OU Manaphy

[lydian]

[OVERVIEW]

Manaphy is one of the undisputed strongest stallbreakers in the whole tier thanks to the combination of Tail Glow and Hydration, which makes it temporarily immune to Toxic in rain, so it naturally finds itself a place on several rain teams as their countermeasure to the stall matchup. Additionally, Manaphy is also a deadly wallbreaker with a rain-boosted +3 Hydro Vortex that makes it almost effortless to weaken typical rain checks for the likes of Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra to clean up. With Psychic as coverage, Manaphy can also break past notable threats to rain, such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur. Manaphy's great bulk all-around also gives it a plethora of opportunities to set up, and a Water-type resistance helps with the Ash-Greninja matchup in rain. However, Manaphy's relative lack of raw power makes it somewhat predictable and exploitable, as it needs to set up with Tail Glow to actually do damage, making easier to play around than most wallbreakers. This, accompanied by the fact that nearly all teams have something to outspeed it, also makes it a bit easy to play around, as it's not hard to pivot into a faster Water-resistant threat as it sets up Tail Glow, such as Serperior or Protean Greninja, and even when Manaphy does take down a Pokemon on the opposing team, it will be likely forced out by a faster threat such as Choice Specs Tapu Koko or Kartana. Manaphy is also a bit hard to fit on rain because, alongside the set-in-stone Pelipper and Mega Swampert, many builders may opt for Ash-Greninja or Kingdra over it, as they provide better Speed and a much better matchup against opposing offenses.

[SET]
name: Tail Glow
move 1: Tail Glow
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Psychic
item: Waterium Z
ability: Hydration
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Surf's added power makes it the preferred STAB move over Scald. Ice Beam is instrumental to break past Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu and Dragon-types like Mega Latias, Mega Latios, Hydreigon, and Kommo-o. Psychic helps out against Toxapex and Mega Venusaur, both of which can be notable annoyances to rain teams.

Set Details
========

Waterium Z gives Manaphy a strong nuke in Hydro Vortex that can plow through Water-resistant Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W at +3 in rain. Hydration helps Manaphy rid itself of Toxic from the likes of Chansey and Toxapex under rain. A Timid nature is preferred to outspeed the likes of Hydreigon, Tapu Lele, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B.

Usage Tips
========

An important aspect of using Manaphy is deciding whether to attack straight away or to set up. If your opponent has a healthy check to Manaphy, such as Gastrodon, specially defensive Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, or Assault Vest Tangrowth, it might be smart to double switch instead of trying to set up. If your opponent has a faster threat that can knock out Manaphy, such as Tapu Koko or Kartana, don't let them in for free as you set up a Tail Glow; sometimes, it's better to just attack them on the switch, especially if your team doesn't have a dedicated switch-in. Keep Manaphy healthy if it can potentially break a team; it can stomach a hit from the likes of Tapu Fini, Mega Venusaur, and Tangrowth if it needs to, and it can check threats to rain such as Ash-Greninja, for example. Don't be scared of letting Manaphy get inflicted by status as long as your Pelipper is healthy; however, if you're using it outside of a rain team, be very wary of Toxic from Chansey and Gastrodon.

Team Options
========

Rain support from Pelipper is highly recommended, as Manaphy only excels as a stallbreaker thanks to Hydration, and the Water-type boost from rain is more than welcome, especially for breaking Chansey and opposing Water-types. Teammates such as Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra appreciate typical rain checks getting weakened by Manaphy and can make up for Manaphy's subpar Speed. Mega Swampert also provides a very useful Electric-type immunity. While Manaphy helps with Ash-Greninja, other checks such as Ferrothorn, Magearna, and the aforementioned Kingdra help solidify the matchup, as Ash-Greninja is a deadly threat to rain teams.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Rest is also an option exclusively on rain teams for a better matchup against stall, but giving up a coverage slot makes it harder for Manaphy to break some teams. Leftovers can be used over Waterium Z, especially on Rest variants, if Manaphy's team already packs a Z-Move user, but struggling to break past other Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W isn't quite ideal. Z-Rain Dance is an interesting option for some hyper offensive teams, but more often than not, there are far better sweepers to do the job. Energy Ball helps out with Gastrodon and lets Manaphy save its Z-Move against Tapu Fini and Rotom-W; however, Manaphy can't break past Toxapex and Mega Venusaur without Psychic.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Water-types**: Mantine is arguably Manaphy's greatest enemy, being able to wall Manaphy indefinitely and Haze any boosts off. Gastrodon is an excellent check, but Rest variants can beat non-Clear Smog Gastrodon one-on-one. Toxapex struggles with Psychic variants and Rest variants if it's not running Haze; however, it can still be a nuisance to Manaphy otherwise. Lastly, Tapu Fini and Rotom-W resist Manaphy's Water-type STAB moves but are vulnerable to a +3 Hydro Vortex in rain.

**Grass-types**: The likes of Assault Vest Amoonguss and Ferrothorn take very little damage from whatever Manaphy attemps to do and deal heavy damage with their Grass-type STAB moves. Non-Assault Vest Amoonguss, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth are in a similar boat, but they take considerably more from +3 Ice Beam. Mega Venusaur takes on the few variants that lack Psychic.

**Mega Latias**: Mega Latias switches in seamlessly against Manaphy, and variants packing Psyshock, the rarer Thunderbolt, or Energy Ball can 2HKO it.

**Revenge Killers**: Faster attackers that can OHKO Manaphy, such as Kartana and Tapu Koko, are threats to be careful of, especially if they manage to pivot in as Manaphy sets up. However, other faster attackers can pick it off after some damage, such as Garchomp, Flynium Z Tornadus-T, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Lopunny.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[lyd, 303291]]
- Quality checked by: [[DKM, 402001], [Jordy, 395754], [GMars, 273636]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Estronic, 240732], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]

 

[DKM]

for the likes of Mega Swampert and Kingdra to clean up.

Ash-Gren is probably a better example than kingdra

Lastly, Manaphy's speed tier, coupled with the aforementioned need to set up to do damage, also makes it a bit easy to play around as it's not hard to pivot into a faster water-resistant threat as it sets up a Tail Glow, such as Serperior or Protean Greninja, and even when Manaphy does take down a Pokémon on the opposing team it will be likely forced out by a faster threat such as Choice Specs Tapu Koko or Kartana.

Mention here that this means it has a generally poor matchup against offense.
Saying that it's easy to play around probably belongs in one of the previous bullets.

Ice Beam is instrumental to break past Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu.

Mention dragons like the mlatis and hydrei

However, Rest is also an option for a far better matchup against stall, nearly guaranteeing a win against a vast majority of stall teams.

Mention that it must be used on rain (it's obvious, but Manaphy can be used outside rain sometimes)

Avoid letting Manaphy get too worn down if it's bulk is important for it to break a team

I think saying "if its health is important..." makes more sense

Teammates such as Mega Swampert and Kingdra

Gren is quite a bit better imo

Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Ferrothorn take very little from whatever Manaphy attemps to do, and deal heavy damage with their Grass-type STABs. Tapu Bulu and Tangrowth are on a similar boat, but take considerably more from +3 Ice Beam

I think you should specify av amoon since non av almost dies to +3 beam

QC 1/3

 

[Jordy]

comments in purple things to remove in red

[OVERVIEW]

• Manaphy is one of the undisputed stronger stallbreakers in the whole tier thanks to the combo of Tail Glow and Hydration, which makes it temporarily immune to Toxic (only if it's in rain, you make it sound like it is always) , and naturally, it finds itself a place in several rain teams as something these teams can use for the stall matchup.
• But Manaphy doesn't help only with that, it's also a deadly wallbreaker with +3 Hydro Vortex in rain that makes it almost effortless to weaken typical rain checks for the likes of Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra to clean up.
• With Psychic as a coverage, Manaphy can also break past notable threats to rain, such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur.
• Manaphy's great bulk all around also gives it a plethora of opportunities to set up, and a water resistance helps with the Ash-Greninja matchup in rain.
• However, Manaphy's relative lack of raw power makes it somewhat predictable and exploitable, as it needs to set up a Tail Glow to actually do damage, making easier to play around than most wallbreakers. This allied with a poor speed tier (it's not a poor Speed tier, a poor Speed tier would be like base 50, reword this bit), also makes it a bit easy to play around as it's not hard to pivot into a faster water-resistant threat as it sets up a Tail Glow, such as Serperior or Protean Greninja, and even when Manaphy does take down a Pokémon on the opposing team it will be likely forced out by a faster threat such as Choice Specs Tapu Koko or Kartana.
• Manaphy is also a bit hard to fit on rain as, alongside the set in stone Pelipper and Mega Swampert, many builders may opt for Ash-Greninja or Kingdra over it for providing other helpful assets to rain. What do they offer over Manaphy respectively?

[SET]
name: Tail Glow + 3 Attacks
move 1: Tail Glow
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Psychic / Rest
item: Waterium Z
ability: Hydration
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Surf's added power makes it the preferred STAB move of choice over Scald.
• Ice Beam is instrumental to break past Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu and Dragon-types like Mega Latias, Mega Latios, Hydreigon, and Kommo-o.
• Psychic helps out against Toxapex and Mega Venusaur, both of which can be notable annoyances to rain teams.
• However, Rest is also an option on exclusively on rain teams for a far better matchup against stall, nearly guaranteeing a win against a vast majority of teams in such plastyle. I'm not sure what the latter part of the sentence is even trying to add.

Set Details
========

• Hydration helps Manaphy rids itself of Toxic from the likes of Chansey and Toxapex under rain.
• A Timid nature is preferred to outspeed the likes of Hydreigon, Tapu Lele, and both Kyurem.
• I'd definitely mention why Manaphy runs Waterium Z because it's not obvious.

Usage Tips
========

• An important decision of using Manaphy is to try to decide wether to attack straight away or to set up.
• If your opponent has a healthy check to Manaphy, such as Gastrodon, Specially Defensive Tapu Bulu, Assault Vest Tangrowth, or Amoonguss, it might be smart to pull a double or just pressure the latter three with Ice Beam. I'd switch the Assault Vest Tangrowth and Amoonguss mention around because Assault Vest Amoonguss is bad. Unboosted Ice Beam doesn't really pressure them fwiw. If you were meaning to say that Manaphy should pressure them with Tail Glow when they switch in and then use Ice Beam, mention that explicitly.
• If your opponent has a faster threat that can knock out Manaphy, such as Tapu Koko or Kartana, don't let them in for free as you set up a Tail Glow, sometimes it's better to just attack them on the switch, especially if your team doesn't have a dedicated switch in.
• Keep Manaphy healthy if it's is important for it to break a team; it can stomach a hit from the likes of Tapu Fini, Mega Venusaur, and Tangrowth, for example, if it needs to; or for it to check a threat to rain, such as Ash-Greninja, for example.
• Don't be scared of letting Manaphy get statused as long as your Pelipper is healthy, if you're using it outside of a rain team, though, be very wary of Toxic from Chansey and Gastrodon.

Team Options
========

• Rain support from Pelipper is highly recommended, as Manaphy only excels as a stallbreaker thanks to Hydration and the Water-type boost from rain is more than welcome. Mention that the boost from rain is super useful for Chansey in particular.
• Teammates such as Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra appreciate typical rain checks getting weakened by Manaphy and can make up for Manaphy's subpar Speed. You also mention Mega Swampert's immunity to Electric.
• While Manaphy helps with Ash-Greninja, other checks such as Ferrothorn, Magearna, and the aforementioned Kingdra help solidify the matchup as Ash-Greninja is a deadly threat to rain teams.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Leftovers can be used over the Z-move, especially on Rest variants if Manaphy's team already packs a Z-move user, but struggling to break past other Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W isn't quite ideal.
• Z-Rain Dance is an interesting option for some hyper offensive teams, but more often than not, there are far better sweepers to do the job.
• Energy Ball is an interesting option that helps out with Gastrodon and lets Manaphy save its Z-move against Tapu Fini and Rotom-W, however Manaphy can't break past Toxapex and Mega Venusaur without Psychic and most Water-types.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Miscellaneous Walls**: Mantine is arguably Manaphy's greatest enemy, being able to wall Manaphy indefinitely and Haze any boosts off. Gastrodon is an excellent check, but Rest variants can 1v1 Gastrodon without Clear Smog. Grass-types such as Assault Vest Amoonguss and Ferrothorn take very little from whatever Manaphy attemps to do, and deal heavy damage with their Grass-type STABs. Spore Amoonguss, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth are on a similar boat, but take considerably more from +3 Ice Beam. Mega Latias switches in seamlesslessly and variants packing Psyshock, Thunderbolt, or Energy Ball can 2HKO Manaphy. Lastly Toxapex and Mega Venusaur can check variants lacking Psychic. Is "Miscellaneous Walls" really the best way to put this? I think just splitting them up will not read as awkwardly as it is now.

**Revenge Killers**: Faster attackers that can OHKO Manaphy, such as Kartana and Tapu Koko are threats to be careful of, especially if they manage to pivot in as Manaphy sets up. However, other faster attackers can pick it off after some damage, such as Garchomp, Flynium Z Tornadus-T, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Lopunny.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[, ]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

2/3

 

[GMars]

lyd do this

 

[Leo]

lyd

 

[lydian]

lyd

i already did this though

 

[GMars]

**Grass-types**: The likes of Assault Vest Amoonguss and Ferrothorn take very little from whatever Manaphy attemps to do, and deal heavy damage with their Grass-type STABs. Spore Amoonguss, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth are on a similar boat, but take considerably more from +3 Ice Beam. Mega Venusaur takes on the few variants that lack Psychic.

Spore Amoonguss is a weird first mention given you've primarily discussed Manaphy on rain and its use of Hydration to negate status. Was this supposed to be Clear Smog?

3/3 nice work, give this a read over before sending it to gp

 

[Astra]

yeah

 

[Astra]

remember to do credits you poopie head
add remove (comments)

poop sock

[OVERVIEW]

Manaphy is one of the undisputed stronger strongest (?) stallbreakers in the whole tier thanks to the combo combination of Tail Glow and Hydration, which makes it temporarily immune to Toxic in rain, and so it naturally, (RC) it finds itself a place in on several rain teams as something these teams can use for the stall matchup. But Manaphy doesn't help only with that, it's Additionally, Manaphy is (just much more simpler/to the point) also a deadly wallbreaker with a +3 Hydro Vortex in rain that makes it almost effortless to weaken typical rain checks for the likes of Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra to clean up. With Psychic as a coverage, Manaphy can also break past notable threats to rain, such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur. Manaphy's great bulk all around also gives it a plethora of opportunities to set up, and a water Water-type resistance helps with the Ash-Greninja matchup in rain. However, Manaphy's relative lack of raw power makes it somewhat predictable and exploitable, as it needs to set up a with Tail Glow to actually do damage, making easier to play around than most wallbreakers. This, (AC) allied with the fact that nearly all teams have something to outspeed it, also makes it a bit easy to play around, (AC) as it's not hard to pivot into a faster water-resistant Water-resistant threat as it sets up a Tail Glow, such as Serperior or Protean Greninja, and even when Manaphy does take down a Pokémon Pokemon on the opposing team, (AC) it will be likely forced out by a faster threat such as Choice Specs Tapu Koko or Kartana. Manaphy is also a bit hard to fit on rain as because, alongside the set in stone Pelipper and Mega Swampert, many builders may opt for Ash-Greninja or Kingdra over it for providing other helpful assets to rain, as they provide better speed Speed and a much better matchup against opposing offenses.

[SET]
name: Tail Glow
move 1: Tail Glow
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Psychic
item: Waterium Z
ability: Hydration
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Surf's added power makes it the preferred STAB move of choice over Scald. Ice Beam is instrumental to break past Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu and Dragon-types like Mega Latias, Mega Latios, Hydreigon, and Kommo-o. Psychic helps out against Toxapex and Mega Venusaur, both of which can be notable annoyances to rain teams.

Set Details
========

Waterium Z gives Manaphy a strong nuke in Hydro Vortex that can plow through water-resistant Pokémon Water-resistant Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W at +3 in rain. Hydration helps Manaphy rids itself of Toxic from the likes of Chansey and Toxapex under rain. A Timid nature is preferred to outspeed the likes of Hydreigon, Tapu Lele, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B and both Kyurem. (seems petty but imo it feels more polished)

Usage Tips
========

An important decision of using Manaphy is to try to decide deciding whether to attack straight away or to set up. If your opponent has a healthy check to Manaphy, such as Gastrodon, Specially Defensive specially defensive Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, or Assault Vest Tangrowth, it might be smart to pull a double switch (i think that's what you meant) instead of trying to setup set up. If your opponent has a faster threat that can knock out Manaphy, such as Tapu Koko or Kartana, don't let them in for free as you set up a Tail Glow, (RC); (AS) sometimes, (AC) it's better to just attack them on the switch, especially if your team doesn't have a dedicated switch-in (AH). Keep Manaphy healthy if it's is important for it to it can potentially (again feels more polished when worded like this) break a team; it can stomach a hit from the likes of Tapu Fini, Mega Venusaur, and Tangrowth, (RC) for example, (RC) if it needs to; or for it to, (AC) and it can check a threats to rain, (RC) such as Ash-Greninja, for example. Don't be scared of letting Manaphy get inflicted by statused as long as your Pelipper is healthy, (RC); (AS) however, (AC) if you're using it outside of a rain team, though, (RC) be very wary of Toxic from Chansey and Gastrodon.

Team Options
========

Rain support from Pelipper is highly recommended, as Manaphy only excels as a stallbreaker thanks to Hydration, (AC) and the Water-type boost from rain is more than welcome, especially for breaking Chansey and opposing Water-types. Teammates such as Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra appreciate typical rain checks getting weakened by Manaphy and can make up for Manaphy's subpar Speed. Mega Swampert also provides a very useful Electric-type immunity. While Manaphy helps with Ash-Greninja, other checks such as Ferrothorn, Magearna, and the aforementioned Kingdra help solidify the matchup, (AC) as Ash-Greninja is a deadly threat to rain teams.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Rest is also an option on exclusively on rain teams for a better matchup against stall, but the cost of a coverage slot makes it harder for Manaphy to break some teams. Leftovers can be used over Waterium Z the Z-move, especially on Rest variants, (AC) if Manaphy's team already packs a Z-move Z-Move user, but struggling to break past other Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W isn't quite ideal. Z-Rain Dance is an interesting option for some hyper offensive teams, but more often than not, there are far better sweepers to do the job. Energy Ball is an interesting option that helps out with Gastrodon and lets Manaphy save its Z-move Z-Move against Tapu Fini and Rotom-W, (RC); (AS) however, (AC) Manaphy can't break past Toxapex and Mega Venusaur without Psychic and most Water-types (not sure what "and most water-types" relates to the sentence, is it implying that energy ball isn't that strong so it can't break past most water-type even with the move?).

Checks and Counters
===================

**Water-types**: Mantine is arguably Manaphy's greatest enemy, being able to wall Manaphy indefinitely and Haze any boosts off. Gastrodon is an excellent check, but Rest variants can 1v1 Gastrodon without Clear Smog. Toxapex struggles with Psychic variants. (this line about about pex seems out of place, perhaps add a bit more to it) And lastly Lastly, Tapu Fini and Rotom-W also resist its Water-type STAB moves, (RC) but are vulnerable to a +3 Hydro Vortex in rain.

**Grass-types**: The likes of Assault Vest Amoonguss and Ferrothorn take very little damage from whatever Manaphy attemps to do, (RC) and deal heavy damage with their Grass-type STABs moves. Non-Assault Vest Amoonguss, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth are on a similar boat, but they take considerably more from +3 Ice Beam. Mega Venusaur takes on the few variants that lack Psychic.

**Mega Latias**: Mega Latias switches in seamlesslessly against Manaphy, (AC) and variants packing Psyshock, or the rarer Thunderbolt, or Energy Ball can 2HKO Manaphy it.

**Revenge Killers**: Faster attackers that can OHKO Manaphy, such as Kartana and Tapu Koko, (AC) are threats to be careful of, especially if they manage to pivot in as Manaphy sets up. However, other faster attackers can pick it off after some damage, such as Garchomp, Flynium Z Tornadus-T, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Lopunny.

[CREDITS] (reeee)
- Written by: [[, ]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

1/2

 

[GMars]

lyd Implement this.

 

[lydian]

didnt mean to turn this into mesprit 2.0 my sincere apologies to leo, gmars, estronic, and the gp team

 

[lydian]

react to this post to help me fund leo's new anime body pillow

 

[Lumari]

remove add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 2/2

check

[OVERVIEW]

Manaphy is one of the undisputed strongest stallbreakers in the whole tier thanks to the combination of Tail Glow and Hydration, which makes it temporarily immune to Toxic in rain, so it naturally finds itself a place on several rain teams as something these teams can use for their countermeasure to the stall matchup. Additionally, Manaphy is also a deadly wallbreaker with a rain-boosted +3 Hydro Vortex in rain (optional, little clearer grammatically) that makes it almost effortless to weaken typical rain checks for the likes of Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra to clean up. With Psychic as coverage, Manaphy can also break past notable threats to rain, such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur. Manaphy's great bulk all-around (AH) also gives it a plethora of opportunities to set up, and a Water-type resistance helps with the Ash-Greninja matchup in rain. However, Manaphy's relative lack of raw power makes it somewhat predictable and exploitable, as it needs to set up with Tail Glow to actually do damage, making easier to play around than most wallbreakers. This, allied with accompanied by the fact that nearly all teams have something to outspeed it, also makes it a bit easy to play around, as it's not hard to pivot into a faster Water-resistant threat as it sets up Tail Glow, such as Serperior or Protean Greninja, and even when Manaphy does take down a Pokemon on the opposing team, it will be likely forced out by a faster threat such as Choice Specs Tapu Koko or Kartana. Manaphy is also a bit hard to fit on rain because, alongside the set-in-stone (AH) Pelipper and Mega Swampert, many builders may opt for Ash-Greninja or Kingdra over it, as they provide better Speed and a much better matchup against opposing offenses.

[SET]
name: Tail Glow
move 1: Tail Glow
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Psychic
item: Waterium Z
ability: Hydration
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Surf's added power makes it the preferred STAB move of choice over Scald. Ice Beam is instrumental to break past Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu and Dragon-types like Mega Latias, Mega Latios, Hydreigon, and Kommo-o. Psychic helps out against Toxapex and Mega Venusaur, both of which can be notable annoyances to rain teams.

Set Details
========

Waterium Z gives Manaphy a strong nuke in Hydro Vortex that can plow through Water-resistant Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W at +3 in rain. Hydration helps Manaphy rid itself of Toxic from the likes of Chansey and Toxapex under rain. A Timid nature is preferred to outspeed the likes of Hydreigon, Tapu Lele, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B.

Usage Tips
========

An important decision aspect of using Manaphy is deciding whether to attack straight away or to set up. If your opponent has a healthy check to Manaphy, such as Gastrodon, specially defensive Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, or Assault Vest Tangrowth, it might be smart to double switch instead of trying to set up. If your opponent has a faster threat that can knock out Manaphy, such as Tapu Koko or Kartana, don't let them in for free as you set up a Tail Glow; sometimes, it's better to just attack them on the switch, especially if your team doesn't have a dedicated switch-in. Keep Manaphy healthy if it can potentially break a team; it can stomach a hit from the likes of Tapu Fini, Mega Venusaur, and Tangrowth if it needs to, and it can check threats to rain such as Ash-Greninja, for example. Don't be scared of letting Manaphy get inflicted by status as long as your Pelipper is healthy; however, if you're using it outside of a rain team, be very wary of Toxic from Chansey and Gastrodon.

Team Options
========

Rain support from Pelipper is highly recommended, as Manaphy only excels as a stallbreaker thanks to Hydration, and the Water-type boost from rain is more than welcome, especially for breaking Chansey and opposing Water-types. Teammates such as Mega Swampert, Ash-Greninja, and Kingdra appreciate typical rain checks getting weakened by Manaphy and can make up for Manaphy's subpar Speed. Mega Swampert also provides a very useful Electric-type immunity. While Manaphy helps with Ash-Greninja, other checks such as Ferrothorn, Magearna, and the aforementioned Kingdra help solidify the matchup, as Ash-Greninja is a deadly threat to rain teams.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Rest is also an option exclusively on rain teams for a better matchup against stall, but the cost of giving up a coverage slot makes it harder for Manaphy to break some teams. Leftovers can be used over Waterium Z, especially on Rest variants, if Manaphy's team already packs a Z-Move user, but struggling to break past other Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W isn't quite ideal. Z-Rain Dance is an interesting option for some hyper offensive teams, but more often than not, there are far better sweepers to do the job. Energy Ball is an interesting option that helps out with Gastrodon and lets Manaphy save its Z-Move against Tapu Fini and Rotom-W; however, Manaphy can't break past Toxapex and Mega Venusaur without Psychic.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Water-types**: Mantine is arguably Manaphy's greatest enemy, being able to wall Manaphy indefinitely and Haze any boosts off. Gastrodon is an excellent check, but Rest variants can 1v1 beat non-Clear Smog Gastrodon without Clear Smog one-on-one. Toxapex struggles with Psychic variants and Rest variants if it's not running Haze; (SC) however, (AC) it can still be a nuisance to Manaphy otherwise. Lastly, Tapu Fini and Rotom-W resist its Manaphy's Water-type STAB moves but are vulnerable to a +3 Hydro Vortex in rain.

**Grass-types**: The likes of Assault Vest Amoonguss and Ferrothorn take very little damage from whatever Manaphy attemps to do and deal heavy damage with their Grass-type STAB moves. Non-Assault Vest Amoonguss, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth are on in a similar boat, but they take considerably more from +3 Ice Beam. Mega Venusaur takes on the few variants that lack Psychic.

**Mega Latias**: Mega Latias switches in seamlessly against Manaphy, and variants packing Psyshock, the rarer Thunderbolt, or Energy Ball can 2HKO it.

**Revenge Killers**: Faster attackers that can OHKO Manaphy, such as Kartana and Tapu Koko, are threats to be careful of, especially if they manage to pivot in as Manaphy sets up. However, other faster attackers can pick it off after some damage, such as Garchomp, Flynium Z Tornadus-T, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Lopunny.

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[Fireflame]

Also remember to add all of the credits before this is uploaded!

 

[lydian]

manaphy's 6 month birthday is tomorrow