[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: With an excellent Speed tier, decent Special Attack, and access to a diverse utility movepool, Noivern finds a place as a useful support Pokemon on a variety of drafts. It gets access to the sparsely distributed Defog, a valuable commodity, With Frisk and access to a fast Taunt and U-turn, it can act as a fast pivot while scouting for items on the opponent's team. Its Dragon / Flying type combination matches up well offensively against a large portion of the metagame while also providing useful resistances to common typings, including an immunity to Ground. It also occasionally serves as a wallbreaker with access to high-Base Power STAB moves like Hurricane and Draco Meteor; however, it requires an item to achieve necessary KO thresholds. Noivern's weakness to Stealth Rock and mediocre bulk hinder defensive sets and make it heavily reliant on Heavy-Duty Boots. Additionally, its primary STAB moves suffer from significant drawbacks, forcing it to usually choose between reliability and damage, making offensive sets slightly harder to run.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Fast Utility**: Access to pivoting in U-turn, disruption in Taunt, reliable damage in Super Fang, recovery in Roost, and entry hazard removal in Defog helps Noivern provide fast support for the team while occasionally using its STAB moves. Its ability Frisk is also excellent, as it provides consistent passive utility by scouting for opposing items, a mechanic especially useful in Draft, as it significantly reduces guessing games.
**Revenge Killer**: Noivern can function as a decent revenge killer. Its high base Speed allows it to outspeed most of the metagame naturally, as well as Speed-boosting Pokemon when using a Choice Scarf. Its Speed also allows it to clean up weakened teams. However, it is important to note that it usually has to rely on low-accuracy moves like Hurricane to clean up effectively.
**Wallbreaker**: Although it has mediocre base Special Attack, Noivern can use damage-boosting items like Choice Specs to function as an effective wallbreaker. Powerful STAB moves like Hurricane and Draco Meteor, neutral coverage in Boomburst and Flamethrower, and Focus Blast to hit Steel-types can help Noivern wear down opposing defensive cores, easing the way for other offensive threats on the team. This is aided by the fact that Flying is usually a very spammable offensive typing thanks to the limited number of Pokemon resistant to it.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Draco Meteor, Hurricane, Dragon Pulse, Air Slash
**Setup Moves**: None
**Utility Moves**: Defog, Roost, Substitute, Super Fang, Switcheroo, Taunt, U-turn, Whirlwind
**Coverage**: Boomburst, Dark Pulse, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Psychic, Shadow Ball
Niche Moves
========
**Psychic Noise**: On builds where Noivern finds it difficult to choose between coverage and Taunt, it can use Psychic Noise to deny recovery on passive Pokemon while also dealing damage.
**Tailwind**: Noivern's frailty and Speed make it a serviceable late-game Tailwind user. In certain games, it can use Tailwind as a final cry before dying and provide a Speed boost for its teammates to clean.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: A majority of Noivern builds run Heavy-Duty Boots, as it provides protection against Stealth Rock, trading the power of using a damage-boosting item for longevity. It enables Noivern to perform its support role comfortably by giving it the opportunity to switch in multiple times.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf allows Noivern to function as a great revenge killer. It can outspeed most Speed-boosting Pokemon and hit them with powerful, albeit low-accuracy, STAB moves. It also has access to Switcheroo, which allows it to neutralize setup threats in a pinch.
**Choice Specs**: Noivern becomes a serviceable wallbreaker through using Choice Specs. Choice Specs-boosted Hurricane and Draco Meteor help Noivern take advantage of a team lacking good resistances. This does leave Noivern vulnerable to entry hazards, making hazard control very important.
Niche Items
========
**Throat Spray**: Throat Spray allows Noivern to use Boomburst while simultaneously receiving a Special Attack boost. It works especially well if Noivern is a Tera Captain, as it can use Tera Normal-boosted Boomburst with this. It also allows Noivern to switch between powerful boosted moves and fulfill a more flexible wallbreaker role.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Expert Belt, Life Orb and type-specific damage-boosting items sacrifice the raw power of Choice Specs for the ability to let Noivern switch moves while still boosting its damage. However, these sets can easily be worn down by residual damage and Stealth Rock.
**Eject Pack**: Noivern can use Eject Pack in some circumstances to gain momentum while using Draco Meteor instead of U-turn for extra damage.
Tera
========
While still generally outclassed by other primary and secondary Tera Captains, Noivern has niches that make it worth consideration. It is important to note that Noivern does not need to Terastallize to fulfil its support role well. Tera Normal allows it to gain STAB on Boomburst, turning it into a fearsome wallbreaker. Tera Dragon or Flying can be used as options to further boost the power of Draco Meteor or Hurricane, respectively. Niche options include Tera Fire and Fighting to gain STAB on Noivern's coverage moves to hit opposing Steel-types. However, it is very one-dimensional in its offensive capabilities and has too lackluster defenses to warrant defensive Terastallization.
Draft Strategy
========
Noivern is a very flexible Pokemon, so it is not advisable to plan a draft around it. It provides a relatively cheap option for speed control and role compression for a lot of drafts. However, Noivern can always benefit from having teammates that fulfill certain roles.
**Wallbreakers**: Noivern's access to a fast U-turn and a wide utility movepool helps it enable other wallbreakers by bringing them in safely. It can do so by threatening to outspeed and KO something with its STAB moves and then using U-turn, anticipating a switch. Slow Pokemon like Ursaluna-B and Iron Hands particularly benefit from this ability, as they struggle to switch in otherwise. Frail Pokemon like Iron Valiant and Lycanroc-D also appreciate this ability.
**Steel-types**: A good Steel-type Pokemon covers all of Noivern's defensive weaknesses. Noivern usually has to switch out of super effective moves, and having a Steel-type Pokemon on the team can help absorb those hits by resisting them. Steel-types are also useful for taking advantage of opposing Fairy-, Rock- and Ice-types. Pokemon like Tinkaton and Gholdengo are good candidates for this role.
**Ground- and Fighting-types**: Noivern struggles to wrestle past Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon even with coverage. Having teammates like Sneasler, Iron Valiant, Excadrill, and Great Tusk can help with that weakness, further enabling its offensive sets. Fighting-types also function as Knock Off absorbers, which is important because Noivern usually does not appreciate losing its item.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Though Noivern itself has access to Defog, it benefits a lot from having another teammate able to control entry hazards. Defog is suboptimal in instances where the user wants to keep hazards up on the opposing side. Rapid Spin support allows Noivern to run offensive sets more freely without worrying about Stealth Rock and also acts as a safety net against Knock Off. Spinners like Iron Treads and Terapagos make for good candidates.
Checks and Counters
========
**Special Walls**: With Hurricane's low accuracy, Draco Meteor's stat drawbacks and a general lack of other powerful STAB moves, Noivern struggles to wear down almost any special wall with recovery. Specially defensive Steel- and Fairy-types are especially nice for this role. Pokemon like Clefable and Empoleon can take hits from Noivern over multiple turns and heal off any damage it does. Even without recovery, some specially defensive Pokemon like Ting-Lu and Diancie can tank hits from Noivern and threaten it back with super effective moves.
**Faster Pokemon**: Pokemon naturally faster than Noivern can usually take advantage of its weaknesses and check it offensively by outspeeding it and threatening it with devastating hits. Pokemon like Iron Boulder, Weavile and Darkrai all outspeed Noivern and OHKO it, given the right circumstances. Opposing Choice Scarf users can also fulfill this role against non-Choice Scarf sets.
**Stealth Rock**: Noivern's more offensive sets get easily worn down if Stealth Rock is up on the field. Stealth Rock severely cuts down its longevity, allowing it to only switch in a few times.
**Knock Off**: Knock Off is very effective against Noivern because on any of its sets, losing its item significantly reduces its longevity or wallbreaking capacity.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amyayayy.560724/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf2.608304/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
[/SPOILER]
[/QUOTE]
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: With an excellent Speed tier, decent Special Attack, and access to a diverse utility movepool, Noivern finds a place as a useful support Pokemon on a variety of drafts. It gets access to the sparsely distributed Defog, a valuable commodity, With Frisk and access to a fast Taunt and U-turn, it can act as a fast pivot while scouting for items on the opponent's team. Its Dragon / Flying type combination matches up well offensively against a large portion of the metagame while also providing useful resistances to common typings, including an immunity to Ground. It also occasionally serves as a wallbreaker with access to high-Base Power STAB moves like Hurricane and Draco Meteor; however, it requires an item to achieve necessary KO thresholds. Noivern's weakness to Stealth Rock and mediocre bulk hinder defensive sets and make it heavily reliant on Heavy-Duty Boots. Additionally, its primary STAB moves suffer from significant drawbacks, forcing it to usually choose between reliability and damage, making offensive sets slightly harder to run.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Fast Utility**: Access to pivoting in U-turn, disruption in Taunt, reliable damage in Super Fang, recovery in Roost, and entry hazard removal in Defog helps Noivern provide fast support for the team while occasionally using its STAB moves. Its ability Frisk is also excellent, as it provides consistent passive utility by scouting for opposing items, a mechanic especially useful in Draft, as it significantly reduces guessing games.
**Revenge Killer**: Noivern can function as a decent revenge killer. Its high base Speed allows it to outspeed most of the metagame naturally, as well as Speed-boosting Pokemon when using a Choice Scarf. Its Speed also allows it to clean up weakened teams. However, it is important to note that it usually has to rely on low-accuracy moves like Hurricane to clean up effectively.
**Wallbreaker**: Although it has mediocre base Special Attack, Noivern can use damage-boosting items like Choice Specs to function as an effective wallbreaker. Powerful STAB moves like Hurricane and Draco Meteor, neutral coverage in Boomburst and Flamethrower, and Focus Blast to hit Steel-types can help Noivern wear down opposing defensive cores, easing the way for other offensive threats on the team. This is aided by the fact that Flying is usually a very spammable offensive typing thanks to the limited number of Pokemon resistant to it.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Draco Meteor, Hurricane, Dragon Pulse, Air Slash
**Setup Moves**: None
**Utility Moves**: Defog, Roost, Substitute, Super Fang, Switcheroo, Taunt, U-turn, Whirlwind
**Coverage**: Boomburst, Dark Pulse, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Psychic, Shadow Ball
Niche Moves
========
**Psychic Noise**: On builds where Noivern finds it difficult to choose between coverage and Taunt, it can use Psychic Noise to deny recovery on passive Pokemon while also dealing damage.
**Tailwind**: Noivern's frailty and Speed make it a serviceable late-game Tailwind user. In certain games, it can use Tailwind as a final cry before dying and provide a Speed boost for its teammates to clean.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: A majority of Noivern builds run Heavy-Duty Boots, as it provides protection against Stealth Rock, trading the power of using a damage-boosting item for longevity. It enables Noivern to perform its support role comfortably by giving it the opportunity to switch in multiple times.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf allows Noivern to function as a great revenge killer. It can outspeed most Speed-boosting Pokemon and hit them with powerful, albeit low-accuracy, STAB moves. It also has access to Switcheroo, which allows it to neutralize setup threats in a pinch.
**Choice Specs**: Noivern becomes a serviceable wallbreaker through using Choice Specs. Choice Specs-boosted Hurricane and Draco Meteor help Noivern take advantage of a team lacking good resistances. This does leave Noivern vulnerable to entry hazards, making hazard control very important.
Niche Items
========
**Throat Spray**: Throat Spray allows Noivern to use Boomburst while simultaneously receiving a Special Attack boost. It works especially well if Noivern is a Tera Captain, as it can use Tera Normal-boosted Boomburst with this. It also allows Noivern to switch between powerful boosted moves and fulfill a more flexible wallbreaker role.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Expert Belt, Life Orb and type-specific damage-boosting items sacrifice the raw power of Choice Specs for the ability to let Noivern switch moves while still boosting its damage. However, these sets can easily be worn down by residual damage and Stealth Rock.
**Eject Pack**: Noivern can use Eject Pack in some circumstances to gain momentum while using Draco Meteor instead of U-turn for extra damage.
Tera
========
While still generally outclassed by other primary and secondary Tera Captains, Noivern has niches that make it worth consideration. It is important to note that Noivern does not need to Terastallize to fulfil its support role well. Tera Normal allows it to gain STAB on Boomburst, turning it into a fearsome wallbreaker. Tera Dragon or Flying can be used as options to further boost the power of Draco Meteor or Hurricane, respectively. Niche options include Tera Fire and Fighting to gain STAB on Noivern's coverage moves to hit opposing Steel-types. However, it is very one-dimensional in its offensive capabilities and has too lackluster defenses to warrant defensive Terastallization.
Draft Strategy
========
Noivern is a very flexible Pokemon, so it is not advisable to plan a draft around it. It provides a relatively cheap option for speed control and role compression for a lot of drafts. However, Noivern can always benefit from having teammates that fulfill certain roles.
**Wallbreakers**: Noivern's access to a fast U-turn and a wide utility movepool helps it enable other wallbreakers by bringing them in safely. It can do so by threatening to outspeed and KO something with its STAB moves and then using U-turn, anticipating a switch. Slow Pokemon like Ursaluna-B and Iron Hands particularly benefit from this ability, as they struggle to switch in otherwise. Frail Pokemon like Iron Valiant and Lycanroc-D also appreciate this ability.
**Steel-types**: A good Steel-type Pokemon covers all of Noivern's defensive weaknesses. Noivern usually has to switch out of super effective moves, and having a Steel-type Pokemon on the team can help absorb those hits by resisting them. Steel-types are also useful for taking advantage of opposing Fairy-, Rock- and Ice-types. Pokemon like Tinkaton and Gholdengo are good candidates for this role.
**Ground- and Fighting-types**: Noivern struggles to wrestle past Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon even with coverage. Having teammates like Sneasler, Iron Valiant, Excadrill, and Great Tusk can help with that weakness, further enabling its offensive sets. Fighting-types also function as Knock Off absorbers, which is important because Noivern usually does not appreciate losing its item.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Though Noivern itself has access to Defog, it benefits a lot from having another teammate able to control entry hazards. Defog is suboptimal in instances where the user wants to keep hazards up on the opposing side. Rapid Spin support allows Noivern to run offensive sets more freely without worrying about Stealth Rock and also acts as a safety net against Knock Off. Spinners like Iron Treads and Terapagos make for good candidates.
Checks and Counters
========
**Special Walls**: With Hurricane's low accuracy, Draco Meteor's stat drawbacks and a general lack of other powerful STAB moves, Noivern struggles to wear down almost any special wall with recovery. Specially defensive Steel- and Fairy-types are especially nice for this role. Pokemon like Clefable and Empoleon can take hits from Noivern over multiple turns and heal off any damage it does. Even without recovery, some specially defensive Pokemon like Ting-Lu and Diancie can tank hits from Noivern and threaten it back with super effective moves.
**Faster Pokemon**: Pokemon naturally faster than Noivern can usually take advantage of its weaknesses and check it offensively by outspeeding it and threatening it with devastating hits. Pokemon like Iron Boulder, Weavile and Darkrai all outspeed Noivern and OHKO it, given the right circumstances. Opposing Choice Scarf users can also fulfill this role against non-Choice Scarf sets.
**Stealth Rock**: Noivern's more offensive sets get easily worn down if Stealth Rock is up on the field. Stealth Rock severely cuts down its longevity, allowing it to only switch in a few times.
**Knock Off**: Knock Off is very effective against Noivern because on any of its sets, losing its item significantly reduces its longevity or wallbreaking capacity.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amyayayy.560724/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf2.608304/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
[/SPOILER]
[/QUOTE]
Last edited:
