Tapu Bulu is a great Pokemon in the OU metagame due to its exclusive ability Grassy Surge, very high Attack stat, good Defense and good Grass / Fairy typing, which makes it a unique wallbreaker. For a wallbreaker, the island guardian has a decent base 75 Speed that allows it to outspeed common defensive Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Landorus-T. Its ability sets Grassy Terrain, which increases the power of Grass-type moves, meaning that even resistant foes won't enjoy switching in on Tapu Bulu's Grass-type attacks. Grassy Terrain also reduces the damage dealt by multiple-target Ground-type attacks like Earthquake, which helps teammates that are weak to the moves such as Magearna. Tapu Bulu's dual typing is another reason why it's good, as it makes it a decent switch-in to some common threats such as Keldeo, Zygarde, and Garchomp.
Tapu Bulu @ Rockium Z / Fightinium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
The Swords Dance set is one of Tapu Bulu's main sets, and it is known for its great wallbreaking power. Tapu Bulu can switch in on Pokemon that are threatened by it such as Tapu Fini and either attack with its strong moves or set up a Swords Dance to boost its already high attack. Horn Leech is the STAB move of choice on this set because it is very strong when taking STAB and Grassy Terrain boosts into account and has a great secondary effect of healing Tapu Bulu's HP, unlike Wood Hammer, which is stronger but makes Tapu Bulu take recoil damage. Superpower alongside Fightinium Z is used to fire off a strong 190-Base Power All-Out Pummeling that can let it break through Steel-types that can stomach a hit from its Grass-type attacks such as Celesteela, Heatran, and Ferrothorn. To round off the set, Stone Edge is a good coverage option to hit Flying-, Fire-, and Bug-type Pokemon that could tank a hit from it such as Zapdos, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Volcarona.
While Tapu Bulu has a lot of qualities, it still has its downsides. Base 75 Speed might be good to outspeed walls like Tapu Fini, but in a metagame where there's a lot of faster offensive threats such as Greninja, Tapu Lele, Volcarona, and offensive Landorus-T, Tapu Bulu's Speed isn't that great. Its typing gives it important resistances to Water-, Ground-, Fighting-, Grass-, Electric-, and Dark-type attacks and an immunity to Dragon-type ones, but it also gives it weakness to common types, such as Ice, Flying, and Fire, which are often used as either coverage or STAB on common Pokemon such as Volcarona, Supersonic Skystrike Landorus-T, Ice Beam Greninja, and Inferno Overdrive Garchomp, which makes Tapu Bulu prone to being revenge killed.
Tapu Bulu @ Rockium Z / Fightinium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
The Swords Dance set is one of Tapu Bulu's main sets, and it is known for its great wallbreaking power. Tapu Bulu can switch in on Pokemon that are threatened by it such as Tapu Fini and either attack with its strong moves or set up a Swords Dance to boost its already high attack. Horn Leech is the STAB move of choice on this set because it is very strong when taking STAB and Grassy Terrain boosts into account and has a great secondary effect of healing Tapu Bulu's HP, unlike Wood Hammer, which is stronger but makes Tapu Bulu take recoil damage. Superpower alongside Fightinium Z is used to fire off a strong 190-Base Power All-Out Pummeling that can let it break through Steel-types that can stomach a hit from its Grass-type attacks such as Celesteela, Heatran, and Ferrothorn. To round off the set, Stone Edge is a good coverage option to hit Flying-, Fire-, and Bug-type Pokemon that could tank a hit from it such as Zapdos, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Volcarona.
While Tapu Bulu has a lot of qualities, it still has its downsides. Base 75 Speed might be good to outspeed walls like Tapu Fini, but in a metagame where there's a lot of faster offensive threats such as Greninja, Tapu Lele, Volcarona, and offensive Landorus-T, Tapu Bulu's Speed isn't that great. Its typing gives it important resistances to Water-, Ground-, Fighting-, Grass-, Electric-, and Dark-type attacks and an immunity to Dragon-type ones, but it also gives it weakness to common types, such as Ice, Flying, and Fire, which are often used as either coverage or STAB on common Pokemon such as Volcarona, Supersonic Skystrike Landorus-T, Ice Beam Greninja, and Inferno Overdrive Garchomp, which makes Tapu Bulu prone to being revenge killed.
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