Stufful [QC 1/3]

Aaron's Aron

A concussion update in my info tab
[QC 1/3: Hilomilo / / ]
[GP 0/2: / ]


[OVERVIEW]

  • Stufful is a powerful set-up sweeper that can also function as an emergency check to physical attackers.
  • Stufful is very physically bulky due to Fluffy halving damage from contact moves and having a high HP stat. This makes it a good check to Knock Off users like Pawniard. It can even hold its own against Timburr and its Drain Punch.
  • It has a good Attack stat and access to Swords Dance.
  • Stufful has a good offensive typing, with its STAB moves of Return and Brick Break hitting the entire metagame, bar Ghost-types, for at least neutral damage.
  • Stufful has good coverage moves with types that compliment its STAB moves well. Ice Punch hits bulky Grass-types such as Pumpkaboo-XL and Foongus, Earthquake does more damage to bulky Poison-types such as Mareanie and Alolan Grimer, and Rock Slide deals heavy damage to Flying- and Fire-types such as Vullaby and Larvesta.
  • For a sweeper, Stufful is on the slow side. It is easily outsped and therefore susceptible to being revenge killed, making Speed control on your team mandatory for Stufful to thrive.
  • Stufful loses to faster special attackers due to its poor Special Defense.
  • Fluffy gives Stufful a Pseudo-weakness to Fire-type moves. This Fire-type damage boost effectively cancels out the damage reduction to contact moves, such as Flare Blitz from Ponyta and Larvesta, making it difficult for Stufful to check them. With no damage reduction to special Fire-type moves to begin with, Stufful is extremely pressured by special attackers such as Houndour and Torchic.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Ice Punch / Earthquake / Rock Slide
item: Eviolite
ability: Fluffy
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe

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

  • Swords Dance gives Stufful the attack power it needs to break through opponents.
  • Return is one of Stufful's two STAB moves, and it is a very hard neutral hit on most of the tier.
  • Brick Break gets the STAB boost and provides good coverage with Return, hitting the Rock and Steel-types, such as Onix, Magnemite, and Pawniard, that resist Return super effectively. It also breaks through Light Screen, Reflect, and the powerful Aura Veil.
  • Ice Punch provides a good option to hit Foongus extra hard, who can be difficult to break through. It is also good coverage against Ghost-types like Pumpkaboo-XL that are immune to Stufful's two STAB moves.
  • Earthquake secures OHKOs on Mareanie and Alolan Grimer after a Swords Dance boost. It hits Fire-types super effectively without having to worry about Flame Body, and does more damage than Rock Slide.
  • With just one move, Rock Slide hits Fire- and Flying-types super effectively. It can cause the foe to flinch and it can hit Larvesta extremely hard, which would either tank Stufful's other moves or cause it to risk being burnt by Flame Body.

Set Details
========

  • 236 EVs are put into Attack to maximize the stat. An Adamant nature is preferred because it further boosts Stufful's Attack, securing KOs when it would otherwise fall short.
    • OHKOs Offensive Vullaby after Stealth Rock damage and a Swords Dance boost
    • Can OHKO Foongus after Stealth Rock damage, guarantees OHKO if any previous damage and Stealth Rock damage
    • Same for Pumpkaboo-XL as Foongus
  • 36 Speed EVs lets Stufful reach 12 Speed, causing it to outspeed Pumpkaboo-XL and Bulk Up Timburr, and anything 19 Speed or below while Sticky Web is on your opponent's side of the field.
  • Fluffy halves the damage taken from all contact moves, and adding 36 EVs to Defense to reach an even number for the Eviolite boost makes it very tough to take down with contact moves.
  • Stufful's special bulk is lackluster, so 196 EVs are invested into Special Defense to allow Stufful to survive an attack and continue sweeping, as well as hit an even number for Eviolite.
  • Eviolite, especially in conjunction with Fluffy, provides Stufful with more opportunities to set up and the ability to survive an attack or two while sweeping.

Usage Tips
========

  • Stufful should be used to sweep at the end of the game after strong special attackers and its checks have been taken out.
  • Stufful can be used to tank weaker attacks that make contact throughout the game. It is also a good absorber of Knock Off, particularly from Pawniard by threatening it with Brick Break.
  • Don't let it take many special hits, or any strong ones, from Staryu, Gastly, or Magnemite for example. It doesn't have the best special bulk, but you are mainly wasting its fantastic physical bulk. Let a teammate take special hits instead.
  • Stufful is good at finishing off a variety of Pokemon due to its strong STAB moves hitting all non-Ghost-types at least neutrally.
  • Fairy-types generally stop Stufful's sweep, so they need to be taken out beforehand. Cottonee can lock Stufful into an undesirable move with Prankster Encore, and Spritzee survives a Sword Dance boosted Return and can KO with Moonblast.
  • Foongus and Pumpkaboo-XL normally survive a +2 Ice Punch, but a roughly 50/50 chance to be OHKOd after Stealth Rock damage. Weakening Foongus earlier in the battle will help Stufful break through, but it has Regenerator so it needs to be weakened fairly significantly so it isn't at full health when it switches back in.
  • Swords Dance should be used when against a Pokemon that Stufful forces out, such as Pawniard and Alolan Sandshrew, or when against a physical attacker that can't do much damage to Stufful, such as Onix and Diglett.
  • Be cautious of all Fire-type moves. Fluffy doubles all damage taken from Fire-type moves, effectively giving Stufful a weakness them.

Team Options
========

  • Pokemon that can trap special attackers like Abra and take them out make good teammates for Stufful. Alolan Grimer is great because it has Pursuit and can take out speedy Psychic- and Ghost-types.
  • Pokemon that can handle the many Fighting- or Fairy-types that threaten Stufful are also good teammates. Foongus can deal with both of those types, as well as the Water-types that might be using Scald, causing Stufful to risk being burned. Abra, Ponyta, and Alolan Grimer are also decent Fighting- and Fairy-type checks.
  • Entry hazard setters such as Dwebble and Onix help Stufful secure certain KOs when it would normally fall just short.
  • Knock Off support helps Stufful to break past the bulky Pokemon, such as Spritzee, Vullaby, and Foongus, that would normally survive a Swords Dance boosted hit by removing their Eviolites. Good Knock users include Mienfoo, who can also provide pivot support, and Timburr, who can absorb status.
  • Due to Fluffy, Pokemon that can deal with Fire-types are good teammates as well. Examples are Staryu, Chinchou, and Diglett.
  • Stufful is very strong, but is very slow for a sweeper, so Sticky Web support makes Stufful much better. Sticky Web allows Stufful to outspeed a large portion of the metagame, making it extremely threatening with its combination of bulk and power. Because of this, setters such as Surskit make good teammates.

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

  • Hammer Arm is usable, but it is not ideal because of the Speed drop. It causes Stufful to be outsped by Timburr and have to take a Drain Punch, rather than outspeed and take a Mach Punch.
  • Bulk Up is an option, but it lacks the power that Swords Dance provides in order to get KOs. A Bulk Up set is also outclassed by Timburr due to its better typing, access to priority and Knock Off, and passive recovery in the form of Drain Punch. Other coverage moves such as Thunder Punch, Brutal Swing, and Aerial Ace are options, but the Pokemon that would be hit by these moves are already hit hard enough by Stufful's STAB moves or other coverage options.

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

**Fast Special Attackers**: Pokemon such as Abra, Elekid, and Staryu outspeed Stufful and threaten its much weaker Special Defense, ending the sweep.

**Foongus**: Foongus survives a +2 Ice Punch from full health and can use Clear Smog to remove the Swords Dance Boost or use Spore to put Stufful to sleep, ending its sweep. It can also recover health by switching out thanks to Regenerator.

**Fire-types**: Fire-type moves deal double damage, and Fire-types such as Ponyta and Larvesta can burn Stufful with Will-O-Wisp or Flame Body.

**Ghost-types**: They are immune to both of Stufful's STAB moves, so it has to rely on its coverage move. Gastly in particular is immune to all of Stufful's attacks if Earthquake is Stufful's final move.

**Fairy-types**: Pokemon such as Spritzee and Cottonee resist Brick Break and threaten Stufful with their super effective, STAB Fairy-type attacks.
 
Last edited:

Aaron's Aron

A concussion update in my info tab
If anyone could go over this and "check" it and offer advice, that would be great! Obviously the summary still needs to be done, and the rest isn't perfect yet, but anything that could be offered now would make the official quality control checks go much easier tomorrow. I hope to be in the grammar prose stage by tomorrow night. Thanks!
 

churine

lunatic+
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
since this is qc ready ill try an amcheck, just remember that this doesnt count towards a qc stamp and you arent obliged to put everything here
-
in the overview, specify what role Stufful performs for the team (wallbreaker, bulky sweeper)

on the main set, i'd put Earthquake before Rock Slide imo

in moves, you should mention that Brick Break since it breaks screens and Aurora Veil

in set details, definitely mention Fluffy alongside its physical bulk

i guess in usage tips, mention when to use Swords Dance (like when forcing a switch or against a physical attacker)

in team options:
• remove the first sentence in the trappers point, the second sentence gives all the info we need and the first one is filler.
• mention that Alolan Grimer also counters other psychic and ghost types that can trouble Stufful
• also remove the point about Alolan Grimer checking fighters, it doesnt since it takes neutral damage from them
• give examples of Pokemon that can deal with fighting and fairy types
• add entry hazard setters (and examples) since they help Stufful achieve more ohkos
• add Pokemon that can deal with fire types (such as water types, rock types)


in other options, i guess you can mention Bulk Up here but mention it doesnt bolster attack as much as sd.

in checks and counters, fill in why fast special attackers are a threat lol, merge Gastly with ghost types, and give examples of fire types, other ghost types as well as special attackers that threaten Stufful.

nice work tho
 

Aaron's Aron

A concussion update in my info tab
since this is qc ready ill try an amcheck, just remember that this doesnt count towards a qc stamp and you arent obliged to put everything here
-
in the overview, specify what role Stufful performs for the team (wallbreaker, bulky sweeper)

on the main set, i'd put Earthquake before Rock Slide imo

in moves, you should mention that Brick Break since it breaks screens and Aurora Veil

in set details, definitely mention Fluffy alongside its physical bulk

i guess in usage tips, mention when to use Swords Dance (like when forcing a switch or against a physical attacker)

in team options:
• remove the first sentence in the trappers point, the second sentence gives all the info we need and the first one is filler.
• mention that Alolan Grimer also counters other psychic and ghost types that can trouble Stufful
• also remove the point about Alolan Grimer checking fighters, it doesnt since it takes neutral damage from them
• give examples of Pokemon that can deal with fighting and fairy types
• add entry hazard setters (and examples) since they help Stufful achieve more ohkos
• add Pokemon that can deal with fire types (such as water types, rock types)


in other options, i guess you can mention Bulk Up here but mention it doesnt bolster attack as much as sd.

in checks and counters, fill in why fast special attackers are a threat lol, merge Gastly with ghost types, and give examples of fire types, other ghost types as well as special attackers that threaten Stufful.

nice work tho
I made the changes. Thanks for the input, it did help! :]
 

Hilomilo

High-low My-low
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Overview
* Fluffy doesn't halve all physical damage. It halves the damage of contact moves, so change that.
* When talking about holding its own against Timburr, change Mach Punch to Drain Punch. This is a bit of a nitpick but I think it's a good idea considering Drain Punch has only a 0.4% chance to 2HKO Stufful from full.
* Give examples of the good coverage options that you say Stufful has, as well as examples of what the coverage moves can hit (only use examples that are listed on the set).
* Why is being slower for a setup sweeper a bad thing for Stufful? Explain (it's easily revenge killed without Speed control support).
* Clarify that Stufful loses to all faster special attackers due to its mediocre Special Defense.
* How does gaining a pseudo weakness to Fire-type attacks hurt Stufful? Elaborate on this in saying that it can't check physical attackers like Ponyta or Larvesta as reliably due to taking neutral damage from their STABs, and is even more pressure by Fire-type special attackers like Torchic and Houndour.

Set
Looks good

Moves
* 'Its STAB attacks are either relatively weak or not super-effective, so it needs the extra attack boost.' - remove this sentence, it's rather unnecessary.
* Give examples of Rock- and Steel-types hit by Brick Break (make sure they're relevant!). Also, remove the 'shattering them' part of the Brick Break section, it's fluff.
* Ice Punch's primary function is hitting Foongus hard, so modify your Ice Punch line to reflect that it's main purpose is hitting Foongus, while having the additional benefit of hitting Gastly and Pumpkaboo-XL for sufficient damage. You also need to say something about hitting Flying-types with the move, since that's the other main purpose of the move.
* Earthquake barely hits Mareanie and Alolan Grimer harder than Return. As a result, just say that it hits both Pokemon for OHKOs after an Attack boost. You also need to say that Earthquake hits Fire-types and give relevant examples.
* The Rock Slide line needs some fixing. It's primary function is hitting both Flying- and Fire-types with one move, so modify the sentence to reflect that, say that it has the additional benefit of possibly flinching foes, and also say that it notably hits Larvesta, which otherwise can comfortably tank Earthquake and burn Stufful with Flame Body if hit with contact moves.

Set Details
* Give some examples of KOs that you say are secured in using an Adamant nature.
* It's 236 Attack, not 196.
* You have too many examples of things that are outsped or tied with the given Speed EVs. Just say that with the Speed EVs, Stufful outspeeds Bulk Up Timburr and Pumpkaboo-XL, and also say that it outspeeds everything that's base 19 Speed or below under Sticky Web.
* 'It helps it to tank Drain Punches from Timburr better after Eviolite has been Knocked Off.' - something's wrong with this sentence and it should be fixed. Why would Stufful tank Drain Punch better after Eviolite's been knocked off?
* Again, Fluffy halves damage from contact moves, not physical ones. Change that in your last line.

Usage Tips
* Again, contact hits, not physical. Also give more examples of hits Stufful takes.
* Add something about Fairy-types needing to be removed. Cottonee can lock Stufful onto undesirable moves with Prankster Encore, while Spritzee tanks hits and KOs with Moonblast.
* Add your line about sweeping late-game to the top of this section, say that Stufful should be used to sweep late-game rather than can, and also say once its checks are removed.
* In your line about when to set up with SD, give examples of Pokemon Stufful forces out and give examples of Pokemon that can't damage it much.

Team Options
* Add Sticky Web support here. Stufful really appreciates the ability to outspeed a lot of the metagame with minimal Speed investment.
* Knock Off support also needs to be added. Say that it helps Stufful break past Spritzee, Vullaby, and Foongus more easily with their eviolites removed, and give relevant examples of Pokemon capable of supporting Stufful with Knock Off.
* Give Timburr and Mienfoo as examples here. Say that both can weaken the checks their share with Stufful with chip damage or Knock Off, as well as provide pivot support in Mienfoo's case and absorb status in Timburr's.
* Give examples of Fairy-type checks here as well and say that they can help remove or weaken the Fairy-types that impede Stufful's sweep.

Other Options
* There are a few sentences that are unnecessary fluff and should be removed. 'Stufful is already slow to begin with, and the drop makes it even slower.' should be removed from the first line, and 'Stufful often falls short with just a +1 boost.' should be removed from the second line.
* Why exactly is Timburr better as a Bulk Up user? Explain (better typing, access to Knock Off and priority, and passive recovery in the form of Drain Punch).
* Add here that Stufful has some interesting coverage options in Thunder Punch, Brutal Swing, and Aerial Ace but that most targets of these attacks are already hit hard enough by either Stufful's STAB attacks or other coverage options.

Checks and Counters
* You don't have any cohesive sentences here, and this is the only section that requires cohesive sentences to be written before writeup, so please change this.
* Clarify in your Foongus line that it takes boosted Ice Punch from full, and that it can recover off any damage taken with Regenerator.
* Add a Fairy-type section. Say that they're resistant to Brick Break, and threaten Stufful with super effective STAB attacks. Use Spritzee and Cottonee as examples.

This is a lot to implement, so make sure all of it is added then hmu on discord. I'll edit in a stamp after I look this over one more time.

Edit: Looks good, further changes were discussed on discord
1/3
 
Last edited:

Aaron's Aron

A concussion update in my info tab
I implemented the extra stuff we talked about on Discord. Sorry for the delay, I didn't have (good) wi-fi for like three days. Thanks for the check!

Ready for the second QC check.
 

Xayah

San Bwanna
is a Community Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
[OVERVIEW
  • It can even hold its own against Timburr and its Drain Punch. What does this tell me? Also, this is wrong, cause it gets 2HKOed while not 2HKOing back, meaning it loses the 1v1:
196+ Atk Iron Fist Timburr Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Eviolite Fluffy Stufful: 12-14 (52.1 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
236+ Atk Stufful Return vs. 0 HP / 156 Def Eviolite Timburr: 9-12 (37.5 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
No idea what calc Hilomilo was doing but yeah
So remove that​
  • You need to mention the lack of a move to hit Ghost-types in general somewhere, since Brutal Swing just doesn't cut it and it results in them being able to wall Stufful pretty well.
  • While your last line isn't wrong, it is written in a very convoluted way. You can reword it to simply 'Fluffy gives Stufful a pseudo-weakness to Fire, meaning it is easily pressured by special Fire-types like Torchic and Houndour and, to a lesser extent, physical Fire-types like Ponyta and Larvesta.'
  • Mention the lack of access to a strong, drawback-free Fighting move (Drain Punch, HJK, Close Combat).
  • Mention its weakness to Fighting-types moves, and say that while Fluffy reduces the damage of most Fighting-moves, it does mean that it loses the 1v1 against Mienfoo and Timburr and gets destroyed by Croagunk
  • Mention the insane competition it faces from other Fighting-types
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Brick Break / Superpower
move 4: Ice Punch / Earthquake / Rock Slide
item: Eviolite
ability: Fluffy
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe
  • I believe Superpower should be slashed. While it does reduce Stufful's Attack, two Superpowers still hit harder than two Brick Breaks, and notably allow it to usually 2HKO Mienfoo (Hammer Arm doesn't do this either) and always OHKO BJ Onix if Sturdy is broken. Brick Break is still better because the Defense drop kinda sucks and the Attack drop means Stufful can't sweep as effectively, but Superpower should be slashed for if Stufful needs to perform more of a wallbreaking role.

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Add a Superpower description. Make clear that it should be used if Stufful should wallbreak more than it sweeps.
  • It's Aurora Veil, not Aura Veil.
  • Remove 'with just one move' in the Rock Slide line, it's completely unnecessary and only serves to confuse
Usage Tips
========
  • Mention that Stufful can also be used as a mid-game wallbreaker, especially if it runs Superpower
  • Foongus and Pumpkaboo-XL normally survive a +2 Ice Punch, but a roughly 50/50 chance to be OHKOd after Stealth Rock damage. Weakening Foongus earlier in the battle will help Stufful break through, but it has Regenerator so it needs to be weakened fairly significantly so it isn't at full health when it switches back in. This entire line can simply be changed to 'It's important for Stufful to only set up when its checks such as Foongus and Pumpkaboo-XL have been weakened, as they otherwise stop its sweep.'
  • Add a line about when to use Superpower: it should generally be used when it can hit most Pokemon on the enemy team are hit hard by it, as the Attack drop will usually force Stufful to switch out afterwards, so it can't stay in to use a different move in stead.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
============
  • Mention SubSD of a way of taking advantage of things like Ferroseed even more effectively, but the lack of coverage is undesirable most of the time
  • Mention 4 Attacks as a way of having more coverage, but a lack of SD leaves Stufful too weak to effectively wallbreak or sweep
QC 2/3, write me up Scotty
 

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