[SET]
name: Weak Armor Pivot
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Defog
item: Berry Juice
ability: Weak Armor
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Brave Bird is Vullaby's strongest attack, hitting common threats such as Mienfoo for super effective damage. Knock Off is a powerful and spammable STAB move that provides good neutral coverage with Brave Bird and cripples most of Vullaby's switch-ins. U-turn allows Vullaby to chip away at and gain momentum against the Pokemon that can withstand its STAB combination, including Spritzee, Onix, and Pawniard. Vullaby is a safe and reliable choice for a Defogger thanks to how many switches it can force, an immunity to Spikes and Sticky Web, fantastic natural bulk, and potential Speed boosts from Weak Armor. If the team doesn't require Defog, Hidden Power Grass and Heat Wave are potentially useful coverage options for Rock-types like Onix and Steel-types like Ferroseed, respectively.
Set Details
========
One of Vullaby's biggest strengths is its flexibility; Weak Armor variants in particular are able to take advantage of a huge variety of EV spreads, with the listed spread being only one of many viable options. Most spreads run an Adamant nature and maximum Attack investment to reach 16 Attack, granting Vullaby a 75% chance to OHKO all common Mienfoo and Timburr variants with Brave Bird, also KOing Foongus after Stealth Rock. 16 Attack Vullaby is also able to 2HKO Eviolite-less Spritzee with Brave Bird more often than not, and can OHKO frailer variants of opposing Vullaby after a Weak Armor Defense drop. The given Defense investment reaches 15 Defense, which, when paired with uninvested HP, allows Vullaby to survive defensive Mienfoo's High Jump Kick and three hits of Onix's Rock Blast after Stealth Rock. Running 36 HP EVs to reach 24 HP instead is a lesser option to activate Berry Juice after only two switches into Stealth Rock. However, though it comes at the cost of a great deal of offensive presence, many teams will prefer their Vullaby to run a much bulkier EV spread to more reliably check key threats and find more opportunities to get a Defog off. One popular bulky Vullaby variant runs a spread of 116 HP / 76 Def / 156 SpD / 116 Spe with a Jolly nature, which lets it avoid the OHKO from Reckless Mienfoo's High Jump Kick from full health, Focus Sash Abra's Dazzling Gleam after Stealth Rock, and opposing Vullaby's Brave Bird after a Weak Armor drop. Alternatively, a spread of 196 HP / 156 SpD / 116 Spe with a Jolly nature lets Vullaby usually avoid the KO from Snivy's Leaf Storm followed by Hidden Power Ice, but this creates a significant chance for opposing Vullaby to OHKO with Brave Bird after a Weak Armor drop and noticeably increases the damage of Onix's Rock Blast at -1 Defense.
15 Speed helps to Speed tie with opposing Vullaby and outspeed +1 Speed Ponyta, +2 Speed Jolly Shellder, or +2 Speed Timid Omanyte after a Weak Armor boost. It also allows Vullaby to outspeed or force ties with SturdyJuice Magnemite, Scraggy, and fast Croagunk before a boost. Lower Speed tiers are viable to run more bulk or a combination of bulk and power; for example, an EV spread of 196 HP / 76 Def / 76 SpD / 116 Spe with a Careful nature combines the benefits of both of the bulky spreads described earlier. Another reason to run a spread with 14 Speed is if a coverage move is used over Defog, as 10 Special Attack is required to OHKO SturdyJuice Onix with Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock and 2HKO Eviolite Pawniard with Heat Wave from full health. This can be reached with a Special Attack-reducing nature and 80 EVs in Special Attack, which an EV spread of 36 HP / 240 Atk / 80 SpA / 116 Spe with an Adamant nature accomplishes. Note that Vullaby will require 4 extra EVs in Attack to compensate for the reduced IVs if Hidden Power Grass is run. After a Weak Armor boost, 14 initial Speed will cause Vullaby to be less capable in mirror matchups and force it to tie against +1 Ponyta, +2 Jolly Shellder, and +2 Timid Omanyte. 13 initial Speed isn't usually ideal, as even after a Weak Armor boost, it will leave Vullaby outsped by Choice Scarf Gastly and Doduo, as well as the aforementioned boosted speedy sweepers, and cause it to tie with +2 Impish Shellder and +2 Modest Omanyte.
Weak Armor is integral to this set's success; Vullaby's presence alone is often enough to deter the opponent from using certain physical moves. Vullaby is able to come in on attacks from common Pokemon such as Mienfoo's Knock Off and, if healthy, High Jump Kick, immediately threatening the opposition with powerful STAB moves or U-turn instead of remaining outsped the following turn. Berry Juice allows Vullaby to remain healthy without giving up valuable turns to use Roost; it synergizes well with Brave Bird because it ensures that the recoil isn't overly detrimental.
Usage Tips
========
Between Knock Off and U-turn, Vullaby is excellent at pressuring the opponent heavily early- and mid-game. Knock Off is often Vullaby's safest attack due to its high damage, extremely useful side effect, and lack of recoil; however, it may be punished by opposing Weak Armor users such as Onix, Kabuto, and Vullaby. If you predict the opponent to switch to a Pokemon that Vullaby can't immediately break, such as Onix, U-turn can be used to gain momentum; however, be careful of using the move too frequently if Stealth Rock is up, as this can quickly wear Vullaby down. Brave Bird recoil and Stealth Rock chip damage are often helpful for activating Berry Juice after some prior damage, putting Vullaby out of range of certain KOs. Be wary of using Defog against Pawniard if it can't be revenge killed at +2 Attack. Weak Armor lets Vullaby come in on physical attacks that don't OHKO it from enemies that it can force out, as Vullaby will almost always outspeed them the turn after, immediately shifting momentum into the Vullaby user's favor. The ability does have its drawbacks; if Vullaby is unable to OHKO the enemy, it becomes vulnerable to attacks that hit its weakened Defense or are boosted by Analytic.
Team Options
========
Weak Armor pivot Vullaby ranks among the easiest sets in LC to include on a team; there are far more teams than not that appreciate its ability to act as a wallbreaker, pivot, and soft check to a variety of threats. While this set lacks the longevity to reliably check the likes of Snivy, Abra, Fighting-types, and Foongus, it is able to soft check all of them, allowing Vullaby to fit onto teams that need minor holes patched up. Pokemon that appreciate Vullaby's Defog support, such as Ponyta and SturdyJuice Magnemite, make for good teammates, though Pokemon that are especially reliant on hazards not being on the field, most prominently Larvesta, may want more reliable Defogging sets. Vullaby pairs particularly well with another Flying-type like Wingull and Doduo to form a Flying-type stacking core, with Vullaby weakening mutual checks and keeping hazards off the field so that its teammate can pressure the opponent more easily. Similarly, Vullaby forms a potent Dark-type stacking core with the likes of Pawniard, Carvanha, and Alolan Grimer to muscle through shared checks with Knock Off and other strong attacks. Vullaby happens to synergize quite well defensively with Pawniard and Alolan Grimer in particular. Vullaby is incredibly adept at gaining momentum when paired with other VoltTurn users such as Mienfoo and Magnemite to form a VoltTurn core, and it synergizes extremely well with many of them. For example, Mienfoo handles Pawniard and Rock-types for Vullaby, while Magnemite forces out Fairy-types and Shellder; in exchange, Vullaby soft checks Foongus, Abra, and Fighting-types for them. Checks to Vullaby, including Spritzee and Magnemite, should be handled by the rest of the team. Examples of good teammates for this include Foongus, Ferroseed, and Ponyta. Trapinch and Eviolite Diglett are fantastic at supporting Vullaby by reliably trapping Onix, Pawniard, and Magnemite. Frailer variants of Diglett are more generally useful and can still support Vullaby quite well, but they struggle to trap Weak Armor Onix, Choice Scarf Pawniard, and Choice Scarf Magnemite.
name: Weak Armor Pivot
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Defog
item: Berry Juice
ability: Weak Armor
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Brave Bird is Vullaby's strongest attack, hitting common threats such as Mienfoo for super effective damage. Knock Off is a powerful and spammable STAB move that provides good neutral coverage with Brave Bird and cripples most of Vullaby's switch-ins. U-turn allows Vullaby to chip away at and gain momentum against the Pokemon that can withstand its STAB combination, including Spritzee, Onix, and Pawniard. Vullaby is a safe and reliable choice for a Defogger thanks to how many switches it can force, an immunity to Spikes and Sticky Web, fantastic natural bulk, and potential Speed boosts from Weak Armor. If the team doesn't require Defog, Hidden Power Grass and Heat Wave are potentially useful coverage options for Rock-types like Onix and Steel-types like Ferroseed, respectively.
Set Details
========
One of Vullaby's biggest strengths is its flexibility; Weak Armor variants in particular are able to take advantage of a huge variety of EV spreads, with the listed spread being only one of many viable options. Most spreads run an Adamant nature and maximum Attack investment to reach 16 Attack, granting Vullaby a 75% chance to OHKO all common Mienfoo and Timburr variants with Brave Bird, also KOing Foongus after Stealth Rock. 16 Attack Vullaby is also able to 2HKO Eviolite-less Spritzee with Brave Bird more often than not, and can OHKO frailer variants of opposing Vullaby after a Weak Armor Defense drop. The given Defense investment reaches 15 Defense, which, when paired with uninvested HP, allows Vullaby to survive defensive Mienfoo's High Jump Kick and three hits of Onix's Rock Blast after Stealth Rock. Running 36 HP EVs to reach 24 HP instead is a lesser option to activate Berry Juice after only two switches into Stealth Rock. However, though it comes at the cost of a great deal of offensive presence, many teams will prefer their Vullaby to run a much bulkier EV spread to more reliably check key threats and find more opportunities to get a Defog off. One popular bulky Vullaby variant runs a spread of 116 HP / 76 Def / 156 SpD / 116 Spe with a Jolly nature, which lets it avoid the OHKO from Reckless Mienfoo's High Jump Kick from full health, Focus Sash Abra's Dazzling Gleam after Stealth Rock, and opposing Vullaby's Brave Bird after a Weak Armor drop. Alternatively, a spread of 196 HP / 156 SpD / 116 Spe with a Jolly nature lets Vullaby usually avoid the KO from Snivy's Leaf Storm followed by Hidden Power Ice, but this creates a significant chance for opposing Vullaby to OHKO with Brave Bird after a Weak Armor drop and noticeably increases the damage of Onix's Rock Blast at -1 Defense.
15 Speed helps to Speed tie with opposing Vullaby and outspeed +1 Speed Ponyta, +2 Speed Jolly Shellder, or +2 Speed Timid Omanyte after a Weak Armor boost. It also allows Vullaby to outspeed or force ties with SturdyJuice Magnemite, Scraggy, and fast Croagunk before a boost. Lower Speed tiers are viable to run more bulk or a combination of bulk and power; for example, an EV spread of 196 HP / 76 Def / 76 SpD / 116 Spe with a Careful nature combines the benefits of both of the bulky spreads described earlier. Another reason to run a spread with 14 Speed is if a coverage move is used over Defog, as 10 Special Attack is required to OHKO SturdyJuice Onix with Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock and 2HKO Eviolite Pawniard with Heat Wave from full health. This can be reached with a Special Attack-reducing nature and 80 EVs in Special Attack, which an EV spread of 36 HP / 240 Atk / 80 SpA / 116 Spe with an Adamant nature accomplishes. Note that Vullaby will require 4 extra EVs in Attack to compensate for the reduced IVs if Hidden Power Grass is run. After a Weak Armor boost, 14 initial Speed will cause Vullaby to be less capable in mirror matchups and force it to tie against +1 Ponyta, +2 Jolly Shellder, and +2 Timid Omanyte. 13 initial Speed isn't usually ideal, as even after a Weak Armor boost, it will leave Vullaby outsped by Choice Scarf Gastly and Doduo, as well as the aforementioned boosted speedy sweepers, and cause it to tie with +2 Impish Shellder and +2 Modest Omanyte.
Weak Armor is integral to this set's success; Vullaby's presence alone is often enough to deter the opponent from using certain physical moves. Vullaby is able to come in on attacks from common Pokemon such as Mienfoo's Knock Off and, if healthy, High Jump Kick, immediately threatening the opposition with powerful STAB moves or U-turn instead of remaining outsped the following turn. Berry Juice allows Vullaby to remain healthy without giving up valuable turns to use Roost; it synergizes well with Brave Bird because it ensures that the recoil isn't overly detrimental.
Usage Tips
========
Between Knock Off and U-turn, Vullaby is excellent at pressuring the opponent heavily early- and mid-game. Knock Off is often Vullaby's safest attack due to its high damage, extremely useful side effect, and lack of recoil; however, it may be punished by opposing Weak Armor users such as Onix, Kabuto, and Vullaby. If you predict the opponent to switch to a Pokemon that Vullaby can't immediately break, such as Onix, U-turn can be used to gain momentum; however, be careful of using the move too frequently if Stealth Rock is up, as this can quickly wear Vullaby down. Brave Bird recoil and Stealth Rock chip damage are often helpful for activating Berry Juice after some prior damage, putting Vullaby out of range of certain KOs. Be wary of using Defog against Pawniard if it can't be revenge killed at +2 Attack. Weak Armor lets Vullaby come in on physical attacks that don't OHKO it from enemies that it can force out, as Vullaby will almost always outspeed them the turn after, immediately shifting momentum into the Vullaby user's favor. The ability does have its drawbacks; if Vullaby is unable to OHKO the enemy, it becomes vulnerable to attacks that hit its weakened Defense or are boosted by Analytic.
Team Options
========
Weak Armor pivot Vullaby ranks among the easiest sets in LC to include on a team; there are far more teams than not that appreciate its ability to act as a wallbreaker, pivot, and soft check to a variety of threats. While this set lacks the longevity to reliably check the likes of Snivy, Abra, Fighting-types, and Foongus, it is able to soft check all of them, allowing Vullaby to fit onto teams that need minor holes patched up. Pokemon that appreciate Vullaby's Defog support, such as Ponyta and SturdyJuice Magnemite, make for good teammates, though Pokemon that are especially reliant on hazards not being on the field, most prominently Larvesta, may want more reliable Defogging sets. Vullaby pairs particularly well with another Flying-type like Wingull and Doduo to form a Flying-type stacking core, with Vullaby weakening mutual checks and keeping hazards off the field so that its teammate can pressure the opponent more easily. Similarly, Vullaby forms a potent Dark-type stacking core with the likes of Pawniard, Carvanha, and Alolan Grimer to muscle through shared checks with Knock Off and other strong attacks. Vullaby happens to synergize quite well defensively with Pawniard and Alolan Grimer in particular. Vullaby is incredibly adept at gaining momentum when paired with other VoltTurn users such as Mienfoo and Magnemite to form a VoltTurn core, and it synergizes extremely well with many of them. For example, Mienfoo handles Pawniard and Rock-types for Vullaby, while Magnemite forces out Fairy-types and Shellder; in exchange, Vullaby soft checks Foongus, Abra, and Fighting-types for them. Checks to Vullaby, including Spritzee and Magnemite, should be handled by the rest of the team. Examples of good teammates for this include Foongus, Ferroseed, and Ponyta. Trapinch and Eviolite Diglett are fantastic at supporting Vullaby by reliably trapping Onix, Pawniard, and Magnemite. Frailer variants of Diglett are more generally useful and can still support Vullaby quite well, but they struggle to trap Weak Armor Onix, Choice Scarf Pawniard, and Choice Scarf Magnemite.
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