Type:
Base Stats: 110/65/105/55/95/80
Abilities: Big Pecks/Overcoat/Weak Armor
Notable Moves:
- Toxic
- Knock Off
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- U-Turn
- Foul Play
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Taunt
Somehow, Mandibuzz swiftly avoided being a victim of having its utility moves removed, as she manages to retain all the best moves a defensive pokemon could ask for, Defog, Toxic, Knock Off, Roost and U-Turn are all valuable assets for Mandibuzz, while Foul Play, Whirlwind and Taunt make her even more flexible when it comes to fitting her on a team.
The Pros:
- Being a defensive Dark type means that it can take Ghost types attacks very well, something not many Pokemon in OU can do.
- Access to STAB Knock Off and Foul Play allow Mandibuzz to threaten the dominant Ghost types of OU like Gholdengo and Dragapult, as well as other viable Ghost types like Basculegion
- One of the few new Pokemon with access to Defog, and being one of the few of them to be a Dark Type, means that it can punish Gholdengo trying to block Defog.
- Retaining access to Toxic means that Mandibuzz can punish any threats trying to switch in, and force progress through Pokémon without reliable recovery like Great Tusk, Ting-Lu, Rotom and Dondozo.
- Taunt and Whirlwind are also nice utility moves that allow Mandibuzz to disrupt Pokémon trying to take advantage of it
- Access to U-Turn allows Mandibuzz to pivot and bring frail attackers into the field, a useful function for balance teams looking to add Mandibuzz into their team.
The Cons:
- The nerf to Roost PP limits Mandibuzz's longevity.
- Dominant Fairy types threaten Mandibuzz's viability, Enamorus deals considerable damage to Mandibuzz while Substitute variants make it even easier to wall Mandibuzz. Booster Energy Iron Valiant doesn't mind Knock Off while Foul Play does very low damage to it, even at +2 attack.
- Being a Flying type means it's reliant on Heavy-Duty Boots, once they are removed, it's considerably easy to make progress against Mandibuzz
- Mandibuzz doesn't appreciate being statused, poison and burn specifically makes considerable progress against it.
- Although it's bulky, it's not *that* bulky, it takes big hits from stuff it wishes to check, Choice Specs Dragapult can do heavy damage with Draco Meteor and Nasty Plot Gholdengo.
- Very vulnerable to Trick, Pokemon it usually checks like Gholdengo and other less popular choices like Hoopa-U can take advantage of this.
Terastalize potential:
Potential Sets:
The balance/stall bird
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Ground/Fairy/Water
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Def / 152 SpD / 60 Spe
Impish Nature
- Knock Off / Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic / U-Turn / Taunt
- The EV spread allows Mandibuzz to live multiple special attacks like 2 Draco Meteors from Choice Specs Dragapult, +2 Make it Rain from Gholdengo
- 60 Speed EVs outspeeds defensive Great Tusk, Cresselia, and the standard defensive Heatran set, this matches well with Taunt, to prevent them from using Stealth Rock or in the case of Cresselia, prevent Calm Mind. (60 evs wont outspeed the standard Cresselia set, if you really don't mind Cresselia outspeeding, you can dump the 60 EVs into either defense or special defense, or you could go 100/104 speed EVs if you *really* want to outspeed standard Cresselia sets and Jolly Kingambit)
- Knock Off ensures progress against the opponent's team most of the times, Foul Play punishes physical attackers attempting to set-up.
- U-Turn is useful for balance teams as helps with positioning and can help sweepers hit the field, Toxic is better on stall oriented teams as it forces progress on Pokemon that try to take advantage of Mandibuzz.
Conclusion:
Mandibuzz isn't the perfect Pokemon for OU standards, but it's typing and moveset give it a potential niche in bulky teams
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