddigon are great choices for this role. Without Substitute, a Pokemon that can take on Alomomola is needed for this set to be successful, as it's otherwise a complete stop. Grass- and Electric-types are immediately good teammates for this reason. Roselia is cool in particular thanks to the Spikes it provides, and Eelektross's slow Volt Switch can be nice to get Bouffalant in safely as well. The only Pokemon that can normally OHKO Bouffalant are Fighting-types, of which almost none can switch into Bouffalant safely, forcing them to come in as revenge killers. This allows Bouffalant to pick and choose its victims and forces the opponent to play predictably. Having this kind of offensive pressure can be the exact answer a balanced team needs to get their win condition in later in the match with a few chosen Pokemon eliminated.</p>
 
Last edited:
ACing Chopple Berry would be a cool idea if you are concerned about Fighting-types being able to OHKO you. With a Chople Berry pretty much nothing OHKOs you except Choice Band Aggron and Escavalier.

252+ Atk Life Orb Gallade Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Chople Berry Bouffalant: 285-335 (72.3 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Also AC the option of being able to run 216 speed for Adamant Aggron. Getting OHKOed by it sucks, just like on other sets.

QC Approved 1/3
 

EonX

Battle Soul
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
2 partners in particular stand out for dealing with Momo. Roselia can setup Spikes and Eelektross has a slow Volt Switch to let Bouffalant gain more setup chances. Maybe AC mention Lum Berry to dodge status? Useful for dealing with stuff like Rotom, Spiritomb, and Uxie.

QC Approved 2/3 Beastly set.
 
Yeah I agree, mention Lum Berry somewhere which helps against a lot of things like Alomomola, Toxic Spikes or Rotom/Rotom-C Wisp.

In AC mention specially the Slowking OTR like temmate which can support Bouffalant with Trick Room which helps against another straight offensive teams since Bouffalant is slow, also Slowking attracts Grass moves getting a free boost in Atk; sinergy between both is sick.
 
Definitely agreeing w/mentions on Lum, since it's too useful with status being thrown around everywhere. Also, didn't we sorta set a precedent of using Lanturn as the Speed benchmark for this sorta thing (since no Poliwrath / Magneton runs both no Speed and a neutral Speed nature) ?_? I mean, it's cool if we're gonna change it everywhere, but with this we'll have one set @ this benchmark in a sea of Lanturn-outpacing ones :>
 

complete legitimacy

is it cold in the water?
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Hmm, I'd use a different example in the first SC bullet. Remember that HP Fighting is standard on defensive Growth now n_n. I'd use something like Amoonguss instead because although if it uses Foul Play it can break the Sub 93.75% of the time, that isn't exactly standard so I think it would be a better example.
 
just a minor note you only need 100 speed EVs to outspeed Lanturn. The extra 4 is speed creeping. The other two sets also use 100 speed EVs.
 
yo

minor stuff obv, b/c well-written. I dislike the implications of the AC bit that mentions running more Speed for Aggron; it suggests that the Speed EVs would be scavenged from HP, but the given EV spread would indicate that bulk investment supersedes Attack on this set (as it runs near-max HP, sacrificing its Attack for the necessary Speed). I'd re-phrase to show that the Speed investment would require either the loss in bulk as mentioned, or a significant drop in damage output, just to verify :>

Chople also buffers AfroBull out against Focus Blast Grass-types (basically Sceptile), which I'd say it significant enough to mention there as well. Idk about mentioning 'Tomber in relevant Lum uses, since back-to-back +2 EQs, one with and one without burn, still does somewhere in the ballpark of 90-105% total, while Foul Play hits +2 AfroBull for 85-99%, which considering the possibility of Wisp misses and damage rolls makes Foul Play typically the better play for the 'Tomb user.

Pursuit support is mentioned specifically when mentioning Sub's shortcomings, but isn't addressed in AC, maybe worth throwing a mention real quick? Also regarding Sub, you mention Momo specifically as a 'mon that gets completely smashed by it, but then go on to mention that AfroBull absolutely needs something to handle Momo x_x I mean, obviously Sub Bull shouldn't necessarily be switching into it immediately, but it might be worth throwing in a "should it forgo Substitute" or something for consistency's sake :P


but yeah

qc 3/3
 

Minus

get a dog little longy, get a dog
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Add Remove Comment
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Stone Edge / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Sap Sipper
nature: Adamant
evs: 248 HP / 160 Atk / 100 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Bouffalant is an awesome switch into switch-in to a huge majority of the Grass-types in the tier thanks to Sap Sipper giving it an Attack boost on any Grass-type move(AC) including Spore and Leech Seed. Ideally, Bouffalant should get in on something with low offenses like defensive Amoonguss, boost up with Swords Dance as the opponent is forced to switch out, and annihilate whatever is bold enough to switch in on the next turn. The reason this set works the way it does is due in large part to the fact that Bouffalant is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a STAB Fighting-type move. This means that whatever switches in isn't going to be able to OHKO Bouffalant and faces a +2 or +3 attack in return.</p>

<p>Return is chosen as the STAB move of choice due to its lack of recoil(AC) which would otherwise be non-conducive to the tank strategy this set relies on, and the fact that at +2, Return gets almost all the same KOs that Head Charge would. Stone Edge and Earthquake give the best possible coverage with Return. The QuakeEdge combo reliably hits all of the Ghost-types in the tier(AC) including Rotom, which are will most likely to switch in on Bouffalant. Finally, Substitute can be used to block status and is Bouffalant's best weapon against Alomomola, who can then no longer fish (nice pun) for a burn with Scald or poison with Toxic while Bouffalant boosts can boost up to +6. However, opting for Substitute leaves Bouffalant totally exposed to Rotom and Misdreavus, necessitating Pursuit support.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread is designed to give Bouffalant as much bulk as possible,(RC) and enough Speed to outpace minimum Speed Lanturn. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Attack. (seems out of place because the next sentence is abt spd again) 216 Speed EVs can be used to outrun Adamant Aggron and nail it with Earthquake, but this lowers Bouffalant's damage output or bulk slightly depending on whether the EVs were taken from; if taken from Attack, or bulk HP, though not hugely, exposing it Bouffalant is exposed to a guaranteed OHKO from Hitmonchan's Drain Punch, a near guaranteed OHKO from Choice Specs Sceptile's Focus Blast, and a much higher chance to be 2HKOed from Life Orb Rotom's Thunderbolt The rest of the EVs are dumped into Attack. However, most Most of these attacks are guaranteed on the 248 HP EV spread with Stealth Rock anyway, so running that much Speed may be worth it depending on how you want to use Bouffalant.</p>

<p>Megahorn can be used for a slightly better to hit on Slowking and Grass-types like Rotom-C and Tangrowth slightly harder, but it leaves Bouffalant significantly more open to Ghost-types, Rotom in particular. A Lum Berry can be used over Leftovers to absorb status from the likes of Rotom, Uxie, and Slowking and continue its Bouffalant's rampage. A Chople Berry is another cool alternative option for tanking Focus Blast from the likes of ( used that phrase earlier) Tangrowth and Sceptile, or the a probable Fighting-type revenge killer switch-in. Running either Berry allows Bouffalant to bluff a Choice item as well, possibly luring in Pokemon thinking Bouffalant will get locked into a move, only to be met with a +2 Bouffalant Monster (you used Bouffalant 3 times, so i wanted to use a synonym) and no way to OHKO it or safely switch any Pokemon into it.</p>

<p>Bouffalant works as a tank meets wallbreaker, opening up holes for a Pokemon like Druddigon to clean up later or vice versa. OTR Slowking is a cool partner for Bouffalant in particular, as it can set up Trick Room and open up holes in the opponent's team or let Bouffalant to come in with Trick Room up and sweep itself. Bouffalant's Speed should be dropped to as low as possible if you want to center around a Trick Room sweep with Bouffalant it. Bouffalant can fill the role of sleep absorber for the team thanks to its immunity to Spore and Sleep Powder, and it makes an excellent counter to Lilligant, Amoonguss, and Rotom-C, and a great check to Sceptile. Choice Specs Slowking and other offensive Water-types like Feraligatr and Samurott also make great teammates due to Bouffalant's great Grass-type battling skills, and Slowking in particular makes a good teammate to as it can take on Emboar and other Fighting-types.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock setters are naturally good partners for Bouffalant as well, particularly Rhydon and Golurk. Pursuit support is also great for this set Bouffalant, because it can to take out Ghost-types without having to rely on Stone Edge or Earthquake. Absol, Spiritomb, and Druddigon are great choices for this role. Without Substitute, a Pokemon to take on Alomomola is needed for this set to be successful, as it's otherwise a complete stop. Grass- and Electric-types are immediately good teammates for this reason. Roselia is cool in particular thanks to the Spikes it provides, and Eelektross's slow Volt Switch can be nice to get Bouffalant in safely as well. The only Pokemon that can normally OHKO Bouffalant are Fighting-types, of which almost none can switch into Bouffalant safely, forcing them to come in as revenge killers. This allows Bouffalant to pick and choose its kills victims and forces the opponent to play predictably. Having this kind of offensive pressure can be the exact answer a balanced team needs to get their win condition in later in the match with a few chosen Pokemon eliminated.</p>
GP 1/2 Oglemi
 
Last edited:

Oglemi

Borf
is a Top Contributoris a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
Just a heads up, we decided a while ago that we don't want to quantify items, so we don't use "a Lum Berry", since it looks extremely weird saying "a Leftovers" or quantifying Leftovers in any way. Just to stay consistent, we just use it like "using Lum Berry".

Anyway, got that check :>
 
Add
Remove
Comments

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Stone Edge / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Sap Sipper
nature: Adamant
evs: 248 HP / 160 Atk / 100 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Bouffalant is an awesome switch into a huge majority of the Grass-types in the tier thanks to Sap Sipper giving it an Attack boost on any Grass-type move, including Spore and Leech Seed. Ideally, Bouffalant should get in on something with low offenses like defensive Amoonguss, boost up with Swords Dance as the opponent is forced to switch out, and annihilate whatever is bold enough to switch in on the next turn. The reason this set works the way it does is due in large part to the fact that Bouffalant is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a STAB Fighting-type move. This means that whatever switches in isn't going to be able to OHKO Bouffalant and faces a +2 or +3 attack in return. (I feel this can be reworded better; maybe mention SD and Sap Sipper boosts in particular?)</p>

<p>Return is chosen as the STAB move of choice due to its lack of recoil, which would otherwise be non-conducive to the tank strategy this set relies on, and the fact that at +2, Return gets almost all the same KOs that Head Charge would. Stone Edge and Earthquake give the best possible coverage with Return. The EdgeQuake combo reliably hits all of the Ghost-types in the tier, including Rotom, which will most likely to switch in on Bouffalant. Finally, Substitute can be used to block status and is Bouffalant's best weapon against Alomomola, which can then no longer fish for a burn with Scald or poison with Toxic while Bouffalant can boost up to +6. However, opting for Substitute leaves Bouffalant totally exposed to Rotom and Misdreavus, necessitating Pursuit support.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread is designed to give Bouffalant as much bulk as possible and enough Speed to outpace minimum Speed Lanturn. 216 Speed EVs can be used to outrun Adamant Aggron and nail it with Earthquake, but this lowers Bouffalant's damage output or bulk slightly depending on whether the EVs were taken from; if taken from HP, Bouffalant is exposed to a guaranteed OHKO from Hitmonchan's Drain Punch, a near guaranteed OHKO from Choice Specs Sceptile's Focus Blast, and a much higher chance to be 2HKOed by Life Orb Rotom's Thunderbolt. However, most of these attacks are guaranteed on the 248 HP EV spread with Stealth Rock anyway, so running that much Speed may be worth it depending on how you want to use Bouffalant.</p>

<p>Megahorn can be used to hit Slowking and Grass-types such as Rotom-C and Tangrowth slightly harder, but it leaves Bouffalant significantly more open to Ghost-types, Rotom in particular. Lum Berry can be used over Leftovers to absorb status from the likes of Rotom, Uxie, and Slowking and continue Bouffalant's rampage. Chople Berry is another cool alternative option for tanking Focus Blast from Tangrowth and Sceptile, or a probable Fighting-type revenge killer switch-in. Running either Berry allows Bouffalant to bluff a Choice item as well, possibly luring in Pokemon thinking Bouffalant will get locked into a move, only to be met with a +2 monster and no way to OHKO it or safely switch any Pokemon into it.</p>

<p>Bouffalant works as a tank-meets-wallbreaker, opening up holes for a Pokemon like Druddigon to clean up later or vice versa. Offensive Trick Room Slowking is a cool partner for Bouffalant in particular, as it can set up Trick Room and open up holes in the opponent's team or let Bouffalant to come in with Trick Room up and sweep itself. Bouffalant's Speed should be dropped to as low as possible if you want to center around a Trick Room sweep with it. Bouffalant can fill the role of sleep absorber for the team thanks to its immunity to Spore and Sleep Powder, and it makes an excellent counter to Lilligant, Amoonguss, and Rotom-C, as well as a great check to Sceptile. Choice Specs Slowking and other offensive Water-types like Feraligatr and Samurott also make great teammates due to Bouffalant's great Grass-type battling skills (?), and Slowking in particular makes a good teammate as it can take on Emboar and other Fighting-types.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock setters are naturally good partners for Bouffalant as well, particularly Rhydon and Golurk. Pursuit support is also great for Bouffalant, because it can take out Ghost-types without having to rely on Stone Edge or Earthquake. Absol, Spiritomb, and Druddigon are great choices for this role. Without Substitute, a Pokemon that can take on Alomomola is needed for this set to be successful, as it's otherwise a complete stop. Grass- and Electric-types are immediately good teammates for this reason. Roselia is cool in particular thanks to the Spikes it provides, and Eelektross's slow Volt Switch can be nice to get Bouffalant in safely as well. The only Pokemon that can normally OHKO Bouffalant are Fighting-types, of which almost none can switch into Bouffalant safely, forcing them to come in as revenge killers. This allows Bouffalant to pick and choose its victims and forces the opponent to play predictably. Having this kind of offensive pressure can be the exact answer a balanced team needs to get their win condition in later in the match with a few chosen Pokemon eliminated.</p>

2/2!
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top