[OVERVIEW]
Tapu Bulu's niche in Doubles is strongly rooted in the Terrain it summons. A Grassy Terrain-boosted Wood Hammer off base 130 Attack makes Tapu Bulu an incredibly strong attacker that dents any foe that doesn't resist Grass. Since Wood Hammer is the only real requirement for Tapu Bulu to be successful, it enjoys some flexibility in sets to use, allowing it to somewhat pick its counters and role and adapt to the team it's on. In addition, Tapu Bulu offers its team passive recovery and a solid matchup against all other Guardian Deities, which are found on most every team. Unfortunately, Intimidate users are also found on most every team, and one of the most common, Incineroar, both resists Grass and can KO Tapu Bulu. Though it is decently bulky, Tapu Bulu's defensive prowess is undercut by a poor defensive typing and the recoil it's forced to incur by its primary attack. Its middling Speed tier is somewhat remedied by a Choice Scarf set, but this in conjunction with its lacking defensive qualities can leave it susceptible to stronger fast attackers.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Superpower / Horn Leech
move 3: Swords Dance / Taunt
move 4: Protect
item: Figy Berry / Grassium Z
ability: Grassy Surge
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 116 SpD / 84 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wood Hammer is superbly powerful with the Grassy Terrain boost, OHKOing all Grass-weak targets as well as some frailer neutral foes. Superpower offers Tapu Bulu coverage on some of the more common Grass-resistant Pokemon like Incineroar, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem-B. Alternatively, Horn Leech offers a secondary Grass move that makes up for its lower Base Power through healing, making it a valuable option when the power of Wood Hammer isn't needed or Tapu Bulu is low on health. Swords Dance helps counteract the many Intimidate users in Doubles, easing Tapu Bulu's job of breaking through the opposition or cleaning up late-game. If Taunt support would be more useful to its teammates, Tapu Bulu can instead use the move to prevent some slower Pokemon like Amoonguss, Tapu Fini, and Trick Room setters like Gothitelle from using their status moves. Protect scouts the opponent's move, shielding Tapu Bulu while you work the positioning game to garner momentum. For Tapu Bulu, it's an especially nice move to have, as it can be used to stall for Grassy Terrain recovery and get Tapu Bulu out of range of a potential knockout.
Set Details
========
The given EVs and nature ensure Tapu Bulu will OHKO Kingdra with Grassy Terrain-boosted Wood Hammer, outspeed Tapu Fini, and be as specially defensive as possible to counteract its lower base Special Defense stat. Many other Speed benchmarks are viable on Tapu Bulu—minimum investment works best on Trick Room builds, teams with Tailwind may opt to run 136 Speed EVs to outpace Deoxys-A, and teams with a tough Volcanion matchup may instead choose 216 Speed EVs to outrun Modest Volcanion. A Figy Berry gives Tapu Bulu a boost of life when its health gets low, which fixes some of the issues in relying on a recoil-heavy attack. Alternatively, Grassium Z provides Tapu Bulu a nuke in Bloom Doom, which circumvents the issue in a different way by boosting Wood Hammer's power and removing its recoil effect.
Usage Tips
========
Tapu Bulu's bulk and summoned Terrain make it an effective pivot on weak or resisted attacks, especially as Tapu Bulu is almost guaranteed 1/16 recovery after it takes the hit. Once switched in, Tapu Bulu can threaten many foes with a strong Grass-type attack, so take advantage of its power by breaking through important Pokemon on the other side of the field. If Tapu Bulu's Attack is lowered due to Intimidate, Superpower, or a removal of its Terrain, don't be afraid to switch it out, as it will often be considerably more useful later without these reductions. For Figy Berry sets, Wood Hammer recoil can act as a method of recovery, knocking Tapu Bulu into activation range if it's already damaged. Grassium Z sets must be careful to use Bloom Doom at the right time. This could mean ensuring Tapu Bulu knocks out a threat or preventing it from taking recoil that would prevent it from acting as a check to certain threats.
Team Options
========
Tapu Bulu benefits greatly from reliable users of speed control; this could mean Tailwind users like Zapdos and Suicune or Trick Room setters like Diancie and Stakataka, but whichever you pick should be able to set speed control multiple times over the course of the match. Fire-types, such as Incineroar and Volcanion, are important teammates for taking on Grass- and Bug-types like Amoonguss and Genesect that easily defeat Tapu Bulu; they also benefit from Grassy Terrain's weakening of Earthquake. Volcanion is particularly notable for also taking on opposing Fire-types, a role that could also be filled by Zygarde or Mega Camerupt. Life Orb Kyurem-B and Incineroar are naturally bulky Pokemon that can't take full advantage of their bulk due to their attacks causing recoil, so Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain recovery helps them perform throughout the match. Though it shares weaknesses with Tapu Bulu, Kartana becomes incredibly powerful under Grassy Terrain and may be a viable teammate.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Stone Edge / Horn Leech
move 4: Nature's Madness / Horn Leech
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Grassy Surge
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wood Hammer is perfect for a Choice-locked set, offering significant damage against a majority of the tier. Superpower covers many targets that could shrug off a Wood Hammer and is most useful for facing weakened faster foes like Life Orb Kyurem-B and Assault Vest Genesect. Tapu Bulu rarely needs anything past these two attacks, so they're best filled with moves that are highly useful in specific matchups, regardless of their wider utility. Stone Edge allows Tapu Bulu to take out Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona, also offering decent damage on Zapdos. Horn Leech comes in handy if the immense power of Wood Hammer isn't needed, healing Tapu Bulu instead of damaging it and opening the door to potentially clean late-game. Nature's Madness opens doors for slower wallbreakers to push through a foe and is quite useful for otherwise safe switch-ins like Incineroar, Amoonguss, and Zapdos.
Set Details
========
Speed and power are all that's truly needed for Tapu Bulu, with a Choice Scarf and a Jolly nature being crucial to outspeed foes like Mega Manectric and Tapu Koko.
Usage Tips
========
Wood Hammer is often Tapu Bulu's best move to be locked into, but make sure that even netting a KO with a move won't force Tapu Bulu into a poor position for future turns. Feel free to use Tapu Bulu as either a mid-game wallbreaker that spams Wood Hammer or a revenge killer that comes in multiple times over the course of the match to take out specific threats; it's often successful in either role. This set is not very bulky, so avoid using it as a defensive pivot when possible; this would also risk revealing Tapu Bulu's set, as almost all sets without a Choice Scarf run significant investment in bulk.
Team Options
========
Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu fits best on teams that need the benefit of its offensive matchups but can't afford to deal with its middling Speed tier and need it to take out threats like Tapu Koko and Life Orb Kyurem-B. Defensive pivots are important partners for this set, as it's unreliable at checking certain threats that may be taken care of by other sets. For example, Kingdra KOes Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu with Muddy Water followed by Hydro Pump-based Hydro Vortex in the rain, so alternative rain checks such as Zapdos and Volcanion are needed. Landorus-T answers and general Knock Off absorbers are quite useful; packing Kyurem-B, Zapdos, or a Landorus-T of your own fulfills this role. Incineroar and Steel-types, such as Mega Metagross and Assault Vest Genesect, take on Tapu Lele, which can be especially dangerous if carrying a Choice Scarf of its own. In general, Fire-type partners such as Volcanion and Victini are valuable for taking out Grass-resistant foes and making way for Tapu Bulu to freely spam Wood Hammer. Genesect and Zapdos are two examples of teammates that could pack Fire-type coverage to act as secondary support for this role, thought they shouldn't be relied on as sole support.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An Assault Vest set uses a more defensive approach to taking advantage of Tapu Bulu's many viable attacks, also allowing it the freedom to switch moves. Meadow Plate and Life Orb offer boosted damage output, though they're rarely more useful than the boost from Grassium Z. Whirlwind is usable as the third move on Figy Berry sets, as it phazes the opposing Pokemon and checks setup sweepers like Kommo-o while preventing Trick Room from setters such as Bronzong. Disable is another occasionally useful utility option, and it is notable when paired with Gothitelle to trap the crippled foe on the field. Zen Headbutt finds a place on some Choice Scarf sets in need of more coverage to hit Amoonguss, Kommo-o, and Naganadel, but otherwise it's rarely useful.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Poison-types**: Amoonguss easily deals with Tapu Bulu and only really has the rare Zen Headbutt to fear. Some foes also run Poison-type coverage specifically for taking on Tapu Bulu, making such sets on Volcanion, Landorus-T, and Hoopa-U into decent answers.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types resist Wood Hammer, and many common ones like Mega Metagross and Genesect are neutral to Superpower, enabling them to simply attack with their Steel-type STAB moves.
**Fire-types**: Tapu Bulu struggles to stand against Fire-type STAB attacks from Mega Charizard Y, Victini, and Volcarona, all of which also resist both Wood Hammer and Superpower. Fire-type coverage from foes such as Mega Manectric and Kommo-o can be similarly troubling, though they're less reliable as defensive answers.
**Flying-types**: Zapdos, Tornadus, and Mega Salamence all take Wood Hammer fairly comfortably and can either heal off the damage or hit Tapu Bulu hard with Flying-type STAB moves.
**Kyurem-B**: Offensive Kyurem-B sets with Icium Z or Life Orb easily dispatch of Tapu Bulu's bulky sets, while bulkier Assault Vest sets take on Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu quite reliably and slow it down with Icy Wind.
**Intimidate**: Intimidate from foes such as Incineroar, Landorus-T, and Mega Manectric makes it much harder for physical attackers such as Tapu Bulu to power through and attack effectively.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[talkingtree, 232101]]
- Earlier versions by: [[Memoric, 215000]]
- Quality checked by: [[n10sit, 267148], [MajorBowman, 188164]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [A Cake Wearing A Hat, 388157]]
Tapu Bulu's niche in Doubles is strongly rooted in the Terrain it summons. A Grassy Terrain-boosted Wood Hammer off base 130 Attack makes Tapu Bulu an incredibly strong attacker that dents any foe that doesn't resist Grass. Since Wood Hammer is the only real requirement for Tapu Bulu to be successful, it enjoys some flexibility in sets to use, allowing it to somewhat pick its counters and role and adapt to the team it's on. In addition, Tapu Bulu offers its team passive recovery and a solid matchup against all other Guardian Deities, which are found on most every team. Unfortunately, Intimidate users are also found on most every team, and one of the most common, Incineroar, both resists Grass and can KO Tapu Bulu. Though it is decently bulky, Tapu Bulu's defensive prowess is undercut by a poor defensive typing and the recoil it's forced to incur by its primary attack. Its middling Speed tier is somewhat remedied by a Choice Scarf set, but this in conjunction with its lacking defensive qualities can leave it susceptible to stronger fast attackers.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Superpower / Horn Leech
move 3: Swords Dance / Taunt
move 4: Protect
item: Figy Berry / Grassium Z
ability: Grassy Surge
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 116 SpD / 84 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wood Hammer is superbly powerful with the Grassy Terrain boost, OHKOing all Grass-weak targets as well as some frailer neutral foes. Superpower offers Tapu Bulu coverage on some of the more common Grass-resistant Pokemon like Incineroar, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem-B. Alternatively, Horn Leech offers a secondary Grass move that makes up for its lower Base Power through healing, making it a valuable option when the power of Wood Hammer isn't needed or Tapu Bulu is low on health. Swords Dance helps counteract the many Intimidate users in Doubles, easing Tapu Bulu's job of breaking through the opposition or cleaning up late-game. If Taunt support would be more useful to its teammates, Tapu Bulu can instead use the move to prevent some slower Pokemon like Amoonguss, Tapu Fini, and Trick Room setters like Gothitelle from using their status moves. Protect scouts the opponent's move, shielding Tapu Bulu while you work the positioning game to garner momentum. For Tapu Bulu, it's an especially nice move to have, as it can be used to stall for Grassy Terrain recovery and get Tapu Bulu out of range of a potential knockout.
Set Details
========
The given EVs and nature ensure Tapu Bulu will OHKO Kingdra with Grassy Terrain-boosted Wood Hammer, outspeed Tapu Fini, and be as specially defensive as possible to counteract its lower base Special Defense stat. Many other Speed benchmarks are viable on Tapu Bulu—minimum investment works best on Trick Room builds, teams with Tailwind may opt to run 136 Speed EVs to outpace Deoxys-A, and teams with a tough Volcanion matchup may instead choose 216 Speed EVs to outrun Modest Volcanion. A Figy Berry gives Tapu Bulu a boost of life when its health gets low, which fixes some of the issues in relying on a recoil-heavy attack. Alternatively, Grassium Z provides Tapu Bulu a nuke in Bloom Doom, which circumvents the issue in a different way by boosting Wood Hammer's power and removing its recoil effect.
Usage Tips
========
Tapu Bulu's bulk and summoned Terrain make it an effective pivot on weak or resisted attacks, especially as Tapu Bulu is almost guaranteed 1/16 recovery after it takes the hit. Once switched in, Tapu Bulu can threaten many foes with a strong Grass-type attack, so take advantage of its power by breaking through important Pokemon on the other side of the field. If Tapu Bulu's Attack is lowered due to Intimidate, Superpower, or a removal of its Terrain, don't be afraid to switch it out, as it will often be considerably more useful later without these reductions. For Figy Berry sets, Wood Hammer recoil can act as a method of recovery, knocking Tapu Bulu into activation range if it's already damaged. Grassium Z sets must be careful to use Bloom Doom at the right time. This could mean ensuring Tapu Bulu knocks out a threat or preventing it from taking recoil that would prevent it from acting as a check to certain threats.
Team Options
========
Tapu Bulu benefits greatly from reliable users of speed control; this could mean Tailwind users like Zapdos and Suicune or Trick Room setters like Diancie and Stakataka, but whichever you pick should be able to set speed control multiple times over the course of the match. Fire-types, such as Incineroar and Volcanion, are important teammates for taking on Grass- and Bug-types like Amoonguss and Genesect that easily defeat Tapu Bulu; they also benefit from Grassy Terrain's weakening of Earthquake. Volcanion is particularly notable for also taking on opposing Fire-types, a role that could also be filled by Zygarde or Mega Camerupt. Life Orb Kyurem-B and Incineroar are naturally bulky Pokemon that can't take full advantage of their bulk due to their attacks causing recoil, so Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain recovery helps them perform throughout the match. Though it shares weaknesses with Tapu Bulu, Kartana becomes incredibly powerful under Grassy Terrain and may be a viable teammate.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Stone Edge / Horn Leech
move 4: Nature's Madness / Horn Leech
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Grassy Surge
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wood Hammer is perfect for a Choice-locked set, offering significant damage against a majority of the tier. Superpower covers many targets that could shrug off a Wood Hammer and is most useful for facing weakened faster foes like Life Orb Kyurem-B and Assault Vest Genesect. Tapu Bulu rarely needs anything past these two attacks, so they're best filled with moves that are highly useful in specific matchups, regardless of their wider utility. Stone Edge allows Tapu Bulu to take out Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona, also offering decent damage on Zapdos. Horn Leech comes in handy if the immense power of Wood Hammer isn't needed, healing Tapu Bulu instead of damaging it and opening the door to potentially clean late-game. Nature's Madness opens doors for slower wallbreakers to push through a foe and is quite useful for otherwise safe switch-ins like Incineroar, Amoonguss, and Zapdos.
Set Details
========
Speed and power are all that's truly needed for Tapu Bulu, with a Choice Scarf and a Jolly nature being crucial to outspeed foes like Mega Manectric and Tapu Koko.
Usage Tips
========
Wood Hammer is often Tapu Bulu's best move to be locked into, but make sure that even netting a KO with a move won't force Tapu Bulu into a poor position for future turns. Feel free to use Tapu Bulu as either a mid-game wallbreaker that spams Wood Hammer or a revenge killer that comes in multiple times over the course of the match to take out specific threats; it's often successful in either role. This set is not very bulky, so avoid using it as a defensive pivot when possible; this would also risk revealing Tapu Bulu's set, as almost all sets without a Choice Scarf run significant investment in bulk.
Team Options
========
Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu fits best on teams that need the benefit of its offensive matchups but can't afford to deal with its middling Speed tier and need it to take out threats like Tapu Koko and Life Orb Kyurem-B. Defensive pivots are important partners for this set, as it's unreliable at checking certain threats that may be taken care of by other sets. For example, Kingdra KOes Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu with Muddy Water followed by Hydro Pump-based Hydro Vortex in the rain, so alternative rain checks such as Zapdos and Volcanion are needed. Landorus-T answers and general Knock Off absorbers are quite useful; packing Kyurem-B, Zapdos, or a Landorus-T of your own fulfills this role. Incineroar and Steel-types, such as Mega Metagross and Assault Vest Genesect, take on Tapu Lele, which can be especially dangerous if carrying a Choice Scarf of its own. In general, Fire-type partners such as Volcanion and Victini are valuable for taking out Grass-resistant foes and making way for Tapu Bulu to freely spam Wood Hammer. Genesect and Zapdos are two examples of teammates that could pack Fire-type coverage to act as secondary support for this role, thought they shouldn't be relied on as sole support.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An Assault Vest set uses a more defensive approach to taking advantage of Tapu Bulu's many viable attacks, also allowing it the freedom to switch moves. Meadow Plate and Life Orb offer boosted damage output, though they're rarely more useful than the boost from Grassium Z. Whirlwind is usable as the third move on Figy Berry sets, as it phazes the opposing Pokemon and checks setup sweepers like Kommo-o while preventing Trick Room from setters such as Bronzong. Disable is another occasionally useful utility option, and it is notable when paired with Gothitelle to trap the crippled foe on the field. Zen Headbutt finds a place on some Choice Scarf sets in need of more coverage to hit Amoonguss, Kommo-o, and Naganadel, but otherwise it's rarely useful.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Poison-types**: Amoonguss easily deals with Tapu Bulu and only really has the rare Zen Headbutt to fear. Some foes also run Poison-type coverage specifically for taking on Tapu Bulu, making such sets on Volcanion, Landorus-T, and Hoopa-U into decent answers.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types resist Wood Hammer, and many common ones like Mega Metagross and Genesect are neutral to Superpower, enabling them to simply attack with their Steel-type STAB moves.
**Fire-types**: Tapu Bulu struggles to stand against Fire-type STAB attacks from Mega Charizard Y, Victini, and Volcarona, all of which also resist both Wood Hammer and Superpower. Fire-type coverage from foes such as Mega Manectric and Kommo-o can be similarly troubling, though they're less reliable as defensive answers.
**Flying-types**: Zapdos, Tornadus, and Mega Salamence all take Wood Hammer fairly comfortably and can either heal off the damage or hit Tapu Bulu hard with Flying-type STAB moves.
**Kyurem-B**: Offensive Kyurem-B sets with Icium Z or Life Orb easily dispatch of Tapu Bulu's bulky sets, while bulkier Assault Vest sets take on Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu quite reliably and slow it down with Icy Wind.
**Intimidate**: Intimidate from foes such as Incineroar, Landorus-T, and Mega Manectric makes it much harder for physical attackers such as Tapu Bulu to power through and attack effectively.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[talkingtree, 232101]]
- Earlier versions by: [[Memoric, 215000]]
- Quality checked by: [[n10sit, 267148], [MajorBowman, 188164]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [A Cake Wearing A Hat, 388157]]
Last edited:
