Goddess Briyella
Banned deucer.
Overview
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Snubbull is one of the few Little Cup Pokemon that changed drastically with the new generation—it underwent a complete type change from Normal to Fairy, wiping its slate clean and giving it brand new strengths, advantages, and weaknesses. This often overlooked GSC Pokemon is not the punching bag for Fighting-types that it used to be, as it is now back with a vengeance against them in the form of a type advantage, as well as an advantage against Dark- and Dragon-types. Its STAB Play Rough brings the pain with great neutral coverage, and Earthquake scores a hard super effective hit against the vast majority of Pokemon that resist Fairy-type attacks. Other high-powered move options available to Snubbull include Close Combat and Crunch, and combined with Intimidate as well as incredible support options such as Heal Bell to serve as a cleric and Thunder Wave to slow down enemies, it demands respect this time around. With this awesome makeover that Snubbull has received for XY, Little Cup welcomes back this bulky attacker as a force to be reckoned with.
Snubbull Trouble
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name: Snubbull Trouble
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat / Crunch
move 4: Thunder Wave / Bulk Up
ability: Intimidate
item: Eviolite / Berry Juice
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Play Rough is the obligatory hard-hitting physical STAB attack, smacking most of the tier at least neutrally, and has the additional chance of lowering the target's Attack stat. As for the Fire-, Steel-, and Poison-types that resist Fairy, Earthquake hits all three of them for super effective damage and therefore provides perfect coverage, with very few exceptions. Close Combat is a very powerful Fighting-type option that hits a massive amount of Pokemon for super effective damage, but Crunch can be used to take a huge bite out of Gastly and Bronzor, two Pokemon that wall Fairy + Ground coverage by grace of the Levitate ability. Crunch also lets Snubbull have an easier time against Slowpoke, a notable physical wall. With its sheer power, access to the Intimidate ability to neuter opposing physical attackers, and access to high-powered attacks, Snubbull will be forcing a lot of switches, and thus has opportunities to spread status with Thunder Wave, which makes its enemies even easier to break down. Alternatively, Snubbull can utilize Bulk Up to become a physical juggernaut while taking advantage of the free turn provided by a fleeing foe.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread with Intimidate as the ability and Eviolite as the held item allow Snubbull to tank hits on both physical and special attackers, while still maintaining a formidable offensive presence. An Adamant nature is the optimal choice for achieving the highest immediate power possible, and Snubbull doesn't need Speed being the big bulky attacker it is, as it can take a lot of hits and is slower than most things anyway. However, because it only takes 36 EVs to raise its Speed by a stat point, they are used in this set to bring Snubbull high enough to outspeed certain slower Pokemon such as Bronzor and Spritzee. Berry Juice is an option over Eviolite to allow for safer playing before it activates and basically offers 20 extra HP, helping Snubbull restore its lost health whereas it otherwise cannot, and helping it maintain momentum just once if it happens to switch into a painful super effective attack by mistake. Berry Juice is always the optimal item if Bulk Up is used over Thunder Wave, as Snubbull is unable to recover health otherwise after setting up.
Usage Tips
========
Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-types stand absolutely no chance against Snubbull (an exception being specially oriented Croagunk), especially Scraggy, which now suffers a 4x weakness to Fairy-type moves. Notable is the fact that Snubbull is one of the few Pokemon that can force out Murkrow thanks to its offensive presence, at which point Snubbull can safely use Thunder Wave or Bulk Up, depending on the set. Intimidate turns Snubbull into a huge physical tank that can check other physically inclined Pokemon without even having a type advantage against them. It must wary of Poison- and Steel-type attacks, especially on the special side, as it cannot take those very well. Defiant Pawniard walks all over Snubbull if Intimidate activates its Defiant ability, as Pawniard easily outspeeds and a +1 Iron Head from it is a clean OHKO on Snubbull, regardless of the item chosen; thankfully, switching into Snubbull is a huge risk for Pawniard and Intimidate doesn't activate in this scenario.
Team Options
========
Lickitung with Wish and Toxic is an invaluable partner for Snubbull, as Snubbull can cover Lickitung's sole weakness to Fighting and Lickitung can soften up Snubbull's enemies as well as keep both itself and Snubbull alive. Pawniard makes for a good teammate as well, as it can take the Poison- and Steel-type attacks aimed at Snubbull with ease, while Snubbull sponges the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Pawniard, forming not only a formidable offensive core but also one that covers all of the important weak points of the two. Inkay is the only Pokemon in the tier whose STABs score super effective damage on all three Pokemon in the tier that wall Fairy + Ground coverage: Bronzor, Gastly, and Koffing. Other Pokemon that can cover Snubbull's weaknesses well are Ghost-types such as Misdreavus, Honedge, and Frillish, as well as Ground-types such as Hippoppotas and Drilbur. An ideal Steel-type partner aside from the aforementioned Pawniard and Honedge is Magnemite, a bulky Pokemon that can trap and deal with the opposing Steel-types that might give Snubbull problems.
Offensive Support
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name: Offensive Support
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Heal Bell
move 4: Thunder Wave
ability: Intimidate
item: Eviolite / Berry Juice
evs: EVs: 116 HP / 196 Def / 196 SpD
nature: Careful
Moves
========
This set has the same basic offensive functions, but has even greater bulk and also serves as a reliable supporter for its team. Play Rough and Earthquake provide near-perfect coverage for Snubbull as far as attacking moves are concerned, and Heal Bell is used to keep both Snubbull and its team free of annoying status afflictions that can limit the team's potential. Thunder Wave is added to cripple foes and put them at a Speed disadvantage, and when combined with Heal Bell, it gives Snubbull the effective role of keeping the opponent's team riddled with status while keeping it off its own, while also maintaining a respectable offensive stance.
Set Details
========
A Careful nature and the given EVs with Eviolite give Snubbull an incredibly bulky defensive spread of 24 / 21 / 21, with Intimidate further helping it with taking hits on the physical side as always. No Attack investment is required for this particular set's purpose, as Snubbull already naturally hits hard and has its trademark near-perfect coverage with Play Rough and Earthquake. This set also has no Speed investment, but with Thunder Wave as one of its disruptive options, Snubbull will be outspeeding most of its switch-ins regardless.
Usage Tips
========
With the huge array of Fighting- and Dark-type attacks flying around the tier, it is beyond easy to find an opportunity to get Snubbull in to clear status for its team or spread paralysis onto the opponent's team. After the opposing team is weakened mid-game or later in the match, there are many opportunities to get in an attack if Thunder Wave and Heal Bell are not practical at the time, as Fairy + Ground coverage is so good and gets a super effective hit on a huge amount of foes, notably Mienfoo, Tyrunt, Scraggy, Vulpix, Meditite, and Murkrow.
Team Options
========
Eviolite Mienfoo with U-turn is an incredible teammate to get Snubbull in safely, and also threatens Pawniard and other Steel-types that give Snubbull a hard time after it knocks out a foe. Ground-types such as Drilbur make for excellent partners since they directly threaten the Steel- and Poison-types that can hurt Snubbull with their STABs. Abra easily gets rid of Koffing if it's an issue. Ferroseed forms an incredible defensive core with Snubbull, with both of them covering each other's weaknesses and both dishing out crippling moves. Anything that appreciates paralysis support is happy to have Snubbull on its team; slower Pokemon such as Timburr as Munchlax really appreciate the Speed advantage.
Other Options
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Snubbull has the bulk to use RestTalk, but partnering it with a bulky Wish support is generally a better option to keep it alive and able to use the moves it wants 100% of the time, as well as to have better synergy and more attacking options. Ice Punch is good for coverage, but it is unfortunately incompatible with Play Rough and therefore not worth running. There are the elemental Fang attacks as well as Super Fang; Ice Fang can be used as an alternative to Ice Punch as it is legal with Play Rough, although the power drop is very noticeable. Snubbull actually has an incredible special movepool that includes Hyper Voice, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Overheat, and Solar Beam, but it doesn't have the Special Attack to make good use of them and thus they are generally not worth using. Power-Up Punch can work as a Fighting-type attack that can also be used to raise Snubbull's power while forcing switches, but Bulk Up is a better option for getting boosts in that manner and Close Combat is generally better for its more immediate power. Bulldoze can also be used as a Ground-type attack to slow down checks on the switch-in and can be great late-game, but Earthquake is more reliable because of the great deal more power it provides. Counter can be used to surprise physical attackers that go for the kill against Snubbull, but it likely won't have the health after using it to survive another hit, and if Snubbull uses Counter with Berry Juice, it will only get one chance to pull it off successfully. Rattled can be used to patch up Snubbull's Speed problem if you can switch it in against a Dark-, Bug-, or Ghost-type attack, but the fact that it doesn't hit 14 Speed even with Jolly nature makes this impractical, as it can't reach a decent Speed tier even if it gets the boost.
Checks & Counters
########
**Steel-types**: Earthquake and Close Combat do help Snubbull a lot with hitting the Steel-types that hurt it, but they can still be problematic in some cases. Pawniard OHKOes any Snubbull set regardless of Eviolite after getting to +1 (Intimidate followed by Defiant), but cannot reliably switch in or OHKO Snubbull from full health without this boost. Bronzor resists Play Rough, is immune to Ground, and can threaten Snubbull with its STAB Flash Cannon, but must be wary of switching into Crunch; Bronzor can reliably use Snubbull as setup bait if it lacks Crunch. Ferroseed is a decent check that doesn't mind being paralyzed too much, especially as it further increases of the power of its super effective STAB Gyro Ball, but must be wary of Close Combat.
**Physical Walls**: Snubbull can break down a good many physical walls, but there are a couple of notable ones that it can't hit for super effective damage or outlast throughout battles, including Spritzee, a fellow Fairy that can tank Snubbull's attacks while healing constantly with Wish and hitting Snubbull with repeated shots of Moonblast. It can also heal itself while setting up with Calm Mind. Physically defensive Slowpoke can take just about anything from either set bar Crunch and threaten Snubbull with Thunder Wave; Scald also ruins the Snubbull Trouble set due to its burn chance.
**Fairy-resistant Pokemon with Levitate**: In addition to the previously mentioned Bronzor, there are two other Pokemon in the tier that wall the combination of Fairy and Ground. Koffing resists Play Rough, is immune to Earthquake, resistant to Close Combat, and doesn't take much from Crunch; it can threaten Snubbull with STAB Sludge Bomb and ruin the Snubbull Trouble set with Will-O-Wisp. Gastly resists Play Rough and is immune to Earthquake and Close Combat, and annihilates Snubbull with its STAB Sludge Bomb, but must be wary of switching into Crunch or Thunder Wave.
**Burn Status**: While the offensive support set doesn't mind it too much, anything with Will-O-Wisp ruins the attacking power of the Snubbull Trouble set, examples being Misdreavus, Ponyta, and Growlithe. Larvesta is a Will-O-Wisp user that can decently wall both sets, being a Fire-type that takes only neutral damage from Earthquake, and it even gets U-turn to maintain momentum as Snubbull flees to avoid being burned. The countless Water-types that have Scald also present this problem to Snubbull, and with the generous 30% burn rate it has, it's usually not a good idea to let Snubbull take repeated hits from Scald.
########
Snubbull is one of the few Little Cup Pokemon that changed drastically with the new generation—it underwent a complete type change from Normal to Fairy, wiping its slate clean and giving it brand new strengths, advantages, and weaknesses. This often overlooked GSC Pokemon is not the punching bag for Fighting-types that it used to be, as it is now back with a vengeance against them in the form of a type advantage, as well as an advantage against Dark- and Dragon-types. Its STAB Play Rough brings the pain with great neutral coverage, and Earthquake scores a hard super effective hit against the vast majority of Pokemon that resist Fairy-type attacks. Other high-powered move options available to Snubbull include Close Combat and Crunch, and combined with Intimidate as well as incredible support options such as Heal Bell to serve as a cleric and Thunder Wave to slow down enemies, it demands respect this time around. With this awesome makeover that Snubbull has received for XY, Little Cup welcomes back this bulky attacker as a force to be reckoned with.
Snubbull Trouble
########
name: Snubbull Trouble
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat / Crunch
move 4: Thunder Wave / Bulk Up
ability: Intimidate
item: Eviolite / Berry Juice
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Play Rough is the obligatory hard-hitting physical STAB attack, smacking most of the tier at least neutrally, and has the additional chance of lowering the target's Attack stat. As for the Fire-, Steel-, and Poison-types that resist Fairy, Earthquake hits all three of them for super effective damage and therefore provides perfect coverage, with very few exceptions. Close Combat is a very powerful Fighting-type option that hits a massive amount of Pokemon for super effective damage, but Crunch can be used to take a huge bite out of Gastly and Bronzor, two Pokemon that wall Fairy + Ground coverage by grace of the Levitate ability. Crunch also lets Snubbull have an easier time against Slowpoke, a notable physical wall. With its sheer power, access to the Intimidate ability to neuter opposing physical attackers, and access to high-powered attacks, Snubbull will be forcing a lot of switches, and thus has opportunities to spread status with Thunder Wave, which makes its enemies even easier to break down. Alternatively, Snubbull can utilize Bulk Up to become a physical juggernaut while taking advantage of the free turn provided by a fleeing foe.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread with Intimidate as the ability and Eviolite as the held item allow Snubbull to tank hits on both physical and special attackers, while still maintaining a formidable offensive presence. An Adamant nature is the optimal choice for achieving the highest immediate power possible, and Snubbull doesn't need Speed being the big bulky attacker it is, as it can take a lot of hits and is slower than most things anyway. However, because it only takes 36 EVs to raise its Speed by a stat point, they are used in this set to bring Snubbull high enough to outspeed certain slower Pokemon such as Bronzor and Spritzee. Berry Juice is an option over Eviolite to allow for safer playing before it activates and basically offers 20 extra HP, helping Snubbull restore its lost health whereas it otherwise cannot, and helping it maintain momentum just once if it happens to switch into a painful super effective attack by mistake. Berry Juice is always the optimal item if Bulk Up is used over Thunder Wave, as Snubbull is unable to recover health otherwise after setting up.
Usage Tips
========
Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-types stand absolutely no chance against Snubbull (an exception being specially oriented Croagunk), especially Scraggy, which now suffers a 4x weakness to Fairy-type moves. Notable is the fact that Snubbull is one of the few Pokemon that can force out Murkrow thanks to its offensive presence, at which point Snubbull can safely use Thunder Wave or Bulk Up, depending on the set. Intimidate turns Snubbull into a huge physical tank that can check other physically inclined Pokemon without even having a type advantage against them. It must wary of Poison- and Steel-type attacks, especially on the special side, as it cannot take those very well. Defiant Pawniard walks all over Snubbull if Intimidate activates its Defiant ability, as Pawniard easily outspeeds and a +1 Iron Head from it is a clean OHKO on Snubbull, regardless of the item chosen; thankfully, switching into Snubbull is a huge risk for Pawniard and Intimidate doesn't activate in this scenario.
Team Options
========
Lickitung with Wish and Toxic is an invaluable partner for Snubbull, as Snubbull can cover Lickitung's sole weakness to Fighting and Lickitung can soften up Snubbull's enemies as well as keep both itself and Snubbull alive. Pawniard makes for a good teammate as well, as it can take the Poison- and Steel-type attacks aimed at Snubbull with ease, while Snubbull sponges the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Pawniard, forming not only a formidable offensive core but also one that covers all of the important weak points of the two. Inkay is the only Pokemon in the tier whose STABs score super effective damage on all three Pokemon in the tier that wall Fairy + Ground coverage: Bronzor, Gastly, and Koffing. Other Pokemon that can cover Snubbull's weaknesses well are Ghost-types such as Misdreavus, Honedge, and Frillish, as well as Ground-types such as Hippoppotas and Drilbur. An ideal Steel-type partner aside from the aforementioned Pawniard and Honedge is Magnemite, a bulky Pokemon that can trap and deal with the opposing Steel-types that might give Snubbull problems.
Offensive Support
########
name: Offensive Support
move 1: Play Rough
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Heal Bell
move 4: Thunder Wave
ability: Intimidate
item: Eviolite / Berry Juice
evs: EVs: 116 HP / 196 Def / 196 SpD
nature: Careful
Moves
========
This set has the same basic offensive functions, but has even greater bulk and also serves as a reliable supporter for its team. Play Rough and Earthquake provide near-perfect coverage for Snubbull as far as attacking moves are concerned, and Heal Bell is used to keep both Snubbull and its team free of annoying status afflictions that can limit the team's potential. Thunder Wave is added to cripple foes and put them at a Speed disadvantage, and when combined with Heal Bell, it gives Snubbull the effective role of keeping the opponent's team riddled with status while keeping it off its own, while also maintaining a respectable offensive stance.
Set Details
========
A Careful nature and the given EVs with Eviolite give Snubbull an incredibly bulky defensive spread of 24 / 21 / 21, with Intimidate further helping it with taking hits on the physical side as always. No Attack investment is required for this particular set's purpose, as Snubbull already naturally hits hard and has its trademark near-perfect coverage with Play Rough and Earthquake. This set also has no Speed investment, but with Thunder Wave as one of its disruptive options, Snubbull will be outspeeding most of its switch-ins regardless.
Usage Tips
========
With the huge array of Fighting- and Dark-type attacks flying around the tier, it is beyond easy to find an opportunity to get Snubbull in to clear status for its team or spread paralysis onto the opponent's team. After the opposing team is weakened mid-game or later in the match, there are many opportunities to get in an attack if Thunder Wave and Heal Bell are not practical at the time, as Fairy + Ground coverage is so good and gets a super effective hit on a huge amount of foes, notably Mienfoo, Tyrunt, Scraggy, Vulpix, Meditite, and Murkrow.
Team Options
========
Eviolite Mienfoo with U-turn is an incredible teammate to get Snubbull in safely, and also threatens Pawniard and other Steel-types that give Snubbull a hard time after it knocks out a foe. Ground-types such as Drilbur make for excellent partners since they directly threaten the Steel- and Poison-types that can hurt Snubbull with their STABs. Abra easily gets rid of Koffing if it's an issue. Ferroseed forms an incredible defensive core with Snubbull, with both of them covering each other's weaknesses and both dishing out crippling moves. Anything that appreciates paralysis support is happy to have Snubbull on its team; slower Pokemon such as Timburr as Munchlax really appreciate the Speed advantage.
Other Options
########
Snubbull has the bulk to use RestTalk, but partnering it with a bulky Wish support is generally a better option to keep it alive and able to use the moves it wants 100% of the time, as well as to have better synergy and more attacking options. Ice Punch is good for coverage, but it is unfortunately incompatible with Play Rough and therefore not worth running. There are the elemental Fang attacks as well as Super Fang; Ice Fang can be used as an alternative to Ice Punch as it is legal with Play Rough, although the power drop is very noticeable. Snubbull actually has an incredible special movepool that includes Hyper Voice, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Overheat, and Solar Beam, but it doesn't have the Special Attack to make good use of them and thus they are generally not worth using. Power-Up Punch can work as a Fighting-type attack that can also be used to raise Snubbull's power while forcing switches, but Bulk Up is a better option for getting boosts in that manner and Close Combat is generally better for its more immediate power. Bulldoze can also be used as a Ground-type attack to slow down checks on the switch-in and can be great late-game, but Earthquake is more reliable because of the great deal more power it provides. Counter can be used to surprise physical attackers that go for the kill against Snubbull, but it likely won't have the health after using it to survive another hit, and if Snubbull uses Counter with Berry Juice, it will only get one chance to pull it off successfully. Rattled can be used to patch up Snubbull's Speed problem if you can switch it in against a Dark-, Bug-, or Ghost-type attack, but the fact that it doesn't hit 14 Speed even with Jolly nature makes this impractical, as it can't reach a decent Speed tier even if it gets the boost.
Checks & Counters
########
**Steel-types**: Earthquake and Close Combat do help Snubbull a lot with hitting the Steel-types that hurt it, but they can still be problematic in some cases. Pawniard OHKOes any Snubbull set regardless of Eviolite after getting to +1 (Intimidate followed by Defiant), but cannot reliably switch in or OHKO Snubbull from full health without this boost. Bronzor resists Play Rough, is immune to Ground, and can threaten Snubbull with its STAB Flash Cannon, but must be wary of switching into Crunch; Bronzor can reliably use Snubbull as setup bait if it lacks Crunch. Ferroseed is a decent check that doesn't mind being paralyzed too much, especially as it further increases of the power of its super effective STAB Gyro Ball, but must be wary of Close Combat.
**Physical Walls**: Snubbull can break down a good many physical walls, but there are a couple of notable ones that it can't hit for super effective damage or outlast throughout battles, including Spritzee, a fellow Fairy that can tank Snubbull's attacks while healing constantly with Wish and hitting Snubbull with repeated shots of Moonblast. It can also heal itself while setting up with Calm Mind. Physically defensive Slowpoke can take just about anything from either set bar Crunch and threaten Snubbull with Thunder Wave; Scald also ruins the Snubbull Trouble set due to its burn chance.
**Fairy-resistant Pokemon with Levitate**: In addition to the previously mentioned Bronzor, there are two other Pokemon in the tier that wall the combination of Fairy and Ground. Koffing resists Play Rough, is immune to Earthquake, resistant to Close Combat, and doesn't take much from Crunch; it can threaten Snubbull with STAB Sludge Bomb and ruin the Snubbull Trouble set with Will-O-Wisp. Gastly resists Play Rough and is immune to Earthquake and Close Combat, and annihilates Snubbull with its STAB Sludge Bomb, but must be wary of switching into Crunch or Thunder Wave.
**Burn Status**: While the offensive support set doesn't mind it too much, anything with Will-O-Wisp ruins the attacking power of the Snubbull Trouble set, examples being Misdreavus, Ponyta, and Growlithe. Larvesta is a Will-O-Wisp user that can decently wall both sets, being a Fire-type that takes only neutral damage from Earthquake, and it even gets U-turn to maintain momentum as Snubbull flees to avoid being burned. The countless Water-types that have Scald also present this problem to Snubbull, and with the generous 30% burn rate it has, it's usually not a good idea to let Snubbull take repeated hits from Scald.
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