Azurill (Gen 4, LC Analysis)'

[Deck Knight]

So this was the first day I ever used Azurill. I looked at its terrible move diversity and saw something that looked like it could work. So I tested it with support and it was pretty damned beastly. Enjoy.

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http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/azurill

Status: Grammar edits completed. Double-Edge (slashed) and Sub put on the first set. Iron Tail in other options.

[SET]
name: THE Azurill
move 1: Return / Double-Edge
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Encore
move 4: Substitute
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Huge Power
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk /116 Spe / 36 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Azurill has two competitive attacks given its stats: Return (or Double-Edge) and Waterfall. Thankfully these provide perfect neutral coverage and Azurill's attack is a massive 24.</p>

<p>Being able to choose between attacks this powerful is crucial. Azurill is the quintessential glass cannon: it has massive attack but its defenses are lacking. Its terrible speed at base 20 means it is good in only two scenarios: Trick Room and vs. paralyzed opponents. Trick Room is the more lethal of the two, as it will be slower than a Munchlax not built for Trick Room. Azurill's low speed makes it easily convertible to a Trick Room set, use a Brave nature with 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD and 0 Spe IVs.</p>

<p>The choice between Return and Double-Edge comes down mostly to preference. Double-Edge has massive power but destroys any chance at all of Azurill surviving any attack, even from walls. Return has less power but lets you conserve more of Azurill's HP.</p>

<p>Encore allows you to punish setup and get in a powerful attack unharmed. If you can catch an opponent using Stealth Rock or Agility, by all means Encore them, nothing can survive two hits from Azurill.</p>

<p>Substitute has excellent synergy with Encore and Azurill's coverage capability. You can attack easily behind the Substitute to KO an opponent's Pokemon at no risk to Azurill</p>

<p>Item choice here is between increased general damage and a second shot. If using Focus Sash, run Return, as the opportunity is wasted with Double-Edge.</p>

<p>Azurill really needs support to function at all. Trick Room and Rain Dance are both solid, and if you have both at once you end up with a monstrous beast that makes maximum usage of the timer Azurill lives on. If your opponent does not have a Dry Skin/Water Absorb Pokemon and a Ghost-type, it will be difficult for them to address Azurill because they can't run down the timer with a prediction game. Therefore in addition to Pokemon that can set up Trick Room, choose teammates that can get rid of Croagunk, the most common Pokemon with Water immunity. Diglett can trap and KO Croagunk although it has to watch out for priority attacks. You also want Pokemon that can set up Stealth Rock to break an opponent's Focus Sash.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Iron Tail hits Snorunt and Lileep harder than Return and Waterfall, but is otherwise inferior. Body Slam provides a decent hit, but has substantial power loss and only an iffy chance of paralysis. Knock Off can get rid of an opponent's item while doing semi-decent damage, especially to Ghost-types. Sing has terrible accuracy but could conceivably put something to sleep. Special attacks are largely pointless, as Return or Waterfall OHKOs anything that Hidden Power would.</p>

<p>Sing has the unlikely chance of putting something to sleep, but its there. Azurill can also set up its own Rain Dance. It has some notable stat-downs in Charm and Tickle, although its timer generally trends toward maximizing damage.</p>

[EVs]

<p>Azurill is generally EV'd to have more Special Defense than Defense so Porygon always gets an Attack boost. Azurill's defenses are paper anyway, so this maximizes competitive usefullness. Azurill is so slow that only Trick Room and Paralysis serve it well, so there's little functional difference between 6 and 8 Speed. You'll beat Munchlax and Trapinch outside of Trick Room with it, but that's it.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Azurill works best with Trick Room and Stealth Rock support. Choose Pokemon who can reliably set up one or both of these conditions. Duskull is immune to Fighting attacks and sets up Trick Room, and can also lure out Ghost attacks for Azurill to switch into unscathed. Bronzor is another durable Pokemon that can set up Trick Room and it can also use Stealth Rock. Because Azurill also benefits from Rain Dance, Rain Sweepers can also work with it. Kabuto and Omanyte can both set up Stealth Rock and abuse Swift Swim in Rain. Mantyke and Croagunk can help Azurill deal with boosted Water attacks.</p>

[Opinion]

<p>Azurill is a glass cannon on a timer. It hits with devastating power, but it can't take a hit to save itself. It functions incredibly well in Trick Room, dealing massive amounts of damage. It needs support to do its duty which is a considerable weakness. If you're tired of the old Trick Room sweepers and want to try something new, Azurill can hit everything hard with only minor amounts of prediction. Do remember to always use Huge Power. Thick Fat Azurill is a terrible Munchlax.</p>

[Counters]

<p>Azurill is a Normal-type with powerful Water-type attacks. This makes countering it directly difficult because one of its two attacks will hit your switch-in like a truck. Send in a Ghost-type or a Pokemon with a Water immunity and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Revenge killing Azurill is fairly simple, however. Croagunk has Vacuum Wave which can easily finish off an Azurill who has attacked already. Most non-Ghost priority attacks keep it in check. A Munchlax or Trapinch built around Trick Room will also be slower. If Rain Dance is up, Aqua Jet works pretty well, as Azurill does not resist Water. If Trick Room isn't active, nearly anything with decent offensive power that outspeeds Azurill will do the job.</p>

[Legacy Raider]

Coming from someone with absolutely no Little Cup experience, but wouldn't Aqua Jet be a viable choice for the third (it can't go in the last because it's illegal with Encore) slot? That might go some way to make up for its abysmal Speed. Even if you decide not to include it, it's probably worth at least mentioning it in set comments, or telling the reader that the reason it's not recommended is because it is illegal with Encore.

[Deck Knight]

Originally Posted by Fat Legacy Raider

Coming from someone with absolutely no Little Cup experience, but wouldn't Aqua Jet be a viable choice for the third (it can't go in the last because it's illegal with Encore) slot? That might go some way to make up for its abysmal Speed. Even if you decide not to include it, it's probably worth at least mentioning it in set comments, or telling the reader that the reason it's not recommended is because it is illegal with Encore.

Azurill has different Egg moves from Marrill.

Trust me, if Azurill had 24 Attack Aqua Jet, It'd have been on there. Priority of any kind is epic in Little Cup.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Aqua Jet is illegal with Encore because it is not a breeding move for Azurill. Oddly enough, Azurill and Marill get COMPLETELY different sets of Egg Moves.

Its movepool simply sucks. In terms of Egg moves, its only decent move is Encore. Marill, on the other hand, has Aqua Jet, Superpower, and Belly Drum, as well as Ice Punch as a tutor move.

[Legacy Raider]

Ah ok Aqua Jet should probably be removed from Azurill's learned moves on the site then.

[CardsOfTheHeart]

Alright, let's give this the old "F7" check.

(Remember to always capitalize "Pokemon.")

Originally Posted by Fat Deck Knight

[SET]
name: THE Azurill
move 1: Return
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Encore
move 4: Charm / Rain Dance
item: Life Orb
ability: Huge Power
nature: Brave
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Given Azurill's stats, Azurill has two competitive attacks: Return and Waterfall. Thankfully these provide perfect neutral coverage and Azurill's attack is a massive 24.</p>

<p>Being able to choose between attacks this powerful is crucial. Azurill is the quintessential glass cannon: it has massive attack but its defenses are sadly lacking. Its terrible speed at base 20 means it is good in only two scenarios: Trick Room and vs. paralyzed opponents. Trick Room is the more lethal of the two, as it will be slower than a Munchlax not built for Trick Room.</p>

<p>Encore allows you to punish setup and get in a powerful attack unharmed. If you can catch an opponent using Stealth Rock or Agility, by all means Encore them, nothing can survive two hits from Azurill.</p>

<p>The last slot is hard to fill mostly for lack of other options. Charm can lower the attack of an incoming Pokemon making it easier to switch to a counter. With Rain Dance in effect, Waterfall deals 50% more damage giving Azurill an effective Normal/Water STAB combination. Azurill doesn't have an answer to boosted Water moves of any sort though, so be cautious.</p>

<p>Azurill really needs support to function at all. Trick Room and Rain Dance are both solid, and if you have both at once you end up with a monstrous beast that makes maximum usage of the timer Azurill lives on. If your opponent does not have a Dry Skin/Water Absorb Pokemon and a Ghost-type, it will be difficult for them to address Azurill because they can't run down the timer with a prediction game. Therefore in addition to Pokemon that can set up Trick Room, choose teammates that can get rid of Croagunk, the most common Pokemon with Water immunity. Diglett can trap and KO Croagunk although it has to watch out for priority attacks. You also want Pokemon that can set up Stealth Rock to break an opponent's Focus Sash.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Knock Off can get rid of an opponent's item while doing semi-decent damage, especially to Ghost-types. Sing has terrible accuracy but could conceivably put something to sleep. Special attacks are largely pointless, as Return or Waterfall OHKOes anything Hidden Power would.</p>

[EVs]

<p>This set operates best in Trick Room so the EVs and IVs are set to reflect this. Azurill has more Defense than Special Defense so Porygon always gets an Attack boost. Azurill is so slow that only Trick Room and Paralysis serve it well, so there's little functional difference between 6 and 8 Speed. You'll beat Munchlax and Trapinch outside of Trick Room with it, but that's it.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Azurill works best with Trick Room and Stealth Rock support. Choose Pokemon that can reliably set up one or both of these conditions. Duskull is immune to Fighting attacks and sets up Trick Room, and can also lure out Ghost attacks for Azurill to switch into unscathed. Bronzor is another durable Pokemon that can set up Trick Room and it can also use Stealth Rock. Because Azurill also benefits from Rain Dance, Rain Sweepers can also work with it. Kabuto and Omanyte can both set up Stealth Rock and abuse Swift Swim in Rain. Mantyke and Croagunk can help Azurill deal with boosted Water attacks.</p>

[Opinion]

<p>Azurill is a glass cannon and a sweeper on a timer. It hits with devastating power, but it can't take a hit to save itself. It functions incredibly well in Trick Room dealing massive amounts of damage. It needs support to do its duty which is a pretty big weakness. If you're tired of the old Trick Room sweepers and want to try something new, Azurill can hit everything hard with only minor amounts of prediction. Do remember to always use Huge Power. Thick Fat Azurill is a terrible Munchlax.</p>

[Counters]

<p>Azurill is a Normal-type with powerful Water-type attacks. This makes countering it directly difficult because one of its two attacks will hit your switch-in like a truck. Send in a Ghost-type or a Pokemon with a Water immunity and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Revenge killing Azurill is fairly simple, however. Croagunk has Vacuum Wave which can easily finish off an Azurill that has attacked already. Most non-Ghost priority attacks keep it in check. A Munchlax or Trapinch built around Trick Room will also be slower. If Rain Dance is up, Aqua Jet works pretty well, as Azurill does not resist Water. If Trick Room isn't active, nearly anything with decent offensive power that outspeeds Azurill will do the job.</p>

[diinbong]

Originally Posted by Fat Deck Knight

<p>(moved)Azurill has two competitive attacks given its stats: Return and Waterfall. Thankfully these provide perfect neutral coverage off Azurill's attack is a massive 24.</p>

<p>Being able to choose between attacks this powerful is crucial. Azurill is the quintessential glass cannon: it has massive Attack but its defenses are sadly lacking. Its terrible Speed at Base 20 means it is good in only two scenarios: Trick Room and vs. paralyzed opponents. Trick Room is the more lethal of the two, as it will be slower than a Munchlax not built for Trick Room.</p>

<p>Encore allows you to punish setup and get in a powerful attack unharmed. If you can catch an opponent using Stealth Rock or Agility, by all means Encore them; nothing can survive two hits from Azurill.</p>

<p>The last slot is hard to fill mostly for lack of other options. Charm can lower the attack of an incoming pokemon making it easier to switch to a counter. With Rain Dance in effect, Waterfall deals 50% more damage giving Azurill an effective Normal/Water STAB combination (I just understood what you mean by this, might want to elaborate as I think most new battlers won't put 2&2 together). Azurill doesn't have an answer to boosted Water moves of any sort though, so be cautious.</p>

<p>Azurill really needs support to function at all. Trick Room and Rain Dance are both solid, and if you have both at once you end up with a monstrous beast that makes maximum usage of the timer Azurill lives on. If your opponent does not have a Dry Skin/Water Absorb pokemon and a Ghost-type, it will be difficult for them to address Azurill because they can't run down the timer with a prediction game. Therefore in addition to Pokemon that can set up Trick Room, choose teammates that can get rid of Croagunk, the most common pokemon with Water immunity. Diglett can trap and KO Croagunk although it has to watch out for priority attacks. You also want pokemon who can set up Stealth Rock to break an opponent's Focus Sash.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Knock Off can get rid of an opponent's item while doing semi-decent damage, especially to Ghost-types. Sing has terrible accuracy but could conceivably put something to sleep. Special attacks are largely pointless, as Return or Waterfall OHKOs anything Hidden Power would.</p>

[EVs]

<p>This set operates best in Trick Room so the EVs and IVs are set to reflect this. Azurill has more Defense than Special Defense so Porygon always gets an Attack boost. Azurill is so slow that only Trick Room and Paralysis serve it well, so there's little functional difference between 6 and 8 Speed. You'll beat Munchlax and Trapinch outside of Trick Room with it, but that's it.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Azurill works best with Trick Room and Stealth Rock support. Choose pokemon who can reliable set up one or both of these conditions. Duskull is immune to Fighting attacks and sets up Trick Room, and can also lure out Ghost attacks for Azurill to switch into unscathed. Bronzor is another durable pokemon who can set up Trick Room and it can also use Stealth Rock. Because Azurill also benefits from Rain Dance, Rain Sweepers can also work with it. Kabuto and Omanyte can both set up Stealth Rock and abuse Swift Swim in Rain. Mantyke and Croagunk can help Azurill deal with boosted Water attacks.</p>

[Opinion]

<p>Azurill is a glass cannon (can you just remove "and a sweeper"?) on a timer. It hits with devastating power, but it can't take a hit to save itself. It functions incredibly well in Trick Room dealing massive amounts of damage. It needs support to do its duty which is a pretty big weakness. If you're tired of the old Trick Room sweepers and want to try something new, Azurill can hit everything hard with only minor amounts of prediction. Do remember to always use Huge Power. Thick Fat Azurill is a terrible Munchlax.</p>

[Counters]

<p>Azurill is a Normal-type with powerful Water-type attacks. This makes countering it directly difficult because one of its two attacks will hit your switch-in like a truck. Send in a Ghost-type or a pokemon with a Water immunity and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Revenge killing Azurill is fairly simple, however. Croagunk has Vacuum Wave which can easily finish off an Azurill that has attacked already. Most non-Ghost priority attacks keep it in check. A Munchlax or Trapinch built around Trick Room will also be slower. If Rain Dance is up, Aqua Jet works pretty well, as Azurill does not resist Water. If Trick Room isn't active, nearly anything with decent offensive power that outspeeds Azurill will do the job.</p>

my suggestions, not overlapping CotH's corrections

[dr00]

it gets Body Slam in HGSS (egg move) and could be worth a mention along with knock off in other options for the paralysis chance.

also encore and body slam are legal together

[eric the espeon]

You really want Focus Sash as an option on this, having a second life on something as slow, frail and damn powerful as Azurill is massive.

Substitute seems like a great option, certainly far better than Rain Dance or Charm. Sub lets you prepare for predicted switches, and there is no shortage of Water immune and Normal immune Pokemon just waiting to get a free switch into Azu. Think Croagunk and most Ghosts.

You could mention the gimmicky Belly Drum set in OO, combined with TR it would be scary but extremely hard to set up.

Also maybe a mention of a EV/IV spread on a non TR team, since with Sash its usable outside TR.

There is a pretty great Azu analysis approved on LCF, its got a discussion on the merits of several moves not mentioned here (Iron Tail, Double-Edge) and a lot of depth in many sections, you may want to use parts of it or at least look over for ideas.

[Deck Knight]

Originally Posted by Fat eric the espeon

You really want Focus Sash as an option on this, having a second life on something as slow, frail and damn powerful as Azurill is massive.

Substitute seems like a great option, certainly far better than Rain Dance or Charm. Sub lets you prepare for predicted switches, and there is no shortage of Water immune and Normal immune Pokemon just waiting to get a free switch into Azu. Think Croagunk and most Ghosts.

You could mention the gimmicky Belly Drum set in OO, combined with TR it would be scary but extremely hard to set up.

Also maybe a mention of a EV/IV spread on a non TR team, since with Sash its usable outside TR.

There is a pretty great Azu analysis approved on LCF, its got a discussion on the merits of several moves not mentioned here (Iron Tail, Double-Edge) and a lot of depth in many sections, you may want to use parts of it or at least look over for ideas.

Focus Sash would be more useful on a pokemon that wasn't on a timer. As it stands it might afford you one move outside of Trick Room or some other support mechanism. Maximizing damage is the best route forward I think. But its at least worthy of mention somewhere. I'll work it in somewhere.

Substitute has the most merit of the suggestions. That Analysis on LCF did have flaws though, for example, referencing Light Screen when Azurill err, doesn't get it.

There is no Belly Drum set. Azurill and Marill have entirely separate Egg Moves.

Iron Tail hits all of Snorunt and Lileep harder than Waterfall or Return, and is sketchy against everything else. I don't really like the CB set in the LCF analysis. Azurill can barely switch in as it is, it certainly can't be switching as often as it would be with a Choice Band attached.

Double-Edge is probably worth mentioning too. It adds yet-more "glass-cannony-ness," but an 18 power boost (boosted to 27 by STAB, and then by LO to 35...).

[eric the espeon]

Originally Posted by Fat Deck Knight

Focus Sash would be more useful on a pokemon that wasn't on a timer. As it stands it might afford you one move outside of Trick Room or some other support mechanism. Maximizing damage is the best route forward I think. But its at least worthy of mention somewhere. I'll work it in somewhere.

It may be worth directly noting that Sash is by far the best option if you are unable to provide TR support, but under TR conditions LO is generally superior. Maybe a few examples that show key 1KOs you miss out on without the LO boost?

Substitute has the most merit of the suggestions. That Analysis on LCF did have flaws though, for example, referencing Light Screen when Azurill err, doesn't get it.

Yea, its not as good as it needs to be (the writer used Smogon dex which has a surprising number of flaws in Azu's learnlist) but it does have discussion about several sets and moves that you have not mentioned, so is a useful refference in this case.

There is no Belly Drum set. Azurill and Marill have entirely separate Egg Moves.

Right. The Smogon dex page really could do with being fixed. Turns out OmegaDonut listed the fixes needed in the errors thread a while back, but no fixes yet.

Iron Tail hits all of Snorunt and Lileep harder than Waterfall or Return, and is sketchy against everything else.

With Azurill's horribly shallow movepool, I think mentioning Iron Tail in OO really helps to highlight just how "filler" all but two of its moves are going to be, and it does hit those slightly harder as well as being a decent move if your opponent has both Croagunk and a Ghost type and you don't want to predict.

I don't really like the CB set in the LCF analysis. Azurill can barely switch in as it is, it certainly can't be switching as often as it would be with a Choice Band attached.

Maybe CB as a full set is not a good idea, but the decent power boost seems like its at least worthy of an OO mention.

Double-Edge is probably worth mentioning too. It adds yet-more "glass-cannony-ness," but an 18 power boost (boosted to 27 by STAB, and then by LO to 35...).

As with LO/Sash, it would be interesting to see examples of where the boost from 102 base power to 120 base power makes an important difference.

Other than that, things from the LCF analysis that may be worth a mention: Protect, why Scarf fails on Azu unlike most high power LC sweepers, quite a few counters you have missed, and Sing.

[Zoro]

shouldnt there be sth else slashed in the last spot ? You arent gonna use Sub if ur item is Focus Sash =S

[Testknight]

Originally Posted by Fat Deck Knight

Focus Sash would be more useful on a pokemon that wasn't on a timer. As it stands it might afford you one move outside of Trick Room or some other support mechanism. Maximizing damage is the best route forward I think. But its at least worthy of mention somewhere. I'll work it in somewhere.

Substitute has the most merit of the suggestions. That Analysis on LCF did have flaws though, for example, referencing Light Screen when Azurill err, doesn't get it.

There is no Belly Drum set. Azurill and Marill have entirely separate Egg Moves.

Iron Tail hits all of Snorunt and Lileep harder than Waterfall or Return, and is sketchy against everything else. I don't really like the CB set in the LCF analysis. Azurill can barely switch in as it is, it certainly can't be switching as often as it would be with a Choice Band attached.

Double-Edge is probably worth mentioning too. It adds yet-more "glass-cannony-ness," but an 18 power boost (boosted to 27 by STAB, and then by LO to 35...).

Since both of our analyses seem to be lacking something(s), perhaps we could combine them and then rewrite? I'd be happy to work something through.