Pokemon: Mandibuzz
Type: Flying/Ghost
Old BST: 110 / 65 / 105 / 55 / 95 / 80 (510)
New BST: 110 / 105 / 105 / 55 / 95 / 100 (570)
Abilities: Prankster | Intimidate |
Rattled
New Moves: Shadow Bone, Shadow Sneak, Will-o-Wisp
Justification/Niche: With a very balanced statspread and movepool, this Mandibuzz stands out due to versatility. It already had many good utility moves such as Defog, Taunt, Tailwind and Whirlwind, but Will-o-Wisp is icing on the cake. Prankster lets Mandibuzz fully utilize those moves (and Roost), but it becomes a
huge target for Dark-types due to the ability's Gen 7 mechanics and a Dark-type weakness. Intimidate loses out on the priority, but lets an already bulky Pokemon be even bulkier. To balance this out, it has Stealth Rock weakness, so it won't be switching in so easily. Finally, Rattled gives Mandibuzz a strange yet amusing offensive option with Weakness Policy. It has enough bulk to take super effective hits, and if the hit happens to be from a Dark or Ghost move, it will give Mandibuzz +2/+2/+1 offenses. After that, you can likely sweep with Shadow Bone/Brave Bird STABs and heal with Roost. You can also use Rattled to switch into Bug-type attacks, that will deal basically nothing due to Flying/Ghost's double Bug resistance, and will activate it. A fourth possible strategy with Mandibuzz is
Z-Mirror Move, similar to Murkrow's set. Mirror Move paired with Flyinium-Z gives a +2 boost to Mandibuzz's Attack and uses the foe's last move as a Z-Move. It also has priority due to Prankster.
Sample moveset:
The Classic (Mandibuzz) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Taunt / Toxic
- Defog / Toxic
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
Mandibuzz (F) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Rattled
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- Roost
Mandibuzz (F) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mirror Move
- Brave Bird
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect / Roost
Pokemon: Castform
Type: Flying/Normal
Old BST: 70/70/70/70/70/70 (420)
New BST: 100/70/100/100/100/100 (570)
Abilities: Drizzle | Regenerator |
No Guard
New Moves: Hyper Voice, Volt Switch
Justification/Niche: Forecast defeats the purpose of Type Optimization, but that doesn't stop Castform from being a good Flying/Normal candidate. It already has Hurricane, and a wide range of coverage moves so the only thing it lacked was a stronger Normal STAB. Boomburst would be overkill though. As for abilities, Drizzle works as a kind of Water-type Steelworker for Castform and lets it help teammates, Regenerator gives it recovery and possible Defogger capabilities and No Guard is meant for hyper-offense, making it a more bulky MegaPidgeot with better coverage.
Sample moveset:
Castform @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Toxic / Knock Off
- Hurricane / Scald
- Volt Switch
- Defog
Castform @ Life Orb
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Thunder / Ice Beam / Energy Ball
- Volt Switch
NiceCoverage (Castform) @ Choice Specs
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Hurricane
- Thunder
- Blizzard