Hello, gaming friends; do I have a little something for you! I'd like to bring to surface a Pokemon that I picked up using as a bit of a joke, but have been unironically impressed with regarding its weirdly sound role compression on offensive teams.
I would like to nominate Noivern from
UR to
C- or C.
Noivern is a very strange, but oddly unique Pokemon with a lot of different traits that allow for it to stand out among others in the tier. Between its very great speed tier, access to U-turn , and most notably its
defensive typing, movepool, and longevity, it is a fairly decent albeit niche response to Pokemon like Urshifu-R and Volcarona, with additional utility in besting Rillaboom and checking Heatran. Similar to my nomination for Lycanroc-D back in December, given that Noivern is a Pokemon that's currently unranked and has seen 0 decent level usage, I would like to break down its different unique attributes that I believe make it worthy of a nomination.
1: Defensive typing and longevity
These caveats are probably the main reasons I see Noivern as being worthy of a nomination. Although Dragonite does its job a lot better defensively, Noivern's ability to resist both of Urshifu-R's main STABs alongside a U-turn resistance and longevity to utilize upon a switch allows for it to take advantage of Urshifu-R for a pivoting opportunity, which can pair incredibly well alongside other offense staples like Slowking that otherwise have a notably hard time checking Urshifu-R repeatedly due to its U-turn weakness. This defensive typing also has great utility in the Volcarona matchup, boasting a coveted resistance to both of its STABs. However, these resistances would be meaningless without Noivern's access to Heavy-Duty Boots, Roost, and a legitimately great speed tier to let it serve as a solid offensive check to two fairly dangerous Pokemon with added utility in certain other matchups. In comparison to probably its greatest form of competition--Dragapult--Noivern's access to longevity is a pivotal draw that lets Noivern take advantage of its Dragon typing far more consistently than its competitor, which can be invaluable in letting it provide an offensive check to Urshifu-R, Volcarona, and Rillaboom that can last throughout the game without fearing chip damage anywhere near as much.
I would like to also mention that Noivern without defensive investment takes more from Choice Band Urshifu-R than it can heal off. While this can be a concern if Noivern is too chipped, this damage is only the case if Urshifu-R is Choice locked, meaning that Noivern with its greater speed tier can easily retaliate with an attack of its own to take advantage of Urshifu-R's middling Special bulk, pivot, or--unlike Dragapult--heal on the forced switch to keep Urshifu-R in check. This interaction operates somewhat similarly to Dragapult, however with the added option of healing to keep the process reliable throughout the game.
2: Movepool
Noivern's movepool is very impressive, from options like Flamethrower and Focus Blast to Taunt, Toxic, and Defog, Noivern has quite a few options to toy with that further cement its niche from Dragapult as a speedy Dragon-type with U-turn. Taunt and Toxic among these are the most notable. In addition to being able to immediately put a stop to Volcarona before it can run through teams, it also boasts a typing that serves it just as solidly offensively as it does defensively, which is of note due to Noivern's access to Taunt letting it actually beat Volcarona on the special side with Hurricane even with Quiver Dance boosts. Toxic is also insanely cool as a way to instantly put a stop to Volcarona no matter what shenanigans it wants to pull against you, as Infiltrator lets it bypass Safeguard with no sweat, which is something Dragapult does not have. Toxic and Taunt both work interchangeably to a similar effect, with Taunt having added utility in checking Special walls indiscriminately on switch-in.
3: Speed tier and U-turn
This is where its utility in comparison to Dragapult starts to diverge a bit more noticeably. Noivern cannot afford a Choice Specs nor does its secondary STAB have anywhere near as much spammability as its Shadow Ball, but it does still play well into a major reason Dragapult succeeds as an offensive threat. Similar to Dragapult, Noivern has a very fast U-turn and invites in bulky Fairy-types and common Special walls designed mainly for Dragapult, which makes it a similarly fantastic abuser of U-turn similar to Dragapult, with much less of the punch Dragapult has that makes it the threat it is. Because of this, Noivern pairs fairly well with very similar offensive threats, such as Urshifu-R or Kartana, which can help it overload a lot of threats that trouble it, while giving them many opportunities to attack.
In my eyes, its Speed tier and U-turn makes it a viable pick on offenses in the first place and helps to contextualize the previous two points' magnitude in relativity to its role in the tier, though being somewhat niche due to some fairly notable issues it faces.
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Noivern with these traits 100% makes it viable in my opinion, but the question is: by how much? I nominated it to C- or C because it faces incredibly steep competition with Dragapult, playing fundamentally similar roles that Dragapult simply does far better, with many more consistent options that make it shine a lot brighter offensively, while boasting middling bulk that makes it somewhat reliant on its typing. Furthermore it is very prone to Knock Off which can make it far shakier as an offensive check. However, this is why the UR nomination is to C-/C to reflect these weak caveats.
In spite of its shortcomings, I believe Noivern's access to longevity with its defensive typing alongside its unique support movepool carve it a very slight, but VR-worthy niche for offenses that can help alleviate pressure from Pokemon like Slowking and Scizor while checking several dangerous Pokemon and being a solid enabler much like Dragapult.
Noivern @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor / Hurricane
- Flamethrower / Taunt / Toxic / Hurricane / Focus Blast
- U-turn
- Roost
For those wondering, here is the groundwork for the set that I've been using. Noivern in my opinion does need U-turn to help play more into its role as an offensive check by maintaining momentum for offensive teams, but it can be slotted off for Toxic or a coverage option in a pinch, if need be. Toxic is likely the best substitute as it lets Noivern immediately put a stop to Volcarona regardless of what other options it may choose to run. This also lets it drop off Hurricane and Taunt with far less sweat and play more into its ability to check Heatran and/or Ferrothorn at the cost of momentum.
This can be customized to the needs of your team, as every variant does work to the intended effect.