OU: Pokémon Manaphy Discussion Thread

One Approved

One Approved

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Advanced Member
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[animate]manaphy[/animate]

So in the light of all of the brand new 6th generation toys and all the new mega formes of old mons, I think a pokemon that has been overlooked this generation is Manaphy; I haven't seen it once on the ladder and I'd wager that a lot of people forgot that it has been unbanned for this generation. Its movepool isn't the best, but it does sport a stat-boosting move that's even better than Nasty Plot, so it's fair to say that Manaphy should have a relatively easy time breaking through walls.​

Manaphy
Type: Water
Base Stats: 100/100/100/100/100/100

Notable Moves:

Rain Dance
Tail Glow

Endure
Calm Mind
Light Screen
Reflect
Rest
U-turn
Energy Ball
Ice Beam
Surf
Hidden Power

Thoughts and Possible Sets

Offensive Tail Glow
Manaphy @Life Orb
Trait: Hydration
Timid nature
252 SpAtk/4 SpDef/252 Spe
~Tail Glow
~Surf
~Ice Beam/Rest
~Energy Ball/Grass Knot/Rest

Does this really need an explanation?? Tail Glow gives you a +3 in Special Attack, and then you click the appropriate attacking move and watch things take massive amounts of damage. Surf for STAB (you don't get Hydro Pump, but at +3 I don't think you need it anyways), Ice Beam covers Celebi and Dragon-types, Energy Ball and Grass Knot hit Water-types. Grass Knot hits most things for more damage, but it does not do very much to Rotom-W, so I believe Energy Ball is the superior option. Due to Manaphy's unique ability in Hydration, you can opt for Rest over one of the coverage moves if you have Drizzle support somewhere on your team.

Just looking to discuss Manaphy a bit, it is not nearly as strong without permanent rain to support it, but immediate +3 is worth something. Even though Manaphy's movepool is barren, it gets all the coverage it needs in Ice Beam and Energy Ball, and Rest can make it a real tank with Rain in play.

I guess a Specs set could be used, you do have access to U-turn, but I figured that with Surf as your strongest STAB off of only base 100 SpAtk, it might not be worth it in the long run. Same for an all-out attacker set. Calm Mind might not be a bad idea, a lot of manaphy's Counters like Celebi or Rotom-W might only run something like Volt Switch or Giga Drain, so if you can get to +1 or +2 Special Defense, they won't be able to KO you reliably. However, with Rain not being permanent, you cannot reliably spam Rest anymore, so this option is also less ideal than a just "set up and KO things" set.

Discuss!
 
Manaphy is one of the few Pokémon I don't have experience using, but I've heard all about it. Manaphy will likely, even with its weather-abusing days and recovery gone, every bit of an offensive threat as it was last generation. Tail Glow, a Water typing and 100 base stats all around make it bulky and a fearsome boosting attacker. It may be overlooked, but in no way whatsoever should it be underestimated. Once the hype of generation 6's new toys dies down, I bet Manaphy will slowly but steadily climb to where it belongs.

That's really all I can say.

~AoH
 
I really think that many people pay to the weather nerf more attention than they should. Yes, the weather is not permanent anymore. So? In Gen V, unless you ran an anti-weather or counter team, if you allowed your opponent to keep their weather up for more than 5 turns, you were in BIG trouble. If the weather persisted for 10 turns, which is the new duration for a Rock item, and you had somehow not lost yet, you were on the verge of defeat.
For me, Manaphy is just as terrifying as it was, and I used to face it in Ubers. I don't even wanna think about it in OU. Manaphy doesn't need 5 turns of rain in most occasions, with 2 Tail Glows it maximizes Attack and Rest can keep it up and running for 1 or 2 extra turns it might need. Total of 3-4 turns, unless the opponent is running a check/counter. Then, with maximized SpA, it won't need the rain boost to sweep through teams.
TPO3's set with Rest in the last slot is, in my opinion, the best Manaphy set and one of the greatest threats in OU.
 
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