Buneary (Analysis)'

Discussion in 'Locked / Outdated Analyses' started by Blackhawk11, Aug 24, 2009.

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  1. Blackhawk11

    Blackhawk11 one on one

    Apr 29, 2009
    This is my first analysis, hopefully not my last. Thanks to Gen. Empoleon for looking this over before I posted it.

    Current Status: Done?
    Edit 1: Added the Switcheroo set as well as a few more other options.
    Edit 2: Corrected the mistakes SoT pointed out.
    Edit 3: Made a few of my own corrections after looking it over.
    Edit 4: Added Choice Specs to the list of item options for the Switcheroo set and explained it.
    Edit 5: Made some final changes and added a few more partners to the Agilipass set.
    Edit 6: After looking through the stats, I decided to slash Fire Punch in on the lead set, I also moved the lead set to the top as that seems to be the most common.
    Edit 7: Removed any mention of Misdreavus present. In a few cases I just replaced it with Drifloon, but in others I had to remove it entirely.




    Name: Fake Out Lead
    Move 1: Fake Out
    Move 2: Quick Attack
    Move 3: Ice Punch / Fire Punch
    Move 4: Endeavor / Protect / Encore
    Item: Focus Sash / Life Orb
    Ability: Run Away
    Nature: Jolly / Adamant
    EVs: 228 Atk / 4 Def / 236 Spe


    <p>Lead Buneary has both advantages and disadvantages when compared to other common Fake Out leads such as Aipom and Meowth. The biggest advantages are access to Quick Attack and Endeavor. Disadvantages include lack of the Technician ability, which boosts moves with 60 or less base power, as well as not having a move that hits Ghost-type switch-ins for super effective damage. However, Buneary does have access to a few moves that neither Aipom nor Meowth have. With Endeavor, Quick Attack, and a Focus Sash, Buneary has the potential to KO one Pokemon and leave another at 1 HP, which is never a bad thing. Fake Out is the obvious first choice here, giving Buneary the essential first turn flinch while breaking the opponent's Focus Sash. Ice Punch hits lead Diglett and Gligar harder than Quick Attack can, scoring a nice KO after Fake Out breaks its Focus Sash, but Ice Punch's main purpose is to hit Ghost-types who are immune to Fake Out and Quick Attack. Fire Punch is a viable option to hit Steel-types who take minimal damage from STAB Normal-type attacks, but when dealing with the common leads, Ice Punch is the superior option. Protect can be used when running an Adamant nature so that you can avoid Fake Outs from the likes of Jolly Aipom, Glameow, and Meowth, then go for a 2HKO with Quick Attack. Encore is also a notable choice in the last slot because Buneary can use it to force foes into repeatedly using Protect or Stealth Rock, giving a team member a chance to set up.</p>

    <p>Because Buneary is unable to set up Stealth Rock, one of her teammates should be designated to set it up. Pokémon such as Omanyte and Anorith can both set up Stealth Rock, but they share a Fighting weakness with Buneary, so Gligar or Sandshrew would be better options. Another good partner for lead Buneary is one who can use a priority move to defeat any Pokémon who is left with 1 HP from Endeavor. A notable one is Shuppet, who can switch into Fighting-type attacks with immunity.</p>

    Name: Choice
    Move 1: Quick Attack / Return
    Move 2: Ice Punch
    Move 3: ThunderPunch
    Move 4: Switcheroo / Fire Punch / Return
    Item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
    Ability: Run Away
    Nature: Jolly / Adamant
    EVs: 228 Atk / 4 Def / 236 Spe


    <p>Slapping a Choice item on Buneary magnifies what it does best, either outrun the majority of the metagame or hit hard with great coverage. STAB priority is a blessing in the offensive Little Cup metagame, as it allows you to bypass Speed stats and strike your opponent first more often than not. With a decent 24 Attack stat when holding a Choice Band, Buneary can wreck havoc on any Pokemon who doesn't resist Normal-type attacks. Return can be used as the main form of STAB, but is not recommended, as Ghost-types in Little Cup are very common. Ice Punch and ThunderPunch combine to make the dreaded BoltBeam combo, hitting every Pokémon in Little Cup for at least neutral damage except for Magnemite and Chinchou, and the latter of the two is hit neutrally by Normal-type attacks. In the last slot, you can choose to use Switcheroo, which will allow you to swap items with your opponent, potentially giving their special set up sweeper a worthless, yet crippling, Choice Band; however using Switcheroo is not a good option when Buneary has a Choice Scarf, as nearly every Pokémon in Little Cup will benefit from the Speed boost. Fire Punch is a notable option, scoring a super effective hit on Magnemite, the only Pokémon who resists the previous three attacks, whereas Return can also be used here as a solid STAB option when power is needed instead of priority.</p>

    <p>There are specific pairings that one should take note of, mainly between items and natures. When using a Choice Band, Jolly nature should be used to reach 19 Speed, which puts Buneary into the second highest non-boosted Speed tier, only behind Diglett, Elekid, and Voltorb. When using a Choice Scarf, either nature is acceptable, but because Jolly is only useful in catching other 19 Speed Choice Scarf users, Adamant is preferred as it boosts Buneary's mediocre Attack stat.</p>

    <p>If there's one thing Buneary hates, it's an Elekid using Quick Attack or a Magby using Mach Punch while it is locked in on a non-priority move. As Buneary doesn't have the best defenses it is best to pair it up with a Ghost-type such as Gastly or Drifloon who can come in on these attacks with immunity and set up for a sweep. Another thing that Buneary with a Choice item hates is when a Ghost-type comes in on Quick Attack or Return. A great partner would be someone who can take care of Ghosts, especially STAB Pursuit users such as Houndour and Stunky.</p>

    Name: Agilipass
    Move 1: Agility
    Move 2: Baton Pass
    Move 3: Substitute / Endure
    Move 4: Quick Attack / Encore
    Item: Liechi Berry / Salac Berry
    Ability: Run Away
    Nature: Jolly
    EVs: 156 HP / 68 Atk / 4 Def / 236 Spe


    <p>The goal of this set is to pass Speed boosts to a slower sweeper. The best way to do this is by using Substitute until Liechi Berry activates, while using Agility whenever the foe fails to break your Substitute. The HP EVs put you right at 24 HP, meaning that your Berry will activate after three uses of Substitute. Then Baton Pass the boosts to a Pokémon waiting in the wings. Endure can be used instead of Substitute if you want to get to the Berry boost immediately, but isn't recommended, as the chance to pass a Substitute is too good to miss out on. In the last slot, Quick Attack is a good choice so that Buneary isn't completely shut down by a Taunter, while Encore can be used to force a foe to switch or repeat a worthless attack, giving Buneary at least one free turn to set up. If you find yourself not able to pass Speed boosts enough, you can swap Liechi Berry for a Salac Berry, which means you will always be able to pass at least +1 Speed.</p>

    <p>There are several slow Pokémon in Little Cup who would enjoy being passed +2 Speed and +1 Attack; the best of these include Cranidos, Cubone, and Trapinch. Bagon also enjoys being passed some Speed, and can tear opponents apart with STAB Outrage. Munchlax is already a dominate force in the metagame, and with a few Speed boosts, it becomes even more threatening. However, because Munchlax needs at least +3 Speed before it becomes 'fast' by Little Cup standards, as well as the fact that it won't be able to come in on the Fighting-type attacks that plague Buneary make it a rather poor choice.</p>

    Name: Switcheroo
    Move 1: Switcheroo
    Move 2: Quick Attack / Return
    Move 3: Thunder Wave / Charm
    Move 4: Encore / Substitute
    Item: Choice Band / Choice Specs
    Ability: Klutz
    Nature: Jolly
    EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 236 Spe


    <p>This is Buneary's best attempt at supporting its team outside of Baton Pass, but it's still a viable strategy. Thanks to Buneary's unique ability, Klutz, it is not affected by items. That means that it can, for example, hold a Choice Band and still switch moves while not gaining the Attack boost. This makes it relatively easy to switch a harmful item onto an opponent. This set has the recurring choice between Quick Attack and Return, and the arguments are the same for both sides. The priority that Quick Attack offers is valuable, but Return's base power is more than 2.5x that of Quick Attack, which can be very beneficial. Thunder Wave will severely cripple opponents who just received a Choice Band, whereas Charm will decrease a burned opponent's Attack to virtually nothing, allowing you to set up a sub and stall the foe while it slowly dies from residual damage. Using Encore on a worthless move will allow other teammates to come in and set up.</p>

    <p>The choice of item on this set is up to personal preference, and it should also affect move selection. As mentioned above, Choice Band or Choice Specs can be paired with Thunder Wave to ruin a sweeper. Other notable item options include Lagging Tail and Flame Orb. Lagging Tail is useful to give to the opponent because the Pokémon holding it will always move last, unless it is using a priority move. This gives slower, bulkier Pokémon a chance to come in and set up an Agility or Rock Polish. Giving the foe a Flame Orb, combined with using Charm, makes an opposing physically-based sweeper worthless, turning it into set up fodder.</p>

    <p>Set up sweepers will be given numerous opportunities to do so when this set is used correctly. Great partners would be Dragon Dance Bagon and Dratini, Rock Polish Cranidos and Gligar, or Swords Dance Cubone and Gligar. All of these can come in on a crippled foe and get off a boost that could ensure a sweep.</p>

    [Team Options]

    <p>Although each set has specific Pokémon that function well with it, any Buneary set should be paired up with a Ghost-type to take super effective Fighting-type attacks. In return, Buneary can switch-in on Ghost-type attacks with impunity. Drifloon and Gastly make great offensive partners, and Duskull enjoys forcing switches on the defensive end. Buneary is rather frail, and therefore KOed easily, which makes having a designated revenge killer very appealing. Diglett does a great job at trapping foes then KOing them due to its ability, Arena Trap, and its blistering Speed.</p>

    [Other Options]

    <p>Buneary has a very limited offensive movepool, but it does have just enough attacks to attain perfect Little Cup coverage. Jump Kick is a viable replacement for Fire Punch on the Choice set, still allowing you to hit Magnemite, while being able to hit Aron and Shieldon much harder. Jump Kick does come at the price of less than perfect accuracy however, so Fire Punch is generally the better choice. Another Fighting-type option is the SubPunch combo, which could possibly have a set made around it. You can also try to sweep with Agility, but Buneary is rather frail, and will fall to most priority attacks. Foresight can be used to hit Ghosts with STAB Normal-type attacks, but the turn of set up could prove to be fatal for Buneary. Life Orb can replace Choice Band on the Choice set, but the HP loss brings Buneary into many Pokémon's priority OHKO range rather quickly.</p>

    <p>In terms of support, Buneary just doesn't have the stats to pull off a lot of what it could have done otherwise. Buneary has access to Toxic, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, and Fake Tears, but all of those should be left to others with the stats to back them up.</p>


    <p>The standard sweeper spread is 228 Atk / 4 Def / 236 Spe. This maximizes Attack and Speed while gaining all the other possible stats it can, unfortunately only one is available. On the Agilipass set, you should run 156 HP EVs to bring Buneary up to 24 HP, which is divisible by four and will activate the Liechi Berry after three Substitutes. The Switcheroo set focuses on Speed and bulkiness, maximizing HP and Speed, then putting getting the only other stat possible by placing 4 EVs in Defense.</p>


    <p>Buneary is outclassed by Meowth and Aipom at just about everything it tries to do, but this bunny has a few tricks up its sleeve. Encore, Endeavor, Quick Attack, and Switcheroo are all moves that the aforementioned pair doesn't have access to, so it's best to utilize these moves as much as possible, or else you would be better off using Meowth.</p>


    <p>Fighting-type moves are Buneary's downfall. Magby can easily revenge kill Choice variants locked into anything but Quick Attack with Mach Punch, and can even survive a Jolly CB Quick Attack after Stealth Rock and 2KO back. Machop is fairly bulky and can survive any of Buneary's attacks, even a Jolly CB Return fails to OHKO provided Machop hasn't taken any previous damage, and it can OHKO back with DynamicPunch.</p>

    <p>Buneary also hates opposing priority. Sucker Punch coming from a strong Dark-type can cause serious damage, provided the attack hits before Quick Attack. Bulky Pokemon such as Squirtle and Seel can use Aqua Jet to avoid a ThunderPunch and KO Buneary when it is weakened.</p>

    <p>Last but not least, Ghost-types can cause Buneary some serious problems. Even though a STAB Shadow Ball can't touch Buneary, HP Fighting certainly can, and Buneary doesn't have many options for dealing with opposing Ghosts.
  2. TPM


    Aug 27, 2008
    You need a trick set.
  3. Blackhawk11

    Blackhawk11 one on one

    Apr 29, 2009
    I mentioned it in Other Options, but I guess it could have its own set. I'll get to work editing it in.

    Edit: I'm not entirely sure about that Switcheroo set, it was kind of difficult to get four moves in there. If anyone has any better ideas I'll gladly listen to them.
  4. SoT

    SoT Yes please!

    Aug 30, 2007
  5. eric the espeon

    eric the espeon maybe I just misunderstood

    Aug 7, 2007
    At a glance, the main item you will want to be tricking is Choice Specs. What is effectively a one time burn/para (without the 25% chance of not moving) is really not worth giving up your item slot for, and Specs harms the Pokemon who you are most likely to target much more than CB (Munchlax, Gligar, lead diggy, some Bronzor), but is less helpful against the two main ghosts.
  6. Dubulous

    Dubulous raidical

    Jun 9, 2009
    Blackhawk11 has informed me that he is no longer working on this analysis. As such, I'm locking this and putting Buneary back up for claim.
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