[OVERVIEW]
Mawile stands out in the ZU tier as one of the few Fairy- and Steel-type Pokemon available. Mawile is also a premier Stealth Rock setter due to its ability to set up entry hazards on common Pokemon such as Komala, Kecleon, or Silvally-Fighting, and its unique typing allows it to check several prominent threats such as Shiftry, Toucannon, and Muk. Its support movepool is additionally well provided with moves such as Knock Off, Super Fang, Taunt, and Pain Split, which sets it apart from other Stealth Rock setters. Moreover, Mawile has access to two useful abilities in Intimidate and Sheer Force, which allows it to be played either as a wall or as a wallbreaker. However, offensive Mawile is very frail due to its lack of investment in bulk. Therefore, it is unable to take strong hits, even resisted ones, such as Psychic from Beheeyem and Multi-Attack from Silvally-Fighting. Furthermore, Mawile's offensive stats aren't much better, and it is walled by physical walls such as Pyukumuku and Gourgeist-XL. Its low Speed also makes it easily revenge killed by most offensive Pokemon such as Combusken and Swanna and even by defensive Pokemon like Altaria. Moreover, Mawile is weak to two very common offensive types in Ground and Fire, which causes it to be forced out by common Pokemon such as Golem, Torterra, Rapidash, and Combusken. A lot of hazard removers such as Swanna, Silvally-Water, and Rotom-F force Mawile out, which makes its role as an entry hazard setter troublesome.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Play Rough / Seismic Toss
move 3: Pain Split / Knock Off / Super Fang
move 4: Toxic / Taunt / Knock Off
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish / Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Play Rough is Mawile's strongest move, which allows it to OHKO Hakamo-o after chip damage. It also deals significant damage to defensive Pokemon that are weak to it such as Machoke, Silvally-Dark, and Altaria and to frail Pokemon such as Kadabra and Chatot. However, Seismic Toss can be used for consistent damage, which lets Mawile hit Pokemon such as Curse + RestTalk Muk and Bronzor, but this leaves it helpless against Ghost-types such as Gourgeist-XL and Misdreavus. Thanks to this move, Mawile can break Vigoroth's Substitute, therefore making it a good check to it. Pain Split is Mawile's best recovery move, and it pairs well with Mawile's low base HP stat. It lets Mawile better weaken defensive Pokemon such as Lickilicky and Gourgeist-XL than its other offensive moves. Toxic is Mawile's best way to weaken opposing walls and punish threats to it such as Combusken, Golem, and Gourgeist-XL. Taunt improves Mawile's matchup against bulkier Pokemon such as Bronzor, Pyukumuku and Shiinotic, preventing them from recovering the lost damage and shutting them down. Knock Off is an option that lets Mawile remove items from Pokemon that switch into it such as Bronzor's or Mareanie's Eviolite and Lickilicky's Leftovers. Super Fang is another option that lets Mawile better beat defensive Pokemon, but it prevents it from hitting Ghost-types such as Gourgeist-XL and Dusclops. Running this move over another offensive one also means that Mawile will rely on Toxic to knock opposing Pokemon out. Super Fang paired with Taunt can turn Mawile into a great stallbreaker, halving opposing Pokemon's health while preventing them from healing.
Set Details
========
Intimidate allows Mawile to better check physical attacker such as Silvally-Fighting, and Toucannon. Mawile appreciates Leftovers due to its lack of a reliable recovery move. If Mawile runs Pain Split, it can afford to hold Rocky Helmet in order to deal chip damage to physical attackers such as Sawsbuck and Leafeon and punish Pokemon such as Silvally-Fighting and Komala that use U-turn.
Usage Tips
========
Mawile should absolutely avoid any special move because they do a lot of damage to it. This also includes special moves from mixed attackers. Mawile can check some Pokemon only if their Attack has been lowered; therefore, if Mawile is already on the field, it may be unable to deal with Pokemon it's supposed to check such as Pinsir and Bouffalant. However, it should be sent out against the physical attackers it beats such as Shiftry, Toucannon, Leafeon, and Raticate and use them as an opportunity to set Stealth Rock. Mawile can also be sent out against an anticipated Toxic from Pokemon such as Lickilicky and Silvally-Fighting. This allows Mawile to set Stealth Rock, threaten them with Seismic Toss, Super Fang, or Toxic, or use them to get health back through Pain Split. It shouldn't be sent out on Pokemon with Defiant such as Pawniard, which gets a boost in Attack and can beat Mawile. It should also avoid setting up Stealth Rock if the opponent has an entry hazard remover that can easily come into Mawile such as Swanna, Sandslash, and Silvally-Ground. Instead, Mawile should punish these entry hazard removers with Toxic, Seismic Toss, or Super Fang.
Team Options
========
Since Mawile is quite vulnerable to special attacks, it appreciates being paired with a specially defensive Pokemon such as Komala, Kecleon, or Lickilicky. Lickilicky and Komala are especially potent partners, since they can support Mawile with their Wish and appreciates Mawile's ability to take on physical attackers. A check to Fire-types such as Altaria, Mareanie, or Hakamo-o is mandatory, since they can use Mawile as setup fodder and threaten it with their super effective STAB moves. For the same reason, checks to Ground-types such as Gourgeist-XL and Bronzor are appreciated. VoltTurn users such as different Silvally formes, Electivire, and Komala and strong wallbreakers or sweepers such as Combusken, Bibarel, and Fraxure appreciate Mawile's entry hazard support. Specially offensive Water-types such as Floatzel, Swanna, and Simipour can take on Ground- and Fire-types that threaten Mawile, while Mawile can take on specially defensive Pokemon such as Kecleon and Komala and Grass-types such as Shiinotic and Jumpluff for them.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Knock Off / Sucker Punch
move 4: Thunder Punch / Fire Blast / Swords Dance
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Play Rough and Iron Head are Mawile's best STAB moves. The former allows it to hit Fighting- and Dark-types such as Poliwrath, Hakamo-o, and Shiftry for super effective damage and is also Mawile's most powerful move, dealing strong damage even to neutral foes such as Beheeyem and Komala. The latter is a bit less strong but not less useful, hitting Rock- and Fairy-types such as Golem, Crustle, Shiinotic, and Granbull for super effective damage while also dealing better damage to Poison-types that resist Play Rough such as Muk and Silvally-Poison. Knock Off is a strong move that allows Mawile to break through Bronzor as well as remove items from Mawile's checks such as Mareanie and Sandslash. Sucker Punch is Mawile's best priority move and should only be used if it is carrying Swords Dance, as the Attack boost is required to remove most Pokemon faster than Mawile such as Electivire and Swanna. It also allows Mawile to have a better time cleaning offensive teams. Thunder Punch allows Mawile to deal super effective damage to Mareanie, which resists both its STAB moves and is able to wall Mawile,as well as always 2HKO Pyukumuku after Stealth Rock. Fire Blast lets Mawile deal with Grass- and Steel-types such as Gourgeist-XL and opposing Mawile, as well as OHKOing Avalugg after Stealth Rock. However, Mawile's low Special Attack makes it a subpar coverage option otherwise.
Set Details
========
Life Orb coupled with Sheer Force and an Adamant nature increases Mawile's wallbreaking capacities, which allows it to OHKO foes like Rotom-F after Stealth Rock with Play Rough. A Jolly nature can be used to enable Mawile to outspeed Pokemon that would otherwise force it out such as Marowak, Komala, and Bouffalant.
Usage Tips
========
Mawile is very frail without investment in bulk and Intimidate, so it should absolutely avoid taking any unresisted hit or special move. Instead, Mawile should be brought in via VoltTurn support from Pokemon such as Silvally and Electivire, on a hit that it is immune to such as Hakamo-o's Dragon Tail or Muk's Poison Jab, it can also come onto the field through aggressive double switches, predicting a Pokemon that can't deal with Mawile such as Zweilous. Since Mawile can't afford to take hits, it should use Swords Dance either on opposing Pokemon that can't deal significant damage to it, such as Muk, or it threatens out, such as Vullaby and Machoke. Don't try to wallbreak with Mawile if its checks such as Torterra, Sandslash, and Rapidash haven't been significantly weakened. Mawile should be switched out if it's facing a faster Pokemon that hits hard such as Swanna, Rapidash, or Silvally-Ground, unless they have been weakened enough to be finished off by Sucker Punch.
Team Options
========
Because of its inability to come in on most hits, Pokemon that run U-turn or Volt Switch such as different Sivally formes, Electivire, and Jumpluff are great partners for Mawile. Offensive Mawile best fits on most offensive builds, so other attackers such as offensive Stealth Rock Golem, Raichu, and Pawniard that can weaken Mawile's checks and counters such as Rapidash, Mareanie, and Sandslash are appreciated. Since Mawile is slow as a wallbreaker, it appreciates being played on offensive Sticky Web teams, so a Sticky Web setter such as Masquerain, Smeargle, or Shuckle makes a good partner for Mawile. Likewise, fast attackers such as Floatzel, Purugly, and Zebstrika as well as Choice Scarf users such as Electivire, Rapidash, and Silvally are potent partners, since they improve the matchup against most offensive teams. These Pokemon also appreciate Mawile's ability to weaken opposing walls, which lets them have a better time cleaning the opposing team. Stealth Rock and Spikes support is appreciated by Mawile, since it chips away its checks.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
If Mawile is running Taunt, defensive sets can run 36 EVs in Speed in order to outspeed Gourgeist-XL and therefore wall it, whereas offensive sets can run Ice Punch to target Torterra and other Ground-types. However, outside of these specific matchups, Mawile would prefer to run other coverage moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-types**: Fire-type Pokemon such as Combusken, Rapidash, and Simisear threaten to OHKO Mawile with their super effective STAB moves. This let them use Mawile as setup fodder. However, they don't want to come in against an incoming Toxic or Super Fang, since it significantly hurts their longevity.
**Ground-types**: Mawile is weak to Ground-type moves, which makes it easily revenge killed by Pokemon such as Golem, Torterra and Sandslash. This also means that Pokemon that Mawile is supposed to check such as Bouffalant and Komala can bypass it with Earthquake.
**Special Attackers**: Mawile is extremely susceptible to special moves, even resisted ones such as Chatot's Boomburst, Shiftry's Leaf Storm, and Kadabra's Psychic and weak ones like Electivire's Volt Switch.
**Steel-types**: Steel-type Pokemon such as Bronzor and Probopass take very little damage from Play Rough and are immune to Toxic. However, Bronzor doesn't appreciates getting hit by Knock Off or Swords Dance-boosted Sucker Punch.
**Magnet Pull**: Mawile is susceptible to being trapped and OHKOed by Magnet Pull users in Probopass and Alolan Golem. Mawile can't deal significant damage to them and should be played carefully if facing any of these Pokemon.
**Setup Sweepers**: Because of its low bulk and reliance on Intimidate to wall physical attackers, Mawile struggles to beat setup sweepers such as Bulk Up Vigoroth, Coil Arbok, and Swords Dance Bouffalant.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Tuthur1, 369076]]
- Quality checked by: [[5gen, 296755], [Funbot28, 255984], [BloodAce0107, 435539]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Deetah, 297659 ], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Mawile stands out in the ZU tier as one of the few Fairy- and Steel-type Pokemon available. Mawile is also a premier Stealth Rock setter due to its ability to set up entry hazards on common Pokemon such as Komala, Kecleon, or Silvally-Fighting, and its unique typing allows it to check several prominent threats such as Shiftry, Toucannon, and Muk. Its support movepool is additionally well provided with moves such as Knock Off, Super Fang, Taunt, and Pain Split, which sets it apart from other Stealth Rock setters. Moreover, Mawile has access to two useful abilities in Intimidate and Sheer Force, which allows it to be played either as a wall or as a wallbreaker. However, offensive Mawile is very frail due to its lack of investment in bulk. Therefore, it is unable to take strong hits, even resisted ones, such as Psychic from Beheeyem and Multi-Attack from Silvally-Fighting. Furthermore, Mawile's offensive stats aren't much better, and it is walled by physical walls such as Pyukumuku and Gourgeist-XL. Its low Speed also makes it easily revenge killed by most offensive Pokemon such as Combusken and Swanna and even by defensive Pokemon like Altaria. Moreover, Mawile is weak to two very common offensive types in Ground and Fire, which causes it to be forced out by common Pokemon such as Golem, Torterra, Rapidash, and Combusken. A lot of hazard removers such as Swanna, Silvally-Water, and Rotom-F force Mawile out, which makes its role as an entry hazard setter troublesome.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Play Rough / Seismic Toss
move 3: Pain Split / Knock Off / Super Fang
move 4: Toxic / Taunt / Knock Off
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish / Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Play Rough is Mawile's strongest move, which allows it to OHKO Hakamo-o after chip damage. It also deals significant damage to defensive Pokemon that are weak to it such as Machoke, Silvally-Dark, and Altaria and to frail Pokemon such as Kadabra and Chatot. However, Seismic Toss can be used for consistent damage, which lets Mawile hit Pokemon such as Curse + RestTalk Muk and Bronzor, but this leaves it helpless against Ghost-types such as Gourgeist-XL and Misdreavus. Thanks to this move, Mawile can break Vigoroth's Substitute, therefore making it a good check to it. Pain Split is Mawile's best recovery move, and it pairs well with Mawile's low base HP stat. It lets Mawile better weaken defensive Pokemon such as Lickilicky and Gourgeist-XL than its other offensive moves. Toxic is Mawile's best way to weaken opposing walls and punish threats to it such as Combusken, Golem, and Gourgeist-XL. Taunt improves Mawile's matchup against bulkier Pokemon such as Bronzor, Pyukumuku and Shiinotic, preventing them from recovering the lost damage and shutting them down. Knock Off is an option that lets Mawile remove items from Pokemon that switch into it such as Bronzor's or Mareanie's Eviolite and Lickilicky's Leftovers. Super Fang is another option that lets Mawile better beat defensive Pokemon, but it prevents it from hitting Ghost-types such as Gourgeist-XL and Dusclops. Running this move over another offensive one also means that Mawile will rely on Toxic to knock opposing Pokemon out. Super Fang paired with Taunt can turn Mawile into a great stallbreaker, halving opposing Pokemon's health while preventing them from healing.
Set Details
========
Intimidate allows Mawile to better check physical attacker such as Silvally-Fighting, and Toucannon. Mawile appreciates Leftovers due to its lack of a reliable recovery move. If Mawile runs Pain Split, it can afford to hold Rocky Helmet in order to deal chip damage to physical attackers such as Sawsbuck and Leafeon and punish Pokemon such as Silvally-Fighting and Komala that use U-turn.
Usage Tips
========
Mawile should absolutely avoid any special move because they do a lot of damage to it. This also includes special moves from mixed attackers. Mawile can check some Pokemon only if their Attack has been lowered; therefore, if Mawile is already on the field, it may be unable to deal with Pokemon it's supposed to check such as Pinsir and Bouffalant. However, it should be sent out against the physical attackers it beats such as Shiftry, Toucannon, Leafeon, and Raticate and use them as an opportunity to set Stealth Rock. Mawile can also be sent out against an anticipated Toxic from Pokemon such as Lickilicky and Silvally-Fighting. This allows Mawile to set Stealth Rock, threaten them with Seismic Toss, Super Fang, or Toxic, or use them to get health back through Pain Split. It shouldn't be sent out on Pokemon with Defiant such as Pawniard, which gets a boost in Attack and can beat Mawile. It should also avoid setting up Stealth Rock if the opponent has an entry hazard remover that can easily come into Mawile such as Swanna, Sandslash, and Silvally-Ground. Instead, Mawile should punish these entry hazard removers with Toxic, Seismic Toss, or Super Fang.
Team Options
========
Since Mawile is quite vulnerable to special attacks, it appreciates being paired with a specially defensive Pokemon such as Komala, Kecleon, or Lickilicky. Lickilicky and Komala are especially potent partners, since they can support Mawile with their Wish and appreciates Mawile's ability to take on physical attackers. A check to Fire-types such as Altaria, Mareanie, or Hakamo-o is mandatory, since they can use Mawile as setup fodder and threaten it with their super effective STAB moves. For the same reason, checks to Ground-types such as Gourgeist-XL and Bronzor are appreciated. VoltTurn users such as different Silvally formes, Electivire, and Komala and strong wallbreakers or sweepers such as Combusken, Bibarel, and Fraxure appreciate Mawile's entry hazard support. Specially offensive Water-types such as Floatzel, Swanna, and Simipour can take on Ground- and Fire-types that threaten Mawile, while Mawile can take on specially defensive Pokemon such as Kecleon and Komala and Grass-types such as Shiinotic and Jumpluff for them.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Knock Off / Sucker Punch
move 4: Thunder Punch / Fire Blast / Swords Dance
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Play Rough and Iron Head are Mawile's best STAB moves. The former allows it to hit Fighting- and Dark-types such as Poliwrath, Hakamo-o, and Shiftry for super effective damage and is also Mawile's most powerful move, dealing strong damage even to neutral foes such as Beheeyem and Komala. The latter is a bit less strong but not less useful, hitting Rock- and Fairy-types such as Golem, Crustle, Shiinotic, and Granbull for super effective damage while also dealing better damage to Poison-types that resist Play Rough such as Muk and Silvally-Poison. Knock Off is a strong move that allows Mawile to break through Bronzor as well as remove items from Mawile's checks such as Mareanie and Sandslash. Sucker Punch is Mawile's best priority move and should only be used if it is carrying Swords Dance, as the Attack boost is required to remove most Pokemon faster than Mawile such as Electivire and Swanna. It also allows Mawile to have a better time cleaning offensive teams. Thunder Punch allows Mawile to deal super effective damage to Mareanie, which resists both its STAB moves and is able to wall Mawile,as well as always 2HKO Pyukumuku after Stealth Rock. Fire Blast lets Mawile deal with Grass- and Steel-types such as Gourgeist-XL and opposing Mawile, as well as OHKOing Avalugg after Stealth Rock. However, Mawile's low Special Attack makes it a subpar coverage option otherwise.
Set Details
========
Life Orb coupled with Sheer Force and an Adamant nature increases Mawile's wallbreaking capacities, which allows it to OHKO foes like Rotom-F after Stealth Rock with Play Rough. A Jolly nature can be used to enable Mawile to outspeed Pokemon that would otherwise force it out such as Marowak, Komala, and Bouffalant.
Usage Tips
========
Mawile is very frail without investment in bulk and Intimidate, so it should absolutely avoid taking any unresisted hit or special move. Instead, Mawile should be brought in via VoltTurn support from Pokemon such as Silvally and Electivire, on a hit that it is immune to such as Hakamo-o's Dragon Tail or Muk's Poison Jab, it can also come onto the field through aggressive double switches, predicting a Pokemon that can't deal with Mawile such as Zweilous. Since Mawile can't afford to take hits, it should use Swords Dance either on opposing Pokemon that can't deal significant damage to it, such as Muk, or it threatens out, such as Vullaby and Machoke. Don't try to wallbreak with Mawile if its checks such as Torterra, Sandslash, and Rapidash haven't been significantly weakened. Mawile should be switched out if it's facing a faster Pokemon that hits hard such as Swanna, Rapidash, or Silvally-Ground, unless they have been weakened enough to be finished off by Sucker Punch.
Team Options
========
Because of its inability to come in on most hits, Pokemon that run U-turn or Volt Switch such as different Sivally formes, Electivire, and Jumpluff are great partners for Mawile. Offensive Mawile best fits on most offensive builds, so other attackers such as offensive Stealth Rock Golem, Raichu, and Pawniard that can weaken Mawile's checks and counters such as Rapidash, Mareanie, and Sandslash are appreciated. Since Mawile is slow as a wallbreaker, it appreciates being played on offensive Sticky Web teams, so a Sticky Web setter such as Masquerain, Smeargle, or Shuckle makes a good partner for Mawile. Likewise, fast attackers such as Floatzel, Purugly, and Zebstrika as well as Choice Scarf users such as Electivire, Rapidash, and Silvally are potent partners, since they improve the matchup against most offensive teams. These Pokemon also appreciate Mawile's ability to weaken opposing walls, which lets them have a better time cleaning the opposing team. Stealth Rock and Spikes support is appreciated by Mawile, since it chips away its checks.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
If Mawile is running Taunt, defensive sets can run 36 EVs in Speed in order to outspeed Gourgeist-XL and therefore wall it, whereas offensive sets can run Ice Punch to target Torterra and other Ground-types. However, outside of these specific matchups, Mawile would prefer to run other coverage moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-types**: Fire-type Pokemon such as Combusken, Rapidash, and Simisear threaten to OHKO Mawile with their super effective STAB moves. This let them use Mawile as setup fodder. However, they don't want to come in against an incoming Toxic or Super Fang, since it significantly hurts their longevity.
**Ground-types**: Mawile is weak to Ground-type moves, which makes it easily revenge killed by Pokemon such as Golem, Torterra and Sandslash. This also means that Pokemon that Mawile is supposed to check such as Bouffalant and Komala can bypass it with Earthquake.
**Special Attackers**: Mawile is extremely susceptible to special moves, even resisted ones such as Chatot's Boomburst, Shiftry's Leaf Storm, and Kadabra's Psychic and weak ones like Electivire's Volt Switch.
**Steel-types**: Steel-type Pokemon such as Bronzor and Probopass take very little damage from Play Rough and are immune to Toxic. However, Bronzor doesn't appreciates getting hit by Knock Off or Swords Dance-boosted Sucker Punch.
**Magnet Pull**: Mawile is susceptible to being trapped and OHKOed by Magnet Pull users in Probopass and Alolan Golem. Mawile can't deal significant damage to them and should be played carefully if facing any of these Pokemon.
**Setup Sweepers**: Because of its low bulk and reliance on Intimidate to wall physical attackers, Mawile struggles to beat setup sweepers such as Bulk Up Vigoroth, Coil Arbok, and Swords Dance Bouffalant.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Tuthur1, 369076]]
- Quality checked by: [[5gen, 296755], [Funbot28, 255984], [BloodAce0107, 435539]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Deetah, 297659 ], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Last edited:
