|
-
Thick Fat
- Fire- and Ice-type damage is reduced by 50%.
-
Huge Power
- Doubles Attack.
-
Sap Sipper
- Grants immunity to Grass-type moves and boosts Attack by 1 stage when hit by a Grass-type move.
|
Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
100
|
- |
341 |
404 |
- |
| Atk |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
| Def |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| SpA |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
| SpD |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| Spe |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
Overview
Azumarill holds the niche of the strongest priority user in OU under rain. This allows Azumarill to OHKO most offensive Pokemon that are not resistant to Water, such as Terrakion, Landorus, Volcarona, Thundurus-T, and Tornadus (the last two need Stealth Rock), making it a good revenge killer for rain teams. Furthermore, Azumarill has good coverage options in Superpower and Ice Punch, and an immensely strong Waterfall, meaning it is hard to wall even with dedicated physically defensive walls.
However, this is all that Azumarill has going for it. Due to its disappointing Speed stat, it is outsped by most of the unboosted metagame, including many defensive Pokemon such as Skarmory and Politoed, and because of this it is very prone to revenge killing and will almost always take a hit before using any move other than Aqua Jet. Another flaw of Azumarill is it reliance on Choice Band, which often makes it setup bait for common Pokemon, such as Ferrothorn, Substitute Kyurem-B, and Nasty Plot Celebi, which forces the Azumarill user to predict correctly if he wants to make Azumarill count. This flaw is further compounded by the fact that Water resists and immunities are everywhere, due to the popularity of rain and Keldeo, making Azumarill even more prediction reliant if it wants to do anything useful. Finally, Azumarill faces huge competition from the many offensive Water-types that reside in OU and its only real selling point over them is its strong priority; as long as you take advantage of the strong priority Azumarill offers, its slot on your team will be justified.
Aqua Jet is the reason to use Azumarill, so make sure to get the most out of it. Aqua Jet is an amazing revenge killing tool that OHKOes many offensive Pokemon that don't resist it and can even deal over 50% to the bulkiest offensive Pokemon in OU, Garchomp. Waterfall transforms Azumarill into an offensive powerhouse and makes sure that even resists will be 2HKOed unless they have good physical bulk or are straight up immune to Water. Superpower takes care of Pokemon that resist Water and can threaten Azumarill back or could wall it otherwise, such as Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, Politoed, Gastrodon, Keldeo, Hydreigon, and Kyurem-B, OHKOing many of them while dealing good amounts of damage to the rest. Ice Punch gives Azumarill coverage against Grass- and Dragon-types that check it, OHKOing Dragonite, Latios, Breloom, Amoonguss, Latias, and Salamence (Stealth Rock is needed for some of them) and 2HKOing Celebi. On the other hand, Double-Edge trades the better super effective coverage of Ice Punch for better neutral coverage and higher damage output against neutral targets. It hits almost everything in OU that resists Water (bar Ferrothorn and Jellicent) for neutral damage, lessening the need for prediction, and is also Azumarill's strongest move against Tentacruel and Toxicroak.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The Speed EVs enable Azumarill to outspeed Blissey and OHKO it before it can cripple Azumarill with status. Return is an option over Double-Edge that allows for the same great neutral coverage without the nasty recoil, but the greater power is sorely missed. Mystic Water is a good way to alleviate Azumarill's predictability problem and makes it less reliant on prediction every time it wants to revenge kill something with Aqua Jet, as even if the target switches out Azumarill can still hit it with a coverage move on the next turn. However, the loss of power is very noticeable, so only use Mystic Water if your team can't afford giving setup chances to the Pokemon that usually take advantage of Azumarill. Aqua Tail can be used over Waterfall if the lower accuracy is not a concern, as the sheer amount of power it has is stunning; it OHKOes Latios 50% of the time after Stealth Rock and 2HKOes defensive Politoed 94.14% of the time after Stealth Rock. Lastly, Toxic is the only move on Azumarill's movepool that can hurt Jellicent and cripples other common switch-in to Azumarill too, such as Gastrodon, Kyurem-B, and Gyarados.
Politoed support is a must for Azumarill, as its powerful Water attacks are what make Azumarill viable in OU in the first place. Ferrothorn is a good partner, as it can take Grass and Electric attacks aimed at Azumarill, sets up entry hazards to help its partner get KOs, and checks the plethora of Dragon-types that can take advantage of Azumarill. Weavile can trap and eliminate Starmie, Celebi, Latios, and Latias, as well as revenge kill Pokemon that can set up on a Choice-locked Aqua Jet, such as Swords Dance Breloom and Dragon Dance Haxorus. Teammates that can handle Toxicroak, Gyarados, and Keldeo, dangerous offensive Pokemon that can set up on Azumarill, are also appreciated. Specially defensive Celebi with Perish Song handles Gyarados pretty well (as long as it is paired with a Pokemon that can tank a few Bounces) and can take on Keldeo and non-Swords Dance variants of Toxicroak. Choice Scarf Latios can switch into all of those threats, OHKOing the last two and crippling Toxicroak with Trick (to avoid Sucker Punch). Physically Defensive Jirachi counters Gyarados and Toxicroak while also acting as a pretty good check to Dragon-types. Finally, any Keldeo variant, especially one with power boosting items or Calm Mind, makes a good combination with Azumarill, overwhelming the opponent's Water-type resists and immunities and allowing one of those two Pokemon to clean up, usually Keldeo.
Other Options
If one dislikes the locking effect of Choice Band and the lack of power that Azumarill's coverage moves suffer with Mystic Water, Life Orb is an option, but the recoil really hurts Azumarill's performance, especially when considering that Azumarill will often need to take a hit before attacking. Azumarill can use a set with Substitute / Focus Punch / Waterfall / Aqua Jet or Ice Punch to take advantage of the switches it forces and its ability to create 101 HP Substitutes, with Leftovers as the item. Water + Fighting moves provide really good coverage, and Azumarill has the ability to get a free Substitute against a Pokemon that can't deal more than 75% damage to it if Azumarill can OHKO back with Aqua Jet. Encore is a viable option in this set's last slot as well, allowing Azumarill to lock the opponent into harmless moves such as Stealth Rock and Spikes, or status moves and Leech Seed after Azumarill sets up a Substitute. Lastly, Toxic is another move that can fit on the Substitute set, and cripples many of Azumarill's common switch-ins, mainly Water-types such as Jellicent, Gyarados, and Politoed.
Checks and Counters
The only sure-fire counters to Azumarill in OU are Jellicent and RestTalk Gyarados, which can effortlessly take anything Azumarill throws at them except for Toxic in Jellicent's case. As far as strong checks go, Celebi (especially the physically defensive variant), Toxicroak, Gastrodon, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem-B variants that invest in bulk all avoid the 2HKO from any of Azumarill's rain-boosted Water moves and can KO or set up on it. Aside from those Pokemon, any Pokemon that can take two Aqua Jets or one Waterfall while outspeeding and dealing good damage or OHKOing in return makes for an okay check. Such Pokemon include Tentacruel, bulky Dragon Dance Gyarados, Amoonguss, Rotom-W, Venusaur, offensive Kyurem-B, Kyurem, Dragon Dance Dragonite with Roost, Breloom, Calm Mind Latias, and Starmie.
