-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Linoone (Update)
- Thread starter SOMALIA
- Start date
Hey I understand Smogon is no longer including Team Options in it's analyses, but Linoone is such a team-centric Pokemon that I really think we should have shifted it all to the Additional Comments.
Here is the Team Options stuff.
Well essentially what the TO section talks about that the current analysis does not mention is how to create a free turn to Belly Drum through Dual Screen + Memento, as well as Yawn. It also elaborated on the psychological threat Linoone presents in the whole match. As I believe readers will greatly benefit from learning how to better set up Linoone other than using Gastrodon I think this would be a great addition to AC.
Thanks very much for reading through
Here is the Team Options stuff.
<p>Belly Drum Linoone is an extremely dangerous sweeper, needing only one turn of setup to turn a game on its head. However, getting that crucial turn to set up, and then surviving it, is no easy task. Linoone has paper-thin 78/61/61 defenses - most Pokemon can easily hit it for more than 50% damage, and the opponents that cannot (weak walls like Blastoise and Registeel) can status or phaze Linoone as it Belly Drums. That said, there are many exploitable opportunities that can allow Linoone the free turn it so desires.</p>
<p>Dual screen + Memento is perhaps the best and most reliable option. In UU, only Uxie, Gardevoir, and Magcargo can learn all three of Reflect, Light Screen, and Memento. Uxie does particularly well at this task as it has excellent defenses, decent Speed, and can Yawn (the merits of which are discussed below). Dual screen + Memento essentially reduces the opponent to 25% of its attacking power, meaning an opponent would have to be able to deal 200% damage to Linoone in normal conditions to KO it after it Belly Drums. Behind both dual screens and against a Memento-sapped opponent, only STAB Close Combats and Superpowers, powerful Brick Breaks, and Explosions can hope to KO Linoone after it gets its Belly Drum off. To give an example of the shielding power of dual screens + Memento, consider the following heavy hitters:</p>
<li>-2 Modest 252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 base power) vs. 116 HP / 4 SpD Linoone behind Light Screen: 40.8% - 48.16%</li>
<li>-2 Adamant 252 Atk Leftovers Rhyperior vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Linoone behind Reflect: 24.2% - 28.6%</li>
<p>Simply dual screening without Memento may allow Linoone to get off a Belly Drum against a weaker attacker, but beware, as many offensive Pokemon have no trouble dealing over 50% even from behind screens. Yawn is an excellent way to snag a free Belly Drumming opportunity. If the Yawner faints (from a Yawned enemy's attack or its own Memento) or uses a slow U-turn on the turn the opponent falls asleep, Linoone gets in for free against a sleeping Pokemon. Encore from something like Clefable, Lopunny, Jumpluff, or Shuckle works wonders if the opponent is locked into a harmless move and refuses to switch out. Never Belly Drum on Encored Substitute, however, as the opponent will stall out the Encore and finish you off from behind its Sub more often than not. Stealth Rock is important for many key OHKOs, including Slowbro and Uxie, as well as anything holding a Focus Sash. In the same vein, a spinner on your team will remove the entry hazards that make Linoone more vulnerable. Without a spinner, make sure you at least carry a grounded Poison-type to remove Toxic Spikes.</p>
<p>Alongside its obvious role as a central end-game sweeper, Linoone can be worth its weight in gold without ever even Belly Drumming, instead harassing an opponent's play style through sheer intimidation. Facing the constant threat of a Linoone setup, your opponent will be forced to play very conservatively, which you can use to your advantage. Encore users become more potent, especially if they can spread status, like Clefable and Jumpluff - your opponent will not leave an Encored Pokemon in, allowing you to status another of his teammates. Choiced attacks will be chosen much more cautiously. Using Linoone as a lead is a great way to keep early Stealth Rock and Spikes off the field, as any attempt to set up will be deterred by the risk of Belly Drum.</p>
<p>Dual screen + Memento is perhaps the best and most reliable option. In UU, only Uxie, Gardevoir, and Magcargo can learn all three of Reflect, Light Screen, and Memento. Uxie does particularly well at this task as it has excellent defenses, decent Speed, and can Yawn (the merits of which are discussed below). Dual screen + Memento essentially reduces the opponent to 25% of its attacking power, meaning an opponent would have to be able to deal 200% damage to Linoone in normal conditions to KO it after it Belly Drums. Behind both dual screens and against a Memento-sapped opponent, only STAB Close Combats and Superpowers, powerful Brick Breaks, and Explosions can hope to KO Linoone after it gets its Belly Drum off. To give an example of the shielding power of dual screens + Memento, consider the following heavy hitters:</p>
<li>-2 Modest 252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 base power) vs. 116 HP / 4 SpD Linoone behind Light Screen: 40.8% - 48.16%</li>
<li>-2 Adamant 252 Atk Leftovers Rhyperior vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Linoone behind Reflect: 24.2% - 28.6%</li>
<p>Simply dual screening without Memento may allow Linoone to get off a Belly Drum against a weaker attacker, but beware, as many offensive Pokemon have no trouble dealing over 50% even from behind screens. Yawn is an excellent way to snag a free Belly Drumming opportunity. If the Yawner faints (from a Yawned enemy's attack or its own Memento) or uses a slow U-turn on the turn the opponent falls asleep, Linoone gets in for free against a sleeping Pokemon. Encore from something like Clefable, Lopunny, Jumpluff, or Shuckle works wonders if the opponent is locked into a harmless move and refuses to switch out. Never Belly Drum on Encored Substitute, however, as the opponent will stall out the Encore and finish you off from behind its Sub more often than not. Stealth Rock is important for many key OHKOs, including Slowbro and Uxie, as well as anything holding a Focus Sash. In the same vein, a spinner on your team will remove the entry hazards that make Linoone more vulnerable. Without a spinner, make sure you at least carry a grounded Poison-type to remove Toxic Spikes.</p>
<p>Alongside its obvious role as a central end-game sweeper, Linoone can be worth its weight in gold without ever even Belly Drumming, instead harassing an opponent's play style through sheer intimidation. Facing the constant threat of a Linoone setup, your opponent will be forced to play very conservatively, which you can use to your advantage. Encore users become more potent, especially if they can spread status, like Clefable and Jumpluff - your opponent will not leave an Encored Pokemon in, allowing you to status another of his teammates. Choiced attacks will be chosen much more cautiously. Using Linoone as a lead is a great way to keep early Stealth Rock and Spikes off the field, as any attempt to set up will be deterred by the risk of Belly Drum.</p>
Well essentially what the TO section talks about that the current analysis does not mention is how to create a free turn to Belly Drum through Dual Screen + Memento, as well as Yawn. It also elaborated on the psychological threat Linoone presents in the whole match. As I believe readers will greatly benefit from learning how to better set up Linoone other than using Gastrodon I think this would be a great addition to AC.
Thanks very much for reading through
He hasn't been on in 5 days so maybe it's better if you could take over this. I was going to PM Oglemi after a week but ok.
Deletions
Additions / Corrections
Comments
GP 2 / 2
Additions / Corrections
Comments
[Overview]
<p>Linoone is truly a blessed Pokemon. What would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill, throwaway Normal-type rodent along with the likes of Raticate and Furret has access to a one-turn, game-ending sweep setup. Belly Drum turns the mild-mannered mustelid into a pillar of hellfire, a screaming Harrier jet, a towering tornado of fury wielding 1048 Attack, 405 Speed, and an 80 Base Power, STAB priority attack. Packing Linoone gives you a deadly secret weapon for when your enemy shows a moment of weakness, and once its presence is known, Linoone becomes a powerful psychological threat that will have your opponent on his toes the entire match. Adding in team support makes Linoone a fairly reliable late-game sweeper. If you have an opportunistic, high-risk-high-reward play style, Linoone may be for you.</p>
<p>Beware, however, that Linoone is extremely frail and unforgiving; improper scouting, or a single mistake in prediction, will quickly turn Linoone into a dead weight.</p>
[SET]
name: Belly Drum
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: ExtremeSpeed
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Return / Shadow Claw
item: Salac Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 120 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Linoone possesses a holy trinity of sweeping power: Belly Drum, STAB ExtremeSpeed, and Gluttony. These three elements combine to form the ultimate one-turn setup. After a Belly Drum, Linoone's shabby Attack score stat of 262 skyrockets to an amazing 1048, ready for immediate sweepage. At the same time, Gluttony activates its Salac Berry, sending its Speed score stat from 270 (136 EVs) to 405, outspeeding everything up to neutral-natured Pokemon with a Choice Scarf and base 85 Speed. Linoone can then proceed to sweep with ExtremeSpeed, a STAB 80 Base Power priority move that essentially ensures that the flipped-out polecat will almost never be struck before it can hit, and likely KO its opponent. Seed Bomb is the second attack in Linoone's sweeping arsenal, KOing many of the Rock-types that resist ExtremeSpeed, as well as doing a hefty number on bulky Water- and Ground-types. Assuming maximum defensive investment, Slowbro, Milotic, Claydol, Omastar, Quagsire, Cloyster, Solrock, Lunatone, Rhyperior, Sandslash, Relicanth, and Gastrodon will all survive a +6 ExtremeSpeed, but will all fall to +6 Seed Bomb after Stealth Rock. Despite its large movepool, Linoone has very few usable offensive options. After ExtremeSpeed and Seed Bomb, those options boil down to the two in the last moveslot. Shadow Claw is for Ghost-types, and will OHKO any Ghost-type in UU, bar Spiritomb and Sableye, without fail (Stealth Rock is needed for an OHKO on Dusclops). Return, however, may prove more useful in the long run.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Return may seem like redundant coverage with ExtremeSpeed, allowing you to be walled by many more opponents, but consider the following; there are four Ghost-types in UU that +6 Shadow Claw can OHKO but +6 Seed Bomb cannot. These are Drifblim, Dusclops, max Defense Rotom, and Shedinja. Drifblim and Dusclops, while not unseen, are rare. Drifblim is often used as a lead in UU and will probably have Substituted down to 25% of its health (easily KO range) by the time Linoone is on the scene. Bold Rotom is also a rare sight - offensive variations are much more common and are all KOed by Seed Bomb. Shedinja is the rarest of all, and though lacking Shadow Claw will leave you completely walled by Shedinja, even with Shadow Claw most will either kill you after Focus Sash activates, or with a Choice Band Sucker Punch. This is, of course, assuming there is no Stealth Rock on the field, which renders Shedinja useless anyway. Return, meanwhile, rivaling in power practically any Explosion found in UU, will ensure a few KOs that ExtremeSpeed cannot. Max Defense Weezing, Nidoqueen, Torterra, Torkoal, Uxie, and Drapion are all OHKOed by +6 Return after Stealth Rock damage, while ExtremeSpeed (or Shadow Claw vs. Uxie) will fail to KO in each case by a small margin. Return also has a 65% chance of 2HKOing a 252 HP / 4 Def neutral-natured Registeel holding Leftovers and taking Stealth Rock damage. Finally, after possibly taking an Intimidate or two, the added power of Return will be welcome.</p>
<p>Steel-type Pokemon are one thing Linoone absolutely cannot sweep through, as they resist Linoone's STAB attacks as well as Seed Bomb. Two attack options - Dig and Rock Smash - were available in the past as Linoone's only super effective attacks against the Steel-types, but neither is recommended over the listed attacks. Dig is nearly useless; not only is it easy to avoid and fails to OHKO Steelix, but Steelix and Registeel usually carry Earthquake, which will hit you underground. Rock Smash is generally a waste of a moveslot, considering a 2x super effective Rock Smash has only 80 Base Power, and a resisted STAB Return has 76.5 Base Power. Seed Bomb hits Steelix with 80 Base Power as well. The only Steel-types that Rock Smash is able to hit for decent damage are the three Rock / Steel-types (Bastiodon, Probopass, and Aggron), which, except for Aggron, are rarely seen.</p>
<p>It therefore falls upon Linoone's teammates to remove its counters if Linoone hopes to sweep. Before firing off a Belly Drum, scouting for opposing Steelix, Registeel, and Spiritomb is wise. Shuckle, Cradily, and Armaldo are not as common nor as perfect of counters, but can all pose problems for Linoone as well. These sweep-stopping Pokemon should be eliminated, or else brought within KO range, before Linoone Belly Drums. Assuming Stealth Rock is in play, Linoone will always KO these counters if they are taken down to a certain hit point percentage first:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Impish Steelix - 35.6% - 41.8%</li>
<li>+6 Return vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Impish Registeel - 36% - 42.6%</li>
<li>+6 Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Careful Registeel - 47% - 55.2%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Spiritomb - 57.2% - 67.4%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Careful Cradily - 55.1% - 64.9%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 244 HP / 252 Def Impish Armaldo - 52% - 61.4%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Jolly Aggron - 54.1% - 63.3%</li></ul>
<p>Keeping these Pokemon in mind, a team packing Linoone would do well to carry Pokemon who can handle Linoone's counters. Powerful wall breakers such as mixed Blaziken, Swords Dance Pinsir, and Choice Specs Typhlosion can soften these counters enough for Linoone to sweep, if not fainting KOing them outright. Also, as with any setup sweeper, lures and trappers make Linoone's life much easier. Mismagius, Scyther, and Swellow are all terrific lures that can coax your opponent's Linoone counter early. Trapinch and Magneton are fairly efficient at eliminating the Steel-types that give Linoone nightmares, especially when paired with lures.</p>
<p>If you are worried about outspeeding certain Choice Scarf Pokemon (such as Haunter and Rotom), a Jolly nature is optional. However, you will miss out on many crucial OHKOs if you do this, namely Slowbro, who is always OHKOed if Stealth Rock is in play, with a high chance of OHKOing without Stealth Rock. A Jolly nature will cause you to only OHKO with Stealth Rock set up. A different EV spread of 36 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 216 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to guarantee the ability to outspeed certain other Pokemon; however, there is a noticeable lack in power. Finally, Memento Gastrodon is one of the easiest ways to guarantee a successful set up. Gastrodon has access to three extremely helpful support moves, Block, Memento and Yawn.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: ExtremeSpeed
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Switcheroo / Return
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Linoone can use its reputation as a Belly Drummer to run a surprise Choice Band set. While weaker than most Choice Band users, Linoone does have its advantages. First and foremost, it poses a psychological threat. Feigning a Belly Drum set, it intimidates many weakened sweepers into attacking instead of switching out, and many tottering walls will give up the chance to recover damage in order to get a hit off on Linoone. Second, it is the only user of STAB ExtremeSpeed in UU, which by all accounts is a powerful and reliable priority attack, even on a Pokemon with a pathetic 70 base Attack. Third, it has access to Switcheroo (as well as its identical twin Trick), which it can use to foil many of its counters. Steelix, Registeel, and Spiritomb, the three best Belly Drum Linoone switch-ins in UU, are all crippled by receiving a Choice Band, unless they are already holding one, which is a rare sight. With an Adamant nature, Linoone reaches a decent 393 attack. ExtremeSpeed is Linoone's primary attack, allowing it to put a huge dent on fragile sweepers which outspeed Linoone, such as Swellow and Alakazam. As mentioned before, Shadow Claw is Linoone's only way of dealing with Ghost-types whilst without Seed Bomb, the badger has no chance taking on the likes of Rhyperior and Omastar. Although Switcheroo is the preferred move for the fourth moveslot, Return can net a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs that ExtremeSpeed cannot, namely cleanly landing a fatality on Dugtrio and Swellow as well as 2HKOing Life Orb Milotic.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The layout of the EVs is quite simple, to allowing Linoone to outspeed as many threats as possible while at the same time maximizing its Attack. A Jolly nature is optional if you are worried about needing to outspeed things that resist ExtremeSpeed, in which case Return is the STAB move that you should use. Rock Smash is an alternative to hit Pokemon such as Probopass super effectively, but has no use outside of that, seeing as a neutral Extremespeed is more powerful than a super effective Rock Smash. Entry hazards are a must here, as Linoone is typically only able to do 50% to bulky Pokemon with ExtremeSpeed. Because sweepers typically carry Life Orb, the combination of residual damage plus the damage done from entry hazards adds up to allow Linoone to revenge kill with minimal losses.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Linoone has a fairly decent special movepool which includes even Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, but Linoone is unable to take advantage of it with its middling Special Attack stat. If you want a high-powered move, Linoone can learn Gunk Shot, but with the poor coverage it gets with it, coupled by with the low accuracy, it is generally not a viable option. A gimmick set with Belly Drum and Last Resort can be run, dealing a ridiculous amount of damage to most things. Physically Defensive Weezing takes 117.7% - 138.6% from a boosted Adamant Last Resort, and a Cloyster with maximum defensive investment takes 95.7% - 112.8%, a clean OHKO with Stealth Rock. Pursuit is another option; however, with Linoone's poor base Attack, it won't be netting many kills apart from the rare Ghost-type that is locked into a Ghost-type move and needs to switch out. As tanks that wall Linoone such as Steelix and Registeel are bound to switch into its attacks, Super Fang can rob them of half of their current health, which is by far the best amount of damage, Linoone will be able to inflict on them.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best way to counter Linoone is to prevent it from setting up a Belly Drum. If there are no screens in play, almost any STAB attack along with Stealth Rock will deal more than 50% damage to Linoone. If screens are in play, it takes a fairly powerful STAB or Fighting-type attack from a sweeper or tank to deal the appropriate damage, although this is still not hard to do. Taking out a screen-shielded Linoone after eating a Memento takes serious powerful Fighting-type STAB from the likes of Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Primeape, or Medicham. Many support moves are also viable ways to halt Linoone's setup, and are unaffected by screens or Memento: Encore, Trick, burn, sleep, Haze, and phazing moves can all put Linoone on the sidelines for the rest of the match by making it waste its Belly Drum.</p>
<p>Once Linoone has used Belly Drum, it still has several solid counters. Steelix is undoubtedly the best counter: with an Impish nature and 0 Def EVs, it is 3HKOed at best by Seed Bomb, and can KO Linoone with Earthquake or Gyro Ball, or phaze it away with Roar. Spiritomb is also an excellent counter, being immune to Linoone's STAB, 2HKOed by Seed Bomb and able to strike back first with its own priority STAB Sucker Punch or burn Linoone with Will-O-Wisp. Registeel counters Linoone well, as long as it has Def EVs or doesn't switch into Return; however, 0 Atk Registeel needs Explosion to put 50% HP Linoone down, as Iron Head will not KO. Shuckle almost always survives 2 Seed Bombs, even with Stealth Rock in play, but cannot do much back besides Toxic. Choice Scarf Mismagius and Timid Choice Scarf Rotom can both switch in on any Normal-type attack, outspeed the incoming Seed Bomb or Shadow Claw, and KO Linoone with Hidden Power Fighting or STAB Thunderbolt.</p>
<p>Without Shadow Claw, Linoone cannot OHKO the aforementioned Ghost-types (Dusclops, Bold Rotom, Drifblim, and Shedinja), which in turn can usually manage to KO, or at least burn, Linoone. Without Return, physically bulky Pokemon such as Tangrowth, Torterra, Torkoal, Gligar, and Weezing can survive a hit from Linoone if they are running max HP and Def. The same goes for bulky Grass weaknesses physically bulky Pokemon weak to Grass-type attacks, such as Slowbro, Sandslash, Cloyster, and all Rock-types, provided Linoone lacks Seed Bomb. Linoone needs Stealth Rock in play to get many key OHKOs; without it, almost any bulky Pokemon with max Defense will be able to survive a single +6 hit at full health, as will any Pokemon with Focus Sash.</p>
<p>Some battle conditions can prevent or hamper a Linoone's sweep. Toxic Spikes (either one or two layers) are the most harmful, limiting Linoone's maximum sweeping turns the number of turns for which Linoone can sweep after a Belly Drum to 3, or 2 if Linoone switches in mid-turn. Stealth Rock and Spikes hamper Linoone's ability to take hits on its Belly Drumming turn the turn it uses Belly Drum. Sandstorm and hail don't cut sweeps short quite like poison does, but it can finish off a damaged Linoone. Reflect on the defender's side reduces Linoone's attacking power by 50%, enough to halt its sweep.</p>
<p>If you carry a Pokemon with Intimidate, you can sap Linoone's Attack until it is unable to KO your Pokemon. At +5 Attack (after one Intimidate), Linoone fails to OHKO many walls, such as the aforementioned max Defense Uxie, Weezing, and Slowbro, sometimes even with Stealth Rock in play. Offensive teams lacking a wall may have to sacrifice a Pokemon or two in order to harass Linoone with multiple Intimidates. Other abilities such as Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, and Aftermath can, with a little luck, disable or finish off Linoone in a pinch.</p>
<p>Linoone is truly a blessed Pokemon. What would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill, throwaway Normal-type rodent along with the likes of Raticate and Furret has access to a one-turn, game-ending sweep setup. Belly Drum turns the mild-mannered mustelid into a pillar of hellfire, a screaming Harrier jet, a towering tornado of fury wielding 1048 Attack, 405 Speed, and an 80 Base Power, STAB priority attack. Packing Linoone gives you a deadly secret weapon for when your enemy shows a moment of weakness, and once its presence is known, Linoone becomes a powerful psychological threat that will have your opponent on his toes the entire match. Adding in team support makes Linoone a fairly reliable late-game sweeper. If you have an opportunistic, high-risk-high-reward play style, Linoone may be for you.</p>
<p>Beware, however, that Linoone is extremely frail and unforgiving; improper scouting, or a single mistake in prediction, will quickly turn Linoone into a dead weight.</p>
[SET]
name: Belly Drum
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: ExtremeSpeed
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Return / Shadow Claw
item: Salac Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 120 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Linoone possesses a holy trinity of sweeping power: Belly Drum, STAB ExtremeSpeed, and Gluttony. These three elements combine to form the ultimate one-turn setup. After a Belly Drum, Linoone's shabby Attack score stat of 262 skyrockets to an amazing 1048, ready for immediate sweepage. At the same time, Gluttony activates its Salac Berry, sending its Speed score stat from 270 (136 EVs) to 405, outspeeding everything up to neutral-natured Pokemon with a Choice Scarf and base 85 Speed. Linoone can then proceed to sweep with ExtremeSpeed, a STAB 80 Base Power priority move that essentially ensures that the flipped-out polecat will almost never be struck before it can hit, and likely KO its opponent. Seed Bomb is the second attack in Linoone's sweeping arsenal, KOing many of the Rock-types that resist ExtremeSpeed, as well as doing a hefty number on bulky Water- and Ground-types. Assuming maximum defensive investment, Slowbro, Milotic, Claydol, Omastar, Quagsire, Cloyster, Solrock, Lunatone, Rhyperior, Sandslash, Relicanth, and Gastrodon will all survive a +6 ExtremeSpeed, but will all fall to +6 Seed Bomb after Stealth Rock. Despite its large movepool, Linoone has very few usable offensive options. After ExtremeSpeed and Seed Bomb, those options boil down to the two in the last moveslot. Shadow Claw is for Ghost-types, and will OHKO any Ghost-type in UU, bar Spiritomb and Sableye, without fail (Stealth Rock is needed for an OHKO on Dusclops). Return, however, may prove more useful in the long run.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Return may seem like redundant coverage with ExtremeSpeed, allowing you to be walled by many more opponents, but consider the following; there are four Ghost-types in UU that +6 Shadow Claw can OHKO but +6 Seed Bomb cannot. These are Drifblim, Dusclops, max Defense Rotom, and Shedinja. Drifblim and Dusclops, while not unseen, are rare. Drifblim is often used as a lead in UU and will probably have Substituted down to 25% of its health (easily KO range) by the time Linoone is on the scene. Bold Rotom is also a rare sight - offensive variations are much more common and are all KOed by Seed Bomb. Shedinja is the rarest of all, and though lacking Shadow Claw will leave you completely walled by Shedinja, even with Shadow Claw most will either kill you after Focus Sash activates, or with a Choice Band Sucker Punch. This is, of course, assuming there is no Stealth Rock on the field, which renders Shedinja useless anyway. Return, meanwhile, rivaling in power practically any Explosion found in UU, will ensure a few KOs that ExtremeSpeed cannot. Max Defense Weezing, Nidoqueen, Torterra, Torkoal, Uxie, and Drapion are all OHKOed by +6 Return after Stealth Rock damage, while ExtremeSpeed (or Shadow Claw vs. Uxie) will fail to KO in each case by a small margin. Return also has a 65% chance of 2HKOing a 252 HP / 4 Def neutral-natured Registeel holding Leftovers and taking Stealth Rock damage. Finally, after possibly taking an Intimidate or two, the added power of Return will be welcome.</p>
<p>Steel-type Pokemon are one thing Linoone absolutely cannot sweep through, as they resist Linoone's STAB attacks as well as Seed Bomb. Two attack options - Dig and Rock Smash - were available in the past as Linoone's only super effective attacks against the Steel-types, but neither is recommended over the listed attacks. Dig is nearly useless; not only is it easy to avoid and fails to OHKO Steelix, but Steelix and Registeel usually carry Earthquake, which will hit you underground. Rock Smash is generally a waste of a moveslot, considering a 2x super effective Rock Smash has only 80 Base Power, and a resisted STAB Return has 76.5 Base Power. Seed Bomb hits Steelix with 80 Base Power as well. The only Steel-types that Rock Smash is able to hit for decent damage are the three Rock / Steel-types (Bastiodon, Probopass, and Aggron), which, except for Aggron, are rarely seen.</p>
<p>It therefore falls upon Linoone's teammates to remove its counters if Linoone hopes to sweep. Before firing off a Belly Drum, scouting for opposing Steelix, Registeel, and Spiritomb is wise. Shuckle, Cradily, and Armaldo are not as common nor as perfect of counters, but can all pose problems for Linoone as well. These sweep-stopping Pokemon should be eliminated, or else brought within KO range, before Linoone Belly Drums. Assuming Stealth Rock is in play, Linoone will always KO these counters if they are taken down to a certain hit point percentage first:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Impish Steelix - 35.6% - 41.8%</li>
<li>+6 Return vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Impish Registeel - 36% - 42.6%</li>
<li>+6 Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Careful Registeel - 47% - 55.2%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Spiritomb - 57.2% - 67.4%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Careful Cradily - 55.1% - 64.9%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 244 HP / 252 Def Impish Armaldo - 52% - 61.4%</li>
<li>+6 Seed Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Jolly Aggron - 54.1% - 63.3%</li></ul>
<p>Keeping these Pokemon in mind, a team packing Linoone would do well to carry Pokemon who can handle Linoone's counters. Powerful wall breakers such as mixed Blaziken, Swords Dance Pinsir, and Choice Specs Typhlosion can soften these counters enough for Linoone to sweep, if not fainting KOing them outright. Also, as with any setup sweeper, lures and trappers make Linoone's life much easier. Mismagius, Scyther, and Swellow are all terrific lures that can coax your opponent's Linoone counter early. Trapinch and Magneton are fairly efficient at eliminating the Steel-types that give Linoone nightmares, especially when paired with lures.</p>
<p>If you are worried about outspeeding certain Choice Scarf Pokemon (such as Haunter and Rotom), a Jolly nature is optional. However, you will miss out on many crucial OHKOs if you do this, namely Slowbro, who is always OHKOed if Stealth Rock is in play, with a high chance of OHKOing without Stealth Rock. A Jolly nature will cause you to only OHKO with Stealth Rock set up. A different EV spread of 36 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 216 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to guarantee the ability to outspeed certain other Pokemon; however, there is a noticeable lack in power. Finally, Memento Gastrodon is one of the easiest ways to guarantee a successful set up. Gastrodon has access to three extremely helpful support moves, Block, Memento and Yawn.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: ExtremeSpeed
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Switcheroo / Return
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Linoone can use its reputation as a Belly Drummer to run a surprise Choice Band set. While weaker than most Choice Band users, Linoone does have its advantages. First and foremost, it poses a psychological threat. Feigning a Belly Drum set, it intimidates many weakened sweepers into attacking instead of switching out, and many tottering walls will give up the chance to recover damage in order to get a hit off on Linoone. Second, it is the only user of STAB ExtremeSpeed in UU, which by all accounts is a powerful and reliable priority attack, even on a Pokemon with a pathetic 70 base Attack. Third, it has access to Switcheroo (as well as its identical twin Trick), which it can use to foil many of its counters. Steelix, Registeel, and Spiritomb, the three best Belly Drum Linoone switch-ins in UU, are all crippled by receiving a Choice Band, unless they are already holding one, which is a rare sight. With an Adamant nature, Linoone reaches a decent 393 attack. ExtremeSpeed is Linoone's primary attack, allowing it to put a huge dent on fragile sweepers which outspeed Linoone, such as Swellow and Alakazam. As mentioned before, Shadow Claw is Linoone's only way of dealing with Ghost-types whilst without Seed Bomb, the badger has no chance taking on the likes of Rhyperior and Omastar. Although Switcheroo is the preferred move for the fourth moveslot, Return can net a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs that ExtremeSpeed cannot, namely cleanly landing a fatality on Dugtrio and Swellow as well as 2HKOing Life Orb Milotic.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The layout of the EVs is quite simple, to allowing Linoone to outspeed as many threats as possible while at the same time maximizing its Attack. A Jolly nature is optional if you are worried about needing to outspeed things that resist ExtremeSpeed, in which case Return is the STAB move that you should use. Rock Smash is an alternative to hit Pokemon such as Probopass super effectively, but has no use outside of that, seeing as a neutral Extremespeed is more powerful than a super effective Rock Smash. Entry hazards are a must here, as Linoone is typically only able to do 50% to bulky Pokemon with ExtremeSpeed. Because sweepers typically carry Life Orb, the combination of residual damage plus the damage done from entry hazards adds up to allow Linoone to revenge kill with minimal losses.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Linoone has a fairly decent special movepool which includes even Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, but Linoone is unable to take advantage of it with its middling Special Attack stat. If you want a high-powered move, Linoone can learn Gunk Shot, but with the poor coverage it gets with it, coupled by with the low accuracy, it is generally not a viable option. A gimmick set with Belly Drum and Last Resort can be run, dealing a ridiculous amount of damage to most things. Physically Defensive Weezing takes 117.7% - 138.6% from a boosted Adamant Last Resort, and a Cloyster with maximum defensive investment takes 95.7% - 112.8%, a clean OHKO with Stealth Rock. Pursuit is another option; however, with Linoone's poor base Attack, it won't be netting many kills apart from the rare Ghost-type that is locked into a Ghost-type move and needs to switch out. As tanks that wall Linoone such as Steelix and Registeel are bound to switch into its attacks, Super Fang can rob them of half of their current health, which is by far the best amount of damage, Linoone will be able to inflict on them.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best way to counter Linoone is to prevent it from setting up a Belly Drum. If there are no screens in play, almost any STAB attack along with Stealth Rock will deal more than 50% damage to Linoone. If screens are in play, it takes a fairly powerful STAB or Fighting-type attack from a sweeper or tank to deal the appropriate damage, although this is still not hard to do. Taking out a screen-shielded Linoone after eating a Memento takes serious powerful Fighting-type STAB from the likes of Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Primeape, or Medicham. Many support moves are also viable ways to halt Linoone's setup, and are unaffected by screens or Memento: Encore, Trick, burn, sleep, Haze, and phazing moves can all put Linoone on the sidelines for the rest of the match by making it waste its Belly Drum.</p>
<p>Once Linoone has used Belly Drum, it still has several solid counters. Steelix is undoubtedly the best counter: with an Impish nature and 0 Def EVs, it is 3HKOed at best by Seed Bomb, and can KO Linoone with Earthquake or Gyro Ball, or phaze it away with Roar. Spiritomb is also an excellent counter, being immune to Linoone's STAB, 2HKOed by Seed Bomb and able to strike back first with its own priority STAB Sucker Punch or burn Linoone with Will-O-Wisp. Registeel counters Linoone well, as long as it has Def EVs or doesn't switch into Return; however, 0 Atk Registeel needs Explosion to put 50% HP Linoone down, as Iron Head will not KO. Shuckle almost always survives 2 Seed Bombs, even with Stealth Rock in play, but cannot do much back besides Toxic. Choice Scarf Mismagius and Timid Choice Scarf Rotom can both switch in on any Normal-type attack, outspeed the incoming Seed Bomb or Shadow Claw, and KO Linoone with Hidden Power Fighting or STAB Thunderbolt.</p>
<p>Without Shadow Claw, Linoone cannot OHKO the aforementioned Ghost-types (Dusclops, Bold Rotom, Drifblim, and Shedinja), which in turn can usually manage to KO, or at least burn, Linoone. Without Return, physically bulky Pokemon such as Tangrowth, Torterra, Torkoal, Gligar, and Weezing can survive a hit from Linoone if they are running max HP and Def. The same goes for bulky Grass weaknesses physically bulky Pokemon weak to Grass-type attacks, such as Slowbro, Sandslash, Cloyster, and all Rock-types, provided Linoone lacks Seed Bomb. Linoone needs Stealth Rock in play to get many key OHKOs; without it, almost any bulky Pokemon with max Defense will be able to survive a single +6 hit at full health, as will any Pokemon with Focus Sash.</p>
<p>Some battle conditions can prevent or hamper a Linoone's sweep. Toxic Spikes (either one or two layers) are the most harmful, limiting Linoone's maximum sweeping turns the number of turns for which Linoone can sweep after a Belly Drum to 3, or 2 if Linoone switches in mid-turn. Stealth Rock and Spikes hamper Linoone's ability to take hits on its Belly Drumming turn the turn it uses Belly Drum. Sandstorm and hail don't cut sweeps short quite like poison does, but it can finish off a damaged Linoone. Reflect on the defender's side reduces Linoone's attacking power by 50%, enough to halt its sweep.</p>
<p>If you carry a Pokemon with Intimidate, you can sap Linoone's Attack until it is unable to KO your Pokemon. At +5 Attack (after one Intimidate), Linoone fails to OHKO many walls, such as the aforementioned max Defense Uxie, Weezing, and Slowbro, sometimes even with Stealth Rock in play. Offensive teams lacking a wall may have to sacrifice a Pokemon or two in order to harass Linoone with multiple Intimidates. Other abilities such as Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, and Aftermath can, with a little luck, disable or finish off Linoone in a pinch.</p>
GP 2 / 2