Granbull (QC 0/3) (GP 0/2)

[Melons-N-Soda]

[OVERVIEW]

• Granbull is a decent Fairy-type option in the current metagame.
• Access to Intimidate combined with its defensive typing and solid physical bulk can make it a good check to common threats such as Druddigon, Sneasel, and Scrafty.
• It has solid support moves such as Heal Bell, Roar, and Thunder Wave.
• Granbull is not nearly as passive as its competition thanks to a great Attack stat and solid offensive movepool.
• Because of these good offensive attributes, it can also act as a good wallbreaker.
• However, Granbull lacks reliable recovery so it can be prone to being worn down over time.
• Poison-types such as Vileplume, Weezing, and Garbodor and Steel-types such as Steelix and Ferroseed are common and can make Granbull's time a hassle.
• Pitiful Special bulk makes it vulnerable to many special attacking threats such as Sceptile and Heliolisk.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Close Combat / Heal Bell
item: Choice Band / Icium Z
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe

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

• Play Rough is the strongest STAB move available to Granbull, which allows it to target the Dark- and Fighting-type Pokemon it usually checks such as Pangoro and Sneasel.
• Earthquake hits Poison-types such as Garbodor, and Fire-types such as Delphox and Magmortar, which don't take much from its STAB.
• Ice Punch namely hits Vileplume for super effective damage, but can also be useful to hit Flying-types like Xatu and Golbat.
• Close Combat is a choice in the last slot when using Choice Band for its chance to 2HKO common Steelix variants and for hitting Ferroseed as well. Heal Bell can alternatively be used when the item is Icium Z to provide cleric support.

Set Details
========

• Intimidate is the preferred ability on Granbull because of its ability to cripple most physical attackers.
• Choice Band, combined with its maximum Attack investment and Adamant nature, give Granbull the highest power it can possibly have, being able to always 2HKO common physical walls like Steelix and Granbull with Close Combat.
• On the other hand, Icium Z can help Granbull be a great Knock Off absorber, the ability to run moves like Heal Bell more freely, as well the ability to OHKO Vileplume with Subzero Slammer after Stealth Rock.
• 44 Speed EVs allow Granbull to outpace common metagame threats like Vileplume and Piloswine.
• The rest of the EVs are placed in HP to give it more chances to be on the field, as well giving it the ability to bluff a more defensive set.

Usage Tips
========

• The best Pokemon for Granbull to switch into are Fighting-types such as Scrafty and Medicham, as well as other physically attacking threats such as Sneasel and Aerodactyl. Its decent physical bulk combined with Intimidate are the main reasons for this.
• Despite this though, switching Granbull into Passimian is a risky move, since it carries both Defiant, which essentially reverses the stat drop enacted by Intimidate, and a powerful Gunk Shot. Switching it into Braviary isn't too recommended either because it also has access to Defiant, although it doesn't appreciate an Ice Punch on the switch.
• Also worth noting is that while Granbull's bulk is good, it can be overwhelmed quite easily, especially when Intimidate isn't in use.
• Close Combat is a high-risk high reward move, and its only recommended to use on targets that are specifically hit harder by it such as Steelix. On a lot of other, more frailer targets that are hit super effectively by both Fighting and Ground, Earthquake is a safer choice.
• On Icium Z sets, Heal Bell is best used when the opponent is forced to switch and your team has a status condition. It can also be used to bluff a more defensive variant of Granbull.

Team Options
========

• A Ground-type such as Rhydon, Steelix, and Piloswine can help cover Granbull's weaknesses to Steel and Poison, and these three in particular also provide Stealth Rock, which is important for Granbull to pick up KOs such as on Vileplume with Subzero Slammer.
• A Pokemon that can take on Special Attackers such as Slowking and Specially Defensive Vileplume is key because Granbull generally cannot take on these Pokemon at all because of its pitiful Special Defense.
• Pokemon that struggle against Fighting-types, such as Sneasel and Incineroar, appreciate Granbull's ability to easily take them on. These two Pokemon also provide Knock Off support, which can help in Granbull's wallbreaking by removing items like Leftovers.
• Pokemon that can handle bulky Water-types such as Dhelmise and Decidueye are also appreciated, since Granbull can often have trouble breaking through them and can get easily crippled by Scald.

[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Heal Bell
move 2: Thunder Wave / Roar
move 3: Play Rough
move 4: Earthquake
item: Leftovers / Normalium Z
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def

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

• Heal Bell is used on this set so Granbull can heal status off its teammates. It makes for a good cleric due to its good physical bulk and typing.
• Thunder Wave can be used for the sake of speed control and utility, helping its matchup against Pokemon like Incineroar and Mega Glalie. Roar can alternatively be used for phazing out entry hazard setters like Rhydon and Piloswine or for phazing other Pokemon troublesome to Granbull such as Braviary.
• Play Rough is a STAB move used so Granbull isn't as passive as it would be otherwise. Even with little investment the move hits decently hard.
• Lastly, Earthquake can be used to hit Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon such as Steelix, Delphox, and Incineroar.

Set Details
========

• Intimidate is the preferred ability on this set because it can cripple most physical attackers that Granbull attempts to wall.
• 248 HP and 252 Defense give Granbull as much physical bulk as possible. An Impish nature further boosts this.
• The remaining 8 EVs go into Attack, allowing Granbull to dish out decent damage even on a more bulky set such as this one.
• Leftovers gives Granbull passive recovery, which is the best recovery option available to it. On the other hand, Normalium Z can be used if your team doesn't have Z-Move user, and allows Granbull to be a great Knock Off absorber and use Heal Bell as a full healing recovery move.

Usage Tips
========

• This Granbull sets works on more bulky teams as a check to Fighting- and Dark- types like Sneasel, Scrafty, and Medicham thanks to its typing and physical bulk.
• Switching Granbull into Defiant users like Passimian and Braviary is an often risky move, however, since Intimidate will actually boost their Attack stat, and Passimian has super effective coverage in Gunk Shot.
• Roar should be used to prevent Granbull from being set-up bait, or in general it should be used against most bad matchups for Granbull.
• Since Normalium Z Heal Bell is a one time use move, it's best to use it wisely.

Team Options
========

• A bulky Ground-type such as Seismitoad and Rhydon help out with Granbull's vulnerability to Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon.
• A Wish user such as Vaporeon and Togedemaru can provide Granbull with recovering its HP, which can make it last longer during a match.
• A more Specially Defensive Pokemon such as Slowking and Vileplume can handle the Special Attackers that Granbull loses to.
• Pokemon that struggle against Fighting-types such as Steelix and Ferroseed like the fact that Granbull can generally handle these Pokemon.
• Pokemon that struggle with Knock Off, such as Golbat and Slowking, appreciate Granbull's ability to absorb it well.
• Similarly, Psychic-types like Xatu and Sigilyph appreciate Granbull's ability to take on Dark-types. These two also provide entry hazard blocking or removal, allowing Granbull to switch in more often.

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

• Wild Charge can hit both bulky Water-types like Vaporeon and Slowking, as well as having the same Flying-type coverage that Ice Punch provides, but the recoil isn't appreciated and the other moves listed provide much more valuable coverage.
• Bulk Up can attempt to be run on both variants of Granbull, but Granbull is much too slow to set up, its strong enough as is on offensive sets, and it lacks the space for it on defensive sets.

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

**Poison-types**: Pokemon such as Garbodor and Vileplume, while they don't like taking Earthquake or Ice Punch respectively, can easily switch in on Granbull otherwise and knock it out. Weezing in particular hard counters both variants of Granbull, the most of what Granbull can do to it is phaze it out via Roar.

**Steel-types**: Steelix doesn't like switching into to a Close Combat, but otherwise it can tank most of Granbull's attacks and even with Intimidate do a decent chunk of damage to it with Heavy Slam. More niche options such as Ferroseed and Klinklang are similar, in addition to Klinklang being completely immune to Intimidate thanks to Clear Body.

**Bulky Water-types**: Granbull has trouble breaking through Pokemon such as Vaporeon or Slowking thanks to good bulk and access to recovery options. They also pack Scald, which can cripple Granbull with a burn.

**Special Attackers**: Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Sceptile, and Magmortar, while they can't switch into Granbull very well, can easily revenge kill it thanks to its terrible Special Defense.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Melons-N-Soda, 206635]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[Rabia]

72 hours to get into QC or reassigning

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

I'll finish up the Offensive set today, and finish everything else up tomorrow.

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Now ready for QC!

 

[Rabia]

got unranked last slate, locking