
[OVERVIEW]
The first thing that stands out about Noivern is its fantastic Speed tier; UU is a metagame with lots of threats congested around Speed tiers between 331 and 361, and Noivern blazes past them with a blistering 379. Due to this, Noivern can gain momentum on the likes of Zarude, Cobalion, Azelf, Raikou, and Keldeo, a trait almost unique to it. Beyond that, Noivern has a fantastic typing alongside a great movepool that gives it great defensive utility and a powerful STAB Draco Meteor. Complemented by Flamethrower, Noivern has nearly unresisted coverage that gives it an unparalleled ability to outspeed and bully offensive teams. Noivern's plentiful resistances and decent natural bulk let it check the likes of Azelf, Keldeo, Zarude, Skarmory,and Cobalion, giving it many opportunities to switch in. Noivern's mediocre neutral power can be a hindrance; it struggles to do lasting damage to Pokemon like Hippowdon, Slowking, Nihilego, and Mandibuzz without entry hazard support. Noivern is also entirely blanked by certain Fairy-types like Primarina and Togekiss. The main issue Noivern faces is competition with Crobat for a team slot. Crobat's faster Speed tier gives it an edge in the one-on-one with Noivern, and its typing better checks Pokemon like Amoonguss and Conkeldurr that Noivern can struggle with, but Noivern's extra resistances to Water and Fire allow it to check the likes of Keldeo and Darmanitan, giving it the edge on a number of teams. Noivern also competes with Salamence to a lesser extent due to their shared typing; Salamence's bulk generally makes it the go-to choice for most teams, as it can more reliably handle threats like Scizor and Cobalion, but teams in need of Noivern's Speed tier typically prefer it.
[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Draco Meteor / Hurricane
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Infiltrator
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Draco Meteor is generally preferred as a STAB move to OHKO the likes of Hydreigon and Salamence, in addition to being Noivern's most powerful revenge killing tool overall. Hurricane can be used to nab the OHKO on Keldeo on teams particularly weak to it. Hurricane also has the benefit of breaking through naturally bulky Pokemon like Hippowdon and Moltres and does better damage to Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Fairy-types than Flamethrower. Hurricane also OHKOes Conkeldurr. Flamethrower fries Steel-types like Scizor, Skarmory, Excadrill, and Cobalion; it also peppers Celesteela, Tangrowth, and Amoonguss for decent damage. U-turn lets Noivern pivot out of bad matchups against switch-ins like Nihilego, Chansey, and Slowking; when combined with chip from entry hazards, Noivern can rack up damage on them very quickly. Roost is necessary to allow Noivern to continuously check Pokemon like Cobalion, Zarude, and Keldeo throughout a game. Equipping Noivern with Heavy-Duty Boots is necessary to avoid Stealth Rock damage, which would otherwise greatly hinder its role as a pivot.
Noivern's best teammates are those that can set up entry hazards to aid it in securing KOs against Pokemon like Hippowdon, Slowking, and Swampert. Skarmory is an excellent partner; not only does it lay Noivern's beloved Spikes, it's also a good check to the physical attackers Noivern can't deal with like Swords Dance Excadrill, Diggersby, Mamoswine, and Scizor. Skarmory also appreciates Noivern's ability to switch into Pokemon like Azelf and Entei. Hippowdon can set up Stealth Rock very easily and checks Pokemon like Hatterene, Nihilego and Lycanroc-D that give Noivern a hard time; in return, Noivern acts as a great pivot into Zarude, Keldeo, and Skarmory. VoltTurn users like Thundurus-T, Rotom-W, Raikou, and Azelf can easily weaken shared checks like Chansey, Hippowdon, and Nihilego. The former three can also check Primarina and Togekiss, two major roadblocks to Noivern, and they appreciate Noivern being able to threaten Zarude, Tangrowth, and Hydreigon for them. Scizor is also a great partner that threatens Fairy-types for Noivern while also removing items from Pokemon like Hippowdon and Moltres, making it tough for them to check Noivern in the long term. Vanilluxe can break through Hippowdon and Slowking for Noivern and greatly appreciates its U-turn support providing entry points for it. Partners that can deal with Fairy-types are necessary; Hatterene, Togekiss, and Primarina are all major annoyances for Noivern, with the former in particular being a huge issue thanks to its ability to blank Skarmory's Spikes with Magic Bounce; teammates such as Excadrill, Nidoqueen, Nihilego, and Galarian Slowbro can all be helpful here. These Pokemon also appreciate Noivern's support in bringing them onto the field against the aforementioned Fairy-types via U-turn and checking Zarude and Azelf for them.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Specs set with Draco Meteor, Hurricane, Flamethrower and Switcheroo can be very difficult to switch into, but it's pretty thoroughly outclassed by other wallbreakers like Choice Specs Hydreigon. Taunt is an option over U-turn that can make handling Noivern very difficult for teams that rely on Hippowdon and Slowking to beat it, though not having U-turn makes Noivern significantly easier to deal with for offensive teams, and it is forced to fit Hurricane over Draco Meteor to assure that it can break Slowking, even with Taunt. Defog can be used as a last resort, but Noivern has a poor matchup into most Stealth Rock setters and struggles to fit the move to begin with.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Primarina, Hatterene, and Togekiss all blank Noivern's most common moves entirely and can use it as setup fodder, but the former two must be wary of switching directly into Hurricane variants of Noivern.
**Special Walls**: Hippowdon, Celesteela, and Chansey can all handle Noivern pretty well, though they can be outlasted in a long game due to entry hazard damage. Nihilego can check Noivern in the short term with its great Special Defense letting it tank a couple of Draco Meteors, but without any way to recover its health, it isn't a hard counter. Heavy-Duty Boots Slowking is a hard stop to Noivern, although sets lacking Heavy-Duty Boots are prone to getting worn down by Spikes and U-turn chip, even with Regenerator to offset it somewhat.
**Knock Off**: Noivern is extremely crippled by losing its item; Knock Off users like Tangrowth, Tentacruel, and Azelf can severely hamper it as a result. These Pokemon don't really like dealing with Noivern themselves, though.
**Priority Users**: Noivern's Speed means nothing when faced with priority users that can threaten it. Lycanroc-D and Mamoswine can OHKO, and while Scizor lacking Life Orb cannot OHKO Noivern even at +2 Attack, it can do so very easily after minor chip damage.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Lily, 481709]]
- Quality checked by: [[Monky25, 515132], [pokemonisfun, 56643], [estarossa, 461329]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Isaiah, 375662], [username2, userid2]]
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