[SET]
Shell Smash (Minior) @ White Herb
Ability: Shields Down
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Shell Smash
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Substitute
[SET COMMENTS]
Minior serves as a late-game setup sweeper, providing teams a self-sufficient cleaner via Shell Smash and Shields Down to outspeed the entire metagame once in Base forme with Jolly, in addition to hitting hard off boosted 100 Base Attack. Acrobatics is its primary STAB, synergizing with the White Herb consumption, but Earthquake provides a way to hit Pokemon like Regirock and Jolteon and Stone Edge provides perfect coverage. Substitute provides a way to safely use Shell Smash if Minior comes in on a forced switch, as well as manipulating HP to reach Base forme faster, but comes at the cost of being able to avoid immunity/resistance switch mindgames. The Nature selection primarily comes down to whether or not Minior needs to outspeed certain Pokemon when unboosted, such as Jolteon, or if it wants the additional power instead. Tera Grass can be used if available to tank a hit from Pokemon like Clawitzer, Jolteon, or Lycanroc and KO them, ensuring a sweep.
Minior works best either on hyper-offensive teams that can support its attempt to sweep with tools like screens, or on more bulky offensive teams, where Minior serves as a cleaner at the end once its teammates have weakened the opposing team over time. Minior can also work on defensive teams as a primary win condition. Wallbreakers like Clawitzer, Jolteon, and Mismagius all can appreciate Minior, as they deal significant damage to walls like Weezing and Regirock over the course of a game, allowing for Minior to clean up at the end of the game. Sneasel-Hisui or Beartic in Snow can serve as a bit of a double-threat option alongside Minior, where defensive structures are often able to take on one major threat, and find themselves insufficient to wall both over the course of a game. Minior appreciates defensive behemoths like Snorlax or Regirock being removed, with pokemon like Passimian able to do so reliably. Minior also cannot sweep if strong priority from Pokemon like Hitmontop or Lycanroc remains in play, so removing those with teammates before sweeping is a necessity. Minior can take advantage of Pokemon that do not carry super effective coverage, such as Charizard or Farigiraf, as set up opportunities, so Pokemon that bring those in, such as Shaymin or Weezing, can help enable Minior to set up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Minior has a handful of other options for coverage moves, such as Iron Head and Zen Headbutt to hit opponents like Beartic or Sneasel-Hisui, but its default coverage options handle the full range of the metagame in most cases. Explosion can be used as a means to do significant damage to some targets before fainting, but necessitates giving up a move to hit certain targets. A special set can be ran with moves like Power Gem, Psychic, and Earth Power, but the reduced power and lack of access to Acrobatics can make this an inferior option beyond the surprise factor. Minior also has access to some utility moves, such as screens, Stealth Rock, and U-Turn, but these often conflict with the goals of Shell Smash and Shields Down or are better handled elsewhere.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Physical Walls**: Even when boosted, physical walls like Regirock or Spiritomb can tank a hit or two from Minior and respond with significant damage. Snorlax can also tank hits, but struggles to threaten Minior beyond the threat of a Body Slam-induced Paralysis if not sufficiently boosted by Curse already.
**Priority**: Minior has no way to play around priority, and moves like Beartic's Aqua Jet or Lycanroc's Accelrock both can easily KO Minior once it is in Base forme. With few resistances to common priority in ZU, Minior can often be KOd by a revenge killer ignoring speed boosts entirely.
**Encore**: If a Pokemon facing Minior has Encore, or if Whimsicott switches in as Minior uses Shell Smash, it can lock Minior into repeated uses of the move, forcing a switch out and wasting the White Herb.
**Haze**: Pokemon like Weezing, Cryogonal, and Articuno can remove Minior's boosts entirely, forcing it to deal unboosted damage or attempt a predictions game on trying to get boosts back, with the added problem of the defense drops. The latter two, however, need to watch out for Stone Edge if not using Tera.
**Stealth Rock*: Minior prefers being in control of when it changes formes when possible, and Stealth Rock dealing unignorable chip just for switching in can significantly impede the ability to manage the forme transformation.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-fairy.57965/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Shell Smash (Minior) @ White Herb
Ability: Shields Down
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Shell Smash
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Substitute
[SET COMMENTS]
Minior serves as a late-game setup sweeper, providing teams a self-sufficient cleaner via Shell Smash and Shields Down to outspeed the entire metagame once in Base forme with Jolly, in addition to hitting hard off boosted 100 Base Attack. Acrobatics is its primary STAB, synergizing with the White Herb consumption, but Earthquake provides a way to hit Pokemon like Regirock and Jolteon and Stone Edge provides perfect coverage. Substitute provides a way to safely use Shell Smash if Minior comes in on a forced switch, as well as manipulating HP to reach Base forme faster, but comes at the cost of being able to avoid immunity/resistance switch mindgames. The Nature selection primarily comes down to whether or not Minior needs to outspeed certain Pokemon when unboosted, such as Jolteon, or if it wants the additional power instead. Tera Grass can be used if available to tank a hit from Pokemon like Clawitzer, Jolteon, or Lycanroc and KO them, ensuring a sweep.
Minior works best either on hyper-offensive teams that can support its attempt to sweep with tools like screens, or on more bulky offensive teams, where Minior serves as a cleaner at the end once its teammates have weakened the opposing team over time. Minior can also work on defensive teams as a primary win condition. Wallbreakers like Clawitzer, Jolteon, and Mismagius all can appreciate Minior, as they deal significant damage to walls like Weezing and Regirock over the course of a game, allowing for Minior to clean up at the end of the game. Sneasel-Hisui or Beartic in Snow can serve as a bit of a double-threat option alongside Minior, where defensive structures are often able to take on one major threat, and find themselves insufficient to wall both over the course of a game. Minior appreciates defensive behemoths like Snorlax or Regirock being removed, with pokemon like Passimian able to do so reliably. Minior also cannot sweep if strong priority from Pokemon like Hitmontop or Lycanroc remains in play, so removing those with teammates before sweeping is a necessity. Minior can take advantage of Pokemon that do not carry super effective coverage, such as Charizard or Farigiraf, as set up opportunities, so Pokemon that bring those in, such as Shaymin or Weezing, can help enable Minior to set up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Minior has a handful of other options for coverage moves, such as Iron Head and Zen Headbutt to hit opponents like Beartic or Sneasel-Hisui, but its default coverage options handle the full range of the metagame in most cases. Explosion can be used as a means to do significant damage to some targets before fainting, but necessitates giving up a move to hit certain targets. A special set can be ran with moves like Power Gem, Psychic, and Earth Power, but the reduced power and lack of access to Acrobatics can make this an inferior option beyond the surprise factor. Minior also has access to some utility moves, such as screens, Stealth Rock, and U-Turn, but these often conflict with the goals of Shell Smash and Shields Down or are better handled elsewhere.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Physical Walls**: Even when boosted, physical walls like Regirock or Spiritomb can tank a hit or two from Minior and respond with significant damage. Snorlax can also tank hits, but struggles to threaten Minior beyond the threat of a Body Slam-induced Paralysis if not sufficiently boosted by Curse already.
**Priority**: Minior has no way to play around priority, and moves like Beartic's Aqua Jet or Lycanroc's Accelrock both can easily KO Minior once it is in Base forme. With few resistances to common priority in ZU, Minior can often be KOd by a revenge killer ignoring speed boosts entirely.
**Encore**: If a Pokemon facing Minior has Encore, or if Whimsicott switches in as Minior uses Shell Smash, it can lock Minior into repeated uses of the move, forcing a switch out and wasting the White Herb.
**Haze**: Pokemon like Weezing, Cryogonal, and Articuno can remove Minior's boosts entirely, forcing it to deal unboosted damage or attempt a predictions game on trying to get boosts back, with the added problem of the defense drops. The latter two, however, need to watch out for Stone Edge if not using Tera.
**Stealth Rock*: Minior prefers being in control of when it changes formes when possible, and Stealth Rock dealing unignorable chip just for switching in can significantly impede the ability to manage the forme transformation.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-fairy.57965/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/