[Overview]
<p>With high Speed and Special Attack stats, Galvantula is by far one of the best sweepers in the RU metagame. Its great movepool and amazing ability, Compoundeyes, which raises Thunder's accuracy to 91%, only adds to this. Galvantula's greatest shortcoming is its poor Defense; this is compounded by its terrible defensive typing, which makes it weak to common Fire-type moves and Stealth Rock. All in all, Galvantula is a mixed bag of pros and cons, which you should consider thoroughly before adding it to your team.</p>
[SET]
name: Offense
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Compoundeyes
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of Galvantula's high base Speed and Special Attack, which make it a great late game sweeper. Bug Buzz and Thunder are its two primary STAB moves, which are especially effective against the numerous Grass-, Water-, and Flying-types in RU. Thanks to Galvantula's ability, Compoundeyes, Thunder's shaky accuracy is increased from 70% to 91%. Energy Ball provides decent type coverage and enables Galvantula to hit troublesome Ground-types, such as Quagsire, super effectively. Hidden Power Ice hits Flying-, Ground-, and Dragon-types such as Gligar and Altaria, while Hidden Power Fire decimates Bug- and Steel-types, Ferroseed in particular.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The standard EV spread—maximum Special Attack and Speed—makes Galvantula a good candidate as a late game sweeper. A Modest nature gives Galvantula the extra power it needs to OHKO Lilligant and Sawsbuck after Stealth Rock damage. Note that, Bug Buzz still has a good chance to OHKO Lilligant and Sawsbuck even without entry hazards. Timid nature boosts Galvantula's Speed, allowing it to outspeed several other sweepers such as Entei, Typhlosion, and Charizard. Since Galvantula takes 25% damage every time it switches in with Stealth Rock up, Claydol is a good teammate. It can Rapid Spin away Stealth Rock, set up Stealth Rock to facilitate Galvantula's sweep, and also resists one of Galvantula's two weaknesses. Galvantula is also weak to Fire-type moves; therefore, bulky Water-types such as Lanturn and Alomomola make excellent potential teammates.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Volt Switch
move 4: Energy Ball / Hidden Power Fire
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Compoundeyes
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Galvantula's high base Speed, along with its access to Volt Switch, makes it a good scout. When equipped with a Choice Scarf, this set can also be used for late game sweeping or revenge killing. Thunder and Bug Buzz are Galvantula's most powerful STABs, providing useful coverage as always. Volt Switch allows Galvantula to scout, keep up offensive momentum, break early game Focus Sashes, and deal damage to switch-ins. Energy Ball is for the Ground-types that wall Galvantula, Quagsire in particular. Hidden Power Fire hits Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Steelix. As previously alluded to, Choice Scarf gives Galvantula revenge killing capabilities and makes it a better scout, while Choice Specs boosts its Special Attack, increasing its damage output significantly.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Timid nature allows Galvantula to outspeed threats, such as Entei, Typhlosion, and Charizard, whereas Modest nature enhances its Special Attack and lets it OHKO Lilligant and Sawsbuck, as well as 2HKO Entei, Cradily, and Uxie, after Stealth Rock damage. Also, a Timid nature works well with Choice Specs as Timid nature increases Galvantula's Speed, whereas a Modest nature works well with a Choice Scarf as Modest nature increases Galvantula's Special Attack. Since Galvantula posses an unfortunate weakness to Stealth Rock, Rapid Spinners make good teammates. Claydol is a notable defensive Rapid Spinner that resists Galvantula's weakness to Rock-type attacks. Bulky Water-types like Lanturn or Alomomola are also good teammates due to their resistance to Fire-type moves; they are also excellent Pokemon to switch out to when an opponent brings in a Ground type.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Galvantula has quite a few alternatives, one being Sucker Punch, which can be used on the first set with a Naive nature. Charge Beam gains perfect accuracy thanks to Compoundeyes, but the boost is unreliable and the power difference with Thunder is too great. Substitute can be used to block status, as it's generally useful on a boosting sweeper and works particularly well with Agility or Charge Beam. Air Balloon allows Galvantula to defeat Dugtrio, which plagues Choice variants and can easily revenge kill Galvantula. Due to Galvantula's excellent coverage, Expert Belt is an option that increases its longevity at little offensive cost; it can also be used to fake a Choice item. Agility, as previously mentioned, is a good boosting move that a late-game sweeping Galvantula can abuse effectively, outspeeding the entire RU metagame after a boost. Electro Ball is a strong STAB that works well with Agility. Thunder Wave can be used to cripple fast Pokemon, but several other Pokemon can do this job better, and Galvantula's tendency to lure in Ground-types discourages this.</p>
[Counters and Checks]
<p>Lanturn is one of the best checks to Galvantula as, with superb Special Defense and typing, it easily sponges all of Galvantula's attacks. It can also switch in on an Electric-type move and regain HP thanks to Volt Absorb. Ground-type Pokemon in general check Galvantula; Gligar is a notable Ground-type that can take all of Galvantula's hits with ease bar Hidden Power Ice. Dugtrio is another notable Ground-type threat that can trap and outspeed non-Choice Scarf Galvantula. Steelix that invest in Special Defense sponge most of Galvantula's moves except for a Choice Specs-boosted Hidden Power Fire, and in return can inflict a good amount of damage on Galvantula with STAB Earthquake.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Galvantula receives the ability Swarm through Dream World. Though Swarm is an excellent ability on a Bug-type Pokemon, it only activates when Galvantula is low on health. Consequently, Galvantula prefers Compoundeyes' more reliable boost to Thunder.</p>
<p>With high Speed and Special Attack stats, Galvantula is by far one of the best sweepers in the RU metagame. Its great movepool and amazing ability, Compoundeyes, which raises Thunder's accuracy to 91%, only adds to this. Galvantula's greatest shortcoming is its poor Defense; this is compounded by its terrible defensive typing, which makes it weak to common Fire-type moves and Stealth Rock. All in all, Galvantula is a mixed bag of pros and cons, which you should consider thoroughly before adding it to your team.</p>
[SET]
name: Offense
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Compoundeyes
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of Galvantula's high base Speed and Special Attack, which make it a great late game sweeper. Bug Buzz and Thunder are its two primary STAB moves, which are especially effective against the numerous Grass-, Water-, and Flying-types in RU. Thanks to Galvantula's ability, Compoundeyes, Thunder's shaky accuracy is increased from 70% to 91%. Energy Ball provides decent type coverage and enables Galvantula to hit troublesome Ground-types, such as Quagsire, super effectively. Hidden Power Ice hits Flying-, Ground-, and Dragon-types such as Gligar and Altaria, while Hidden Power Fire decimates Bug- and Steel-types, Ferroseed in particular.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The standard EV spread—maximum Special Attack and Speed—makes Galvantula a good candidate as a late game sweeper. A Modest nature gives Galvantula the extra power it needs to OHKO Lilligant and Sawsbuck after Stealth Rock damage. Note that, Bug Buzz still has a good chance to OHKO Lilligant and Sawsbuck even without entry hazards. Timid nature boosts Galvantula's Speed, allowing it to outspeed several other sweepers such as Entei, Typhlosion, and Charizard. Since Galvantula takes 25% damage every time it switches in with Stealth Rock up, Claydol is a good teammate. It can Rapid Spin away Stealth Rock, set up Stealth Rock to facilitate Galvantula's sweep, and also resists one of Galvantula's two weaknesses. Galvantula is also weak to Fire-type moves; therefore, bulky Water-types such as Lanturn and Alomomola make excellent potential teammates.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Volt Switch
move 4: Energy Ball / Hidden Power Fire
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Compoundeyes
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Galvantula's high base Speed, along with its access to Volt Switch, makes it a good scout. When equipped with a Choice Scarf, this set can also be used for late game sweeping or revenge killing. Thunder and Bug Buzz are Galvantula's most powerful STABs, providing useful coverage as always. Volt Switch allows Galvantula to scout, keep up offensive momentum, break early game Focus Sashes, and deal damage to switch-ins. Energy Ball is for the Ground-types that wall Galvantula, Quagsire in particular. Hidden Power Fire hits Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Steelix. As previously alluded to, Choice Scarf gives Galvantula revenge killing capabilities and makes it a better scout, while Choice Specs boosts its Special Attack, increasing its damage output significantly.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Timid nature allows Galvantula to outspeed threats, such as Entei, Typhlosion, and Charizard, whereas Modest nature enhances its Special Attack and lets it OHKO Lilligant and Sawsbuck, as well as 2HKO Entei, Cradily, and Uxie, after Stealth Rock damage. Also, a Timid nature works well with Choice Specs as Timid nature increases Galvantula's Speed, whereas a Modest nature works well with a Choice Scarf as Modest nature increases Galvantula's Special Attack. Since Galvantula posses an unfortunate weakness to Stealth Rock, Rapid Spinners make good teammates. Claydol is a notable defensive Rapid Spinner that resists Galvantula's weakness to Rock-type attacks. Bulky Water-types like Lanturn or Alomomola are also good teammates due to their resistance to Fire-type moves; they are also excellent Pokemon to switch out to when an opponent brings in a Ground type.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Galvantula has quite a few alternatives, one being Sucker Punch, which can be used on the first set with a Naive nature. Charge Beam gains perfect accuracy thanks to Compoundeyes, but the boost is unreliable and the power difference with Thunder is too great. Substitute can be used to block status, as it's generally useful on a boosting sweeper and works particularly well with Agility or Charge Beam. Air Balloon allows Galvantula to defeat Dugtrio, which plagues Choice variants and can easily revenge kill Galvantula. Due to Galvantula's excellent coverage, Expert Belt is an option that increases its longevity at little offensive cost; it can also be used to fake a Choice item. Agility, as previously mentioned, is a good boosting move that a late-game sweeping Galvantula can abuse effectively, outspeeding the entire RU metagame after a boost. Electro Ball is a strong STAB that works well with Agility. Thunder Wave can be used to cripple fast Pokemon, but several other Pokemon can do this job better, and Galvantula's tendency to lure in Ground-types discourages this.</p>
[Counters and Checks]
<p>Lanturn is one of the best checks to Galvantula as, with superb Special Defense and typing, it easily sponges all of Galvantula's attacks. It can also switch in on an Electric-type move and regain HP thanks to Volt Absorb. Ground-type Pokemon in general check Galvantula; Gligar is a notable Ground-type that can take all of Galvantula's hits with ease bar Hidden Power Ice. Dugtrio is another notable Ground-type threat that can trap and outspeed non-Choice Scarf Galvantula. Steelix that invest in Special Defense sponge most of Galvantula's moves except for a Choice Specs-boosted Hidden Power Fire, and in return can inflict a good amount of damage on Galvantula with STAB Earthquake.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Galvantula receives the ability Swarm through Dream World. Though Swarm is an excellent ability on a Bug-type Pokemon, it only activates when Galvantula is low on health. Consequently, Galvantula prefers Compoundeyes' more reliable boost to Thunder.</p>