[OVERVIEW]
[SET]
name: Shell Smash Sweeper
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Acrobatics
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute
move 4: Earthquake
item: White Herb
ability: Shields Down
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Set Details
========
Usage Tips
========
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Checks and Counters
===================
**Taunt**:
**Stealth Rock**:
**Strong Priority**:
- Minior is best on Hyper Offense
- Shield's Down provides a great opporturnity to set up Shell smash as it is comparatively bulkier in Meteor-forme
- White Herb allows it to regain its defenses, allowing it to last longer on the field and reduce the chances of being knocked out in Meteor-forme
- When Shield's Down activates, Minior becomes an extremely fast and powerful attacker
- Minior also has a great STAB combination that deals with the prominent Fighting and Flying-types of the tier, including Mienshao, Infernape, Mega Pidgeot, Togekiss, and Crobat
- However, this set is extremely predictable
- This allows foes to taunt it before it can set up, as it has base 60 speed in Meteor-forme
- The foe could also just opt to just knock it out with a powerful enough move, as Minior-Meteor only has base 60 HP and base 100 each in both of its defenses
- It also can't afford to invest in those stats, as it focuses solely on attack and speed
- When Shield's Down is active, it can be picked off easily by priority, such as Scizor's Bullet Punch
[SET]
name: Shell Smash Sweeper
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Acrobatics
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute
move 4: Earthquake
item: White Herb
ability: Shields Down
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Shell Smash is mandatory for Minior to do anything useful, due to it doubling its speed and attack
- Acrobatics is the best Flying STAB as Minior has no better move available, and it will lose its item; it is used to hit a plethora of fighting types such as Mienshao, Buzzwole, and Infernape
- Stone Edge is run as Rock STAB, taking out current UU threats like Mega Pidgeot and Mega Beedrill
- Substitute can be run instead to make it easier to set up
- Earthquake is to best handle the Electric-types in the tier, those being Raikou, Magneton, and the new addition of Xurkitree
Set Details
========
- White Herb is run to remove the defense drops acquired from Shell Smash
- The EVs are meant to maximize Minior's sweeping potential
- Jolly nature is run to outspeed Cobalion and Terrakion even when they are at +2, because both of them have STABs that are supereffective against Minior
Usage Tips
========
- Don't set up Minior until the hurdles stopping it are gone
- Set up Minior on passive Pokemon, as more offensively inclined teams can pressure it and knock it out
- Take out anything that can knock out Minior before it can set up to secure the sweep
- If it doesn't get a chance to sweep, use it to at least punch a hole into the opposing team, preferably by taking down a wall
- If not even that is a possibility, pivot out into something that can handle what is currently on the field
Team Options
========
- Mega Absol is a great teammate, as its ability Magic Bounce reflects Taunt, which threatens Minior
- Furthermore, Superpower takes out Steel-types that Minior somewhat struggles with, like Mega Steelix
- Infernape is another good choice, as it handles Scizor, the best user of priority in the tier
- Infernape also appreciates Rock-types to handle Flying-types
- Furthermore, it fits really well on Hyper Offense, which is where Minior performs best
- Starmie is a good option to handle hazards, as it easily can run an offensive Rapid Spin set
- Mega Blastoise is an alternative to Starmie as it is bulkier and makes a good wallbreaker, aiding Minior with dealing with bulkier teams
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- A special Shell Smash set seems appealing, as it has a higher Special Attack stat
- However, it doesn't have access to any special Flying-type moves aside from Hidden Power Flying
- It also has no viable coverage outside of Hidden Power that easily deals with its weaknesses
- The closest thing to coverage outside of Hidden Power is Charge Beam, which is base 50 power
Checks and Counters
===================
**Taunt**:
- Taunt users like Gliscor shut down attempts to set up Shell Smash, rendering Minior useless and easy to pick off
- Gliscor in paticular is tough to handle as it resists Acrobatics, is neutral to Stone Edge, and is immune to Earthquake, forcing Minior out
**Stealth Rock**:
- Stealth Rock takes out a quarter of its health, making it much easier to take it out of its bulkier forme
- As such, it can be taken out quite easily by even powerful neutral hits
- Major users include Gliscor and Hippowdon
- Gliscor is hard to stop from setting up hazards as it is incredibly bulky and runs Poison Heal with Steath Rock
- Hippowdon is also rather troublesome as it has reliable recovery that doesn't remove a type like Roost does
- It also has a possibility of pivoting into Sand Rush Stoutland, which can 2HKO in Sand before Minior can
- Steel-types wall both STAB moves of Minior and only have to worry about Earthquake
- However, there are some that even Earthquake can't stop, such as Scizor and Mega Steelix
- Scizor is neutral to Earthquake and lives a +2 no item Arcrobatics
- It meanwhile OHKOs with Bullet Punch
- Mega Steelix has the highest Defense in the game and is so bulky, not even Earthquake can kill it in two hits, OHKOing with Heavy Slam in return
**Strong Priority**:
- Priority negates the boosted Speed and can really cripple if not kill Minior
- Strong and super effective priority users like Crawdaunt and Scizor can quickly end Minior's run
- Choice Band Crawdaunt has a two in three chance to OHKO with Aqua Jet, meaning if Minior hasn't set up yet, it either is switching out or dying
- Scizor and Bullet Punch are even tougher to handle than Crawdaunt, as nothing in Minior's viable movepool can do much to Scizor
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