Sawsbuck
[Overview]
<p>Sawsbuck is often referred to as one of the best physical Grass-type sweepers in the NU tier, and for good reason. With his solid base 100 Attack and base 95 Speed, the seasonal deer has significant offensive prowess. Coupled with an almost unresisted dual STAB combination and a decent movepool, and you have a potent Grass-type sweeper on your hands. Additionally, his excellent ability Sap Sipper allows him to switch into common Grass-type moves such as Leech Seed or Bullet Seed and nab a free +1 Attack boost. For the same reason, he is a great switch-in to weakened sleep inducers that use Spore or Sleep Powder, allowing him to get a boost and KO. Add in the fact that Sawsbuck can use Swords Dance or Agility to further boost his offense and you have a top tier threat on your hands.</p>
<p>However, Sawsbuck is not without his drawbacks. First, he has trouble breaking through some prominent physical walls in the tier, such as Amoongus and Weezing, which wall all of Sawsbuck's attacks and respond with STAB super effective attack of their own. Tangela also walls him and can hit hard with either Hidden Power Ice or Fire. Due to Sawsbuck's lackluster defenses, he is very susceptible to being revenge killed. Common Pokemon such as Absol, Skuntank, and Gurdurr threaten him with a powerful Sucker Punch or Mach Punch, respectively. Additionally, Swellow and Cinccino can both outspeed and OHKO him with their powerful attacks. He also faces stiff competition from Leafeon, which has similar base stats but more bulk, although Sawsbuck has a better ability and movepool.</p>
<p> Despite this, Sawsbuck should not be overlooked for these reasons. His immunity to Grass-type moves, powerful STAB combination, and good base stats make him a great teammate and threat. Play to his strengths, and he becomes one of the best physical sweepers in the metagame.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Horn Leech
move 4: Nature Power / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sap Sipper
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is Sawsbuck's most effective set for a few reasons. Swords Dance is the crux of the set, boosting Sawsbuck's Attack stat to an astonishing 598 with a Jolly nature, allowing him to rip through teams with his good Speed and excellent coverage. Return gives Sawsbuck a powerful STAB attack with very nice damage output, especially when boosted. Horn Leech is a secondary STAB attack that hits hard, and heals off any damage taken from Life Orb recoil or entry hazards. Nature Power is the preferred move in the last slot as it turns into Earthquake in Wi-Fi and simulator battles, rounding off Sawsbuck's coverage quite nicely by giving him a way to hit Steel types, such as Probopass or Klang. Nature Power also has the perk of avoiding Sucker Punch. However, Substitute can be used in place of it if you desire a way to avoid status or prevent revenge killing by everything except Cinccino.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread gives Sawsbuck maximum offensive presence while allowing him to speed tie with other variants and most Haunter. Life Orb is usually the preferred item, as it allows him to net some extra KOs, but Leftovers can be used in conjunction with Substitute to provide additional recovery outside of Horn Leech. Double Edge can be used over Return, although its recoil along with Life Orb will wear Sawbuck down rather quickly. Baton Pass can be used to bypass Sucker Punch while keeping the momentum by passing any Swords Dance or Sap Sipper boosts that he might have acquired. Sunny Day can be used with Chlorophyll to boost his speed to great heights, but priority attacks are still a problem. Jump Kick, Wild Charge, and Megahorn can all be used in the last slot for different coverage; however, Nature Power is usually superior. Magnet Pull Probopass is a good teammate for Sawsbuck as he can trap and KO opposing Steels, as well as wall most variants of Cinccino, Swellow, and Haunter, and set up Stealth Rock. Calm Mind Musharna also serves as a great partner for Sawsbuck as it can switch in on Fighting-type attacks aimed at Sawsbuck while also taking care of Poison-type walls such as Amoonguss and Weezing. She can also use Heal Bell to remove any crippling status that Sawsbuck might have acquired. Rotom-S can tank Fighting-, Bug-, and Flying-type attacks directed at Sawsbuck, threaten most of his offensive checks and counters, and lure in Ground-types that Sawsbuck can take advantage of. Garbodor can also be a good teammate, laying down entry hazards that help Sawsbuck net some extra KOs while also resisting Fighting-attacks aimed at him.</p>
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Double-Edge / Return
move 2: Horn Leech
move 3: Nature Power
move 4: Wild Charge / Megahorn
item: Life Orb / Choice Band
ability: Sap Sipper
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set abandons the pretense of Swords Dance and focuses on breaking down anything and everything as quickly as possible. Double Edge is the main STAB move of choice, because it is Sawsbuck's most powerful attack and does heavy damage to anything that doesn't resist it. If recoil isn't your cup of tea, Return can be used instead, but you do lose some notable KOs. Horn Leech is the obvious secondary STAB Attack, dealing powerful damage and recovering health. It should be noted that Choice Band Horn Leech always 2HKO's even the bulkiest Alomomola after Stealth Rock damage. Nature Power is used in the third slot to add to Sawsbuck's great coverage, bypasses Sucker Punch, and gives him a reliable move to hit Steel-types. Wild Charge can be used in the last slot to hit Drifblim, Sawsbuck's best offensive counter, for super effective damage, as well as to OHKO incoming Haunter. Megahorn can be used in place of Wild Charge to 2HKO Tangela after Stealth Rock damage but is quite situational, making Wild Charge the better, more reliable option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EV spread grants Sawsbuck maximum offensive presence as well as the ability to speed tie with Haunter and opposing Sawsbuck. A Choice Band is valuable for its ability to overpower defensive Pokemon such as Weezing and Tangela while reducing recoil, although Life Orb is less prediction-heavy and allows you to switch moves, which is helpful against teams lacking a sturdy physical wall. Jump Kick can be used to hit Steel- and Normal-types for super effective damage, although Nature Power is usually the more useful choice. Baton Pass can be used to scout switches and keep the momentum by passing boosts that Sawsbuck might have acquired from Sap Sipper, although the loss of coverage is noticeable. Probopass and Musharna partner well with Sawsbuck thanks to their ability to threaten many of his checks such as Cinccino, Swellow, Choice Scarf Sawk, and Gurdurr.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Double-Edge
move 2: Horn Leech
move 3: Nature Power
move 4: Baton Pass
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Sap Sipper
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Sawsbuck's high Attack and Speed stats makes him a great candidate for a Choice Scarf set. When equipped with one, he can effectively outspeed the whole unboosted tier, making him a potent revenge killer. The moves are fairly self-explanatory and give Sawsbuck the best possible coverage. Double Edge is the main STAB move of choice, being Sawsbuck's strongest attack. Horn Leech is the secondary STAB move, hitting hard while simultaneously healing any damage that Sawsbuck might have taken. Nature Power is in the third slot to hit Steel-types for super effective damage as well as to bypass Sucker Punch. Finally, Baton Pass is used in the last slot to maintain Sawbuck's team's momentum, bypass Sucker Punch, and pass any acquired Sap Sipper boosts.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Choice Scarf allows Sawsbuck to take on a very different role than his other two sets. The EV spread allows him to hit as hard and as fast as possible, and a Jolly nature is mandatory to outpace Choice Scarf Sawk. Wild Charge and Jump Kick are both options for this set for reasons mentioned in the other two sets' descriptions. As Sawsbuck remains vulnerable to Gurdurr's Mach Punch and loses a fair amount of power when forgoing Attack boosting items or moves, Garbodor becomes a very important partner. Without its Spikes support, Sawsbuck cannot pressure the bulkier walls of the tier. Choice Band Emboar is also a very effective partner, as it can break down Amoongus and Tangela which would otherwise wall this set, while also being able to switch into Will-O-Wisps aimed at Sawsbuck. Musharna gets another mention for her ability to effectively wall Fighting-type priority attacks from Gurdurr and strike back for super effective damage. Like Emboar, Musharna can also make quick work of Amoongus and Tangela with her powerful special Psychic-type attacks.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Sawsbuck can pull off a dedicated Baton Pass set with its array of setup moves in conjunction with Substitute. He can come in on something he can threaten out, set up a Substitute as a counter switches in, and Baton Pass out to something that will benefit from it. Emboar is a good choice for a Baton Pass receiver because he becomes much more threatening behind a Substitute or with a couple of boosts. Sawsbuck is also a decent candidate for a SubSeeder thanks to his high Speed stat and ability to force switches. However, he is outclassed by others that use this strategy better. Aromatherapy can be used to heal off any status Sawsbuck might have acquired, while Synthesis can be used to heal off damage if Horn Leech isn’t cutting it, but it is quite hard to find a moveslot for these moves, as he can usually be using the slot for something more useful.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Carefully played Ghost-types, notably Misdreavus, Haunter, and Drifblim, are the best answer to Sawsbuck. However, they must be cautious because they all fall to some variant of Sawsbuck if not played right. Misdreavus struggles against Substitute + Swords Dance variants that are able to avoid being burned, while Haunter must be careful when switching in, due to its frailty. Drifblim remains the best offensively oriented Sawsbuck answer, resisting his STAB combination and conventional coverage options and OHKOing him with Acrobatics, although it must watch out for Wild Charge. Bulkier physical walls such as Amoongus, Tangela, and Weezing can sponge hits from Sawsbuck fairly well and either hinder him with status or simply hit him hard with a super effective attack. Support Armaldo can tank any of Sawsbuck's attacks and threaten back with a STAB X-Scissor. Golbat takes little damage from any unboosted attack Sawsbuck throws at it, although he is OHKOed by a +2 Double Edge after Stealth Rock damage. Piloswine has the ability to switch in fairly safely to Sawsbuck's attacks and threaten him with STAB Icicle Crash or Ice Shard; Piloswine can even live a +2 Horn Leech and retaliate with an OHKO. Shelgon shrugs off any attack that Sawsbuck uses and can either start setting up or attack with Outrage. Finally, priority attacks such as Gurdurr's Mach Punch are extremely threatening to Sawsbuck, as he is OHKOed by most due to his mediocre bulk.</p>
