QC: iplaytennislol | |
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[OVERVIEW]
Granbull's good physical bulk coupled with its ability Intimidate let it check numerous physical attackers with ease. This is further helped with its excellent Fairy-type, which gives it useful resistances to Dark-, Fighting-, and Bug-type moves. Granbull's coverage is also excellent, with Play Rough and Earthquake forming a very potent combination that leaves few Pokemon that resist it in NU. Granbull also has an impressive supportive movepool, consisting of moves such as Thunder Wave, Roar, and Heal Bell. Its Base 120 Attack stat means that Granbull can still do impressive damage, even without any Attack investment. However, Granbull's Special Defense and Speed stat are extremely low, which prevents it from beating majority of special attacker in the metagame. Additionally, Granbull is hampered by its lack of recovery outside RestTalk, meaning that Granbull requires Wish support to not be worn down quickly. Furthermore, Granbull will often be switching into Knock Off, which will make it lose its passive recovery and make it even easier to wear down.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Thunder Wave
ability: Intimidate
item: Leftovers
evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
nature: Adamant
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Play Rough is Granbull's main choice for STAB, and does solid damage off of its 120 Base attack stat
- Earthquake hits the Fire-, Steel-, and Poison-types that resist Play Rough like Pyroar and Garbodor
- Fire Punch allows Granbull to inflict serious damage upon Vileplume and Ferroseed
- Thunder Punch is an option to hit Fletchinder, which resists Granbull's other attacks, and also hits Pelipper and Mantine for 4x super effective damage
- Thunder Wave cripples opposing Pokemon, making them much easier for your team to outspeed
- Heal Bell is another option that turns Granbull into an offensive cleric by healing its team from status
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- 212 HP EVs minimizes SR damage and keeps it as bulky as possible, while 44 Spe is used to outspeed uninvested Base 50s such as Muk, Hariyama, and Vileplume
- Adamant Nature and maximum attack investment is used to beef up Granbull's damage and capitalize on its 120 base attack stat
- Leftovers is used to increase longevity
- Choice Band can be used over Leftovers for immediate power, if doing so Granbull should use Thunder Punch or Sleep Talk over Thunder Wave for better coverage
- Intimidate lowers the Attack stat of the opposing Pokemon and eases Granbull's switches
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- Granbull should always use Thunder Wave or the appropriate coverage move when one is predicting a switch
- Thunder Wave should be often used early- to mid-game to slow down opposiong Pokemon so that late-game cleaners can finish with ease
- Granbull should still abuse Intimidate to come in on certain threats like Hariyama, Sawk, Gallade, or any other physical attacker that can't do significant damage to it
- Due to Granbull's lack of defensive investment, it should be played more conservatively/safely if the opponent has an important threat that Granbull checks/counters
- When Granbull switches in on a physical attacker it can beat such as Gurdurr, it can lure opposing Steel- and Poison-types that can switch in to Play Rough and beat them by using Earthquake on the switch
- If the opposing player's team carries Grass-types that typically wall Granbull like Vileplume or Ferroseed, it can predict the switch to them and use Fire Punch to do significant damage and can 2HKO after some prior damage
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- Special pivots or walls such as Mega Audino or Lanturn are very useful to take the special attacks aimed at Granbull, as it is much easier to KO from the special side than the physical side.
- Slower wallbreakers can appreciate the Paralysis support that can be provided by Granbull, such as Mawile and Samurott
- Lilligant is a solid partner, with Granbull resisting Bug and being able to lure Pokemon such as Vileplume and Muk in and take them out with its coverage, allowing Lilligant to have less trouble sweeping and also allowing it to pick a different HP than it would normally run to get past certain Pokemon that Granbull beats
- Psychic-types such as Musharna appreciate Granbull's ability to lure in Steel-types and take them out with Earthquake or Fire Punch, while Granbull resisting Dark- and Bug-type attacks aimed at it, while these Psychic-types can beat faster
- Pokemon that lure Weezing, who resists Granbull's Fairy/Ground coverage are very helpful; Pokemon such as Zen Headbutt Sawk and Natural Gift Starf Leafeon can lure it in and take it out
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Heal Bell
move 4: Thunder Wave
ability: Intimidate
item: Leftovers
evs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
nature: Impish
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Play Rough is Granbull's main choice for STAB, and does solid damage off of its 120 Base attack stat,
- Earthquake hits the Fire-Types, Posion-Types, and Steel-Types which resist Play Rough, making it a good attacking combo to hit Pokemon such as Garbodor or Magmortar
- Heal Bell allows Granbull to play the role of a cleric as well as a pivot, allowing it to heal its teammates from any detrimental status
- Thunder Wave cripples opposing Pokemon, making them much easier for your team to outspeed
- Roar is an option that pairs nicely with Thunder Wave as it can effectively Parashuffle, and helps phaze out setup sweepers that aren't bothered by Paralysis, such as BU Gurdurr. Works best when another Heal Bell user like Audino or Miltank is present to compensate for Granbull not using the move itself.
- Super Fang is another option that allows Granbull to wear down many Pokemon by cutting their HP in half, pressuring them
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- 248 HP EVs minimizes SR damage, and 252 Def keeps it as physically bulky as possible
- Impish Nature is used to maximize Defense
- Leftovers to increase longevity
- Intimidate lowers the Attack stat of the opposing Pokemon, and coupled with defensive investment makes Granbull very hard to take down with physical attacks
Usage Tips
========
- Used to switch in and cripple / phaze out physical threats like Gallade, Sawk, Physical Samurott, Kangashkhan, and Hariyama
- Handles Fighting-Type spam very well with its typing and its access to Thunder Wave which can cripple them
- Heal Bell should be used when Granbull forces a switch against Pokemon like Sawk or Hariyama
- Thunder Wave should be used whenever Granbull is facing off against an offensive Pokemon, and should also be used when predicting a switch-in to cripple them
- Granbull is extremely easy to wear down, especially if it loses Leftovers to Knock Off, meaning that it should be played carefully when taking repeated from opposing Pokemon, and should not be lost early if it checks or counters an opposing Pokemon that is still troublesome on the opponent's team.
========
- Wish support is useful as Granbull has no form of recovery outside of Leftovers, so Audino is a good partner that can stomach special attacks and use Wish to heal Granbull, while in turn Granbull using Heal Bell frees a moveslot up for Audino and resists Fighting, and both Granbull and Audino are normally used on stall teams
- Steel-types like Ferroseed can take Poison and Steel-type attacks for Granbull, while Granbull can switch into Fighting attacks in turn
- Psychic-types like Jynx and Musharna hate Dark- and Bug-types like Sneasel and Scyther, which Granbull easily checks, while these Psychic-types are able to beat Poison-types like Weezing and Vileplume that Granbull struggles with
- Bouffalant and Zangoose are good partners as they benefit from Granbull's use of Thunder Wave to slow opposing Pokemon down so that they can wallbreak, while Granbull also covers their only weakness to Fighting
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- RestTalk
- Taunt
- Bulk Up
- Crunch
Checks and Counters
===================
**Strong Special Attackers**: Pokemon such as Mesprit and Jynx all can easily 2HKO it with with Psychic without much effort, but must be careful, as they can rarely switch in on either set.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Miltank, Prinplup, Quagsire, and Rhydon are both examples, eating up any almost any move it has and retaliating, but Rhydon fears being hit by the multiple Earthquakes.
**Fire-Types**: Most Fire-types resist Granbull's STAB and threaten to KO back. Magmortar and Specs Pyroar are examples, as they can switch into Play Rough and can KO Granbull with their powerful attacks, but they must watch out for Earthquake or Thunder Wave.
**Poison-Types**: Most Poison-types carry a second type, which allows them to survive an Earthquake and KO back, while most offensive ones can simply KO Granbull outright, an example is Weezing, who doesn't care about anything it does and easily KOes back with Sludge Bomb or cripples with Will-O-Wisp. Other examples include Vileplume, who either requires prior damage for Granbull to 2HKO or simply outspeeds it, and Garbodor who can outspeed and 2HKO with Gunk Shot, but must be wary of Earthquake.
**Steel-Types**: Pawniard is an excellent check, and Granbull can't switch in to due to the Defiant boost given by Intimidate, and Klinklang has Clear Body to ignore Intimidate, and can outspeed and KO Granbull. However, they must all be careful switching in, as Granbull usually carries a coverage move that can OHKO or 2HKO them.
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