Claydol was commonly used in Advance for one reason: Rapid Spin. It was immune to Spikes and had reasonable defenses, and this remains unchanged in D/P. Claydol is now immune Toxic Spikes and resistant to Stealth Rock, so it doesn't have an issue with the new entry hazards. This is usually why Claydol seems appealing on paper, but your opinion could change once you notice the amount of Pursuit users and such going against Claydol. Earthquake is recommended over Earth Power for OU battles, as a physical Ground move will do far more damage to Tyranitar. Ice Beam offers the best coverage alongside Earthquake, but it can be switched for Stone Edge, if you want better coverage against the likes of Weavile, Gyarados, Mantine and Pinsir, at the expense of doing less damage to Dragons and Grass-types. In UU competition, you can switch Earthquake for Earth Power, as a mixed set isn't required in a tier without Tyranitar. Reflect helps to soften the blow if Claydol has to switch out when facing a Pursuit user, and Stealth Rock provides further team support. With the given EVs, Ice Beam has a small chance of OHKOing Salamence. Additionally, Claydol will always survive two Pursuits or one Ice Punch from a Jolly Choice Band Weavile. Take note that Salamence can still lose even if Claydol has 0 Special Attack EVs, provided it switches in on Stealth Rock once.
Calm Mind is a new addition to Claydol's repertoire, and this set is built around it. Ground / Ice is a potent combination, so in UU this can pose quite a threat. Rest is useful for healing, but Reflect can soften physical hits. An additional special attack can also go in the final slot. Shadow Ball helps to deal with Ghosts and Psychics, Grass Knot hits Water-types, especially Quagsire and Gastrodon, and Charge Beam will dent Mantine.
Given its general sturdiness, Claydol is a good choice to set up Trick Room. Reflect and Light Screen provide support to get your sweepers in, or you can simply Explode on a threat to get your next Pokémon in for free. The Attack EVs are designed to OHKO Blissey. This is only desirable in OU, so for UU battles, you can ditch some of the Attack EVs to improve Claydol's defenses. The final slot moveslot can be use any attack from Claydol's large movepool. Grass Knot, Shadow Ball, Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, weather changing... the list is almost endless. Experiment with this set to satisfy your needs.
Claydol lacks a recovery move, and this set attempts to patch that up by using. Rest and Sleep Talk for keeping Claydol alive. Like as in the first set, your attacking combination can be either Earthquake / Ice Beam, Earth Power / Ice Beam or Earthquake / Stone Edge. Use Impish for pure physical sets, Bold for special sets or Relaxed if you go the mixed attacking route. Other OptionsChoice Band and Choice Specs are always options on Claydol, but one must wonder when they would prove useful. It certainly has the movepool for Choice sets, but there are better contenders for a Choice sweeper, and Claydol benefits most from using his many support options. Psychic is another STAB move, but it has horrible coverage, and let's face it, it will attract Dark-types. It does make it easier to take on Fighting-types though, most notably Heracross; it also deals good damage to Gengar trying to block Rapid Spin. Light Screen can be used over Reflect in any moveset but the Calm Minder. Claydol can also use Toxic to wear down opponents, particularly Dusknoir and Spiritomb trying to block Rapid Spin. Psych Up could copy enemy Calm Minds or anything else interesting to Claydol, even something like Swords Dance. Skill Swap is useful in double battles to give your partner a Ground immunity. Claydol can Rock Polish, but you should stick with Trick Room is you want to play around with its Speed. Power Trick is an unusual move, but could prove useful; however, packing Reflect with it is a must. EVsThere are a few different ways you can handle EVs for Claydol. 236 HP / 128 Atk / 144 Spe, Impish nature gives Claydol decent tanking ability, will outspeed Adamant Tyranitar, and usually 2HKO it with Earthquake. If you're using only special attacks, then you can put greater emphasis on Defense or Special Attack. Bold nature with 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpA will give you a decent shot at OHKOing Salamence with Ice Beam. If you feel the Speed and Attack/Special Attack EVs aren't necessary, then pour more into Claydol's Defense. Plenty of HP and Defense is good for the Calm Mind set, the same 144 Speed EVs can also be used here. For UU, Speed isn't required, so you can focus more on defenses. For Trick Room sets, Brave nature with almost max Attack will allow Claydol to OHKO Blissey with Explosion. Be sure to use a Speed IV of 0 if you want Claydol to take maximum advantage of Trick Room. OpinionIt might have not been a bad thing for Claydol that it got bumped down into UU. Quite the contrary, his great defenses and movepool can really help him shine in that environment. The ability to spin effectively is more than enough reason to make him used in UU teams, so make sure that you are well-prepared for Claydol's unpredictability. There would be nothing worse than switching in a Pokemon to take physical hits only brought down by a special hit. Calm Mind can cause some problems too. Although 70 Special Attack isn't the best, STAB Earth Power will tear through many teams that lack a Ground resist. Sleep Talking is also quite useful as that eliminates the ability of Toxic-stalling on a Claydol. The trouble with Claydol is that it has fairly meager offenses and no reliable recovery move, making it setup fodder for certain powerful sweepers. A weakness to Pursuit is a thorn in Claydol's side, since it can easily wear it down when it is forced out. Although Claydol is still a viable choice for Rapid Spin in OU battles, thanks to its not caring about any of the three entry hazards, it has trouble competing as well as it could in ADV. Claydol may be rather average in the higher tier it once occupied, but in UU it makes a fine tank and supporter, and is worth a place on any UU team. CountersOU: Water-types are great counters for Claydol. Swampert, Suicune, Vaporeon and Milotic are good examples. Gyarados could Dragon Dance with few problems and Taunt its attempts to use Reflect or Light Screen. Bronzong resists most of its moves, but requires Grass Knot to do significant damage, although it can put Claydol to sleep with Hypnosis. Cresselia will laugh at anything Claydol throws at her and fight back with Ice Beam. Blissey takes little damage from Earthquake, but will need to be wary of Explosion. Tyranitar may not be the best switch-in against Earthquake, but it can still frighten Claydol when it comes to its Ice Beam with Dark Pulse or Crunch, or lock it in and annihilate it with Pursuit. Other Pursuit users like Heracross and Weavile also pose a big threat. UU: Again, Water-types are great switch-ins. Blastoise, Quagsire and Gastrodon are the best options. Mantine, Lapras and Walrein also work well if Claydol lacks Stone Edge. Sturdier Grass-types like Meganium and Vileplume go a good job too. Lunatone can set up with Calm Mind if Claydol can't hurt it with Grass Knot or Shadow Ball, although it can still lose as Lunatone will likely carry Hypnosis. Pursuit is still a problem, but beware when switching in the likes of Honchkrow and Skuntank, lest they eat a super effective attack. |
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