Do I use Sawsbuck or Amoonguss for Pokémon Black 2?

Question

I want a grass-type Pokémon for a playthrough of Black 2. I know, Ferrothorn is a strong option, but I already have a Magnezone, and I don't like repeating types in my team. I would like to know which is better: Sawsbuck or Amoonguss, or if I should use another Pokémon or just Ferrothorn.

Comments

Why do you specifically want a Grass-type?

---

Use amoonguss it has access to spore

Answer 1

Sawsbuck is the better Grass type because it's much more capable of exerting offensive power. With access to good STAB moves and a range of TMs to cover other types, it's very good at mauling Trainers along the way. Its most notable flaws are its lackluster defenses -- Sawsbuck can't take many hits, so you'll need to KO quickly.

Amoonguss is a bit too passive for in-game -- though it gets some good moves like Giga Drain, its best STAB options only come in the postgame. If you wanted to use a defensive Grass type in Unova, you would usually want to use Ferrothorn instead.

Sawsbuck @ Miracle Seed
- Return
- Horn Leech
- Jump Kick
- Work Up / Faint Attack / Cut

This moveset gives Sawsbuck its strongest Normal STAB in Return and its best physical Grass STAB in Horn Leech. A Miracle Seed is recommended because Horn Leech is only 75 base power. Jump Kick is the best coverage move Sawsbuck gets, and makes it more capable against Grimsley and Iris.

Because Return can't be super effective and Horn Leech doesn't have much power, Work Up is a necessity for Sawsbuck to sweep. If your other party members are able to back Sawsbuck up in its positive matchups, you can use Faint Attack to hit random Ghost and Psychic types and conserve PP on STAB moves. Alternatively, Cut gets you items in the overworld. Do note that both of these choices are typically inferior to Work Up.

Comments

You will want to have Work Up. Sawsbuck's strongest attack can't do super effective damage and Horn Leech isn't very strong, so you'll want boosts to give you some chance of sweeping.

---

Edited, thanks. I recently completed a Black 2 playthrough with non-Work Up Sawsbuck and didn't find that its absence really hurt Sawsbuck's performance. If you're playing on switch mode or with healing items, I think the only places Work Up is useful are against Shauntal and maybe Iris.

---

How does Sawsbuck compare to other grass Pokemon, like Lilligant or Roserade? If any of them are better than both Sawsbuck and Amoonguss, they might be worth mentioning.

---

In terms of offense, I think Sawsbuck is definitely a top five Grass type. The other four that are worth mentioning:

- Serperior has good attacking stats and is pretty fast, but it's got a generally shallow movepool as well as being unobtainable if you want a different starter.

- Simisage gets Seed Bomb from the get-go and Acrobatics soon after. It's got other moves through TMs and Tutors, but that strength is also its weakness: you have to invest a lot of time into its movepool. It's also pretty frail and has a marginally harder time KOing things than Sawsbuck.

- Lilligant is a one-trick pony with Own Tempo Petal Dance, but it does that trick very well. Quiver Dance + Petal Dance will tear through favourable matchups, but the only other type of move Lilligant gets is Normal.

- Virizion comes late but has high Attack and Speed, along with deceptively high Special Defense. Swords Dance by level up coupled with Seed Bomb (Tutor) and Sacred Sword (level up) let it rip through a lot of Trainers as long as you mind the 4x Flying weakness.

You might also be able to make a case for Leavanny because of Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, and X-Scissor by level up. I don't think Sunflora, Amoonguss, Maractus, Whimsicott, Ferrothorn, or Tangrowth exert enough offensive pressure to be considered. Roserade's movepool is too shallow -- if you want a one-trick Grass type, Lilligant is almost always better. Leafeon, Tropius, and Carnivine are postgame.

---

Doesn't Roserade have better special attack than most other grass Pokemon (especially Serperior)? That might be more important than its movepool, especially when it already has enough to hit everything besides steel.

---

Call it personal preference, but if I'm going to use a Pokemon that basically only clicks Grass moves, I'd rather go with the one that gets Quiver Dance. I guess Roserade would be better than Lilligant if you need Venoshock or Shadow Ball for some reason, but a QD Petal Dance or Energy Ball will usually do more than enough damage. Roserade might be better than Serperior if they came at the same time, but I tend to give Serperior the edge because you get it earlier.