Mothim (Choice Specs) [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

SilentVerse

Into the New World
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K, so I've had this skeleton for almost a year now, but I've never posted it because I felt this set wasn't good enough for an on-site for the longest time since, well, this set does so poorly vs offense due to how slow and fragile Mothim is. Feranfell brought the set back to my attention though, and since the metagame has become much slower, I feel this set is good enough again to deserve an on-site analysis, especially since this set is WAY better currently than that silly Quiver Dance Mothim set on-site.

Mothim



[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Rock
item: Choice Specs
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Rash / Mild
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Though Mothim's access to Quiver Dance gives him a means to sweep, Tinted Lens provides him with essentially perfect neutral coverage, meaning that an all-out attacking set such as this one becomes perfectly viable. Like Choice Specs Yanmega in UU, the premise of this set is incredibly simple: bring this guy in safely on a slow Grass-type such as Tangrowth or on a predicted Earthquake, then proceed to use one of his STAB moves and watch in glee as the opponent's switch-in is utterly demolished by the strength of his Tinted Lens-boosted STAB moves. Despite only having a base 94 Special Attack stat, between Tinted Lens, Choice Specs, and a Special Attack-boosting nature, Mothim actually becomes such an incredible offensive threat that almost every single Pokemon in RU is at least 2HKOed by his STAB moves, barring the bulkiest of special walls such as specially defensive Magneton and Clefable. Alongside the fact that the Bug-type is an incredibly powerful offensive typing in RU, this makes Mothim an incredibly anti-metagame wallbreaker that is fully capable of smashing most of the common cores that many teams rely on.</p>

<p>Bug Buzz is Mothim's premier offensive attack, and it's not hard to see why. After all, it's by far Mothim's most powerful attack, and between Tinted Lens and the sheer strength of Bug-type attacks in RU, the opponent usually won't have a Pokemon that actually resists it. However, if opponents do have a Pokemon that resists Bug Buzz on their teams, such as Emboar or Moltres, Air Slash gives Mothim the coverage he needs to hit such threats hard, and once again, thanks to Tinted Lens, the opponent probably won't have a Pokemon that resists it. In tandem with Tinted Lens, Bug Buzz and Air Slash actually give Mothim perfect neutral coverage. Therefore, the last two moves that Mothim uses don't really need to provide coverage at all; they are meant to give Mothim a means of dealing with certain troublesome flaws that he has. For example, U-turn gives Mothim a way to circumvent being walled by special walls such as specially defensive Magneton and Clefable. Instead of just using Bug Buzz against these walls and being forced out, Mothim can instead use U-turn to deal a sizable chunk of damage due to his passable base 94 Attack stat; Mothim can then switch into something that is capable of dealing with them, such as Emboar. In a similar vein, Giga Drain is recommended in the last slot to slightly offset Mothim's huge weakness to Stealth Rock by recovering his lost HP while dealing big damage to Lanturn and Rhydon. However, options such as Hidden Power Rock, which OHKOes Moltres without the need of Stealth Rock support, are also decent.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>A Mild or Rash nature is used to make Mothim hit as hard as possible and maximize his chances of landing 2HKOs on certain Pokemon, such as Lanturn. Maximum Speed investment conveniently places Mothim at an incredibly nice Speed stat of 231, which lets him outspeed base 55 Speed Pokemon with maximum investment and a Speed-boosting nature, such as Bouffalant and Omastar, in addition to the Pokemon that might attempt to run just enough Speed to outspeed such Pokemon, such as Uxie. Thanks to this magical Speed tier, a Hasty or Naive nature is generally unnecessary, but it does allow Mothim to outspeed max Speed Emboar and Cryogonal without Speed investment.</p>

<p>Even though Mothim is so incredibly powerful under the right circumstances, he requires quite a bit of support to perform at his best due to his multiple shortcomings, such as his weakness to Stealth Rock, ridiculous frailty, lack of great resistances, and relatively low Speed, which all hamper his ability to come into a match and 2HKO everything on the opponent's team. Fortunately, in RU, the first flaw is an easy one to fix: simply slapping a Pokemon with Rapid Spin, such as Kabutops or Cryogonal, on your team gives you a way to remove Stealth Rock, and due to just how good those two spinners are, removing that hazard shouldn't be a problem at all. Kabutops is particularly good due to his ability to tank the Fire Blasts and Flare Blitzes that Pokemon such as Moltres and Emboar might try to fire at Mothim. The other flaws are more difficult to alleviate, but they are still manageable. Perhaps the best way to get into the match is to use Pokemon with U-turn or Volt Switch, such as Uxie and Rotom-C, that can take an attack or force the opponent out, and then bring in Mothim without taking damage. Rotom-C is also especially for this purpose, as it tends to lure in the Grass-types that Mothim threatens and bring him in on them, which would put the opponent at a significant disadvantage.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Rock
item: Choice Specs
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Rash / Mild
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
  • This set works like Choice Specs Yanmega in UU; you switch it in, and probably kill something with the sheer power of its attacks and the fact that nothing resists Bug Buzz + Air Slash.
  • Stupidly powerful, and this thing will 2HKO almost everything with a single layer of Stealth Rock, bar stupidly bulky special walls like SDef Magneton or Clefable, (Cryogonal is actually 2HKOed by U-turn rofl,), etc
  • Admittedly very frail, so it is the definition of a glass cannon. Unless the opponent has those aforementioned special walls though, their mons are very likely to be 2HKOd or OHKOd by this guy.
  • Choice Specs Mothim is actually ridiculously powerful as a wallbreaker in this metagame; it completely decimates so many defensive cores like Slowking + Amoonguss, Slowking + Tangrowth, and Steelix + Slowking. It also cleanly 2HKOes resists like offensive Escavalier without any hazards; so yeah this guy is strong af.
  • Unfortunately, it's pretty much useless vs offense because of how slow and frail it is.
  • Bug Buzz is going to be your main attack. It destroys almost everything due to Tinted Lens and Choice Specs, and very, very few things are able to switch into it. It also hits both Slowking and Tangrowth for super effective damage.
  • Air Slash is Mothim's secondary STAB attack. While it's not as powerful as Bug Buzz, it has the benefit of having equally good neutral coverage, and nails special walls such as Roselia and SDef Gallade for incredible damage. It also has perfect neutral coverage when combined with Bug Buzz and Tinted Lens.
  • U-turn lets Mothim scout the opponent's move, and thanks to Mothim's decent Attack stat, it actually hits pretty hard. It's good for doing some nice chip damage to stuff like Cryogonal and Clefable, who Mothim can't really harm otherwise.
  • The last slot is mostly filler, but there are some decent options.
  • Giga Drain is a decent option in the last slot to allow Mothim to OHKO Rhydon and do some respectable damage to Lanturn, which both give this set some issues due to their sheer bulk.
  • Hidden Power Rock is useful for donking Moltres on the switch, though it's use outside of that is limited.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • Mothim needs as much power as he can get, so a Mild or Rash nature is ideal. Modest is not recommended as it weakens Mothim's actually decent Attack stat, and makes his U-turns less threatening. Mothim is already very frail, so the Mild or Rash nature usually won't influence much.
  • A Hasty or Naive nature could also be used, but Mothim actually hits a perfect Speed tier with just a neutral nature. With max Speed, Hidden Power Rock, and neutral nature, Mothim reaches 230 Speed, which just manages outspeed max Speed base 55s. This is important, as so many Pokemon aim for that Speed benchmark, and the fact that Mothim can tie with them is appreciated. Still, a Speed-boosting nature has some use in allowing Mothim to be guaranteed to outspeed those Pokemon, in addition to min Speed Cryogonal.
  • You can use a Choice Scarf for revenge killing purposes, but the sheer skull crushing power of Choice Specs is what makes this set viable.
  • Sleep Talk is also viable in the last slot for absorbing sleep from Tangrowth / Amoonguss, but that's basically all it would do.
  • A spinner is required should you use Mothim, since Mothim is already stupidly frail, and taking 50% from switch ins severely limits his already limited switch-in opportunities. Kabutops is good because Mothim can come in on the Grass-type attacks that threaten it and Kabutops can take Fire Blasts / Flare Blitzs from stuff like Moltres / Entei.
  • Also, because Mothim is so frail, using Pokemon with Volt Switch can help bring it in easier. Rotom-C in particular is actually a pretty nice partner, since Rotom-C lures in Grass-types and can Volt Switch out of them into Mothim.
 
Last edited:

Molk

Godlike Usmash
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I've experienced first hand how scary specs mothim can be (both using and playing against it), Tinted lens really helps seperate it and make it a viable wallbreaker in the tier, and although Mothim isn't like a top tier pokemon overall, specs probably does deserve a slot onsite =)

QC Approved 1/3
 
QC Approved 2/3

This set is better than the current Quiver Dance Mothim on site since has a poor bulk (70/50/50), weak x4 to Stealth Rock while isnt faster to outrun many things after +1.
The only niche on QD Mothim is that can setupp on Special Walls such Clefable if they lacks to Toxic but in overall Choice Specs is far strong with Specs and Tinted Lens decrease the prediction, so is a decent wallbreaker and a good lure.
 

Arkian

this is the state of grace
is a Contributor Alumnus
Tiny nitpick: I wouldn't say Specs Mothim is "stupidly powerful", as it only has a base 94 Special Attack :o
Good job though, can't wait to try it out myself :P
 

Governess

A Beautiful Blossom Waiting to Bloom
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Hihi, GP Check! Nice job on this! :)

Additions / Changes
Removes
Comments
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Rock
item: Choice Specs
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Rash / Mild
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Though Mothim's access to Quiver Dance has given him a means to sweep, people often forget that Tinted Lens's ability to give gives Mothim essentially perfect neutral coverage, (AC) means meaning that an all-out attacking set such as this one becomes perfectly viable. (I reworded that sentnece because even while it might be true, you probably dont want to say that most people forget about Tinted Lens in the analysis.) Like Choice Specs Yanmega in UU, the premise of this set is incredibly simple;: bring this guy in safely on a slow Grass-type such as Tangrowth or on a predicted Earthquake, then proceed to click use one of Mothim's STAB moves and watch in glee as the opponent's switch in gets is utterly demolished by the strength of his Tinted Lens-boosted STAB moves. Despite only having only a base 94 base Special Attack, between Tinted Lens, Choice Specs, and a Special Attack-boosting nature, Mothim actually becomes such an incredible offensive threat that almost every single Pokemon in RU is 2HKOed by his STAB moves, barring the bulkiest of special walls, (AC) such as Sspecially Ddefensive Magneton or and Clefable. This, (RC) aAlongside the fact that the Bug-type is an incredibly powerful offensive typing in RU, this makes Mothim an incredibly anti-metagame wallbreaker who is fully capable of smashing most of the common cores that many teams rely on.</p>

<p>Bug Buzz is Mothim's premier offensive attack, and it's not hard to see why. After all, it's by far Mothim's most powerful attack, and between Tinted Lens and the sheer strength of Bug-type attacks in RU, the opponent usually won't have a Pokemon that who is actually capable of resisting it. However, if the opponent does have, (RC) say a Pokemon that resists Bug Buzz on their team, such as an Emboar or a Moltres on their team, Air Slash gives Mothim the coverage it needs to hit both threats hard, and once again, thanks to Tinted Lens, the opponent probably won't have a Pokemon who is capable of resisting it. In tandem with Tinted Lens, Bug Buzz and Air Slash actually give Mothim perfect neutral coverage with these two moves alone. Therefore, the last two moves that Mothim uses don't really need to provide coverage at all; they are meant to give Mothim a means of dealing with certain troublesome flaws that it has. For example, U-turn gives Mothim a way to circumvent being walled by special walls like such as specially defensive Magneton and Clefable. Instead of just using Bug Buzz against those walls and being forced out, Mothim can instead use U-turn to deal a sizable chunk of damage to those walls thanks due to his passable base 94 Attack stat,; and Mothim can then switch into something that who is capable of dealing with them, such as Emboar. In a similar vein, Giga Drain is recommended in the last slot to slightly offset Mothim's huge weakness to Stealth Rock by recovering back its lost HP while dealing some big damage to Lanturn and Rhydon. However, options such as Hidden Power Rock, which OHKOes Moltres without the need of Stealth Rock support, or Sleep Talk, which allows Mothim to absordb Spore or Sleep Powder from Amoonguss or Tangrowth, respectively, (AC) are also decent options.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV's on this set are fairly self-explanatory; max Special Attack investment lets Mothim hit as hard as possible, while max Speed investment lets Mothim outspeed and 2HKO as many threats as possible. (If it's self-explanatory, then there isn't a need to mention it unless the EV spread can KO / outspeed a certain threat.) A Mild or Rash nature is used to make Mothim hit as hard as possible and maximize his chances of landing 2HKOs on certain Pokemon, such as Lanturn. Maximum Speed investment also conveniently places Mothim at an incredibly nice Speed stat of 231, which lets Mothim outspeed Pokemon base 55 Speed Pokemon with maximum investment and a Speed-boosting nature, such as Bouffalant and Omastar, in addition to the Pokemon who may might attempt to run just enough Speed to outspeed such Pokemon, such as Uxie. Thanks to this perfect Speed tier, a Hasty or Naive nature is generally unnecessary, though but it does allow Mothim to outspeed max Speed Emboar and Cryogonal without Speed investment, (RC). so a Mild or Rash nature should be used instead to make Mothim hit as hard as possible and maximize his chances of landing 2HKOes on certain Pokemon, such as Lanturn.(I moved this sentence up because it didn't really connect to the previous sentence in the way you worded it; they were two different thoughts.)</p>

<p>Even though Mothim is so incredibly powerful under the right circumstances, he requires quite a bit of support to perform at his best due to his multiple shortcomings, such as his weakness to Stealth Rock, ridiculous frailty, lack of great resists, and relatively slow Speed, which all hamper Mothim's ability to come into a match and start to 2HKO everything on the opponent's team. Fortunately, in RU, the first flaw is an easy one to fix;: simply slapping a Pokemon with Rapid Spin, such as Kabutops or Cryogonal, on your team gives you a way to remove those pesky rocks Stealth Rock, and due to just how good those two spinners are, removing that hazards shouldn't be a problem at all. Kabutops is particularly good due to his ability to take on tank the Fire Blasts and Flare Blitzes that Pokemon such as Moltres and Emboar may might try to fire at Mothim. The other flaws are more difficult to alleviate, but they are still manageable all the same. Perhaps the best way to get into the match is to use Pokemon such as Uxie and Rotom-C, who can take an attack or force the opponent out, (AC) respectively, and then bring in Mothim without taking damage. Rotom-C is also incredibly good for this purpose, as he tends to lure in the Grass-types which Mothim threatens and bring him in on them, which would put the opponent at a significant disadvantage.</p>

1/2
 
GP check. Good job on writing this.
Additions in Blue
Subtractions in Red
Comments in Purple
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Rock
item: Choice Specs
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Rash / Mild
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Though Mothim's access to Quiver Dance has given gives him a means to sweep, Tinted Lens gives Mothim provides him with (this is just to avoid reusing the same verb twice so close together; you can use another verb if you want) essentially perfect neutral coverage, meaning that an all-out attacking set such as this one becomes perfectly viable. Like Choice Specs Yanmega in UU, the premise of this set is incredibly simple: bring this guy in safely on a slow Grass-type such as Tangrowth or on a predicted Earthquake, then proceed to use one of Mothim's his STAB moves and watch in glee as the opponent's switch in switch-in is utterly demolished by the strength of his Tinted Lens-boosted STAB moves. Despite only having a base 94 Special Attack stat, between Tinted Lens, Choice Specs, and a Special Attack-boosting nature, Mothim actually becomes such an incredible offensive threat that almost every single Pokemon in RU is at least 2HKOed by his STAB moves, barring the bulkiest of special walls, (remove comma) such as specially defensive Magneton and Clefable. Alongside the fact that the Bug-type Bug (this is optional; the Bug-type is a powerful typing seemed a little awkward to me but it's your call) is an incredibly powerful offensive typing in RU, this makes Mothim an incredibly anti-metagame wallbreaker who that is fully capable of smashing most of the common cores that many teams rely on.</p>

<p>Bug Buzz is Mothim's premier offensive attack, and its it's not hard to see why. After all, it's by far Mothim's most powerful attack, and between Tinted Lens and the sheer strength of Bug-type attacks in RU, the opponent usually won't have a Pokemon who is actually capable of resisting that resists it. However, if the opponent does opponents do have a Pokemon capable of resisting that resists Bug Buzz on their team teams, such as an Emboar or a and Moltres, Air Slash gives Mothim the coverage it he needs to hit both such threats hard, and once again, thanks to Tinted Lens, the opponent probably won't have a Pokemon who is capable of resisting that resists it. In tandem with Tinted Lens, Bug Buzz and Air Slash actually give Mothim perfect neutral coverage with these two moves alone. Therefore, the last two moves that Mothim uses don't really need to provide coverage at all; they are meant to give Mothim a means of dealing with certain troublesome flaws that it he has. For example, U-turn gives Mothim a way to circumvent being walled by special walls such as specially defensive Magneton and Clefable. Instead of just using Bug Buzz against those these walls and being forced out, Mothim can instead use U-turn to deal a sizable chunk of damage to those walls due to his passable base 94 Attack stat; Mothim can then switch into something who that is capable of dealing with them, such as Emboar. In a similar vein, Giga Drain is recommended in the last slot to slightly offset Mothim's huge weakness to Stealth Rock by recovering his lost HP while dealing big damage to Lanturn and Rhydon. However, options such as Hidden Power Rock, which OHKOes Moltres without the need of Stealth Rock support, or Sleep Talk, which allows Mothim to absorb Spore or Sleep Powder from Amoonguss or Tangrowth, respectively, (this isn't a main slash so it should be in AC) are also decent options.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>A Mild or Rash nature is used to make Mothim hit as hard as possible and maximize his chances of landing 2HKOs on certain Pokemon, such as Lanturn. Maximum Speed investment conveniently places Mothim at an incredibly nice Speed stat of 231, which lets Mothim him outspeed Pokemon base 55 Speed Pokemon with maximum investment and a Speed-boosting nature, such as Bouffalant and Omastar, in addition to the Pokemon who that might attempt to run just enough Speed to outspeed such Pokemon, such as Uxie. Thanks to this perfect useful/good/another word you prefer (66 neutral is still outsped by a lot) Speed tier, a Hasty or Naive nature is generally unnecessary, but it does allow Mothim to outspeed max Speed Emboar and Cryogonal without Speed investment.</p>

<p>Even though Mothim is so incredibly powerful under the right circumstances, he requires quite a bit of support to perform at his best due to his multiple shortcomings, such as his weakness to Stealth Rock, ridiculous frailty, lack of great resists resistances, and relatively slow low Speed, which all hamper Mothim's his ability to come into a match and 2HKO everything on the opponent's team. Fortunately, in RU, the first flaw is an easy one to fix: simply slapping a Pokemon with Rapid Spin, such as Kabutops or Cryogonal, on your team gives you a way to remove Stealth Rock, and due to just how good those two spinners are, removing that hazard shouldn't be a problem at all. Kabutops is particularly good due to his ability to tank the Fire Blasts and Flare Blitzes that Pokemon such as Moltres and Emboar might try to fire at Mothim. The other flaws are more difficult to alleviate, but they are still manageable. Perhaps the best way to get into the match is to use Pokemon with Volt Switch or U-turn (I assume that's what you're referring to here; if not, add something else here) (add comma) such as Uxie and Rotom-C, who that can take an attack or force the opponent out, (remove comma) respectively, and then bring in Mothim without taking damage. Rotom-C is also incredibly especially good for this purpose, as he it (using he is fine overall, but Rotom is genderless) tends to lure in the Grass-types which that Mothim threatens and bring him in on them, which would put the opponent at a significant disadvantage.</p>


GP: 2/2
 

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