[OVERVIEW]
Minior's powerful Flying-type STAB attacks are amazing against the top threats in the NU metagame. They are complemented nicely by Earthquake, allowing Minior to also dent Flying-resistant Pokemon like Rhydon and Steelix. Minior's ability, Shields Down, gives it setup opportunities by providing it with an immunity to status as well as decent bulk while in Meteor forme. After a Shell Smash, Minior can be the fastest Pokemon in the metagame. Unfortunately, its Speed doesn't help it against priority attacks, which are prevalent in NU. Additionally, Minior usually requires team support for preventing or removing Stealth Rock, which otherwise severely limits its ability to set up. Minior's poor defensive typing restricts its setup opportunities by making it weak to many common attacking types in the NU metagame such as Water, Rock, and Ice. Poor defenses in Core forme mean that Minior usually only gets one chance to set up, and the combination of poor offenses in Meteor forme, only decent offenses in Core forme, and a reliance on Acrobatics means that Minior typically has to set up to be effective. Finally, Minior faces heavy competition from Barbaracle as a Shell Smash user, as Barbaracle has better bulk and takes neutral damage from Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet.
[SET]
name: Shell Smash
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Acrobatics
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Substitute
item: White Herb
ability: Shields Down
nature: Adamant
evs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Shell Smash allows Minior to double its Speed and offenses. The defensive drops from Shell Smash activate White Herb, enabling Minior to use Acrobatics at full power. Acrobatics is an extremely powerful STAB attack after Minior has used White Herb, and it has great coverage against the multitude of Grass- and Fighting-types in the NU metagame. Earthquake complements Acrobatics by allowing Minior to deal super effective damage to Steel- and Rock-types like Steelix and Rhydon. Substitute is primarily used as a method to cut Minior's health, allowing it to enter its Core forme to greatly boost its Speed and Attack. A maintained Substitute can also protect Minior from one priority attack.
Set Details
========
White Herb allows Minior to easily empower Acrobatics and use Shell Smash while avoiding 2HKOs from attacks that do roughly 40% to its Meteor forme, such as Hyper Voice from Choice Specs Meloetta, and OHKOs from slower Pokemon's attacks, such as Slowbro's Scald. 12 HP EVs let Minior trigger Shields Down after two uses of Substitute or switches into Stealth Rock. 252 Speed EVs allow Minior to outspeed Choice Scarf users with base 80 Speed and Accelgor while in Meteor Forme and enable it to Speed tie with opposing Minior. The remaining EVs are placed in Attack with an Adamant nature to give Minior a necessary power boost—the missing 8 EVs in Attack do not change any notable damage rolls or KOs. Shields Down is Minior's only ability and provides Minior with a status immunity while in Meteor Forme, enabling it to easily set up on passive Pokemon such as Golbat.
Usage Tips
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Minior is primarily used as a late-game cleaner. It can alternatively be used mid-game to wallbreak if the opponent has too many counters such as priority users and very bulky Pokemon like Slowbro, Vaporeon, and Rhydon. Work to remove priority users like Sneasel and Machamp before trying to sweep with Minior, as they can easily deny Minior more than one KO. If possible, remove Stealth Rock before bringing in Minior, as Minior has much more room to set up with Shell Smash when at full health. Set up on passive Pokemon like Aromatisse, status users such as Golbat, Flying-types like Sigilyph, Braviary, Scyther, and Dodrio, and Pokemon Choice-locked into attacks that Minior resists, such as Delphox and Emboar locked into Fire-type attacks. If Minior has boosted with Shell Smash and is still in Meteor forme, use Substitute to either push Minior into Core forme or give Minior a barrier against priority moves.
Team Options
========
Minior appreciates entry hazard support breaking Focus Sashes and Sturdy as well as bringing many Pokemon into OHKO range. Spikes support from Pokemon such as Omastar and Qwilfish is great for wearing down Rhydon and Steelix. Omastar additionally sets Stealth Rock. Pokemon able to remove Stealth Rock, such as Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Golbat, and Braviary, are key to enabling Minior to be able to set up against offensive Pokemon. Pokemon able to weaken Slowbro, Steelix, and Rhydon are a must. Drapion can bring in Steelix and remove its Leftovers or land good damage with Earthquake, and with Shuca Berry and Swords Dance, it can lure in and cripple or KO both Steelix and Rhydon. Sneasel is also a way to bring in Steelix, though it is less likely to be able to draw in and stick damage on Rhydon. Emboar can threaten Slowbro with Wild Charge and deals great damage to Rhydon with Superpower. Volt Switch and U-turn users like Rotom-C and Uxie are able to bring Minior in safely. Alolan Persian can use Parting Shot to give Minior an even easier time setting up. Memento from Pokemon like Uxie can enable Minior to set up against even super effective hits. Whimsicott is worth a special mention, as it learns both Memento and U-turn and tends to draw in the Fire-, Flying-, and Poison-type Pokemon that Minior can use as setup fodder. Aurora Veil can also be nice, and hail support works in favor of Minior by chipping away at foes and potentially knocking Minior into Core forme.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Liechi Berry could be used over White Herb to give Minior an additional power boost in exchange for making it somewhat frailer after setting up. By repeatedly using Substitute, Minior can also activate Liechi Berry to use Acrobatics at full power without having to use Shell Smash. Rock-type coverage such as Stone Edge could be used to guarantee KOs on Archeops, opposing Minior, and Golbat, but Substitute is typically all Minior will need in the NU metagame, and the ability to force itself into Core forme is invaluable. A Jolly nature could be used to outspeed Choice Scarf Hitmonlee and Sawk in Meteor forme and Unburden Sceptile in Core forme after a Shell Smash, but this takes away from Minior's power and KO potential. Groundium Z could be used with Earthquake and Stone Edge to allow Minior to blow past checks like Steelix and Rhydon, but this removes Minior's ability to spam Acrobatics. A specially offensive Minior is possible due to Minior's wide special movepool and decent Special Attack stat; however, Minior's special movepool lacks a Flying-type STAB attack outside of Hidden Power Flying and has no coverage for Pokemon that resist Minior's STAB moves outside of Bloom Doom from Solar Beam. Specially offensive Minior is additionally outclassed by other Shell Smash users like Omastar and Turtonator.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Pokemon**: Slowbro, Rhydon, Steelix, Vaporeon, and Alolan Persian all take a hit from +2 Core forme Minior and are able to KO it in return. Other bulky Pokemon like Quagsire, Granbull, and Druddigon may be unable to consistently KO Minior, but they can phaze it or attempt to inflict status if Minior is in Core forme.
**Priority Attacks**: Almost all forms of priority beat Core forme Minior; however, opponents are typically forced to sacrifice a Pokemon to be able to bring out a priority user safely. Common priority attacks Minior fears include Ice Shard from Sneasel and Vanilluxe, Aqua Jet from Kabutops and Samurott, and Bullet Punch from Machamp.
**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock limits Minior's ability to set up, as at 75% health, it cannot safely set up against offensive Pokemon like Choice Scarf Sawk.
**Wallbreakers**: Unless Choice-locked into a move Minior resists, wallbreakers like Emboar, Choice Specs Meloetta, and Choice Specs Sceptile prevent Minior from setting up. However, unless these wallbreakers are carrying priority moves, they lose to Minior if it has already used Shell Smash.
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