SS LC Spotlight: Mienfoo

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Overview

All hail the Kung Fu Pokémon, Mienfoo! Thanks to a great movepool and solid ability in Regenerator, Mienfoo has cemented itself as a staple in LC. It is the definition of versatile, as it is capable of wielding many different sets and EV spreads, ranging from the traditional pivot with defensive investment to a devastating wallbreaker with Choice Band and full offensive investment. On top of its versatility, Mienfoo is made even more threatening by its utility; its ability to support its teammates with options like Knock Off, U-turn, and Fake Out is unmatched. This article will give a full run-down of Mienfoo, starting from its traditional sets and moving along to its underrated sets, best partners, and eventually ending with counterplay to the Kung Fu kid.

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Traditional Sets

Fast Pivot

Fast Pivot Mienfoo is Mienfoo's most defining set, providing both offensive and defensive utility and serving as a staple on many teams. Mienfoo is able to whittle down defensive cores with High Jump Kick, weaken checks with Knock Off, and pivot into a teammate with U-turn. The choice for the fourth moveslot depends on team structure. Fake Out is generally preferred to revenge kill foes, especially faster foes such as Vullaby after a Weak Armor boost, Staryu, and Choice Scarf Porygon, and help Mienfoo in the lead matchup. However, Taunt is useful for crippling status users such as Foongus and Koffing on builds that lack a dedicated status absorber, and it can also be used to deny Foongus and Mareanie from utilizing recovery moves, allowing Mienfoo to potentially beat them one-on-one. Regenerator defines Mienfoo and has innate synergy with U-turn, allowing it to consistently pivot into threats like Onix and Pawniard and absorb hits.

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Bulky Pivot / Slow Bulky Pivot

Bulky Mienfoo sacrifices Fast Mienfoo's ability to outspeed Pawniard and Vullaby to become an even bulkierdefensive wall. This set allows Mienfoo to better take attacks from Pokémon like Ferroseed, Fast Mienfoo, and Timburr, which could otherwise wear down Fast Mienfoo. The EV spread is notable for helping Mienfoo almost always survive Focus Sash Abra's Psychic and Adamant Vullaby's Brave Bird from full HP while holding an Eviolite. Slow Mienfoo is a variant of bulky Mienfoo that removes Speed investment to reach 10 Speed, which allows it to underspeed standard Mareanie. In doing so, Mienfoo gets to U-turn after Mareanie attacks and safely bring in Diglett to trap and eliminate the pesky Poison-type.

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Underrated sets

Choice Band

Choice Band turns Mienfoo into one of LC's strongest wallbreakers. The sheer power of Choice Band-boosted Reckless High Jump Kick has a high chance to OHKO neutral targets like Vullaby, Timburr, and opposing Mienfoo and 2HKO even Fighting-resistant foes like Foongus and Mareanie after Stealth Rock. Mienfoo's other moves are situational, as this set mainly wants to use High Jump Kick to demolish opposing defensive cores, but Knock Off and U-turn are great for softening opposing Poison-types into range for High Jump Kick. Close Combat provides an accurate and strong Fighting-type STAB move, while Drain Punch can be useful for offsetting potential recoil damage from High Jump Kick misses. This set is primarily seen on teams that are weak to Vullaby, such as double Grass with Grookey + Foongus, as a way to lure and remove the annoying bird in the lead matchup.

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Choice Scarf

The addition of Choice Scarf into Mienfoo's arsenal turns it into a very good revenge killer and cleaner. The extra Speed allows Mienfoo to threaten foes like Abra, Diglett, and Choice Scarf Magnemite and revenge kill boosted foes like Dragon Dance Tyrunt and Scraggy. Choice Scarf Mienfoo utilizes the threat of its revenge killing capabilities to generate momentum with U-turn, as the aforementioned foes will often switch out to avoid being KOed. Reckless High Jump Kick is a powerful tool to wreck weakened defensive cores, but Close Combat is generally the preferred move, as it allows Mienfoo to effectively clean late-game thanks to its accuracy. Be wary though, as, unlike High Jump Kick, the Defense drops from Close Combat leave Mienfoo vulnerable to revenge killing from priority users like Grookey.

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Swords Dance

Swords Dance Mienfoo is most commonly seen as a pick on Sticky Web offense teams, taking advantage of the Speed drop to power through the opposing team. This set can also serve as a niche lead on traditional teams, utilizing Inner Focus over Reckless to ignore Fake Out from opposing Mienfoo and set up with Swords Dance. High Jump Kick + Acrobatics forms a potent Fighting STAB and Flying pseudo-STAB combination that hits most of the metagame for at least neutral damage. Substitute allows Mienfoo to avoid crippling status such as Foongus's Spore and defensive Staryu's Thunder Wave, accumulate multiple Swords Dance boosts, and activate Berry Juice to empower Acrobatics.

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Common Partners

  

Mienfoo and Vullaby complement each other very well, which is why they are the two most used LC Pokémon. Mienfoo benefits from Vullaby checking Psychic-types like Abra and Galarian Ponyta and weakening checks such as Foongus and Mareanie. In return, it is able to handle Onix and Pawniard, which give Vullaby trouble, and preserve Vullaby's Berry Juice by absorbing Knock Off. Together, Mienfoo and Vullaby form a pivot core that is unmatched in its effectiveness in LC.

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Onix checks Vullaby and provides Stealth Rock, which has great synergy with Mienfoo's ability to wear down defensives cores with Fake Out + Knock Off + U-turn. Mienfoo is able to return the favor by checking troublesome foes that Onix has trouble breaking through, like Ferroseed and opposing Onix.

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Diglett is one of Mienfoo's best offensive partners and greatly benefits from its pivoting capabilities with U-turn. Diglett's ability to remove Mareanie and Abra, as well as pesky foes like Choice Scarf Vulpix and Staryu, can give Mienfoo and its many sets the opportunity to demolish the opposing team.

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Mienfoo and Timburr form a Fighting-type core that can wear down shared checks like Foongus and Mareanie. Choice Scarf Mienfoo is often the preferred Mienfoo set to pair with Timburr, dealing with problematic foes like Staryu and Abra and benefitting from Timburr's Knock Off support and priority.

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Counterplay

There are several actions that players can take to lower the effectiveness of Mienfoo. Firstly, carry Protect. Protect neutralizes three of Mienfoo's important tools: Fake Out, High Jump Kick, and its versatility and unpredictability with its sets. Running Protect on Pokémon that Mienfoo is suppose to check, like Ferroseed and Onix, can be effective for luring Mienfoo into its demise. Secondly, utilize Knock Off and status to cripple Mienfoo. Although Mienfoo is resistant to Knock Off, removing its item can interfere with its bulk or offensive prowess, which serves to limit its overall effectiveness. This can be further amplified by inflicting it with status. As Mienfoo will often look to directly switch into foes like Ferroseed or stay in to hit checks like Foongus and Mareanie with Knock Off, landing a potential Thunder Wave, Spore, or Scald burn can cripple Mienfoo for the rest of the game and lower its utility. Finally, it is important to carry several checks to Mienfoo and Fighting-types in general. Poison-types like Foongus, Mareanie, and Koffing are the best defensive answers to Mienfoo, while Psychic- and Flying-types like Abra, Galarian Ponyta, and Wingull threaten Mienfoo and force it out. Spritzee is one of the most reliable checks to Mienfoo, as it resists both High Jump Kick and Knock Off, blocks Fake Out and High Jump Kick with Protect, and threatens Mienfoo with Moonblast; furthermore, Spritzee's ability to support itself and its teammates with Wish makes it harder for Mienfoo to break defensive cores.

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Finishing Thoughts

The Kung Fu kid continues to evolve in its versatility as we move through SS LC. A dynamic offensive pivot, a devastating wallbreaker with Choice Band, or a powerful revenge killer and cleaner with Choice Scarf, Mienfoo has all the sets needed to shine on different teams. So, be sure to hop on the LC ladder and give some of the sets in this article a try. You will not regret it!

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