Overview
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Mienshao has very good Attack and Speed, which makes it a dangerous Pokemon to come up against. Mienshao not only hits very hard, but also supports the team by using helpful status moves. However, Mienshao is very frail and has many checks and counters.
Offensive Support
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name: Offensive Support
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: High Jump Kick / Low Sweep
move 3: Rock Slide / Knock Off
move 4: Wide Guard / Quick Guard / Detect
ability: Inner Focus
item: Focus Sash
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
Fake Out is essential on any Mienshao set, as it plays a huge role in VGC. Fake Out almost always causes the foe to flinch, allowing your Pokemon to set up, avoid a dangerous attack, and get rid of Focus Sashes. High Jump Kick is one of Mienshao's preferred STAB moves due to its high damage output. However, a major flaw of this move is that Mienshao loses 50% of its HP if it misses or if the foe uses Protect. Low Sweep is the second best physical STAB attack because it has a 100% chance to lower the opposing Pokemon's Speed, which can be very useful for outspeeding Pokemon. Rock Slide provides great coverage against Flying-types, but Knock Off gives Mienshao a great way to attack Psychic- and Ghost-types. Removing the target's item as well is a great bonus. Quick Guard can be used to stop Talonflame's deadly priority STAB Flying-type attacks and other priority moves. Also, Pokemon with Prankster will be stopped by Quick Guard. If you're having trouble dealing with attacks that affect all the Pokemon in the field, such as Earthquake, Rock Slide, Discharge, Surf, or Boomburst, you can replace Quick Guard with Wide Guard.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and Speed EVs are used so Mienshao can hit as hard and fast as possible. 4 HP EVs are important because if Mienshao misses High Jump Kick two times without getting damaged, it will still have 1 HP remaining. Inner Focus works well to prevent Mienshao from getting flinched by Fake Out. Because Mienshao is so frail, it appreciates Focus Sash, which prevents it from being OHKOed by any attack. The nature is Jolly so Mienshao can outspeed anything below base 105 Speed, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y.
Usage Tips
========
This is a pretty standard offensive support set which allows Mienshao to hit hard and support the team as well. Focus Sash gives Mienshao a chance to take a free hit. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Zapdos, and Mega Charizard Y usually have spread moves, so keep Wide Guard in mind in these situations. Rock Slide and High Jump Kick allow Mienshao to KO Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, respectively. Mienshao can also help its teammates set up by using Fake Out on the first turn. Use Mienshao to check Bisharp, Mega Gyarados, Hydreigon, Liepard, Smeargle, Mega Charizard Y, Tyranitar, and Mega Kangaskhan for your team.
Team Options
========
Mienshao works great as a lead and can give your team an early advantage with Fake Out so its teammates can set up or freely attack. Wide Guard and Quick Guard shield the team from multi-hit and priority attacks, respectively. Wide Guard helps Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y avoid Rock Slide, or Aegislash from Earthquake and Heat Wave. Quick Guard helps Pokemon that are weak to priority, such as Tyranitar against Mach Punch or Aegislash against Sucker Punch. If you need a fast physical attacker, Mienshao hits hard with its base 125 Attack and outspeeds many Pokemon with its base 105 Speed.
Other Options
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U-turn is an option so Mienshao can scout the opponent's Pokemon and escape danger while doing a little damage. Life Orb is an option for Mienshao so it can do high damage to its targets. Reckless works great with High Jump Kick if you're trying to do huge amounts of damage. Taunt alongside Mienshao's Speed is another good option to avoid status moves such as Spore, Will-O-Wisp, and Thunder Wave. If you want to have a secure damaging attack, Feint is the way to go if you want to break through Protect, Detect, Wide Guard, Quick Guard, Spiky Shield, and King's Shield.
Checks & Counters
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**Flying-types**: Mega Pinsir and Talonflame's priority attacks can easily OHKO Mienshao.
**Psychic-types**: Bulky Psychic-types that can take any of Mienshao's attacks, such as Gothitelle and Reuniclus, are good checks.
**Ghost-types**: Aegislash is a huge counter to Mienshao because it takes little or no damage from all of Mienshao's attacks.
**Fairy-types**: Pokemon such as Gardevoir, Sylveon, Aromatisse, and Florges can take Mienshao's STAB attacks and retaliate with their STAB Fairy attacks.
**Pokemon with Will-O-Wisp and Protect**: Especially from Prankster users, Will-O-Wisp can make Mienshao's Attack stat useless. Protect can get in the way of Mienshao's STAB High Jump Kick.
**Trick Room**: Trick Room makes Mienshao's good Speed a liability and makes Mienshao extremely vulnerable.
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Mienshao has very good Attack and Speed, which makes it a dangerous Pokemon to come up against. Mienshao not only hits very hard, but also supports the team by using helpful status moves. However, Mienshao is very frail and has many checks and counters.
Offensive Support
########
name: Offensive Support
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: High Jump Kick / Low Sweep
move 3: Rock Slide / Knock Off
move 4: Wide Guard / Quick Guard / Detect
ability: Inner Focus
item: Focus Sash
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
Fake Out is essential on any Mienshao set, as it plays a huge role in VGC. Fake Out almost always causes the foe to flinch, allowing your Pokemon to set up, avoid a dangerous attack, and get rid of Focus Sashes. High Jump Kick is one of Mienshao's preferred STAB moves due to its high damage output. However, a major flaw of this move is that Mienshao loses 50% of its HP if it misses or if the foe uses Protect. Low Sweep is the second best physical STAB attack because it has a 100% chance to lower the opposing Pokemon's Speed, which can be very useful for outspeeding Pokemon. Rock Slide provides great coverage against Flying-types, but Knock Off gives Mienshao a great way to attack Psychic- and Ghost-types. Removing the target's item as well is a great bonus. Quick Guard can be used to stop Talonflame's deadly priority STAB Flying-type attacks and other priority moves. Also, Pokemon with Prankster will be stopped by Quick Guard. If you're having trouble dealing with attacks that affect all the Pokemon in the field, such as Earthquake, Rock Slide, Discharge, Surf, or Boomburst, you can replace Quick Guard with Wide Guard.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and Speed EVs are used so Mienshao can hit as hard and fast as possible. 4 HP EVs are important because if Mienshao misses High Jump Kick two times without getting damaged, it will still have 1 HP remaining. Inner Focus works well to prevent Mienshao from getting flinched by Fake Out. Because Mienshao is so frail, it appreciates Focus Sash, which prevents it from being OHKOed by any attack. The nature is Jolly so Mienshao can outspeed anything below base 105 Speed, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y.
Usage Tips
========
This is a pretty standard offensive support set which allows Mienshao to hit hard and support the team as well. Focus Sash gives Mienshao a chance to take a free hit. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Zapdos, and Mega Charizard Y usually have spread moves, so keep Wide Guard in mind in these situations. Rock Slide and High Jump Kick allow Mienshao to KO Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, respectively. Mienshao can also help its teammates set up by using Fake Out on the first turn. Use Mienshao to check Bisharp, Mega Gyarados, Hydreigon, Liepard, Smeargle, Mega Charizard Y, Tyranitar, and Mega Kangaskhan for your team.
Team Options
========
Mienshao works great as a lead and can give your team an early advantage with Fake Out so its teammates can set up or freely attack. Wide Guard and Quick Guard shield the team from multi-hit and priority attacks, respectively. Wide Guard helps Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y avoid Rock Slide, or Aegislash from Earthquake and Heat Wave. Quick Guard helps Pokemon that are weak to priority, such as Tyranitar against Mach Punch or Aegislash against Sucker Punch. If you need a fast physical attacker, Mienshao hits hard with its base 125 Attack and outspeeds many Pokemon with its base 105 Speed.
Other Options
########
U-turn is an option so Mienshao can scout the opponent's Pokemon and escape danger while doing a little damage. Life Orb is an option for Mienshao so it can do high damage to its targets. Reckless works great with High Jump Kick if you're trying to do huge amounts of damage. Taunt alongside Mienshao's Speed is another good option to avoid status moves such as Spore, Will-O-Wisp, and Thunder Wave. If you want to have a secure damaging attack, Feint is the way to go if you want to break through Protect, Detect, Wide Guard, Quick Guard, Spiky Shield, and King's Shield.
Checks & Counters
########
**Flying-types**: Mega Pinsir and Talonflame's priority attacks can easily OHKO Mienshao.
**Psychic-types**: Bulky Psychic-types that can take any of Mienshao's attacks, such as Gothitelle and Reuniclus, are good checks.
**Ghost-types**: Aegislash is a huge counter to Mienshao because it takes little or no damage from all of Mienshao's attacks.
**Fairy-types**: Pokemon such as Gardevoir, Sylveon, Aromatisse, and Florges can take Mienshao's STAB attacks and retaliate with their STAB Fairy attacks.
**Pokemon with Will-O-Wisp and Protect**: Especially from Prankster users, Will-O-Wisp can make Mienshao's Attack stat useless. Protect can get in the way of Mienshao's STAB High Jump Kick.
**Trick Room**: Trick Room makes Mienshao's good Speed a liability and makes Mienshao extremely vulnerable.
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