Pok�mon of the Week

Mandibuzz, The Bone Vulture Pok�mon. Watching from the sky, they swoop to strike weakened Pok�mon on the ground. They decorate themselves with bones. It makes a nest out of bones it finds. It grabs weakened prey in its talons and hauls it to its nest of bones.

Welcome to reverse Honchkrow. Awesome bulk, nice support moves, horrific offensive stats. Mandibuzz is very limited but it is pretty good as what it can do. It's a wall (if you couldn't tell from the stat layout), and it has the moves to succeed in doing this. Recovery, Taunt and what not, it's all good. It has access to Nasty Plot but very few moves to really make it work. It also has Bone Rush... because it's a vulture... so it scavenges... I guess. But yeah, offensive Dark/Flying is best left to Honchkrow.

Big Pecks: does anything honestly use this? You can't have your Defence lowered... who uses Defence lowering moves except on VERY rare Screech sets?
Overcoat: this will be your ability... 100% of the time. You're immune to damage dealing weather. Considering the fact you're already weak to Stealth Rock, cutting out sandstorm and hail damage is really quite cool.
Weak Armor: another terrible choice. You gain +1 Speed but -1 Defence every time you are hit by a move. Like... there's no reason to use it.

- Roost
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Knock Off / Brave Bird
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SDef / 44 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

Was that the name of a stage in DKC? Sounds like it. Anyway, this is generally what you'll see and expect most Mandibuzz to run. Roost is practically the best healing move in the game. 50% instant heal, removes the generally awful Flying type for one turn, it's sweet. Taunt stops walls from doing their job, as well as stopping boosters and what not. Toxic will be your main damage dealer because, let's be honest, Mandibuzz sucks in terms of offence. Whirlwind gives you some cute phazing; handy for removing boosts or spreading residual damage. Knock Off stops you being Taunt bait as it's an attack, but is also a great support move, especially now Eviolite exists. Brave Bird is an option in case you really want to deal damage... just in case.

- Tailwind
- Taunt
- Knock Off / Brave Bird
- U-turn
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SDef / 108 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

Tailwind is an awesome move. It doubles your team's Speed for 3 turns, which can be utterly devastating if you're using a heavy hitting Choice Pok�mon that would benefit from the Speed. Taunt is always handy, and it means with Tailwind you're fast as hell, and also to an extent forcing them to switch, giving your offensive switch in (possibly a glass cannon) some breathing room. Knock Off is an �offensive� support move, but Brave Bird can work well with Tailwind to outspeed and take care of some threats like Heracross. U-turn is the real key to the set, as you can U-turn as soon as you Tailwind and get your powerhouse of choice rolling.

Vulture
248 HP gives you an odd number which allows for switching into Stealth Rock five times compared to four. 16 Speed hits 200, 44 gets you 207 to beat Suicune and Cresselia for a sneaky Taunt, 108 Speed with Tailwind allows you to beat Jolly Scarf Heracross. Just a few random Speed numbers to think about. You could run Attack on the Tailwind set to give your Brave Bird more bite, but it's not required.

Air Slash, Bone Rush, Dark Pulse, Flatter, Mean Look, Nasty Plot, Payback, Punishment, Substitute, Swagger
Air Slash is a special option if you want to go down the offensive route.
Bone Rush is cute if you want to go for a Choice band set or something.
Dark Pulse would be your main STAB move on a Nasty Plot set.
Flatter is an interesting choice that increases Special Attack by 2 stages, but also confuses the enemy.
Mean Look stops the opponent from switching, which can be used to kill them with Toxic.
Nasty Plot increases your Special Attack by 2 stages, but you honestly won't be doing much damage anyway.
Payback is usable in terms of the fact it's a physical Dark attack.
Punishment is a cool move that increases in power the more boosts the opponent's Pok�mon has. Use it with Swagger and Flatter to abuse the stat gains.
Substitute works well with your huge HP and Toxic, but that's about it.
Swagger works in the same way as Flatter, but increases Attack by 2 stages, which makes them hit themselves way harder.

Overcoat gives you a good reason to run this chick (AHA) on weather teams, but multi Pok�mon battles are predominantly very offensive, which obviously doesn't suit Mandibuzz too well. If you feel you need a defensive presence with Taunt, or a good user of Tailwind that isn't Tornadus, Mandibuzz is an option.

Magneton and Magnezone partner well, removing Steels that completely ruin Mandibuzz and resisting Ice, Rock, and Electric attacks. You'll want a spinner, so look to Claydol, Donphan, possibly Starmie in OU, Forretress, the standard guys really. Stealth Rock is horribly crippling, and it needs to be taken out. You really want a Fighting resist as you are neutral to it normally, but weak when using Roost. A Ghost type like Mismagius, Dusclops, Cofagrigus, that sort of gang works great. Powerful hitters that are hard to switch into such as Head Smash Aggron for example that really enjoy the Speed from Tailwind work well with... Tailwind.

Stealth Rock really hurts Mandibuzz, as does Toxic or any damaging status. Taunt does very well too, but be careful as Mandibuzz has its own Taunt, and at base 80 Speed, it isn't the slowest thing around. Any Steels do well against Mandibuzz. The lower tier Steels such as Magnezone, Aggron, and Klinklang all ruin you and can smash you with their STAB moves. Mandibuzz doesn't resist many common physical types, so hitting her on that side of the spectrum does well. Mandibuzz is really disappointing to me. I expected something much more, but what you get really isn't what you pay for. It's a pretty successful wall, but that's about all it can do. You will rarely ever see a set that isn't the standard wall, and if you do... it probably won't be too effective. Don't underestimate how bulky Mandibuzz is, but don't exaggerate its appealing factors and trick yourself into thinking it's better than it is. Because it isn't.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game

Colosseum/XD:

Not in game.

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in gamen

Black/White:
Route 11 (Black)
Trade from Black(White)