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Mantine Great League PvP Guide

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Mantine Great League PvP Guide

Mantine, the kite Pokémon, was released back in February of 2017 with the main release of the Johto generation of Pokémon. There have been many ways to catch Mantine over the years as well. Mantine is available to catch in the wild, hatch from 5km eggs (previously 10km eggs and 2km eggs during special events), and hatching its baby form in 7km eggs and also 5km eggs since April 2019. Mantine is a nesting species and so you may have seen it spawning at your local parks.

Its shiny form has yet to be released and given its very limited use in PvE scenarios, there was very little reason to actively seek out this Pokémon. In December 2018, Niantic introduced Trainer Battles giving Mantine a potential place to shine in the Great League tier. Mantine has interesting typing and impressive defensive stats with decent stamina and attack, making it ideal for the Great League tier.

In addition to its ideal spread of stats, Mantine also has a diverse and interesting move pool. Mantine also potentially became even more interesting with the buff that bubblebeam received in the most recent move pool shake up. Prepare for an in-depth look at Mantine’s place in the Great League.

Stats and Moves

Mantine

Mantine has a maximum CP of 2108. Mantine is one of four Water and Flying types in the game and is arguably the best one for the Great league in terms of stats and moves. Mantine is able to resist Bug, Fighting, Water, Steel, Fire, and Ground type attacks, while only having two weaknesses, Rock and Electric. Interestingly, Mantine’s stats are the same as Skarmory’s stats and are as follows:

Attack  148
Defense 226
HP 163

Mantine has access to the following moves:

Fast Moves Charge Moves
Bubble Water Water Pulse Water
Wing Attack Flying Ice Beam Ice
Bullet Seed Grass Aerial Ace Flying
Bubble Beam Water

Best IV Spread

Mantine has been available for over 2 years now and has been available to catch in in the wild and through hatching. Finding that ideal IV spread should be easier given its availability and nesting potential, but can still be a little tricky given its rarity in the wild. Since Mantine maxes above the 1500 CP limit for Great League battles, the ideal IV spread will have 0 attack, 15 defense, and 14 stamina. This is only obtainable in the wild.

Given its rarity in the wild, your best bet of finding a Mantine in the past was through finding nests or hatching from eggs. However, there have been three water festival events  that had increased global Mantine spawns. We also so increased availability from hatching during special events like Eggstravaganza and Legendary Week. The most recent opportunity to find that PvP perfect Mantine since the release of trainer battles at the beginning of the year was the 2019 Water Festival in August.

If you missed these events and can not find a nest near you, then your best bet is through trading with Ultra friends or less. There are IV spreads possible with good, great, or ultra friends in the top 20 ranked IV spreads for Mantine, but not with best friend trades. It is possible to get a decent PvP Mantine from a best friend, but it would be best to trade with other trainers. As always, look to maximize defense and stamina stats and minimize the attack stat.

The ideal IV spread will reach its 1500 CP limit at level 27.5, which is a decent stardust cost depending on the level it is caught. Unfortunately, Mantine also features a hefty 75k stardust cost to unlock its second charge move, so you will want to choose your Mantine wisely. Mantine needs the second move for added coverage and versatility.

Pro Tip: Trade Mantyke with your good, great, or ultra friends and unlock the second move in its baby form to save 65k stardust and 50 Mantine candy. For some players this is worth the cost of not having the possibility for the best ranked IV spread. Stardust is an ever limiting factor in a constantly evolving PvP meta. Even catching a perfect PvP Mantine at level 27 will cost nearly 80k stardust and 79 Mantine candy to get PvP ready, compared to powering up and evolving a traded Mantyke which will cost 62.5k stardust and 96 candy.

Related guide: Trainer Battles Academy: Best IVs for PvP

Best Movesets

Since the inception of trainer battles, Mantine was potentially a great battler. However, it had to wait until the third themed Silph Arena cup, the Tempest cup, before it got its opportunity. In the Tempest cup, Mantine was a fringe pick and did well in certain match ups and on certain teams, but really found its chance to shine in the Rainbow cup.

Fast moves

Mantine’s fast moves include wing attack Flying, bubble Water and bullet seed Grass. Wing attack is a decent move and the best flying fast attack in terms of energy gain, offering 2.5 DPT and 3.5 EPT with STAB bonus. Bubble offers slightly more damage and energy gain while being the best water type fast attack in terms of energy gain, offering 2.67 DPT and 3.67 EPT with STAB bonus. Mantine can also learn bullet seed, which is the worst grass type fast attack. However, bullet seed still offers decent energy gain, but at the cost of dealing less damage. With a 1.67 DPT and 3.67 EPT, bullet seed will likely be TMed, but could prove useful in some cases due to the prevalence of pokemon like Swampert, Quagsire, and Whiscash. All of Mantine’s fast moves are viable and can be situationally useful depending on the meta. However, wing attack has been more meta relevant in tournaments seen so far due to its type effectiveness on Grass type Pokémon. In most cases, Mantine’s role will be to counter grass type Pokémon and having that super-effective flying type damage will pay dividends. It will be important to pay attention to the current meta because bubble is also a very effective move and counters one of Mantine’s weaknesses, the Rock type. In summary, Mantine will run either bubble or wing attack in most scenarios.

Charge moves

Mantine’s charge moves provide great coverage and Mantine has access to the newly revamped stat changing move bubble beam. Mantine has four charge moves with two of them being the stand out picks, since the changes made to bubble beam. Ice beam provides excellent coverage and bubble beam provides excellent shield bait while also crippling your opponent for the entire battle.

Mantine learns two water type charge moves. Bubble beam is a weak move with a base power of only 25 and an energy cost of 40. However, with the most recent move pool shake-up, bubble beam also lowers your opponents attack by 1 stage. This can be devastating to your opponent and can turn the tides of battle. Mantine can also learn water pulse. With a base power of 70 and a hefty energy cost of 60, water pulse is very lackluster and is arguably the worst of the water type moves when considering energy cost and DPE. In most scenarios, Mantine’s bubble attack will provide sufficient Water type damage and the crippling effect of bubble beam is more useful than the power of water pulse. Water pulse will likely not be used unless a specific meta calls for it or a trainer finds a particular use for it on their team or strategy.

Aerial ace is a decent attack, but is one of the weaker flying type attacks. It’s effective due to its low energy cost of 45, but only offers a base power of 55. That’s a DPE of 1.22, compared to sky attack which has a DPE of 1.78 at the same energy cost. Depending on the meta, aerial ace is a viable option that provides coverage and STAB. Mantine’s last move is ice beam, which is an incredible move in its repertoire. Even though it isn’t the best ice type attack, it does wonders for Mantine given its arsenal of energy gaining fast moves. Ice beam has the highest base power and DPE of all its moves at 90 and 1.64 respectively with an energy cost of 55. Ice beam provides coverage for the powerful Dragon, Ground, and Flying types that run rampant in the Great League. It also provides additional coverage for Grass types that its Flying type attacks may not (Cradily for example).

Ice beam will likely be run on every moveset for Mantine. It offers the highest damage and DPE with excellent coverage. The only reason why you would not run ice beam is if the meta calls for aerial ace and bubble beam for some reason or you build a strategy around that combo of moves.

The best moveset will feature bubble, ice beam, and bubble beam. Bubble offers the best energy gain and damage, but again wing attack may be situationally beneficial. Bubble beam and ice beam offer the best damage and versatility, however some metas may call for aerial ace and ice beam. Mantine is a very versatile Pokémon and allows the trainer to be creative in their strategy. Study the current meta and select a moveset that will benefit your team and strategy best.

PvP Roles

With the same exact stats as Skarmory, Mantine naturally becomes a beast in the Great League. Its impressive defensive stats, diverse move pool, and limited weaknesses make it difficult to take down. Mantine’s bulk and high energy gain moveset allow it to exert extreme pressure while being able to tank charge moves very effectively. Although, Mantine does have one significant fall back. Thanks to its Water and Flying typing, Mantine is double weak to Electric type attacks. Double weaknesses make Pokémon risky switch options, so just be aware if your opponent has an electric type on their team. Due to its double electric weakness, Mantine will generally not be a safe switch. However, Mantine can be a very effective lead, attacker, and closer Pokémon.

Mantine has become an even more interesting pick since the most recent move shake-up. With bubble beam now lowering the opponents attack by 1 stage, Mantine can effectively cripple your opponent’s Pokémon. Even in an unfavorable lead scenario, you can seriously hinder your opponent by using one bubble beam before switching. Mantine has 3x as many resistances than weaknesses, making it a solid pick for any team. Even though razor leaf received a sizable power buff back in February 2019 and made Pokémon like Venusaur, Meganium, and Tropius more meta relevant than ever, Mantine is able to counter these grass type power houses despite its water typing. Having a water type Pokémon that can counter grass types is extremely useful and can throw some opponents off if they are not prepared. In addition, Mantine double resists Ground type attacks and is a strong counter for all the “mud bois” as they have been named (like Swampert and Whiscash).

Conclusion

Water is a great type, only having two weaknesses and only being ineffective against two other types other than itself. Mantine’s secondary flying type synergizes well with its water typing, canceling its grass and ice type weaknesses independently. This leaves its only two weakness, Rock and Electric, which it is able to counter rock very well. So the only real threat are those pesky electric types and occasional stone edge thrown your way. Mantine does not have unique typing because you have 3 other choices: Gyarados, Pelipper, and very soon, Swanna. However, it does have the most diverse move pool and the bulkiest stats, so in a sense it has a uniqueness about it. Mantine will likely hold the lead among this group unless a serious change occurs in respective move pools.

As previously mentioned, Mantine is weak to Rock and Electric types. Its moveset would suggest that it is able to deal with both of these weaknesses. However, Mantine is exceptionally weak to electric types due to its double weakness and you will want to keep an eye out for the likes of Lanturn, Magnezone, Minun and Raichu (Alolan or otherwise). Lanturn is a particularly hard counter for Mantine, being resistant to both water and flying type attacks. Therefore, Meganium and Venusaur pair well with Mantine to cover its weakness to Lanturn as well as other bulky rock and water types. Mantine is also a flying type that does not auto lose to rock types, because of its impressive defense and ability to return super-effective water damage. This comes with the price of electric types being able to beat Mantine even with a shield disadvantage. You will want to avoid getting cornered into a match-up with an electric type and it may be advantageous to not waste any shields on it if you do.

Mantine has a win rate of 79% with the ideal moveset mentioned above, but lacks coverage for other water types and a strong water charge move to deal with bulky steel types. It is  important to note that Mantine struggles with Steel types with access to rock and electric type moves and other bulky Water types as well. For example, Probopass and Bastiodon both win unless Mantine has a 2 shield advantage despite hitting with super-effective bubbles. Finally, other bulky water types like Slowbro, Cloyster, and Relicanth. Keep in mind that with bubble, Mantine loses some of its Grass countering power and loses in some match-ups. If Mantine manages to get an ice beam off though, any grass type (with the exception of Abomasnow) will be hurting pretty bad. In order to deal with these steel types, having a Fighting type like Medicham or Lucario on your team is a good idea as they can take down Probopass and Basiodon very quickly.

Mantine’s weakness to electric types can be very polarizing which is why it synergizes very well with ground types, especially Steelix because it can cover rock and electric types. Even Swampert is a good pick despite being a second water type. However, like previously stated, one of the best Pokémon to pair with Mantine is Venusaur. Mantine is able to cover Venusaur’s fire, flying, and ice type weaknesses, while Venusaur is able to cover Mantine’s electric, water and rock type shortcomings (specifically that pesky Lanturn). In addition, Venusaur provides extra resistance to grass type attackers like Torterra, Victreebel, and Meganium. Mantine is an interesting pick because it is a water type that can counter grass types and it is a flying type that can counter rock types. As a result, your opponent can be thrown off and potentially make fatal errors. Mantine is an effective hybrid attacker and pairs well with other strong grass, ground, and fighting types.

Some of Mantine’s key match-ups are Alolan Marowak, Charizard, Medicham, Altaria, and Tropius, which are some of the most powerful Pokémon in the Great League. When looking at the rankings of all current Pokémon, Mantine is listed as the 18th best Pokémon for PvP. Not a bad ranking for the kite Pokémon. If you don’t have a PvP ready Mantine yet, then I would highly recommend getting out there to find one before the next tournament because it will likely be a top pick given bubble beams new utility. Remember to keep those Mantyke hatches and trade with your friends.

Pro Tip: Over charging with Pokémon like Mantine who have stat changing moves can be strategic, but keep in mind that holding on to those bubble beams could potentially mean receiving more damage. Bubble beam causes your opponents attack to lower one stage regardless if they shield or not, which means you receive less damage from their fast and charge attacks.