Linoone Movesets & Competitive Sets

This is the key to sweeping with Linoone; once it sets up a Belly Drum, it can cleanly sweep with Extreme Speed. Even though Linoone's STAB move has +2 priority, investing in Speed is crucial, as the investment lets Linoone outrun a variety of things it would not be able to otherwise, the most notable being Rotom, who Linoone can decimate with a +6 Shadow Claw, and Entei, who Linoone can destroy with a +6 Extreme Speed. Almost all variants of Entei run an Adamant nature regardless, so a Speed tie isn't likely to come up. A Silk Scarf allows Linoone to hit much harder with Extreme Speed without the recoil of Life Orb, while Lum Berry gives Linoone a cushion against status users that may try to cripple it. Shadow Claw allows it to hit bulky Ghost-types, such as Dusknoir and Misdreavus, where it hurts, and at +6 it will surely hurt a lot. The last move depends on who you want Linoone to be able to take down; Seed Bomb allows Linoone to beat Rhydon into submission, while Rock Smash makes any Aggron trying to switch into Extreme Speed cry. Return is a secondary STAB move that hits much harder than Extreme Speed. The extra power allows Linoone to OHKO bulky foes that Extreme Speed could not, and it therefore works well along with Lum Berry. Sitrus Berry is also an option that can give Linoone a decent amount of health after it uses Belly Drum, which can give it enough to survive weak hits from walls. Despite having the potential to be an incredibly powerful sweeper, Linoone requires a fair amount of support if it is to to succeed. First of all, Linoone loves dual screens, and can set up much more easily behind them; Swoobat and Uxie are excellent examples of teammates that can set up screens for Linoone. Uxie has better defenses and access to Stealth Rock, while Swoobat has access to Taunt and U-turn for scouting purposes, backed up by an excellent base 114 Speed. Linoone loves trappers that can get rid of Pokemon that threaten it. For instance, Drapion's Pursuit makes short work of Rotom and Haunter, while Magneton can trap and KO Steel-types such as Ferroseed. Fighting-types such as Hitmonlee and Gallade also complement Linoone well, busting up the walls and Steel-types that the latter cannot. Wynaut provides a unique form of support; it can assist Linoone by Encoring non-attacking moves, by softening up opponents with Tickle, or even by shielding Linoone from status with Safeguard. Linoone loves entry hazards even more than the average sweeper because these allow it to score KOs on some bulky walls, such as Tangrowth and Spiritomb. Some examples of Linoone's power are shown below with damage calculations: +6 Silk Scarf Extreme Speed vs. 252 / 252+ Tangrowth 69.8% - 82.4% (likely OHKO with Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes) +6 Silk Scarf Extreme Speed vs. 252 / 176+ Clefable 110.4% - 130.2% (guaranteed OHKO) +6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 / 192+ Spiritomb 54.6 - 64.47% (guaranteed 2HKO)

Linoone possesses a holy trinity of sweeping power: Belly Drum, STAB Extreme Speed, and Gluttony. These three elements combine to form the ultimate one-turn setup. After a Belly Drum, Linoone's shabby Attack stat of 262 skyrockets to an amazing 1048, ready for immediate sweepage. At the same time, Gluttony activates its Salac Berry, sending its Speed stat from 270 (136 EVs) to 405, outspeeding everything up to neutral-natured Pokemon with a Choice Scarf and base 85 Speed. Linoone can then proceed to sweep with Extreme Speed, a STAB 80 Base Power priority move that essentially ensures that the flipped-out polecat will almost never be struck before it can hit, and likely KO its opponent. Seed Bomb is the second attack in Linoone's sweeping arsenal, KOing many of the Rock-types that resist Extreme Speed, as well as doing a hefty number on bulky Water- and Ground-types. Assuming maximum defensive investment, Slowbro, Milotic, Claydol, Omastar, Quagsire, Cloyster, Rhyperior, Sandslash, Relicanth, and Gastrodon will all survive a +6 Extreme Speed, but will all fall to +6 Seed Bomb after Stealth Rock. Despite its large movepool, Linoone has very few usable offensive options. After Extreme Speed and Seed Bomb, those options boil down to the two in the last moveslot. Shadow Claw is for Ghost-types, and will OHKO any Ghost-type in UU, bar Spiritomb and Sableye, without fail (Stealth Rock is needed for an OHKO on Dusclops). Return, however, may prove more useful in the long run. Return may seem like redundant coverage with Extreme Speed, allowing you to be walled by many more opponents, but consider the following; there are five Ghost-types in UU that +6 Shadow Claw can OHKO but +6 Seed Bomb cannot. These are Drifblim, Dusclops, Mismagius, max Defense Rotom, and Shedinja. Drifblim and Dusclops, while not unseen, are rare. Drifblim is often used as a lead in UU and will probably have Substituted down to 25% of its health (easily KO range) by the time Linoone is on the scene. Bold Rotom is also a rare sight - offensive variations are much more common and are all KOed by Seed Bomb. Shedinja is the rarest of all, and though lacking Shadow Claw will leave you completely walled by Shedinja, even with Shadow Claw most will either kill you after Focus Sash activates, or with a Sucker Punch. This is, of course, assuming there is no Stealth Rock on the field, which renders Shedinja useless anyway. Return, meanwhile, rivaling in power practically any Explosion found in UU, will ensure a few KOs that Extreme Speed cannot. Max Defense Weezing, Nidoqueen, Torterra, Uxie, and Drapion are all OHKOed by +6 Return after Stealth Rock damage, while Extreme Speed (or Shadow Claw vs. Uxie) will fail to KO in each case by a small margin. Return also has a 65% chance of 2HKOing a 252 HP / 4 Def neutral-natured Registeel holding Leftovers and taking Stealth Rock damage. Finally, after possibly taking an Intimidate or two, the added power of Return will be welcome. Steel-type Pokemon are the one thing Linoone absolutely cannot sweep through, as they resist Linoone's STAB attacks as well as Seed Bomb. Two attack options - Dig and Rock Smash - were available in the past as Linoone's only super effective attacks against the Steel-types, but neither is recommended over the listed attacks. Dig is nearly useless; not only is it easy to avoid and fails to OHKO Steelix, but Steelix and Registeel usually carry Earthquake, which will hit you underground. Rock Smash is generally a waste of a moveslot, considering a 2x super effective Rock Smash has only 80 Base Power, and a resisted STAB Return has 76.5 Base Power. Seed Bomb hits Steelix with 80 Base Power as well. The only Steel-types that Rock Smash is able to hit for decent damage are the three Rock / Steel-types (Bastiodon, Probopass, and Aggron), which, except for Aggron, are rarely seen. It therefore falls upon Linoone's teammates to remove its counters if Linoone hopes to sweep. Before firing off a Belly Drum, scouting for opposing Steelix, Registeel, and Spiritomb is wise. Shuckle, Cradily, and Armaldo are not as common nor as perfect of counters, but can all pose problems for Linoone as well. These sweep-stopping Pokemon should be eliminated, or else brought within KO range, before Linoone Belly Drums. Assuming Stealth Rock is in play, Linoone will always KO these counters if they are taken down to a certain hit point percentage first: +6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Impish Steelix - 35.6% - 41.8% +6 Return vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Impish Registeel - 36% - 42.6% +6 Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Careful Registeel - 47% - 55.2% +6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Spiritomb - 57.2% - 67.4% +6 Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Careful Cradily - 55.1% - 64.9% +6 Seed Bomb vs. 244 HP / 252 Def Impish Armaldo - 52% - 61.4% +6 Seed Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Jolly Aggron - 54.1% - 63.3% Keeping these Pokemon in mind, a team packing Linoone would do well to carry Pokemon who can handle Linoone's counters. Powerful wallbreakers such as mixed Blaziken, Swords Dance Pinsir, and Choice Specs Typhlosion can soften these counters enough for Linoone to sweep, if not KOing them outright. Also, as with any setup sweeper, lures and trappers make Linoone's life much easier. Mismagius, Scyther, and Swellow are all terrific lures that can coax your opponent's Linoone counter early. Dugtrio and Magneton are fairly efficient at eliminating the Steel-types that give Linoone nightmares, especially when paired with lures. Dual Screen users such as Uxie and Mesprit can help soften blows that Linoone might take whilst setting up, thus making its job easier. If you are worried about outspeeding certain Choice Scarf Pokemon (such as Venusaur and Rotom), a Jolly nature is optional. However, you will miss out on many crucial OHKOs if you do this, namely Slowbro, who is always OHKOed if Stealth Rock is in play, with a high chance of OHKOing without Stealth Rock. A Jolly nature will cause you to only OHKO with Stealth Rock set up. A different EV spread of 36 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 216 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to guarantee the ability to outspeed certain other Pokemon; however, there is a noticeable lack in power. Finally, Memento Gastrodon is one of the easiest ways to guarantee a successful set up. Gastrodon has access to three extremely helpful support moves: Block, Memento, and Yawn.

Linoone can use its reputation as a Belly Drum sweeper to run a surprise Choice Band set. While weaker than most Choice Band users, Linoone does have its advantages. First and foremost, it poses a psychological threat. Feigning a Belly Drum set, it intimidates many weakened sweepers into attacking instead of switching out, and many tottering walls will give up the chance to recover damage in order to get a hit off on Linoone. Second, it is the only user of STAB Extreme Speed in UU, which by all accounts is a powerful and reliable priority attack, even on a Pokemon with a pathetic 70 base Attack. Third, it has access to Switcheroo (as well as its identical twin Trick), which it can use to foil many of its counters. Steelix, Registeel, and Spiritomb, the three best Belly Drum Linoone switch-ins in UU, are all crippled by receiving a Choice Band, unless they are already holding one, which is a rare sight for the former two. With an Adamant nature, Linoone reaches a decent 393 attack. Extreme Speed is Linoone's primary attack, allowing it to put a huge dent on fragile sweepers which outspeed Linoone, such as Swellow and Alakazam. As mentioned before, Shadow Claw is Linoone's only way of dealing with Ghost-types, whilst without Seed Bomb, the badger has no chance taking on the likes of Rhyperior and Omastar. Although Switcheroo is the preferred move for the fourth moveslot, Return can net a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs that Extreme Speed cannot, namely cleanly landing a fatality on Dugtrio and Swellow, as well as 2HKOing Life Orb Milotic. The layout of the EVs is quite simple, allowing Linoone to outspeed as many threats as possible while at the same time maximizing its Attack. A Jolly nature is optional if you are worried about needing to outspeed opponents that resist Extreme Speed, in which case Return is the STAB move that you should use. Rock Smash is an alternative to hit Pokemon such as Aggron super effectively, but has no use outside of that, seeing as a neutral Extreme Speed is more powerful than a super effective Rock Smash. Entry hazards are a must here, as Linoone is typically only able to do 50% to bulky Pokemon with Extreme Speed. Because sweepers typically carry Life Orb, the combination of residual damage plus the damage done from entry hazards adds up to allow Linoone to revenge kill with minimal losses.

Go with Salac Berry if you are going with Substitute, although that may not be necessary since the move you will use the most is Extreme Speed. Get some reassurance of a switch and Belly Drum / Extreme Speed away. If you use Hidden Power Fighting, drop 4 Defense EVs for 4 Speed EVs so you remain faster than Adamant Gligar.

Sweep a tad with your Choice Band, and when they least expect it, Trick their Walrein or Skarmory with it and screw it for the rest of the match. I don't suggest going with the non-Trick version, but Extreme Speed + Trick is illegal. Flail is really just filler, in case you want Extreme Speed. Even at 35.4% HP, Flail has the same power as Extreme Speed, and it gets more at 20.8% health (100 power), rising again to 200 power if you are lucky enough to take hits that bring you down to 4.2% health. Surf lets you 2HKO Golem if you want to use Extreme Speed and don't want to use Flail, but it's mostly filler.

Here is where the real damage comes into play. The Quick Attackers and Extreme Speeders in UU rip this to pieces. However, this thinking has led few people to use a Pokemon with Flail / Reversal in UU, meaning people have let their guard down as far as having Quick Attackers goes.