BULK UP QUAQUAVAL RESEARCH ACADEMY
I used it in
this team (which I suggest to use with care because it didn't have good results), attempting to use Poison Touch Grafaiai to wear down Water immune Pokémon such as Gastrodon and using Spikes stack to help Quaquaval get going and sweep.
I took a set from the metagame discussion and tried to make it the main focus/win condition of the team.
Quaquaval @ Leftovers
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Steel / Flying
EVs: 200 HP / 16 Atk / 84 Def / 208 Spe
Impish Nature
- Aqua Step
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Taunt
This set is a very solid Bulky Setup Sweeper. It is EV'd in order to outspeed Talonflame and anything below its speed tier at +1. The rest is put in HP in order to hit 361 and maximize Leftovers recovery while minimizing Stealth Rock damage, and in Defense in order to better deal with physical counterplay such as Quagsire, Gyarados, Scizor and Tauros forms. I decided to use mono-Water STAB after seeing it mentioned in the metagame discussion thread as other sets were already used for this RW. Bulk Up, Roost and Taunt allow this set to be a real nuisance for many teams that lack a Water immunity, as this set is able to bypass the aforementioned Unaware Quagsire, Gyarados, Tauros-Aqua, but also Iron Defense Slowbro and Scream Tail by negating the possibility to Toxic, setup alongside, access to Recovery or ability to Encore. I think the best Tera Types for the set are Steel (to outright beat non-flamethrower Slowbro) or Flying (to leave EQ Unaware Quag completely harmless and to smash Tauros forms) while retaining resistance to Grass without which Wo-Chien becomes an absolute wall to the set.
Bad Matchups:
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This one is pretty self-explanatory. Mono-Water STAB simply cannot damage these Pokémon and while Quaquaval can Taunt them and not let them set up Hazard or Nasty Plot, it cannot damage them. Quagsire is the best of the three matchup, as if it is Physical it really struggles to damage Quaquaval and gets Taunted to death. Basically, teams with this set must focus around beating these Pokémon.
or
depending on Tera
Sadly, many defensive answers for this set are beaten through Terastallization. The problem is that there are many possible defensive answers and different Teras are required for each. Tera Flying completely forfeits the Slowbro matchup, easily dropping to Ice Beam or Psychics, while Tera Steel sacrifices the matchup with Tauros, which is naturally faster, can Trailblaze and Bulk Up alongside when Quaval is not terastallized or simply hit with strong Fighting moves Steel variants.
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Dragon-Flying means danger. Quaquaval drops to Draco Meteor and Hurricanes, cannot really damage these Pokémon and cannot Tera to beat them as Flamethrower/Hurricane still deal massive damage before the duck really gets going.
Aqua Step is a dancing move, meaning Oricorio will always outspeed Quaquaval dancing alongside him and KOing easily through Revelation Dance.
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& any other special attacker that can hit it hard
This set is very good at damaging fat teams, but it otherwise struggles against stuff that can hit it where it cannot defend. It requires time to get going, and Aqua Steps hit really poorly until it got lots of boosts that simply cannot get when threatened hard.
Good Matchups:
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I know, these were in the Bad Matchups, but depending on the Tera type of the duck and on the ability of Quagsire, these actually become setup fodder! Iron Defense Slowbro gets taunted and cannot damage Tera Steel duck hard enough until it's too late, Psychic simply does no damage, Quagsire cannot Toxic and while it bypasses defense boosts, it does too little to not be fodder. Tauros lets Tera Flying roam around for free, becoming free setup fodder and getting taunted out of Bulk Up.
Terastallization turns what could be a counter in free setup fodder unless it carries Ruination. Taunt makes it impossible to Leech Seed, Substitute or Rest, whereas Terastallizing renders Giga Drain completely useless. Bulk Up makes Foul Play strong, but the Defense raise helps with that.
Gyarados has been used as Quaquaval stop on offensive teams, but if it switches into Aqua Step it cannot beat Quaval. Taunt stops it from DD, while the use of Bulk Up further and further reinforces the duck against Waterfalls, Earthquakes, and Tera Blast Flying.
Taunt shuts down Strength Sap and Shadow Ball is very weak. With the standard spread, Bramble cannot outspeed Quaquaval if the latter Aqua Steps to +6. Power Whip is still a physical move and bounces off Tera Steel or Flying.
Replays: (low quality, still a small demonstration of the possibilities of the set)
Quaquaval vs Wo-Chien and Unaware Quag: low ladder battle, but Quaquaval gets going against the defensive core that should have beaten it in theory. The opponent recognizes Taunt sets mean that Wo-Chien likely does not have to worry about CC, but after Terastallization it becomes complete fodder. (I forgot the wrong ability lol)
The Gyarados matchup: My opponent is overreliant on Gyarados to check the duck when he has a Magnezone, but never goes into it fearing CC (I think). Still, Taunt forces Gyarados to spam unboosted EQ/Waterfall and to become complete fodder for Quaquaval to set up and sweep.
A Bad Matchup: Salamence, Magnezone and Tauros-Aqua on the opposing team? I know from team preview that my Quaquaval will not be of much use. Tinkaton, which is one of the preferred setup options for Quaquaval, has Thunder Wave, thus it is really impossible to get it going. It goes in, does a bit of damage to Tauros that forces it out, and then it is utilized as sac.
Overall Rating and Conclusions:
I'm not really a believer in the Duck, in the sense that i think it is completely fine in the tier. I think it suffers from massive 4MSS and the tier is well equipped to not be helpless against it. However, it is still a very strong Pokémon in the A ranks for sure, probably A+. For what concerns this set in particular, i would think it's much more situational. I would give it a B/B+. Certain matchups are completely turned around and many opponents can be surprised with it, yet the main problem of it being mono Water STAB leaves it completely helpless against Water Absorb/Storm Drain pokémon (that are very common due to rain). Another problem is that it needs to invest a lot of EVs in Speed to outspeed Talonflame, leaving few to increase the bulk and thus making it impossible to be all-around strong enough to stomach hits from many offensive threats or to muscle past threats such as Magnezone or Iron Jugulis that easily live its hits and KO it back.
Sorry I was so late, I really had no time...
See you all next week!