Biosci
Danger!?
[Overview]
<p>Crawdaunt has an impressive base 120 Attack stat, and with the right attack, it can put some huge dents into many common threats, such as Latios, Cresselia, and Metagross. Its low base Speed of 55 lets it shine in Trick Room. However, weaknesses to Electric-, Grass-, and Fighting-type moves make Crawdaunt very hard to use. Its Dream World ability, Adaptability, gave Crawdaunt a significant boost in BW; however, it doesn't quite make up for Crawdaunt's many weaknesses.</p>
[SET]
name: Trick Room Attacker
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Crabhammer / Waterfall
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Dark Gem
nature: Brave
ability: Adaptability
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>The combination of Crawdaunt's high Attack and low Speed make Trick Room a natural choice for it. Crunch is Crawdaunt's strongest and most reliable STAB move; it can gain a power boost from either Life Orb or Dark Gem to hit the enemy hard. The second moveslot is dedicated to Crawdaunt's secondary STAB. Crabhammer is the stronger choice, but misses can be costly, making Waterfall an equal option. Superpower is mainly for coverage, and the fact that Crawdaunt doesn't have much else to use for this slot. Protect is a common utility move to use in VGC; it enables Crawdaunt to stall out burn or poison damage, prevent damage from an obvious Fake Out, scout out an opponent's moves, or simply enable Crawdaunt to evade damage for a turn.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Brave nature optimizes Crawdaunt's stats, giving it as high an Attack and as low a Speed as possible. Similarly, as is standard for Trick Room abusing Pokemon, maximum Attack investment lets Crawdaunt hit as hard as possible, and the rest of the EVs are put in HP for some added bulk. 0 Speed IVs should also be used to maximize Crawdaunt's Speed when under Trick Room. Crawdaunt's most useful ability is Adaptability because of the boost it gives to Crawdaunt's STAB moves. Life Orb grants all of Crawdaunt's moves a nice boost, while Dark Gem gives Crawdaunt's main attack, Crunch, much more power the first time it is used.</p>
<p>Rain support in the form of Drizzle Politoed would be nice to have, so as to ensure Crawdaunt hits harder with Crabhammer or Waterfall. More importantly, Psychic- or Ghost-types that set up Trick Room are necessary to maximize Crawdaunt's potential. Pokemon that can provide excellent Trick Room support include Cresselia, Dusknoir, Jellicent, and Reuniclus. Fighting-types hold as steady checks to Crawdaunt, so Psychic-type teammates might be preferred to Ghost-type ones. Lightningrod support from Pokemon such as Marowak and Seaking will also be handy, as they draw in Electric-type attacks that could otherwise KO Crawdaunt.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Fling is an interesting option that must be used with Iron Ball to work best. Iron Ball Fling normally has a Base Power of 130, but thanks to STAB and Adaptability boosts, Fling's power is doubled to 260, so it's definitely not to be taken lightly. However, it's a one-shot move, and if you get out-predicted, you will effectively have wasted a moveslot, an item slot, and a turn. The Hyper Cutter ability can be used to prevent Crawdaunt's Attack from being lowered, particularly by Intimidate; however, Adaptability is more useful all around. X-Scissor and Rock Slide are some other attacking options that Crawdaunt can use to take out common threats, such as Zapdos and Ludicolo, respectively. Their downside, though, is their lack ofpower. All in all, Crawdaunt doesn't really have many other useful options offensively, and trying to play it defensively is very gimmicky and risky.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>As said before, Fighting-types, such as Hitmontop, Hariyama, and Conkeldurr, can be huge problems for Crawdaunt. Zapdos can take pretty much anything Crawdaunt can hit it with, except maybe Iron Ball Fling; Rotom-W fares similarly against Crawdaunt. To make matters worse, both of these threats can swiftly KO Crawdaunt with Thunderbolt. Scizor is a problem for Crawdaunt because the latter can't hit hard enough to KO, and Scizor can retaliate with Bug Bite, which OHKOes Crawdaunt. Crawdaunt also has trouble dealing with common Grass-types, such as Ludicolo, Ferrothorn, and even Amoonguss, because Crawdaunt can't do much to hurt them. Breloom in particular is nearly impossible for Crawdaunt to handle; the punching mushroom can easily outspeed Crawdaunt and either cripple with Spore or KO with either of its STAB attacks, Seed Bomb or Drain Punch.</p>