QC [3/3] - Sweep / Fireburn / Edgar
GP [2/2] - Winry. / The Dutch Plumberjack
Overview
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Cloyster is one of the most offensively-oriented entry hazard controllers in the tier and requires prediction and very aggressive play in order to keep the field free of entry hazards. Cloyster also has access to Spikes and the coveted Toxic Spikes to further support the team, and it uses its great offensive typing, powerful STAB move in Icicle Spear, and excellent boosting move in Shell Smash to pressure opposing Defoggers and entry hazard setters alike. Cloyster can beat most opposing entry hazard leads, such as Deoxys-S and Deoxys-A, or can outspeed and wear down bulky entry hazard setters such as Primal Groudon or Dialga for the next Pokemon to take them out. However, Cloyster dislikes bulky Defoggers that can shrug off its STAB, such as Arceus and Scizor, and requires a bit of team support to make the most of its niche. Overall, Cloyster is an excellent utility Pokemon that, although it requires very aggressive play, can control entry hazards in your favor and set up your threatening sweepers to put in lots of work.
Hazard Control
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name: Hazard Control
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Toxic Spikes / Spikes
move 3: Icicle Spear
move 4: Shell Smash / Explosion
ability: Skill Link
item: Focus Sash
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Cloyster's main niche in Ubers is to provide entry hazard control for your team. Thus, Rapid Spin is a necessity on this set, as well as the entry hazards of your choice, Toxic Spikes or Spikes. Offensively-incorporated Toxic Spikes are a big threat in the current meta, as they put a timer on offensive setup sweepers such as ExtremeKiller Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas while hampering bulky Pokemon such as Primal Groudon. However, Spikes can be used if your team requires the immediate extra damage to better punish switches. For a utility Pokemon, Icicle Spear is a great STAB attack, as Skill Link boosts its Base Power to 125 and it has good coverage in Ubers, dealing super effective damage to Giratina, the most common spinblocker. Shell Smash allows Cloyster to aggressively pressure the opposing team, but Explosion can be used to pseudo-spinblock or to deal damage to Pokemon such as Kyogre.
Set Details
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Maximum Attack and Speed investment allow Cloyster to optimally fulfill its role, by maximizing Icicle Spear's damage output and letting Cloyster outpace bulky entry hazard users, respectively. With a Jolly Nature, Cloyster can outspeed uninvested Lugia and, after using Shell Smash, the entire unboosted metagame. Focus Sash is the item of choice, as it guarantees a spin or a turn of setup against faster, more powerful foes. It also lets Cloyster act as an emergency check to dangerous setup sweepers such as Mega Salamence and Geomancy Xerneas.
Usage Tips
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Cloyster is typically used as a lead, unless the opponent carries a Pokemon that could prevent Cloyster from accomplishing its role. Key Pokemon to look out for are sleep leads, such as Darkrai and Smeargle, or entry hazard setters that can beat Cloyster, such as the rare Forretress. Cloyster should be played extremely aggressively and switched directly into potential entry hazard setters such as Primal Groudon and Dialga to try preserving its Focus Sash. Free turns should be used to set up entry hazards, use Shell Smash, or deal damage with Icicle Spear, depending on the situation. Cloyster should try to deal as much damage as possible to bulky entry hazard setters to the point where your next Pokemon can reliably KO them, thus preventing entry hazards from being set up.
Team Options
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The premier teammate for Cloyster is Ho-Oh, as it appreciates the offensive entry hazard control Cloyster provides for it. Additionally, Toxic Spikes support can wear down Ho-Oh's checks, such as Arceus-Rock, Primal Groudon, and Zekrom. In return, Ho-Oh can use its Fire-type STAB moves or Earthquake to threaten the Steel-types that Cloyster has trouble with, such as Aegislash and Heatran. Choice Banded variants of Ho-Oh can also absorb Dark Void from lead Darkrai, one of the few leads that can beat Cloyster. Primal Groudon is another good teammate for Cloyster, as its STAB moves can hit many entry hazard setters in Ubers super effectively. This makes Groudon a good follow-up Pokemon to take out weakened Dialga, opposing Primal Groudon, Defog Scizor, and more. Groudon also provides Stealth Rock support for your team. In return, Cloyster can use its Ice-type STAB move to beat Groudon's checks, such as Giratina-O, Landorus-T, and Mega Salamence. Finally, ExtremeKiller Arceus is another good teammate for Cloyster, as it appreciates Primal Groudon and Giratina being worn down and the extra entry hazards allow it to secure more KOs.
Other Options
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Because Cloyster has a very defined niche, its moveslots should generally not be changed outside of the options above. However, depending on your team, Cloyster has a few other things it can do to accomplish specific things. Firstly, Hidden Power Fire is an option, as it lets Cloyster beat Defog Scizor and the rare Forretress one-on-one and makes Cloyster a good lure in conjunction with a Pokemon such as Geomancy Xerneas, which appreciates these Steel-types being weakened or removed. Ice Shard is a very niche option that allows Cloyster to revenge kill weakened Mega Salamence or finish off Giratina-O before can use Shadow Sneak, but Cloyster is hard-pressed to find a slot to fit it in. Finally, an Adamant nature can be considered to improve Cloyster's damage output and still let it outspeed most of the Pokemon it has to; for example, Cloyster can still outspeed and has a good chance to OHKO maximum HP-invested Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock damage. However, Jolly is still preferred in most cases because Cloyster's main role is entry hazard control and it has a smaller chance of losing to arbitrary Speed creep.
Checks & Counters
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**Sleep Leads**: Cloyster's premier counters are opposing sleep leads such as Darkrai and Smeargle, which both outspeed Cloyster and can put it to sleep, preventing it from spinning away or setting up entry hazards.
**Opposing Entry Hazard Removers**: Support Arceus formes can tank Cloyster's Icicle Spear while burning Cloyster with Will-O-Wisp and Defogging Cloyster's entry hazards away. Additionally, Arceus-Ghost can reliably spinblock Cloyster, while Arceus-Poison can absorb Cloyster's Toxic Spikes. In a similar vein, Defog Scizor can easily take any of Cloyster's attacks barring the rare Hidden Power Fire and Defog Cloyster's entry hazards away. Some niche entry hazard users, such as Jirachi or Forretress, can beat Cloyster one-on-one while managing to keep their own entry hazards up. On the other hand, niche Rapid Spin users such as Tentacruel and Excadrill can also beat Cloyster one-on-one while removing its entry hazards. It is important to maintain offensive pressure on the opponent, as other Defog users such as Latios, Latias, and Giratina can come in after Cloyster faints and use Defog to clear away any entry hazards.
**Fast Special Attackers**: While they cannot prevent Cloyster from setting up its entry hazards, any special attacker that can outspeed Cloyster will most likely 2HKO it due to Cloyster's abysmal special bulk, limiting it to one move.
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