Drifblim DPP NU Analysis

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Balloon n_n
[OVERVIEW]

- Drifblim is an unique Pokemon with a great signature ability in Unburden which allows it to act as a one-time Sweeper when used in tandem with Calm Mind.
- It's unique typing gives it a useful Ghost STAB which hits the numerous Psychic types in the tier, namely some Special walls like Slowking, Grumpig and Hypno. It also gets handful resistances to act as an offensive check to the likes of Tauros and Sunny Day Vileplume and to invalidate most Lickilicky variants as a counter.
- Thanks to its wide movepool and its other ability Aftermath, Drifblim is versatile enough to fulfill tasks such as leading, revenge killing, passing boosts, setting weather...
- However, its typing sports several crippling weaknesses, mainly to Stealth Rocks and to Pursuit, leaving Drifblim very vulnerable to the omnipresent Skuntank.
- Due to its middling Speed and Special Attack, Drifblim relies on boosts to pose a threat and thus faces heavy competition from Haunter as an offensive Ghost type.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind Sweeper
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Rest / Substitute
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Chesto Berry / Sitrus Berry
ability: Unburden
nature: Modest
evs: 12 Def / 252 SpA / 244 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- Drifblim's bread-and-butter set, which acts as a very threatening late game Sweeper.
- However, keep in mind that Unburden's effect disappear on switch-ins. So choose your moment to set-up and to eat your berry carefully.
- Calm Mind is a key set-up move that Drifblim needs to attempt a sweep thanks to the Special Attack boost. The added boost in Special Defense is very handy in a metagame were fast special attackers are so common as it makes Drifblim harder to revenge kill before Unburden is underway.
- The second slot depends mostly on personnal preferences and on how you want to activate Unburden. Rest gives to Drifblim a one-time full recovery when holding a Chesto Berry. Once this one is eaten, our balloon will be totally healthy and twice faster. Using Substitute alongside a Sitrus Berry is a very viable alternative as having Substitute allows you to play around Sucker Punch users,  to escape Pursuit, to protect yourself from revenge killers before Unburden activates and to avoid statues without having to use Rest and eat your only Chesto Berry when you shouldn't, especially when facing a Vileplume.
- Shadow Ball is Drifblim's best STAB.
- Hidden Power Fighting gives you a perfect coverage alongside Shadow Ball and allows you to hit Regirock, Cradily, Magneton, Lickilicky, Regice and Dark-types not named Skuntank super effectively.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- The given spread allows Drifblim to outspeed Scarf Jolly Manectric after the Unburden boost, which is likely the fatest Revenge Killer you will ever face. The Special Attack is maximized to hit as hard as possible, the remaining EVs are thrown into Defense in order to take physical hits a little better. Putting 252 EVs in Defense almost guarantees to take a Life Orb boosted Sucker Punch from Adamant Skuntank, but you won't necessarily hit hard enough in return.
- Hidden Power Ground is an appealing option since it 2HKOs Skuntank even unboosted, but leaves you completely walled by Dodrio and much more vulnerable to other Dark-types, namely Shiftry and Cacturne.
- Thunderbolt is a fine choice to hurt bulky water types like Politoed, Lapras and Mantine as well as Dodrio which could potentially be troublesome, but Regirock, Magneton, Cradily and Shiftry are more common so Hidden Power Fighting is still the preferred option.
- Statues moves like Will-O-Wisp or Hypnosis can prove to be useful as it allows Drifblim to cripple or potentially some of its usual checks and let you avoid Sucker Punch, but outside of their accuracy issue, a Mono-Attacker Drifblim is walled by Normal types and struggles even more against Dark-types.
- Recycle is also an option as retrieving your berry allows you to abuse of the ChestoRest strategy multiple times or heal you after each Substitute. The selling point of this move is to activate Unburden possibly several times throughout the match. However, just like above options, it's difficult to find a moveslot for it.
- Giving up Calm Mind and holding a Petaya Berry as an item is also possible as it will free a moveslot and let you using one of the above options instead. Although you don't have to set-up manually with Calm Mind anymore, eating the berry requires Drifblim to be at very low health and you'll get only a +1 boost in Special Attack by doing so, sweeping under these conditions might be very difficult.
- Skuntank being Drifblim's biggest ennemy, Pokemon that can lure it out and either cripple or outright kill it like Gardevoir with Will-O-Wisp, Focus Blast or Destiny Bond or Shiftry with Explosion make good partners.
- Other Dark-types with super effective priorities like Shiftry, Cacturne and Sneasel are pretty annoying as well, especially for non-Substitute variants. Therefore, having a good switch-in to most of them like Vileplume is appreciated.
- Specially bulky Pokemon with super effective coverage like Regirock, Cradily, Regice or Muk need to be out of the way or severly damaged in order to sweep with Drifblim. Fighting-types like Medicham threat all of them.
- Another way to wear down said Pokemon is Spike and Stealth Rock support. In this case, Drifblim's Ghost-typing is something to take advantage against opposing Spinners, although its weaknesses to Hitmonchan's Ice Punch and Sandslash's Night Slash make it a pretty subpar spinblocker.
- Although Drifblim doesn't mind Stealth Rock that much as it benefits from a one-time full recovery or needs to get in Sitrus Berry's range anyway, Rapid Spin support from Hitmonchan or Sandslash is still appreciated as Drifblim will likely have an easier time to set-up if it comes at full health. Morever, both of these Pokemon are pretty good at checking most Drifblim's problem, namely Regirock and Skuntank.
- Due to Unburden, most Drifblim's answers are either strong priority users or specially bulky Pokemon. Nonetheless, naturally faster Pokemon can also pose a threat if they pressure Drifblim enough to prevent it from setting up. These includes most special attackers like Haunter, Jynx, Manectric... Thus, packing a special wall or tank like Lickilicky isn't a bad idea.

[SET]
name: Hindenburg (Lead)
move 1: Hypnosis
move 2: Explosion
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Focus Sash
ability: Unburden
nature: Mild
evs: 12 Atk / 252 Spa / 244 Spe
ivs: 2 HP / 2 Def / 30 Spa / 2 Spd / 30 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- Thanks to Unburden, Hypnosis, Explosion and its immunity to Fake Out, Drifblim makes a pretty effective lead.
- Hypnosis is a high-risk, high-reward move with which Drifblim can beat Pokemon which would normally have the upper hand against it, provided it doesn't miss. It also prevents slower Pokemon from setting Stealth Rock, and sleep disables just any Pokemon. A sleep-inducing move fits nicely on Drifblim since its Ghost STAB scares Hypno off, the most common sleep absorber.
- Explosion is a last-dish tool which will hopefully kill the opposing Pokemon. Once more, Drifblim's Ghost-STAB proves to be useful since it discourages opposing Ghost-types to absorb Explosion. In the best scenario, this variant of Drifblim can take two opposing Pokemon down.
- Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting still provides a perfect coverage. The second allows Drifblim to take care of Lead Persian.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- The spread stays untouched, you may also encounter Scarf Manectric as a lead.
- Drifblim's defensives stats are minimized so the Focus Sash can be broken more easily, which is necessary since Unburden won't activate otherwise.
- Memento and Destiny Bond aren't bad alternatives since they are far less predictable than Explosion. The former gives a plenty of opportunities early-game and the latter can caught Pokemon like Regirock and is a great tool against Sucker Punch users when the Sleep Clause is on. Nonetheless, the immediate threat of Explosion is hard to give up.
- Sucker Punch is a pretty neat priority attack which allows you to get some surprise KOs against opposing sashed lead, but it's hard to fit.
- Faster sleep inducers like Jynx, Venomoth and Jumpluff are extremly threatening since they can prevent Drifblim from doing anything. Therefore, a sleep absorber like Hypno or Restalk Mantine makes good partners.
- Faster lead like Floatzel and Glalie can possibly win the 1v1 or get multiple layers of Spikes, respectively, as long as they predict Hypnosis correctly or simply avoid it. So be sure to have something to deal with them afterwards.
- Even if Drifblim survives at 1 HP, Priority users and Rock-types like Regirock don't fear much from Drifblim if the Sleep Clause is already active. So packing a Pokemon that can take advantage of most of them like Poliwrath is something to consider.


[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Trick / Baton Pass
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Thunderbolt / Explosion
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Aftermath
nature: Timid / Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 Spa / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- Drifblim makes a good use of its other ability Aftermath when holding a Choice Scarf, as it can outspeed and damage the opposing Pokemon with its attacking moves before further wearing it down if it eliminates Drifblim with a contact move.
- Trick is a pretty neat tool, especially when your team has trouble against Skuntank, Regirock, Lickilicky or Cradily. Baton Pass is a good alternative to scout the opposing team and to bring some Pokemon more easily. Do note that Baton Pass also allows you to escape from Pursuit.
- Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting remain Drifblim's preferred STAB and covrerage option, respectively. This combination ensures you to revenge kill most Psychic and Dragon Dance Crawdaunt reliably.
- Thunderbolt is Drifblim's best option to revenge kill Charizard, Dodrio and Floatzel. Explosion remains an immediately threatening offensive move which can take down most Pokemon that don't resist it and save you in emergency cases.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Timid and Naive are the nature of choice since they're needed to outspeed Electrode and slower scarf users like Magneton.
- Hidden Power Ground can be considered as it can take Skuntank down alongside Drifblim if Skuntank hit it with Sucker Punch, which is a contact move and thus is affected by Aftermath.
- Hidden Power Grass is available if you're really afraid of Dragon Dance Wishcash and Sticky Hold Gastrodon, but their usage is still pretty low.
- Since Skuntank will either faint or be at low health after eliminating Drifblim due to Aftermath, anything that likes having it out of the way is a good teamate.
- If you're using Trick, you may end up giving your Choice Scarf to bulky Pokemon like Regirock, Cradily, Muk or Regice. Pokemon like Tauros or Haunter will have a much easier time sweeping through the opponent's team once these annoyances are crippled.

[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Baton Pass
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Calm Mind / Stockpile
move 4: Shadow Ball / Hypnosis
item: Leftovers / Sitrus Berry
ability : Aftermath / Unburden
nature: Timid
evs: 132 Def / 124 Spd / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- In a tier where phazers are almost non-existent, Baton Pass is a pretty easy strategy to pull off. Drifblim is probably the most viable Pokemon which are able to pass Calm Mind, and the only one noticeable to pass Stockpile.
- Drifblim's tremendous HP stat lets it give very sturdy to its teamates so you can bring them safely, especially against passive statues spreaders.
- The set-up depends mostly on the nature of the recipients. Calm Mind is the obvious choice if you pack one or several special sweepers, and allows Drifblim to be offensively threatening on its own. Stockpile suits more bulky teams with Pokemon that can boost themselves further in their own way.
- Shadow Ball remains Drifblim's best STAB and ensures it's not helpless against Taunt users. Hypnosis allows Drifblim to set-up more easily by preventing the opposing from disturbing it, but suffers from accuracy issues.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- The Speed is maximized so Drifblim can use Substitute or its set-up before most Pokemon try to mess with it. The EVs in Special Defense guarantee that the Subsitute takes a Surf from Defensive Slowking after a boost. The remaining EVs are put in Defense.
- Leftovers increase Drifblim's longevity so you can accumulate as much set-ups as possible. Since it's not a consumable item, Aftermath is the ability of choice. But you can still opt for Unburden in tandem with Sitrus Berry as an item because outspeeding the whole metagame after eating the berry can make the set-up much easier. However, keep in mind that the Unburden boost cannot be passed.
- If you're using Calm Mind, then your team must include one or several special sweepers, possibly fast or physically bulky, like Electrode or Porygon2. But if you opted for Stockpile, then bulky sweepers like Swords Dance Lickilicky, Meganium or Cradily are the best recipients.
- Faster Taunt users that don't mind Shadow Ball like Skuntank or Persian completely shut down this variant, so being able to deal with them is strongly advised, Regirock does the job pretty well.
- Drifblim has an hard time setting up if it faces to much offensive pressure from faster Pokemon, which are special attackers gor the most part. Thus, special walls like Lickilicky are good teamates.

[SET]
name: Weather Support
move 1: Sunny Day / Rain Dance
move 2: Weather Ball / Thunder
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Explosion
item: Heat Rock / Damp Rock
ability: Aftermath
nature: Hasty
evs: 4 Att / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- Due to its ability to abuse both Sun and Rain and to potentially take down some threats to both weather like Skuntank, Hypno or Gardevoir make Drifblim a weather setter of choice.
- Weather Ball does very high damage in both weather. Under sunlight, it hurts Vileplume and Magneton which could prevent your Shiftry from sweeping otherwise and 2HKOs Skuntank as well. Whereas Thunder is the preferred option under rain as it deals with Water-types like Slowking, Politoed, Lapras and Mantine which are full-stop to your Gorebyss. Nonetheless, Weather Ball still does  have some merits under Rain, as it scares Regirock off and allows you to hit another Pokemon with Explosion.
- STAB Shadow Ball threats Psychic-types like Hypno and especially Trace Gardevoir which are fearsome Pokemon for weather teams to face.
- Finally, Explosion remains Drifblim's favorite last-dish tool to use after it did its job. If you hit something like Lickilicky, then it will probably put you in a very good position.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Drifblim's aim is to summon a weather quickly and to make as much holes as possible in the opposing team afterwards, so the spread is made to do so.
- Obviously, this variant works solely on dedicated weather teams. In sun, it must be used alongside Chlorophyll sweepers like Shiftry and Victreebel and Fire-types. In rain, pair it with Swift Swin sweepers like Gorebyss and Relicanth.
- Memento is an option over Explosion as it can give set-up opportunities to your sweepers like Swords Dance Shiftry.


[Other Options]
- A Choice Specs is an option if you really want immediate power, but Life Orb Haunter hits harder and is faster so you better stick with it.
- A support set with moves like Tailwind and Memento can work in some Hyper Offensive teams, but Dual Screeners are generally better options.
- Drifblim can act as a statues spreaders with moves such as Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis and Thunder Wave, but more powerful Pokemon like Gardevoir are more suited for this task.
- A defensive variant with moves like Will-O-Wisp and Haze has some merits due to Drifblim's unique typing, but its Stealth Rock weakness and the existence of Sableye and Dusclops hinder it.

[Checks and Counters]
- Dark-types are Drifblim's biggest nemesis mainly due to their super effectives priorities which bypass the Unburden boost, some of them also trap it with Pursuit. The omnipresent Skuntank in particular will often spell doom on Drifblim with either Sucker Punch, Crunch or Pursuit, only fearing Hidden Power Ground. Sneasel can fire off Ice Shard without hesitation and threaten Drifblim with Pursuit as well, but has to be wary of Hidden Power Fighting. Shiftry and Cacturne are extremely scary as well with their strong Sucker Punch, but Substitute variants can play around them.
- Rock-types like Regirock or Cradily are bulky enough to withstand even boosted hits and will do massive damage with their Rock STAB.
- Specially bulky Pokemon with super effective coverage like Regice, Muk and Lapras have the upper hand against Drifblim if they're healthy, but they can be in trouble if it has already several Calm Minds under its belt.
- Some special walls or tank can cripple Drifblim in their own way: Politoed can lock it with Encore, Mantine may erase its boost with Haze and Lickilicky can pack another offensive move smecifically for Haunter and Drifblim.
- Probopass can check all special sets lacking Focus Blast and sets up Stealth Rock
- A ton of revenge killers can take care of Drifblim if Unburden isn't underway or if it isn't covered by Substitute or Calm Mind boosts. To name a few : Manectric, Haunter, Jynx, Charizard, Scarf Magneton, Sharpedo...