Crawdaunt Double Rain Mono-Water
Two weeks have passed since I last posted a team, so it's time for another heat post.
I don't usually watch Pokemon content on sites like Youtube, but I occasionally come across a video that Google recommends to me because it knows that I play on Pokemon Showdown. This video by Thunderblunder777 called "Top 10 Non-OU Pokémon Viable in SM OU: Competitive Analysis" caught my interest with its number 2 pick (or number 3, it's a little confusing in the video), Crawdaunt. Now this list was made for OU, but I figured that Crawdaunt could work in Monotype as well. A friend of mine added Crawdaunt to his Mono-Dark team and it worked pretty well there, but since I had more experience with Mono-Water, I decided to take this route. I used this team during the Monotype Laddering Tournament to sweep through the low ladder before using the other team I posted, Triple Degenerator, to clinch a spot in the playoffs. It's a solid Hyper Offense team that can smash a lot of unprepared teams, so it's good if you have just recently made a new account and want to gain some elo quickly.
After MLT, I messed around with this team on my main account and was still able to climb to somewhere in the 1700's, but I wasn't keeping good track of my elo so I don't remember my absolute peak.
Here's the vid, maybe you all can come up with another heat idea to spice up the Monotype scene.
The Cast
Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
The raw power that Crawdaunt provides lets it break almost any wall in the game, which was what made me pick this mon up in the first place. I'm not gonna go crazy with the calcs in this post, but I'm just gonna show you what this thing does to the Smogon Ferrothorn set.
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Ferrothorn: 246-290 (69.8 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That should give you an idea of what type of monster we are dealing with here. Crabhammer under rain is also brutal, and it kills even a lot of things that resist it, too.
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Azumarill in Rain: 306-361 (89.7 - 105.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Aqua Jet functions similarly to Quick Attack from Diggersby in that it's a priority move that can actually deal a decent amount of damage. In rain, Aqua Jet can even take out a few things like Raichu-Alola, which you otherwise have no way to outspeed or deal with. Finally, Superpower gives Crawdaunt some coverage against Dark and Steel types. Although this isn't really necessary, and the original set in the video uses Crunch over Superpower, I've found this helpful in dealing with Mono-Steel.
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
Two weeks have passed since I last posted a team, so it's time for another heat post.
I don't usually watch Pokemon content on sites like Youtube, but I occasionally come across a video that Google recommends to me because it knows that I play on Pokemon Showdown. This video by Thunderblunder777 called "Top 10 Non-OU Pokémon Viable in SM OU: Competitive Analysis" caught my interest with its number 2 pick (or number 3, it's a little confusing in the video), Crawdaunt. Now this list was made for OU, but I figured that Crawdaunt could work in Monotype as well. A friend of mine added Crawdaunt to his Mono-Dark team and it worked pretty well there, but since I had more experience with Mono-Water, I decided to take this route. I used this team during the Monotype Laddering Tournament to sweep through the low ladder before using the other team I posted, Triple Degenerator, to clinch a spot in the playoffs. It's a solid Hyper Offense team that can smash a lot of unprepared teams, so it's good if you have just recently made a new account and want to gain some elo quickly.
After MLT, I messed around with this team on my main account and was still able to climb to somewhere in the 1700's, but I wasn't keeping good track of my elo so I don't remember my absolute peak.
Here's the vid, maybe you all can come up with another heat idea to spice up the Monotype scene.
Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
Pelipper @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Hydro Pump
- Defog
Politoed @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Poison]
- Ice Beam
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
Pelipper @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Hydro Pump
- Defog
Politoed @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Poison]
- Ice Beam
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake
The Cast
Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
The raw power that Crawdaunt provides lets it break almost any wall in the game, which was what made me pick this mon up in the first place. I'm not gonna go crazy with the calcs in this post, but I'm just gonna show you what this thing does to the Smogon Ferrothorn set.
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Ferrothorn: 246-290 (69.8 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That should give you an idea of what type of monster we are dealing with here. Crabhammer under rain is also brutal, and it kills even a lot of things that resist it, too.
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Azumarill in Rain: 306-361 (89.7 - 105.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Aqua Jet functions similarly to Quick Attack from Diggersby in that it's a priority move that can actually deal a decent amount of damage. In rain, Aqua Jet can even take out a few things like Raichu-Alola, which you otherwise have no way to outspeed or deal with. Finally, Superpower gives Crawdaunt some coverage against Dark and Steel types. Although this isn't really necessary, and the original set in the video uses Crunch over Superpower, I've found this helpful in dealing with Mono-Steel.
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
This monster is a staple on every rain team. Mega Swampert is just an all around strong physical attacker. Waterfall and Earthquake make for good stab options, and Ice Punch is nice coverage for annoying flying and grass types. Finally, I opted for Stealth Rock over a 4th attack because I had no other Stealth Rock options. It's not that tough to get them up because if you know that the opponent has to switch, you are able to get rocks up for free. There isn't much else to say here, so let's move on into the more interesting stuff.
Pelipper @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Hydro Pump
- Defog
I thought that the standard bulky Pelipper was boring, so I decided to spice things up a bit, in case Crawdaunt alone wasn't hot enough. Scarf Pelipper doesn't have enough speed to be speed control, but both of the Swift Swim attackers already fill that role anyway. Scarf Pelipper is a lead that can break opposing Focus Sashes while U-Turning into something that can finish that lead off. Since most Pelipper are slow defoggers, some opponents even attack into Pelipper instead of putting up hazards, which lets you go into Swampert and kill the lead before it can put anything up. Part of the reason I chose this set was also because I wanted a way to beat Mega-Venusaur. With max spatk investments, Hurricane 2HKO's Venusaur while also dealing decent damage to anything that switches in. Hydro Pump also 2HKO's a lot of things, especially under rain, which is nice. Finally, since this is the only mon on the team that can Defog, I threw Defog on here as well. It might seem counterintuitive to give Defog to a scarfer, but it functions on the principle that if you can force a switch by sending this in, you can get a free Defog off and then switch back out into something that can take a hit (usually Swampert or Politoed). There's a similar set that's popular in OU with Landorus-T which runs Defog, U-Turn, and Scarf, in case some of you aren't convinced that this is an ok set.
Politoed @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Pelipper @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Hydro Pump
- Defog
I thought that the standard bulky Pelipper was boring, so I decided to spice things up a bit, in case Crawdaunt alone wasn't hot enough. Scarf Pelipper doesn't have enough speed to be speed control, but both of the Swift Swim attackers already fill that role anyway. Scarf Pelipper is a lead that can break opposing Focus Sashes while U-Turning into something that can finish that lead off. Since most Pelipper are slow defoggers, some opponents even attack into Pelipper instead of putting up hazards, which lets you go into Swampert and kill the lead before it can put anything up. Part of the reason I chose this set was also because I wanted a way to beat Mega-Venusaur. With max spatk investments, Hurricane 2HKO's Venusaur while also dealing decent damage to anything that switches in. Hydro Pump also 2HKO's a lot of things, especially under rain, which is nice. Finally, since this is the only mon on the team that can Defog, I threw Defog on here as well. It might seem counterintuitive to give Defog to a scarfer, but it functions on the principle that if you can force a switch by sending this in, you can get a free Defog off and then switch back out into something that can take a hit (usually Swampert or Politoed). There's a similar set that's popular in OU with Landorus-T which runs Defog, U-Turn, and Scarf, in case some of you aren't convinced that this is an ok set.
Politoed @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
And the team just keeps getting spicier... Eject Button Politoed. Not a very common set. In fact, Politoed is already super uncommon, Eject Button or not. But I wanted to have a backup rain setter because I knew that Scarf Pelipper alone would be too frail to reliably set rain multiple times. Besides, I've always been a fan of running two weather setters since my first successful Monotype team, which ran Charizard-Y and Torkoal (after another 2 weeks passes, I might post that team as well). One of the reasons why Politoed is often overlooked in favor of Pelipper is because of its lack of a pivot move. While Pelipper can easily U-turn, you have to switch into something else and let it get hit for Politoed to work. That's where the Eject Button comes in. With this set, you can switch into an attack and set rain, then immediately switch back into one of the Swift Swim attackers without losing a tempo. Then, you can later sacrifice Politoed by switching it in again and setting rain, essentially doing the same thing over again. This is best exemplified by the interaction that Politoed has with Kommo-o. Politoed can live the Kommo-o Z-Move and eject into Kingdra, which can outspeed and OHKO Kommo-o in return, all while setting rain for another 4 turns (5 minus the one turn that passed when you switched it in). Otherwise, the set is pretty standard. Encore can lock an opponent into a move that they do not want to be spamming, such as Dragon Dance, and Scald can fish for burns and otherwise be a decent stab move under rain. Ice Beam is coverage for the Dragon matchup, and Toxic can chip away at certain threats over time.
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Poison]
- Ice Beam
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Poison]
- Ice Beam
Okay, the heat takes a back seat now, but if every single set was heat, then the team would just downright not work. This Kingdra is fairly standard, with the one difference being that I gave it Life Orb for the ability to stay in longer and sweep more at once. I already have a nice wall breaker in Crawdaunt, so I didn't think that I needed the extra power. Hydro Pump tears anything that doesn't resist under rain barring Chansey, and Draco Meteor kills every Dragon barring Mega Altaria. HP Poison was added after I lost an obscene amount of games to Tapu Bulu Fairy, but if you want a second, more consistent stab, I used to run Surf over HP Poison. Finally, Ice Beam covers Grass types and Mega Altaria. There isn't much to say with this set since it isn't that interesting, but it gets the job done.
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake
If I were to change any part of this team, it would be Gyarados. It just doesn't do that much in many of my games. However, when it gets going, it can 6-0 other teams. Dragon Dance plus Moxie lets Gyarados continuously boost its stats after a single DD and sweep unprepared teams. Waterfall is a strong stab move, especially under rain, which lets it run through teams that don't resist. Bounce and Flyinium Z let this set touch Mega Venusaur and Tapu Bulu while also just hitting a lot of things really hard. Finally, Earthquake gives Gyarados some coverage to kill Steel and Electric teams. The one change that I can think of immediately is to add Substitute to this set so that I can set up freely on the likes of Ferrothorn. I'm not too keen on keeping this mon, but it can get the job done.
And that's the team! I haven't played enough to really perfect this team, so I would love any suggestions that you might have. I'll link some replays below so that you can get a feel for how this team works. And of course, feel free to use this team if you're interested in getting a Hyper Offense team for whatever reason. Thanks for reading!
And that's the team! I haven't played enough to really perfect this team, so I would love any suggestions that you might have. I'll link some replays below so that you can get a feel for how this team works. And of course, feel free to use this team if you're interested in getting a Hyper Offense team for whatever reason. Thanks for reading!
