Tapu Bulu

This analysis was written by User:Wrath of Alakazam and formatted by User:charizard8888
Tapu Bulu has decent bulk to go with its Grass / Fairy typing, a decent movepool, and, most importantly, an excellent ability in Grassy Surge, which boosts all the Grass-type moves of all the Pokemon present in the field. Its 70 / 115 / 95 bulk means that it is able to tank some super effective hits, like an Ice Punch from Mega Medicham or an Ice Beam from Primarina. Its Grass typing also matches it up very well against Mega Gyarados, a very formidable meta threat. It is also the slowest of all the Guardian Deities, which means that its ability activates the latest on the field and prevails for the first five turns of the battle. However, the absence of a good physical Fairy-type STAB move and a weakness to commonly used types like Fire, Flying, and Steel present major drawbacks to its usage. It also has a meager base 75 Speed stat and only decent defensive stats, so it commonly gets KOed before it gets the chance to land a hit on many Pokemon.
=Grassium Z=
Tapu Bulu @ Grassium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Atk / 36 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Bulk Up / Taunt
==Set Comments==
===Moves===
Wood Hammer is boosted by Grassy Terrain, and with a 190-Base Power Bloom Doom, Wood Hammer helps Tapu Bulu in defeating Water-type Pokemon like Mega Gyarados and Primarina. Also, due to the sheer power of Bloom Doom, Tapu Bulu is able to OHKO bulky Pokemon like Mega Slowbro, Snorlax, Blissey, Mega Sableye, and Porygon2. Leech Seed provides Tapu Bulu with a form of recovery and aids in damaging the foe, which cripples Counter Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan and Golem, as well as bulky Pokemon like Aegislash. Substitute complements Leech Seed because after using Leech Seed on the opposing Pokemon, the Substitute helps in tanking damage while Leech Seed and Grassy Terrain restore Tapu Bulu's HP constantly on top of wearing down opposing Pokemon. Bulk Up can be used to set up against Pokemon like Groundium Z Landorus-T and Mega Heracross, while Taunt can be used to prevent Pokemon like Crustle and Carracosta from setting up against Tapu Bulu.
===Set Details===
248 HP EVs increase Tapu Bulu's overall bulk, and 224 Attack EVs with an Adamant nature let it KO Pokemon like Snorlax, Blissey, and Mega Slowbro. 36 Special Defense EVs let Tapu Bulu survive Overheat from Mega Manectric as well as a 175-Base Power Shattered Psyche from Latios. Grassium Z is the item of choice because a Bloom Doom from Wood Hammer in Grassy Terrain can be used against Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type Pokemon like Mega Gyarados, Donphan, and Golem, and it also allows Tapu Bulu to take out neutrally effected foes like Mega Lopunny and Mega Sableye.
===Usage Tips===
Since Tapu Bulu is a Grass-type Pokemon with an ability that sets up Grassy Terrain to boost its Grass-type moves, it can be sent against most Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types, like Mega Gyarados, Groundium Z Landorus-T, Mega Swampert, and Mega Tyranitar. It's advisable to avoid sending Tapu Bulu out against Landorus-T because Landorus-T has a chance of holding Flyinium Z. Since it has the lowest Speed of the Guardian Deities, Tapu Bulu's Terrain activates last, so it can be sent out against other Guardian Deities like Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini. Avoid sending Tapu Bulu in against Fire-, Steel-, and Poison-type Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Y, Magearna, and Mega Venusaur, since Grass-type moves are not very effective against them. Taunt can be used for slower Pokemon that tend to set up against Tapu Bulu, like Crustle and Carracosta, and once said Pokemon are Taunted, use Substitute followed by Leech Seed to restore HP from the foe and follow it up with Bloom Doom to KO them. In similar cases, Taunt followed by Bulk Up and Leech Seed can also be used to help tank the opposing Pokemon's attacks, restore HP from Grassy Terrain and Leech Seed, and hit the foe with Bloom Doom for maximum damage.
===Team Options===
Since Tapu Bulu is weak to Fire-, Steel-, and Poison-type moves, Ground-type Pokemon like Landorus-T and Golem can serve as good teammates. Tapu Bulu helps them in return by covering their Water-type weakness. Since Tapu Bulu cannot hit Flying-type Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y and Celesteela, Electric-type Pokemon like Tapu Koko and Thundurus-T are also good teammates for Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Bulu helps in return by covering their Ground-type and Rock-type weakness, respectively. Magnezone can serve as an excellent teammate for Tapu Bulu because in addition to it drawing in Ground-type Pokemon for Tapu Bulu, Magnezone also learns Mirror Coat, which can make up for Tapu Bulu's mediocre Special Defense when faced against Pokemon like Meloetta and Porygon-Z. Since Tapu Bulu has a disadvantage against Ice-types like Kyurem-B, Fighting- and Rock-type Pokemon like Terrakion and Mega Tyranitar can also serve as good teammates. Tapu Bulu also helps in covering any Rock-type teammate's weakness to Ground- and Water-type moves.
=Strategy Comments=
==Other Options==
A Choice Band set with Stone Edge and Megahorn instead of Substitute and Leech Seed can be used, where Stone Edge can be used against slower Fire-type Pokemon like Alolan Marowak, and Megahorn helps against Psychic-types like Latios and Latias. Here, Superpower also KOes Choice Scarf Kyurem-B. A set with Grassy Seed, which increases the holder's Defense by one stage when Grassy Terrain is in effect, and Bulk Up can also be used against some other Pokemon like Crustle and Carracosta. A Choice Scarf set with moves ranging from Stone Edge, Superpower, Hidden Power Fire, Energy Ball, and Megahorn is also viable to take out some Pokemon in seemingly disadvantageous matchups against Kartana, Durant, Mega Charizard Y, Greninja, Counter users, and Mega Pinsir.
==Checks and Counters==
*Grass-resistant Pokemon: Fire-, Steel-, Flying-, and Poison-type Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Y, Heatran, Celesteela, and Mega Venusaur can counter Tapu Bulu because of their type advantages.
*Dragon-type Pokemon: Dragon-type Pokemon like Kyurem-B and Haxorus also pose a threat because Tapu Bulu is not able to 2HKO most Dragon-type Pokemon, and they get either Poison- or Steel-type coverage moves like Poison Jab and Iron Head to reliably 2HKO Tapu Bulu.
*Setup Sweepers: Some Pokemon, like Crustle and Carracosta, can endure one hit from Tapu Bulu with Sturdy, set up, and defeat Tapu Bulu that lack Taunt.
*Strong STAB Hitters: Some Pokemon like Choice Specs Greninja and Porygon-Z outspeed Tapu Bulu and KO it because of their high Special Attack stats.
Category:Analyses