Tapu Bulu Discussion

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Tapu Bulu
Grass/Fairy
Abilities: Grassy Surge / Grassy Surge / Telepathy
HP: 70
Atk: 130
Def: 115
SpAtk: 85
SpDef: 95
Spe: 75

Level Up

L1 - Grassy Terrain
L1 - Wood Hammer
L1 - Superpower
L1 - Mean Look
L1 - Disable
L1 - Whirlwind
L1 - Withdraw
L1 - Leafage
L8 - Horn Attack
L14 - Giga Drain
L20 - Scary Face
L26 - Leech Seed
L32 - Horn Leech
L38 - Rototiller
L43 - Nature’s Madness
L48 - Zen Headbutt
L53 - Megahorn
L58 - Skull Bash

TMs

TM01 - Work Up
TM04 - Calm Mind
TM05 - Roar
TM06 - Toxic
TM08 - Bulk Up
TM10 - Hidden Power
TM11 - Sunny Day
TM12 - Taunt
TM15 - Hyper Beam
TM16 - Light Screen
TM17 - Protect
TM20 - Safeguard
TM21 - Frustration
TM22 - Solar Beam
TM27 - Return
TM31 - Brick Break
TM33 - Reflect
TM39 - Rock Tomb
TM41 - Torment
TM42 - Facade
TM48 - Round
TM49 - Echoed Voice
TM52 - Focus Blast
TM53 - Energy Ball
TM54 - False Swipe
TM56 - Fling
TM59 - Brutal Swing
TM66 - Payback
TM67 - Smart Strike
TM68 - Giga Impact
TM71 - Stone Edge
TM75 - Swords Dance
TM77 - Psych Up
TM80 - Rock Slide
TM86 - Grass Knot
TM87 - Swagger
TM88 - Sleep Talk
TM90 - Substitute
TM95 - Snarl
TM96 - Nature Power
TM99 - Dazzling Gleam
TM100 - Confide
 
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Like koko, bulu got no physical fairy stab...
Solid bulk and an interesting typing, but leech seed and horn leech are the only sources of recovery. Pretty good coverage with superpower/megahorn/stone edge, and he does get SD, but no play rough really hurts. Boosted wood hammer will hit like a truck though.
 
Lack of recovery doesn't help, but it basically gets a +1 on grass moves, a free leftovers, and halves earthquake damage for the entire team. It has a lot going for it.
 

Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
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Its ability also benefits the opponent, which is super annoying. No Play Rough is ass.

I see this being a niche OU pick at best.
 
+1 Horn Leech due to Grassy Terrain and respectable Attack isn't bad at all.

Coverage isn't great but you have access to Superpower and Stone Edge, which is all you need.
 
His stats tailor pretty well to taking advantage of Grassy Terrain. I'm excited to try him out since Grass is my favorite type. I can see him being the least used Tapu since Grassy Terrain is arguably the least useful/most situational terrain. But he'll definitely be living a while in battles if you go for a bulkier set and max out recovery.
 
It doesn't need recovery in VGC where it has Comfey to drop priority grassy terrain boosted heals on it. I expect that and Politoed/Tapu Koko to be two of the best Tapu combos.
 
Lack of good fairy STAB is disappointing but Dazzling Gleam should be enough to discourage those types that would otherwise switch in, and it pairs well with Superpower. Not the highest of hopes but it may see some use as Fairy/Grass with its bulk is actually quite good defensively.
 

Ash Borer

I've heard they're short of room in hell
Lack of recovery doesn't help, but it basically gets a +1 on grass moves, a free leftovers, and halves earthquake damage for the entire team. It has a lot going for it.
Horn Leech + Leech Seed should do it just fine for recovery, I'd say. Superpower crushes steel types, and Stone Edge can take care of some pesky bugs and flying types. Could be a solid bulky attacker set? Ironically Latios and Latias are very good against this set, and Bulu is a fairy. Maybe it'll get Play Rough one day? It could be great bait with a surprise Megahorn though.
 
On paper, Tapu Bulu seems to be a nightmare for Garchomp. Dragon STAB is useless, Earthquake does laughable damage thanks to Grassy Terrain, and most of Garchomp's other common moves don't fare much better. The occasional Fire Blast is the only reason for pause for Bulu. In return, even an uninvested Wood Hammer is a clean 2HKO on offensive variants, and tank variants of Garchomp are pretty much free Bulk Up or Swords Dance boosts.
 
On paper, Tapu Bulu seems to be a nightmare for Garchomp. Dragon STAB is useless, Earthquake does laughable damage thanks to Grassy Terrain, and most of Garchomp's other common moves don't fare much better. The occasional Fire Blast is the only reason for pause for Bulu. In return, even an uninvested Wood Hammer is a clean 2HKO on offensive variants, and tank variants of Garchomp are pretty much free Bulk Up or Swords Dance boosts.
The elusive Poison Jab Garchomp (hits Clefable/Togekiss) rises again in response! Or something.
 
Set I make for Offensive Tapu Bulu:
Tapu Bulu @ Lum Berry / Life Orb / Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Adamant or Jolly Nature
- Horn Leech / Wood Hammer
- Zen Headbutt
- Superpower / Rock Slide / Stone Edge
- Protect / Rock Slide / Stone Edge
 
Might be my favourite legend, keeping in mind I don't play ubers. Huge amount of passive healing, lefties, leech seed, grassy terrain and horn leech. Horn leech coming off a base 130 atk and boosted by stab and grassy terrain is going to hurt too. I saw there were a few new items this gen that it could possibly take advantage of; one that raises defense in grassy terrain and another that lengthens the time grassy terrain is up. Anyone think either might have a use?
 
I think all of the Tapus are gonna end up OU because of their Terrain abilities. Tapu Bulu looks tough to take down with so much passive healing. Movepool is just good enough to cover certain things (Superpower, Stone Edge, Megahorn). It's pretty much a 100% full-on free switch in to Landorus-T, which is always useful.
 

AccidentalGreed

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So it seems that Bulu's quite limited to its fellow Tapus in terms of what it can do. Seems to have pretty terrible coverage options outside of off Fighting- and Psychic-type attacks, can't use Fairy STAB at all, and its speed is just kinda eh. You can run a traditional Life Orb set w/ Wood Hammer or Horn Leech (so Grassy Terrain can boost Grass moves while offsetting Life Orb recoil), but if I'm not wrong about Z move mechanics, I think Bulu can attempt a sweep with something like this:

Tapu Bulu @ Normalium-Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech / Wood Hammer
- Superpower / Megahorn
- Swords Dance
- Safeguard

Max Speed since 75 Speed isn't too shabby against defensive Pokemon and you need all the speed you can get for the Z-move. According to the Z-move thread, if you use Safeguard as the designated Z-move, the Pokemon gains a Speed boost, making Bulu difficult to revenge kill outside of scarved Fire attacks, Bullet Punch, or Gale Wings (pffft). Plus, Bulu gains a nifty immunity to status, making it extremely possible to sweep status-reliant balanced and defensive teams after Flyers and phasers have been removed. Swords Dance for that sweet boost, and go ham with your chosen +3 Grass move and coverage.

Again, suffers from terrible coverage overall and ideally you're using this for its typing rather than using it loosely over a more capable sweeper. Most mons don't want to take two turns to sweep, but considering Grassy Terrain recovery as well as Safeguard protection, it might be pretty nifty.
 

Fireburn

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I think Tapu Bulu could be useful as a bulky attacker with Leftovers. Horn Leech + Grassy Terrain + Leftovers gives it a ton of regen and its typing + decent bulk allows it to switch into things like Garchomp and Keldeo. Also looks decent against Latios: immune to Meteor, resists Surf, high Defense should let it take Psyshocks. Could also be a decent cleaner with a Scarf if you get birds out of the way: lack of Play Rough hurts but STAB Wood Hammer with Grassy Terrain off base 130 Attack is going to leave a good dent in most things, and Superpower/Stone Edge/Zen Headbutt should take care of most Grass resists. While likely not as good as the other Tapus (who all seem OU viable), I think we shouldn't sell Tapu Bulu short.
 
I wonder how useful this thing could be if you simply just play it as a super straightforward Click Wood Hammer 101 mon with some partner(its Grassy Terrain ended up being awkward for Dugtrio to help vs its expected switch in)

Like yeah Grass isn't the best offensive type for spamming purpose, but holy crap the damage this thing does is out of this world and its super tanky too.
 
Why use it as a sweeper when its supposed to be a bulky attacker with sustain? And coverage isn't a problem when you have a move that can cut any pokemon's attack in half. Here's what I propose:

Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers / Tapunium Z / Terrain Extender / Grassy Seed / Big Root (?)
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 128 HP/ 252 Atk / 124 SpD
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Superpower / Megahorn /Zen Headbutt / Stone Edge
- Bulk Up
- Nature's Madness / Leech Seed

One thing you gotta remember: Grassy Terrain is not only boost Bulu's attacks, but giving him some health every single turn, without Leftovers. If you stack Leftovers on top of that, you are getting 12%. Add in Horn Leech and Leech seed and you gain even MORE. In order to help Bulu get even morre power and bulk, use Bulk Up to increase its 2 best stats before giving your opponent what for. The goal is to get Horn Leech to hit as hard as possible, giving you more health back.The 2nd slot is dedicated to your coverage move of choice; Whether you want to kill a steel type, a psychic type like Tapu Lele (who might I add will try to ruin your own terrain) or Flying types. Zen Headbutt would be for Poison types like Tentacruel which would work against this strategy with its fast speed and Liquid Ooze. Leech Seed is here for even more sustain, letting you become a wall that makes even Chesnaught jealous. Nature's Madness I feel is super underrated. Its a Super Fang with no immunity, and I know many pokemon who would not appreciate suddenly losing half their health on a switch in. You could even go a step further and give it Tapunium Z to use Gaurdian of Alola To completely destroy someone's wall.

For Item Choice, there' a bunch. Leftovers is the go too vanilla choice, letting you get guaranteed 12% each turn mixed with Grassy terrain. Tapunium Z is there depending on how bulky the metagame will be. Who knows, 75% may come in handy. Terrain Extender is a brand new item, acting as a weather rock for terrains. Use this to extend Grassy Terrain's longevity. Grassy Seed, another brand new item, activates when Grassy Terrain does, giving the user an automatic +1 Defense Buff. Although it can only be used once like berries, It would give Bulu even more ease setting up on physical attackers. Big Root is by far the most unorthodox of my item selections, but hear me out on this. Grassy Terrain is already acting as Leftovers, so this item doesn't truly need to compete for a slot with it. For those of you unaware, Big Root increases the health regained from moves that have percentage health (Leech Seed, Horn Leech, Aqua Ring, etc) by 30%. Horn Leech is already giving you half the damage you inflict back as sustain, so a Big Root would simply give you more bang for your buck.

EDIT: Just a footnote, but Just thought I'd mention that Tapu Bulu is the only grass type that can boost itself with Rototiller, giving it +1 in both offensive stats. So if you feel like making a mixed Bulu set to use its Fairy Stab in Dazzling Gleam, its not impossible.
 

6ft Torbjorn

formerly JoycapJoshST
So it seems that Bulu's quite limited to its fellow Tapus in terms of what it can do. Seems to have pretty terrible coverage options outside of off Fighting- and Psychic-type attacks, can't use Fairy STAB at all, and its speed is just kinda eh. You can run a traditional Life Orb set w/ Wood Hammer or Horn Leech (so Grassy Terrain can boost Grass moves while offsetting Life Orb recoil), but if I'm not wrong about Z move mechanics, I think Bulu can attempt a sweep with something like this:

Tapu Bulu @ Normalium-Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech / Wood Hammer
- Superpower / Megahorn
- Swords Dance
- Safeguard

Max Speed since 75 Speed isn't too shabby against defensive Pokemon and you need all the speed you can get for the Z-move. According to the Z-move thread, if you use Safeguard as the designated Z-move, the Pokemon gains a Speed boost, making Bulu difficult to revenge kill outside of scarved Fire attacks, Bullet Punch, or Gale Wings (pffft). Plus, Bulu gains a nifty immunity to status, making it extremely possible to sweep status-reliant balanced and defensive teams after Flyers and phasers have been removed. Swords Dance for that sweet boost, and go ham with your chosen +3 Grass move and coverage.

Again, suffers from terrible coverage overall and ideally you're using this for its typing rather than using it loosely over a more capable sweeper. Most mons don't want to take two turns to sweep, but considering Grassy Terrain recovery as well as Safeguard protection, it might be pretty nifty.
Makes me think - maybe you could carry Natures Madness + Fairy Z-move? See how that turns out?
 
So it seems that Bulu's quite limited to its fellow Tapus in terms of what it can do. Seems to have pretty terrible coverage options outside of off Fighting- and Psychic-type attacks, can't use Fairy STAB at all, and its speed is just kinda eh. You can run a traditional Life Orb set w/ Wood Hammer or Horn Leech (so Grassy Terrain can boost Grass moves while offsetting Life Orb recoil), but if I'm not wrong about Z move mechanics, I think Bulu can attempt a sweep with something like this:

Tapu Bulu @ Normalium-Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech / Wood Hammer
- Superpower / Megahorn
- Swords Dance
- Safeguard

Max Speed since 75 Speed isn't too shabby against defensive Pokemon and you need all the speed you can get for the Z-move. According to the Z-move thread, if you use Safeguard as the designated Z-move, the Pokemon gains a Speed boost, making Bulu difficult to revenge kill outside of scarved Fire attacks, Bullet Punch, or Gale Wings (pffft). Plus, Bulu gains a nifty immunity to status, making it extremely possible to sweep status-reliant balanced and defensive teams after Flyers and phasers have been removed. Swords Dance for that sweet boost, and go ham with your chosen +3 Grass move and coverage.

Again, suffers from terrible coverage overall and ideally you're using this for its typing rather than using it loosely over a more capable sweeper. Most mons don't want to take two turns to sweep, but considering Grassy Terrain recovery as well as Safeguard protection, it might be pretty nifty.
In all honesty, a sweeper or all out attacker is not what bulu is designed for.

Natures madness / horn leech / leech seed / taunt w/ leftovers is definitely its most promising set. Grassy terrain health recovery + leftovers recovery every round is amazing, add on leech seed and this mon is recoverin 30% every turn. Natures madness + horn leech is all it needs for attacking moves, natures madness does just as much damage as any of bulus coverage moves would do on full health, 50% damage is just so damn good. Horn leech offers recovery. And taunt allows bulu to prevent bulky mons from taking advantage of bulu to gain momentum. Definitely see this mon sticking in OU on the pure basis of how good grassy terrain + horn leech and grassy terrain health boost + leftovers is.
 
Does Grassy Terrain boost Grass moves? Because even if Grass isn't the best offensive typing, Wood Hammer with double STAB off 130 attack is absolutely bonkers. If I'm running the calcs right, this thing hits harder than Mega Medicham.
 
In all honesty, a sweeper or all out attacker is not what bulu is designed for.

Natures madness / horn leech / leech seed / taunt w/ leftovers is definitely its most promising set. Grassy terrain health recovery + leftovers recovery every round is amazing, add on leech seed and this mon is recoverin 30% every turn. Natures madness + horn leech is all it needs for attacking moves, natures madness does just as much damage as any of bulus coverage moves would do on full health, 50% damage is just so damn good. Horn leech offers recovery. And taunt allows bulu to prevent bulky mons from taking advantage of bulu to gain momentum. Definitely see this mon sticking in OU on the pure basis of how good grassy terrain + horn leech and grassy terrain health boost + leftovers is.
Maybe fighting coverage over nature's madness for tran and other steel types? leech seed and taunt is enough for stall breaking.

Edit: Then grassy terrain heals the opponents grounded mons as well(negating leech seed damage w/leftover) ....sigh never mind nature's madness is better.
 
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