Politoed is good for weathering special attacks and its support movepool is actually pretty good. Hypnosis and its newfangled 70% accuracy is just always a good option. Toxic, combined with Water Absorb and Politoed's high Special Defense keeps bulky Water-types at bay. If Politoed is mainly being used to deal with bulky Waters, then Refresh can keep their Toxics from taking a toll. There are a few good options for the final slot. Ice Beam helps to deal with Grass-types and Altaria. Perish Song can be used to force opponents behind Substitutes to switch out and let another Pokémon get put to sleep. If a Pokémon is unable to be put to sleep, it is likely they're trying to set up, and Haze can help end their aspirations.
Your standard variety of Choice Specs user, these are pretty much the best moves in Politoed's special arsenal. Surf for reliable STAB, and Ice Beam for type coverage. Hidden Power helps against fellow Water-types, with the choice dependent on which Pokemon you want to cover most. Electric is mostly for Mantine, and Grass covers Lanturn and Quagsire more effectively. Psychic hits Toxicroak, Qwilfish and Muk, or you can go for Hypnosis to keep a counter out of commission for at a short while.
In terms of pure destructive power, Belly Drum Politoed cannot live up to its cousin Poliwrath, who runs with not only a higher Attack but a secondary Fighting-type as well. However, Politoed does have something over pretty much every other Belly Drummer: it is traditionally seen as a special-based Pokémon, and as such it will attract a different sort of crowd to counter it. Blissey for example is much more eager to switch in on Politoed than it is Poliwrath or Charizard, and it will not want to stay in after it sees Politoed setting up, thus giving it a good chance of successfully pulling off a sweep. The lack of STAB does hurt it though. Another advantage of the Drumming Politoed is that it can find opportunities to replenish its HP via Water Absorb. The IV of 30 for HP is so that Politoed can hit an HP divisible by 4 without having to sacrifice Attack or Speed. Other OptionsFocus Blast can go on the Specs set if you want to try this in OU, otherwise Blissey and Snorlax will shrug off hits with ease. It still won't trouble them much, but it is the best Politoed has for both special walls. Icy Wind is an unusual choice, but it provides a bit of team support while being able to slow down Taunt users. Mud Shot is basically a Ground-type Icy Wind and can be useful for slowing down Electric-types. It has some impressive physical attack options such as Earthquake, Ice Punch, Focus Punch and Payback, but without STAB the Belly Drummer is better off with the Water/Normal combo as listed in the set itself. Politoed's other ability, Damp, can be used for a free switch in against exploders scared of water, such as Golem, Regirock, and Steelix. Politoed's Speed is decent enough for Choice Scarf to work, though its offensive capabilities aren't quite high enough to really take advantage of it. EVsPolitoed is generally a special-based Pokémon so EVs should lean towards HP and the special stats, but the Belly Drummer will of course want to pump everything it can to Attack and Speed. There isn't much of a mystery here with Politoed when it comes to EVs. OpinionPolitoed doesn't have any particularly bad stats and doesn't suffer from any crippling flaws, but the happy clapping amphibian may find itself being overlooked due to that averageness. Politoed's lack of STAB and somewhat limited movepool can be detrimental to its offense, but it gets quite a number of good support moves, and Belly Drum can be quite a surprise for opponents. Politoed can do plenty of things, it just can't fit them all into one moveset. CountersSturdy Grass-types are problem, especially Vileplume who is immune to Toxic, and Meganium who has Aromatherapy to cure poisoning. Lanturn won't enjoy Toxic, but is otherwise a good switch-in. Other counters are somewhat dependent on Politoed's moveset. Without Haze or Perish Song, Grumpig can set up with Sub/Calm Mind. Hypno can switch into Hypnosis, and send Politoed to sleep or simply wear it down, although it won't enjoy getting hit with Toxic. Bulky Sleep Talkers, like Kangaskhan can come in on a status moves and hit Politoed on its weaker Defense stat. Electrode is faster than the Belly Drum set, even after a Salac boost, and is immune to Perish Song due to Soundproof. |
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