[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psychic
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Specs
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to Tinted Lens and its solid Special Attack, Mothim is free to spam Choice Specs-boosted STAB Bug Buzz without worrying about type resistances against bulky Pokemon like Muk, Lairon, Frillish, and Wormadam-S. Offensive Pokemon like Simisear and Emolga that would otherwise resist Mothim's Bug Buzz cannot safely switch into it either. Meganium, one of the most relevant special walls, is potentially OHKOed by Mothim's Bug Buzz after Stealth Rock damage due to its weakness to Bug. Even specially defensive Clefairy must be careful to remain healthy if it wants to switch in against Mothim, as it is 3HKOed by Mothim's Bug Buzz. Mothim should mostly be using Bug Buzz, but Shadow Ball deals more damage to Frillish than Bug Buzz and can safely 2HKO it, while Bug Buzz cannot, and it's also valuable against the uncommon Lampent. Psychic does more damage to Muk, and it can be helpful against Pignite. However, Mothim infrequently uses special attacks besides Bug Buzz due to its power and the rarity of the cases where Shadow Ball or Psychic is a more useful attack. U-turn lets Mothim pivot out on an incoming check like specially defensive Clefairy to open a window for a teammate and chip down foes for itself. Mothim runs a Modest nature to maximize its damage, 2HKOing Frillish and Muk with Bug Buzz after Stealth Rock damage and 3HKOing specially defensive Clefairy. The improved Speed a Timid nature gives is not worth taking away from Mothim's power.
Choice Specs Mothim often requires partners that can bring it in safely given its poor defensive stats and typing. Slow pivots like Mienfoo and Vibrava can take a hit for Mothim while they bring it into more favorable matchups with U-turn. In turn, Mothim offers explosive power versus these partners' checks, like Muk and Meganium. Offensive pivots like Emolga and Persian tend to draw in slow and defensive Pokemon like Solrock, Lairon, and Wormadam-S, and U-turn opens the window for Mothim to come in and punch huge holes in their checks. Stealth Rock severely limits the number of times Mothim can come onto the field, so Staryu is an excellent partner. In turn, Staryu appreciates Mothim destroying checks to it like Frillish and Leafeon and generally providing immense offensive output. Mothim has few defensive answers besides specially defensive Clefairy, so Muk, Mienfoo, and Emolga make great partners for it given their good matchups versus Clefairy.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Specs Mothim generally lacks moves that provide more than simply attacking with Bug Buzz. Air Slash has lower Base Power than Bug Buzz, but it has a chance to flinch troublesome foes like Clefairy. Mothim can make use of Quiver Dance to be a powerful sweeper thanks to Tinted Lens, especially with Bug Gem to further augment its power or Leftovers to mitigate damage from status and priority moves. However, Quiver Dance sets struggle with their frailty, severe Stealth Rock weakness, and inability to hit neutral targets like Clefairy very hard. Mothim can run Protect over Substitute or Air Slash for protection from Persian's Fake Out, though this comes at the cost of making it more vulnerable to status or giving up the option to flinch a foe. Timid Choice Specs Mothim can outspeed Adamant Solrock, Choice Specs Glaceon, Jolly pivot Mienfoo, and Adamant Kingler, but Mothim is better off prioritizing wallbreaking over these specific matchups.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Stealth Rock**: A 4x weakness to Stealth Rock damage means Mothim cannot switch in repeatedly when Stealth Rock is up and that it is unlikely to survive any hits after taking Stealth Rock damage given its poor bulk.
**Specially Defensive Clefairy**: Mothim cannot 2HKO Clefairy with Choice Specs Bug Buzz, and Clefairy has reliable recovery in Soft-Boiled to recover damage taken from Mothim. Clefairy can also remove Mothim's item with Knock Off, reducing its damage output. On top of that, its Thunder Wave is devastating for Mothim and opens up more opportunities for it to recover freely, and it often runs Stealth Rock, which takes 50% of Mothim's health every time it comes in. Clefairy itself is not vulnerable to chip damage from entry hazards, which makes it harder to wear down for Mothim to break through it. Clefairy access to Seismic Toss means it breaks Quiver Dance Mothim's Substitute regardless of setup and does a big chunk of damage, while Encore can lock Mothim into its setup moves and make it easier to deal with.
**Revenge Killers**: Fast Pokemon like Persian, Emolga, Simisear, Raichu, Slaking, and Pikachu can outspeed and KO Mothim easily with their STAB attacks. Given Mothim's poor bulk and severe weakness to Stealth Rock, other revenge killers like Grumpig, Mr. Mime, Leafeon, and Arbok can often count on Mothim being worn down into KO range of their attacks. If Mothim boosts with Quiver Dance, however, these Pokemon can no longer safely revenge kill Mothim. Simisear and Slaking commonly hold Choice Scarf, and they can revenge kill Mothim even after a Quiver Dance boost. Other common Choice Scarf users like Grumpig and Mr. Mime can run Psyshock to ignore Quiver Dance Mothim's Special Defense boosts and KO it after Stealth Rock damage.
**Priority**: Given how delicate Mothim is between its poor bulk and severe weakness to Stealth Rock, it risks being put into KO range of priority attacks. Pawniard, Muk, Pikachu, and Mienfoo often run priority moves and can overcome their inferior Speed tiers to cut Mothim down after chip damage. Pawniard and other Sucker Punch users like Arbok must be wary of Quiver Dance Mothim using Substitute.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sleid.601970/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psychic
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Specs
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to Tinted Lens and its solid Special Attack, Mothim is free to spam Choice Specs-boosted STAB Bug Buzz without worrying about type resistances against bulky Pokemon like Muk, Lairon, Frillish, and Wormadam-S. Offensive Pokemon like Simisear and Emolga that would otherwise resist Mothim's Bug Buzz cannot safely switch into it either. Meganium, one of the most relevant special walls, is potentially OHKOed by Mothim's Bug Buzz after Stealth Rock damage due to its weakness to Bug. Even specially defensive Clefairy must be careful to remain healthy if it wants to switch in against Mothim, as it is 3HKOed by Mothim's Bug Buzz. Mothim should mostly be using Bug Buzz, but Shadow Ball deals more damage to Frillish than Bug Buzz and can safely 2HKO it, while Bug Buzz cannot, and it's also valuable against the uncommon Lampent. Psychic does more damage to Muk, and it can be helpful against Pignite. However, Mothim infrequently uses special attacks besides Bug Buzz due to its power and the rarity of the cases where Shadow Ball or Psychic is a more useful attack. U-turn lets Mothim pivot out on an incoming check like specially defensive Clefairy to open a window for a teammate and chip down foes for itself. Mothim runs a Modest nature to maximize its damage, 2HKOing Frillish and Muk with Bug Buzz after Stealth Rock damage and 3HKOing specially defensive Clefairy. The improved Speed a Timid nature gives is not worth taking away from Mothim's power.
Choice Specs Mothim often requires partners that can bring it in safely given its poor defensive stats and typing. Slow pivots like Mienfoo and Vibrava can take a hit for Mothim while they bring it into more favorable matchups with U-turn. In turn, Mothim offers explosive power versus these partners' checks, like Muk and Meganium. Offensive pivots like Emolga and Persian tend to draw in slow and defensive Pokemon like Solrock, Lairon, and Wormadam-S, and U-turn opens the window for Mothim to come in and punch huge holes in their checks. Stealth Rock severely limits the number of times Mothim can come onto the field, so Staryu is an excellent partner. In turn, Staryu appreciates Mothim destroying checks to it like Frillish and Leafeon and generally providing immense offensive output. Mothim has few defensive answers besides specially defensive Clefairy, so Muk, Mienfoo, and Emolga make great partners for it given their good matchups versus Clefairy.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Specs Mothim generally lacks moves that provide more than simply attacking with Bug Buzz. Air Slash has lower Base Power than Bug Buzz, but it has a chance to flinch troublesome foes like Clefairy. Mothim can make use of Quiver Dance to be a powerful sweeper thanks to Tinted Lens, especially with Bug Gem to further augment its power or Leftovers to mitigate damage from status and priority moves. However, Quiver Dance sets struggle with their frailty, severe Stealth Rock weakness, and inability to hit neutral targets like Clefairy very hard. Mothim can run Protect over Substitute or Air Slash for protection from Persian's Fake Out, though this comes at the cost of making it more vulnerable to status or giving up the option to flinch a foe. Timid Choice Specs Mothim can outspeed Adamant Solrock, Choice Specs Glaceon, Jolly pivot Mienfoo, and Adamant Kingler, but Mothim is better off prioritizing wallbreaking over these specific matchups.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Stealth Rock**: A 4x weakness to Stealth Rock damage means Mothim cannot switch in repeatedly when Stealth Rock is up and that it is unlikely to survive any hits after taking Stealth Rock damage given its poor bulk.
**Specially Defensive Clefairy**: Mothim cannot 2HKO Clefairy with Choice Specs Bug Buzz, and Clefairy has reliable recovery in Soft-Boiled to recover damage taken from Mothim. Clefairy can also remove Mothim's item with Knock Off, reducing its damage output. On top of that, its Thunder Wave is devastating for Mothim and opens up more opportunities for it to recover freely, and it often runs Stealth Rock, which takes 50% of Mothim's health every time it comes in. Clefairy itself is not vulnerable to chip damage from entry hazards, which makes it harder to wear down for Mothim to break through it. Clefairy access to Seismic Toss means it breaks Quiver Dance Mothim's Substitute regardless of setup and does a big chunk of damage, while Encore can lock Mothim into its setup moves and make it easier to deal with.
**Revenge Killers**: Fast Pokemon like Persian, Emolga, Simisear, Raichu, Slaking, and Pikachu can outspeed and KO Mothim easily with their STAB attacks. Given Mothim's poor bulk and severe weakness to Stealth Rock, other revenge killers like Grumpig, Mr. Mime, Leafeon, and Arbok can often count on Mothim being worn down into KO range of their attacks. If Mothim boosts with Quiver Dance, however, these Pokemon can no longer safely revenge kill Mothim. Simisear and Slaking commonly hold Choice Scarf, and they can revenge kill Mothim even after a Quiver Dance boost. Other common Choice Scarf users like Grumpig and Mr. Mime can run Psyshock to ignore Quiver Dance Mothim's Special Defense boosts and KO it after Stealth Rock damage.
**Priority**: Given how delicate Mothim is between its poor bulk and severe weakness to Stealth Rock, it risks being put into KO range of priority attacks. Pawniard, Muk, Pikachu, and Mienfoo often run priority moves and can overcome their inferior Speed tiers to cut Mothim down after chip damage. Pawniard and other Sucker Punch users like Arbok must be wary of Quiver Dance Mothim using Substitute.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sleid.601970/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
Last edited: