Mantine [QC 1/3]

[Psychobuzz]

[OVERVIEW]

• It's improved HP stat to go with its already great Special Defense stat, and access to a reliable recovery move in Roost makes its performance in walling and utility roles much better than last Generation.
  
• It has a great typing for a special wall, being weak to only two types altogether, along with Water Absorb, allowing it to absorb powerful Water-type moves coming from Pokemon such as Greninja, Keldeo and Tapu Fini.
  
• It can support the team well with useful utility moves such as Defog and Haze.
• It's weak to Stealth Rock, taking away 25% of its health every time it switches in, making switching in and its overall utility much harder.
  
• While Water Absorb does alleviate this a little, it is quite a situational ability.
• It's 4x weak to Electric. Not only the plethora of Electric-type Pokemon can force it out, many of them also carry pivoting moves such as Volt Switch and U-turn, swinging the momentum in your opposing's team favor.
• It faces stiff competition from Chansey as a special wall, Pelipper as an offensive Water/Flying type, and Toxapex and Tapu Fini for a bulky Water-type.

[SET]
name: Bulky Support
move 1: Scald
move 2: Roost
move 3: Defog
move 4: Haze / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Scald is Mantine's most reliable STAB move, delivering burns to physical attackers and alleviating its weak Defense stat. It also has relatively high PP and perfect accuracy.
• Roost is used in the second move slot and is the most important on the set, as it heals Stealth Rock damage and gives it reliable recovery.
• Defog is used in the third slot and is Mantine's biggest niche: To remove entry hazards from Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Landorus-T and Klefki.
• Haze can be used to eliminate stat boosts from setup-sweeping Pokemon such as Zygarde, Volcarona and Gyarados.
  
• Toxic can also be used for the fourth slot to cripple bulkier Pokemon such as Tangrowth, Tyranitar and Zapdos.

Set Details
========

• It's HP investment is maximized.
  
• As most entry hazard users are physically based, 252 Defense EVs and a Bold Nature gives it maximum physical bulk and allows Mantine to take on entry hazard users such as Landorus-T and Ferrothorn.
  
• Some EVs can go into special bulk if you feel you'd want to wall special atackers, but keep in mind that you'd want to set up against multiple Pokemon. 108 SpD EVs with a Calm nature nost notably prevents the 2HKO from Life Orb Gengar's Sludge Wave after Stealth Rock damage.
  
• Leftovers is the item of choice, mitigating damage taken from Stealth Rock and granting it reliable recovery.
• Water Absorb is the ability of choice for Mantine, granting it an important Scald immunity, which is crucial for it to function effectively.

Usage Tips
========

• Avoid staying in on Electric-type pokemon and any pokemon that may carry Electric-type coverage moves such as Mega-Metagross and Latios.
  
• If using Defog, you can switch Mantine in on a predicted entry-hazard move, and Defog them away, but avoid switching in directly to any Stealth Rock users that commonly carry Stone Edge, such as Mega-Mawile and Landorus-T.
  
• If Stealth Rock is on your side of the field however, it should only switch in on a Pokemon it can force out, such as Buzzwole and Heatran.
  
• Mantine is also crippled by Toxic, as its HP drops greater on every turn. So switching in on bulkier Pokemon that commonly carry this move such as Toxapex and Chansey is not such a good idea.
  
• Haze and Toxic are both useful to prevent Mantine from being complete setup bait.

Team Options
========

• Ferrothorn is one of the best partners for Mantine, as it can absorb Toxic and can take in Electric-type moves aimed at Mantine, while Mantine can come in on any Fighting and Fire-type moves aimed at Ferrothorn. Keep in mind however that if it sets up entry hazards, Defog will remove entry hazards on the opposing team.
• Bulky Ground-types such as Hippowdon, Zygarde and Landorus-T are immune to Electric, and have traits that allow it to come in on stronger physical attackers. As many of them are physically based, these Pokemon have great synergy with Mantine, as Mantine can come in on the Scald burns aimed at them.
  
• Lightning Rod Alolan-Marowak is another good partner, as Mantine can switch in on the Water- and Ground-type moves aimed at Alolan-Marowak while it can switch out on a predicted Electric-type move. Be wary however that both Pokemon are weak to Rock-type moves and Stealth Rock.
• Mega-Venusaur and Amoonguss can take care of strong physical attackers that can threaten Mantine such as Landorus-T and Tapu Bulu, while Mantine can take care of any Fire-types that force them out.
  
• Chansey can remove Toxic for Mantine, while Mantine can come in on any Fighting-type move aimed at Chansey and provide Haze to prevent Chansey from being setup bait by setup sweepers.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Rocky Helmet could be used in place of Leftovers to punish physical attackers, but it really needs the passive recovery to provide as much utility as possible. Also, its bad Defense stat and the fact that the moves that Mantine's weak to don't make contact makes Leftovers the better item.
  
• Ice Beam can be used to hit Dragon-types harder, but Mantine doesn't hit hard enough with this move. Also, it will lose out on important defensive utility.
• Air Slash is another STAB move that hits Grass types such as Mega-Venusaur and Tapu Bulu, harder than any other move on the set. But the lack of Pokemon weak to Flying in the metagame and imperfect accuracy makes this move unreliable.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Electric-types**: Electric-types, most notably Tapu Koko and Thundurus, can easily threaten Mantine with their Electric-type STAB moves.

**Strong Attackers**: Pokémon that carry super effective coverage or have sheer power such as Magearna running Volt Switch or Landorus-T using Supersonic Skystrike can easily KO Mantine, especially after taking Stealth Rock damage.

**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock makes Mantine lose 1/4 of its health every time it tries to switch in, which makes it harder to provide utility.

**Grass-types**: Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Ferrothorn can easily wall any Mantine not carrying Air Slash, as most are immune to Toxic and resist Scald. Ferrothorn must be wary of a burn from Scald, however.

**Residual Damage**: Pokemon that use Toxic or Will-O-Wisp like Toxapex, Alolan Marowak, and opposing Mantine can greatly reduce Mantine's capabilities by reducing its longevity.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion threaten Mantine with high-powered Rock-type STAB moves, though they must often be wary of Scald.

**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Tornadus-T and Tapu Fini can easily force Mantine out, preventing it from recovering, Defogging, or providing any utility.

 

[Colonel M]

Though I greatly appreciate the effort placed into this, please make this match the current skeleton format.

Here is the link to the skeleton.

After passing 2 QC checks the analysis can then be fully written.

 

[Psychobuzz]

OK. No problem. Thanks for the info. I'll try and make this analysis as close to the format as I can...

 

[Psychobuzz]

Though I greatly appreciate the effort placed into this, please make this match the current skeleton format.

Here is the link to the skeleton.

After passing 2 QC checks the analysis can then be fully written.

Sorry to double-post, but now I understand what you're saying. I got confused. I thought a Write-Up meant you had to create a full analysis from scratch, not write it in bullet points (Which I'm personally not a fan of).

 

[Psychobuzz]

QC ready now.

 

[bludz]

Yo! First QC check here.
Set

• I think Defog should not be slashed; it's basically Mantine's main niche.
• The fourth slot should be Haze / Toxic, remove Air Slash as that's much more of an Other Options thing

Moves

• Remove Air Slash mention
• Reword the Toxic / Haze stuff so it's clear they're both fourth slot options

Set Details

• Mention Water Absorb

Usage Tips

• I would say not to switch Mantine directly into Stealth Rockers that can beat it (i.e. Mawile / Landorus line).
• The electric-type thing sorta goes without saying I think, so I'd say something more along the lines of "don't risk staying in with Mantine against electric types"

Team Options

• Add Zygarde to bulky grounds part
• For Excadrill, if anything Mantine is opening up it to be Swords Dance over Rapid Spin. Mantine should always have Defog.

Other Options

• Air Slash and Ice Beam can go here
• Remove all the other bullets here since I'm not sure these are even OO worthy

1/3

 

[Psychobuzz]

So. Here's how much I was able to address out of the 11 bullet points shown above.

I removed Air Slash and moved it to Other Options and singled out Defog as the third slot. I also mentioned Water Absorb onto the set details.

In the first bullet point on the 'Usage Tips' section I only changed on word, swapping 'switching' for 'staying'. Maybe I should also get rid of the 'Electric-type coverage moves' part? I must also think about rewording the bottom bullet point of the 'Usage Tips' section, or maybe removing that point altogether. I added the word 'directly' into the Stealth Rockers point.

I added Zygarde in to the bulky Grounds. As for the point about Excadrill, I didn't quite understand what was being said. Does it mean Excadrill should run Swords Dance over Rapid Spin while Mantine Defogs? At the moment I removed the whole drill sentence and stuck with the three bulky Grounds unless someone can help me come up with a statement about it.

In the Other Options section, I removed a few bullets mentioning the offensive set and the Substitute set. I expanded the Rocky Helmet option just to see if it's still worth keeping.

 

[bludz]

Keep the electric-type coverage stuff cuz its important.

The Excadrill point I guess wasn't that big of a deal but yeah removing it is fine because it's really not that good, Zygarde is a good replacement.

 

[Colonel M]

Thanks for wasting my time by the way.

Look familiar?

[OVERVIEW]
...
Checks and Counters
===================

**Electric-types**: Electric-types, most notably Tapu Koko and Thundurus, can easily threaten Mantine with their Electric-type STAB moves.

**Strong Attackers**: Pokémon that carry super effective coverage or have sheer power such as Magearna running Volt Switch or Landorus-T using Supersonic Skystrike can easily KO Mantine, especially after taking Stealth Rock damage.

**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock makes Mantine lose 1/4 of its health every time it tries to switch in, which makes it harder to provide utility.

**Grass-types**: Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Ferrothorn can easily wall any Mantine not carrying Air Slash, as most are immune to Toxic and resist Scald. Ferrothorn must be wary of a burn from Scald, however.

**Residual Damage**: Pokemon that use Toxic or Will-O-Wisp like Toxapex, Alolan Marowak, and opposing Mantine can greatly reduce Mantine's capabilities by reducing its longevity.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion threaten Mantine with high-powered Rock-type STAB moves, though they must often be wary of Scald.

**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Tornadus-T and Tapu Fini can easily force Mantine out, preventing it from recovering, Defogging, or providing any utility.

The wording also seems pretty close. Example from the skeleton currently on-site from this post:

Pokemon that can deal with physical attackers that threaten Mantine, such as Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss, counter threats like Landorus-T quite well, and Mantine can deal with the Fire-types which force them out.

And then your write-up:

Mega-Venusaur and Amoonguss can take care of strong physical attackers that can threaten Mantine such as Landorus-T and Tapu Bulu, while Mantine can take care of any Fire-types that force them out.

Which is eerily similar.

We have a rule specifically against plagiarism, and I even bumped it as a reminder to people. We at Smogon University take plagiarism very seriously, as you'll find out shortly.

Congratulations on playing yourself.

REJECTED 1/1