Buzzwole

[kumiko]

QC:
GP:​

[OVERVIEW]


[SET]
name: Sub Punch
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Leech Life
move 4: Earthquake
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 HP / 200 Atk / 12 SDef / 100 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Substitute lets Buzzwole avoid status and punishes switches
• Focus Punch coupled with Substitute gives Buzzwole an incredibly strong STAB
• Leech Life is a very important STAB for Buzzwole, allowing it not only to have a powerful STAB that isn't Focus Punch, but also gives Buzzwole passive recovery to regain the lost health from Substitute.
• Earthquake is the best last, allowing Buzzwole to defeat Toxapex and Alolan Marowak, which otherwise flawlessly wall STABs alongside Ice Punch or Poison Jab.

Set Details
========

• 196 HP grants Buzzwole with 101 Substitutes, which prevents Chansey from breaking its Substitute with one Seismic Toss. 12 SDef prevents Toxapex from breaking its Substitute with one Scald. 100 Speed allows Buzzwole to outspeed up to defensive Landorus-T. The remaining EVs are placed into Attack to maximize Buzzwole's power. Adamant is optimal to make Buzzwole as powerful as possible.
• Leftovers is the best option while using Sub Punch Buzzwole.

Usage Tips
========

• Describe how to use the Pokemon in question.

Team Options
========

• Describe some teammates that would be a good idea to pair with this Pokemon.

[SET]
name: Offensive Roost
move 1: Roost
move 2: Leech Life
move 3: Earthquake / Superpower
move 4: Poison Jab / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 156 SDef / 60 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Roost is a necessity for bulky Buzzwole, allowing it to have longevity throughout a match and check some dangerous threats such as Pheromosa, Landorus-T, and Tapu Bulu.
• Leech Life is Buzzwole's best Bug STAB and passively heals it while dishing out damage.
• Earthquake allows Buzzwole to hit Toxapex and Alolan Marowak super effectively, which would otherwise wall Buzzwole running dual STABs and a coverage move. Earthquake also retains Buzzwole's ability to hit Steel types such as Heatran with a super effective attack without running Superpower or Hammer Arm.
• Superpower gives Buzzwole a powerful Fighting-type STAB which hits Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Heatran extremely hard. Superpower allows Buzzwole to OHKO Ferrothorn, which otherwise could trouble a Buzzwole lacking Fighting-type STAB.
• Hammer Arm could be used over Superpower if the drop in Speed is preferred over the Defense drop, albeit it is slightly weaker.
• Poison Jab allows Buzzwole to handle Fairy-types, which otherwise would pose to be extreme annoyances to this set. Tapu Fini and Clefable would otherwise wall this set, but are now 2HKOd by Poison Jab.
• Ice Punch is a viable alternative if your team requires a more reliable answer to Landorus-T and Gliscor, as Buzzwole can comfortable take any non-Flying-type hit from these aforementioned Pokemon.

Set Details
========

• The HP and SDef EVs allow Buzzwole to switch into Life Orb Pheromosa reliable, as it takes two Life Orb Ice Beams after Stealth Rock.
• The speed EVs allow Buzzwole to outspeed Rotom-Wash.
• The remaining EVs are dumped into attack to maximize Buzzwole's power.
• Leftovers is best to give Buzzwole more longevity.
• Life Orb alongside an EV spread of 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe with an Adamant Nature is another option while using Roost Buzzwole. This change gives Buzzwole more power and wall-breaking abilities in turn for its longevity and utility.

Usage Tips
========

• Describe how to use the Pokemon in question.

Team Options
========

• Describe some teammates that would be a good idea to pair with this Pokemon.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Superpower
move 2: Leech Life
move 3: Ice Punch / Poison Jab
move 4: Earthquake / Poison Jab
item: Choice Band
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Superpower is Buzzwole's strongest viable STAB
• Leech Life gives Buzzwole a more spammable STAB than Superpower.
• Ice Punch allows Buzzwole to hit Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Gliscor which would otherwise trouble Buzzwole locked into STABs
• Earthquake hits Poison-types and Alolan Marowak, which otherwise easily take Buzzwole's STABs
• Poison Jab hits Tapu Fini and Clefable, which otherwise are able to take any of Buzzwole's other attacks and OHKO in turn.

Set Details
========

• Max attack and max speed are best
• Choice Band is the point of the set
• Jolly allows Buzzwole to outspeed Heatran, Jolly Tapu Bulu, Bisharp, and Adamant Landorus-Therian
• Adamant can be used for more power, but there is nothing particularly useful for the drop in speed.

Usage Tips
========

• Describe how to use the Pokemon in question.

Team Options
========

• Describe some teammates that would be a good idea to pair with this Pokemon.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Sub Bulk Up
• Bulk Up

Checks and Counters
===================

• Fairy-types
• Flying-types
• Strong special attackers
• Poison-types

 

[viol and bass]

I think Thunder Punch is at least worth a mention, if not a slash, in combination with Ice Punch on some of these sets. It helps with breaking stuff like Celesteela, Toxapex, and Mantine.

 

[dwarfstar]

Seconding that Thunderpunch and Ice Punch should be slashed with Leech Life or Earthquake on the Sub-Punch set. It comes down to what's more important to beat and how badly you want that Leech Life recovery/shot at beating Mega-Sableye - EQ beats A-wak and Tapu Koko, Thunderpunch beats the stuff Fizz mentioned plus Pelipper, Gyarados (Mega or otherwise), and Azumarill (among other things that can take a Focus Punch), and Ice Punch lets you smash Lando-T and Gliscor while dealing respectable damage to Amoonguss (26.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge).

Also, you might want to consider Lunge over Leech Life on Roost sets. It's already got solid recovery from Roost itself, and Lunge nets you a guaranteed Attack drop on the enemy with the same power as Leech Life. This makes physically based opponents easier to take on regardless of how much bulk you're running, and it's actually possible to EV Buzzwole such that Lunge lets it wall CB Azumarill if you hit it on the switch and then again before it can attack (252 HP / 64 Atk / 192 Def Adamant takes 42.1 - 50.2% from -2 Play Rough, which is a guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery).

 

[Vert]

legit the only thing thunderpunch hits is mantine and pelipper (rain teams don't struggle against buzzwole to begin with). without earthquake, rocky helmet toxapex beats you 1v1 and can even stall you out in some cases. if you have a substitute, you would rather click focus punch against celesteela. gyarados doesn't enjoy a focus punch either.

doesn't deserve a slash and should only have a mention on the roost set since that's the only set i would consider using it on.

 

[Colonel M]

I'd also like to make a case for Lunge in the second set (Offensive Roost). I won't lie the healing benefit of Leech Life is very strong, but the defensive benefit you get from Lunge is also pretty notewhile. dwarfstar mentioned Azumarill as a small example, but you can also think of a lot of Flying-types and Steel-types that will switch in to some of the coverage moves you're considering. This is especially true for Earthquake / Poison Jab which many Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Scizor don't give a damn about.

Eventually Buzzwole will be forced out by these mons, but the drop in power helps Buzzwole and its teammates as well. One example is Mega Scizor - if it comes in on Buzzwole it can get a pretty free Swords Dance on the current set. The opportunity to use Lunge when Mega Scizor switches in stunts Mega Scizor's attack a bit. This is also true for Pokemon such as Celesteela who would have Heavy Slam's power dropped, Gyarados's Dragon Dance will only boost Speed and, thus, is not really able to set up effectively on Buzzwole. I am well aware the Gyarados could potentially run Flyinium-Z as well, so I am not going to deny the existence of it. Since Alola Marowak only cares about Earthquake Lunge can catch it off-guard and make it easier for Buzzwole's team to respond to (-1 Shadow Bone / Fire Punch is much easier to tank than +0 Shadow Bone / Fire Punch).

I guess what I'm saying is the utility provided by Lunge is worthwhile to consider on the second set. It guarantees that physical attackers can't switch-in safely without having their power cut down a notch.

 

[dwarfstar]

I'd argue Thunderpunch is still worth a mention on sub-punch, at least. It is your best bet against Azumarill (only way to 2HKO it if you don't have rocks up), and it allows you to cleanly OHKO fully offensive Gyarados after rocks at -1 (I'm assuming it's switching in as you sub) or gives you roughly a 31% chance to OHKO without rocks. On reexamination, probably inferior to Ice Punch as a coverage move because of how common Lando-T is, but I wouldn't call it useless.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

I'd also like to throw my support behind Lunge on Roost sets, as well as a mention for a more physically bulky EV spread. I'll just quote my post from in Buzzwole's discussion thread, which explains why I like Lunge a little more in-depth and explains the purpose behind that EV spread that dwarfstar cited:

I know it's easy to get caught up in the new and improved Leech Life, but I want to take a second to talk about how good Lunge seems on this guy. On Roost sets, the recovery from Leech Life isn't as important, and a guaranteed Atk drop coming from an 80 BP STAB move is amazing. Combined with Buzzwole's natural physical bulk, it makes him nearly impenetrable on the physical side, even against things that can hit him super effectively. Take CB Azumarill, for example. Ordinarily, it would make a great check to STABs + Ice Punch + Roost sets since it resists every move and can hit back with Play Rough. However, if Buzzwole hits it with Lunge on the switch and then outruns and hits it again before it can attack, you get this:

-2 252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 192 Def Buzzwole: 176-210 (42.1 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Now all of a sudden, Buzzwole can actually wall CB Azumarill! Even if the switch-in is something like Charizard X that does too much damage for Buzzwole to safely handle (-1 Jolly Flare Blitz does 53.1 - 63.1%), the Atk drop can help Buzzwole's teammates handle it much more easily (0/0 Landorus-T takes 43.5 - 51.7% from that same Flare Blitz after Intimidate). This makes Buzzwole one of the best utilities to handle physical attackers that a team could ever ask for. I really hope this thing doesn't end up being broken in the future, because its combination of offense and defense makes it seem like a very valuable Pokemon for balance teams. Its middling speed, low special bulk, common weaknesses, lack of a great Fighting STAB, and reliance on specific coverage moves to hit its counters should balance it out on paper, but we'll see.

P.S. If you're wondering why I picked those EVs, my full spread is 252 HP / 64 Atk / 192 Def with an Adamant nature. This spread maximizes Buzzwole's physical bulk while still giving it just enough Atk to ensure that Beast Boost gives it an Atk boost (plus, it hits an Atk jump point). It's designed to help it take on physical threats as well as possible, although faster and stronger spreads are certainly viable. In fact, the Atk drop from Lunge might be even more important if you're running less physical bulk.

 

[Charmflash]

I'd also like to empathize that lunge over leech life is a very strong alternative on SubRoost sets.

The -Atk drop allows 1.teammates that would be able to switch in, to switch in easier; 2.teammates that wouldn't be able to switch in, to switch in; 3.teammates that would be able to switch into certain sets, to switch into every set -> SSI to GSI upgrade. Overall the utility brought by this is more often than not better than the usually small heal from leech life.
Especially on less bulky sets or even teams lunge gains in value.

Also, there is a small benefit in pp which helps you stall out opposing teams that have only 1 counter (remaining) to your buzzwole.

An example would be their only counter being toxapex (it would already have to waste 2 scalds per sub and this would make it even worse for them)

 

[Alphanex20]

I'm suprised Taunt hasn't been mentioned. Buzzwole has a decent speed tier and Taunt + Roost is pretty cool (or taunt + Bulk Up). At the very least you can taunt stuff like Lando-T if you don't have Ice Punch.