Banette Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Knock Off is primarily used for removing items, allowing Mega Banette to cripple bulky walls and hit most Pokemon neutrally. Knock Off is also important as an offensive move on Mega Banette, hitting Ghost- and Psychic-types super effectively. Will-O-Wisp is used in conjunction with Prankster to cripple physical attackers and bulky Pokemon. Shadow Claw is used to hit opposing Ghost- and Psychic-types for more damage than Knock Off while also hitting Mega Evolutions, such as Mega Glalie and Mega Camerupt, and Pokemon with their items Knocked Off. Shadow Claw's main targets consist of physically defensive Slowking and Jellicent, as well as bulky Steel-types such as Escavalier and Steelix. Shadow Sneak is a STAB priority move that circumvents Mega Banette's lacking Speed tier. Shadow Sneak is usually preferred over Sucker Punch because it hits Fighting-types, such as Virizion, neutrally. It is also effective against Pokemon like Delphox, Hoopa, Medicham, and Sigilyph. Sucker Punch can be used over Shadow Sneak to hit Meloetta, as well as potentially OHKO Delphox and Sigilyph. Destiny Bond is an alternative move to stop opposing Pokemon from sweeping, or for securing a KO with a weakened Mega Banette. Finally, Gunk Shot can be used to hit Fairy- and Grass-types super effectively. It most notably hits Pokemon such as Virizion, Granbull, and Mega Audino, but it has a chance of missing and low PP. Set Details Banettite is used to Mega Evolve to gain Prankster and enhanced stats. Insomnia is preferred prior to Mega Evolution to ensure Banette is unaffected by Yawn Uxie and Sleep Powder Venusaur. However, Frisk can be used to scout for items held by opposing Pokemon. 252 Attack EVs with an Adamant nature are used to maximize Banette's damage output. 28 Speed EVs allow Banette to outspeed 44 Speed Jellicent prior to Mega Evolution, as well as outspeed Blastoise after Mega Evolution to mitigate the fear of Scald burns. The rest of the EVs are dumped into HP to maximize bulk. An alternative set of 252 Atk / 56 Def / 200 Spe can be used to allow Mega Banette to outspeed Exploud, Emboar, and Abomasnow. This spread also allows Mega Banette to defeat Fletchinder, as Mega Banette will outspeed it and be able to use Destiny Bond before Fletchinder can use Acrobatics. Usage Tips Banette should not Mega Evolve if it is possible that Pokemon such as Uxie will try to put it to sleep, as Insomnia can be helpful. In other cases, Mega Evolution should be a top priority. Try to Mega Evolve on slower Pokemon or Pokemon that Banette can afford to take damage from. In other cases, it can be useful to Mega Evolve while using Shadow Sneak or Sucker Punch to not take damage. Try to avoid staying in on Pokemon that can inflict status ailments, as paralysis, burn, and poison are all troubling for Mega Banette. Aim to use a combination of Knock Off and Will-O-Wisp when the opponent switches in a wall such as Alomomola, Aromatisse, or Registeel to remove their means of passive recovery. Shadow Claw can be used to pressure bulky Pokemon even further after their item has been Knocked Off and they have been burned. Will-O-Wisp should be used against physical attackers such as Flygon, Aerodactyl, Rhyperior, and Escavalier. Destiny Bond is hard for setup sweepers to work around, as Mega Banette can easily alternate between an attack and priority Destiny Bond to create mind games for the opponent. Be wary of Lum Berry Drapion, as it can absorb a Will-O-Wisp and Knock Off. Team Options Wallbreakers such as Meloetta, Exploud, and Emboar are helpful in allowing Banette to clean late-game, as they can whittle down the majority of bulky walls on the opposing team. Fighting- and Fairy-type partners such as Virizion, Medicham, Sawk, Granbull, and Diancie that can deal with opposing Dark-types for Mega Banette are also appreciated. Furthermore, specially defensive walls such as Diancie and Registeel are useful, as specially offensive Pokemon can take advantage of Banette's mediocre bulk because it can't cripple them with Will-O-Wisp. Since Banette is a Ghost-type, it can spinblock decently and also appreciates entry hazard stacking due to the residual damage entry hazards provide; therefore, Garbodor and Qwilfish make for good teammates. Finally, Banette can benefit from having setup sweeper partners such as Fletchinder and Scrafty, and it can ease setup for them by crippling physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp.

Moves Taunt allows Mega Banette to stop entry hazard setters dead in their tracks, while also shutting down any offensive leads that attempt to set up. Prankster Will-O-Wisp is used to get a quick burn, crippling physical attacking foes. Alternatively, slowing threats down with Thunder Wave can help Mega Banette outspeed them and hit them with its own attacks. STAB Shadow Claw deals good damage coming off of its massive base 165 Attack, but Shadow Sneak can be used for priority and picking off weakened foes. Alternatively, Knock Off can be used to remove a foe's item. Destiny Bond works incredibly well with Prankster; if all else fails, this is your kill switch. Frisk allows you to scout for items such as Focus Sash, Assault Vest, and Leftovers that Knock Off can remove. Set Details 252 EVs are invested in HP since Mega Banette needs to be able to take a hit to make up for its low Speed and frail defenses, while 252 Attack EVs allow it to hit relatively hard. Running Frisk on Banette allows you to scout out the opponent's items to get a sense of what they're planning: finding items such as Berries, Choice items, and Focus Sashes will give you an idea of how the opponent will use that Pokemon. Banettite is the best item for Banette; not only does Banette get a 100-point boost to its base stat total, but it also gains the much needed Prankster, which is the only reason that Mega Banette is viable in the first place. Lastly, Mega Banette will want to run an Adamant nature to ensure that it can take full advantage of its newfound Attack without sacrificing Speed or bulk. An alternate spread of 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe can be used in order to allow Banette to outspeed Pokemon like Suicune and effectively spinblock against Blastoise, granted that the opponent doesn't predict the switch in. However, this spread reduces Banette's overall bulk, so it should be used to remove Blastoise if hazard blocking is necessary for your team's success. Usage Tips Mega Banette doesn't gain Prankster on its first turn, so try to Mega Evolve it as soon as possible. Mega Banette works well mid-game, when it can whittle down the opponent's team with Will-O-Wisp. Use Taunt on the foe to prevent them from setting up when they predict you to use Destiny Bond or Will-O-Wisp. Prankster Destiny Bond allows you to instantly shut down a sweep only once, so use this wisely. However, most of the time Destiny Bond is obvious, so it's always important to figure out when to use it, since it's sometimes difficult to determine whether an opponent will attack, use a status move, or set up. Avoid wasting Destiny Bond on weakened Pokemon; conserve it to get rid of stronger foes. Using status moves and switching out can be great for allowing bulkier teammates to set up on burned or Taunted Pokemon, so burning or paralyzing a foe and then making a switch can really put pressure on an opponent while giving you the edge. Team Options Due to its limited movepool, Mega Banette can't provide its teammates with too much help, so it relies more on its team members instead. Mega Banette is vulnerable to Dark-types, so having bulkier teammates like Cobalion or hard-hitting teammates like Lucario to take a Knock Off is appreciated; not only can it benefit them if they have the Justified ability, but it can also get Mega Banette out of difficult situations. Other good teammates that can take hits are Florges and Umbreon, as they both resist Dark-type moves. Florges has great Special Defense, while Umbreon can take both physical and special attacks nicely. Florges and Umbreon can also provide support for Banette with Wish and Heal Bell / Aromatherapy in case you want Mega Banette to last longer and wreak more havoc.

Pursuit is the main niche of this set, allowing Banette to trap entry hazard control targets like Tentacool and Natu. The last two moveslots are highly customizable but end up feeling similar. Trick is useful for disabling walls like Bronzor and Audino, but only if Banette has a Choice Band. Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak are both priority options, with Sucker Punch being stronger but Shadow Sneak not having to rely on foes attacking to work. Lastly, Return is a spammable attack with decent power that can hit common Normal-types like Stoutland, Audino, and Ursaring that Banette otherwise can barely touch. While all of the options are interchangeable, the recommended set for most scenarios is Shadow Claw + Pursuit + Trick + Sucker Punch due to having the most utility and power available. Ghost Gem is also a good option for bluffing a Choice Band and hitting hard with Shadow Claw and Shadow Sneak, but it makes Pursuit much weaker. Frisk allows additional scouting that can come in handy, and 44 Speed EVs is just enough to outspeed uninvested foes with base 70 Speed such as Natu, with the rest of the EVs thrown into HP for general bulk. Banette is best utilized as a spinblocker, so teammates that set entry hazards such as Dwebble, Maractus, and Stunfisk are a must. Banette also struggles to break through Normal- and Dark-type walls like Audino and Scraggy, so partners like Monferno and Torterra that can handle them is recommended. Banette also invites in a lot of Dark- and Normal-types, so Pokemon like Klang that can take a hit from those can also be key. Banette also has additional synergy with Fighting-types like Monferno and Machoke due to the fact that it is adept at getting rid of Psychic-types like Duosion and Beheeyem with either its STAB moves or Pursuit, while the Fighting-types beat the Normal-and Dark-types that usually wall Banette.

Knock Off and attack whenever possible, but it's also fun to burn things. Insomnia can really mess up some Pokemon and provides some easy switch-ins. Unfortunately, this can't be done often with Banette as you can see its defenses are lacking. This is more of an anti-tank Pokemon; if you want to counter sleep inducers, Hypno is probably the safer bet.

Banette's top two attacking moves are self-explanatory. It has such a bad movepool, though, that other attacks are hard to find; even Double-Edge doesn't damage anything more than the other moves, other than the Normal / Flying types and Girafarig. Will-O-Wisp hurts them more, anyway. Hyper Beam and Destiny Bond are both suicide moves, Will-O-Wisp actually does something to physical sweepers, while Toxic can be used to wear down bulky Water-types.

This set works well in UU, and it can catch things off guard. Banette is immune to Quick Attack / Mach Punch, so running Salac Berry should bring no worries. Hit / burn what you can, and then when you think your run is over, Endure and proceed to Destiny Bond that now slower sweeper or wall.