What Does It Mean When Tinkaton “Breaks the Mold”? Understanding Mold Breaker in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
The phrase “breaks the mold” is a flavorful way to describe the effect of the Mold Breaker Ability in Pokémon, and it’s often associated with powerful Pokémon like Tinkaton. But what does it actually mean when a Pokémon like Tinkaton “breaks the mold?” Essentially, it means that its attacks ignore many of the defensive or hindering Abilities of its opponent. In practical terms, Tinkaton’s Mold Breaker ability allows it to bypass the protective effects of other Pokemon, making moves that would normally be ineffective or have no effect hit directly. This ability turns Tinkaton into a formidable offensive force, capable of taking down opponents that would otherwise be hard to deal with.
Unpacking the Mold Breaker Ability
Mold Breaker, as a general Pokemon ability, works by nullifying abilities that might prevent damage or effects caused by the Mold Breaker user’s moves. This includes common abilities like Levitate which negates Ground-type moves, or Wonder Guard, which makes Shedinja immune to all but super-effective hits. When a Pokemon with Mold Breaker enters the battle, a message typically appears stating that the Pokemon “breaks the mold,” confirming the ability’s activation. This allows the Mold Breaker Pokémon to hit with moves that might otherwise have no effect or be avoided. It is an incredibly useful ability to have for offensive Pokemon and is very popular in competitive play.
How Mold Breaker Works Specifically
To better understand the ability, consider a few scenarios:
- Levitate vs. Mold Breaker: If a Pokémon with Levitate is facing Tinkaton, its ability to ignore Ground-type attacks is completely negated. Tinkaton can freely use Ground-type moves, which would normally have no effect, to hit and damage Pokemon with Levitate.
- Wonder Guard vs. Mold Breaker: Shedinja’s ability, Wonder Guard, allows it to only take damage from super-effective attacks. However, with Mold Breaker, Tinkaton’s non-Normal and non-Fighting type moves are able to hit Shedinja directly, making it an easy KO.
- Unaware vs. Mold Breaker: If an opponent relies on stat changes, the ability Unaware will ignore these changes to avoid an opponent being too strong, however, the Pokemon’s ability will be bypassed when it battles a Pokemon with Mold Breaker.
- Sturdy vs. Mold Breaker: Abilities such as Sturdy which can allow a Pokemon to survive a hit that would otherwise knock it out, is also bypassed by Mold Breaker. This means Tinkaton will be able to KO Pokemon who may otherwise survive the first hit of a powerful attack.
Why is Mold Breaker Important?
Mold Breaker’s significance stems from its ability to disrupt common defensive strategies. Many Pokémon rely heavily on their Abilities to mitigate damage or avoid status conditions. By breaking through these defenses, Mold Breaker turns the tables, making the user’s attacks more effective and threatening. This makes Pokemon like Tinkaton, with access to Mold Breaker, very dangerous in battle.
The ability to bypass abilities like Wonder Guard and Levitate, which otherwise can completely shut down entire strategies, makes Mold Breaker an especially potent tool. It promotes offensive gameplay and provides a valuable edge in battles where Abilities often dictate the outcome. It also prevents the Mold Breaker user from being limited to specific move types or having to switch out to deal with a certain Pokemon’s ability.
Tinkaton and Mold Breaker
Tinkaton, with its hammer and Fairy/Steel typing, is a prime example of how potent Mold Breaker can be. While its typing offers a great balance of offense and defense, it is its Mold Breaker Ability that truly makes it shine. It allows Tinkaton to hit Pokemon with abilities that might otherwise reduce or negate its effectiveness. This makes it very useful in both casual and competitive play.
By understanding how Mold Breaker works, players can better leverage Pokémon like Tinkaton, turning them into powerful wallbreakers and reliable offensive threats. It’s about negating the negative effects of enemy abilities to keep their own moves doing damage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What Abilities Does Mold Breaker Ignore?
Mold Breaker ignores Abilities that directly prevent or hinder damage from the Mold Breaker user’s moves. This includes, but is not limited to, Levitate, Wonder Guard, Sturdy, Unaware, and Purifying Salt. It bypasses any ability that would make the move not hit, do less damage, or not have its side effects.
2. Does Mold Breaker Negate all Abilities?
No, Mold Breaker only negates Abilities that directly hinder attacks. Abilities like Swift Swim, which increases Speed in rain, are not affected. Abilities that may help a Pokemon, like Dry Skin, would also be ignored, as it is considered a hindering ability as it has a negative effect in one situation.
3. Does Mold Breaker Ignore Huge Power?
No, Mold Breaker does not ignore abilities like Huge Power, which do not directly hinder attacks. Huge Power simply doubles the user’s attack stat. Mold Breaker only focuses on abilities that make damage moves less effective or ineffective.
4. Can a Pokemon with Mold Breaker hit Shedinja with any move?
Yes, Mold Breaker bypasses Wonder Guard. This means that Shedinja, which is normally only damaged by super-effective attacks, can be hit by any type of attack, except Normal and Fighting, which don’t do damage to Shedinja. As a result, Tinkaton can use moves such as Play Rough or Gigaton Hammer to defeat it.
5. Can Mold Breaker affect allies?
Yes, certain ally abilities, such as Flower Gift, can be impacted by Mold Breaker. In this case, Flower Gift will increase the Attack of allies with Mold Breaker, even when they are attacking the ally with Flower Gift. This can work in the user’s favor and can be useful to know.
6. Does Mold Breaker work against Pokemon with Unaware?
Yes, Mold Breaker ignores Unaware. This means that if a Pokémon with Unaware tries to ignore the stat changes of an attack, it will not work. The damage will be calculated using the Pokemon’s changed stats.
7. Does Mold Breaker ignore Protean?
No, Mold Breaker does not ignore Protean. Protean changes the type of the Pokémon using the move, and Mold Breaker would still hit the target based on its original type. The Mold Breaker attack would not ignore the type change.
8. Is Mold Breaker a Rare Ability?
Yes, Mold Breaker is a relatively rare Ability in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. While some Pokémon are able to get the ability, they may not have it as the main ability that they have, and may require a specific item to obtain the ability.
9. What is considered the Strongest Pokémon Ability?
While there are many powerful abilities, Intimidate is often ranked as one of the strongest abilities, due to its ability to reduce an opponent’s attack stat. Abilities like Huge Power, Speed Boost, and Wonder Guard are also considered to be very powerful and useful in battles.
10. Does Mold Breaker work against Sturdy?
Yes, Mold Breaker ignores the effects of Sturdy, which prevents a Pokemon from being KO’d in a single hit. This allows the Mold Breaker user to freely KO Pokemon with this ability, and it is especially helpful for faster, powerful Pokemon.
11. What are the best Wallbreakers in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?
Some of the best wallbreakers in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet include Roaring Moon, Iron Hands, Iron Moth, Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu, and Gholdengo. Many of these Pokemon have powerful offensive stats and good movepools that are able to deal a lot of damage.
12. Does Mold Breaker affect Good as Gold?
Yes, Mold Breaker ignores Good as Gold and other similar abilities such as Purifying Salt, allowing the Mold Breaker user to damage the Pokemon.
13. What are Fairy Type Weaknesses in Scarlet and Violet?
Fairy-type Pokémon are weak to Poison and Steel type moves. It can be very helpful to have access to attacks of these types when battling against fairy-type pokemon.
14. How Strong is Haxorus?
Haxorus is a very strong Dragon-type Pokémon, known for its high Attack stat. It has a max CP of 4062, making it a powerhouse in games like Pokemon Go. It can also be very useful in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
15. Is Shedinja useless?
No, Shedinja is not useless. While its low HP is a huge weakness, with the right strategy, Wonder Guard can make Shedinja a difficult opponent to deal with. It is typically a Pokemon that can help shut down other powerful offensive Pokemon.
By understanding these nuances, players can fully appreciate the power of Mold Breaker and utilize it to its fullest potential with Pokemon like Tinkaton.