[Overview]
<p>At first glance, Wobbuffet seems to be horrible due to having a movepool consisting of literally 8 moves and horrendous stats in everything but HP. However, Wobbuffet has the ability Shadow Tag, which turns it into a serious threat. Wobbuffet's movepool also complements its ability perfectly, consisting of moves such as Encore, Mirror Coat, and Counter, allowing Wobbuffet to almost always guarantee a KO or a free setup for a teammate. Wobbuffet's stats are actually a bit of a blessing, as its enormous HP and bad defenses make Counter and Mirror Coat hit for tons of damage. Wobbuffet even gets Tickle to round out its Shadow Tag-abusing movepool.</p>
<p>Sadly, Wobbuffet has to contend with problems both new and old in the 5th generation. Wobbuffet still lacks any form of recovery, which is unfortunate because it's hit by every entry hazard and all forms of damaging weather. Wobbuffet is also severely crippled by Taunt, often being rendered helpless while the opponent sets up. Perhaps the most debilitating problem is the nerf Encore received in this generation, only lasting 3 turns instead of 4-8 turns, making the already low PP of Encore even more of a problem. The general power of attacks has also increased dramatically, cutting short the number of times Wobbuffet can switch in and knock out the opponent. Despite these flaws, Wobbuffet remains a dangerous threat which every team should watch out for.</p>
[Set]
name: Oh, no! It's Wobbuffet!
move 1: Encore
move 2: Counter
move 3: Mirror Coat
move 4: Tickle / Safeguard
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 200 Def / 56 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>The idea behind this set is simple: switch in on a resisted hit from a Choice user or after it has killed something, and use either Mirror Coat if it's a special attacker, or Counter if it's a physical attacker to KO them. Wobbuffet can also switch in on a support move from a slower wall such as Hippowdon or Blissey and lock them into that move with Encore, and then either stall them out of that move's PP or provide a free turn for a teammate to set up. Non-Choiced attackers are handled much in the same way, Encore being used to lock them into a move to let a teammate switch in and take advantage, or let Wobbuffet KO with Counter or Mirror Coat. The last move is a toss up between Tickle and Safeguard. Tickle works best when paired with a Pursuit user, ensuring that the Pokemon will not just switch out for free. Safeguard offers status protection, but Wobbuffet's low Speed makes it likely it'll be inflicted with status before Safeguard can be used. Nevertheless, it can help with providing the rest of the team protection from status.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The EVs seem completely wasteful, but they actually serve an important purpose. The Speed EVs allow Wobbuffet to outspeed the plethora of slow walls running around like Blissey, Chansey, Hippowdon, Bronzong, and Quagsire, and slow setup sweepers such as Conkeldurr, and render them set-up bait for other Pokemon on your team. The rest of the EVs are put into Defense and Special Defense due to Wobbuffet's already excellent HP not needing any investment.</p>
<p>If you feel that surviving more attacks is more important than outspeeding Pokemon, you can shift the Speed EVs into one of the defenses, give Wobbuffet a Calm or Bold nature depending on which defense you put 252 EVs in, add 228 EVs to the other defensive stat, and then 28 EVs into HP to obtain a Leftovers number. This will allow Wobbuffet to take repeated assaults from attackers such as Reuniculus and Conkeldurr, and walls such as Bronzong and Hippowdon. If you decide to do this, drop Tickle for Safeguard because Tickle loses a lot of usefulness due to Wobbuffet being outsped by many more Pokemon.</p>
<p>Because of Wobbuffet's ability to ruin walls and KO Choice Scarf users and priority users, sweepers pair up incredibly well with Wobbuffet. Swords Dance Landorus enjoys having Choice Scarf users and Azumarill taken out so it can attempt a clean sweep. Excadrill is in the same vein, enjoying being rid of priority users such as Conkeldurr and Azumarill. The plethora of special attackers love having Blissey and Chansey either dead or with no means of recovery. Wobbuffet suffers from having no recovery, so pairing him up with either Blissey or Chansey to pass a Wish is a great idea, and Wobbuffet can even switch in on the Fighting-type moves that both fat blobs attract, while they can switch in with impunity on the Ghost-type moves Wobbuffet attracts with impunity. Forretress also makes a great partner for Wobbuffet, spinning away the entry hazards that destroy Wobbuffet.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Wobbuffet's other options are the amazing moves Splash, Charm, and Destiny Bond. Splash is complete and utter garbage, Destiny Bond sucks due to Wobbuffet's horrendous Speed, and Charm is outclassed by Tickle.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>In order for something to be a counter, it must be able to switch in. Unless the Pokemon in question has Shed Shell, Baton Pass, U-turn, Volt Switch, or Shadow Tag, it won't be able to switch out of Wobbuffet, meaning that technically, Wobbuffet doesn't have any real counters. However, there are various things that can pummel Wobbuffet regardless. Taunt makes Wobbuffet cry, allowing the opponent to easily set up while Wobbuffet is forced to switch out. U-turn is a huge problem for Wobbuffet, hitting for super effective damage while letting the U-turn user escape from Wobbuffet. However, unless the U-turn user switches to a Ghost-type, the switch-in will get mauled by Counter. Dark-types using special attacks will decimate Wobbuffet, being immune to Mirror Coat due to their typing, and the same goes for Ghost-types using physical moves. And, despite Wobbuffet's ridiculous bulk, there's a good number of Pokemon who can simply 2HKO Wobbuffet if it dares to switch in on them.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Wobbuffet receives Telepathy from Dream World. Telepathy is complete garbage compared to Shadow Tag, which is what makes Wobbuffet usable. However, not everything is bad for Wobbuffet in Dream World. Custap Berry is allowed in Dream World, so Wobbuffet can run Custap + Destiny Bond for an almost ensured KO.</p>
