Hello friends, after a long time without posting here, I’m back! This time with a fun Manaphy team that I managed to get a relatively satisfying result with.
I will be sharing the PokePaste and the peak proof before I start my analysis and motivations behind building this team.
Peak Proof:
POKEPAST
https://pokepast.es/8fb75ecdfabd9d83
Peak Proof:
POKEPAST
https://pokepast.es/8fb75ecdfabd9d83
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Introduction:
The team was basically just an experiment I wanted to try out with Manaphy, but in terms of what it set out to do, it went way beyond expectations. Of course, don’t take this as me presenting Manaphy as some newly discovered threat in the SVOU metagame, but rather as something that, depending on the right matchup, has the potential to take over a game entirely on its own.
I HATE playing against Pokémon like
and 
for example, and I also find 
to be incredibly dumb in general. But I noticed that some archetypes I hated playing against tended to be quite slow, with often being the fastest mon on the team. Because of that, and without any big expectations, I decided to build a team where Manaphy could have its niche and honestly, it fills that role REALLY well against those types of teams, while still being an interesting mon overall.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to Tail Glow, which boosts its Sp. Atk by 3 stages, Manaphy becomes a devastating sweeper. Even more so if, for some reason, it’s facing a passive Pokémon that doesn’t pose a real threat, allowing it to safely set up a Substitute. Just imagine how terrifying a +3 Manaphy behind a Sub is. Well, surprisingly enough, that situation is actually pretty common to pull off.
Pokémon like
and sometimes 
which like to spam Thunder Wave end up giving Manaphy a free turn to set up a Sub and then use Tail Glow, allowing it to steamroll everything in its path.Although its Tera isn’t that essential, it still has some very good uses especially against
and , with the latter becoming almost completely useless against Manaphy in most cases.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and \ that love to switch in on U-turns to gain healing either through Regenerator or Poison Heal, as well as to attract the attention of other passive Pokémon that put me in a position where I can decide what to do nextwhether I continue setting up for a sweep or keep controlling the field more passively.I also opted for Sucker Punch because I consider it an essential move in almost all situations, as priority is always welcome and punishes potential \
, which could be a threat to Manaphy thanks to Infiltrator, nullifying the Substitute strategy.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I mentioned about playing passively after a U-turn, I decided to choose a Pokémon that I really like and grew to like even more after the team was finalized, which is Garganacl.
Garganacl is a very tanky and annoying Pokémon. It has an excellent moveset thanks to its signature move, Salt Cure, and Recover + Stealth Rock, not to mention its amazing ability.
I would say its only major flaw is its typing, which makes it necessary to use Tera with it to fix this serious weakness. In my opinion, Garganacl with Tera Water becomes much more threatening and harder to take down. It becomes extremely annoying and has a certain ease in dealing residual damage thanks to Salt Cure + Protect. Even clear threats like
and 
get punished on the switch and lose some of their potential over time, since \ usually runs Booster Energy and its HP will be gradually reduced, forcing it to hit the turn; otherwise, it gets extremely fragile and doesn't come back as strong. Ogerpon, on the other hand, isn't a good switch against Salt Cure.Overall, I’d say that Garganacl will end up using Tera 80% of the time or even more. If you see that the matchup doesn't have significant threats to a Garganacl Tera Water, consider using it without hesitation. You won’t regret it, as the rest of the team doesn’t depend so much on Tera.
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Great Tusk is without a doubt an incredibly useful and versatile Pokémon in SVOU, boasting an excellent moveset. As I mentioned earlier, my goal was to have reliable ways to control my side of the field while also punishing common threats like
and with Knock Off. And as if that weren’t enough, I also have 
, who, after using Tera Water, is generally considered a very solid answer to both that is, unless is carrying Thunderbolt XD.Additionally, even though I talked about
earlier, Garganacl is definitely not a reliable answer to it. Sometimes, having a Ground-type on the team becomes necessary just to have a safety net against it.I gave Great Tusk Heavy-Duty Boots specifically to avoid damage from Toxic Spikes and Spikes, which wear it down significantly. This allows it to come in more often and stay useful by removing hazards or spreading Knock Off.
As for Roar, it turned out to be extremely useful on this set especially against 
since you can remove its item and stop it from stacking Dragon Dance. (Seriously, why hasn’t this Pokémon been banned yet?) It’s also surprisingly effective versus 
when it’s running Heavy Slam, preventing it from setting up Iron Defense and sweeping the team. That’s also why I have Tera Ghost as an emergency option specifically for that kind of situation.
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As I mentioned earlier, I had prior plans specifically for this Pokémon, which is Ogerpon-Cornerstone
Basically, my entire inspiration revolved around playing around Sturdy, which is an excellent ability and makes it extremely dangerous. since you can remove its item and stop it from stacking Dragon Dance. (Seriously, why hasn’t this Pokémon been banned yet?) It’s also surprisingly effective versus when it’s running Heavy Slam, preventing it from setting up Iron Defense and sweeping the team. That’s also why I have Tera Ghost as an emergency option specifically for that kind of situation.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I mentioned earlier, I had prior plans specifically for this Pokémon, which is Ogerpon-Cornerstone
With the help of double hazard removal, decent Speed, and Swords Dance, Ogerpon has the potential to become a devastating threat and secure at least one important KO if the field is properly set up for it.
It generally performs very well against stall teams unless they have
and fills a niche role similar to Manaphy, being able to obliterate slower teams with very few solid switch-ins for its typing. (grass-rock)The main dilemma with Ogerpon lies in the choice between Low Kick and Knock Off.
At first, during the team’s development phase, I was using Knock Off, but I eventually realized Low Kick would end up being more important.
Low Kick is especially helpful against
which can become a major threat in the late game. Knock Off would be more useful against but since the rest of my team already has solid answers to it, I opted for Low Kick.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And finally, the Pokémon that gave me the most trouble before I was convinced it would actually be a good fit for the team: Clefable with Unaware.
Its utility role is extremely precise in what it's meant to do. After losing countless games to
and , where my Great Tusk tried its best to stop them from setting up but just couldn’tbecause they’re absurdly broken Unaware Clefable ended up being the perfect answer.It’s able to completely shut down Iron Defense
(as long as it’s not running Heavy Slam) and beats Dragonite most of the time.(It’s honestly hilarious that it only wins *most* of the time and not always, even though that’s its job why hasn’t this Pokémon been banned yet?)
But that’s not all. Clefable also brings two very useful moves: Knock Off and Thunder Wave.
Thunder Wave, in particular, can be used to slow down Pokémon that outspeed Manaphy or to cripple them with full para, making it far easier for Manaphy to become a serious threat.
Knock Off ended up being quite valuable too, since some matchups allow you to lead with Clefable and get early Knock Off pressure—especially considering Great Tusk isn’t always a great lead. This way, you can chip away at opposing teams with **double Knock Off** throughout the match.
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Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Well, that’s it. Don’t pick up this team expecting miracles or thinking it’ll carry you up the ladder non-stop it’s a Manaphy experiment, like I said. It’s more of a **matchup fish** team than a broken meta-defining one.
That said, it still turned out to be a pretty solid team overall, and it definitely has its strong points.
If you’re planning to use this team on ladder, my biggest piece of advice is:
Check if the opposing team has major threats to Garganacl after it Terastallizes into Water.
If it doesn’t, don’t hesitate, use your Tera as early as needed. The rest of the team doesn’t need the tera as garganacl
If you see your opponent is running a slow team, abuse U-turn to chip down the few threats that don’t get OHKO’d, and make sure to use Manaphy and Ogerpon with precision. Both have the potential to completely take over a game on their own.
I hope you enjoyed this, and I’ll see you next time who knows when!
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Some Replays:
Ogerpon true potential
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2412438616?p2
Garganacl + Clefable being annoying
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2412425712
Manaphy can abuse the team's synergy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2412326735-94tto1go5xls1ubr3b7011absqduu8wpw?p2
Garganacl is rly good vs rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2411129080-2pgbo18h5t98a2w0be7440i2dwdtri1pw
Fast threats getting weakened = manaphy cleans up
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2407318805-gtr245s9ufavtpoj8q0jc1vc4lxqkg0pw
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