|
-
Sticky Hold
- This Pokémon's item cannot be removed. Increases chance of encountering Pokémon while fishing.
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Liquid Ooze
- Leeching moves cause the enemy to lose HP instead.
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Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
100
|
- |
341 |
404 |
- |
| Atk |
73
|
163 |
182 |
245 |
269 |
| Def |
83
|
181 |
202 |
265 |
291 |
| SpA |
73
|
163 |
182 |
245 |
269 |
| SpD |
83
|
181 |
202 |
265 |
291 |
| Spe |
55
|
131 |
146 |
209 |
229 |
When you think "fat intoxicated blob of Pokémon" you usually think high HP, Attack and Special Defense. Or rather, you think Muk. Swalot is a little different: his attacking stats are equally good (or equally retarded, whatever floats your boat) making such a Special Attacking set pretty viable. In UU he is largely outclassed by Muk, so this set focuses on the NU metagame where he can, believe it or not, hurt things.
These attacks together allow for pretty good coverage. Use Hidden Power Fire if you can, because NU has plenty of Bugs to use it on, most notably that blasted Dustox that takes little from your other moves. Giga Drain should hurt Whiscash. Choice Scarf can be used on this set, but it's not something you'd put on a Pokémon with 55 base Speed and such sturdiness.
Low tier play is full of offense, especially when it hasn't been explored yet. Swalot will be luring a lot of Choice Banded attacks, and is of course weak to the ever-popular Earthquake. Teach them a lesson by Countering their hits, and then Exploding on the next. Protect will help you a lot with Counter, and of course gives you Leftovers recovery.
With the addition of the first three moves in Diamond/Pearl and an EV spread focused on Special Defense, Swalot makes quite a potent Curser. Watch out for these Psychic and Earthquake weaknesses though. Pain Split if you want to keep on living, Rest if you are afraid of status, Explosion if you want that secure kill on something. If you're looking for a breeding chain, the Dusclops line can inherit Pain Split and learn Curse naturally.
Swalot makes quite a good tank with its large HP and okay defenses. It can absorb the sleep moves of any Bug or Grasser (or both, poor Parasect...). His long life and the extra PP Sleep Talk affords him makes Gunk Shot an even better option than usual, but you're welcome to shift to Sludge Bomb and a Special move of your choice, preferably Ice Beam or Giga Drain.
In an ideal scenario (your opponent switches to something and you see it coming) Swalot will be knocking off quite a bit of enemy HP. Not his best option considering his defensive capabilities, but good enough to warrant its own set. Again, Choice Scarf only deserves a very brief mention. Kinda like this.
Other Options
I wouldn't exactly call Swalot fast, so Body Slam is great for paralysis chance. Yawn and Encore can buy you some time and switches, and can be complimented with Protect. Snatch has its uses if you're a good mind reader. Stockpile works like Cosmic Power in Diamond/Pearl. With Swalot's Toxic immunity, good HP and Pain Split he can pull it off, let's just hope your two leftover moveslots are good enough to kill things with. Whether you use Liquid Ooze or Sticky Hold is up to you. Liquid Ooze makes him a great switch into Leech Seeders, whereas Sticky Hold prevents Knock Off, Thief and such nasty violations from happening.
EVs
Swalot generally should be maxing HP, or close to. Boost its defenses if you want to tank, and at least 200 of some attacking stat is desirable. It doesn't matter too much and mostly depends on how you're planning to use him.
Opinion
There are many, many good Poison types in both standard and UU that warrant Swalot useless. Being outclassed by Muk doesn't help either, especially since Muk was first. Swalot can do a few things Muk can't though, and if he's allowed in NU play he can be a great help. Elemental punches, Curse and the ability to hit from both sides of the spectrum pretty effectively make him a great contender there.
Counters
Poison is a pretty bad attacking type, being resisted by Ground and completely made useless by Steels. Such Pokémon usually switch into Swalot fine. As long as they're faster they can usually threaten him with Earthquake too (watch out for being Countered). His versatility can make him hard to handle. Dustox makes a good wall for Special warrants in NU play with Light Screen, and Mawile is generally the only NU Steel allowed.