Grimer
[Overview]
<p>Grimer's excellent base 80 HP and base 80 Attack make it a great offensive tank. Additionally, Grimer has a wide physical movepool which allows it to hit almost every Pokemon in the tier for super effective damage. Access to boosting moves like Curse and a nifty priority move in Shadow Sneak all increase its potential as a wall breaker or boosting sweeper. However, Grimer is cursed with an atrocious Poison-type STAB, which has laughable coverage. It also has a poor Speed stat, allowing it to be easily revenge killed. However, fear not, as Grimer is still a great Pokemon that can destroy your opponent's team in a heartbeat if given the chance.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Gunk Shot / Poison Jab
move 2: Shadow Sneak
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Ice Punch
item: Life Orb
ability: Sticky Hold
nature: Adamant
evs: 36 HP / 36 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Grimer's excellent Attack stat coupled with its decent bulk allows it to pull of a purely offensive physical attacking set. Gunk Shot is Grimer's main move in spite of its poor coverage. Coming of an excellent base 80 Attack stat and further boosted by STAB and Life Orb, Gunk Shot hits like a truck, severely denting any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. Fire Punch allows Grimer to deal with Bronzor and Ferroseed, 2HKOing Ferroseed if it's not carrying Eviolite. Ice Punch allows Grimer to secure an OHKO on offensive variants of Gligar. Shadow Sneak gives Grimer much needed priority, allowing it to outspeed and hit Misdreavus, Litwick, and Frillish for super effective damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Poison Jab can be used over Gunk Shot, trading off significant power while offering better accuracy. However, Gunk Shot is preferred due to its massive Base Power; additionally, Gunk Shot allows Grimer to net several important KOs. While using Gunk Shot, it must be kept in mind that a neutral Gunk Shot hits for more damage than a super effective Ice Punch or Fire Punch. Therefore, instead of using Ice Punch on a Pokemon like Dratini, Gunk Shot should be used, OHKOing the Dragon Dance variant.</p>
[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Poison Jab / Gunk Shot
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: Fire Punch / Ice Punch
item: Life Orb / Eviolite
ability: Sticky Hold
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 Atk / 116 Def / 196 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With the advent of Eviolite, combined with Grimer's decent bulk, Grimer can effectively run a Curse set. This set utilizes Grimer's great Attack stat and decent bulk to set up Curses and attempt to sweep. After two Curses, Grimer reaches an Attack stat of 34 with an Adamant nature and 32 with an Impish nature. Just to put it into perspective, an Impish Gligar with 236 HP / 236 Def is always OHKOed by a +2 Ice Punch. Fire Punch allows Grimer to hit Ferroseed and Bronzor super effectively, while Ice Punch hits Gligar for 4x super effective damage. Poison Jab is Grimer's main STAB move, capable of dealing massive amounts of damage with a boost. Gunk Shot can be used over Poison Jab, but it trades off accuracy for power. However, the drop in power is quite noticeable. At +2 Defense with an Impish nature, Grimer can take defensive hits quite well, well; this is backed up even further if the Eviolite item is used.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>If Grimer lacks Fire Punch, it is easily walled by Steel-types like Bronzor and Ferroseed. However, if Grimer carries Fire Punch it has trouble with Gligar and other Ground-type Pokemon. Grimer needs to be partnered with a Pokemon according to the choice of its fourth moveslot. If Fire Punch is utilized, then Choice Scarf Magnemite acts as a good partner to Grimer, trapping and killing off those pesky Steel-types with a STAB Thunderbolt or a super effective Hidden Power Fire. Choice Scarf Snover is a good partner if Fire Punch is used. Snover can outspeed Gligar or Dratini when equipped with a Choice Scarf and OHKO with a super effective Blizzard.</p>
[Set]
name: Rest + Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Rest
move 3: Poison Jab / Brick Break
move 4: Sleep Talk / Shadow Sneak
item: Eviolite
ability: Sticky Hold
nature: Careful
evs: 36 HP / 36 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is a variation of the Curse set. It effectively has much more staying power than the Curse set due to Rest, which allows Grimer to recover all its HP and rid it of any negative status. Poison Jab is the STAB move of choice; however, if Poison Jab's poor coverage is not appealing to you, Brick Break can be used, which allows Grimer to break Reflect and Light Screen. However, Brick Break is signifigantly less powerful than Poison Jab due to its lack of STAB. Sleep Talk makes sure Grimer is not absolutely useless or set-up fodder while it is asleep. It is especially important as with the sleep counter resetting every time one switches out, there is a slight chance Grimer may be asleep throughout the match. Shadow Sneak gives Grimer priority, and allows it to hit Ghost-types like Frillish, Misdreavus, and Litwick super effectively.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Maximum investment in Defense and Special Defense ensures Grimer will be able to take quite a few hits without fainting; this is furthered with help from Eviolite. After two Curses it is nigh impossible to OHKO Grimer without a super effective or a special attack. Ferroseed is a huge counter to this set. It is immune to Poison Jab Jab and laughs at Shadow Sneak; however, it hates eating a boosted Brick Break. Bronzor is also a good counter with its high Defense, immunity to Poison-type attacks, and access to Psychic to super effectively hit Grimer. Choice Scarf Magnemite is a good partner, as it can trap and KO Ferroseed or Bronzong with a super effective Hidden Power Fire. Gligar is an efficient check to this set. It has good bulk and is resistant to Brick Break and Poison Jab. It is also faster and can 2HKO +1 Grimer with a STAB Earthquake, factoring in Stealth Rock damage. Choice Scarf Snover is a good Gligar counter, and can take it out with a super effective Blizzard.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Grimer is capable of running a set consisting of Stockpile, Pain Split, Gunk Shot / Poison Jab, and Shadow Sneak. Toxic can be used and allows Grimer to spread around status. Grimer can also run a special set consisting of Sludge Bomb, Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, and Hidden Power Ice. However, it is not as effective as the physical sets due to Grimer's poor base 50 Special Attack stat.</p>
<p>Grimer has no dearth of secondary moves thanks to its great movepool. Rock Slide can be used to hit Bug-, Fire-, and Flying-types super effectively. Payback can be used in conjuction with Grimer's minute speed to hit Ghost-types harder. Substitute can be used a scouting move, but Grimer loses precious coverage to accomodate it. Return can be used as it has great neutral coverage and can be fired off without as much thought as a Gunk Shot or Poison Jab. Grimer is also capable of running Memento, allowing set-up sweepers like Dragon Dance Dratini and Scraggy to set up easily. However, it must be noted that Grimer is outcalssed by other Memento users.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Bronzor is an excellent counter to Grimer. It is immune to Grimer's main STAB and laughs at all its other moves. However, it must be wary of Fire Punch. Provided Grimer lacks Fire Punch, Bronzong can come in on Grimer, set up dual screens, and hit Grimer with a super effective STAB Psychic. Ferroseed is also a good counter to Grimer, but like Bronzong it must be wary of Fire Punch. Gligar can revenge kill Grimer with a speedy super effective Earthquake thanks to its fantastic Speed and Attack stats, but it should switch in with care, as an Ice Punch will OHKO offensive variants.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Grimer gets the Dream World ability Poison Hand, which makes all of Grimer's contact moves have a 20% chance of poisoning the foe. It is a rather gimmicky ability compared to Sticky Hold, so it's best left untouched.</p>
