[OVERVIEW]
(Mega Swampert's Overview here)
Aside from its Mega forme, Swampert is also able to find a small niche due to its access to Wide Guard and great anti-meta coverage that allows it to take advantage of the users of spread moves that are stopped by Wide Guard, including Landorus-T, Mega Diancie, Volcanion, and Heatran. Additionally, it matches up quite well against common threats such as Talonflame, Thundurus, Jirachi, and Aegislash. Its bulk is well complemented by a strong defensive typing, making up for Swampert's low Speed that forces it to move last or close to it most turns. Like its Mega counterpart, base Swampert suffers from a lot of competition in its role on teams, primarily from Gastrodon, which offers a reliable form of recovery and a better ability in Storm Drain. Aside from Gastrodon, other bulky Water-types like Suicune and Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Conkeldurr often fill Swampert's role on teams better than Swampert can. Although its coverage is nothing to be scoffed at, Swampert's Special Attack stat is far from impressive, leaving its attacks quite weak against resisted or neutral targets.
[SET]
name: Non-Mega Support
move 1: Scald
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Ice Beam / Icy Wind
move 4: Wide Guard
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Damp / Torrent
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 156 SpA / 56 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Scald serves as Swampert's primary STAB attack, as it has decent power and can chip away at foes with the helpful chance to burn. Earth Power is Swampert's strongest accurate attack, which grants Swampert helpful coverage against threats such as Volcanion and Steel-types such as Aegislash and Jirachi. Ice Beam fills out Swampert's coverage, giving it an option to hit Grass- and Dragon-types that resist its STAB moves while also allowing Swampert to OHKO Landorus-T and deal significant damage to Thundurus. Although Icy Wind is far weaker than Ice Beam, the speed control it provides can greatly help Swampert's teammates with more middling Speed. Wide Guard protects Swampert's allies from any spread attack and fits well on Swampert's moveset due to its good matchup against spread attackers such as Mega Diancie, Heatran, and Landorus-T. Hydro Pump is a viable alternative to Scald; while the drop in accuracy is quite noticeable, so is the increase in power, granting Swampert the ability to OHKO Mega Diancie without a boosting item.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread, when accompanied by a Sitrus Berry, allows Swampert to avoid the 2HKO from Aegislash's Shadow Ball or Talonflame's Brave Bird. Alternatively, an Expert Belt set increases the power behind Swampert's moves and is usable due to its fantastic super effective coverage, though it loses out on the longevity provided by a Sitrus Berry. A Quiet nature is used instead of a Modest one so that Swampert can hit Aegislash in its Blade forme and improve its functionality inside of Trick Room, and its low Speed means that any investment will rarely help under normal field conditions anyway. Damp prevents the rare Explosion Landorus-T or Genesect from dealing major damage to Swampert's team, or Torrent powers up Scald when Swampert is low on health. Both abilities are situational at best, so the choice between the two rarely makes a difference.
Usage Tips
========
Use Wide Guard as necessary, otherwise leaning on Swampert's decent coverage to hit many common threats. A lack of Protect can leave Swampert vulnerable to weather sweepers and Fake Out, so it may need to be switched out to avoid taking unnecessary damage. Swampert should generally be saved to beat the threats it defeats especially well, such as Landorus-T, Thundurus, and Heatran. With its solid bulk, Swampert should be able to switch in on those threats and defeat them with ease. However, due to its solid matchup against common leads such as Landorus-T and Thundurus, it can function well as a counter-lead to those threats. Due to its low Speed, Swampert should only rarely be saved for endgame scenarios, as it is unlikely to be able to clean opposing teams.
Team Options
========
Any Pokemon that is weak to common spread moves can benefit from Swampert's partnership. Especially noteworthy options include Intimidate users such as Scrafty and Gyarados, which also augment Swampert's bulk, and setup attackers such as Volcarona, Kyurem-B, and Mega Charizard X. Fire-types such as Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, and Infernape beat Grass-types and appreciate Swampert's Wide Guard stopping Earthquake and Rock Slide. Heatran synergizes particularly well with Swampert, taking advantage of its Wide Guard support to set up Substitutes and remove threatening Grass-types. Dragon-types tend to perform fairly well against Swampert, so teammates to defeat them such as Sylveon and Mega Diancie can serve Swampert quite well. Ice-types are able to defeat Dragon- and Grass-types, so partners such as Weavile and Mega Abomasnow can operate well with Swampert as a partner. Generally speaking, Swampert's anti-meta coverage and defensive utility allow it to fit fairly well on any team, but there are few teams on which it would not be outclassed, so before adding Swampert, make certain that Gastrodon, Suicune, or other Wide Guard users such as Conkeldurr and Aegislash would not better serve the team.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
(Mega Swampert's OO Here)
If Mega Abomasnow is being used beside base Swampert, Blizzard can provide solid, accurate spread damage that Swampert would otherwise be unable to deal.
Checks and Counters
===================
(Mega Swampert's C&C Here)
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Gengar and Gyarados prevent non-Mega Swampert from using Wide Guard to protect its allies.
(Mega Swampert's Overview here)
Aside from its Mega forme, Swampert is also able to find a small niche due to its access to Wide Guard and great anti-meta coverage that allows it to take advantage of the users of spread moves that are stopped by Wide Guard, including Landorus-T, Mega Diancie, Volcanion, and Heatran. Additionally, it matches up quite well against common threats such as Talonflame, Thundurus, Jirachi, and Aegislash. Its bulk is well complemented by a strong defensive typing, making up for Swampert's low Speed that forces it to move last or close to it most turns. Like its Mega counterpart, base Swampert suffers from a lot of competition in its role on teams, primarily from Gastrodon, which offers a reliable form of recovery and a better ability in Storm Drain. Aside from Gastrodon, other bulky Water-types like Suicune and Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Conkeldurr often fill Swampert's role on teams better than Swampert can. Although its coverage is nothing to be scoffed at, Swampert's Special Attack stat is far from impressive, leaving its attacks quite weak against resisted or neutral targets.
[SET]
name: Non-Mega Support
move 1: Scald
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Ice Beam / Icy Wind
move 4: Wide Guard
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Damp / Torrent
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 156 SpA / 56 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Scald serves as Swampert's primary STAB attack, as it has decent power and can chip away at foes with the helpful chance to burn. Earth Power is Swampert's strongest accurate attack, which grants Swampert helpful coverage against threats such as Volcanion and Steel-types such as Aegislash and Jirachi. Ice Beam fills out Swampert's coverage, giving it an option to hit Grass- and Dragon-types that resist its STAB moves while also allowing Swampert to OHKO Landorus-T and deal significant damage to Thundurus. Although Icy Wind is far weaker than Ice Beam, the speed control it provides can greatly help Swampert's teammates with more middling Speed. Wide Guard protects Swampert's allies from any spread attack and fits well on Swampert's moveset due to its good matchup against spread attackers such as Mega Diancie, Heatran, and Landorus-T. Hydro Pump is a viable alternative to Scald; while the drop in accuracy is quite noticeable, so is the increase in power, granting Swampert the ability to OHKO Mega Diancie without a boosting item.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread, when accompanied by a Sitrus Berry, allows Swampert to avoid the 2HKO from Aegislash's Shadow Ball or Talonflame's Brave Bird. Alternatively, an Expert Belt set increases the power behind Swampert's moves and is usable due to its fantastic super effective coverage, though it loses out on the longevity provided by a Sitrus Berry. A Quiet nature is used instead of a Modest one so that Swampert can hit Aegislash in its Blade forme and improve its functionality inside of Trick Room, and its low Speed means that any investment will rarely help under normal field conditions anyway. Damp prevents the rare Explosion Landorus-T or Genesect from dealing major damage to Swampert's team, or Torrent powers up Scald when Swampert is low on health. Both abilities are situational at best, so the choice between the two rarely makes a difference.
Usage Tips
========
Use Wide Guard as necessary, otherwise leaning on Swampert's decent coverage to hit many common threats. A lack of Protect can leave Swampert vulnerable to weather sweepers and Fake Out, so it may need to be switched out to avoid taking unnecessary damage. Swampert should generally be saved to beat the threats it defeats especially well, such as Landorus-T, Thundurus, and Heatran. With its solid bulk, Swampert should be able to switch in on those threats and defeat them with ease. However, due to its solid matchup against common leads such as Landorus-T and Thundurus, it can function well as a counter-lead to those threats. Due to its low Speed, Swampert should only rarely be saved for endgame scenarios, as it is unlikely to be able to clean opposing teams.
Team Options
========
Any Pokemon that is weak to common spread moves can benefit from Swampert's partnership. Especially noteworthy options include Intimidate users such as Scrafty and Gyarados, which also augment Swampert's bulk, and setup attackers such as Volcarona, Kyurem-B, and Mega Charizard X. Fire-types such as Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, and Infernape beat Grass-types and appreciate Swampert's Wide Guard stopping Earthquake and Rock Slide. Heatran synergizes particularly well with Swampert, taking advantage of its Wide Guard support to set up Substitutes and remove threatening Grass-types. Dragon-types tend to perform fairly well against Swampert, so teammates to defeat them such as Sylveon and Mega Diancie can serve Swampert quite well. Ice-types are able to defeat Dragon- and Grass-types, so partners such as Weavile and Mega Abomasnow can operate well with Swampert as a partner. Generally speaking, Swampert's anti-meta coverage and defensive utility allow it to fit fairly well on any team, but there are few teams on which it would not be outclassed, so before adding Swampert, make certain that Gastrodon, Suicune, or other Wide Guard users such as Conkeldurr and Aegislash would not better serve the team.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
(Mega Swampert's OO Here)
If Mega Abomasnow is being used beside base Swampert, Blizzard can provide solid, accurate spread damage that Swampert would otherwise be unable to deal.
Checks and Counters
===================
(Mega Swampert's C&C Here)
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Gengar and Gyarados prevent non-Mega Swampert from using Wide Guard to protect its allies.
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