Overview
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Totodile is a moderately powerful Pokemon that has access to Dragon Dance, which allows it to sweep through teams. However, Totodile is almost entirely outclassed by Corphish, only having the advantage in Speed and Special Defense. Even so, Totodile's Speed is abysmal at best, capping out at 14 with an Adamant nature. Another crippling trait Totodile possesses is the lack of coverage it can have, with only two moves of varying coverage. This leads it to being walled by a variety of different Pokemon. However, Totodile's high 16 Attack still makes it viable in the metagame.
Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Aqua Jet / Substitute
move 4: Ice Punch / Brick Break
ability: Torrent
item: Eviolite
evs: 36 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 60 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Dragon Dance raises Totodile's abysmal Speed and its already high Attack stat. As a primary STAB move, Waterfall does a good job of disposing of Eviolite-lacking Pokemon that are neutral to it, and gives Totodile a chance to flinch the opponent, which can be especially important when against Pokemon that otherwise wall Totodile. Aqua Jet can be used to polish off opposing Pokemon that can otherwise harm Totodile. Substitute lets Totodile set up with more ease, allowing it to take certain hits and retaliate accordingly. Ice Punch hits Grass-types, which resist Waterfall, solidly. Brick Break, however, allows Totodile to break through bulky Normal- and Steel-types such as Munchlax and Ferroseed, respectively, which can survive one of Totodile's hits and proceed to cripple and beat Totodile 1v1.
Set Details
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156 Attack EVs leave Totodile with 16 Attack, allowing it to leave moderate dents in opposing Pokemon even before setting up. 252 EVs go into Speed to maximize it, ensuring that Totodile can outspeed certain threats while unboosted, such as Cottonee and Chespin. The remaining EVs boost HP, Defense, and Special Defense by one more full stat point. Eviolite further increases these stats, allowing Totodile to survive longer while it sets up.
Usage Tips
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Totodile is disposed of quite easily by a variety of hard-hitting Pokemon, such as Abra and Mienfoo. Be certain to only set up on Pokemon that are forced out by the presence of Totodile, such as Drilbur and Archen. Also be sure to remove or severely cripple Totodile's checks and counters as well as any status users before attempting to set up, as it has no way of removing status.
Team Options
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Seeing as Totodile is entirely shut down by status, having a Pokemon that is unafraid to be statused is immensely beneficial to Totodile, with Foongus playing this role quite nicely. Guts Timburr can also assist in this, being able to use such an infliction to its advantage and proceed to weaken the opposing team, leaving way for Totodile to do more work. However, if either you do not have a status absorber or it has failed to do its job, having a Pokemon such a Spritzee that can Aromatherapy away any negative effects is a nice backup to keep Totodile in fighting shape. Having the ability to pass a Wish off to Totodile to increase its longevity is also another nice factor that allows Totodile to attempt setting up again. Another type of Pokemon that helps Totodile set up is a fast Memento user, namely Diglett and Cottonee, can ensure that Totodile gets to set up at least once. The final piece to help ensure the best of a Totodile sweep would be fast Knock Off users, to remove Eviolites from nuisances to Totodile. Choice Scarf Pawniard plays this role expertly, being able to not only remove essential items from Pokemon but also deal respectable damage to a large variety of Pokemon.
Other Options
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Most of the options that Totodile has are mainly for coverage, such as running Crunch for Psychic-types, namely Slowpoke. More examples are Aerial Ace for Croagunk and Mienfoo, Rock Slide for Mantyke, Iron Tail for Snubbull and Spritzee, Superpower for a hard-hitting move to dispose of Normal-types, and Double-Edge for a neutral coverage move that takes Totodile down to Torrent even quicker. In place of Dragon Dance, you can run a Swords Dance set, though the lack of Speed boosts is the greatest downfall of such a set.
Checks & Counters
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**Status Users**: Totodile has no real method of dealing with status once it begins to set up, as it cannot afford to remove it by switching out and having to attempt setting up again. That being said, burns and paralysis are extremely detrimental to Totodile, as they lower its Attack and Speed, respectively. Bulky Pokemon such as Porygon or Slowpoke are easily able to eat up an attack Totodile goes for and proceed to Thunder Wave it.
**Powerful Choice Scarf Users**: Powerful Choice Scarf users, such as Pawniard and Gastly, are able to typically outspeed and revenge kill a weakened Totodile, even after a single Dragon Dance, assuming they are able to survive a boosted Aqua Jet.
**Focus Sash / Sturdy Users**: Focus Sash or Sturdy users revenge kill Totodile easily. Magnemite falls into the second category, being able to take any hit Totodile may have, and proceed to OHKO it with its Electric-type STAB moves.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types such as Slowpoke and Chinchou can easily switch in and retaliate with Psychic and an Electric-type move, respectively.
**Croagunk**: Thanks to Dry Skin, Croagunk is able to take Waterfall and Aqua Jet while whittling Totodile down to the point where it can either finish it off on its own or have something else revenge kill it.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Cottonee can prevent Totodile from setting up, Encoring it into Dragon Dance if it were to use it, and proceeding to 2HKO it with Giga Drain. Ferroseed, when healthy, can eat up any attack Totodile may throw at it, and proceed to paralyze, and 2HKO it. Foongus can eat up attacks, and then put Totodile to sleep, neutralizing it as a threat, and proceed to dispose of it with Giga Drain.
**Timburr**: Timburr has the capability to set up alongside Totodile, being able to tank the boosted hits with the gained Defense from Bulk Up, something Totodile is unable to match.