Azurill (LC Analysis)

[Overview]

<p>Azurill is a glass cannon on a timer. It hits with devastating power, but it can't take a hit to save itself its life. Azurill functions incredibly well in Trick Room, dealing massive amounts of damage while outspeeding most foes. However, 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.</p>

[SET]
name: Trick Room Sweeper
move 1: Return / Double-Edge
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Iron Tail / Encore
move 4: Substitute
item: Life Orb
ability: Huge Power
nature: Brave
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Azurill has two competitive useful attacks, given its stats: Return (or Double-Edge) and Waterfall. Thankfully, these provide perfect neutral coverage and operate off Azurill's attack is a massive 24 Attack.</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 weak hits. Return has less power, but lets you conserve more of Azurill's HP. Waterfall hits Ghost- and Steel-types that who resist your Azurill's Normal-type attack of choice for massive damage. Iron Tail is an OHKOes on all Lileep after Stealth Rock if you are Azurill is running Life Orb. Encore allows you Azurill to punish setup moves, letting it and get in off a powerful attack unharmed without fear of retaliation. If you can catch an opponent using Stealth Rock or Agility, by all means Encore them. (seems superfluous) Nothing can survive two hits from Azurill. (this sentence would probably fit better in Overview) Substitute has excellent synergy with Encore and Azurill's coverage capability. is a great choice for the last slot; Encore allows Azurill to safely set up a Substitute and proceed You can attack easily behind the Substitute to KO an the opponent's Pokemon at no risk to Azurill itself.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Azurill really needs support to function at all. Trick Room and Rain Dance are both solid support options,; and if you have with both up at once, Azurill becomes you end up with a monstrous beast who makes maximum usage of the timer Azurill lives on the most of its short lifespan. 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 Azurill's timer with a prediction game. Therefore, in addition to Pokemon that who can set up Trick Room, choose teammates that can get rid of Croagunk, the most common Pokemon with a Water-type immunity. Diglett can trap and KO Croagunk, although it but 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>

<p>Azurill is generally EV'd to have more Special Defense than Defense so that Porygon always gets an Attack boost rather than a Special Attack boost. Azurill's defenses are paper-thin anyway, so this maximizes its competitive usefulness. Azurill is so slow that only Trick Room and paralysis serve it well, so there's little use in maxing out Speed functional difference between 6 and 8 Speed. You'll beat Munchlax and Trapinch outside of Trick Room with it 8 Speed instead of 6, 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 can set up Trick Room, and can also lure out Ghost-type attacks for Azurill to switch into unscathed. Bronzor, is another durable Pokemon who can set up Trick Room, is especially helpful since 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>

[Optional Changes]

<p>Body Slam provides is a decent hit option, but has the substantial power loss and only an outweighs the boosted iffy chance of paralysis rate. Knock Off can get rid of an opponent's item while doing semi-decent damage, especially to Ghost-types. Special attacks are largely pointless, as Return or Waterfall OHKOes anybody that any Hidden Power would. Sing has the unlikely chance of putting something to sleep, but its there is an option, but its low accuracy is off-putting. Azurill can also set up its own Rain Dance itself. It has some notable stat-downs stat-reducing moves in Charm and Tickle, although its timer generally trends toward but it is usually better off maximizing damage.</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. Your best bet is to send in a Ghost-type or a Pokemon with a Water-type immunity and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Revenge killing Azurill is fairly simple, however.; most priority attacks will keep it in check. Croagunk has Vacuum Wave, which can easily finish off an Azurill who has attacked already after Life Orb recoil. Most non-Ghost priority attacks keep it in check. A Munchlax or Trapinch built around Trick Room will also be slower than Azurill. 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>

[Overview]

<p>Azurill is a glass cannon on a timer. It hits with devastating power, but can't take a hit to save its life. Azurill functions incredibly well in Trick Room, dealing massive amounts of damage while outspeeding most foes. However, 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. Nothing in Little Cup can survive two hits from Azurill.</p>

[SET]
name: Trick Room Sweeper
move 1: Return / Double-Edge
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Iron Tail / Encore
move 4: Substitute
item: Life Orb
ability: Huge Power
nature: Brave
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Azurill has two useful attacks, given its stats: Return (or Double-Edge) and Waterfall. Thankfully, these moves together provide perfect neutral coverage and operate off Azurill's massive 24 Attack.</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 weak hits. Return has less power, but lets you conserve more of Azurill's HP. Waterfall hits Ghost- and Steel-types who resist Azurill's Normal-type attack of choice Ghost- and Steel-types who resist Azurill's chosen Normal-type attack are hit by Waterfall for massive damage. Iron Tail OHKOes all Lileep after Stealth Rock if Azurill is running Life Orb. Encore allows Azurill to punish those who try to use setup moves, letting it get fire off a powerful attack without fear of retaliation. Substitute is a great choice for the last slot; the switches that Encore can force allow Azurill to safely set up a Substitute and proceed to KO the opponent's Pokemon at no risk to itself.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Azurill really needs support to function. Trick Room and Rain Dance are both solid support options; with both up at once, Azurill becomes a monstrous beast who makes the most of its short lifespan. 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 Azurill's timer with prediction. Therefore, in addition to Pokemon who can set up Trick Room, choose teammates that can get rid of Croagunk, the most common Pokemon with a Water-type immunity. Diglett can trap and KO Croagunk, but has to watch out for priority attacks. You will also want Pokemon who can set up Stealth Rock to break an opponent's Focus Sash.</p>

<p>Azurill is generally EVd to have more Special Defense than Defense so that Porygon with Download always gets an Attack boost rather than a Special Attack boost. Azurill's defenses are paper-thin anyway, so this maximizes its competitive usefulness. Azurill is so slow that only Trick Room and paralysis serve it well, so there's little use in maxing out Speed. You'll beat Munchlax and Trapinch outside of Trick Room with 8 Speed instead of 6, 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, can set up Trick Room, and can lure out Ghost-type attacks for Azurill to switch into unscathed. Bronzor, another durable Pokemon who can set up Trick Room, is especially helpful since it can also use Stealth Rock. Because Azurill also benefits from Rain Dance, rain sweepers can also work with alongside it. Kabuto and Omanyte can both set up Stealth Rock and abuse Swift Swim in the rain. Mantyke and Croagunk can help Azurill deal with boosted Water attacks from the opposition.</p>

[Optional Changes]

<p>Body Slam is a decent option, but the substantial power loss outweighs the paralysis rate. Knock Off can get rid of an opponent's item while doing semi-decent damage, especially to Ghost-types. Special attacks are largely pointless, as Return or and Waterfall together grant enough power and coverage to make Hidden Power redundant OHKOes anybody that any Hidden Power would. Sing is an option, but its low accuracy is off-putting. Azurill can also set up Rain Dance itself. It has some notable stat-reducing moves in Charm and Tickle, but it is usually better off maximizing doing as much damage as possible.</p>

[Counters]

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

<p>Revenge killing Azurill is fairly simple, however; most priority attacks will keep it in check. Croagunk has Vacuum Wave, which can easily finish off Azurill after Life Orb recoil. Munchlax or Trapinch built around Trick Room will also be slower than Azurill, allowing them to outpace it. If rain is up, Aqua Jet works pretty well. If Trick Room isn't active, nearly anything with decent offensive power that outspeeds Azurill will do the job.</p>