Armaldo can definitely claim numerous improvements since Advance, particularly in the STAB department. X-Scissor and Stone Edge is a potent attacking combination, especially when backed up with STAB, Swords Dance and Armaldo's mighty Attack stat. Armaldo is really slow, but with 124 Speed EVs, you can outrun Impish Swampert and 2HKO him with X-Scissor, while he fails to OHKO Armaldo with either Waterfall or Stone Edge. A Surf from 220 Special Attack (common for most "MixPert" sets) also fails to bring down Armaldo with a single hit, but Hydro Pump will likely result in an OHKO.
Rock Polish nets Armaldo a Speed of 374, and with Life Orb, he has an Attack of almost 500—making this set a reasonable threat late in the game.
This is a simple Choice user. If you're using Choice Band, favor HP to bring up Armaldo's survivability; otherwise, Armaldo can make 280 Speed, outspeeding Scarf-less Drapion, Porygon-Z and Lucario, provided they're not +Speed natured. Knock Off is mostly filler but can mess up Skarmory, who can avoid a 2HKO from Stone Edge most of the time and stall you out with Roost.
His typing may not provide much in the way of useful resistances, but Armaldo does have a few moves he can use to support his team mates. He can set up Stealth Rock, Knock Off items or spin away spiking moves, all of which are valuable assets to have on your side. Rock Blast is suggested over Stone Edge as it can break Substitutes (and destroy Ninjask), so it is more in-keeping with the supportive nature of this set. Armaldo can make a decent Rapid Spinner on a team lacking Starmie or Forretress—just be sure to do your best to keep him alive, since he is weak to Stealth Rock. Toxic helps Armaldo deal with Dusknoir and Spiritomb, who will block his attempts to use Rapid Spin. Other OptionsRock Slide is on offer if you want more accuracy than Stone Edge and Rock Blast. Screech may force switches, and can be useful on a team with Spikes support. EVsAdamant and max Attack for every set, barring the Support one where you'll want to focus on HP and Defense first. 244 Speed EVs will hit 374 after a Rock Polish or 280 with a Choice Scarf. You can use 208 Speed EVs on the Choice Band set, thus making him faster than most Skarmory, who can sometimes be 2HKOed by Stone Edge. Since Armaldo is slow and powerful, he is a good candidate for Trick Room teams, where a Brave nature and a 0 Speed IV gives him a stat of 85. OpinionWith a mere two resistances, Bug/Rock isn't winning any awards defensively, but it is a very good combination on the offensive side. Being slow, weak to Stealth Rock and lacking a recovery move also hurts his staying power. However, Armaldo is a powerful Pokémon with acceptable defenses and a good movepool, so don't discount him too readily. CountersSkarmory is a pain if you don't outspeed it, since he can stall out Stone Edge by Roosting (beware of predicted Earthquakes), use Brave Bird to hit Armaldo for decent damage, and phaze away Swords Dance and Rock Polish. Metagross and Rhyperior can handle two or three Earthquakes and will KO Armaldo with Meteor Mash and Stone Edge, respectively. Bulky Water-types do okay against the Swords Dance set, but bear in mind that Surf won't OHKO a sturdier Armaldo without a lot of EV investment. Thankfully, Milotic and Suicune are both faster than Armaldo and Swampert boasts a Rock resistance. Empoleon can handle both STAB moves thanks to his Steel typing, but he is vulnerable to Earthquake as a result. In general, Armaldo's worst enemy is his own poor Speed. Failing to outrun such a wide range of Pokémon hinders his ability to sweep and forces him to switch out on Pokémon he could otherwise KO, like Tyranitar. |
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