[Weekly Poll] Swoobat vs Beheeyem (NU Matchup #8)

[Forever]

Both are pretty strong psychic mons if given the opportunity! While different, they can certainly pack a punch (or a mind warp) against their opponents.

When comparing the two, I want you to also base it on which you'd use competitively, which do you think has the better chance, which you used in-game, which you like the design-of best, and what strategies you think one could use to beat the other. Each week these polls will continue until all combinations and tiers are used up (each Pokemon compared will be from the same competitive tier). To find out more about tiers, and how you can get the most out of these Pokemon, check out Battle Center. So which do you choose? Don't forget to post in the thread when voting in the poll, either!

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Swoobat for one thing: its DW ability. With it, one Calm Mind will massively increase both of its special stats. Plus, it also has access to Giga Drain, to keep it alive, and Heat Wave, to deal with Steel types, as Move Tutors in the sequel.

[CycloneGU]

Swoobat has the telltale weakness to Electric types, and is one of those I hunt down to train my Electrics (especially those with Static since they have an easier time attracting Emolga thanb Audino). Beheeyem meanwhile has fewer weaknesses from a competitive standpoint, though someone armed for Psychic types in general will take either down easily. Both learn Psychic around the same time, so it's a tie there. I'm going with Beheeyem due to its fewer weaknesses.

Cyclone

[Arlo]

This one's not even a contest for me - Beheeyem all the way. Competitively, neither one's any great shakes (though both have nice DW abilities), so I'd be hard-pressed to prefer either one on that basis. So, for me at least, it really has to come down to simple personal preference, since there's no other reason I'd use either one instead of Sigilyph or Reuniclus. And on that basis, Beheeyem wins easily, since it actually sort of appeals to me, while Swoobat repulses me.

Shallow, I know, but there you have it...

[Hikari10]

I'm going with Beheeyem since I found it easier to train than Swoobat, doesn't have a horrifying Electric weakness and Swoobat looks ugly while not to mention that Beheeyem's pre-evo Elgyem is among my fave Pokemon.

Beheeyem also has better stats (except for Attack and Speed) and it gets good moves at the right levels and also, it's a beast when used on Trick Room-based teams. I also loved Beheeyem's cry and design much better than Swoobat's. Swoobat looks so ugly, and it never worked well for me due to the fact its stats focus too much on Speed.

[Element0]

I haven't personally used either Pokemon, but I'm going to have to go with Swoobat. I just like Swoobat's design a lot. I hate its pre-evo design, though.

[Aryan143]

I will go with Swoobat because of Simple and Calm Mind. With these two things, Swoobat can become a beast with Psychic,Heat Wave and Air Slash/Giga Drain. You can also give it Amnesia if you want it to be defensive.

[HaiImNate]

I don't battle NU much, but competitively I prefer Beheeyem over Swoobat. First of all, swoobat is a lot easier to take out than beeheyem because swoobat has more weaknesses (rock, ghost, electric, ice, dark) than beeheyem (bug, ghost, dark). Also, beeheyem is better defensively than swoobat so normally he's in for a longer duration which can help me out more. I also prefer beeheyem over swoobat because he's just done more for me in the NU battling scene. With choice specs, he's a monster becoming one of the strongest attackers on the NU playground. Or you can implement a life orb on him with recover which helps beeheyem. Also, beeheyem is also a good choice for a trick room team - which I haven't used him in- because his speed is so low. Add trick room with nasty plot and beeheyem will rip a team apart. On the other hand, swoobat with CM can be a good sweeper, but I just prefer beeheyem over swoobat. I believe that swoobat will be used in more NU teams that beeheyem just because beeheyem is slower. Swoobat has a special moveset that can also rip apart teams. Swoobat is also easier to implement in a team than beeheyem is.

Personally, I used swoobat throughout my journey in Pokemon Black. I don't believe that I used him when battling the Elite four though. I thought that he was a good Pokemon with good typing, and helped me tremendously in the gyms (especially at the 3rd., 5th. and 6th. gym). I didn't think he would be strong enough when I versed the Elite Four because he got KO'd too easily. Now that I look back, I wish I had caught an Emolga instead. Oh well.

I like the beeheyem design more! I lie the robot look that Gamefreak gave him, and I just like his futuristic design. I could see him in The Jetsons haha. Swoobat's design is cool but a robot is cooler than a bat any day.

I think that swoobat could defeat beeheeyem with its speed. If it was able to CM a turn or two, then hit beeheyem with air slash or HP ground then it could defeat it. I think that beeheyem has more of a chance defeating swoobat though. If beeheyem used thunderbolt or maybe even signal beam against swoobat it would probably result in an OHKO. If beeheyem already had trick room implemented then it would be a no contest outcome on who would win.

Overall, I prefer beeheyem over swoobat. Woo.

[Sassy Milkshake]

I like Swoobat's Heart Stamp, although it's probably not the STAB of choice haha. I'm not too familiar with Beheeyem, but from typing alone, it seems like Swoobat has a lot more coverage options. Both have pretty cool designs, albeit both strange as well lol.

[WeightyWillBill]

Beeheeyem is SUCH an underrated threat in NU. Yes, Swoobat is interesting, but Beeheeyem's awesome 125 special attack is somehow overlooked. Honestly, with its low speed, you can give it synchronize and watch it Trick Room sweep. You could make it more bulky and set up some Calm Minds, or maybe you prefer Nasty Plot. The absolute best set there is though, is Analytic (0 speed IV, Quiet Nature) Choice Specs Beeheeyem. It has many coverage options and wit hthe boost from analytic combined with some investment in bulk, Beeheeyem is sooo powerful.

Swoobat aint got crap on him

[Wind Heart]

I personally use Swoobat more. I love its designs.

[Brendino]

I've had very little experience using either of them, but when I did, I found using Beheeyem much more enjoyable. Aside from it's speed, it's a much more powerful Pokemon than Swoobat, and with it's higher Special Attack, it utilized Psychic type moves much better.

All that aside, I wasn't really a big fan of Swoobat's design, whereas Beheeyem would probably be in my top 10-15 Unovan Pokemon just by looks.

[Forever]

Going for Swoobat. I've not really used it that much but I love the ideas behind it and I think it's stronger than Beheeyem. Plus it can double its boosts! Beheeyem cannot (when they're facing off)! And unless it carries Shadow Ball (which it probs won't) then it isn't really hurt as much by Signal Beam, and can just... attack with Air Slash (being a STAB), and recover with Giga Drain. n_n

I also want to add that it's my strongest in B2/W2 but that's irrelevant. :(

[Lapras*]

I like Beheeyem mostly just because Elgyem is adorable and I find Swoobat odd looking =/ Not much of a real reason I know but I haven't really used either of these Pokemon!

[dieter57]

I prefer beeheeyem because of it's base stats. its mostly all around better besides speed. Taking into account most psychic type moves are special atk. based and seeing how high beheeyems special atk. is and how low swoobats special def is, it makes sense to go with beheeyem. Through charge beam on it as well and you have that crazy high special atk. going up and up while being super effective against swoobat. I'd probably run beheeyem with psychic, psyshock, charge beam, and energy ball. I might replace energy ball with hyper beam for some extra oomph if needed.

[Somniac]

For me it will always be Beheeyem, I simply prefer the design, swoobat, has never been one of my favorites, to put it nicely. Still too much of a fan of Zubat I guess, I always was odd that way.

[LilJz1234]

Swoobat. Psychic is super effective against fighting types and so is flying. So Swoobat got 2 type advantage as opposed to Beheeyem who only got one.

[BlueMoonUmbreon]

Swoobat would lose because Beheeyem can learn Thunderbolt. Use one or two Calm Minds first then Thunderbolt = One K.O.ed Swoobat.

[vaporeon7]

I'm voting for Beheeyem because, from what I've used of Swoobat, it's mostly useless. Beheeyem, may not be a top tier threat, but at least it can be used as a Synchroniser, and that's good enough for me.

[Mononoke Hime]

I'll go with swoobat. It's just like a real bat, it's not ugly. It's cute when compared to real life bats, btw.

It's typing is cool and it has access to good movepools, such as Calm Mind + [puts special move here]. It covers it's not too great sp.att and sp.def, and it's supposed to strike first so it'll have at least one Calm Mind to increase it's special defense before it gets hit, and in the next turn it's already able to do a boosted damage on the foe.

EDIT: I forgot about it's ability. As Deceit said below me, Simple is the best ability for swoobat. It completety puts the Calm Mind set in a way higher level.
Substitute it's also a good choice, because it's a pretty frail mon.

[Deceit]

This one's pretty close for me. For design, I would say Swoobat over Beheeyem, but battling is a lot different. Swoobat has pretty good speed and a great ability Simple, and it can be pretty devastating if it can get off a Calm Mind, and possibly something like Substitute. However it's defenses are pretty frail and it has more weaknesses than a regular Psychic like Beheeyem. Swoobat's speed gives it a boost though, maybe letting it get the final hit before the opponent, and after a boost with its simple ability, it's hard to stop. Overall, Swoobat is good, but to be used well in battling, it needs to be sent in at the right time, otherwise it can be a complete waste of a Pokemon.
And now onto Beheeyem. Beheeyem is a little more well rounded when compared to Swoobat (aside from the huge speed difference) and it has a good moveset as well. With access to moves such as Thunderbolt and Signal Beam, in addition to a great 125 Special Attack stat, Beheeyem is pretty strong. In addition, it can further increase its special attack with a nasty plot, but it should be noted that a Simple Swoobat calm mind is better. Both of these Pokemon to me are decent overall, but in the end I would choose Beheeyem over Swoobat, despite design.

[Magic0loc0]

Beheeyem has some nice stats. I used in my team and it surprised me positively.

[TrainerTori]

My vote is pretty much based on design.
I love the color-scheme of Swoobat, and the one I had in my team worked as my psychic pokemon for a good long while

I don't even think I ever even caught a Beheeyem...

[CycloneGU]

Originally Posted by TrainerTori

My vote is pretty much based on design.
I love the color-scheme of Swoobat, and the one I had in my team worked as my psychic pokemon for a good long while

I don't even think I ever even caught a Beheeyem...

Elgyem can only be caught in Celestial Tower. Beeheyem evolves from that.

In B/W, there is a finding of Beheeyem in the area of Route 14 post-E4; this does not recur in B2/W2. I haven't searched for it as I just evolved Elgyem.

Cyclone

[PlatinumDude]

I went with Swoobat because while it doesn't hit as hard as Beheeyem, it's faster. But I did like how GameFreak referenced "the meaning of life" in Elgyem's evolutionary level.