In-battle formes
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HP: | 72 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Attack: | 105 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Defense: | 115 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sp. Atk: | 54 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sp. Def: | 86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Speed: | 68 |
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Evolutions
- Binacle
- Barbaracle
Strategies
- en
Overview
With access to Shell Smash and respectable offensive stats, Barbaracle is a very potent sweeper in NU. This is furthered by Tough Claws, which gives essentially a Life Orb boost to contact moves such as Razor Shell and Cross Chop. In contrast to Carracosta, which shares Barbaracle's typing and role as a Shell Smash sweeper, Barbaracle has a significantly higher base Speed that allows it to outspeed the majority of Choice Scarf users after a boost, while Carracosta has to rely on Aqua Jet to hit them. However, Carracosta's combination of higher Defense and Solid Rock gives it more opportunities to set up, and its access to Aqua Jet gives Carracosta more early- and mid-game presence than Barbaracle. Barbaracle is also severely troubled by the abundance of Grass-types in NU, which put immense amounts of pressure on it.
Shell Smash
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Moves
Shell Smash doubles Barbaracle's Attack, Special Attack, and Speed at the cost of lowering its defenses. Razor Shell is boosted by Tough Claws and is Barbaracle's primary STAB attack, hitting neutral and super effective targets for heavy damage. Return has solid neutral coverage overall, hitting most Pokemon that resist Water for decent damage, and it is also boosted by Tough Claws. Earthquake, despite not being boosted by Tough Claws, OHKOes Garbodor after a boost and avoids Rocky Helmet and Aftermath damage as well as hitting Lanturn hard. Substitute is an alternative to dodge status moves from the likes of Weezing, Mesprit, and Xatu at the cost of a coverage move.
Set Details
Maximum Attack and Speed investment is used to hit as hard and as quickly as possible. An Adamant nature is preferred over Jolly, as even with a neutral Speed nature Barbaracle hits 470 Speed after a Shell Smash, outpacing a significant portion of the metagame after a boost. However, a Jolly nature can be used if outspeeding positive-natured base 95 Speed Choice Scarf users such as Haunter and Jynx is important. Shuca Berry significantly weakens damage taken from Ground-type attacks, allowing Barbaracle to set up on Normal- and Flying-types such as Tauros, Kangaskhan, and Archeops, which carry Earthquake for coverage. Lum Berry can be used to avoid status conditions from the likes of Miltank, Weezing, and Misdreavus. Tough Claws significantly boosts the power of all of Barbaracle's contact moves.
Usage Tips
Barbaracle will often only get one opportunity in the match to set up, so make sure that you have either removed or significantly weakened its checks and counters first. With a Shuca Berry, Barbaracle can set up on Pokemon that would otherwise severely damage it with Earthquake, such as Archeops and Tauros. Set up on Choice-locked Pokemon such as Pyroar locked into Fire Blast and Scyther locked into Aerial Ace or against weaker defensive Pokemon such as Audino and Mawile.
Team Options
Wallbreakers such as Primeape, Tauros, and Haunter are good teammates, as they can wear down defensive cores for Barbaracle to sweep late-game. Fire- and Ice-types such as Pyroar, Magmortar, Aurorus, and Jynx act as wallbreakers and also threaten Grass-types, which are problematic for Barbaracle. Bulky Water-types are bothersome for Barbaracle, so Grass-types such as Lilligant, Cacturne, and Vileplume make for good teammates to cover them, and Vileplume also checks Grass-types thanks to its secondary Poison typing. Memento support from Jumpluff and Skuntank give Barbaracle more opportunities to set up. Healing Wish support from Mesprit, Lilligant, and Musharna is helpful to potentially give Barbaracle a second chance at sweeping.
Choice Scarf
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Moves
Razor Shell is Barbaracle's strongest Water-type STAB attack thanks to the Tough Claws boost as well as its most reliable attack in general, dealing considerable damage with near-perfect accuracy. Stone Edge is a secondary STAB attack that has near-perfect neutral coverage beside Razor Shell and is useful for hitting Flying-types very hard; however, Return is another option that gets similar coverage and a Tough Claws boost while being much more dependable because of its perfect accuracy at the cost of being less powerful. Superpower is the preferred move in the third slot, as it's capable of OHKOing offensive Normal-types such as Tauros and Kangaskhan as well as hitting Ferroseed, which resists both of Barbaracle's STAB attacks, super effectively; however, Earthquake is another option that hits Garbodor for super effective damage and does not come with the drawback of lowering Barbaracle's stats. Switcheroo allows Barbaracle to switch items with its target, potentially crippling a defensive Pokemon such as Vileplume, Gourgeist, or Gastrodon, which are common switch-ins to the Shell Smash set, by preventing it from recovering or making it setup bait for a teammate.
Set Details
The given EVs maximize Barbaracle's Speed and Attack to make it as effective an attacker as possible. Choice Scarf makes Barbaracle a fearsome revenge killer, combining its impressive power with the ability to outspeed the entire unboosted tier. An Adamant nature can be used to improve Barbaracle's attacking power; however, it will fail to outpace key threats such as Floatzel and Swellow without a Jolly nature. Tough Claws is easily Barbaracle's best ability, as it significantly boosts the power of its contact moves, particularly Razor Shell and Superpower.
Usage Tips
Barbaracle works best as a late-game cleaner due to the high Speed afforded by Choice Scarf, so try to conserve it for late in the game when its checks have been sufficiently weakened. Barbaracle should attempt to bluff a Shell Smash set by coming in and threatening out foes that it can reliably KO and outspeed. Be wary of locking Barbaracle into a move that the opponent can take advantage of, such as Razor Shell when they have a Poliwrath, as it can result in a considerable loss of momentum; this also applies to Superpower, which should only be used against Pokemon that will not be KOed by one of Barbaracle's STAB attacks. Barbaracle should attempt to use Switcheroo against defensively oriented teams, as it can cripple them, gain momentum, and free itself up to threaten the opposing team accordingly. Be wary of using Switcheroo against Pokemon with unfavorable items, such as Weezing's and Vileplume's Black Sludge, as getting inflicted with passive damage throughout the match effectively cripples Barbaracle and cuts into its longevity.
Team Options
Because Barbaracle's combination of high Speed and power will inevitably force almost constant switches, Spikes support is crucial to punish the opponent even if they predict correctly. Pokemon such as Garbodor and Ferroseed provide Spikes while having decent type synergy with Barbaracle. Barbaracle will often be locked into a commonly resisted move such as Stone Edge or Earthquake, forcing it to switch out; therefore, pairing it with bulky Pokemon that can pivot repeatedly into attacks, such as Weezing and bulky Scyther, is ideal. The former can also provide Toxic Spikes to take advantage of the many switches Barbaracle forces, while the latter provides phenomenal synergy and can conserve momentum with its powerful U-turn. Offensive Ghost-types such as Rotom and Mismagius make for great partners, as they resist nearly all of Barbaracle's weaknesses and can break through or cripple the physically defensive Pokemon such as Mega Audino and Ferroseed that give it trouble. Grass-types such as Lilligant and Ludicolo can deal with Gastrodon and Poliwrath, which resist Barbaracle's STAB combination, as well as other bulky Water-types. Cacturne in particular can deal with Gastrodon while also providing Spikes support. Mesprit, Xatu, and other Psychic-types can switch into Fighting-type attacks from the likes of Hitmonchan as well as heavily pressuring Poison-types such as Garbodor, Weezing, and Vileplume, which clears the way for Barbaracle to clean.
Other Options
Grass Knot is an option to hit Gastrodon, which would otherwise wall Barbaracle due to Storm Drain, as well as dealing substantial damage to Carracosta. In addition, Cross Chop is another coverage move that hits Ferroseed, but has very little use outside of that. Barbaracle can utilize a Stealth Rock lead set, as it has access to support moves such as Taunt and Endeavor. Although it is generally outperformed at this role by Archeops, Barbaracle's value as a lead comes from its Water-type STAB moves to target common Stealth Rock users such as Rhydon and its neutrality to Water unlike Archeops. Stone Edge hits Grass-types and some Water-types harder than Barbaracle's other main attacks, but it is generally not worth the moveslot, as Return is almost always more reliable thanks to its perfect accuracy and the fact that it is just as strong as a STAB Stone Edge. White Herb can be used to restore Barbarace's defenses after a Shell Smash, which is useful to soften the damage taken from priority attacks.
Checks and Counters
Grass-types: Grass-types such as Tangela, Vileplume, Gourgeist, and Lilligant are major threats to Barbaracle. The first three all sport excellent physical bulk and resist Barbaracle's Water-type attacks and threaten back with a 4x super effective STAB move. Lilligant cannot take boosted attacks, unlike the others, but it acts as more of an offensive check to Barbaracle.
Water-types: Water-types such as Pelipper, Prinplup, and Poliwrath resist Barbaracle's Water-type attacks and can prey off of Barbaracle's subpar Special Defense and also threaten to cripple it with a burn from Scald. Poliwrath also has STAB Vacuum Wave to pick off a weakened Barbaracle. Gastrodon walls all non-Grass Knot variants thanks to Storm Drain and Recover.
Physically Bulky Pokemon: Bulky Pokemon such as Musharna and Weezing can all take a boosted hit from Barbaracle given that they are sufficiently healthy. Musharna can hinder Barabarcle's sweeping capabilities with Thunder Wave and Weezing can cripple it with Will-O-Wisp, though Substitute twarts their attempt at crippling Barbaracle.
Credits
- Written by Threw and boltsandbombers
- Quality checked by etern, erisia, Hootie, shiloh, Disjunction, and Punchshroom
- Grammar checked by Lumari, P Squared, and Empress