Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
85
|
- |
311 |
374 |
- |
| Atk |
90
|
194 |
216 |
279 |
306 |
| Def |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| SpA |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| SpD |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| Spe |
130
|
266 |
296 |
359 |
394 |
With 130 base Speed, it is safe to say that Crobat has the potential for the fastest sleep in the game. This makes Crobat a fine choice to lead your team, potentially incapacitating an opponent before it gets a chance to respond. Taunt is also a great move on speedy Crobat. Anything this fast that can prevent status, recovery and other assorted goodies can be the bane of many a stall team. It also works very nicely with Hypnosis, as you can Taunt your opponent's Sleep Talker, preventing it from attacking in its sleep.
U-turn lets it get out and send in a counter, while getting in a light hit. Its defenses may not be stellar, but Roost is still a good option for recovering as an opponent locked into a Fighting or Bug attack is forced to switch. Beware of Roosting against Choice Band Earthquakes though. In the final slot, you have your choice of Flying STAB. Brave Bird and Hypnosis are illegal together, so you are restricted to the weaker options listed above. Air Slash feeds off the lower of his offensive stats, but has higher base power when compared with Aerial Ace, and comes with a handy 30% flinch rate.
The given EVs are designed to OHKO minimum HP Heracross with Air Slash. The Speed is set at 385 to outrun Jolly Weavile (Crobat hits a "magic" stat number, so adding 4 EVs at 383 Speed bumps it up by two points). If you opt for Aerial Ace, drop the Special Attack EVs, switch to a Jolly nature and put the leftover EVs into HP or Attack.
Bring this guy in on something that will have to switch out, and use Mean Look as your opponent switches to an appropriate counter. Sleep said counter with Hypnosis and U-turn your way to a Pokémon that would enjoy one free turn to set up. Another viable target may be Dugtrio as he will continue to trap the sleeping opponent, potentially finishing it off, without having to risk much on the switch in. Magnezone also works if Crobat is facing a Steel-type, who often switch in on it. The last slot should be something offensive just in case Crobat actually has to attack something.
It is a shame Crobat has to resort to unSTABed attacks for decent coverage. This really hampers its ability to do as much damage as it would like. Additionally, it is unfortunate that Hypnosis is illegal with Nasty Plot.
The double STAB of this set gives Crobat quite a bit of power, but pretty awful coverage. The loss of physical Hidden Power wasn’t great for the speedy bat, but the addition of Brave Bird makes the loss less painful. Cross Poison isn't much help for type coverage, but it leaves a nice dent in some of the weaker Electric-types, like Electivire and Jolteon. Pursuit is a pretty great move for Crobat as well, and will allow it to function as something of a revenge killer in the same vein as Weavile—just a bit faster with less offense, and better resistances. U-turn rounds out the set allowing you to get in an appropriate counter, when the inevitable Rocks and Steels appear.
Other Options
In the way of physical offense, Poison Fang, Steel Wing, Bite and X-Scissor are there, but none of them really outshine the suggested moves above in any appreciable way. A Choice Specs set is plausible, but not recommended as Crobat barely breaks 360 Special Attack, even with the item boost. Giga Drain can leave a nice dent in Swampert and Rhyperior. In the support category, there is the ever irritating Confuse Ray that Crobat uses supremely well thanks to its Speed, Haze / Whirlwind to clear the field of stat boosts. Screech is a less direct approach to phazing an enemy, but it can work nicely with U-turn. Screech as they switch in, then U-turn out, hitting their now lowered Defense on the way.
EVs
385 Speed is the absolute minimum, although you can simply max it out if you are happy to take your chances with a 50/50 against Jolteon and Aerodactyl. Even if you go win the coin toss, you may still get screwed by Hypnosis' 70% accuracy. Use a Timid nature if Crobat is using mostly special attacks, or Jolly for physical versions. If you're using Air Slash, then at least 128 Special Attack EVs are recommended to OHKO minimum HP Heracross.
Opinion
Crobat has some nice new additions that make it quite a bit more versatile than he was in Advance. The improved accuracy of Hypnosis along with the additions of Brave Bird, Nasty Plot and U-turn make it quite unpredictable indeed. Additionally, his 4x resistance to both of Heracross' STABed moves is always welcome. The only thing it misses from Advance is physical Hidden Power and Shadow Ball for its Choice Band set. As before, it seems likely that Crobat will skate that line between OU and UU, but he certainly has tremendous potential if given a chance.
Counters
Zapdos is the best counter for Crobat. It resists its Flying attacks, is immune to its Hidden Power of choice, and will often pack Sleep Talk to render Hypnosis useless. Otherwise, Rock/Steel/Ground-types like Metagross, Tyranitar, Garchomp, Skarmory, Bronzong, Jirachi, Rhyperior, Swampert, etc. slow Crobat down. The fortunate thing is that he can put them to rest with Hypnosis. The others in the base 130 Speed group (Jolteon and Aerodactyl) both make fine counters for it too. The rest of the more specific counters are determined by the chosen set—for example, Blissey would wall the Special Sweeper set, but would struggle with the Choice Bander.
