Minun Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Encore is a very useful move, especially for a cheerleader like Minun. Not only does it give its teammates encouragement, but it also locks foes into poor moves if Minun just so happens to switch in safely. Substitute and Toxic allow Minun to stall out the opposing team, since dealing damage directly isn't very practical for a cheerleader. Protect plays into the Toxic stall angle, although Minun can attempt to deal more direct damage with Thunderbolt. Set Details The name of the set is just a nicer way to say "benchwarmer." The Speed EVs enable Minun to run away as fast as possible. Usage Tips You would think that a cheerleader should last longer than the rest of the team, so that, you know, it can actually cheer them on. Don't let Minun get too excited and compromise its own safety, or it won't be able to cheer on its teammates. Thus, you should try not to switch Minun into Ground-types, as they can hit it super effectively. Or Fire-types, Fighting-types, Grass-types, Water-types, Normal-types, Fairy-types, Bug-types, Dark-types, Ghost-types, Ice-types, Dragon-types, Poison-types, and Psychic-types, as they can hit it neutrally. Or Steel-types and Flying-types, as they can hit it. Let Minun sit on the bench; its moral support is probably more useful than its support on the battlefield. Team Options Plusle is a great teammate for Minun. The cheerful duo will surely brighten up the day for their lovely teammates and send a chill down the spine of the opponent. Plusle is also great backup in case Minun gets KOed before it finishes its cheer. With the added manpower, maybe they can actually finish spelling out V-I-C-T-O-R-Y in time before the match is lost.

What Minun does offer over its Electric mouse brethren is the ability to actually take a hit and pass a Nasty Plot boost to a teammate. Get Minun into battle, preferably on a setup move like Stealth Rock, Encore it, set up Nasty Plot as the opponent switches, and high tail it out of there with Baton Pass. An uninvested +2 Thunderbolt can still actually hurt things, and Minun is decently fast, so don't count it out of the battle once it's fulfilled its duty. A good teammate is one that is bulky enough to weather an opponent's incoming hit and hopefully be able to outspeed the opponent once it's in to sweep. Minun tends to lure Ground-type attacks and physical attacks in general, making Pokemon like Articuno, Charizard, and Rotom-S natural teammates. Tangela and Exeggutor are also decent choices, though they are pretty slow and will likely have to withstand two attacks before being able to attack.

While Minun is generally outclassed by other Electric-types when it comes to sweeping, he can still be a decent Nasty Plot sweeper. Nasty Plot is an excellent boosting move that can quickly boost Minun's sub-par Special Attack to a high level. Encore allows Minun to capitalize on support moves with ease, and it's almost a necessity for Minun to set up, since unlike the last set, there isn't any investment in Minun's defenses. Thunderbolt is Minun's main STAB attack, while Hidden Power Ice provides excellent coverage alongside it. Life Orb is the item of choice, as Minun needs all the power he can get. However, if you choose to invest some EVs into HP, Leftovers can be a viable option as well. Minun has a couple of other options that he can use with decent results. Hidden Power Fighting can be used to strike Registeel and Steelix for decent damage, while Grass Knot is available to hit Rhyperior and Donphan harder than Hidden Power Ice. However, these attacks have worse overall coverage with Thunderbolt in comparison to Hidden Power Ice. Baton Pass is an option to scout for counters, and possibly Baton Pass a Nasty Plot boost to a partner, but Minun needs all the coverage he can get in order to successfully sweep. You can also transfer some Special Attack EVs to HP to make setting up a Nasty Plot somewhat easier. Since Minun is offensively weak even after a Nasty Plot boost, massive amounts of support are necessary for Minun to sweep. Omastar is a superb entry hazard supporter that has enough bulk to switch in multiple times during a match to set up entry hazards again if necessary. Qwilfish is also a decent option, as he can quickly set up a layer or two of Spikes before dying. Scyther and Swellow can both slowly weaken opposing walls with U-turn, which will gradually allow Minun to overcome these walls. Dugtrio is also a great teammate to trap and KO Chansey and Registeel, both of which can easily sponge Minun's attacks.

This set utilizes Minun's access to Encore and decent special bulk to make him an effective Nasty Plot Baton Passer. Encore allows Minun to lock Pokemon such as Registeel into a harmless move like Stealth Rock, effectively giving Minun a free turn afterward to set up. Since Minun can't set up on moderately powerful attackers even with a defensive EV spread, Encore is often extremely important to obtain a Nasty Plot boost. Thunderbolt gives Minun a reliable attack, which prevents him from being completely useless if he gets Taunted, and does decent damage after a Nasty Plot, even without Special Attack investment. This EV spread is simple, but effective. A Timid nature and 252 Speed EVs are needed to tie with other max Speed base 95 Pokemon such as Houndoom. This can be important, as this gives Minun a 50% chance to Baton Pass the boost in a tight situation against them. 252 HP EVs boost Minun's overall bulk, and allow Minun to switch into a decent amount of weak special attacks. For example, this Minun will never be 2HKOed by 0 Special Attack Milotic's Surf, even after Stealth Rock. A more offensive spread can be used if you wish, but due to Minun's relatively poor defenses, he'll have an even harder time setting up than he does with the above EV spread. Minun has a couple of other moves that he can use on this set. Agility is always useful to Baton Pass, but Nasty Plot is what makes Minun unique. It can, however, go over Thunderbolt if you wish. Magnet Rise can be an interesting option to Baton Pass, but like Agility, should only go over Thunderbolt. However, replacing Thunderbolt with either Agility or Magnet Rise leaves Minun rendered utterly useless by Taunt, so it isn't recommended. Hidden Power Ice would be a great option to hit Ground-types that Minun can't hit with Thunderbolt, but there is nothing that you can really replace on this set. As this set's main goal is to Baton Pass Nasty Plot boosts, appropriate Baton Pass recipients are naturally important teammates. If possible, these Baton Pass recipients should also be able to deal with Ground-types. Therefore, Moltres, Mismagius, Rotom, and Sceptile are all excellent partners, as they benefit greatly from a Nasty Plot boost, and are immune or resistant to Ground-type attacks. All of these Pokemon pack incredible powerful after a Nasty Plot boost, and are fast enough to attempt a sweep. Because both Minun and his Baton Pass recipients are specially-based, dedicated special sponges such as Chansey can pose problems. Even after a Nasty Plot boost, these Baton Pass recipients might still have a chance to be outstalled by Chansey. Dugtrio is a great choice to trap and KO Chansey. U-turn users such as Scyther and Swellow can also help weaken the opposing team, and scout for any Pokemon that may pose a problem to your Baton Pass recipient.

This set fully separates Minun from Plusle and Pikachu by accenting its increased bulk and ability to make use of its very large array of support moves. Wish is the most prized move, increasing the team's longevity throughout the match. The next three moveslots can be mixed and matched to your liking, and there's a lot of ways that you can play with Minun depending on your team and playstyle. Encore opens up a lot of setup opportunities, and Minun possesses the fastest Encore in the tier, allowing it to lock fast setup threats like Vigoroth into Bulk Up if Minun switches in as they set up. Substitute is cool when passed with Baton Pass, and it can also be used with both Encore and Baton Pass to ensure the Substitute gets to Minun's teammate. Baton Pass is also a great tool to get Minun out to a teammate it wants to pass Wish to. Light Screen is a neat option, as Minun threatens some of the most threatening special sweepers in the tier, particularly Huntail. Minun also tends to lure in Grass-types like Bellossom and Roselia, and Light Screen allows for an easier switch in for a teammate. Thunderbolt is used for a STAB move, and even without any Special Attack investment, it easily clips the wings of Murkrow and Pidgeot and is just in general a great move in the tier. A more offensive EV spread is usable, but if you want to take that route, you're better off using Plusle instead. Thunderbolt and Wish can also be replaced by any of the moves listed in the set above, depending on how Minun best fits on your team. Another move option is Protect, which allows Minun to easily heal from its own Wish and can build up Toxic damage on the foe. Rain Dance is usable as well to allow for a Huntail teammate sweep, and Encore and Baton Pass create a lot of good setup opportunities. Thunder Wave is an option to spread status, and Minun's Speed allows it to cripple a few threatening sweepers that other slow support Pokemon may fail against, such as Vigoroth, Arbok, and Hitmonchan. Offensively, Hidden Power Grass can be fit on the set, as Minun tends to lure in Ground-types like Whiscash and Graveler. Agility + Baton Pass is another good strategy to consider with this set; Choice Band Relicanth is an example of a great teammate that becomes significantly more threatening with +2 Speed under its belt, and Relicanth is relatively easy to switch into battle thanks to its high bulk. Assuming Minun isn't running Hidden Power Grass, Ground-types fear nothing from this set apart from getting locked into a non-damaging move from Encore. This means a teammate that can tank Earthquake is needed. Chimecho, Flying-types, and Grass-types are all good teammates for this reason, and they all appreciate the Wish support and easier switch in opportunities Minun provides. Lickitung and Kecleon also fear nothing Minun can throw at them apart from the rare Toxic, meaning strong physical sweepers like Hitmonchan and Kingler are needed to break past them.