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Mandibuzz Discussion Thread

Cherche

Banned
630Mandibuzz.png


Typing: Dark / Flying

Base Stats: 110/65/105/55/95/80

Notable Moves:
Defog
Foul Play
Knock Off
Roost
Taunt
Toxic
U-Turn
Whirlwind

Overview:
Gen 6 was extremely kind to Mandibuzz, giving it a buffed Overcoat, protecting her from Powder moves, & a buffed Defog, easily making it one of the top, if not the best Defog users in the game. However, the new Fairy type weakness given to her assures that it isn't all fun & games for the vulture.

Possible Sets:

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Defog / Toxic
- Roost

Discuss Movesets, Checks & Counters, Teammates, & whatever else you can think up of.
 

Manectrifier

AKA Treecko
Honestly, I don't really get all the hype Mandibuzz gets. Don't get me wrong, she's probably better than last gen, and others probably have used her with success, but what exactly makes her a solid OU pokemon while she ended up NU last gen? Overcoat is nice but not too huge. Defog is also good, but especially in pokebank OU, there's a lot of better candidates such as Lati@s, Empoleon, Gliscor, Zapdos, and a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting. While Mandibuzz has a decent defensive typing, she is weak to the SR she wants to defog, and her defensive stats are good, but not great. Remember, last gen she ended up NU with the same typing and stats.
The only thing that's left is that she's a decent counter to Aegislash. I would personally choose something else to cover an Aegislash weakness, though. Landorus, maybe, or even Bisharp or Hydreigon. Or Diggersbylol. Or anything that can take a +2 Shadow Sneak and KO back.
If there's something that I missed, please inform me, but for me it seems like either Mandibuzz is extremely overrated in gen 6, or she was extremely underrated in gen 5 (and I highly doubt it is the latter).
 

McDanger

Well-Known Member
ya except lando, bisharp and hydreigon get slaughtered coming in to aegislash seeing as its most often specially defensive. Mandibuzz is so popular cause its a good special wall as well as deter physical sweepers with foul play which also stops them from setting up on it, while it can use knock off to cripple other walls and sweepers. As for why its better now is ghosts are more common and with the steel nerf empoleon cant stop them, latias dies on a switch in, making zapdos the only other option which mandibuzz does better. The tiers for last generation cant be used as guide lines now because how cookie cutter and mindless bw was while pokebank is more like dpp making a lot of other threats viable.
 

Horn of Valmar

The Power of Justice
You also shouldn't forget that last gen it didn't have Foul Play, which is ofcourse a huge addition to it's viability
 

Excitable Boy

is a metaphor
You also shouldn't forget that last gen it didn't have Foul Play, which is ofcourse a huge addition to it's viability

It did have Foul Play last generation, and it used it. Foul Play was available to Mandibuzz as a tutor move, hence why it wasn't an Egg move.
 

LizardonX

Banned
Mandibuzz was always extremely bulky, but immunity to powders, new defog, and foul play hitting steels for neutral really pushed it up a few tiers.
 

NotQuiteSane42

Professional Cynic
Honestly, I think the buffed Knock Off is better than Foul Play on Mandi. Even though Foul Play can hit hard, it's somewhat inconsistent, and it can't boast the sheer usefulness that Knock Off has in removing the foe's item, which can cripple many Pokemon.
 
The Mandibuzz I faced usually carry knock-off....and in a Meta-game infested with bulky offense teams, knocking them Leftovers is very useful. Combine them with Stealth rock, and your other Pokemon will be killing things they are not usually able to. Defog is Mandibuzz's niche, as many other useful mons don't have Defog. I'd say it's a pretty solid wall if you have trouble facing Gengar, Aegislash. Shadow Ball+3 physical attacks Aegislash can literally rip through your stall teams otherwise.
 

sofaturtles

New Member
I have a feeling it will remain in UU once Pokebank comes out and Terrakion comes out to play.
 

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
I have a feeling it will remain in UU once Pokebank comes out and Terrakion comes out to play.

That's like saying Scizor will go to UU because of Talonflame. It doesn't work that way; one check does not render a Pokemon unusable. Not to mention if Terrakion switches into Taunt (which most Mandibuzz carry), then goodbye Sub, SD, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock etc., making it more predictable. Plus, Terrakion won't have quite the same effect considering it now has a true hard counter who also happens to be the number 1 Pokemon in usage (for those playing at home, that's Aegislash). Don't get me wrong; Terrakion is still an amazing Pokemon but it does not render Mandibuzz completely ineffective.
 

jireh the provider

Video Game Designer
Personally, she could pull off a Gastrodon uprising scenario. Remember how Gastrodon is lower tiered before 5th gen? Yeah, the reason for our 5th gen slimy friend's uprising was because of the Raining storm teams of that gen (remember those Politoeds? Gosh...). She stepped up to take water type attacks as if they are nothing and hit back harder to the enemy. Also, it fits on the raging sandstorm teams.

And Mandibuzz with her buffs just oddly familiarizes me to this vulture's recent spotlight in the omnipotent OU tier with Gastrodon of last generation.
 

ModelT

The Normal Trainer
It's got great def. stats (110/105/95), and enough utility to aptly fill a great niche (Defog, Knock Off) while still being able to deal reasonable damage while being resistant to some (Foul Play, Overcoat, Steel Nerf vs. Dark, Knock Off BP buff). Everything that changed this generation made this bird better. You can have unstoppable hazard removal that can hit back and, perhaps not with overwhelming damage, cripple a team (Toxic / Taunt, Knock off, Defog, Roost) and sit out with the bets of them.

Knock Off Buff: Better
Defog Buff: Better
Overcoat Buff: Better
Steel Nerf: Better

On top of that, CAN run other moves to fill niche, such as Whirlwind for Phazing, Tailwind/U-Turn momentum support, SwagPlay if you're a troll, and all of these can fit some of the other good aspects of Buzz's move pool to keep that main niche filled.

Predictability: Overcoat will be Mandi's main ability, w/ the possibility of Weak Armor making use of fast Roosts, but that's hurt by the abundance of priority right now. Most people will probably running Defog, with Knock off and Roost for utility and damage. You can take advantage of the defog turn, but all options have their worries. Knock off can mess with anybody but megas, Foul Play can really mess up a powerful physical attacker, taunt can stop anything that doesn't want to attack. At this point, the "safest" thing you can put in on this guy is a special attack Mega (Gardevior comes to mind).

Of course, this guy has a bit of the 5mss, as adding Toxic would mean it could punish any switch in at all.

Cons: As a solution to SR, this guy still takes 25% damage on the swich, meaning anyhing that might be able to OHKO after SR is going to be a terrible switch, and its speed is also in the bad, meaning anything you switch into will probably get two attacks on you prior to Defog (and after SR damage to boot). That means you don't want to switch on anything that can 2HKO you at 75% health and anything with taunt. Another good answer to this guy is throwing out some set up during the defog turn (Scoliopede or Ninjask come to mind), and get a sub out on the next turn before she has a chance to taunt you (though this is suseptable to prediction).

Afterthoughts: Overcoat COULD be useful in the now popular doubles to counter Rage Powder users... but the low speed could be an issue in that respect.
 

Zachmac

Well-Known Member
w/ the possibility of Weak Armor making use of fast Roosts,
Never, never use Weak Armor on Mandibuzz. Faster roost means nothing if it hampers Mandibuzz's defensive role by that much. Those defense drops are not welcome at all, as it's too weak to do anything but defend itself. It's not even worth considering.
 

RifleAvenger

See you starside
Never, never use Weak Armor on Mandibuzz. Faster roost means nothing if it hampers Mandibuzz's defensive role by that much. Those defense drops are not welcome at all, as it's too weak to do anything but defend itself. It's not even worth considering.

This. Especially considering that overcoat grants immunity to hail, sandstorm, sleep powder, and spore (It's a real boon when starting a new ladder and you run into all those low level teams running Smeargle leads). Given how awful weak armor is, and how useless big pecks is, overcoat is the one and only ability to use on Mandibuzz. 80 speed makes it fast enough on its own to roost (and taunt) first versus a lot of defensive pokemon. I mean, I'd love it if the thing outsped Gengar, but that's asking a bit much.

I've really loved using Mandibuzz. Beyond Aigislash, it's a pretty good check against ghost types in general. As for Knock Off vs Foul Play, as much as the utility of knock off tempts me, Foul Play is what lets Mandibuzz threaten pokemon that might otherwise be able to use it as set-up fodder. It's also what lets it destroy Aigislash.
 
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ModelT

The Normal Trainer
Fair point on Weak Armor. Complete rubbish.

Knock Off and Foul Play both have their pros. Knock Off is stronger on the first hit(making it better than Crunch for the first two hits), and Foul Play is stronger over all, given Mandi's mediocre attack stats. However, with Taunt, set up is stopped pretty cold. Its really just a choice between power and utility, and thats all based on personal preferance and team comp.

Now based on this general set, what would be ideal EVs and Item sets? I feel like Leftovers takes the item slot 95% of the time. As for EV spread, what are his major threats, and what does he want to switch into? This may be based on team comp as well, so multiple possible set ups might be a good idea.
 

Eaglehawk

Banned
Now based on this general set, what would be ideal EVs and Item sets? I feel like Leftovers takes the item slot 95% of the time. As for EV spread, what are his major threats, and what does he want to switch into? This may be based on team comp as well, so multiple possible set ups might be a good idea.

*crawls out of isolation*
Alright, here it goes.

Mandibuzz is a Dark-type, which is good in this meta because Ghosts are just stupidly buffed for some reason and Dark-type is the only thing that resists it. To top that off, it has Defog, which is fantastic for removing hazards this metagame, so he's a really good Support/utility Pokemon.

Items are almost always Leftovers (there's always a couple of retards who run Rocky Helmet. Don't listen to them).

EVs are probably just Defensive based on your needs. Most will run Max HP/Almost Max HP. The defensive investment depends on what your team needs.

Roost and Defog are mandatory. The other two slots are based on what you need. One slot is always a toss-up between Foul Play/Knock Off. Knock Off provides utility support by removing items and Foul Play just punishes high Attack targets and not make Mandibuzz complete set-up bait. The last slot depends on what you need. Toxic for Stall wars. Whirlwind for Phazing.

Mandibuzz hates status, so have a status sponge ready.
 

RifleAvenger

See you starside
Most will run Max HP/Almost Max HP. The defensive investment depends on what your team needs.

One small thing: 248 HP investment allows Mandibuzz to switch into SR a 5th time (or Sub a 5th time if you have a set that uses it), while 252 will not. That is typically worth it over the 1 extra HP 252 offers.
 

ModelT

The Normal Trainer
So this is the overall Mandibuzz set up that seems to carry any utility at all
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Overcoat
+Sp Def or +Def, -Sp. Attack, -Attack if only using Foul Play, or -Speed if using U-Turn.
EV Spreads
252 HP, 252 Sp/Def, 4 Speed (Easy defender set up)
220 HP, 252 Sp/Def, 36 Speed (Leftovers number set up, and for speed creep, assumes lvl. 100)
220 HP, 252 Sp/Def, 36 Attack (Same as above, but for focus on slow U-Turns and helps for damage)
- Defog / Toxic
- Roost
- Foul Play / Knock Off / U-Turn
- Taunt / Whirlwind / Toxic / U-Turn
The EV spreads are all more or less the same, with a focus on HP and your choice of defensive stat (based on party comp). Overcoat, Roost, and Leftovers are the standard to put staying power on this guy, allowing him to ignore damaging weather and spore, and to have staying power otherwise. What makes Mandibuzz the most useful is it's sheer versitility that allows it to fill a myriad of defsive roles in a party, making him a threat and difficult to counter early fight. This, as well as the changes made in Gen 6, will make Mandibuzz a staple of the current OU. The above move list assumes he is either a Defogger or Toxic Stall with a strong secondary role (Denoted Below):

Phazer
-Whirlwind
-Knock Off
This set allows you to throw your opponents around and remove items and poison the lot of them. Good stop to buff set-ups, and can hinder other stall mon by removing lefties

Slow U-Turn
-U-Turn
-Knock Off / Defog
-Toxic / Defog
Similar to the phazing set up, it can jump in front of a hit, do something to hinder the opponent, and slow U-Turn away when you're ready. This is the best set (imo) that allows for Stall AND Defog. With no need for Sp. Attack, this is easier to breed a 0 speed nautre onto (31/31/31/x/31/0) to help the slower U-Turns.

Taunter
- Taunt
- Foul Play
Stop hazard and buff set ups and put the hurt onto any strong physical threat that gets switched in.

Now these are just common sets that allow him to fill roles while still having the option to Defog or Stall (Or both). My personal set up is the Taunter set up with Defog, as it fills in my team nicely (as I already have a phazer and a good Stall, and a mon that knows Knock Off).
 
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Genesect4Prez

OU All Day
T-wave is the perfect check for mandibuzz because this poke relies heavily on its moves hitting
 
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