In-battle formes
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| HP: | 107 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Attack: | 139 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Defense: | 139 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Atk: | 53 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Def: | 53 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Speed: | 79 |
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Written by Mr.GX
Overview
- Being one of the few viable Fighting-type Pokemon in the format, Buzzwole serves primarily as a check to popular Pokemon like Porygon2 and Snorlax.
- 107 / 139 physical bulk makes Buzzwole an exceptionally powerful physical tank that is easily able to absorb powerful moves like Arcanine's Flare Blitz.
- Buzzwole's Attack stat is on par with Pheromosa's, enabling Buzzwole to dent teams with STAB-boosted Superpower.
- Buzzwole has access to useful coverage options in Ice Punch and Poison Jab, which are essential in a format filled with Fairy- and Dragon-type Pokemon. With access to Superpower as well, Buzzwole can hit the Steel/Dragon/Fairy Core really hard single-handedly.
- Its base 79 Speed makes it faster than Pokemon like Celesteela and Alolan Muk while slower than popular Pokemon like Arcanine and Tapu Lele, making this Pokemon beneficial on both Tailwind and Trick Room teams.
- Buzzwole's rare Bug / Fighting typing helps it wall popular meta threats like Pheromosa, Kartana and Garchomp, which it can KO with its coverage options.
- Its meager Special Defense causes it to be quickly weakened by any special attacker and puts it at risk of being KOed by even the weakest of super effective special attacks.
- This Pokemon faces some competition from Hariyama as a Trick Room sweeper due to the latter's additional role as a Fake Out user.
- While Buzzwole's typing may be advantageous against some attackers, it gives Buzzwole a 4x weakness to Flying-type moves; Flying-type moves are seldom seen in VGC 2017 however.
Pummeling Buzzwole
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Moves
- Superpower is Buzzwole's primary means of offense, boasting 120 Base Power. This allows it to dent Porygon2 and OHKO Snorlax and Gigalith easily. Superpower-based All-Out Pummeling can OHKO Alolan Muk, Porygon2, and Arcanine and heavily dents bulky Celesteela.
- As Buzzwole is weak to Fairy-types, Poison Jab is usually used to damage them super effectively. At +1, Poison Jab has the capability to OHKO most of the Tapu group and Grass-types like Lilligant.
- Ice Punch is Buzzwole's most preferred coverage move, easily OHKOing popular Dragon-types like Garchomp and Salamence.
- Leech Life can be used over Poison Jab or Ice Punch to increase Buzzwole's longevity. This, however, makes Buzzwole unable to damage Fairy- or Dragon-type Pokemon effectively.
- Protect is used to scout for lures and Z-Moves and keeps Buzzwole safe while its partner addresses threats to it.
Set Details
- The set runs Fightinium Z as its held item to unleash the devastating Z-Move All-Out Pummeling, which is strong enough to OHKO a large portion of the metagame.
- Buzzwole's ability, Beast Boost, makes it stronger after each KO, making it difficult to stop once it gets going.
- The EVs are designed to allow Buzzwole retain its offensive capabilities while being able to survive some of the common attacks in VGC 2017.
- 44 HP and 4 Def EVs ensure that Adamant Arcanine's Flare Blitz is a guaranteed 2HKO, with enough HP remaining to survive in Hail or Sandstorm.
- 44 HP and 140 SpDef EVs allow Buzzwole to survive Life Orb Tapu Koko's Dazzling Gleam and have a 93.7% chance to survive its Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain.
- 100 Speed EVs ensure Buzzwole outspeeds Timid Pheromosa with speed control like paralysis or Tailwind.
- The rest of the EVs are dumped in Attack and an Adamant nature is chosen to maximize Buzzwole's offense.
Usage Tips
- Buzzwole is a physical tank, so it can be used to switch into powerful physical attacks like Garchomp's Tectonic Rage and Kartana's Leaf Blade.
- Buzzwole completely walls Garchomp, so it is considered a solid Garchomp check. However, beware of the Fairy-types that usually accompany Garchomp, as they can quickly take care of Buzzwole.
- Even though Buzzwole is a physical tank, it can still be OHKOed by strong super effective moves like Talonflame's Brave Bird and Arcanine's Inferno Overdrive, so users of such moves should be handled with caution.
- Its abysmal Special Defense makes it an easy target for the likes of Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini, meaning it shouldn't be kept on the field when facing the duo.
- Like most physical attackers, Buzzwole is hindered by Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp, and players should hold out using its Z-Move until they can ensure it connects, as using it on to a Protect severely hurts your momentum.
- Buzzwole serves as a perfect Snorlax and Porygon2 counter, being able to easily OHKO them with its Z-Move, though you should keep an eye out for the occasional Protect.
Team Options
- Most Flying-type attacks are capable of OHKOing Buzzwole. Hence, Rock-type Pokemon like Nihilego form a solid defensive core with Buzzwole, and Nihilego in particular also takes down the guardian deities with STAB Sludge Bomb.
- Poison-type Pokemon like Alolan Muk and Nihilego help Buzzwole by dealing with Fairy-type Pokemon like the guardian deities, some of which are capable of OHKOing Buzzwole with their STAB Fairy-type attacks.
- As Buzzwole is weak to Fire-type moves, a Ground-type Pokemon like Garchomp works well with it. Rain setters like Pelipper can be used to mitigate its Fire weakness as well, with Pelipper having the added benefit of supporting Buzzwole by providing speed control.
- Like most physical attackers, Buzzwole is crippled by burns and Intimidate, and hence appreciates the help of Tapu Fini and its Misty Terrain.
- Due to Buzzwole's mediocre Speed tier, it often appreciates some form of speed control like Tailwind to outspeed and KO opposing threats. Setters like Talonflame, Pelipper, and Drifblim go well with it, being able to provide guaranteed Tailwind while exerting some form of offensive pressure.
Other Options
- Assault Vest is often used on Buzzwole to make up for its abysmal Special Defense, and can prove to be devastating when paired with Rain setters or Aurora Veil. Bulky spreads like 20 HP / 84 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD / 148 Spe are often used to tank 2 Dazzling Gleams from Tapu Koko and Psychic from Tapu Lele outside of Psychic Terrain.
- White Herb can be used to get rid of Intimidate and Superpower drops.
- Hammer Arm works well as a Trick Room counter by reducing Buzzwole's Speed after each successful hit. This, however, is not recommended on a Tailwind team.
- Thunder Punch can be used to deal super effective damage to Pokemon like Milotic and Celesteela, but provides little to no advantages against more popular Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
Flying-types: As Buzzwole is 4x weak to Flying-type attacks, Pokemon like Talonflame and Bounce Gyarados can easily take it out.
Fairy-types: Fairy-type Pokemon like the guardian deities can easily OHKO Buzzwole with their STAB Fairy-type attacks, as most of them are usually faster than it.
Fire-types: As most Fire-type Pokemon are physical attackers this format, Buzzwole is capable of tanking hits from some of them, but still fails to survive a Fire-type Z-Move.
Intimidate and Burns: Burning Buzzwole usually cripples it by drastically reducing its offensive capabilities, while Intimidate weakens it enough so that its Z-Move fails to OHKO specific targets like Arcanine and Alolan Muk. Burns can be mitigated by the use of Tapu Fini, however.
Strong Special Attackers: Due to Buzzwole low Special Defense, it takes a huge chunk from non-STAB special moves like Celesteela's Flamethrower, while it gets OHKOed by powerful special attacks like Life Orb Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain.
Credits
- Written by Mr.GX
- Quality checked by Jio and Carbonific
- Grammar checked by CryoGyro
