[OVERVIEW]
A high Attack stat, a powerful STAB move in Brave Bird, and solid coverage moves such as Bullet Seed, Knock Off, and Brick Break allow Toucannon to break through various walls in the ZU metagame. It also has a pretty passable Special Attack stat, allowing it to use moves like Overheat. With access to Bullet Seed in particular, it can break through Golem, which many other attackers in the tier struggle to do. However, its base 60 Speed tier isn't the best to have and leaves it outsped by a lot of Pokemon, such as Electivire, Floatzel, and Zebstrika. In particular, most Volt Switch users outspeed Toucannon and can easily force it out. It's pretty frail as well, and with its Stealth Rock weakness and reliance on recoil moves, it can get worn down quite quickly. Lastly, it faces competition with Pokemon such as Choice Band Komala and Electivire as a wallbreaker, the former due to its much greater bulk and immunity to status and the latter for its great ability in Motor Drive, significantly better coverage, and much better Speed.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Bullet Seed
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: U-turn / Brick Break / Overheat
item: Life Orb
ability: Skill Link
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 29 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Bullet Seed is used against bulky Rock- and Water-types such as Pyukumuku and Golem, breaking through the latter's Sturdy ability. It can also break through Focus Sash on Pokemon such as Kadabra and benefit from Skill Link. Knock Off allows Toucannon to get rid of items such as Eviolite from Pokemon like Bronzor and Mareanie, allowing them to be worn down far more easily. It can also 2HKO common Bronzor variants. U-turn uses Toucannon's offensive presence to gain momentum for its team. Alternatively, Brick Break can be used to hit Probopass, which otherwise completely walls this set. Overheat is used to hit Mawile, as well as weakened Gourgeist-XL, due to it being much safer to use when compared to Brave Bird.
Set Details
========
Skill Link is the ability of choice to enable Bullet Seed to hit five times, allowing it to viably break down targets of the move. An Adamant nature allows Toucannon to always OHKO Gourgeist-XL after Stealth Rock, as well as hit Altaria after it has used Roost due to Toucannon's low Speed. On the other hand, a Jolly nature allows Toucannon to Speed tie with Abomasnow and outspeed Altaria before it can use Roost, though it is much less effective at wallbreaking. A Naughty or Naive nature can be used if Overheat is used in the fourth moveslot as to not lower its damage output when compared to Jolly or Adamant. 29 HP IVs give Toucannon the benefit of less recoil damage from Life Orb and less damage from Stealth Rock.
Usage Tips
========
This set's main use is to break down common walls in the ZU metagame such as Gourgeist-XL, Golem, and Bronzor to open holes in the opponent's team, which its teammates can take advantage of. Due to its mediocre Speed tier and bulk, it really needs the opportunity to be safely switched in. This can be done via Volt Switch or U-turn with Pokemon such as Probopass or Silvally-Fighting. Toucannon should use U-turn when you predict a Steel-type to switch in. It can then bring in a Magnet Pull user like Probopass or Alolan Golem to get rid of said Steel-types, which can be used to make Brave Bird usage more free for Toucannon.
Team Options
========
To safely switch Toucannon in, it needs a U-turn or Volt Switch user. Probopass and Alolan Golem in particular are able to bring Toucannon in safely with a slow Volt Switch while also being able to trap Steel-types such as Mawile with Magnet Pull. A Pokemon that can effectively check Electric-types, such as Electivire, Golem, or Silvally-Ground, is key, as Toucannon has an overall bad matchup with Pokemon of that type. Due to Toucannon's low Speed and below average bulk, it appreciates having bulky teammates that can take on offensive threats in the metagame more easily. Examples of these include Silvally-Water, Muk, and Bronzor. Sticky Web setters such as Shuckle and Smeargle allow Toucannon to somewhat circumvent its mediocre Speed. However, one must note that Toucannon fails to outspeed threats such as Zebstrika and Floatzel after Sticky Web, even with a Jolly nature.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toucannon has a decently sized movepool that includes some alternative options. A specially based mixed attacker set can be used with Boomburst, Heat Wave, Brave Bird, and Bullet Seed, allowing it to wallbreak without having to rely too much on Brave Bird, but this suffers from a worse matchup with Probopass and Bronzor. A Choice Scarf set can be utilized to let Toucannon do better against a lot of offensive threats in the metagame, but its Speed tier even with a Choice Scarf is underwhelming, and it fails to outspeed a lot of other common Choice Scarf users like Electivire. Most notably, it fails to outspeed Floatzel, one of the most common offensive threats in the metagame. Rock Blast offers coverage against Rotom-S, Crustle, and Shuckle and does better overall damage to Altaria. Roost can be used to heal off some recoil damage from Brave Bird and Life Orb from Toucannon, but its frailty makes it a risky option, especially when it requires giving up one of Toucannon's coverage moves. Flyinium Z can be used to make Brave Bird into a powerful Supersonic Skystrike that lacks recoil but makes its other moves weaker overall. Swords Dance can be used to make Toucannon even stronger, but it is much too slow and frail to effectively set up. Lastly, Choice Band allows Toucannon to hit insanely hard but makes it very prediction reliant as well.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: Electivire, Raichu, and Zebstrika all outspeed Toucannon and easily KO it. Zebstrika with Sap Sipper additionally block Bullet Seed's use. Rotom-S in particular is a huge issue for Toucannon, since it takes little from Knock Off and resists Bullet Seed. In general, Toucannon is one of the biggest baits for Volt Switch from the majority of these Pokemon in the whole metagame.
**Steel-types**: While Toucannon can easily weaken Bronzor and Metang thanks to Knock Off, its four-moveslot syndrome means it can lack coverage against Pokemon such as Probopass and Mawile.
**Revenge Killers**: Low Speed and poor bulk leave Toucannon susceptible to revenge killers. In this regard, Pokemon such as Swanna, Rapidash, Floatzel, and Choice Band Komala are major concerns.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Melons-N-Soda, 206635]]
- Quality checked by: [[Froasty, 446575], [jklioe, 424692], [BloodAce, 435539]]
- Grammar checked by: [[martha, 384270], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
A high Attack stat, a powerful STAB move in Brave Bird, and solid coverage moves such as Bullet Seed, Knock Off, and Brick Break allow Toucannon to break through various walls in the ZU metagame. It also has a pretty passable Special Attack stat, allowing it to use moves like Overheat. With access to Bullet Seed in particular, it can break through Golem, which many other attackers in the tier struggle to do. However, its base 60 Speed tier isn't the best to have and leaves it outsped by a lot of Pokemon, such as Electivire, Floatzel, and Zebstrika. In particular, most Volt Switch users outspeed Toucannon and can easily force it out. It's pretty frail as well, and with its Stealth Rock weakness and reliance on recoil moves, it can get worn down quite quickly. Lastly, it faces competition with Pokemon such as Choice Band Komala and Electivire as a wallbreaker, the former due to its much greater bulk and immunity to status and the latter for its great ability in Motor Drive, significantly better coverage, and much better Speed.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Bullet Seed
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: U-turn / Brick Break / Overheat
item: Life Orb
ability: Skill Link
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 29 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Bullet Seed is used against bulky Rock- and Water-types such as Pyukumuku and Golem, breaking through the latter's Sturdy ability. It can also break through Focus Sash on Pokemon such as Kadabra and benefit from Skill Link. Knock Off allows Toucannon to get rid of items such as Eviolite from Pokemon like Bronzor and Mareanie, allowing them to be worn down far more easily. It can also 2HKO common Bronzor variants. U-turn uses Toucannon's offensive presence to gain momentum for its team. Alternatively, Brick Break can be used to hit Probopass, which otherwise completely walls this set. Overheat is used to hit Mawile, as well as weakened Gourgeist-XL, due to it being much safer to use when compared to Brave Bird.
Set Details
========
Skill Link is the ability of choice to enable Bullet Seed to hit five times, allowing it to viably break down targets of the move. An Adamant nature allows Toucannon to always OHKO Gourgeist-XL after Stealth Rock, as well as hit Altaria after it has used Roost due to Toucannon's low Speed. On the other hand, a Jolly nature allows Toucannon to Speed tie with Abomasnow and outspeed Altaria before it can use Roost, though it is much less effective at wallbreaking. A Naughty or Naive nature can be used if Overheat is used in the fourth moveslot as to not lower its damage output when compared to Jolly or Adamant. 29 HP IVs give Toucannon the benefit of less recoil damage from Life Orb and less damage from Stealth Rock.
Usage Tips
========
This set's main use is to break down common walls in the ZU metagame such as Gourgeist-XL, Golem, and Bronzor to open holes in the opponent's team, which its teammates can take advantage of. Due to its mediocre Speed tier and bulk, it really needs the opportunity to be safely switched in. This can be done via Volt Switch or U-turn with Pokemon such as Probopass or Silvally-Fighting. Toucannon should use U-turn when you predict a Steel-type to switch in. It can then bring in a Magnet Pull user like Probopass or Alolan Golem to get rid of said Steel-types, which can be used to make Brave Bird usage more free for Toucannon.
Team Options
========
To safely switch Toucannon in, it needs a U-turn or Volt Switch user. Probopass and Alolan Golem in particular are able to bring Toucannon in safely with a slow Volt Switch while also being able to trap Steel-types such as Mawile with Magnet Pull. A Pokemon that can effectively check Electric-types, such as Electivire, Golem, or Silvally-Ground, is key, as Toucannon has an overall bad matchup with Pokemon of that type. Due to Toucannon's low Speed and below average bulk, it appreciates having bulky teammates that can take on offensive threats in the metagame more easily. Examples of these include Silvally-Water, Muk, and Bronzor. Sticky Web setters such as Shuckle and Smeargle allow Toucannon to somewhat circumvent its mediocre Speed. However, one must note that Toucannon fails to outspeed threats such as Zebstrika and Floatzel after Sticky Web, even with a Jolly nature.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toucannon has a decently sized movepool that includes some alternative options. A specially based mixed attacker set can be used with Boomburst, Heat Wave, Brave Bird, and Bullet Seed, allowing it to wallbreak without having to rely too much on Brave Bird, but this suffers from a worse matchup with Probopass and Bronzor. A Choice Scarf set can be utilized to let Toucannon do better against a lot of offensive threats in the metagame, but its Speed tier even with a Choice Scarf is underwhelming, and it fails to outspeed a lot of other common Choice Scarf users like Electivire. Most notably, it fails to outspeed Floatzel, one of the most common offensive threats in the metagame. Rock Blast offers coverage against Rotom-S, Crustle, and Shuckle and does better overall damage to Altaria. Roost can be used to heal off some recoil damage from Brave Bird and Life Orb from Toucannon, but its frailty makes it a risky option, especially when it requires giving up one of Toucannon's coverage moves. Flyinium Z can be used to make Brave Bird into a powerful Supersonic Skystrike that lacks recoil but makes its other moves weaker overall. Swords Dance can be used to make Toucannon even stronger, but it is much too slow and frail to effectively set up. Lastly, Choice Band allows Toucannon to hit insanely hard but makes it very prediction reliant as well.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: Electivire, Raichu, and Zebstrika all outspeed Toucannon and easily KO it. Zebstrika with Sap Sipper additionally block Bullet Seed's use. Rotom-S in particular is a huge issue for Toucannon, since it takes little from Knock Off and resists Bullet Seed. In general, Toucannon is one of the biggest baits for Volt Switch from the majority of these Pokemon in the whole metagame.
**Steel-types**: While Toucannon can easily weaken Bronzor and Metang thanks to Knock Off, its four-moveslot syndrome means it can lack coverage against Pokemon such as Probopass and Mawile.
**Revenge Killers**: Low Speed and poor bulk leave Toucannon susceptible to revenge killers. In this regard, Pokemon such as Swanna, Rapidash, Floatzel, and Choice Band Komala are major concerns.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Melons-N-Soda, 206635]]
- Quality checked by: [[Froasty, 446575], [jklioe, 424692], [BloodAce, 435539]]
- Grammar checked by: [[martha, 384270], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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