[OVERVIEW]
* Amazing physical bulk, reliable recovery, and a Bug / Fighting typing that grants it resistances to Fighting and Ground without weaknesses to Rock, Ghost, or Steel allow Buzzwole to wall many threatening physical attackers, such as Marshadow, Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, Mega Lucario, and Extreme Killer Arceus.
* Buzzwole's decently powerful Fighting-type STAB moves allow it to KO many of the threats it checks, break Substitutes, and threaten out certain Pokemon immune to Toxic.
* However, Buzzwole's low Special Defense stat and crippling weaknesses to Flying, Fire, and Fairy leave it easily exploited by the majority of the metagame, including threats like Primal Groudon, Yveltal, Xerneas, Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, and Primal Kyogre.
* Buzzwole is also deadweight against defensive teams due to its inability to threaten walls such as Mega Sableye and Zygarde-C.
* Due to its reliance on Toxic for damage against threats that do not fear Hammer Arm, Buzzwole is unable to beat certain Substitute users such as Bulk Up Marshadow.
* Buzzwole's lack of free moveslots leaves it unable to run both Earthquake and Taunt, rendering it vulnerable to being trapped by either Gothitelle or Mega Gengar if not carrying Shed Shell.
[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Hammer Arm
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Roost
move 4: Earthquake / Taunt
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 76 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Hammer Arm is Buzzwole's main attacking move, dealing decent damage to most Pokemon that do not resist it. It OHKOes Mega Lucario and 2HKOes Extreme Killer Arceus, letting Buzzwole check both threats with ease. It also breaks Swords Dance Arceus-Ground's Substitute.
* Toxic allows Buzzwole to damage Marshadow, sets most Swords Dance Arceus formes on a timer, and is Buzzwole's best method of damaging bulkier threats, letting it check special variants of Arceus-Ground while annoying many common switch-ins, such as Primal Groudon and Xerneas.
* Reliable recovery in Roost keeps Buzzwole from being worn down and allows it to easily stall out the threats it checks with Toxic damage.
* Earthquake OHKOes Mega Gengar, which otherwise easily switches in and traps Buzzwole.
* Taunt prevents Gothitelle from trapping and PP stalling Buzzwole, shuts down slower passive walls like Celesteela that depend on status, and forces predictable plays from many of Buzzwole's switch-ins.
* Stone Edge hits Flying-types on the switch super effectively, heavily damaging them or forcing them to recover health. Stone Edge notably OHKOes offensive Ho-Oh and KOes defensive Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock damage.
Set Details
========
* 248 HP EVs and 76 Special Defense EVs allow Buzzwole to avoid the 2HKO from +1 Arceus-Dark after Stealth Rock damage and Leftovers recovery, as well as softening attacks from special variants of Arceus-Ground.
* The remaining EVs are invested in Defense, giving Buzzwole enough bulk to survive a boosted Iron Tail from Mega Lucario after Stealth Rock, as well as completely Roost off damage from Stone Edge from +2 Primal Groudon and +4 Arceus-Ground.
* An EV spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD is an option if Calm Mind Arceus-Dark is not a concern. Notably, this guarantees that Buzzwole survives a +2 Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike from Marshadow at full health.
Usage Tips
========
* Switch Buzzwole into threats that it checks such as Marshadow, Mega Lucario, and Swords Dance Arceus formes, as it can easily heal off any damage they deal to avoid getting worn down.
* Many powerful special or Flying-type attackers can easily come into Buzzwole as it switches in or uses Roost or Hammer Arm, and they can proceed to wear down Buzzwole's teammates that have less longevity. Sometimes, predicting the double switch by not switching in Buzzwole against what it checks, predicting one of Buzzwole's checks switching in and using the appropriate move to cripple the switch-in, or making a double switch may be necessary to avoid being too predictable and letting your team get too worn down.
* Try to avoid taking status, as Toxic poison and paralysis cripple Buzzwole's ability to consistently wall threats, while getting burned lowers its damage output and leaves it unable to take out Mega Lucario and Extreme Killer Arceus with Hammer Arm.
* Because of this, scout Arceus-Ground and Zygarde-C to see if they are defensive variants or have status moves before recklessly switching Buzzwole in, as they could carry Toxic or Glare.
* Only take on Primal Groudon if you know for certain that it doesn't have a Fire-type attack.
Team Options
========
* Arceus-Water and Arceus-Dragon can take on Primal Groudon sets with Fire-type attacks, while Buzzwole deals with certain Swords Dance Primal Groudon sets. Arceus-Water and Arceus-Dragon can also check physically offensive Flying-types such as Mega Salamence and Ho-Oh.
* Primal Groudon switches into specially offensive Primal Kyogre and Fairy-types and appreciates Buzzwole taking care of its Ground-type weakness. It can also set Stealth Rock to punish Flying-types looking to switch into Buzzwole.
* Specially defensive Steel-types like Necrozma-DM and Magearna, as well as special walls like Chansey and Blissey, can take on special attackers looking to exploit Buzzwole's lower Special Defense, particularly Fairy- and Psychic-types. Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey can also provide cleric support. In return, Buzzwole takes on Ground-types and Fighting-types for them.
* Dark-types like Yveltal and Arceus-Dark also help against Psychic- and Ghost-types, while Buzzwole covers Fighting-types for Arceus-Dark.
* Wallbreakers like Primal Kyogre and Shadow Tag trappers such as Mega Gengar and Gothitelle break down defensive teams, which Buzzwole has trouble dealing with.
* Rock- and Electric-types like Tyranitar, Mega Diancie, Arceus-Rock, and Arceus-Electric can check Flying-types for Buzzwole, while Buzzwole covers Ground- and Fighting-types for them.
Other Options
=============
* Running Shed Shell over Leftovers allows Buzzwole to switch out of both Gothitelle and Mega Gengar, which can beat even Earthquake variants of Buzzwole with the combination of Will-O-Wisp and Hex. However, Buzzwole greatly appreciates the residual healing of Leftovers to soften blows from Arceus-Dark and Arceus-Ground, as well as minimizing chip damage from entry hazards, status, and weaker physical attacks.
* Ice Punch allows Buzzwole to better check offensive variants of Zygarde-C, easily breaking Zygarde-C's Substitute after it activates Power Construct, which Hammer Arm fails to do. Ice Punch can also limit the ability of Flying-types to switch into Buzzwole, having a 50% chance to OHKO uninvested Salamence after Stealth Rock prior to Mega Evolution.
* Using Drain Punch over Hammer Arm offers a 100% accurate STAB move, and the healing helps Buzzwole wall many threats it checks. However, the lower damage output against Mega Lucario, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Ferrothorn and the difficulty breaking Substitute make it unappealing.
* Lunge allows Buzzwole to deal with Gothitelle and prevent non-Substitute Bulk Up Marshadow to obtain enough boosts for Buzzwole to KO it.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Yveltal, Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, and Arceus-Flying can all exploit Buzzwole's 4x Flying weakness with their powerful STAB attacks. Most also resist Hammer Arm, and Facade or Refresh Mega Salamence and Refresh Arceus-Flying don't fear Toxic.
**Fairy-types**: Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, Magearna, and Mega Diancie all can KO Buzzwole with their super effective Fairy-type moves. Additionally, they either resist Hammer Arm or are immune to Toxic, and Xerneas can also carry Aromatherapy to heal off Toxic poison.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are immune to Hammer Arm and are only damaged by Toxic with the exception of Mega Sableye, which is unaffected by anything Buzzwole can do to it and can proceed to inflict status. Giratina can use Rest to cure Toxic poison. Specially offensive Ghost-types such as Lunala, Necrozma-DW, and Hex Giratina-O can easily break through Buzzwole's low Special Defense. Physically offensive Ghost-types such as Marshadow and Arceus-Ghost must rely on boosting moves but take no damage from anything Buzzwole carries if they opt to run Substitute.
**Psychic-types**: Ultra Necrozma, Deoxys-A, Mega Mewtwo Y, and Tapu Lele all resist Hammer Arm and can KO Buzzwole with their super effective Psychic-type STAB moves.
**Poison-types**: Poison-types easily wall Buzzwole, as they resist Hammer Arm and are unaffected by Toxic. Toxapex can set Toxic Spikes and burn Buzzwole with Scald, while Naganadel can threaten to set up Nasty Plot or outright KO Buzzwole.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre can easily break through Buzzwole's low Special Defense with powerful special attacks.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon nearly always carries super-effective Fire-type STAB moves that can OHKO Buzzwole and can easily take Hammer Arm, though it dislikes Toxic. Variants with only Ground- and Rock-type attacks can be walled but must be scouted first.
**Shadow Tag**: Depending on Buzzwole's last move, either Mega Gengar or Gothitelle can trap Buzzwole, as they care little for Toxic and Hammer Arm. However, Mega Gengar is KOed by Earthquake if Buzzwole is not burned, and Gothitelle can be outsped and afflicted with Taunt. Buzzwole can also run Shed Shell to escape both trappers at the cost of losing Leftovers recovery.
** Status **: Toxic poison hinders Buzzwole's ability to consistently wall and stall out threats, while burns lower Hammer Arm's damage, leaving it unable to break Substitute or check threats like Extreme Killer Arceus and Mega Lucario.[/hide]
* Amazing physical bulk, reliable recovery, and a Bug / Fighting typing that grants it resistances to Fighting and Ground without weaknesses to Rock, Ghost, or Steel allow Buzzwole to wall many threatening physical attackers, such as Marshadow, Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, Mega Lucario, and Extreme Killer Arceus.
* Buzzwole's decently powerful Fighting-type STAB moves allow it to KO many of the threats it checks, break Substitutes, and threaten out certain Pokemon immune to Toxic.
* However, Buzzwole's low Special Defense stat and crippling weaknesses to Flying, Fire, and Fairy leave it easily exploited by the majority of the metagame, including threats like Primal Groudon, Yveltal, Xerneas, Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, and Primal Kyogre.
* Buzzwole is also deadweight against defensive teams due to its inability to threaten walls such as Mega Sableye and Zygarde-C.
* Due to its reliance on Toxic for damage against threats that do not fear Hammer Arm, Buzzwole is unable to beat certain Substitute users such as Bulk Up Marshadow.
* Buzzwole's lack of free moveslots leaves it unable to run both Earthquake and Taunt, rendering it vulnerable to being trapped by either Gothitelle or Mega Gengar if not carrying Shed Shell.
[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Hammer Arm
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Roost
move 4: Earthquake / Taunt
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 76 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Hammer Arm is Buzzwole's main attacking move, dealing decent damage to most Pokemon that do not resist it. It OHKOes Mega Lucario and 2HKOes Extreme Killer Arceus, letting Buzzwole check both threats with ease. It also breaks Swords Dance Arceus-Ground's Substitute.
* Toxic allows Buzzwole to damage Marshadow, sets most Swords Dance Arceus formes on a timer, and is Buzzwole's best method of damaging bulkier threats, letting it check special variants of Arceus-Ground while annoying many common switch-ins, such as Primal Groudon and Xerneas.
* Reliable recovery in Roost keeps Buzzwole from being worn down and allows it to easily stall out the threats it checks with Toxic damage.
* Earthquake OHKOes Mega Gengar, which otherwise easily switches in and traps Buzzwole.
* Taunt prevents Gothitelle from trapping and PP stalling Buzzwole, shuts down slower passive walls like Celesteela that depend on status, and forces predictable plays from many of Buzzwole's switch-ins.
* Stone Edge hits Flying-types on the switch super effectively, heavily damaging them or forcing them to recover health. Stone Edge notably OHKOes offensive Ho-Oh and KOes defensive Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock damage.
Set Details
========
* 248 HP EVs and 76 Special Defense EVs allow Buzzwole to avoid the 2HKO from +1 Arceus-Dark after Stealth Rock damage and Leftovers recovery, as well as softening attacks from special variants of Arceus-Ground.
* The remaining EVs are invested in Defense, giving Buzzwole enough bulk to survive a boosted Iron Tail from Mega Lucario after Stealth Rock, as well as completely Roost off damage from Stone Edge from +2 Primal Groudon and +4 Arceus-Ground.
* An EV spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD is an option if Calm Mind Arceus-Dark is not a concern. Notably, this guarantees that Buzzwole survives a +2 Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike from Marshadow at full health.
Usage Tips
========
* Switch Buzzwole into threats that it checks such as Marshadow, Mega Lucario, and Swords Dance Arceus formes, as it can easily heal off any damage they deal to avoid getting worn down.
* Many powerful special or Flying-type attackers can easily come into Buzzwole as it switches in or uses Roost or Hammer Arm, and they can proceed to wear down Buzzwole's teammates that have less longevity. Sometimes, predicting the double switch by not switching in Buzzwole against what it checks, predicting one of Buzzwole's checks switching in and using the appropriate move to cripple the switch-in, or making a double switch may be necessary to avoid being too predictable and letting your team get too worn down.
* Try to avoid taking status, as Toxic poison and paralysis cripple Buzzwole's ability to consistently wall threats, while getting burned lowers its damage output and leaves it unable to take out Mega Lucario and Extreme Killer Arceus with Hammer Arm.
* Because of this, scout Arceus-Ground and Zygarde-C to see if they are defensive variants or have status moves before recklessly switching Buzzwole in, as they could carry Toxic or Glare.
* Only take on Primal Groudon if you know for certain that it doesn't have a Fire-type attack.
Team Options
========
* Arceus-Water and Arceus-Dragon can take on Primal Groudon sets with Fire-type attacks, while Buzzwole deals with certain Swords Dance Primal Groudon sets. Arceus-Water and Arceus-Dragon can also check physically offensive Flying-types such as Mega Salamence and Ho-Oh.
* Primal Groudon switches into specially offensive Primal Kyogre and Fairy-types and appreciates Buzzwole taking care of its Ground-type weakness. It can also set Stealth Rock to punish Flying-types looking to switch into Buzzwole.
* Specially defensive Steel-types like Necrozma-DM and Magearna, as well as special walls like Chansey and Blissey, can take on special attackers looking to exploit Buzzwole's lower Special Defense, particularly Fairy- and Psychic-types. Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey can also provide cleric support. In return, Buzzwole takes on Ground-types and Fighting-types for them.
* Dark-types like Yveltal and Arceus-Dark also help against Psychic- and Ghost-types, while Buzzwole covers Fighting-types for Arceus-Dark.
* Wallbreakers like Primal Kyogre and Shadow Tag trappers such as Mega Gengar and Gothitelle break down defensive teams, which Buzzwole has trouble dealing with.
* Rock- and Electric-types like Tyranitar, Mega Diancie, Arceus-Rock, and Arceus-Electric can check Flying-types for Buzzwole, while Buzzwole covers Ground- and Fighting-types for them.
Other Options
=============
* Running Shed Shell over Leftovers allows Buzzwole to switch out of both Gothitelle and Mega Gengar, which can beat even Earthquake variants of Buzzwole with the combination of Will-O-Wisp and Hex. However, Buzzwole greatly appreciates the residual healing of Leftovers to soften blows from Arceus-Dark and Arceus-Ground, as well as minimizing chip damage from entry hazards, status, and weaker physical attacks.
* Ice Punch allows Buzzwole to better check offensive variants of Zygarde-C, easily breaking Zygarde-C's Substitute after it activates Power Construct, which Hammer Arm fails to do. Ice Punch can also limit the ability of Flying-types to switch into Buzzwole, having a 50% chance to OHKO uninvested Salamence after Stealth Rock prior to Mega Evolution.
* Using Drain Punch over Hammer Arm offers a 100% accurate STAB move, and the healing helps Buzzwole wall many threats it checks. However, the lower damage output against Mega Lucario, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Ferrothorn and the difficulty breaking Substitute make it unappealing.
* Lunge allows Buzzwole to deal with Gothitelle and prevent non-Substitute Bulk Up Marshadow to obtain enough boosts for Buzzwole to KO it.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Yveltal, Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, and Arceus-Flying can all exploit Buzzwole's 4x Flying weakness with their powerful STAB attacks. Most also resist Hammer Arm, and Facade or Refresh Mega Salamence and Refresh Arceus-Flying don't fear Toxic.
**Fairy-types**: Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, Magearna, and Mega Diancie all can KO Buzzwole with their super effective Fairy-type moves. Additionally, they either resist Hammer Arm or are immune to Toxic, and Xerneas can also carry Aromatherapy to heal off Toxic poison.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are immune to Hammer Arm and are only damaged by Toxic with the exception of Mega Sableye, which is unaffected by anything Buzzwole can do to it and can proceed to inflict status. Giratina can use Rest to cure Toxic poison. Specially offensive Ghost-types such as Lunala, Necrozma-DW, and Hex Giratina-O can easily break through Buzzwole's low Special Defense. Physically offensive Ghost-types such as Marshadow and Arceus-Ghost must rely on boosting moves but take no damage from anything Buzzwole carries if they opt to run Substitute.
**Psychic-types**: Ultra Necrozma, Deoxys-A, Mega Mewtwo Y, and Tapu Lele all resist Hammer Arm and can KO Buzzwole with their super effective Psychic-type STAB moves.
**Poison-types**: Poison-types easily wall Buzzwole, as they resist Hammer Arm and are unaffected by Toxic. Toxapex can set Toxic Spikes and burn Buzzwole with Scald, while Naganadel can threaten to set up Nasty Plot or outright KO Buzzwole.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre can easily break through Buzzwole's low Special Defense with powerful special attacks.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon nearly always carries super-effective Fire-type STAB moves that can OHKO Buzzwole and can easily take Hammer Arm, though it dislikes Toxic. Variants with only Ground- and Rock-type attacks can be walled but must be scouted first.
**Shadow Tag**: Depending on Buzzwole's last move, either Mega Gengar or Gothitelle can trap Buzzwole, as they care little for Toxic and Hammer Arm. However, Mega Gengar is KOed by Earthquake if Buzzwole is not burned, and Gothitelle can be outsped and afflicted with Taunt. Buzzwole can also run Shed Shell to escape both trappers at the cost of losing Leftovers recovery.
** Status **: Toxic poison hinders Buzzwole's ability to consistently wall and stall out threats, while burns lower Hammer Arm's damage, leaving it unable to break Substitute or check threats like Extreme Killer Arceus and Mega Lucario.[/hide]
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