Clamperl (Analysis)

The most horrifying thing known to man.

[Overview]

• With Deepseatooth, Clamperl's already great Special Attack is doubled
• In Gen V, Clamperl got access to Shell Smash, which doubles its Speed, Special Attack and Attack
• After a Shell Smash, Clamperl hits 60+ Special Attack, enough to OHKO just about anything in the tier with Surf
• Clamperl is slow, though, and fast Scarfers can revenge kill it easily after a Shell Smash
• Works well in Trick Room and Deepseascale makes Clamperl quite bulky

[Set]

name: Champerl
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Grass
item: Deepseatooth / Evolution Stone
ability: Shell Armor
nature: Timid
evs: 156 HP / 84 SpA / 88 SpD / 180 Spe

[Set Comments]

• Clamperl's best set, by far. If you aren't immune to it, Surf coming off of Deepseatooth +2 Special Attack is going to hurt
• Ice Beam gets excellent coverage alongside Surf
• Hidden Power Electric should be used if you are running Evolution Stone for hitting Mantyke. Otherwise, Hidden Power Grass is the superior choice
• Evolution Stone is an option if you are worried about priority hurting Clamperl, but you lose a lot of power

[Additional Comments]

• Stealth Rock support is a must, in order to stop Focus Sash and Sturdy users
• Dual Screen support is always welcome
• Removing common priority users can ensure Clamperl pulls off a sweep without much resistence

[Set]

name: Trick Room Sweeper
move 1: Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Round
move 4: Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Grass
item: Deepseatooth
ability: Shell Armor
nature: Quiet
evs: 236 HP / 248 SpA
ivs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 0 Spe

[Set Comments]

• The most powerful Trick Room sweeper, hands down
• Surf is Clamperl's best STAB move
• Ice Beam hits Grass-types, notably Ferrothorn, for at least neutral damage
• Round, albeit weak, gets nearly perfect coverage with Ice Beam and Surf
• Hidden Power Electric and Hidden Power Grass both hit Frillish for super-effective damage

[Additional comments]

• Trick Room support is necessary; Yamask and Porygon are great providers of it
• Stealth Rock support prevents Sturdy Pokemon or Pokemon from Focus Sash stopping the sweep

[Set]

name: Tank
move 1: Iron Defense
move 2: Rest
move 3: Surf
move 4: Toxic / Sleep Talk
item: Deepseascale
ability: Shell Armor
nature: Calm
evs: 236 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 156 SpD / 20 Spe

[Set Comments]

• Incredibly hard to kill after Clamperl sets up an Iron Defense
• Rest is Clamperl's only form of recovery
• Surf is Clamperl's STAB move of choice
• Toxic is a great option so Clamperl can stall out its opponents with its pseudo-bulk
• Sleep Talk works great along with rest, although it gives Clamperl trouble with anything that resists Water

[Additional Comments]

• Sandstorm and Hail help Clamperl in its effort to stall the opponent
• Ferrothorn covers Clamperl's weaknesses and can set up entry hazards and Leech Seed for it
• Toxic Spikes is recommended

[Team Options]

• Entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock, are crucial for Clamperl in order to pull off a successful sweep
• Ferrothorn learns both Stealth Rock and Spikes and resists Clamperl's weaknesses, making it a great teammate
• Toxic Spikes support is also welcome
• Trick Room support is needed for the Trick Room set
• Porygon, Yamask, Bronzor and Slowpoke are all great choices for setting up Trick Room

[Optional Changes]

• Aqua Ring is an interesting option on the Tank set, but the small amount of HP you recover isn't worth the slot most of the time
• Substitute is always nice

[Counters]

• If it has Deepseatooth, good luck
• If it has Deepseatooth and Shell Smash, head for the hills
• Munchlax and Frillish can endure unboosted Deepseatooth attacks with their amazing Special Defense and Evolution Stone
• If Clamperl has used Shell Smash, hammer it with any priority you have
• Choice Scarf users with a Speed stat higher than 26 can outspeed Clamperl after a Shell Smash
• The Tank set is vulnerable to Taunt and set-up sweepers, most notable being Pawniard

Is the Special Attack investment actually necessary, considering the power of STAB Surf? If not, it might be a good idea to invest in defensive stats so that Clamperl is more likely to be able to take a Mach Punch, Extremespeed, or Sucker Punch.

Imo, a bulky shell breaker is probably the best set. Get just enough SpA to ohko munchy, a decent speed tier, and then put it all in bulk. If possible, I don't think it's even needed to run tooth (though this could easily be wrong, haven't calced it or anything) and if so, berry juice would be cool, cause tanking priority looks to be the only thing that clamperl needs to do defensively.

Maybe a mixed set would also be cool, because you do get a free +2 attack with shell break. It may not be needed, just throwing stuff out there.

Side note, it's shell break and not shell smash.

I plan on having three variants of Shell Smash: the one already mentioned, a bulky Deepseatooth and Offensive Deepseascale. I'm unsure if the two Deepseatooth sets should be combined, I'll have to test them and see if there are any notable differences. If there aren't, I'll combine them. Iron Defense Scale and Trick Room will naturally be added. Also, I've been busy, so updates will be slow.

edit: I'm saying Shell Smash since that's what PO calls it, and PO is currently the only sim out there. It should match what the sim calls it.

This should still have a (Placeholder) tag, as only finished analyses have it removed.

HP Electric hits Mantyke, correct? However...DST + Shell Break gives enough SpA to KO AgiliTyke with Ice Beam!

I would suggest it be changed to HP Grass, to hit Chinchou, who does not get OHKO'd by Surf.

Is DST actually legal?

Lets spam Surf from 72 Sp. A and 24 Speed! Yay!

Clamperl=Most broken pokemon in LC EVER

lisalo said:

Is DST actually legal?

Click to expand...

Yes. It will remain legal until it is nominated as a suspect and tested and found to be broken.

Edit: this is a possibility, not a fact.

Venser said:

Yes. It will remain legal until it is nominated as a suspect and tested and found to be broken.

Edit: this is a possibility, not a fact.

Click to expand...

no even if smogon wasn't going downhill it would be a probability not a simple posibility.

Shouldn't Hidden Power Grass be slashed over Hidden Power Electric on the Shell Break set if you say Hidden Power Grass should be used in all cases unless one if afraid of Mantyke?

I've found HP Grass to be useless as Surf OHKOs Chinchou anyway.
look Clamperl @ Deepseatooth (248 EVs, Neutral Nature, +2) Surf vs Chinchou (0/0 EVs, Neutral Nature): 116.6 - 137.5% (28 - 33 HP)

NailsOU said:

Imo, a bulky shell breaker is probably the best set.

Click to expand...

This, Evo stone at least is probably the best option. Unless your running screens, Deepseatooth is going to be very easily revenged by almost anything with priority and very hard to set up in the first place without being put into reddish hp area. Most things will be OHKOd by surf evo stone anyway, and evo stone will help with both setting up and tanking priority while sweeping. HP Electric is still good on an evo stone set for hitting Tentacool, more so than Mantyke because it's so rare, but since Surf no longer OHKOs Chinchou, HP Grass is good as well.

Deepseascale with the same evs gives Clamperl 21/15/24 defenses which aren't bad just in case you had to set up on a scarf Chinchou or something crazy like that.

Chinchou @ Scarf (16 SpA, Max Modest) Thunderbolt vs Clamperl @ Deepseascale (76 HP / 0 SpD, Neutral Nature): 66.67% - 95.24% (14 - 20 HP)

name: Jitter Abuse
move 1: Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Electric/Grass
move 4: Round
item: Deepseatooth
ability: Jitter
nature: Timid
evs: 84 HP/244 SPA/180 SPD

• Switch into a predicted Dark, Bug, or Ghost type attack and become a fearsome sweeper.
• Pairs extremely well with a Psychic type as Dark Bug and Ghost are moves often directed toward that type

???

Bynine said:

name: Jitter Abuse
move 1: Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Electric/Grass
move 4: Round
item: Deepseatooth
ability: Jitter
nature: Timid
evs: 84 HP/244 SPA/180 SPD

• Switch into a predicted Dark, Bug, or Ghost type attack and become a fearsome sweeper.
• Pairs extremely well with a Psychic type as Dark Bug and Ghost are moves often directed toward that type

???

Click to expand...

Hp Grass>Electric, for Chinchou, since Ice Beam (and SR) hit Mantyke.

Also, I'd use Shell Break anyway, really, in the last slot. Can you imagine a scenario when you'd use Round? Resisted Surf does more than neutral Round, which is pretty damn pathetic.

Also, I'd say that's not worth a set, just a mention in OC. +1 Timid Clamperl doesn't reach 21 speed after a boost, which is pretty much how fast you need to sweep.

The OP of this thread has informed me that he/she is no longer working on this analysis. This thread can be moved to L&O.