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-
Water Absorb
- Heals 25% HP when hit by a Water-type attack.
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Damp
- Prevents the use of Selfdestruct or Explosion. Prevents Aftermath from doing damage.
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Swift Swim
- Speed doubles in rain.
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Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
40
|
- |
20 |
23 |
- |
| Atk |
50
|
9 |
11 |
14 |
15 |
| Def |
40
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
| SpA |
40
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
| SpD |
40
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
| Spe |
90
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
Overview
Poliwag is a very strong little tadpole. He is one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier, reaching a maximum 19 Speed. He can fit into many roles on a team from being a special attacker, to a Choice item Pokemon, to even being an effective Belly Drum user. Poliwag has a rather shallow offensive movepool, but his deep support movepool more than makes up for it. He may be relatively frail, but with his blistering Speed, Poliwag can be a force to be reckoned with.
This is arguably Poliwag's most useful set. Poliwag has fantastic Speed and can easily outspeed most of the unboosted metagame. Though Poliwag might seem to be outclassed by other Water-types such as Staryu and Chinchou, he has something that the other's do not: Hypnosis. Hypnosis is extremely useful, as it can sleep slower threats that could potentially sweep your team. Hydro Pump is Poliwag's main STAB move and can dish out a lot of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Surf can be used over Hydro Pump if you prefer reliability to power, but in most cases, Poliwag really needs all the power he can get. Ice Beam is used to beat Grass-types and Dragon-types which resist Hydro Pump. Hidden Power Grass is there for Water-type threats such as Chinchou which resist both Hydro Pump and Ice Beam.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Life Orb is the preferred item because Poliwag needs the extra damage output, but Eviolite can be used for some added bulk. The given EV spread maximizes Poliwag's Speed and Special Attack while giving him one point of bulk on Defense and Special Defense. If you opt to use Rain Dance in the last slot over Hypnosis, then change the ability to Swift Swim. Rain Dance is a viable option because it hugely boosts Poliwag's Water-type attacks, and also gives him a Speed stat of 36. Another option is using Choice Specs, which will give Poliwag a bigger boost in Special Attack than Life Orb does, but Poliwag doesn't get to switch moves and will be easier to predict.
Ferroseed easily counters this set by resisting all of Poliwag's attacks barring Ice Beam and KOing him back with Bullet Seed. Hidden Power Fire is a decent alternative to Hidden Power Grass to KO Snover and Ferroseed, but doesn't see much use outside of that. Magnemite is a great partner for Poliwag because it can trap and beat Ferroseed with Hidden Power Fire.
Under the right circumstances, BellyWag can potentially sweep through whole teams. Though this set is very risky, if you manage to pull it off, the reward will be tremendous. After a single Belly Drum, Poliwag gets +6 Attack, and coupled with his blistering 19 Speed, you have a real scary tadpole on your hands. The given moveset is only resisted by Ferroseed and Frillish, which should both be dealt with before attempting to set up. Waterfall is the main STAB move and has a 20% chance of causing a flinch, which is a nice bonus. Return is the best option for the second attack because it lets Poliwag hit the entire metagame neutrally except for Ferroseed and Frillish. Hypnosis is the best option for the last slot to let Poliwag sleep anything slower than him, allowing him to get a free Belly Drum up.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Oran Berry is the best option for an item because it heals Poliwag when he reaches 50% of its health. This works especially well with Belly Drum because as he uses it, he loses 50% of his health, which activates Oran Berry. A Jolly nature is preferred because Poliwag needs all the Speed he can get if he wants to maximize his sweeping capabilities. The given EV spread is used to maximize Poliwag's Speed, as well as his Attack. The other EVs are used to give Poliwag another point in his Defense and Special Defense.
Any Pokemon with priority will beat this set into the ground. As Poliwag is so frail, he won't be able to take any attacks before he can use Belly Drum. Ferroseed easily beats this set because it resists both the main attacks and can KO back with Bullet Seed. BellyWag really likes Stealth Rock support, as it can break Focus Sashes, so Poliwag can KO things without worrying about them. Rain Dance can be helpful because it activates Poliwag's Swift Swim, and gives Waterfall a nice power boost. Pretty much any Choice Scarf user that carries an Electric- or Grass-type attack can counter Poliwag; an example of this is Choice Scarf Chinchou, which outruns Poliwag and OHKOes with Thunderbolt. As Poliwag needs as much of his health as possible when he switches in, spinners such as Baltoy and Sandshrew are good teammates. Sandshrew can set up Stealth Rock to support Poliwag's sweep as well. Aside from laying Stealth Rock, Baltoy can also set up dual screens, which make it much easier for Poliwag to take a hit. Wynaut is a good teammate for BellyWag because it can trap priority users, most notably Timburr and Croagunk, and KO them with Counter or Mirror Coat. Dig is also a decent move to use on this set to hit Frillish and Ferroseed neutrally. Remember, Poliwag only gets one shot at this sweep, so make sure you pick a good time to use him.
Other Options
On the Belly Drum set, you could opt for Encore over Hypnosis to let Poliwag Encore a Water- or Ice-type attack and proceed to Belly Drum. With the new Encore mechanics, however, this can be less effective as Encore now does not last as long. It is also very risky compared to Hypnosis as Poliwag doesn't really want to take any damage before he sets up with Belly Drum. Poliwag also has a relatively deep support movepool with moves such as Toxic, Rain Dance, Haze, Hail, Endeavor, and Swagger. Poliwag also has the move Wake-Up Slap, which has a chance to KO sleeping Munchlax with maximum Attack EVs. Poliwag can run a Substitute + 3 attacks set, or a Substitute + Encore set, but he really doesn't have the bulk to take any hits behind a Substitute.
Checks and Counters
There are a few counters to Poliwag. The best counter to the special attacker set is Ferroseed, which resists all of Poliwag's attacks, barring Ice Beam, which won't do much to it anyway; in return, it can OHKO Poliwag with Bullet Seed. Ferroseed is also a great counter to the BellyWag set considering it resists all of Poliwag's attacks. Frillish is also a hard counter to BellyWag because it, too, resists all of Poliwag's attacks. Choice Scarf Chinchou can switch in and OHKO Poliwag with its STAB Thunderbolt; however, it cannot survive a +6 Return, so it can only safely revenge kill outside of rain. The special attacker set has a lot of trouble breaking through most bulky Pokemon as Poliwag only has mediocre Special Attack; this lack of power will make Poliwag setup bait for the likes of Scraggy. The BellyWag set is also relatively weak to priority users, namely Croagunk and Timburr. Choice Scarf Snover is another check to this set because it can revenge kill with Giga Drain. Unaware Wooper bypasses the Belly Drum boost and can KO with Earthquake. Dratini resists Water-type attacks and can easily beat Poliwag with ExtremeSpeed or set up in his face with Dragon Dance.
