[OVERVIEW]
Due to its great defensive typing, Mawile has found its place in NU both as an offensive threat with Sheer Force and Life Orb and as a defensive threat with Intimidate and support moves. That isn't the end of Mawile, however, as it also has access to a lot of usable moves for either set, such as Sucker Punch, Stealth Rock, and Baton Pass. Offensive Mawile is also one of the better setup sweepers that can easily get past Mega Audino. However, Mawile's below average base stats let it down a lot of the time, as it really has to specialize either offensively or defensively to be as effective as possible. As a result, the defensive set isn't all that powerful, the offensive set isn't very bulky, and both sets suffer from being quite slow. Its low base Speed means that it relies on Sucker Punch against faster threats, which they can take advantage of. Lastly, while Mawile's physical bulk is passable even when uninvested, its special bulk is terrible regardless, so it takes quite a bit of damage even from resisted special attacks.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Swords Dance / Stealth Rock
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Play Rough has great neutral coverage and gains a power boost from Sheer Force. Sucker Punch is used to help Mawile patch up its below average Speed for an offensive Pokemon. Iron Head is a fully accurate STAB move that hit Poison-types, Mega Audino, and Rock-types much harder than Play Rough, although there is a slight drop in power against everything else. Swords Dance allows Mawile to get past almost any defensive Pokemon in the tier bar Quagsire. Stealth Rock is an option over Swords Dance, though, if the team doesn't require the extra power that Mawile gains from it. Alternatively, Fire Fang can be used to hit the Steel-types that Mawile otherwise cannot touch.
Set Details
========
Maximum Attack EVs and an Adamant nature are used to hit as hard as possible, and maximum Speed EVs enable Mawile able to outspeed most defensive Pokemon that don't invest in Speed, as well as Jolly Rhydon. Life Orb is used to further boost the power of Mawile's moves, which are boosted even more by Sheer Force save for Sucker Punch.
Usage Tips
========
This set should be played as a wallbreaker, as Mawile can easily break through most defensive Pokemon after a boost except Quagsire and, if not using Fire Fang, Steel-types. Due to Mawile's typing, it can easily deal with a lot of the Dark- and Psychic-types in the tier, as well as slower Fighting-types and Flying-types that have no way to touch it. However, while Mawile can get rid of Dark-types, it has a relatively hard time switching in again a lot of them, as they can get rid of its Life Orb with Knock Off or deal a lot of damage with special attacks. While Sucker Punch helps Mawile with its low Speed, Pokemon such as Rotom, Lilligant, and Klinklang can take advantage of this by using Will-O-Wisp or setting up. Use Mawile's resistances and physical bulk to come in on Pokemon that have no way to deal significant damage to it, such as Scyther, physical Skuntank, and Mega Audino without Fire Blast. Alternatively, a slow pivot such as Lanturn can be used to get Mawile in safely. It's important for Swords Dance variants to preserve most of their HP for when they need to set up, as a weakened Mawile has far fewer opportunities to do so than a healthy one. This is not as much of a concern for Stealth Rock variants, though. For the Pokemon that Mawile normally can set up on, make sure they aren't using coverage moves that hit Mawile super effectively, as this can thwart Mawile's attempt to set up. If Mawile is using Stealth Rock, use it against Pokemon that Mawile naturally forces out, such as Scyther and Mega Audino. If the opposing team has Xatu, however, it can be worth it to try predicting the switch to Xatu and hit it with Play Rough or Iron Head instead.
Team Options
========
In order for Mawile to be as effective as possible, it requires the aid of a teammate like Rhydon, Regirock, Samurott, Floatzel, Hariyama, or Lanturn, which can deal with Fire-types. Mawile also needs a partner like Tauros, Archeops, or Jynx that can deal with faster offensive Pokemon that Mawile cannot use Sucker Punch to beat, such as Sawk and Lilligant. Furthermore, because Mawile is pretty reliable at checking Dark-types, Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Mesprit, Claydol, Musharna, and Xatu enjoy Mawile's presence. If Mawile isn't using Stealth Rock itself, it still likes entry hazard support to wear down Fire-types faster. Cacturne fits this role well, as it can set up Spikes and deals with Quagsire easily. Common Stealth Rock setters such as Mesprit, Carracosta, Torterra, and Rhydon also pair well with Mawile. Mesprit can also threaten common Mawile answers such as Garbodor, Weezing, and Quagsire, and it can use Healing Wish to give Mawile a second chance to set up. Volt Switch, Baton Pass, or U-turn users such as Mesprit, Lanturn, Xatu, Scyther, Primeape, and Musharna can help get Mawile in safely. Xatu also discourages entry hazards from going up and can deal with most Spikers, such as Garbodor and Roselia, which can often take advantage of Mawile. Due to Mawile's ease of getting past bulky setup sweepers such as Musharna and Mega Audino, Pokemon that otherwise struggle against them, such as Mesprit and Malamar, are good teammates as well.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Play Rough / Iron Head
move 3: Baton Pass
move 4: Swords Dance / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock is one of the most powerful support options that Mawile gets. The attacking move of choice is Play Rough, which deals pretty decent damage even coming off an uninvested Attack stat and can easily bring down frailer Pokemon such as Shiftry and Hariyama. While Iron Head is weaker and has worse neutral coverage, it cannot miss, and it OHKOes Jynx, and brings Archeops into Defeatist range; pick whichever attack's benefits matter more to your team. When used in tandem with Swords Dance, Iron Head also allows Mawile to deal with Mega Audino. Baton Pass is used to grab momentum for the team on a predicted switch. This Mawile set can spare a slot to fit Swords Dance, and when combined with Baton Pass, it allows Mawile to pass the boosts to a teammate. If passing Swords Dance boosts isn't required, Toxic is an option to inflict passive damage, and Pain Split is Mawile's best method to recover health. Taunt is an option to stop Pokemon such as Ferroseed and Calm Mind Mega Audino from taking advantage of Mawile.
Set Details
========
Maximum EVs are put into Defense and HP and an Impish nature is used to increase Mawile's physical bulk as much as possible. Intimidate further helps Mawile to take physical hits when it switches in on the opponent's physical attackers. Leftovers is used for the little bit of passive recovery it brings, which helps Mawile survive for slightly longer.
Usage Tips
========
Mawile can easily switch in on a lot of the physical attackers in the tier, such as Zangoose, physical Swellow, Scyther, and Shiftry, due to its typing, physical bulk, and Intimidate. Using Baton Pass to keep momentum on your side is an important part of using Mawile after Stealth Rock is up. It's often more useful to switch Mawile out for a teammate than it is to stay in and attack. If the opponent has an Xatu, Baton Pass is also a safer option than trying to set up Stealth Rock. Defensive Mawile is, sadly, not an answer to Malamar, even with Play Rough, as Intimidate boosts Malamar's Attack instead. Because Mawile has no reliable recovery, it can easily get worn down if it has to handle too many of the opponents Pokemon throughout a match. While Mawile does resist Knock Off, losing its Leftovers can be severely crippling for it, especially without Pain Split. If Mawile has Swords Dance, it's worth remembering that while Mawile gets quite a few opportunities to use Swords Dance throughout a game, careless attempts to pass boosts can result in either lost momentum or losing Mawile or another teammate.
Team Options
========
While Mawile's typing doesn't give it many weaknesses, a teammate like Rhydon, Regirock, Samurott, Floatzel, Lanturn, or Hariyama, which can deal with Fire-types, as well as a Pokemon like Torterra, Tangela, or Samurott, which can deal with Ground-types, are key to making Mawile work at its best. Defensive Mawile can fit on bulkier VoltTurn cores with Pokemon such as Xatu, Mesprit, and Lanturn, but any team with frailer threats such as Floatzel and Archeops appreciates the slow Baton Pass that Mawile can provide. Xatu and Mesprit also have good defensive synergy with Mawile, as it can freely switch into Scyther and Dark-types such as Skuntank that threaten them. A specially defensive Pokemon such as Mega Audino, Lanturn, and Hariyama can take on the special attackers that Mawile has no business staying in on. If Mawile is using Swords Dance, physical attackers such as Tauros, Archeops, and Sawk are excellent partners, as they can easily use the extra power to punch holes in the opposing team. Wallbreakers such as Aurorus and Magmortar that otherwise have some trouble switching in appreciate Mawile's slow Baton Pass support, and these two in particular have good matchups versus common Mawile switch-ins as well. Lastly, a Wish passer to keep Mawile healthy is useful but not required.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A specially based mixed attacking set using 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, a Naive nature, Play Rough, Grass Knot, Flash Cannon, and either Fire Blast or Sucker Punch is usable, as it can lure in and deal with the Pokemon that normally have a good matchup versus Mawile, such as Weezing. Fire Blast on its own is also an option on the offensive set, as it deals with physically bulky Grass-types such as Tangela, Gourgeist-Super, and Gourgeist-Small better and prevents Mawile from taking damage from Ferroseed's Iron Barbs. For the defensive set, Super Fang is an option, but Mawile's standard attacks generally do enough damage already.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Magmortar, Pyroar, and Ninetales resist both of Mawile's STAB types and have little problem taking Mawile out with their STAB moves. However, Mawile can still threaten weakened Fire-types with Sucker Punch. Ninetales and Pyroar can avoid Sucker Punch by using Will-O-Wisp, though. If it gets a free switch, Combusken can also revenge kill Mawile.
**Faster Pokemon**: Mawile's low Speed allows a lot of faster Pokemon, such as Sawk, Archeops, Kabutops, Klinklang, Magmortar, and Ludicolo, to deal large amounts of damage to it before it has a chance to hit back. Offensive Mawile can use Sucker Punch to somewhat avoid this, though.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Very physically bulky Pokemon such as Weezing, Garbodor, Quagsire, Torterra, and Sandslash can switch in and threaten Mawile either with a burn or with damage.
**Steel-types**: Klinklang is the main Steel-type that Mawile has to watch out for if not using Fire Fang, as Klinklang can set up on either set and easily beat it. Other Steel-types such as Pawniard, Ferroseed, and other Mawile cannot switch into Mawile, but they can deal with it if given a free switch assuming that Mawile doesn't run Fire Fang.
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