Community POTW #011

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and we go back to Paldea

It's Maushold!

Maushold #925 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Maushold Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

www.serebii.net

 

[Divine Retribution]

Maushold is an... interesting Pokemon. I'll be honest, I was expecting this Pokemon to be a complete gimmick and not viable at all, but I'll happily admit to not having been entirely correct about that assessment. It isn't top-tier or anything, but this Pokemon has a valid niche for some teams.

Maushold @ Wide Lens
Jolly - Technician
252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Defense
-Population Bomb
-Bite
-Tidy Up
-U-Turn / Encore

Maushold's stats may be underwhelming, but it has a couple of neat gimmicks that make up for it. The first to talk about is Population Bomb. This is a move with 20 BP and 90% accuracy that keeps hitting until it misses, up to 10 times. With a Wide Lens equipped you're sitting pretty on a 99% chance to land each hit. Add in Technician and, if you land all 10 hits, you've got a 300 base power STAB move on your hands with very little drawback (one of the drawbacks it does have is that if you use this move into a Rocky Helmet or Rough Skin user, you're basically dead). That being said, 300 base power STAB moves aren't quite as scary when they come off of a timid 75 base Attack. Well, that's partially where Maushold's other gimmick comes in; Tidy Up. Tidy Up is a new move that raises the user's Attack and Speed by 1 stage and then removes all Substitutes and entry hazards from the field. Dragon Dance and Defog in a single moveslot. What's even better is that, unlike Defog, Tidy Up isn't blocked by Gholdengo's Good As Gold; this makes it currently the only form of entry hazard removal that cannot be prevented. This is actually very valuable in a tier where a hazard stacking is so prevalent. The remaining two moveslots are mostly filler; Bite (which gets boosted by Technician) stops you from being hard walled by Ghost types, U-Turn allows you to pivot out to your other Pokemon and maybe gain some momentum, while Encore punishes attempts to set up alongside Maushold, and makes him significantly more useful against bulky teams that can handle Population Bomb more comfortably.

All of that being said, this Pokemon does have serious flaws. It's very much a one-trick pony; the only real deviation between sets is whether it'll be running U-Turn or Encore. Its stats are overall not great; 74/70/75 bulk leaves it 2HKO'd by almost anything and OHKO'd by a lot of stronger STAB move users, 75 Attack leaves a lot to be desired without at least a boost from Tidy-Up, and even its respectable 111 base Speed is good but not insane and allows a lot of offensive Pokemon to outspeed it and dispatch it before it can be come a threat. Having to rely on Wide Lens to make Population Bomb somewhat reliable is also annoying as it can't effectively use a boosting item to do more damage without a significant chance of Population Bomb missing on an early hit, which causes the move to end.​

 

[XaelOstigian]

When images of Maushold's pre-evolution Tandemaus were revealed alongside Nacli and Squakability, most Pokemon fans wrote it off as another generic rodent Pokemon in terms of design and use. And when its stats were revealed it seemed those suspicions were confirmed since aside from its speed Maushold had nothing to offer competitive teams...that is until its signature moves were revealed. A Dragon Dance + Field-wide Defog in the form of Tidy Up was hard to write off, but the real kicker was Population Bomb. A base 20 Normal attack that could hit up to 10 times with an individual 90% accuracy counter for each attack, allowing you to deal up to base 200 damage, the same as Self-Destruct with the proper luck. Tack on a Wide Lens for your held item and that individual accuracy counter is boosted to 99% per hit, almost ensuring all hits will connect. And then Gamefreak, using the same logic that created Gorilla Tactics G. Darmanitan, decided to give Maushold Technician as its hidden ability, giving not only coverage moves like Bite and Bullet Seed greater power, but also Population Bomb itself with now 30 damage per hit and a whopping 300 total. Even with a measly base 75 attack stat, that is going to wreck much of the metagame. Apparently Vin Diesel was right, nothing is more powerful than a family. And while Maushold is still a gimmick Pokemon at its core, it's a terrifying gimmick Pokemon that can rip through your team unless you are packing the right counter. Until Maushold usage dies down, I recommend keeping at least one Steel or Ghost type on your team, or better yet a Pokemon with a Rocky Helmet.

Competitive analysis aside, this Pokemon has also been the subject of some rather...interesting art to play off of the family motif:

 

[Mestorn]

Maushold is an interesting Gimmick Pokémon, from its evolution method (it can literally evolve offscreen [no one knows where the new mouse came from]) to its signature attacks. Fun Fact, the Japanese name of Population Bomb is nezumizan, which roughly translates to "mouse math" or alternatively "mouse cut" hence why the move does get boosted by Sharpness. Admittedly as useful as knowing that Mega Launcher buffs the power of Kyogre's Origin Pulse, but it is there.

What is more useful is Maushold's utility in doubles. While Technician Poopulation Bomb is still very much a house even in Doubles, what is of even more importance Maushold's access to Friend Guard. A passive 25% damage reduction that stacks with screens is amazing and Maushold is the first Fully Evolved Pokémon to have this ability. And while yes, Maushold's durability leaves a lot to be desired, being frailer than Eviolite Clefairy (who is admittedly, not available), it makes up for that in spades by not being beholden to Eviolite and having actual offensive presence on the field as opposed to Clefairy's pure passivity. And its not just Friend Guard that catapults Maushold to the spotlight. Having amazing moves in its arsenal including Encore, Feint, Follow Me and Helping Hand is amazing for Doubles, and that is not even getting into strategies like Beat Up Annihilape. While Maushold's durability still leaves a lot to be desired, the support and disruption it provides is invaluable.

Fight Together, Stay Together
Maushold
Ability: Friend Guard
Item: Wide Lens
-Follow Me
-Encore
-Protect
-Population Bomb
EVs and Nature:
4 HP /252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)

Doubles set aiming to support and disrupt. Follow Me is great for this set -most supporter Pokémon, including Maushold are fairly passive, so redirecting attacks away from Maushold's pressure applying partner is worth its weight in gold. Encore is brilliant disruption in VGC. Double Battles have tons of moves that do anywhere from nothing to actively detrimental if forced to be repeated, up to, but not limited to Fake Out, Protect, Detect, weather, screens, Tailwind, and Trick Room (admittedly that one is hard to get with Encore). Protect is also invaluable, punishing opponents who want to shutdown Friend Guard early. Population Bomb rounds out the set -even without Technician it still hits appreciably hard and does prevent Maushold from being completely passive.

Other Options
Beat Up -If running with Annihilape, Beat Up is mandatory getting 4 hits onto Annihilape pumping Rage Fist up to a terrifying Base 250 Power.
Feint -Punishing the best move in doubles is amazing. And Maushold can easily get this off if need be by locking an opponent into Protect with Encore.
Taunt -stop setup in its tracks. Also pairs well with Encore, forcing a switch or Struggle
Helping Hand -Buff Ally for big damage.
Super Fang -A lot of Pokémon are nowhere near as durable at half HP, especially when Maushold can't reach that threshold with its own attacks.