[OVERVIEW]
By virtue of amazing offensive stats and Adaptability, Mega Beedrill is among the best offensive pivots available. Its typing allows it to provide heavy offensive pressure to common Pokemon such as Primarina, Latias, and Azumarill, while its access to good coverage options like Drill Run and Knock Off lets it hit the majority of the tier quite hard. Mega Beedrill also has access to Toxic Spikes, which it can use as it forces switches to wear down opposing Pokemon. However, Mega Beedrill has atrocious bulk, which leaves it vulnerable to Choice Scarf users, strong priority, and the ever-present Mega Aerodactyl. Its Stealth Rock-weak typing also keeps it from properly functioning as a pivot without an entry hazard remover on its team, thus complicating building with Mega Beedrill at times. Lastly, Mega Beedrill struggles to break past a few big presences in the tier, including Gliscor, Scizor, and Mega Aerodactyl, due to its only decent coverage.
[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: U-turn
move 2: Poison Jab
move 3: Drill Run
move 4: Knock Off / Toxic Spikes / Pursuit
item: Beedrillite
ability: Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
U-turn is a strong STAB attack when backed by Beedrill's high Attack stat and Adaptability and is useful for both gaining momentum and inflicting heavy chip damage on foes. Poison Jab is a strong secondary STAB attack that Beedrill can use to apply heavy offensive pressure to a plethora of Pokemon, including Primarina, Togekiss, Blissey, and Mega Sceptile. Drill Run offers excellent coverage alongside Mega Beedrill's STAB attacks, punishing common Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon such as Klefki, Cobalion, and Volcanion. Knock Off burdens common switch-ins like Gliscor and Alomomola with the removal of their items while also pressuring Ghost-type checks like Jellicent and Doublade. Toxic Spikes is a move Mega Beedrill can use as it forces switches to potentially spread poison around the opposing team, adequately wearing down some of its defensive checks. Lastly, Pursuit can be used to trap and either weaken or KO a few Pokemon Beedrill forces out, such as Mega Sceptile, Celebi, and non-Choice Scarf Latias.
Set Details
========
Full investment in Attack maximizes Beedrill's offensive presence with a neutral nature. Full investment in Speed with a Jolly nature makes it as fast as possible, only leaving it outsped by Mega Aerodactyl and most Choice Scarf users and Speed tied with Timid Mega Sceptile. Adaptability is an extremely useful ability acquired upon Mega Evolution that puts immense power behind Mega Beedrill's STAB attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Beedrill is best used as an offensive pivot due to its ability to force switches and gain momentum with U-turn throughout the entire match. U-turn should be used frequently early-game in order to sufficiently chip members of the opposing team. Upon forcing switches, Mega Beedrill can attempt to use either super effective coverage or Toxic Spikes rather than U-turn, depending on what it believes to be switching in or the team it's against. If a Ghost-type check or a Pokemon reliant on its item, like Swampert or Hippowdon, is predicted to come in, Knock Off is ideal to use in order to cripple them. However, Toxic Spikes can also be used as passive foes switch in due to Beedrill's ability to easily pivot out of play after setting a layer of them. Due to its frailty, Mega Beedrill should generally refrain from directly switching in, and instead it is better brought into play with the support of a pivot or after a teammate has fainted. Entry hazards should also be removed prior to switching Mega Beedrill in, as its Stealth Rock weakness in tandem with its frailty is quite capable of limiting its longevity. Mega Beedrill should refrain from staying in on priority users like Scizor, Zygarde-10%, Mamoswine, and Mega Absol,(RC) due to its aforementioned frailty.
Team Options
========
Pokemon capable of pivoting with either U-turn or Volt Switch can form a VoltTurn core with Mega Beedrill and fit on VoltTurn offense with it extremely well. Examples include Infernape, Scizor, Rotom-W, and Rotom-C, which is particularly good as a teammate due to its ability to pressure both bulky Water- and Ground-types extremely reliably for Mega Beedrill. Entry hazard support from the likes of Klefki, Nihilego, and Azelf can be useful for allowing Mega Beedrill to punish switches while more easily breaking past bulkier foes. Entry hazard removal from teammates like Latias, Starmie, and Tentacruel is also quite important due to Mega Beedrill's Stealth Rock weakness otherwise compromising its pivoting capabilities. Wallbreakers like Mamoswine, Azumarill, and Kyurem can aid Mega Beedrill in dealing with especially bulky threats such as Alomomola and Gliscor while also appreciating the Toxic Spikes support it can provide. Rock-type Choice Scarf users such as Terrakion and Nihilego are specific yet useful partners to Mega Beedrill due to their ability to offensively check two of its biggest annoyances in Mega Aerodactyl and Crobat. Other checks to Flying-types, such as Rotom-W and Doublade, can deal with Mega Aerodactyl and Crobat as well while providing VoltTurn support in the case of the former and sponging physical attacks in the case of the latter.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Swords Dance is an option for boosting Mega Beedrill's power to insane levels. However, it isn't preferable due to the fact that Mega Beedrill will often pivot out of play, thus frequently removing its boosts and usually wasting a moveslot. X-Scissor is a stronger alternative to U-turn, though the lack of pivoting capabilities makes it undesirable the majority of the time.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mega Aerodactyl**: Mega Aerodactyl scoffs at any of Mega Beedrill's attacks, can outspeed it and OHKO it with its STAB attacks, and can even trap and KO it with Pursuit.
**Crobat**: While not faster than Mega Beedrill, Crobat still proves troublesome due to its 4x resistance to Beedrill's STAB attacks and immunity to Drill Run. Furthermore, it can use Defog to clear Toxic Spikes away and forces Mega Beedrill out due to the threat of STAB Brave Bird.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Despite its power, Mega Beedrill has trouble breaking past particularly bulky threats, including Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Alomomola. The latter two fear poisoning from either Poison Jab or Toxic Spikes, however, and none of them appreciate the removal of their item.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Mega Beedrill's fragility makes it very vulnerable to common Choice Scarf users such as Infernape, Krookodile, and Nihilego due to their ability to outrun and OHKO it.
**Strong Priority**: Mega Beedrill's horrid bulk makes it easily picked off by strong priority from the likes of Scizor, Entei, Mamoswine, and Mega Absol.
**Pursuit**: Mega Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Krookodile, and Metagross can force Mega Beedrill out and trap it with Pursuit, which will either KO or heavily weaken it.
**Steel-types**: Despite its access to Drill Run, Mega Beedrill struggles to do any notable damage to bulky Steel-types such as Mega Aggron, Mega Steelix, Shuca Berry Metagross, and Cobalion. Magnet Rise variants of Klefki are particularly troublesome, as in addition to being able to wall Mega Beedrill, Klefki can cripple it with Prankster Thunder Wave or set up Spikes on it.
By virtue of amazing offensive stats and Adaptability, Mega Beedrill is among the best offensive pivots available. Its typing allows it to provide heavy offensive pressure to common Pokemon such as Primarina, Latias, and Azumarill, while its access to good coverage options like Drill Run and Knock Off lets it hit the majority of the tier quite hard. Mega Beedrill also has access to Toxic Spikes, which it can use as it forces switches to wear down opposing Pokemon. However, Mega Beedrill has atrocious bulk, which leaves it vulnerable to Choice Scarf users, strong priority, and the ever-present Mega Aerodactyl. Its Stealth Rock-weak typing also keeps it from properly functioning as a pivot without an entry hazard remover on its team, thus complicating building with Mega Beedrill at times. Lastly, Mega Beedrill struggles to break past a few big presences in the tier, including Gliscor, Scizor, and Mega Aerodactyl, due to its only decent coverage.
[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: U-turn
move 2: Poison Jab
move 3: Drill Run
move 4: Knock Off / Toxic Spikes / Pursuit
item: Beedrillite
ability: Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
U-turn is a strong STAB attack when backed by Beedrill's high Attack stat and Adaptability and is useful for both gaining momentum and inflicting heavy chip damage on foes. Poison Jab is a strong secondary STAB attack that Beedrill can use to apply heavy offensive pressure to a plethora of Pokemon, including Primarina, Togekiss, Blissey, and Mega Sceptile. Drill Run offers excellent coverage alongside Mega Beedrill's STAB attacks, punishing common Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon such as Klefki, Cobalion, and Volcanion. Knock Off burdens common switch-ins like Gliscor and Alomomola with the removal of their items while also pressuring Ghost-type checks like Jellicent and Doublade. Toxic Spikes is a move Mega Beedrill can use as it forces switches to potentially spread poison around the opposing team, adequately wearing down some of its defensive checks. Lastly, Pursuit can be used to trap and either weaken or KO a few Pokemon Beedrill forces out, such as Mega Sceptile, Celebi, and non-Choice Scarf Latias.
Set Details
========
Full investment in Attack maximizes Beedrill's offensive presence with a neutral nature. Full investment in Speed with a Jolly nature makes it as fast as possible, only leaving it outsped by Mega Aerodactyl and most Choice Scarf users and Speed tied with Timid Mega Sceptile. Adaptability is an extremely useful ability acquired upon Mega Evolution that puts immense power behind Mega Beedrill's STAB attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Beedrill is best used as an offensive pivot due to its ability to force switches and gain momentum with U-turn throughout the entire match. U-turn should be used frequently early-game in order to sufficiently chip members of the opposing team. Upon forcing switches, Mega Beedrill can attempt to use either super effective coverage or Toxic Spikes rather than U-turn, depending on what it believes to be switching in or the team it's against. If a Ghost-type check or a Pokemon reliant on its item, like Swampert or Hippowdon, is predicted to come in, Knock Off is ideal to use in order to cripple them. However, Toxic Spikes can also be used as passive foes switch in due to Beedrill's ability to easily pivot out of play after setting a layer of them. Due to its frailty, Mega Beedrill should generally refrain from directly switching in, and instead it is better brought into play with the support of a pivot or after a teammate has fainted. Entry hazards should also be removed prior to switching Mega Beedrill in, as its Stealth Rock weakness in tandem with its frailty is quite capable of limiting its longevity. Mega Beedrill should refrain from staying in on priority users like Scizor, Zygarde-10%, Mamoswine, and Mega Absol,(RC) due to its aforementioned frailty.
Team Options
========
Pokemon capable of pivoting with either U-turn or Volt Switch can form a VoltTurn core with Mega Beedrill and fit on VoltTurn offense with it extremely well. Examples include Infernape, Scizor, Rotom-W, and Rotom-C, which is particularly good as a teammate due to its ability to pressure both bulky Water- and Ground-types extremely reliably for Mega Beedrill. Entry hazard support from the likes of Klefki, Nihilego, and Azelf can be useful for allowing Mega Beedrill to punish switches while more easily breaking past bulkier foes. Entry hazard removal from teammates like Latias, Starmie, and Tentacruel is also quite important due to Mega Beedrill's Stealth Rock weakness otherwise compromising its pivoting capabilities. Wallbreakers like Mamoswine, Azumarill, and Kyurem can aid Mega Beedrill in dealing with especially bulky threats such as Alomomola and Gliscor while also appreciating the Toxic Spikes support it can provide. Rock-type Choice Scarf users such as Terrakion and Nihilego are specific yet useful partners to Mega Beedrill due to their ability to offensively check two of its biggest annoyances in Mega Aerodactyl and Crobat. Other checks to Flying-types, such as Rotom-W and Doublade, can deal with Mega Aerodactyl and Crobat as well while providing VoltTurn support in the case of the former and sponging physical attacks in the case of the latter.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Swords Dance is an option for boosting Mega Beedrill's power to insane levels. However, it isn't preferable due to the fact that Mega Beedrill will often pivot out of play, thus frequently removing its boosts and usually wasting a moveslot. X-Scissor is a stronger alternative to U-turn, though the lack of pivoting capabilities makes it undesirable the majority of the time.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mega Aerodactyl**: Mega Aerodactyl scoffs at any of Mega Beedrill's attacks, can outspeed it and OHKO it with its STAB attacks, and can even trap and KO it with Pursuit.
**Crobat**: While not faster than Mega Beedrill, Crobat still proves troublesome due to its 4x resistance to Beedrill's STAB attacks and immunity to Drill Run. Furthermore, it can use Defog to clear Toxic Spikes away and forces Mega Beedrill out due to the threat of STAB Brave Bird.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Despite its power, Mega Beedrill has trouble breaking past particularly bulky threats, including Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Alomomola. The latter two fear poisoning from either Poison Jab or Toxic Spikes, however, and none of them appreciate the removal of their item.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Mega Beedrill's fragility makes it very vulnerable to common Choice Scarf users such as Infernape, Krookodile, and Nihilego due to their ability to outrun and OHKO it.
**Strong Priority**: Mega Beedrill's horrid bulk makes it easily picked off by strong priority from the likes of Scizor, Entei, Mamoswine, and Mega Absol.
**Pursuit**: Mega Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Krookodile, and Metagross can force Mega Beedrill out and trap it with Pursuit, which will either KO or heavily weaken it.
**Steel-types**: Despite its access to Drill Run, Mega Beedrill struggles to do any notable damage to bulky Steel-types such as Mega Aggron, Mega Steelix, Shuca Berry Metagross, and Cobalion. Magnet Rise variants of Klefki are particularly troublesome, as in addition to being able to wall Mega Beedrill, Klefki can cripple it with Prankster Thunder Wave or set up Spikes on it.
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