If you desire weather support, Ludicolo is a fine choice to provide it. He can scare off Hippowdon, hurt Tyranitar with his STAB moves (although switching in directly is risky) and sponge Abomasnow's Blizzard very well. Surf will help against Heracross and is boosted by the Rain, while Grass Knot lets you hurt other Waters. The EV spread generates just enough Special Attack to guarantee a OHKO on minimum HP Salamence (who fails to OHKO with Choice Specs Draco Meteor), and just enough HP for the highest possible Leftovers threshold.
Although Ludicolo is usually looked upon as a defensive Pokémon capable of taking special hits, it does have the ability to sweep due to its 90 base Special Attack, Swift Swim, and powerful STAB options. Surf allows Ludicolo to function more efficiently as a late game sweeper because it does not need to rely on Hydro Pump's 80% accuracy. Hydro Pump in rain OHKOs 4 HP Metagross (hitting those Metagross with max HP for a minimum of 90%) and some Machamp while dealing 92% minimum to 252 HP / 100 SpD Bold Rotom-Appliance. Grass Knot guarantees a 2HKO against bulky Gyarados with Life Orb and has a 67% chance to OHKO offensive Life Orb Suicune; meaning that if Suicune attacks, it will faint. Energy Ball is mainly used so Vaporeon does not stall with Protect and Wish, causing Ludicolo to faint from Life Orb recoil. It should also be mentioned that Energy Ball only 2HKOs Bulky Gyarados with Stealth Rock support. Ice Beam nets a quick OHKO against Salamence and Dragonite who resist Water and Grass. Rain Dance can be used in the last slot if the team needs additional support or if Ludicolo wishes to be a self-sufficient sweeper. If Ludicolo already has Rain Dance support from an outside source, Hidden Power Bug is a decent option because of its ability to OHKO Celebi with Stealth Rock 74% of the time. With 120 Atk EVs, Focus Punch can be used to hit standard Blissey hard, dealing upwards of 74% damage to 0 HP / 252 Def variants. Surf, in rain, inflicts lethal damage when combined with the damage dealt by Focus Punch. With the specified EVs and nature, Ludicolo reaches 478 Speed after Rain Dance and ties with max Speed Pokémon with base 70 Speed. This allows Ludicolo to outspeed Pokémon with 105 base speed, a positive nature, and Choice Scarf in rain. Maximum Special Attack is a given on a set with such an offensive focus. With an odd numbered HP, Ludicolo can switch into Stealth Rock an extra turn without fainting. When using Focus Punch, a spread of 120 Atk / 252 SpA / 136 Spe is recommended, allowing Ludicolo to KO standard Blissey with Focus Punch and Surf. With 136 Spe EVs, Ludicolo outspeeds +1 neutral base 85 Pokémon in rain. Life Orb is the preferred item on this set because it secures KOs against many foes with Surf, Hydro Pump, Grass Knot, and Energy Ball. Without Life Orb, Ludicolo loses the guaranteed 2HKO against bulky Gyarados with Grass Knot. Damp Rock boosts the duration of rain and thus the number of turns that Ludicolo benefits from it. Grass Knot or Energy Ball?
Hit your enemies with Leech Seed and Protect to regain HP, while theirs is slowly drained. Either STAB move is useful. Surf hurts Steels like Skarmory and helps to wear down an incoming Heracross. Grass Knot does decent damage to Gyarados, in case he hits Ludicolo with Taunt. Toxic makes Ludicolo an even bigger pain, just beware of hitting Heracross with it, although you do have Protect to scout what it is planning to do next. Ice Beam hits other Grass-types, but it won't really threaten the likes of Celebi and Venusaur. Still, it never hurts to have something to batter Salamence with. This set works even better with support from Toxic Spikes.
Ludicolo may seem like a mediocre Pokémon for use in Ubers at first glance, but surprisingly it has its own niche in the metagame, courtesy of Leech Seed, Protect, and Rain Dish. Due to the Uber metagame generally being specially based, Ludicolo can come in on many Pokémon with its very acceptable Special Defense stat. Ludicolo will take a maximum of 38% damage from a Choice Scarf Kyogre's Thunder, which is quickly made less worrying by the accumulation of Rain Dish and Leftovers, together granting Ludicolo 12.5% health back per turn in the rain. Ludicolo can then Leech Seed for at least another 11% health return, meaning Ludicolo can outstall Kyogre with Protect. Leech Seed is made all the more useful in Ubers due to many Pokémon in the tier having gargantuan HP, meaning Ludicolo will often find itself healing 25% of its health per turn with Protect. Protect also helps against Choice users, allowing Ludicolo to scout the incoming attack. Grass Knot will 2HKO Groudon and offensive Kyogre, while also being a very reliable attack versus Palkia, Darkrai, and Mewtwo. Ice Beam hits Rayquaza who may feel like Dragon Dancing or using Swords Dance expecting a switch, and will be promptly OHKOed after Stealth Rock damage, provided it doesn't invest heavily in HP. Ice Beam also helps against Garchomp, and to an extent, Dialga. However, Toxic is a secondary option for the fourth slot. This often allows Ludicolo to specifically beat Lugia, provided it does not carry Toxic itself. However, this means that many Uber Pokémon will cause more immediate problems for the set, such as Giratina, or Latias carrying Refresh or Safeguard. Dialga will have a much easier time as it is not affected by Toxic, and Grass Knot will not do huge amounts of damage. Finally, it becomes much easier for Rayquaza and Garchomp to wreak havoc for a few turns before Toxic damage would finish them off. Maximum HP provides overall defensive ability, while 216 Special Defense EVs provide a bonus point. The rest of the EVs go into Defense, allowing Ludicolo to take hits like Darkrai's non-boosted Focus Punch much easier.
Ludicolo's 90 SpA isn't the reason to use it over other Choice Specs candidates, as those generally have higher values. Instead, it should emphasize on the fact that it is still relatively bulky and has a large number of resistances that allow it to come in on a number of common threats, as well as a unique dual STAB combination which can make switching in a daunting prospect. Surf is your main STAB attack that should be used commonly for your Water attack. Grass Knot is generally a better choice than Energy Ball as the vast majority of Pokémon you will be using it on are rather heavy and so take more damage from Grass Knot. However, locking yourself into Grass Knot allows lighter Pokémon such as Gengar and Azelf to come in much more easily than they would do otherwise. Energy Ball also allows you to OHKO Vaporeon; however, Vaporeon is 2HKOed by Grass Knot, so it is a worthwhile consideration. Ice Beam provides coverage against foes such as Salamence, Celebi and Dragonite, all of whom can come in very easily otherwise and set up on Ludicolo. Focus Punch is a decent filler option doing around 43% minimum to the most defensive Blissey possible. Hydro Pump is a useful STAB Water move that can still be punishing more bulkier opponents with the immediate power despite the low PP and the accuracy. Although not mentioned Hidden Power Bug can eliminate Celebi from stopping your sweep though keep in mind that Ice Beam is already a 2HKO. This set, when Rain Dance is in play, will allow Ludicolo to outpace any neutral natured Salamence after a Dragon Dance, and OHKO even the bulkiest variants with Ice Beam.
Physical Ludicolo is bound to take your opponent off guard, expecting a purely special version or SubSeeder. With Ludicolo's great typing, it can easily come in on a wide variety of threats and force them out, netting Ludicolo a free Swords Dance. From there, Ludicolo can sweep with boosted Seed Bombs and Waterfalls. Ice Punch is included on this set to counter bulky Grass Pokémon and Dragons. This set is best used on a Rain Dance team where Swift Swim will allow Ludicolo to outrun almost everything, aiding in its sweep. It should be noted that this set also works fabulously in Ubers. With the omnipotence of Kyogre, Ludicolo can be supplied with infinite rain and can abuse this to its full potential. When using Swords Dance Ludicolo in Ubers, Jolly is the best nature to use, as it allows Ludicolo to outspeed Choice Scarf Garchomp in the rain (and thus OHKO it with Ice Punch), and to outspeed most Rock Polish Groudon before they boost their Speed. Brick Break is also a reasonable option on Swords Dance Ludicolo in Ubers due to its ability to 2HKO Dialga after one Swords Dance (only with Life Orb). Rain Dance can be used over Ice Punch if you want to activate Swift Swim yourself, but Salamence and Celebi switch in for free then. Life Orb is the preferred option since Ludicolo's Attack stat isn't the most impressive, but Leftovers can be used for greater survivability. Other OptionsSeismic Toss gives you consistent damage against everything barring Ghosts, and helps against the likes of Calm Mind/Sub Raikou. Hidden Power Electric is an option if you really fear Gyarados, although Grass Knot already puts nice dent in him, ThunderPunch for those who cannot manipulate Hidden Power at will. Giga Drain and Energy Ball make alternative Grass attacks to Grass Knot, but in standard play most things you'd use them against are heavy enough to make Grass Knot worth it—think Tyranitar and Milotic—while things you wouldn't want to be stuck with Grass Knot against such as Porygon-Z and Azelf can be taken care of with Surf. Rest is a recovery option for Ludicolo and removes other status for all it's worth, you'll want to back it up with Aromatherapy or Ludicolo can become a liability. Zen Headbutt can be used on the Swords Dance set if you for some odd reason fear Toxicroak. Fake Out is there if you want it (only realistically viable in 2 v 2 play). Rain Dish is rarely a better choice than Swift Swim. EVs202 speed should be a minimum on Rain Dance sets, so you can outrun Choice Scarf Heracross. You don't really need any more Speed than that, although bumping Ludicolo up to 222 to outrun Adamant Tyranitar isn't a bad idea. You can add a few more EVs to hit an initial Speed of 228, which outruns most Gliscor before you set up, and Choice Scarf Salamence after Rain Dance is active. Maximum Speed is never a bad choice as well. 76 Special Attack EVs lets you OHKO most Salamence. On all defensive sets, focus on HP is recommended before working on Special Defense. Without Leftovers, make Special Defense and HP as equal as possible (with the odd point in HP). OpinionLudicolo is often an underrated Pokémon. It does an efficient job of handling Starmie and performs adequately against any Gyarados without Stone Edge. It can switch with ease into all other standard Water Pokémon, in particular Swampert, but beware of Milotic's Hypnosis. Overall, Ludicolo is a solid choice on most teams, capable of providing good support and even makes a surprisingly decent sweeper. CountersWithout Surf, Heracross is switching into Ludicolo every time. Even with Surf, it is as good an opportunity as any. Toxicroak absorbs Surf and shrugs off Grass Knot, and is also immune to Toxic. Tentacruel takes Surf and Ice Beam like a pro, turns Leech Seed against you with Liquid Ooze, is immune to Toxic and can massacre Ludicolo with STABed Poison Jabs or Sludge Bombs. Celebi can stall Ludicolo and set up Calm Minds, and it nearly always survives two Ice Beams. He might eat a critical hit in the long run though. If Ludicolo leaves the house without Ice Beam, it is set-up fodder for Salamence and Dragonite. Blissey and Snorlax shrugs off his attacks, but both of them will hate Leech Seed. For the Swords Dance set, Skarmory can easily take it on either Whirlwinding any Swords Dances it has netted or just killing it off with STAB Flying attacks. Cresselia can wear it down with Ice Beam and sponge its hits by setting up a Reflect. Dusknoir and Spiritomb are bulky enough to handle a Swords Danced Waterfall and can burn it with Will-O-Wisp. |
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