Taken over from Max
QC: Kl4ng / Lcass4919 / -Grim
GP: Haund / The Dutch Plumberjack
[OVERVIEW]
With great mixed defensive stats as well as a fantastic defensive typing, Mandibuzz finds it place as one of the best Defoggers in the metagame. Furthermore, with a great movepool, decent Speed for a defensive Pokemon, and access to greater abilities than its original ones such as Poison Heal, Delta Stream, and Prankster, it's one tough Pokemon to bring down overall. As for its movepool, it has a wide variety of support moves such as Taunt, Defog, Knock Off, and Whirlwind. However, Mandibuzz has a Stealth Rock weakness, cutting a fourth of its health lost each time it switches in, which is is pretty crippling for a Defogger. It's also worth mentioning that while Mandibuzz is a Taunt user, its also susceptible to Taunt itself, considering that the majority of its movesets won't have attacking moves. Lastly, its offensive stats are pretty lackluster, which is detrimental considering that the metagame mostly revolves around offensive playstyles.
[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Roost
move 2: Foul Play / Knock Off
move 3: Taunt / Whirlwind
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Toxic Orb / Leftovers
ability: Poison Heal / Magic Bounce / Intimidate / Prankster
nature: Bold / Impish
evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Roost is an obligatory recovery move to keep walling Pokemon that can only 3HKO Mandibuzz. Foul Play is the optimal choice for an attacking move on a physically defensive Mandibuzz; with it, Mandibuzz is guaranteed to beat a good number of physical attackers in the metagame. Knock Off is another fantastic option and a good way to cripple both special and physical attackers. Do not run Foul Play in conjunction with Intimidate, though, as it's counterproductive. Taunt is the preferred option due to its several uses, including preventing boosting and recovery, allowing Mandibuzz to slowly taking down its foes. Whirlwind is a good alternative if Mandibuzz is running Knock Off; this way, Mandibuzz will be able to still force out physical sweepers. Defog removes entry hazards from both sides of the fields, benefiting both Mandibuzz's teammates and itself with absence of Stealth Rock. Toxic is a way to slowly beat several walls or special attackers that take little damage from any of Mandibuzz attacking moves, such as Cresselia. Toxic is a generally inferior choice, however, because of the omnipresence of Poison Heal among the walls of this metagame.
Set Details
========
Mandibuzz's Defense EVs allow it to maximize its overall physical bulk to take physical attackers better. 248 HP allows Mandibuzz to switch into Stealth Rock five times, and 44 Speed EVs allow Mandibuzz to outspeed uninvested Suicune, Taunt it, and eventually win beat it one-on-one with Knock Off. They also allow Mandibuzz to phaze a Suicune using Roar with Whirlwind as well as outspeeding neutral-natured Cresselia. If you are not interested in outspeeding these two Pokemon, just move the Speed EVs to Defense while investing the leftover EVs into Special Defense. A balanced spread with investment in both defenses is not good; Pokemon just hit too hard in AAA, and a mixed EV spread will leave Mandibuzz unable to switch in on anything important. Poison Heal is the ability of choice so that Mandibuzz exploits its amazing recovery every turn and also makes it immune to other statuses once the Toxic Orb activates. Magic Bounce is an alternative ability that still allows Mandibuzz to avoid status, Taunt, and entry hazards at the same time, sending all of these back to the opponent. Intimidate is another great ability for being a better switch-in to physical attackers, although Mandibuzz misses recovery from Poison Heal, which is generally better to have. Prankster is also an option, as it gives priority to all of Mandibuzz's non-attacking moves. A Bold nature is supposed to be used alongside Foul Play, while an Impish one should be run along with Knock Off. Toxic Orb activates Poison Heal, but Leftovers can be used to provide valuable passive recovery if Mandibuzz is running Intimidate or Prankster.
Usage Tips
========
Pokemon that Mandibuzz can easily switch in on and later force out or KO with the suggested spread include Aegislash, Doublade, Skarmory, Snorlax, Mega Metagross, non-Choice Band Genesect, Suicune, and Mega Gyarados. Avoid Knock Off before getting poisoned when running Poison Heal. On the other hand, Mandibuzz should absorb Knock Off after acquiring its status, as it will take little damage from it and Toxic Orb will no longer be needed. However, do note this is not recommended if you are planning to use moves such as Aromatherapy and Heal Bell later in a game. Taunt and Defog shut down any chances of setting up entry hazards again, while Taunt and Toxic beat defensive Pokemon without Poison Heal. If it can switch in on the turn the foe sets up Stealth Rock with Magic Bounce, thus without taking damage, Mandibuzz will be able to avoid several 2HKOs later on the match. Try the best you can to switch in Mandibuzz on minimally threatening attacks so that it can start to wear down the opposing team. While Magic Bounce can be used to reflect back both enemy hazards and status moves, be on the lookout for the common Mold Breaker is common. Defiant and Competitive wielders are rather uncommon, but most of them are Pokemon with a Mega Evolution, such as Metagross and Ampharos, so think twice about Defogging when you see one of them. An Intimidate set can be used to switch in on a predicted Swords Dance or Dragon Dance to mitigate the boost, giving the foe a hard time having a solid damage output. However, Mandibuzz running Intimidate is vulnerable to all forms of status, so try to prevent them with Taunt whenever its possible. On the other hand, feel free to switch in on physical attacks even when Mandibuzz has been worn down a bit when running Intimidate.
Team Options
========
Balanced teams appreciate Mandibuzz's ease on dealing with setup sweepers. Stall teams also like Mandibuzz's entry hazard removal and support moves such as Knock Off and Taunt. These teams really appreciate Magic Bounce's capability of sending Taunt, status moves, and hazards back to the foe. This set is quite vulnerable to Fairies, so Pokemon such as Heatran that have good defensive synergy with Mandibuzz are appreciated. If not using Defog, always pair Mandibuzz with a Pokemon that can remove hazards, such as Skarmory or Mew. Special walls such as Chansey are Mandibuzz's best friends. Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock such as Staraptor and Braviary would make good use of Mandibuzz's hazard removal capabilities. Clerics such as Chansey and Umbreon are crucial teammates, especially paired with the Intimidate set, when Mandibuzz can't avoid status moves; however, note that a cleric is not as needed when running Poison Heal. Unaware Pokemon such as Cresselia are great options to deal with Defog and Competitive users that take advantage of Defog's evasion drop. Specially defensive Pokemon that struggle to deal with physical attackers such as Chansey form a great core with Intimidate Mandibuzz.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Roost
move 2: Knock Off / Foul Play
move 3: Taunt / Whirlwind
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Delta Stream / Volt Absorb / Prankster
nature: Careful / Calm
evs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Roost is Mandibuzz's fantastic and reliable recovery move. Knock Off is the preferred option due to this set focusing on Special Defense, but Foul Play is still a good option if you want to nail physical attackers harder. Taunt stops recovery and boosting moves, giving Mandibuzz the edge over walls and setup sweepers. Whirlwind is a good option to accumulate entry hazard damage and check setup sweepers. Defog is a great move to remove hazards if your team needs them off the field, while Toxic is a must-have to slowly beats walls if your team already has ways around hazards.
Set Details
========
Delta Stream is the preferred option in order to mitigate Mandibuzz weaknesses, while Volt Absorb is great for teams that want to deter Volt Switch and Thunder Wave. Volt Absorb also is useful if Stealth Rock is on the field. Prankster is also an option because it gives priority to all of Mandibuzz's non-attacking moves. The given EVs focus on Special Defense because Delta Stream cancels out three of Mandibuzz's weaknesses, two of which are mostly specially oriented, namely Electric and Ice. The Speed EVs allow Mandibuzz to outspeed Suicune and possibly phaze it before it can Roar out Mandibuzz. A Careful nature is preferred to use alongside Knock Off, while a Calm nature is better when you're using Foul Play.
Usage Tips
========
Mandibuzz has three fewer weaknesses with Delta Stream so it doesn't need to fear common STAB moves such as Thunderbolt. Note that Delta Stream does not mitigate the Stealth Rock weakness, as entry hazard damage goes before ability activation. If your Mandibuzz wields Volt Absorb, try to switch it in on an opposing Volt Switch, as gaining momentum is valuable. Watch out for Defiant or Competitive users, as they can be quite a pain if you allow them to get +2 off a Defog.
Team Options
========
Teams lacking a Thunder Wave and Volt Switch immunity would find it good to run Mandibuzz. Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock such as Zapdos, Staraptor, and Braviary are good teammates, as they appreciate Stealth Rock gone. Fighting-types Pokemon give this set more trouble due to its lack of physically defensive investment, so Cresselia, Doublade, and Aegislash are fantastic teammates in order to patch up this weakness. Pokemon running Unaware such as Suicune are great options to deal with Pokemon that get a boost from the Defog Evasion drop with Defiant and Competitive.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Unaware is a strong ability for almost any defensive threat, but on Mandibuzz it just doesn't increase its walling capabilities like the other abilities do, and it has already many ways to handle setup sweepers. Brave Bird offers a way to check Fighting-types in general, such as Heracross. Magic Guard is also useful for absorbing status and being immune to Stealth Rock, but Zapdos is a better Magic Guard user due to it being immune to Thunder Wave. Mandibuzz can provide slow pivoting with U-turn on any of the sets if there is no need for some of the moves slashed there. A set with Regenerator + U-turn is actually quite good to form a VoltTurn core. On any of the sets but Poison Heal, Rocky Helmet can be run, but Mandibuzz will be more pressured to use Roost often due to having no passive recovery.
Checks and Counters
===================
** Fairy-types **: Fairy-types are the ultimate counter to Mandibuzz, resisting every single of its attacks and inflicting hard damage on it. Pokemon that come to mind include Mega Diancie and Mega Altaria, especially the former, which can't be affected by Whirlwind or Toxic.
**Pixilate and Refrigerate**: Pixiliate and Refrigerate allow several threats that Mandibuzz would otherwise shut down to inflict severe damage on it.
**Status**: Without Poison Heal or Magic Bounce, Mandibuzz's effectiveness is extremely hindered while it's burned or poisoned, making it setup fodder to pretty much any relevant physical threat.
**Taunt**: Taunt is Mandibuzz's nightmare when it's not running Magic Bounce, and Mold Breaker allows Taunt users to go even through that. Taunt also prevents Mandibuzz from using Roost and Defog, allowing some Pokemon to easily beat Mandibuzz. Most Taunt users have enough bulk to take a few Foul Plays as well.
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Heracross and Lucario are great checks to non-Brave Bird Mandibuzz sets, as Mandibuzz can't do much back to them, even with Foul Play.
**Defiant or Competitive users**: Defiant or Competitive users such as Metagross and Ampharos can switch in on a Defog and get an easy +2 boost, which obviously threatens Mandibuzz.
QC: Kl4ng / Lcass4919 / -Grim
GP: Haund / The Dutch Plumberjack
[OVERVIEW]
With great mixed defensive stats as well as a fantastic defensive typing, Mandibuzz finds it place as one of the best Defoggers in the metagame. Furthermore, with a great movepool, decent Speed for a defensive Pokemon, and access to greater abilities than its original ones such as Poison Heal, Delta Stream, and Prankster, it's one tough Pokemon to bring down overall. As for its movepool, it has a wide variety of support moves such as Taunt, Defog, Knock Off, and Whirlwind. However, Mandibuzz has a Stealth Rock weakness, cutting a fourth of its health lost each time it switches in, which is is pretty crippling for a Defogger. It's also worth mentioning that while Mandibuzz is a Taunt user, its also susceptible to Taunt itself, considering that the majority of its movesets won't have attacking moves. Lastly, its offensive stats are pretty lackluster, which is detrimental considering that the metagame mostly revolves around offensive playstyles.
[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Roost
move 2: Foul Play / Knock Off
move 3: Taunt / Whirlwind
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Toxic Orb / Leftovers
ability: Poison Heal / Magic Bounce / Intimidate / Prankster
nature: Bold / Impish
evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Roost is an obligatory recovery move to keep walling Pokemon that can only 3HKO Mandibuzz. Foul Play is the optimal choice for an attacking move on a physically defensive Mandibuzz; with it, Mandibuzz is guaranteed to beat a good number of physical attackers in the metagame. Knock Off is another fantastic option and a good way to cripple both special and physical attackers. Do not run Foul Play in conjunction with Intimidate, though, as it's counterproductive. Taunt is the preferred option due to its several uses, including preventing boosting and recovery, allowing Mandibuzz to slowly taking down its foes. Whirlwind is a good alternative if Mandibuzz is running Knock Off; this way, Mandibuzz will be able to still force out physical sweepers. Defog removes entry hazards from both sides of the fields, benefiting both Mandibuzz's teammates and itself with absence of Stealth Rock. Toxic is a way to slowly beat several walls or special attackers that take little damage from any of Mandibuzz attacking moves, such as Cresselia. Toxic is a generally inferior choice, however, because of the omnipresence of Poison Heal among the walls of this metagame.
Set Details
========
Mandibuzz's Defense EVs allow it to maximize its overall physical bulk to take physical attackers better. 248 HP allows Mandibuzz to switch into Stealth Rock five times, and 44 Speed EVs allow Mandibuzz to outspeed uninvested Suicune, Taunt it, and eventually win beat it one-on-one with Knock Off. They also allow Mandibuzz to phaze a Suicune using Roar with Whirlwind as well as outspeeding neutral-natured Cresselia. If you are not interested in outspeeding these two Pokemon, just move the Speed EVs to Defense while investing the leftover EVs into Special Defense. A balanced spread with investment in both defenses is not good; Pokemon just hit too hard in AAA, and a mixed EV spread will leave Mandibuzz unable to switch in on anything important. Poison Heal is the ability of choice so that Mandibuzz exploits its amazing recovery every turn and also makes it immune to other statuses once the Toxic Orb activates. Magic Bounce is an alternative ability that still allows Mandibuzz to avoid status, Taunt, and entry hazards at the same time, sending all of these back to the opponent. Intimidate is another great ability for being a better switch-in to physical attackers, although Mandibuzz misses recovery from Poison Heal, which is generally better to have. Prankster is also an option, as it gives priority to all of Mandibuzz's non-attacking moves. A Bold nature is supposed to be used alongside Foul Play, while an Impish one should be run along with Knock Off. Toxic Orb activates Poison Heal, but Leftovers can be used to provide valuable passive recovery if Mandibuzz is running Intimidate or Prankster.
Usage Tips
========
Pokemon that Mandibuzz can easily switch in on and later force out or KO with the suggested spread include Aegislash, Doublade, Skarmory, Snorlax, Mega Metagross, non-Choice Band Genesect, Suicune, and Mega Gyarados. Avoid Knock Off before getting poisoned when running Poison Heal. On the other hand, Mandibuzz should absorb Knock Off after acquiring its status, as it will take little damage from it and Toxic Orb will no longer be needed. However, do note this is not recommended if you are planning to use moves such as Aromatherapy and Heal Bell later in a game. Taunt and Defog shut down any chances of setting up entry hazards again, while Taunt and Toxic beat defensive Pokemon without Poison Heal. If it can switch in on the turn the foe sets up Stealth Rock with Magic Bounce, thus without taking damage, Mandibuzz will be able to avoid several 2HKOs later on the match. Try the best you can to switch in Mandibuzz on minimally threatening attacks so that it can start to wear down the opposing team. While Magic Bounce can be used to reflect back both enemy hazards and status moves, be on the lookout for the common Mold Breaker is common. Defiant and Competitive wielders are rather uncommon, but most of them are Pokemon with a Mega Evolution, such as Metagross and Ampharos, so think twice about Defogging when you see one of them. An Intimidate set can be used to switch in on a predicted Swords Dance or Dragon Dance to mitigate the boost, giving the foe a hard time having a solid damage output. However, Mandibuzz running Intimidate is vulnerable to all forms of status, so try to prevent them with Taunt whenever its possible. On the other hand, feel free to switch in on physical attacks even when Mandibuzz has been worn down a bit when running Intimidate.
Team Options
========
Balanced teams appreciate Mandibuzz's ease on dealing with setup sweepers. Stall teams also like Mandibuzz's entry hazard removal and support moves such as Knock Off and Taunt. These teams really appreciate Magic Bounce's capability of sending Taunt, status moves, and hazards back to the foe. This set is quite vulnerable to Fairies, so Pokemon such as Heatran that have good defensive synergy with Mandibuzz are appreciated. If not using Defog, always pair Mandibuzz with a Pokemon that can remove hazards, such as Skarmory or Mew. Special walls such as Chansey are Mandibuzz's best friends. Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock such as Staraptor and Braviary would make good use of Mandibuzz's hazard removal capabilities. Clerics such as Chansey and Umbreon are crucial teammates, especially paired with the Intimidate set, when Mandibuzz can't avoid status moves; however, note that a cleric is not as needed when running Poison Heal. Unaware Pokemon such as Cresselia are great options to deal with Defog and Competitive users that take advantage of Defog's evasion drop. Specially defensive Pokemon that struggle to deal with physical attackers such as Chansey form a great core with Intimidate Mandibuzz.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Roost
move 2: Knock Off / Foul Play
move 3: Taunt / Whirlwind
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Delta Stream / Volt Absorb / Prankster
nature: Careful / Calm
evs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Roost is Mandibuzz's fantastic and reliable recovery move. Knock Off is the preferred option due to this set focusing on Special Defense, but Foul Play is still a good option if you want to nail physical attackers harder. Taunt stops recovery and boosting moves, giving Mandibuzz the edge over walls and setup sweepers. Whirlwind is a good option to accumulate entry hazard damage and check setup sweepers. Defog is a great move to remove hazards if your team needs them off the field, while Toxic is a must-have to slowly beats walls if your team already has ways around hazards.
Set Details
========
Delta Stream is the preferred option in order to mitigate Mandibuzz weaknesses, while Volt Absorb is great for teams that want to deter Volt Switch and Thunder Wave. Volt Absorb also is useful if Stealth Rock is on the field. Prankster is also an option because it gives priority to all of Mandibuzz's non-attacking moves. The given EVs focus on Special Defense because Delta Stream cancels out three of Mandibuzz's weaknesses, two of which are mostly specially oriented, namely Electric and Ice. The Speed EVs allow Mandibuzz to outspeed Suicune and possibly phaze it before it can Roar out Mandibuzz. A Careful nature is preferred to use alongside Knock Off, while a Calm nature is better when you're using Foul Play.
Usage Tips
========
Mandibuzz has three fewer weaknesses with Delta Stream so it doesn't need to fear common STAB moves such as Thunderbolt. Note that Delta Stream does not mitigate the Stealth Rock weakness, as entry hazard damage goes before ability activation. If your Mandibuzz wields Volt Absorb, try to switch it in on an opposing Volt Switch, as gaining momentum is valuable. Watch out for Defiant or Competitive users, as they can be quite a pain if you allow them to get +2 off a Defog.
Team Options
========
Teams lacking a Thunder Wave and Volt Switch immunity would find it good to run Mandibuzz. Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock such as Zapdos, Staraptor, and Braviary are good teammates, as they appreciate Stealth Rock gone. Fighting-types Pokemon give this set more trouble due to its lack of physically defensive investment, so Cresselia, Doublade, and Aegislash are fantastic teammates in order to patch up this weakness. Pokemon running Unaware such as Suicune are great options to deal with Pokemon that get a boost from the Defog Evasion drop with Defiant and Competitive.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Unaware is a strong ability for almost any defensive threat, but on Mandibuzz it just doesn't increase its walling capabilities like the other abilities do, and it has already many ways to handle setup sweepers. Brave Bird offers a way to check Fighting-types in general, such as Heracross. Magic Guard is also useful for absorbing status and being immune to Stealth Rock, but Zapdos is a better Magic Guard user due to it being immune to Thunder Wave. Mandibuzz can provide slow pivoting with U-turn on any of the sets if there is no need for some of the moves slashed there. A set with Regenerator + U-turn is actually quite good to form a VoltTurn core. On any of the sets but Poison Heal, Rocky Helmet can be run, but Mandibuzz will be more pressured to use Roost often due to having no passive recovery.
Checks and Counters
===================
** Fairy-types **: Fairy-types are the ultimate counter to Mandibuzz, resisting every single of its attacks and inflicting hard damage on it. Pokemon that come to mind include Mega Diancie and Mega Altaria, especially the former, which can't be affected by Whirlwind or Toxic.
**Pixilate and Refrigerate**: Pixiliate and Refrigerate allow several threats that Mandibuzz would otherwise shut down to inflict severe damage on it.
**Status**: Without Poison Heal or Magic Bounce, Mandibuzz's effectiveness is extremely hindered while it's burned or poisoned, making it setup fodder to pretty much any relevant physical threat.
**Taunt**: Taunt is Mandibuzz's nightmare when it's not running Magic Bounce, and Mold Breaker allows Taunt users to go even through that. Taunt also prevents Mandibuzz from using Roost and Defog, allowing some Pokemon to easily beat Mandibuzz. Most Taunt users have enough bulk to take a few Foul Plays as well.
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Heracross and Lucario are great checks to non-Brave Bird Mandibuzz sets, as Mandibuzz can't do much back to them, even with Foul Play.
**Defiant or Competitive users**: Defiant or Competitive users such as Metagross and Ampharos can switch in on a Defog and get an easy +2 boost, which obviously threatens Mandibuzz.
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