Crobat
[Overview]
<p>Say hello to Crobat, a Pokemon banished to BL in the past two generations, hinting at just how good it really is. Its good defensive typing and decent bulk allow it to act as a very good check to a lot of the metagame's most prominent threats, such as Roserade, Shaymin, and Heracross. Crobat also performs excellently as a stallbreaker, thanks to a combination of Taunt, Roost, and its great Speed. A decent Attack stat and the high Base Power of Brave Bird also allow it to deal heavy damage without the need for much investment. Crobat's poor offensive movepool and a weakness to Stealth Rock let it down at times, but fret not, as this speedy bat is still one of the best at what it does, and as long as you know its limitations, it will not let you down.</p>
[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Roost
move 4: U-turn / Toxic / Super Fang
item: Leftovers
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set works wonders on offensive and balanced teams in need of a solid response to stall teams. Brave Bird is Crobat's best STAB move, and thanks to its high Base Power, it will do a decent amount of damage to just about anything that doesn't resist it. Taunt allows Crobat to do its job as a stallbreaker, as it prevents status moves from being used. Roost lets it stick around for a while, and somewhat alleviates Crobat's weakness to Stealth Rock. U-turn is a quality move on Crobat, as a lot of the time it forces switches, allowing you to grab the momentum of the battle. Toxic can be used because it hits a lot of Crobat's counters on the switch, such as Zapdos, Slowbro, and other bulky Water-types, and with Taunt preventing recovery, they are bound to get worn down prettyquickly. Finally, Super Fang is the only move Crobat has to damage Steel- and Rock-types, and much like Toxic, can also be used to wear down Pokemon until they are in Brave Bird's KO range.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set's EVs give Crobat enough Speed to beat all base 120 Speed Pokemon, such as Sceptile, and optimizes bulk through maximum investment in HP, with the remainder thrown in Attack so that Brave Bird does a little more damage. These are not set in stone though; you can always play around with them to suit your team's needs. Hypnosis is an option in the fourth moveslot, as it can shut down one of Crobat's counters quite effectively, especially when you consider the new sleep mechanics. Screech can be used to force switches or hit Pokemon twice as hard with Brave Bird. However, these options are unappealing because of their shaky accuracy and limited utility.</p>
<p>Rapid Spin support from Blastoise, which can tank Ice-type moves while luring out Grass-types for Crobat to switch in on, is very much appreciated due to Crobat's weakness to Stealth Rock. Spikes support from Deoxys-D will also work very well with Crobat, as it tends to force a lot of switches and can prevent recovery with Taunt. Additionally, Deoxys-D can switch in on Psychic-type moves aimed at the speedy bat. As this set is completely walled by Steel-types, having a partner who can take advantage of them is a very good idea. One such partner would be Vicitni, which can easily come in on most Steel-types and blast them with its Fire-type STAB move of choice.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Due to Crobat's limited movepool, it is lacking in the form of alternatives. That said, there are a couple of interesting toys in its repertoire which can surprise the opposition. For example, a Choice Band set employing Brave Bird, U-turn, Pursuit, and a filler move will take advantage of Crobat's amazing Speed and is sure to put some big dents in the opposing team. A Nasty Plot set using Sludge Bomb, Heat Wave, and Hidden Power Grass will definitely surprise your opponent and has a very limited number of safe switch-ins. However, the main problem with these two sets is that they often find themselves outclassed by other Pokemon who simply hit harder and have better coverage, such as Azelf.</p>
<p>Haze can be utilized in order to halt slower stat boosters, such as Bulk Up Machamp, but as you may have noticed already, Taunt is usually enough in these situations. Whirlwind can also be used, as it is sure to shuffle the opponent's team around and rack up some residual damage in the process. However, this move's negative priority nullifies Crobat's greatest advantage: its Speed. While a set employing Acrobatics and Flying Gem might seem like a good idea at first, one must consider that Brave Bird will out-damage Acrobatics 100% of the time and that the lack of Leftovers recovery will wear down Crobat much faster. Finally, Crobat's Dream World ability, Infiltrator, isn't very useful when it's doing most of its damage through Toxic or Super Fang, and it also has Taunt to stop the opponent from setting up screens anyway. It could prove to be much more useful on more offensive sets, however.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Countering Crobat usually comes down to hitting it hard enough so that it cannot Roost off the damage. With that in mind, Bronzong is the optimal counter, as it is immune to Toxic, resists Brave Bird, and has Gyro Ball to seriously hurt Crobat. Zapdos can tank pretty much any of Crobat's moves and Roost off any damage while threatening it back with Electric-type STAB. Rotom-H can also utilize its Electric-type STAB to scare away Crobat, but both need to be wary of Toxic. Bulky Water-types, especially Slowbro with its ability, Regenerator, and STAB Psyshock, fear very little from Crobat and can burn it with Scald or hit it hard with Ice Beam. Rhyperior doesn't fear anything Crobat can throw at it and can use the opportunity to set up Stealth Rock or simply blast Crobat with its Rock-type STAB. Bisharp and Registeel can easily come in on anything Crobat throws at them and proceed to set up as Crobat retreats. If all else fails, you can always resort to revenge killing the speedy bat through the use of a hard-hitting Choice Scarf user, such as Victini or Darmanitan.</p>
