When you combine 115 base Speed with three of the most game-breaking moves the game has to offer in Taunt, Bulk Up and Baton Pass, it's as if the rest of the numbers and metagame considerations don't even matter. Floatzel's fantastic Speed allows it to get a Bulk Up in and then decide to either Taunt an indirect attempt to cripple it or Baton Pass away from a direct one. Waterfall is almost a filler attack much in the same way Advance EspyJump's Psychic was, since your initial mentality with this set shouldn't be to sweep. That's being a little modest, however, given Floatzel's 105 base Attack and its ability, with the aforementioned Speed, to take advantage of the 20% flinch rate of a STABbed, respectable 80 base power attack. Floatzel is rather frail though, so its 55 base Defense is maxed to enable it to better weather physical blows. As with EspyJump, we're actually going to leave the very respectable attacking stat untouched. While this may come as somewhat of a surprise, we should remind ourselves that this Floatzel is a team player, as the well-developed flotation sac it uses to aid drowning people would suggest. 216 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed all non-Choice Scarf Gengar, which is probably more important than tying with its popular 115 Speed brethren in Starmie, Raikou and Azelf, all of whom can OHKO Floatzel easily, which is why we're not bothering with SpD EVs in Floatzel's 50 base Special Defense. That poor SpD stat is also the reason we aren't bothering with many HP EVs, since Floatzel should be Baton Passing out of special threats it can't OHKO (or switching out of faster ones) and maximizing its Defense is mathematically better for Floatzel. After a Bulk Up, Floatzel will have 369 Attack and 313 Defense to go with its 321 HP and 352 Speed. With Taunt and Baton Pass in its arsenal, it is capable of doing almost anything you could ever ask of a physical threat. As with a Bulky Gyarados spread, you shouldn't be too worried if Skarmory switches in, since, while the standard we suggest features a Skarmory with enough Attack to almost 3HKO once-Bulked Up Floatzel with Brave Bird, the old standard 176 Attack Drill Peck will do a mere 16-20% to the same Floatzel that will Taunt anything else Skarmory tries to do. The uncertainty regarding how well Floatzel can fare in the standard metagame should be looked at optimistically and not pessimistically, because, as I explained in my opening statement, it almost doesn't matter when you realize what Floatzel is capable of.
The key to the efficacy of this set is in the EVs and remembering what Floatzel's ability is: Swift Swim. Rain Dance essentially acts as an Agility and a Howl (for Waterfall, since Rain Dance still boosts the power of all Water attacks) simultaneously. Therefore, unlike with most fast sweepers, it's to our benefit to leave Speed virtually untouched, especially in Floatzel's case, since it has a great 266 Speed without any EVs at all. You're going to want to Rain Dance off the bat and then attack accordingly, guaranteed to outspeed everything in the game with less than 540 Speed. Those 16 Speed EVs allow it to outpace Adamant Heracross before a Rain Dance, and we put the rest of the EVs in the defenses to better enable Floatzel to take a hit, be it physical or special.
Standard fare here, as we choose Floatzel's most effective physical attacks and slap a Choice Band on it. A STABbed priority move from 508 Attack is hard to pass up, but Water/Ice/Dark/Fighting scores the most super effective hits this side of Electivire (12 total, missing out on only the Water, Electric, Poison, Bug and Fighting-types), so you may prefer to drop Aqua Jet for the Brick Break that would grant it great coverage. Floatzel may prove a formidable enough opponent for OU play, and it seems as if the age-old "Adamant or Jolly?" debate hinges on preference. Adamant will probably grant you the most mileage overall, especially if you're using Aqua Jet. Other OptionsSubstitute can replace Taunt on the Kristy set, though for an important comparison: if Espeon got Taunt in Advance, I'd still run Substitute because of the 95 base SpD behind it, which granted Espeon the ability to completely screw over Pokémon like Milotic, Magneton, and Regice (those without Psych Up of course), sometimes after a single Calm Mind. Floatzel doesn't quite have the tanking ability to prevent its Substitutes from being broken by most physical attacks after just one Bulk Up, so Taunt is a more than welcome option. I'm not sure how many Pokémon are actually going to be running from Floatzel, knowing how defensively frail it is, so it may not be in your best interests to use Focus Punch, and, to a greater degree, Pursuit on the CB set, but they are definitely viable options for Floatzel. The Pokémon that are primarily going to be switching into Floatzel are going to be weak on the defensive front, and this is why it's probably not worth it to bother with its special attacks even though Floatzel totes a respectable 85 base Special Attack. EVsGo ahead and max Kristy's Speed if you enjoy flipping coins with Grim Reaper, who is personified in the Thunderbolts of the aforementioned Starmie and Raikou and the Life Orb Psychic of Azelf that will always OHKO a 321 HP / 136 SpD Floatzel. You can borrow as many defensive EVs as you want on Dantzel if you'd like to be able to take on 90-110 base Speed Pokémon with a neutral Speed nature and 75-100 base Speed Pokémon with a beneficial one when it isn't raining. OpinionI'm obviously very smitten with Floatzel and its potential, as you can tell from my confidence associating a BL Pokémon with obviously-OU threats. One thing is for sure, though—it is bound to be a fun Pokémon to use no matter who you are or how you decide to use it. Floatzel's great attacking ability and undeniable cuteness (it's wrapped up in a friggin inner tube for crying out loud) appeal to all kinds of Pokémon fans, and there's something magical about being able to boast both kinds of appeal like that. At any rate, it's a good idea to stock your team with good recipients of Bulk Up, Pokémon like Tangrowth, Electivire, and Weavile that can shrug off Electric and Grass attacks aimed for Floatzel. Wish support also wouldn't hurt in general. CountersWith respect to fast Baton Passers the definition of counter needs some serious tweaking, but Cresselia can switch into any Floatzel without too much risk and threaten it with Charge Beam or Grass Knot. Weezing with Thunderbolt doesn't even need Haze to stop Floatzel in its tracks, though it can indeed negate the boosts of Bulk Up if Floatzel doesn't Taunt. Sceptile doesn't especially like taking any of Floatzel's boosted attacks, but it can effectively counter the Kristy set since it's faster and takes little from Waterfall. Starmie also isn't very afraid of the wet Sea Weasel, as it resists all of Floatzel's attacks except Crunch and ties it in base Speed. Pretty much every other Kristy "counter" will be BPed from, though, including more BL Pokémon like Lanturn, Luxray and Bibarel. The CB set can be "countered" by, in addition to many of the above Pokémon, Dusknoir or a bulky Tangrowth, in addition to any Gyarados that has Earthquake, Return or Stone Edge, thanks to Intimidate. Lapras, Vaporeon (with HP Electric) and Poliwrath can shut down the CB set as well thanks to Water Absorb, as Lapras fears only Brick Break, which is coincidentally the only attack Poliwrath doesn't resist. |
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