Shadow Manectric
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Manectric skirts viability, but falls short in the tremendous shadows cast by the top Electric Types in the game. It's not bad, but it definitely isn't worth heavy investment for the most part.
Offense
- Thunder Fang paired with Wild Charge is Manectric’s best moveset due to typing and synergy.
- Charge Beam is a step down.
- Snarl does more DPS than Charge Beam, but Manectric isn’t a Dark-type.
- Thunder is an inferior option.
- Overheat is a powerful move, but isn't meant for Manectric.
- Flame Burst has no utility on Manectric.
- Psychic Fangs is for PvP only.
Defense
- Snarl lacks STAB, but is less likely to be resisted.
- Thunder Fang is stronger than Charge Beam on defense.
- While Wild Charge does less DPS than Thunder, it’s a two-bar charge move, so it will get used more often than Thunder.
- Flame Burst doesn't deal a lot of damage, especially without STAB, but is less likely to be resisted.
- Psychic Fangs can be spammed as a 3-bar move, but its damage is poor.
- Overheat is too slow on defense as a 1-bar move.
Snarl is more favorable as its higher energy gains lets Manectric take advantage of its charge moves sooner. Charge Beam could be chosen if the extra STAB damage and Electric-type coverage is needed, but this is more situational. Thunder Fang provides a different style of play that focuses on damage output rather than energy gains, though this might be more niche.
Wild Charge is the best Electric-type charge move in the game, costs the least amount of energy among Manectric's charge moves, and just makes Thunder redundant. Overheat is significantly stronger than Flame Burst, and provides some coverage should Electric-attacks be resisted. It should be noted that opting for both Wild Charge and Overheat makes Manectric extremely vulnerable due to their self-debuffs. Psychic Fangs can be chosen for its low energy cost, letting Manectric bait shields while also providing a debuff utility.
Manectric is a very fragile and vulnerable mono-Electric Pokemon, and heavily relies on dealing huge damage with Wild Charge to be successful. The addition of Psychic Fangs following the September 2022 update is a massive gain for Manectric, not because it is a good Charge Move, but because of its low energy cost and debuff utility. Manectric now has the ability to constantly keep the opponent guessing whether the next Charge Move coming is a powerful Wild Charge or Psychic Fang bait. While this can be inconsistent, it's still a major improvement compared to its previous slow moveset.
