Otterly Amazing: Floatzel in PU

By Anty. Art by MiniArchitect.
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PU Spotlight: Floatzel

Floatzel's history

Floatzel was introduced in the fourth generation, where it quickly sank to NU, as its lacking power left it walled by common Pokémon in higher tiers such as, Milotic in UU, and it received competition from other fast Water-types like Starmie; however, in NU, its high Speed allowed it to become a solid revenge killer against top Pokémon such as Charizard. BW only worsened Floatzel, as even with the addition of a new official tier in RU, Floatzel found itself with more competition from new Water-types such as Basculin and Samurott and walled by Alomomola and Seismitoad, among others. Overall, Floatzel never really stood out from other Water-types until generation 6, when yet another new tier, PU, was made...

Originally, Floatzel wasn't very relevant in PU. It had two main sets, Bulk Up + Baton Pass and Choice Band, but the former was largely outclassed by SmashPass Huntail, and the latter really struggled to get past common walls such as Pelipper and Poliwrath and faced competition from Basculin and Simipour due to the former having Zen Headbutt and more power and the latter being stronger and almost unwallable. As the metagame developed and SmashPass eventually got banned, Floatzel still struggled to find a solid niche for itself, as Bulk Up pass wasn't very effective due to the lack of solid recipients, until specially based Floatzel was innovated. With Choice Specs, Floatzel could hit hard with its high-Base Power STAB Hydro Pump despite its relatively low Special Attack, and with Ice Beam and Hidden Power Electric for coverage, Floatzel could bait in and KO or deal a lot of damage to its normal checks such as Tangela, Pelipper, and Poliwrath. Despite this, Floatzel was still not considered to be a top-tier Pokémon, as it still faced competition from Simipour, which was much better at breaking balance, which, at the time, was the best playstyle, and could 2HKO Poliwrath without needing to lock itself into a weak move.

Not much changed for Floatzel for the next few months until August, when Poliwrath moved up via usage. At that time, balanced teams had become less popular due to a surge in wallbreakers such as Nasty Plot Ninetales and Stoutland, and offensive teams gained usage, so Floatzel became more useful to revenge kill fast threats such as Raichu and Jumpluff thanks to having higher Speed than Simipour. Additionally, the lack of Poliwrath meant Simipour's access to Grass Knot was no longer important, making Hidden Power Electric the preferred choice, as it hit Pelipper and Swanna along with the other Water-types. Floatzel's special set getting popular also sparked the increased usage of its Choice Band set, as not only was its best counter no longer in the tier, but it was also an effective lure to its special set's counters; for example, Roselia and Politoed were 2HKOed by Ice Punch and Return, respectively. With the addition of strong wallbreakers in Exeggutor and Bouffalant, and with stallbreaker Vigoroth becoming the best Pokémon in the tier, offense dominated PU, which only helped Floatzel, as its defensive checks such as specially defensive Roselia became noticeably less popular. With the bannings of Vigoroth and Exeggutor, Floatzel took the position of King of PU, as its high Speed and decent power allowed it to dominate the tier.

Currently, Floatzel is still a top-tier PU threat; however, with setup sweepers becoming more popular, Choice Scarf users that can revenge kill Floatzel have become a lot more common, particularly Rotom-F. Additionally, Audino's addition to the tier gave Floatzel another check and has improved bulkier balanced teams, leading to the rise in usage of other bulkier checks like Politoed. Despite this, Floatzel's mixed capabilities and revenge killing ability have kept it at the top of the tier.

Floatzel's qualities

Floatzel's most notable and important attribute is its fantastic Speed making it the fourth fastest Pokémon in the tier, allowing it to revenge kill other fast Pokémon such as Quick Feet Ursaring and Rapidash. Floatzel is also one of few Pokémon in PU capable of running both special and physical sets, as it has a very respectable Attack stat along with a strong special STAB move to make up for its rather lacking Special Attack stat. This means it has pretty much no hard counters, as no special wall can switch into its physical set, and vice versa, making physical sets very good teammates to other special attackers such as Raichu, which enjoy the removal of special walls like Roselia. Its movepool is also nice, as although its coverage only really consists of Water-, Ice-, and Fighting-type moves, that along with Hidden Power Grass and Return are all it needs offensively, and it gets a plethora of support moves such as Taunt, Switcheroo, and Baton Pass.

Unfortunately for Floatzel, once it has been scouted and the opponent knows its set, it is much easier to check, as Floatzel lacks many gimmicks to get past its usual counters. Physical Floatzel also suffers from low-Base Power moves, and its subpar bulk means it is easily revenge killed by faster Pokémon and Choice Scarf users such as Zebstrika and Rotom-F, respectively.

Playing with Floatzel

Floatzel

This is Floatzel's main and most common set, as despite its lower Special Attack, a Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pump does more damage than a Choice Band-boosted Waterfall. Hydro Pump is its main STAB move, and Ice Beam has excellent coverage with it, hitting Grass- and Dragon-types such as Jumpluff and Fraxure while also doing more damage to Swanna than the rest of its moves. Hidden Power Grass rounds out Floatzel's coverage, hitting Water-types such as Politoed and opposing Floatzel, whereas Focus Blast can be run to hit Water-types for the same damage as Hidden Power Grass and deal super effective damage to Audino and Ice-types such as Regice and Lapras; however, it has low accuracy, and Audino can switch out after being hit and then heal with Regenerator. The last slot is mostly filler, with Surf providing a perfectly accurate Water-type STAB move, allowing Floatzel to more reliably revenge kill frailer Pokémon, and Switcheroo allowing it to cripple its counters such as Roselia and Audino.

Floatzel can run several other moves in the last slot; when using Life Orb, it can run Taunt to prevent setup and recovery from Pokémon such as Roselia, or Aqua Jet for chip damage on Choice Scarf users or setup sweepers while being able to anti-lead Focus Sash and Sturdy users like Golem. Baton Pass can be used alongside both items to gain momentum on predicted switches; however, double switching is usually better in those situations. Life Orb is the preferred item, as it boosts Floatzel's power, and the cost of losing HP is negligible because Floatzel lacks good defenses anyway, whereas Choice Specs makes Floatzel even stronger but locks it into a move. A Choice Scarf with a Modest nature is also a very good option, as it gives Floatzel almost the same Special Attack and Speed as Choice Scarf Simipour, but its surprise factor means it is mostly better outside of Simipour's access to Knock Off and Superpower, and Superpower does barely more to its main target, Regice, than Floatzel's Low Kick anyway.

This set is mainly used as a revenge killer, so it should be bought in after a KO to revenge kill unboosted Pokémon such as Rapidash and Stoutland. Additionally, its high power allows Floatzel to become a useful wallbreaker, but because Floatzel is one of the best Pokémon in the tier, most defensive teams will be equipped to handle it. Nevertheless, this does not mean Floatzel will not perform, as many Pokémon that resist Water get weakened by coverage moves or lack recovery, and Baton Pass allows Floatzel to freely switch to a teammate with a better matchup.

Floatzel

Although physical Floatzel has a weaker STAB move than its special sets, such sets are still good, as they not only have different checks but also have access to priority, and its overall coverage is just as strong despite the lower Base Power of Ice Punch. Similarly to the special set, Floatzel has Water + Ice coverage to hit almost the entire metagame, other than Water-types, for neutral damage. Aqua Jet is a helpful priority move that can revenge kill faster Pokémon such as Zebstrika and Choice Scarf Chatot after they have been worn down and can stop setup sweepers such as Swords Dance Monferno and weakened Pawniard. Again, the last move is mostly filler, with notable options including Switcheroo to cripple counters such as Relicanth and Tangela, Return to hit Water-types and thus allow Floatzel to bait in and KO Politoed, and Baton Pass to generate momentum on opposing Pokémon that are switching out. Additionally, it can run Low Kick to deal more damage to Normal-types such as Stoutland and OHKO Pawniard, as well as Pursuit to weaken fast, frail threats it can force out such as Kadabra. Choice Band is the preferred item, as Waterfall is a weak move and Floatzel needs as much power as possible, though Life Orb and Mystic Water can be used to avoid getting locked into a move, and the latter can also let Floatzel bluff a Choice Band.

Physical Floatzel also acts as a revenge killer and wallbreaker due to its high offensive stats. Despite that, this set is played differently than special Floatzel, as it often tries to not reveal itself to be physical. This lets it bait in normal Floatzel switch-ins like Roselia and Grumpig to 2HKO or OHKO them with its coverage moves, making it a great partner for Pokémon that appreciate them being weakened, such as Zebstrika. Physical Floatzel also has more common checks than the special set, as there are plenty of common physical walls like Relicanth and Metang that don't mind taking a neutral hit, and even some like Tangela that can even take super effective attacks.

Playing against Floatzel

The special and physical sets have almost completely different counters, as the only Pokémon that can switch into the special set typically have very good special bulk but poor physical bulk, and vice versa. The most notable special set counter is Roselia, as it has been a very popular Pokémon throughout the past few months, as can wall many other specially attacking Pokémon due to its access to reliable recovery, and is one of the few Pokémon in the tier that can set up Spikes. Politoed is also a very reliable check, as it recovers HP when hit by a Water-type move and has very good special bulk. While there are plenty of other checks, most can be crippled by a coverage move or Switcheroo, such as Clefairy, which avoids the 2HKO from any hit but loses to Switcheroo variants; Audino, which gets 2HKOed by Focus Blast but can still switch into Floatzel and scout what move it locks itself into thanks to Regenerator; Lumineon, which is immune to Water but gets worn down quickly due to lack of recovery; and Grumpig and Assault Vest Bouffalant, both of which can take several hits but get worn down quickly due to their lack of recovery.

Physical sets are easier to wall, as Waterfall is not as strong as Hydro Pump, meaning physically bulky Pokémon such as Relicanth can switch in and comfortably tank several hits. Additionally, both Tangela and Quilladin are excellent switch-ins, as they are bulky enough to take Ice Punch and can recover off the damage; however, both dislike Switcheroo, but even then, Tangela can still wall physical Floatzel. Gourgeist-XL, Misdreavus, and Vullaby are all physically bulky and can take any hit despite not resisting Floatzel's STAB attacks, but the former dislikes Ice Punch and the latter two also hate Switcheroo. It is worth noting that most of these Pokémon will not be immediately switching in to Floatzel, as most players will assume it to be the special set, which 2HKOes all those Pokémon, and it's very hard to tell what set it is at Team Preview.

Offensive checks, which cannot switch into Floatzel but can revenge kill it, are much more common, and every well-built offensive team will have something to outspeed and KO Floatzel, as it is a huge threat. Electrode, Zebstrika, and Ninjask are the only three Pokémon in the tier to naturally outspeed Floatzel, making them excellent checks; however, many Choice Scarf users such as Rotom-F, Chatot, and Mr. Mime can outspeed and OHKO Floatzel with little or no prior damage required. All popular Choice Scarf users and faster Pokémon can survive a Choice Band-boosted Aqua Jet provided they stay above about 50% health. Golduck, Huntail, and Gorebyss can set up on Floatzel if it's locked into a Water-type move, and many other Pokémon, such as Pawniard and Klang, can set up on Floatzel if it's locked into a weaker non-STAB move. Strong priority moves such as Murkrow's Sucker Punch and Choice Band Monferno's Mach Punch can revenge kill Floatzel when it's weakened; however, this is much less reliable due to their generally lower Base Power, meaning Floatzel will usually need to be weakened to be KOed by them and they are easier for Floatzel to switch into.

Fitting Floatzel onto a team

Floatzel fits best on offensive teams due to its offensive presence, and due to its revenge killing and wallbreaking capabilities, Floatzel can easily fit onto such teams. Special sets appreciate Pokémon that can bait and weaken Roselia and Politoed, such as Knock Off Tangela, Passho Berry Ninetales, and Pursuit Murkrow, and physical sets like teammates that can destroy physical walls, such as Stoutland and Swords Dance Monferno, as well as Pokémon like Zebstrika that enjoy Floatzel's ability to bait in special walls. Additionally, Floatzel is a very good partner in Water spam cores, which involve two or even three Water-types to wear down each other's checks to allow the other to sweep. Common Water spam cores include Choice Band Floatzel + Choice Scarf Simipour or Shell Smash Gorebyss, as Floatzel can bait and weaken special walls like Politoed and Grumpig for them; special Floatzel + mixed Simipour, as both apply immense offensive pressure, and Floatzel can use Switcheroo to cripple walls like Audino while Simipour can remove Roselia's Eviolite; and lastly, physical Floatzel + Rain Dance Golduck, which acts similarly to the other physical Floatzel core but with Golduck setting up rain to allow Floatzel to take advantage of Swift Swim.

Conclusion

Overall, Floatzel is a defining Pokémon in the PU metagame due to its high Speed, decent offensive stats, and versatility, meaning it is great to use but has to be played around carefully. With the February tier shift coming soon, PU might receive Prinplup and Poliwrath again, both of which are amazing checks to Floatzel, which may greatly affect its viability, as Poliwrath used to be the reason why Floatzel was not very relevant.

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