First off I just want to say great writing man
BlackMalachite, there is super high effort put into the post and it was a blast to read. However, I do have some criticism about the dog. Quick Disclaimer: this post is purely about mane in a competitive sense. If you want to use Manectric, by all means feel free to. This is just my problems with the mon in my opinion.
Ironically I actually used this mon 2 days ago with some friends, not the scarf set but more so a trick ring target rising voltage set paired with
. Unfortunately, there were some major problems with Manectric. The most notable I feel is that of the ground problem; due to the lack of hp ice most grounds severely wall it, or at least heavily restrict it. If we take the very common Spdef Lando for example, the calc of overheat vs it is:
252 SpA Manectric Overheat vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Landorus-Therian: 102-120 (26.7 - 31.4%) -- 24% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
As you can see, rather frustrating damage. The problem is amplified even more so with the also common Hippowdon and Garchomp, with the former having reliable recovery and the latter having an overheat resistance, respectively. Even with trick ring target to improve its match up , these mons where incredibly frustrating. The games with dual ground where downright impossible to maneuver with mane as well. While I haven’t used the trick set admittedly, I do not see it faring any better vs grounds than ring target (bc of the latter allowing electric attacks to hit grounds once tricked to them), and so I imagine the ground issue to be far more problematic with scarf than it already is with ring target.
Now with the biggest problem in my opinion discussed, I will go on to my other grievances I have to the hound. Let’s start with damage: this mon is incredibly weak, so weak it makes Zeraora look strong. In our scenario, we tried to make it so that mane could actually do damage, by providing it with terrain for its rising voltages. However, the results where still very disappointing.
252 SpA Manectric Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Ninetales-Alola in Electric Terrain: 256-303 (89.1 - 105.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
As for the scarf t bolt set,
252 SpA Manectric Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Ninetales-Alola: 127-150 (44.2 - 52.2%) -- 17.6% chance to 2HKO
My point with these calcs is that mane does very little to even somewhat frail mons, let alone how much it would do to more bulkier opponents. Oh and the somewhat sad
252 SpA Manectric Rising Voltage (70 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Landorus-Therian in Electric Terrain: 216-254 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed
(Once you trick ring target)
This isn’t as important since you can easily volt switch out, but don’t fall for the facade of a 140 bp voltage to ohko, as unfortunately Lando is flying and as such avoids the doubling of the move.
Manectric is also very weak against many neutral targets, and often has trouble doing damage to things thanks to its poor offenses.
In many of your calcs, you post the damage with the lighting rod boost, however there are some major problems with that, which segues into my next area of concern: Manectric’s bulk.
To say Manectric is frail would be an understatement, it is downright paper (though ironically kartana, a paper pokemon, at least has one solid defensive stat). As such, Manectric can almost never switch into moves without prediction, for it always risks the chances of a ohko/2hko. The same risk applies for the electrics in the tier, which I will analyze their matchups vs Manectric.
Let’s start with the two most important electrics in the Overused tier,
Tapu Koko and
Zeraora. While in theory Manectric can come in on their electric moves to get a boost, in reality it’s far more nuanced. Both Koko and Zeraora always carry non electric moves, which they often spam. (Koko with U-Turn, Zeraora with Knock Off). Switching Manectric into either of these is very frustrating, as they both chip it noticeably, calcs posted below.
252 Atk Zeraora Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric: 144-170 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Zeraora Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric: 178-210 (63.3 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- Atk Tapu Koko U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manectric: 78-92 (27.7 - 32.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
(This one in particular is super sad, 30% from an uninvested timid Koko U-Turn, ouch)
252 SpA Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Manectric: 159-187 (56.5 - 66.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As you can see, Manectric has immense difficulty switching into any of these electric Pokemon for fear of their other moves. But let’s say you do manage to get it in on an electric move and get the boost, what then?
+1 252 SpA Manectric Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko: 232-273 (82.5 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Ok I admit this one is kind of nice damage
+1 252 SpA Manectric Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zeraora: 220-259 (69.4 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This one a bit less so.
In your vs Zera calc, you posted -1 defense for Zeraora due to close combat, however I have difficulty seeing this happen, as knock would likely be the move chosen more often.
(This is if you use your scarf set btw). However, let’s say the opponent has a Zeraora out and isn’t willing to risk what your +1 mane could do since it lives a zera attack. They could just go their ground and hard wall you. There are other flaws to Manectric’s low defenses as well, most notably that it becomes a bad torn switch in, unlike it’s fellow friends koko and zera, which is one of the benefits of having an electric type. Finally, there’s one last major flaw against Manectric: other electric types existing.
Let’s once again look at the major offensive electric types in OU,
Zeraora and
Tapu Koko. These are both superb mons and fix almost all the flaws listed that Mane has. Therefore, on a serious team, one should almost always go either of these over the dog, unfortunately. Even if one really wants electric fire coverage, Zera gets blaze kick/fire punch if you are desperate, and the niche Rotom-Heat exists. I’d even argue that if someone wanted to build a team around an electric really weak to ground and structure the team to allow to bypass this annoyance, Regieleki would be a finer choice, trading overheat and trick for much better stats and use in OU. (Regieleki still bad imo, just saying in comparison to Manectric). Also important to note, most Koko, Zera, and Eleki don’t take hazard damage thanks to boots, allowing for better pivoting , while scarf/ ring target Manectric unfortunately does.
Anyways that’s just my view on Manectric competitively, feel free to disagree. I like the mon as an idea, but from my uses, I think of it far more as a meme mon and much less of a semi legitimate mon.