[WIP] Mawile

[Trinitrotoluene]

eta: only incomplete sections are set recommendations and checks and counters.

np: Danny Byrd - Shock Out

[Pros]

• excellent defensive typing
• huge power + base 105 atk make mawile one of the strongest forces to hit ou; can OHKO or 2HKO most of ou after 1 swords dance
• respectable bulk w/ 50 / 125 / 90 defenses (post-mega evolution) and intimidate (pre-mega evolution)
• taunt + incredible power make it a nightmare for stall teams; sucker punch keeps mawile from being dead weight against offense

[Cons]

• slow, reliant on sucker punch to make up for low speed; prediction-reliant
• coverage is limited to stab, sucker punch, stone edge, brick break, and elemental fangs
• faces competition with other pokemon for the one mega evolution spot on team
• barely passable bulk pre-mega evolution
• typing, while excellent defensively, gives it crippling weaknesses to fire- and ground-type moves, which are common (thanks in no small part to aegislash)

[Set Recommendations]

name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Play Rough
move 4: Fire Fang / Stone Edge
ability: Intimidate
item: Mawilite
evs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
nature: Adamant

• strongth; hits 678 attack unboosted and 1,356 atk after one swords dance
• can force out and set up on choice-locked dragon-types, specially-based walls, and mons locked into weak coverage moves
• intimidate bolsters mawile's bulk pre-mega evolution
• evs give it enough speed to outpace 0 spe scizor, azumarill, aegislash, slow tyranitar, and pink blobs while maximizing power; leftover evs placed into hp to maximize mawile's overall bulk
• max hp / max atk usable, but it makes mawile slower than scizor and most azumarill
• can use a max atk / max spe spread w/ a jolly nature and sticky web support to outpace everything up to 327 spe
• likes sticky web and sr support

name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Play Rough
move 3: Fire Fang
move 4: Iron Head / Stone Edge
ability: Intimidate
item: Mawilite
evs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
nature: Adamant

• trades immeasurable power for the ability to hit hard right off the bat

[Checks and Counters]

• no hard counters after a swords dance; plenty of checks though
• Garchomp (faster, can take a sucker punch, has to watch out for play rough)
• Hippowdon (see: skarmory, replace stone edge w/ play rough)
• Gliscor (faster, can take a +2 sucker punch and retaliate in kind with eq)
• Skarmory (can't take a +2 stone edge or fire fang, but it can phaze mawile, resetting boosts)
• Ferrothorn (can take most of mawile's boosted attacks and sap health w/ leech seed if mawile lacks taunt; has to watch out for fire fang, brick break, and taunt)
• Magnezone (doesn't care about mawile's coverage except for fire fang; specs variants have 50% chance to ohko w/ tbolt even without sr damage)
• Malamar (topsy-turvy sucks for swords dance mawile since malamar is faster; can't switch into play rough)
• Blaziken (can check unboosted mawile w/ flare blitz thanks to sucker punch resistance and higher speed)
• Rotom-W, Rotom-H (will-o-wisp from both incapacitates mawile since it bypasses sucker punch; the former 2hkos w/ hydro pump while the latter ohkos w/ overheat)

 

[Gary]

I see that you put Jellicent in the checks and counters, but be sure to remove it when you write this up, as it's currently unobtainable. Also I would make sure to mention Fire Fang in the AC of the SD set because it can beat Skarmory before it phazes your ass out, and keeps Aegislash from setting up on you. Speaking of which put Skarmory in the checks and counters, because Whirlwind and stuff.

 

[Dragontamer]

Some notes on defense: Mega Mawile has slightly defense than Intimidate Mawile. If someone 2HKOs Mega Mawile, they will almost certainly 2HKO Intimidate Mawile, and otherwise cripple Intimidate Mawile + Mega Transform (something like 80 to 90% damage). This means that M-Mawile will rely very strongly on Mawile's typing to come in, at least if you plan on countering anyone.

Some calculations on Swords Dance offense:
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 344-405 (96.08 - 113.12%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 313-369 (96.9 - 114.24%) -- 81.25% chance to OHKO
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 48+ Def Ferrothorn: 428-504 (121.59 - 143.18%) -- guaranteed OHKO
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile (Play Rough) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Reuniclus: 480-565 (113.2 - 133.25%) -- guaranteed OHKO
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 172 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 292-344 (90.12 - 106.17%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

Without the Swords Dance:
* 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def (Simulated Aegislash): 232-274 (71.6 - 84.56%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
* 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile (Play Rough) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 578-684 (161.45 - 191.06%) -- guaranteed OHKO
* 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile (Play Rough) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 289-342 (74.87 - 88.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
* 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Brick Break vs. 172 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 274-324 (84.56 - 100%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO
* 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile (Play Rough) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 512-606 (126.73 - 150%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Yeah... 80% damage against Multiscale activated Dragonite. No dragon can afford to switch into Play Rough, but due to Mawile's reliance on Sucker Punch, it seems like a lot of dragons will manage to get in on the revenge, despite the Fairy Typing.

Mawile needs Paralysis support to take out Dragons. Sticky Web doesn't allow 252 Speed Mawile to outspeed Garchomp however, and paralyzing a Ground Pokemon is generally a pain. So despite the "Fairy" in the typing, unboosted Mawile will be spending most of her time running away from dragons. If Mawile gets that Swords Dance however... the Sucker Punch becomes a MAJOR threat.

If Gen5 Move Tutor is allowed:
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile ThunderPunch vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 350-414 (107.03 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
* +2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 396-468 (94.28 - 111.42%) -- 68.75% chance to OHKO

---------------

Mega-Garchomp and normal Garchomp are eaisly OHKOed by Play Rough, but non-Mega Garchomp cannot switch into a Swords Dance either. The OHKO from Sucker Punch is too much of a threat. If either Heatran or Garchomp ran some bulk, then they'd be somewhat valid checks, but as it is, Stealth Rocks + Swords Dance + Sucker Punch takes them out.

Aegislash can NOT be considered a counter, nor a check. 252 HP Aegislash takes some 80% damage from unboosted Sucker Punch, meaning the only safe attack to switch in on is Mawile Brick Break. Even a resisted Play Rough -> Sucker Punch (no boosts) will take out Aegislash, even in Shield forme.

Without +Speed EVs, Mawile's benefit from Sticky Web is mediocre: it matters in the Magnezone matchup... but that is about it.

252+ Speed Mawile "reaches" ties opponents at 327 speed after Sticky Web, which is anyone slower than base 100. Which means... 252+ Speed with Sticky web Mawile can out-speed Lucario, Mamoswine, Heatran, Breloom, Tyranitar, and OHKO with Brick break or Play Rough. As such, 252 attack/252 +speed seems like a feasible build with Sticky Web support.

252 Neutral Nature Speed loses to Sticky-webbed +Speed Lucario, but still takes out many Sticky-Webbed threats.

Mawile really really wants access to Gen5 Thunderpunch and Ice Punch move tutors, to threaten Skarmory and Hippowdon.

Finally, Mega Mawile Sucker Punch is stronger than Mega-Absol's Sucker Punch. Mawile doesn't even need STAB to beat out other `mon in their own attack.

 

[Menshay]

Pain Split is a BW2 tutor move.

 

[Sprocket]

Be sure to mention the non-Mega ability of choice (Intimidate?), since Mawile will need to start battle in non-Mega form.

 

[kd24]

honestly...is rest stalk worth it? sd mawile just seems ... far superior in almost every circumstance. the strong suit of mega mawile is its swords dance sucker punch, going for a defensive set is forcing it to do something it appears to suck at

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

mmkay. most changes have been written in. testing an all-out attacker set to see if it's worth adding to the analysis.

 

[Disaster Area]

A 4 attacks set is viable too, particularly under trick room. Usually goes something like Iron Head/Play Rough/Sucker Punch/4th move where 4th move is rock slide/fire fang/brick break, depending on what you want to hit [rock slide for talonflame - Ho-oh if used in ubers - great lure; fire fang for ferro/fore, does nice enough damage to aegilash too; brick break for heatran (so don't mention brick break pre-pokebank)]. Under trick room it has minimal time to set up (usually 3 turns in game unless setter dies after setting) so straight off the bat attacking with the advantage of its insane attacking power unboosted is worth it. EV's usually something like 252HP/252 Atk/4Def Brave with 0 Speed IV's. Because base 60 speed is pretty damn low.
Some sets could benefit from use of substitute [either sub + 3 attacks, or sub + SD + 2 attacks], although I can't pinpoint the exact sets, albeit I think they still merit mention.

 

[PK Gaming]

huge power + base 105 atk make mawile one of the strongest forces to hit ou; can 2HKO most of ou after 1 swords dance

Maybe change that last sentence to "can OHKO-2HKO most of ou after 1 swords dance. It sounds more impressive, and it's accurate too.

no recovery aside from restalk
must use mawilite if it wants access to mega-evolution, cutting mawile off from passive recovery

Mawhile is primarily an attacker so these cons don't need to be stated, they're intrinsic to nearly every offensive Mega Pokemon. Taunt is highlighted in the overview but it isn't listed in the main set. I'd remove it, and instead mention that Steel / Fairy is a fantastic typing.

What do the 120 def EVs accomplish? It might be best to stick with 252hp/252atk based on dragon tamers calculations. The set comments should be mainly talk about setting up a swords dance, because Mega Mawhile can clinch games at +2. Adding some of Dragontamers calculations to the analysis can help emphasis that point.

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

Piexplode: thanks for bringing that set to light. however, i won't write up a set that's exclusively meant for trick room use if i can make it more generalized (i.e. usable outside of trick room). also, i will make a note of substitute in the comments of the set i already have up.

PK Gaming: thanks for commentating on my analysis! your comment change and ev change (which dragontamer suggested prior to this) have been made. testing i've done on the ladder seems to favor a max / max spread. also, i will add the calcs in soon.

 

[Disaster Area]

Well, the idea is that sucker punch allows it to have some function just after trick room is over. And it's not like it isn't bulky, it's just it works better having the first move.. Either way, with huge power, there's no reason why an all-out attacking set like that shouldn't work (though under trick room with rock slide it beats some of its possible counters/attempted counters such as talonflame, given the appropriate moves). The only issue is with WoW and no boosting move, that can mess it over. Really, with base 60speed, it's like conkeldurr (I know that has a different speed, but follow the analogy); it's recognised as a powerful and bulky attacker in almost any situation, but its main difficulty in using is its low speed. However, it works fantastically under trick room (or, as people have in parallel suggested about M-mawile, against paralysed opponents). It's not even hard to imagine conkeldurr and m-mawile paired up together as 2 attackers in an OU (heck maybe even UU, depending on how the usage stats play out) in a paralysis- or trick room-based team. Conkeldurr has bulk up to boost itself, whilst m-mawile has sword dance. Under trick room it would be rare to see those sets, but 4 attack sets, with one priority, is viable out of, but more so inside of, trick room. So that's why that set, or one similar, probably merits some inclusion.

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

i never stated that i wouldn't write an all-out attacker set up. i just said that i'd save any trick room mentions for the set comments and make the main ev spread something that will allow mawile to function outside of trick room with a reasonable amount of consistency.

 

[Disaster Area]

Ok true, just note the trick room spread in the comments too ^_^

 

[Shroomisaur]

I'm working on Bisharp right now and it's funny how similar he plays to Mega Mawile. The two of them have very similar checks as well. One thing you might want to reword is that Talonflame doesn't actually resist Sucker Punch (although it can still take an unboosted one if it's healthy).

You should also mention that Will-O-Wisp users can cripple Mawile, since it bypasses Sucker Punch and Mawile can't do anything to stop it. Talonflame often runs WoW, and Rotom forms will hit you with WoW and have solid bulk too (physically bulky Rotom-W isn't 2HKO's by Sucker Punch even after SR, and can 2HKO with Hydro Pump). Rotom-H gets special mention as it resists your whole kit outside of Sucker Punch and can OHKO with Overheat.

 

[UltiMario]

Gunna bump this with the EV spread 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe, outspeeds 0 spe scizor and you OHKO 248 HP Scizor most the time with +2 Sucker Punch, allowing you to continue your sweep without having to take Bullet Punch damage. You get a couple of bonuses along the way like outpacing most Azumarill and all Aegislash with your Sucker Punch (no Sneak set is running speed) so you beat out some other slow priority. Outpacing slower TTar and avoiding getting TWave'd or something by the blobs are nice perks too.

 

[KnockYourselfOut - Kyo]

I personally would slash Substitute instead of Taunt. It may sacrifice 25% of it's health every time it uses it, but it grants it protection from status, while at the same time easing sweeping for Mawile as a whole.

 

[Disaster Area]

As it is substitute is of pretty niche use (as it taunt) - really they should both be in other options. M-mawile wants at most a Sword Dance set, an all-out attacker, and then some set abusing pain split along with either substitute or 3 attacks. Unless anything creates anything substantially different that's all that it requires.

 

[KnockYourselfOut - Kyo]

As it is substitute is of pretty niche use (as it taunt) - really they should both be in other options. M-mawile wants at most a Sword Dance set, an all-out attacker, and then some set abusing pain split along with either substitute or 3 attacks. Unless anything creates anything substantially different that's all that it requires.

I disagree on the whole SubSplit part. Mega Mawile isn't fast and/or bulky enough to handle such a set in my opinion, plus it's best off sweeping. It's kind of a waste giving it Pain Split, especially since it's a Mega. I understand the concept of splitting and then finishing the opponent off with Sucker Punch, but it could be doing better things and more. I can see the All-Out Attacker set working out though, especially with the mention of Trick Room.

Here are the sets I can see happening:
Swords Dance
Sub + SD (Or at least slash Substitute on the Swords Dance set on the last slot somewhere)
All-Out Attacker
Sub + 3 Attacks

Substitute on something like Mega Mawile is a lot more viable then you think it is, especially if you consider the fact that Mawile has the highest attacking stat of any Pokemon in the game with a good defensive typing. It can set up a sub on a lot of things simply because it has decent bulk and that typing. Taunt isn't though, because it just isn't fast enough to utilize it at it's best, while at the same time not really giving it the same benefit Substitute gives it. Sub also can ease prediction and can save up a bit of your Sucker Punch PP.

That's just me though. xD Not gonna say you are wrong or anything.

 

[Unowninator]

Why isn't Iron Head in there somewhere?

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

mmkay. time to reply.

re: UltiMario: i like that ev spread more than the current ev spread. i'll implement it soon, with the max hp / max attack ev spread going into ac.

re: KnockYourselfOut - Kyo: i tried out substitute, and i felt that it was counterproductive to mawile's needs. after further testing, the same applied to taunt. i'll move both of them to the set comments, and i'll remove the slash i gave to taunt. as for the set order you proposed, i don't like the fact that two of those sets could be covered just by mentioning substitute in the comments for each set. the only two sets i intend on writing up at this moment are the swords dance and all-out attacker sets.

re: Unowninator: what coverage does iron head get that sucker punch, play rough, and fire fang don't? just curious.

 

[Disaster Area]

Well tbh I'd run something like iron head/play rough for dual STABs, sucker punch for priority, then rock slide for talon lure, either for if it's paralysed/you're under trick room/to gain momentum by for example safely switching in a rotom-w. Brick Break is irrelevant pre-pokebank. Fire Fang only really deals with stuff that can be taken out by other pokemon. Genesect if you're not under trick room often can OHKO with flamethrower. Scizor/M-scizor is probably the most relevant threat for fire fang usage... overall in the last slot do rock slide/fire fang as that provides near enough perfect coverage for its position in the team. (just an afterthought since I'm unaware.. is rotom-w pre-pokebank?)

 

[Aquaslash]

I'd just like to point out that I've found Blaziken to be a bigger check than one'd think. Megawile actually needs two Swords dances to soundly beat Blakziken no matter what. Even with a defense lowering nature, Sucker Punch is a 2HKO at best, and not only does he outspeed her with or without a boost, but he can instantly OHKO back with Flare Blitz. Barring that unheard of boost, you have to predict a switch in and nail him with Stone Edge/Play Rough.

 

[dragonuser]

tnt has stopped writing this so it can be closed

I will be taking over mawile