Right, here's a criminally underused threat. I've no idea why Manaphy is sitting at around 1.3% usage.
Manaphy @ Wacan Berry / various other items
Trait: Hydration
- Surf
- Tail Glow
- Ice Beam / Energy Ball
- Rest
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe (or whatever spread you feel like really)
Modest Nature
Experienced doubles players know how terrifying this harmless-looking thing can be when well-supported. In my mind it is definitely the third best set-up sweeper in doubles, behind Scizor and Volcarona, and it's not hard to see why:
- Tail Glow is an insanely powerful boosting move. Most boosting moves only give you +1 to an attacking stat except the widely distributed Swords Dance, which is susceptible to Intimidate on everything except Bisharp (someone should try that actually, people often play around Sucker Punch, which gives you great set-up opportunities).
- Hydration / Rest makes it difficult to kill off in rain, especially with FM/RP support.
- Hydration also means you can't just cripple it with Amoonguss's Spore or Thundurus's Thunder Wave, which is how many people would deal with a typical set-up opponent.
- Pure Water is a decent defensive typing: not many weaknesses and useful resists.
- 100/100/100 is excellent bulk. Manaphy is often difficult to kill in one turn even when double-targeted. It can simply Rest off all damage, effectively giving its partner a free turn.
- +6 252+ Manaphy's Surf vs 252/252+ Cresselia in rain: 12.5% chance to OHKO. And reaching that level of power requires only two turns of set-up.
- You have a choice in the third moveslot about what coverage to run. Between them, Ice Beam and Energy Ball hit everything Surf doesn't and they hit their targets hard, too. You can even drop Rest for perfect coverage.
However, Manaphy isn't perfect. Here are some flaws:
- Surf has a tendency to cannibalise teammates, which limits teambuilding options.
- You have to give it rain support, which means you have to run Politoed. Since the two share an identical typing, you lose out on synergy.
- It also needs speed control to work at its best.
So all in all, you really have to build a team around Manaphy to make it shine. If you do so, though, it is absolutely lethal.
Next on the list: Acupressure Shuckle :p.