Slack Off is an obvious choice here, as it allows Slowbro to recover off some of the damage he takes to enable him to stay in the game longer. Ice Beam makes Slowbro a decent counter for Garchomp and physical Salamence (Choice Band, Dragon Dance), and hurts incoming Grass-types like Tangrowth. Surf helps him deal with physical versions of Infernape and Rock-types like Tyranitar and Rhyperior (though he should do so with care since both of those Pokémon frequently carry moves that will cripple Slowbro in Crunch and Megahorn), in addition to being as close to a general power move as Slowbro can muster, as unlike the other potential moves it gets STAB. Hidden Power Electric takes out Gyarados in two hits, who would otherwise be able to set up on Slowbro. Grass Knot deals with other Water-types that might try to switch in and set up on the somewhat offensively inept Slowbro, as well as being yet another move that Rhyperior doesn’t love. Slowbro also has a few support options he can use in the last slot. Toxic helps to wear down opponents, and Thunder Wave slows down any fast sweepers. Light Screen provides defensive support for Slowbro's team mates and helps against special attackers, who often switch into him to take advantage of the lower of Slowbro's defensive stats. Use a 30 Special Attack IV if you want Hidden Power Electric. Other IV spreads for obtaining it will drop Slowbro's HP and/or Defense, which is not recommended.
On the somewhat rare occasions Slowbro was seen in ADV, he was normally carrying Calm Mind, and that is still a viable option for him. While the advent of Slack Off has allowed Slowbro to become more of a counter Pokémon, his great Defense and good HP combined with Calm Mind boosting his average Special Attack and Special Defense enable him to tank fairly well in a way similar to Suicune. Pick your poison with any of the attacking moves in the last slot, depending on what your team has the most trouble countering. Hidden Power Electric covers Gyarados and other Water-types; Ice Beam takes out Dragons and Grass-types. Psychic is the middle ground. It gives Slowbro a decently powered STAB move to hit many Water resists for at least neutral damage. It also hurts Heracross, which is always welcome.
While the odds of Slowbro using it to sweep something are relatively low, Slowbro has the defenses to set up Trick Room for use by other members of his team and is able to take advantage of it successfully itself, boasting a pathetic 61 Speed. Use Slack Off for more longevity or Calm Mind if you want to try to use the fact that 61 Speed in Trick Room is going to outrun nearly everything to sweep. Using both together is probably not such a good idea since there are a lot of common Pokémon that resist all of Slowbro’s potential attack types, and since he is already spending a turn to set Trick Room up switching out immediately is probably not something you want to be forced to do consistently. These IVs allow for a 70 base power Hidden Power Electric, but are somewhat unrealistic if you have to breed them—Slowbro is slow enough that those 25 points aren’t likely to make a large difference anyway. If you choose not to use Hidden Power Electric, the ideal Speed IV becomes 0, although when breeding anything low is acceptable. Other OptionsFlamethrower or Fire Blast are strange options, but they can 2HKO Heracross, and also take down Metagross and Weavile in two hits, in addition to OHKOing Abomasnow and Scizor. They have their uses, but it is hard to justify a moveslot for a Fire attack on most sets. Shadow Ball hurts Cresselia and Dusknoir, more than your other attacks, but like the Fire attacks, it doesn't quite merit a place in most sets. Icy Wind is almost half the power of Ice Beam, but the Speed drop can help out in some situations. Focus Blast hurts Tyranitar a lot more than Surf and also hammers Weavile, but is rather unreliable due to the shaky 70% accuracy. If you do want a way to hammer an incoming Weavile or Tyranitar, Focus Punch is actually a better option. With 0 Attack EVs and a Relaxed nature, it has a chance at OHKOing them both. It also strips off around 50% from the standard Blissey. Slowbro's other physical attacks (Zen Headbutt and Earthquake), should be ignored. Even with Belly Drum and Curse, Slowbro will not be sweeping with physical attacks, due to a low base Attack, suspect Special Defense and terrible Speed. Counter is an interesting option to surprise the hell out of a few enemies. Slowbro can actually survive a CB Crunch from Tyranitar, CB Night Slash from Weavile (barring a critical hit) and a Choice Scarf Megahorn from Heracross. If Slowbro is healthy enough when they switch in, simply Counter their attack right back at them for a KO. Rest + Sleep Talk is an option, but that is probably best left to Milotic. Slowbro is able to copy stat boosts with Psych Up, which would be useful combined with Slack Off if Slowbro’s terrible Speed didn’t almost ensure he would get killed by whatever he was trying to use Psych Up on. Yawn is a decent option, giving him a free turn to use Slack Off, predict an attack, or switch, or putting the opponent to Sleep if they choose not to switch. The choice of ability is fairly irrelevant on any set—confusion is almost never seen and Attract is seen even less than that. Own Tempo has at least some chance of coming into effect, but if you’re breeding a Slowbro, his ability should be one of your lowest priorities. EVsIn general, Slowbro wants most of his EVs in HP and Defense. Offensively, 212 EVs in HP allows for optimal Leftovers recovery, and gives Slowbro his best shot at taking physical hits, when combined with max Defense and a Bold nature. The leftover EVs can go in Special Attack, which has a slim chance of 2HKOing a minimum HP Tyranitar with Surf. You can ditch the minor investment in Special Attack and simply max out HP and Defense, for a slight boost in Slowbro's ability to take physical attacks. Although Slowbro is normally content with relying upon type coverage or Calm Mind for his offensive power, you can add more Special Attack EVs if you wish. 132 Special Attack EVs (136 if you use a 30 Special Attack IV for Hidden Power Electric) allows for a 100% OHKO on most Garchomp with Ice Beam. Speed EVs aren't required, although 76 EVs allows him to outrun a 0 Speed EV Rhyperior, but doing this wastes a lot of EVs that could be spent elsewhere, and isn't all that reliable. OpinionSlowbro is perhaps the most underutilized "bulky Water" in Pokémon today. While he has been a very powerful Pokémon given his limited usage since RBY, he has gained quite a bit of usefulness in DP thanks to the addition of the excellent Slack Off. Largely thanks to fellow Water-type Gyarados becoming as powerful as he has, Slowbro is now an incredibly viable OU Pokémon, being one of the best counters to Gyarados (as long as he has Hidden Power Electric), as well as a general physical wall, able to take hits fairly well with 95 base HP and a monster 110 base Defense, and then force out the physical sweepers with the threat of Ice Beam, Hidden Power Electric or Surf. The weaknesses he gains from his Psychic-type hurt him a lot more than they help him (Megahorn, Crunch, Pursuit), but does grant him a useful Fighting resist, so it's not all bad news. All things considered, Slowbro is a reliable, if unspectacular Pokémon. CountersLudicolo will easily beat Slowbro, as will other sturdy Grass-types like Celebi and Shaymin. In the case of the latter two, repeated hits from Ice Beam can wear them down though. Cradily can be a problem, especially in a Sandstorm. Taunt Gyarados is a lot of trouble if Hidden Power Electric isn’t present. Other Water-types can bring him down if he doesn't have Grass Knot. Starmie will 2HKO with Thunderbolt and Calm Mind Suicune will simply set up against Slowbro, as will Bulk Up/Taunt Floatzel. Empoleon will always come out on top if he has Grass Knot, as even Hidden Power Electric barely scratches him. Blissey, and to a lesser extent other special walls (for example, Regice) switch in and laugh at Slowbro all day, taking very little damage from him and Thunderbolting or Seismic Tossing him back, although in most cases Slowbro will be able to Slack Off on his way out. While neither can switch into Slowbro easily, if Heracross or Tyranitar predict Slack Off, Hidden Power Electric, or Calm Mind they are able to hit Slowbro hard with Megahorn and Crunch, particularly if they are running around with a Choice Band. Beware of Pursuit from those two, and from the likes of Weavile and Metagross. |
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