Binacle

[dende5416]

I borrowed the set from the Barbaracle thread because, lets be honest, it learns all the same moves and can run the same set. So really, why bother messing up a good thing?

(Credit to Electrolyte for the original set!)



Binacle

Binacle is, yet, another Water/Rock type in this generation, following in the steps that started with Omanyte and Kabuto. Binacle has a decent attack rating and speed that beat out the other water/rock types, and a good physical move pool to back it up. This, coupled with Shell Smash, allows Binacle to set up and sweep with a variety of physical moves that could shore up whatever your team might be lacking!

Notable moves:

Physical Attacks

Shell Smash
Stone Edge
Cross Chop
X - Scissor
Razor Shell
Poison Jab
Clamp
Night Slash
Rock Slide
Power-up Punch
Ghost Claw

Special Attacks

Ice Beam
Ancient Power
Blizzard
Sludge Wave
Sludge Bomb
Sure



name: Shell Smash
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Cross Chop / X - Scissor
move 4: Razor Shell / Poison Jab
item: Life Orb / Berry Juice

ability: Tough Claw
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Binacle can smash things really hard after it gets Shell Smash off, assuming you have the free turn to do so, and a wide move pool that you can take advantage of. X - Scissor may pair better with Razor Shell the Cross Chop, and would allow it to hit plant types thinking they have a safe switch in.


Credit for this goes to Sparktrain

Binacle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 5
EVs: 100 HP / 180 Atk / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Switcheroo
- Razor Shell
- Stone Edge
- Poison Jab

 

[Phemeto]

im not sure on EVs for LC yet, but besides that, berry Juice > any other held item.

You can pretty much get a free smash as long as you switch into anything that cant OHKO you.
But honestly, as much as i like Binacle, i dont think hes going to be the premiere shell smasher in LC. Compared to Tirtouga and Dwebble (whom have sturdy), the only thing it has going for it is poison jab for snubull and swirlix, but it lacks priority moves so mach punch and bullet punch will quickly ruin it's day

 

[dende5416]

im not sure on EVs for LC yet, but besides that, berry Juice > any other held item.

You can pretty much get a free smash as long as you switch into anything that cant OHKO you.
But honestly, as much as i like Binacle, i dont think hes going to be the premiere shell smasher in LC. Compared to Tirtouga and Dwebble (whom have sturdy), the only thing it has going for it is poison jab for snubull and swirlix, but it lacks priority moves so mach punch and bullet punch will quickly ruin it's day

Definitely true. (waiting for someone to poke at him for messing the title up) I've always personaly had a fascination with the plethora of Water/Rock types they have managed to squeeze into the game. It'd definitly need some team support too, for watching out for those priority move users. Binacle out speeds Tirtouga though, so small advantage there.

 

[Pen Ink]

you can get sprites here. might wanna go a little more in depth about binacle and make the thread about binacle in general instead of just the shell smash set. also in the top right corner of the first post under thread tools you can edit the title.

binacle hits like a fucking truck after shell smash. what it really wants is a priority move or a water move that has 100% accuracy, but it still functions well as a sweeper with ss and tough claws. the wallbreaker set is actually very good too.

 

[dende5416]

you can get sprites here. might wanna go a little more in depth about binacle and make the thread about binacle in general instead of just the shell smash set. also in the top right corner of the first post under thread tools you can edit the title.

binacle hits like a fucking truck after shell smash. what it really wants is a priority move or a water move that has 100% accuracy, but it still functions well as a sweeper with ss and tough claws. the wallbreaker set is actually very good too.

Thank you so much! Its fixed! :D

Yeah, I'm playing with some ideas, but I thought I'd let this post get things off the ground, generally, here, more brains are better then one.

 

[dende5416]

Updated the op with a little break-down, and note able moves it learns. I'll add any interesting egg moves when they become available. I didn't bother adding moves like rock polish and swords dance because shell smash is superior to them, and binacle doesn't really suffer the defense drop so much.

 

[blarajan]

I have honestly been unable to find a purpose for Binacle. I was really excited when I first saw it, but when I tried using it on a team, I just used Tirtouga instead. I do wish to figure out a reason for this little guy, but I just can't find one. LC Shell Smashers are way too good already.

 

[Delver]

I have honestly been unable to find a purpose for Binacle. I was really excited when I first saw it, but when I tried using it on a team, I just used Tirtouga instead. I do wish to figure out a reason for this little guy, but I just can't find one. LC Shell Smashers are way too good already.

I honestly think it has to do with the lack of Sturdy Juice. I've been having a hard time justifying any smash sweeper that wasnt tirt or dwebble, just because they're garunteed to start their sweep at full HP assuming you can keep rocks off your side; and even then (more so in the case of tirt than dwebble) few things OHKO it after rocks that dont also OHKO it without rocks. Even if he got sturdy, though, I dont think he'd be much more viable than tirt. Tirt is slower, sure but at +2 you generally dont care, and the added flexibility of being able to throw a surf or something on it (read: have a special move to break physical walls like gligar / tangela (assuming im right in believing it learns ice beam) is generally really nice

 

[dende5416]

I honestly think it has to do with the lack of Sturdy Juice. I've been having a hard time justifying any smash sweeper that wasnt tirt or dwebble, just because they're garunteed to start their sweep at full HP assuming you can keep rocks off your side; and even then (more so in the case of tirt than dwebble) few things OHKO it after rocks that dont also OHKO it without rocks. Even if he got sturdy, though, I dont think he'd be much more viable than tirt. Tirt is slower, sure but at +2 you generally dont care, and the added flexibility of being able to throw a surf or something on it (read: have a special move to break physical walls like gligar / tangela (assuming im right in believing it learns ice beam) is generally really nice

Ha! I forgot to add on the special attacks! Wasn't considering for some reason. He does learn ice beam, blizzard and ancient power. I'll get the op fixed up with the extra moves.

 

[Pen Ink]

Binacle @ Berry Juice / Stone Plate / Water Plate
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Spd / 180 Atk / 132 extra ev's
Naughty / Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Razor Shell
- i have no idea

basically my most successful set that i change a lot. razor shell destroys gligar so there's no need for ice beam. tough claws is a fucking monster and makes this set. you could probably run jolly to outspeed modest swirlix by one point without a boost just in case. i can't fully decide on a 4th move because nothing seems extremely useful but cross chop / pjab is probably the way to go. maybe even power-up punch or rock slide. rock slide might be better than stone edge because of accuracy and tough claws makes up for power but i'm not sure if stone edge gets ko's that rock slide doesn't.

binacle would be fucking fantastic if it could somehow 100% ko shroomish but it can't, which really sucks for it.

+2 252+ Atk Binacle Stone Edge vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 16-21 (64 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Stone Plate Binacle Stone Edge vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 19-24 (76 - 96%) -- 43.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

btw that's 120 base power stone edge to make up for tough claws.

 

[dende5416]

Binacle @ Berry Juice / Stone Plate / Water Plate
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Spd / 180 Atk / 132 extra ev's
Naughty / Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Razor Shell
- i have no idea

basically my most successful set that i change a lot. razor shell destroys gligar so there's no need for ice beam. tough claws is a fucking monster and makes this set. you could probably run jolly to outspeed modest swirlix by one point without a boost just in case. i can't fully decide on a 4th move because nothing seems extremely useful but cross chop / pjab is probably the way to go. maybe even power-up punch or rock slide. rock slide might be better than stone edge because of accuracy and tough claws makes up for power but i'm not sure if stone edge gets ko's that rock slide doesn't.

binacle would be fucking fantastic if it could somehow 100% ko shroomish but it can't, which really sucks for it.

+2 252+ Atk Binacle Stone Edge vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 16-21 (64 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Stone Plate Binacle Stone Edge vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 19-24 (76 - 96%) -- 43.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

btw that's 120 base power stone edge to make up for tough claws.

Where did you find the damage calculator? Anyways, I suppose, if you wanted to try it, you could poke Blizzard, and see what would happen with the +2 but 0 ev investment.

 

[AOPSUser]

Binacle @ Berry Juice / Stone Plate / Water Plate
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Spd / 180 Atk / 132 extra ev's
Naughty / Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Razor Shell
- i have no idea

basically my most successful set that i change a lot. razor shell destroys gligar so there's no need for ice beam. tough claws is a fucking monster and makes this set. you could probably run jolly to outspeed modest swirlix by one point without a boost just in case. i can't fully decide on a 4th move because nothing seems extremely useful but cross chop / pjab is probably the way to go. maybe even power-up punch or rock slide. rock slide might be better than stone edge because of accuracy and tough claws makes up for power but i'm not sure if stone edge gets ko's that rock slide doesn't.

binacle would be fucking fantastic if it could somehow 100% ko shroomish but it can't, which really sucks for it.

+2 252+ Atk Binacle Stone Edge vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 16-21 (64 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Stone Plate Binacle Stone Edge vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 19-24 (76 - 96%) -- 43.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

btw that's 120 base power stone edge to make up for tough claws.

Stone Edge is not contact, so it isn't affected by Tough Claws. Also how does this thing not get Waterfall.

You should probably just put Ice Beam on this thing anyways to deal with Tangela and Shroomish. You've got an extra fourth slot anyways...

 

[Pen Ink]

Stone Edge is not contact, so it isn't affected by Tough Claws. Also how does this thing not get Waterfall.

You should probably just put Ice Beam on this thing anyways to deal with Tangela and Shroomish. You've got an extra fourth slot anyways...

Whoops, good to know.

And Ice Beam won't OHKO either so it's kinda useless.

 

[dende5416]

Whoops, good to know.

And Ice Beam won't OHKO either so it's kinda useless.

What about Blizzard though?

 

[Sergetank]

Shroomish is pure grass; why not Poison Jab? Gets boosted by Tough Claws as well, works on fairies too ( which resist X-Scissor ).

+2 180+ Atk Tough Claws Binacle Poison Jab vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Shroomish: 20-24 (80 - 96%)

Sooo close. Stealth rock support though, drops Shroomish's survival chance from 100% to <8%

Decided to check it against everyone's favorite snowman, Snover as well, since it's sometimes used to counter shell smashers ( bullet seed best stop for Juice Tirtouga ).

+2 180+ Atk Tough Claws Binacle Poison Jab vs. 236 HP / 236+ Def Eviolite Snover: 22-26 (88 - 104%)

More stealth rocks needed e.e

Jab has better accuracy than stone edge as well. On a slightly different note, does Binacle get Rock Blast? Has higher accuracy, and might help break sashes on things like Abra.

 

[sparktrain]

So this guy gets Switcheroo. If you slap a scarf on it, it reaches 22 speed, outspeeding most of the unboosted metagame (damn Sneasel). The moveset itself would be similar to the shell smash set, except with switcheroo over shell smash. Mainly it would be a nasty little surprise for things switching in trying to wall it, only to have their Eviolite/Berry Juice replaced with a scarf. Another plus is that it's expected to be slow without a boost, potentially nabbing it some surprise KO's. My only gripe is that it really doesn't hit all that hard compared to the shell smash set, but any opinions on this one?

EDIT: I did a bit of playtesting with this set:

Binacle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 5
EVs: 100 HP / 180 Atk / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Switcheroo
- Razor Shell
- Stone Edge
- Poison Jab

My success rate was alright with this guy. Its speed would occasionally net me a KO, since it can outspeed and OHKO frailer mons like Abra. It could even clean late game if the opponent was significantly weakened, but then again so can lots of mons. Its main use ended up being screwing over walls or set up sweepers. Locking opposing Tirtouga into Shell Smash is just precious. Its biggest weakness is that it is easily revenged by the numerous Fighting types and moves in the tier (most notably Mach Punch users), not to mentioned it is outsped and OHKO'd by Sneasel's Brick Break.

It's not perfect by any means, but if you play it correctly it can potentially take out a threatening set up sweeper or cripple a wall. You could stick with a Shell Smash set, but then again, you could just use Tirtouga...

EDIT (again): and a few hours after I post this, Sneasel is banned. lol. now go use Binacle.

 

[dende5416]

Sparktrain's set was added to the original OP.

 

[Raseri]

I personally love the design of Binacle, it's a really cool concept they went for when they made it. But they really dropped the ball on it statwise. There is almost no reason to use it over Tirtouga, who is better in almost every regard. The only use I can think of for Binacle right now is a Shell Smash set with Cross Chop, a long with dual STABs. This would allow it to beat Ferroseed, which walls Tirtouga endlessly. And it gets the Tough Claws boost as well! Really Binacle is a huge disappointment, and likely won't find much use at all in the metagame. But the Shell Smash set is usable if you use it alongside Tirtouga!

 

[Goddess Briyella]

The existence of Tirtouga is enough to keep Binacle from seeing any use, unfortunately. While some people might find it trivial, Razor Shell's trolly 95% accuracy is not even close to how assuring Waterfall's accuracy is (I've lost matches due to other 95% accurate moves missing: Air Slash and Icy Wind both). In addition, Tirtouga not only outclasses it as a Shell Smash user because of Sturdy, but it also is able to run a support set with Solid Rock and Stealth Rock, whereas Binacle cannot. It's definitely cool that Binacle gets Cross Chop, Poison Jab, and X-Scissor, which provide coverage that Tirtouga lacks (but often doesn't need), and Tough Claws does make it a stronger offensive mon after using Shell Smash, but Tirtouga will definitely always be the better option, especially now that Berry Juice is legal.

If anything, access to the move Switcheroo would be this thing's saving grace; with that said, if people actually begin using Binacle for this purpose, it would start to raise a red flag in team preview and it wouldn't surprise players anymore after a short time, since it would honestly be the only reason to use it.

 

[Expulso]

If anything, access to the move Switcheroo would be this thing's saving grace;

Yes, that would work so well with either Toxic or Flame Orb; it brings in Grass-types (including Tangela), and Tangela does not appreciate either of the aforementioned statuses.