In-battle formes
Evolutions
- Elekid
- Electabuzz
Strategies
- en
Overview
Electabuzz boasts a great Speed stat, respectable offensive stats, and a useful movepool to complement them. Its powerful Electric-type attacks together with coverage options from several other types allow it to force a lot of switches. Electabuzz requires no setup in order to deal a lot of damage, which sets it apart from many other offensive Pokemon in terms of generating offensive pressure. However, due to its lack of bulk, Electabuzz is somewhat of a glass cannon. Its Speed means that it is a viable revenge killer for offensive threats such as Dodrio, Kabutops, and Gyarados, which the other Electric-type Pokemon in the tier underspeed. This black and yellow beast is best played with aggression to shock foes with its offensive prowess.
All-out Attacker
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Set Description
Thunder and Thunderbolt are the obligatory STAB attacks that allow Electabuzz to scare most of the Water-type Pokemon in the tier, such as Slowbro, Qwilfish, and Omastar, and most of the Flying-types, such as Scyther, Dodrio, and Crobat. Psychic is Electabuzz's strongest attack to hit Nidoqueen and deals around 40% to it—with Spikes support, this is enough damage to force Nidoqueen to recover with Moonlight. This allows Electabuzz to aim for a Special Defense drop or switch out to gain a free turn for some momentum. It is noteworthy that Electabuzz avoids an OHKO from Nidoqueen too. Psychic also allows Electabuzz to reliably 2HKO Haunter without having to take the risk with Thunder's accuracy. Ice Punch can be used to hit Grass-types like Jumpluff and Bellossom for super effective damage while also dealing a heavy blow to Gligar, and a chance to freeze should never be scoffed at. Pursuit allows Electabuzz to trap Haunter and Slowbro, weakening them for sweepers that struggle against them like Granbull, Sandslash, and Kabutops. Alternatively, Cross Chop can be used to 2HKO Chansey and Magneton and also hits Piloswine hard. Hidden Power Grass can catch Quagsire off guard and still hit Piloswine. It is important to keep in mind that Cross Chop and Pursuit are incompatible with each other.
Team Options
Electabuzz's aggressive nature and ability to force switches means that Qwilfish, which provides Spikes support, makes a great partner for it. As Electabuzz tends to allow Ground-types like Nidoqueen and Quagsire to switch in, it is wise to pair Electabuzz with Pokemon that can shrug off Earthquake such as Bellossom, Slowbro, and Gligar. Electabuzz's ability to Pursuit trap Slowbro and Haunter effectively means that Granbull, which is usually checked by these Pokemon, can run rampant on enemy teams. Having a secondary answer to Water-types, like Bellossom or Jumpluff, is wise, as Electabuzz's frailty means it cannot switch into Surfs consistently.
RestTalk
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Set Description
Thunderbolt's accuracy is more valuable than the power behind Thunder with Electabuzz electing to play the long game, especially when it comes to checking foes like Gyarados. With Rest, Electabuzz has ample opportunities to trap foes like Haunter with Pursuit. However, it has to be cautious of Hypnosis when trying to recover. Psychic is an alternative to get more chip damage on Ground-types like Nidoqueen and Piloswine and 2HKO Haunter. Despite typically being offensive, Electabuzz can Rest on a solid amount of foes and appreciates nullifying ailments like Hypnosis from Mr. Mime and Stun Spore from Bellossom and Jumpluff.
Team Options
RestTalk Electabuzz is best suited for stall teams that complement Electabuzz's longevity and appreciate it being able to both trap Haunter and counter Gyarados. Partners like Blastoise and Hypno cover the Ground-types like Piloswine and Nidoqueen that Electabuzz cannot handle as easily without its usual coverage. Heal Bell support from Chansey to wake it early can be useful, and Chansey can sponge hits from stronger special attackers like Mr. Mime and Magneton. Shuckle makes for an excellent partner to deal with Nidoqueen and physical attackers like Granbull that can often gain free turns off of Electabuzz. Granbull itself is a nice partner, as it can be an additional Nidoqueen answer and win the game once Electabuzz traps Haunter. Crobat can deal with the Grass-types that Electabuzz cannot touch. It also stops Scyther from passing Sword Dance boosts and is a more consistent answer than Electabuzz. In return, Electabuzz traps Slowbro.
Other Options
Electabuzz can run RestTalk with Thunder and Psychic to give it some longevity, which it sorely lacks. However, this will leave it easily walled by Pokemon like Bellossom, Chansey, Magneton, and Piloswine, which Electabuzz can usually afford to cover in its other moveslots. Toxic can be used to wear down these Pokemon, forcing some Pokemon like Quagsire and Gligar to use Rest or depleting Heal Bell PP on Granbull and Chansey. Thief allows Electabuzz to steal Leftovers from Pokemon that normally check it quite well like Hypno and Bellossom, which helps to eliminate them more easily later on, but this means that Electabuzz must either sacrifice Pursuit or some coverage options for a one-time usage move. Counter allows Electabuzz to surprise KO some physical attackers like Granbull, but its frailty means that it has difficulty in doing this consistently in a tier where Earthquake is very common. It is also incompatible with Cross Chop and Pursuit. Fire Punch, replacing Ice Punch, lets Electabuzz hit Magneton for super effective damage while doing the same to the Grass-types, though it does considerably less to Jumpluff and Gligar. Reflect and Light Screen can be used to support teammates and allow Electabuzz to partially overcome its lack of bulk, but there are several more viable users of these moves in the tier, and using them comes with the opportunity cost of some offensive pressure, which is Electabuzz's biggest selling point. Thunder Wave gives Electabuzz a more reliable method of spreading paralysis, but it is not a common choice because many Pokemon that will try to switch into Electabuzz are Ground-types, and using it also means that coverage is sacrificed.
Checks and Counters
Ground-types: Piloswine, Nidoqueen, and Quagsire all reliably switch into Electabuzz and threaten it immediately with powerful Earthquakes. However, Piloswine must be careful of Cross Chop, which can 3HKO it, Nidoqueen is forced to recover if hit by Psychic on the switch and thus gives the Electabuzz a free turn, and Quagsire is 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass. Sandslash and Graveler can also serve as checks, although they fear Electabuzz's coverage attacks due to their low Special Defense.
Specially Bulky Pokemon: Pokemon with good special bulk, particularly those that resist Electric like Ampharos and Bellossom, wall Electabuzz and can wear it down or inflict status on it. Electabuzz's best chance of breaking through these checks is with status, such as an Ice Punch freeze, Thunder paralysis with timely activations, or the rare Toxic. Hypno, Chansey, and Lanturn can also serve as effective Electabuzz checks with their bulk and access to status moves, but Hypno and Lanturn can be 3HKOed by Thunder after Spikes, and Chansey is 2HKOed by Cross Chop if Electabuzz has it. Shuckle can also wall Electabuzz and either PP stall it or poison it with Toxic.
Status Moves: Electabuzz rarely runs Rest and depends heavily on its high Speed, so it dislikes being statused. Slowbro, Slowking, and Ampharos can catch Electabuzz off guard with a Thunder Wave, and Jumpluff can paralyze it with Stun Spore. Mr. Mime, Haunter, and Hypno can force it to sleep with Hypnosis.
Magneton: Magneton is not a consistent answer against Cross Chop or Fire Punch variants of Electabuzz, but it is a great check otherwise thanks to its resistance to Electric, Ice, and Psychic-type attacks.
Hitting It On the Switch: Due to its frailty, Electabuzz is worn down easily by most STAB attacks. Attacking Electabuzz as you anticipate it coming in is an effective method of curbing the damage it can inflict on your team.
