Status: QC approved; awaiting grammar checks
Link to original thread: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68333
The original analysis for this was locked due to length issues, so after extensive concising I'd like to offer it for approval again. I'm pretty sure that this time, the length is acceptable - the set is now four times smaller (800 words compared to 3200 words), and I'm pretty sure all of the separate sections are each under 1000 words. So yeh. I also removed all mentions of Salamence and Latias.
Stamps:
(Setsuna)
(Seven Deadly Sins)
(Plus)
(uragg)
(Flora)
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/claydol
--------------------------
[Overview]
<p>Claydol, once one of the most prominent support Pokemon around, now lies overshadowed by many of the newer faces and older rivals that it has only a few advantages over. Bronzong, with a superior defensive typing and slightly higher stats, is more popular as a supporter, and Claydol's only advantages from a support point of view are its much higher Speed, allowing it to outpace most Scizor and to an extent Tyranitar, and access to Rapid Spin. Even in the Rapid Spinning department, however, it is overshadowed by Pokemon such as Forretress, who have a superior defensive typing, just as good a support movepool as Claydol, and the ability to strike Ghost-types hard. Claydol's many weaknesses to common types do not help its case either. However, Claydol's balanced offensive and defensive stats as well as its Ground-type STAB still make it worth using in certain situations.</p>
[SET]
name: OU Support
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Earthquake / Earth Power
move 4: Explosion / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
nature: Relaxed / Bold
evs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 114 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Rapid Spin is the most important move on the set, as it removes entry hazards that can be crippling for the rest of the Pokemon on your team. You can also cut the opponent's time short with your own Stealth Rock. In the last two slots, attacking moves should be chosen as there are a lot of Pokemon in OU who can cause Claydol trouble. The first of these attacking moves should be a STAB Ground-type move, as Ground is an excellent attacking type and helps Claydol greatly with common Steel-types. Claydol has two choices for this slot: Earth Power and Earthquake. Earthquake is usually the superior choice, as it has a chance to OHKO Lucario and Infernape, as well as 2HKO Tyranitar and Jirachi, which Earth Power cannot do. However, Earth Power is a guaranteed 2HKO on standard Choice Band Metagross, is not affected by Intimidate, and prevents the need for splitting EVs if you wish to run Ice Beam. In the last slot there are a number of options, but generally it is best to avoid splitting EVs, since if you do so, both of your offensive moves will be weaker and you may find yourself losing out on important OHKOs and 2HKOs. Thus, if you run Earth Power, go for Ice Beam, and if you run Earthquake, use Explosion, though you can switch them around if you are willing to split EVs.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Determining the last slot is a complicated decision. If you have chosen Earth Power, it is advisable that you choose a second special move to avoid splitting EVs. Ice Beam is the most common option on this set, as it hits the Flying- and Grass-types who resist Ground for super effective damage, and is also very helpful for taking on the common Dragon-types in OU such as Dragonite and Flygon. However, it lacks power when hitting for neutral damage against Claydol's more prominent foes, such as Rotom-A. On the physical side, the option that most merits a mention is Explosion, which may seem ridiculous considering the fact that the first switch into Claydol is usually a Ghost-type. However, it is the most realistic way that Claydol will be able to cause significant damage to the opponent's team. Explosion can create an important gap in the opponent's team, especially if you can hit a bulky Water- or Grass-type, as well as granting a free switch that could give you the opportunity to set up for a sweep or regain momentum.</p>
<p>Claydol is difficult to distribute EVs to given its multiple traits and talents, and you will very rarely find that most Claydol carry the same exact EVs. The 252 HP EVs grant Claydol maximum HP for overall defensive stability, and 144 Defense EVs ensure that it is never 2HKOed by Jolly Life Orb Mamoswine's Ice Shard or OHKOed by Swords Dance Infernape's boosted Fire Punch. It is also never OHKOed by Choice Band Machamp's Payback. 114 EVs in Special Attack means that Claydol is guaranteed to 2HKO 252 HP Metagross with Earth Power. It also gives Ice Beam a reasonable chance to OHKO 4 HP Flygon even without Stealth Rock, and allows Claydol to OHKO non-bulky Dragonite and 252 HP Gliscor with Stealth Rock down. If running a physical set, then the same investmentof 114 EVs in Attack allows Claydol's Earthquake to OHKO Lucario and Infernape with Stealth Rock and 2HKO non-bulky Jirachi and Tyranitar, while also adding more sting to Explosion.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>As Claydol has no reliable recovery moves of its own, it will be worn down very quickly. Thus, Wish support can be very useful. Blissey and Vaporeon are the most notable users of Wish, and both have considerable defensive synergy with Claydol; Blissey can take almost any special attack aimed at Claydol with ease, and as the majority of Claydol's weaknesses are frequently special attacks, Blissey can be considered a great partner for Claydol regardless of Wish. On Claydol's part, it resists Blissey's only weakness: Fighting-type moves. Vaporeon, on the other hand, can heal itself by switching into Water-type attacks aimed at Claydol thanks to its ability, Water Absorb, while also resisting Claydol's Ice-type weakness and being a good check to many of Claydol's normal counters such as Gyarados. However, Claydol shares a Grass-type weakness with Vaporeon and cannot adequately deal with Electric-types, such as Jolteon and Rotom-A, who threaten Vaporeon. Claydol will usually find that its most useful move is Rapid Spin, so it will need help from its teammates to get rid of Ghost-types. Scizor and Tyranitar both have very powerful Pursuits and can dispatch Ghost-types easily with a Choice Band equipped. However, Rotom-A can be difficult to deal with as defensive variants cannot be OHKOed by Pursuit if they do not switch out and can subsequently OHKO Scizor with Overheat or cripple both with Will-O-Wisp. Heracross, who also has access to Pursuit, can use Rotom-A's Will-O-Wisp to its advantage, however, since it can absorb Will-O-Wisp for a boost thanks to its Guts ability.</p>
<p>Claydol is unlikely to be a direct offensive complement to any Pokemon in OU, but it can still help its teammates in a number of different ways, most notably the control of entry hazards during the game. By setting up Stealth Rock, passive damage to the opponent's Pokemon will build up over time, so you should make sure that you include set-up sweepers such as Swords Dance Lucario and Dragon Dance Dragonite who benefit most from this support. At the same time, Claydol can remove entry hazards thanks to Rapid Spin, which helps Pokemon who switch in and out often and are weak to Stealth Rock, such as Dragonite and Gyarados.</p>
<p>Defensively, Claydol will need good partners to cover up its many weaknesses. Steel-types are perhaps the best defensive complements, as they have great defensive synergy together with Claydol – Steel-types resist five of Claydol's six weaknesses (Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Bug), while Claydol resists Fighting- and Ground-type attacks, two of Steel's three weaknesses, and can deal with most Fire-types in OU to an extent. There are two types that resist both Fire- and Water-type attacks: Dragon-types and Water-types themselves. In the case of Water-types, bulky Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Suicune make excellent partners; not only do they resist Fire- and Water-type attacks, but they also reinforce Claydol's Ice-type weakness, and Vaporeon in particular can aid Claydol with Wish support. To compensate, Steel-types resist their shared Grass-type weakness and Claydol itself is immune to Water-type's Electric-type weakness. Gyarados is an interesting case as Claydol resists both of its weaknesses, while it can take on many of Claydol's biggest adversaries, such as Scizor and, to an extent, Tyranitar.</p>
<p>In the case of Dragon-types, Dragonite resists Claydol's Water-, Grass-, and Bug-type weaknesses, while reinforcing Steel-types' Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type weaknesses. Furthermore, your Steel-type can take Ice-, Rock-, and Dragon-type attacks aimed at your Dragon-type with ease. In the case of Tyranitar, a bulky Water-type, as already described, can usually fend off its assaults. Tyranitar itself can be very helpful as a partner, as not only does it have some defensive synergy with Claydol, but it can also prove very useful in disposing of Rotom-A and Jolteon, whom Claydol may struggle against otherwise. Using Tyranitar, however, adds a considerable weakness to Scizor, which can be addressed with Rotom-A or Zapdos.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Claydol can be specialized for different teams, as it has a whole host of other support options that can easily be slotted in instead of Rapid Spin or Stealth Rock. Chief among these are Reflect and Light Screen, which have great merit on offensive teams that rely heavily on set-up sweepers, especially considering that Claydol also learns Stealth Rock. Claydol can also mimic pure support Uxie in this way, using Stealth Rock alongside dual screens with Explosion in place of Memento. Reflect and Light Screen take up both of Claydol's predefined support slots; therefore, Light Clay is recommended as the item over Leftovers on a dual screen set to maximize their effect. Gravity is another field effect that Claydol can set up, and although Claydol is slightly overshadowed by Bronzong or Forretress in this role, it is the only Pokemon capable of setting up Gravity who has STAB on Ground-type attacks. It also has access to Stone Edge, which gains perfect accuracy, and, unlike Bronzong, does not gain a Ground-type weakness under Gravity. Claydol also learns Trick Room and can be extremely useful to Trick Room teams, though remember to run a 0 IV in Speed and a Relaxed nature to minimize Claydol's Speed stat. Rest and Sleep Talk can be useful to provide Claydol with some form of recovery, if you want it to last longer throughout the battle. Lastly, Trick can be used alongside a Choice item to hopefully cripple a wall or counter switching in.</p>
<p>Shadow Ball is another decent option, allowing Claydol to hit Ghost-types as they switch in to block Rapid Spin, which is particularly important as two of the three OU Ghost-types, Rotom-A and Gengar, are immune to Earth Power by virtue of their Levitate ability. Psychic is Claydol's other STAB choice, though it has a reputation as a poor attacking type in OU. Nevertheless, it can be useful as it has a chance to OHKO Gengar after Stealth Rock damage, and makes Claydol much more adequate at taking on Fighting-types. Bulky Water-types are one of Claydol's biggest worries, but it has a couple of options if these Pokemon are troublesome. Toxic is a very interesting option, as it can cripple the bulky Water-types who will commonly switch into Claydol, such as Swampert and Vaporeon, and other common switch-ins such as Rotom-A and Tyranitar as well. This is particularly notable as the only two types that are immune to Toxic—Poison- and Steel-types—are both hit for super effective damage by Claydol's Ground-type STAB. Grass Knot, with the standard EV spread, is guaranteed to 2HKO 252 HP Swampert through Leftovers, but it will deal pitiful damage to Suicune and Vaporeon.</p>
<p>You may decide to run 236 EVs in HP in order to maximize Leftovers recovery, which is particularly beneficial to Claydol as it is immune to sandstorm and takes minimal damage from entry hazards. Claydol's type combination would usually mark it out as a physical wall; however, you may decide to make greater use of Claydol's Special Defense stat, which often goes neglected due to Claydol's typing having difficulties in special walling. The same investment of 144 EVs in its Special Defense stat with a Calm nature will ensure that none of Timid Heatran's Fire Blast, Modest Magnezone's Hidden Power Ice, Timid Life Orb Zapdos's Hidden Power Grass, and Timid Choice Specs Jolteon's Hidden Power Grass will ever 2HKO with Leftovers. At the same time, Claydol has a fair chance of not being 2HKOed by Rash Life Orb Dragonite's Draco Meteor and Naive Life Orb Infernape's Grass Knot. Bear in mind, however, that this durability at one end of the scale will usually come at the expense of the other; so, you should choose what your individual Claydol should be best at taking on depending on your team's interests.</p>
<p>While Claydol's Speed stat is not impressive, it is high enough to actually be quite threatening even without any Speed EVs—it is worth noting that Bold Claydol without any Speed EVs can outrun most Metagross, standard 8 Speed Scizor, and 96 Speed Tyranitar. Therefore, it can help in many situations not to cut your Claydol's Speed stat short; however, if Claydol runs a mixed set, this is often unavoidable. If Claydol runs a set with purely special attacks, it should use a Bold nature; likewise, with physical attacks, it should run an Impish nature. As previously mentioned, while Speed is useful, it is in your best interests to run a Relaxed nature in order to preserve Claydol's offensive stats on both sides if it is running a mixed set. If Claydol is running a specially defensive spread, use a Calm, Careful, or Sassy nature as appropriate.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Bulky Water-types are perhaps the best counters to Claydol, as most of them have enough bulk to take whatever Claydol throws at them and retaliate with their STAB moves. Gyarados is probably the best choice, as it is immune to Earthquake, takes little from Ice Beam, and can easily rack up Dragon Dances, or use Taunt in order to stop Claydol from supporting. The most Claydol can muster against Gyarados is Stone Edge, which does little to bulky variants thanks to Intimidate, and Toxic, which can be troublesome, but Gyarados can always run a Rest + Sleep Talk set in order to avoid this. The same is more or less true of for Suicune and Vaporeon, who both dislike Toxic but have strong Water-type STAB moves that will make Claydol tremble. Starmie has no such problem, thanks to its Natural Cure ability healing it of poison, and it also has access to Recover to offset any damage that Claydol can do with its STAB moves. Swampert does worse, as it is 2HKOed by the rare Grass Knot and dislikes Toxic, but the principle is much the same. Lastly, while most Dragon-types cannot take Claydol's Ice Beam, Kingdra is neutral to Ice-type attacks and can take almost anything Claydol throws at it while destroying Claydol with its Water-type STAB moves or setting up Dragon Dance.</p>
<p>Bulky Ghost-types are the next-biggest worry—Gengar and Rotom-A are both extremely common, immune to Earthquake by virtue of their Levitate ability, and able to defeat Claydol with their STAB moves, although Gengar cannot switch into Shadow Ball or Psychic twice and defensive Rotom-A dislikes Toxic. Dusknoir acts identically but does not have any strong Ghost-type STAB moves nor an immunity to Ground-type moves. Yet, it is still an impassable fortress to Claydol.</p>
<p>Bug- and Dark-types present a particular problem for Claydol as the common users of these types are more offensive and, in particular, have access to the move Pursuit, which can chase down and defeat a fleeing Claydol. Scizor can take anything Claydol throws its way barring Hidden Power Fire, and can Pursuit if Claydol tries to flee or Also, Scizor can U-turn, which will kill Claydol if it stays in and allows Scizor to escape from Claydol's Scizor check if it runs one. Tyranitar is much the same, but it has a more powerful STAB Pursuit and can also use STAB Crunch against a Claydol who tries to stay in; however, it is crippled by Toxic and can be 2HKOed by physical Claydol's Earthquake after Stealth Rock damage. Weavile also has access to STAB Pursuit and can scout with Fake Out, but is not strong enough to deal with a full-health Claydol, as not even Choice Band Ice Punch can OHKO 252 HP Claydol while Weavile is 2HKOed by Earthquake in return after Stealth Rock damage. Heracross is also worth noting, as it has a powerful STAB Megahorn, can absorb Toxic for a Guts boost, and has access to Pursuit. It is also the only one of the above who resists Earth Power, but this comes at a price of a weakness to Psychic.</p>
<p>Grass-types can sometimes be a problem for Claydol as well. The biggest problem in this bunch is Celebi, who resists both of Claydol's STAB moves, doesn't take too much damage from Ice Beam and Shadow Ball, and hits Claydol hard with Grass Knot. Breloom does well too, despite weaknesses to Psychic and Ice Beam, and can use Spore or Seed Bomb to defeat Claydol. Roserade lacks the Ground-type resistance of its peers and also has weaknesses to Ice Beam and Psychic, but has a high Special Defense stat and access to STAB Grass Knot and Leaf Storm.</p>
<p>Lastly, Bronzong and Skarmory can take just about anything from Claydol, but they cannot immediately pose a threat; Bronzong has to have Grass Knot to cause any real damage, and can only really hurt it by putting it to sleep with Hypnosis. Skarmory can whittle it down with Brave Bird, but it must be wary of being caught by Earth Power when it uses Roost if Claydol is slower. Blissey can take any special hit and is not terribly bothered by most physical attacks from Claydol. It can try to Toxic-stall Claydol to death, with Natural Cure curing Toxic and Softboiled recovering HP. However, if Claydol uses an unexpected Explosion, Blissey is pretty much out of the game, which can be crippling to teams that rely on it.</p>
-------------------------------
Changes:
- Grammar Check 1, thanks to AccidentalGreed
- GP Grammar Check 1, thanks to uragg
- GP Grammar Check 2, thanks to Flora
Link to original thread: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68333
The original analysis for this was locked due to length issues, so after extensive concising I'd like to offer it for approval again. I'm pretty sure that this time, the length is acceptable - the set is now four times smaller (800 words compared to 3200 words), and I'm pretty sure all of the separate sections are each under 1000 words. So yeh. I also removed all mentions of Salamence and Latias.
Stamps:
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/claydol
--------------------------
[Overview]
<p>Claydol, once one of the most prominent support Pokemon around, now lies overshadowed by many of the newer faces and older rivals that it has only a few advantages over. Bronzong, with a superior defensive typing and slightly higher stats, is more popular as a supporter, and Claydol's only advantages from a support point of view are its much higher Speed, allowing it to outpace most Scizor and to an extent Tyranitar, and access to Rapid Spin. Even in the Rapid Spinning department, however, it is overshadowed by Pokemon such as Forretress, who have a superior defensive typing, just as good a support movepool as Claydol, and the ability to strike Ghost-types hard. Claydol's many weaknesses to common types do not help its case either. However, Claydol's balanced offensive and defensive stats as well as its Ground-type STAB still make it worth using in certain situations.</p>
[SET]
name: OU Support
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Earthquake / Earth Power
move 4: Explosion / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
nature: Relaxed / Bold
evs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 114 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Rapid Spin is the most important move on the set, as it removes entry hazards that can be crippling for the rest of the Pokemon on your team. You can also cut the opponent's time short with your own Stealth Rock. In the last two slots, attacking moves should be chosen as there are a lot of Pokemon in OU who can cause Claydol trouble. The first of these attacking moves should be a STAB Ground-type move, as Ground is an excellent attacking type and helps Claydol greatly with common Steel-types. Claydol has two choices for this slot: Earth Power and Earthquake. Earthquake is usually the superior choice, as it has a chance to OHKO Lucario and Infernape, as well as 2HKO Tyranitar and Jirachi, which Earth Power cannot do. However, Earth Power is a guaranteed 2HKO on standard Choice Band Metagross, is not affected by Intimidate, and prevents the need for splitting EVs if you wish to run Ice Beam. In the last slot there are a number of options, but generally it is best to avoid splitting EVs, since if you do so, both of your offensive moves will be weaker and you may find yourself losing out on important OHKOs and 2HKOs. Thus, if you run Earth Power, go for Ice Beam, and if you run Earthquake, use Explosion, though you can switch them around if you are willing to split EVs.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Determining the last slot is a complicated decision. If you have chosen Earth Power, it is advisable that you choose a second special move to avoid splitting EVs. Ice Beam is the most common option on this set, as it hits the Flying- and Grass-types who resist Ground for super effective damage, and is also very helpful for taking on the common Dragon-types in OU such as Dragonite and Flygon. However, it lacks power when hitting for neutral damage against Claydol's more prominent foes, such as Rotom-A. On the physical side, the option that most merits a mention is Explosion, which may seem ridiculous considering the fact that the first switch into Claydol is usually a Ghost-type. However, it is the most realistic way that Claydol will be able to cause significant damage to the opponent's team. Explosion can create an important gap in the opponent's team, especially if you can hit a bulky Water- or Grass-type, as well as granting a free switch that could give you the opportunity to set up for a sweep or regain momentum.</p>
<p>Claydol is difficult to distribute EVs to given its multiple traits and talents, and you will very rarely find that most Claydol carry the same exact EVs. The 252 HP EVs grant Claydol maximum HP for overall defensive stability, and 144 Defense EVs ensure that it is never 2HKOed by Jolly Life Orb Mamoswine's Ice Shard or OHKOed by Swords Dance Infernape's boosted Fire Punch. It is also never OHKOed by Choice Band Machamp's Payback. 114 EVs in Special Attack means that Claydol is guaranteed to 2HKO 252 HP Metagross with Earth Power. It also gives Ice Beam a reasonable chance to OHKO 4 HP Flygon even without Stealth Rock, and allows Claydol to OHKO non-bulky Dragonite and 252 HP Gliscor with Stealth Rock down. If running a physical set, then the same investmentof 114 EVs in Attack allows Claydol's Earthquake to OHKO Lucario and Infernape with Stealth Rock and 2HKO non-bulky Jirachi and Tyranitar, while also adding more sting to Explosion.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>As Claydol has no reliable recovery moves of its own, it will be worn down very quickly. Thus, Wish support can be very useful. Blissey and Vaporeon are the most notable users of Wish, and both have considerable defensive synergy with Claydol; Blissey can take almost any special attack aimed at Claydol with ease, and as the majority of Claydol's weaknesses are frequently special attacks, Blissey can be considered a great partner for Claydol regardless of Wish. On Claydol's part, it resists Blissey's only weakness: Fighting-type moves. Vaporeon, on the other hand, can heal itself by switching into Water-type attacks aimed at Claydol thanks to its ability, Water Absorb, while also resisting Claydol's Ice-type weakness and being a good check to many of Claydol's normal counters such as Gyarados. However, Claydol shares a Grass-type weakness with Vaporeon and cannot adequately deal with Electric-types, such as Jolteon and Rotom-A, who threaten Vaporeon. Claydol will usually find that its most useful move is Rapid Spin, so it will need help from its teammates to get rid of Ghost-types. Scizor and Tyranitar both have very powerful Pursuits and can dispatch Ghost-types easily with a Choice Band equipped. However, Rotom-A can be difficult to deal with as defensive variants cannot be OHKOed by Pursuit if they do not switch out and can subsequently OHKO Scizor with Overheat or cripple both with Will-O-Wisp. Heracross, who also has access to Pursuit, can use Rotom-A's Will-O-Wisp to its advantage, however, since it can absorb Will-O-Wisp for a boost thanks to its Guts ability.</p>
<p>Claydol is unlikely to be a direct offensive complement to any Pokemon in OU, but it can still help its teammates in a number of different ways, most notably the control of entry hazards during the game. By setting up Stealth Rock, passive damage to the opponent's Pokemon will build up over time, so you should make sure that you include set-up sweepers such as Swords Dance Lucario and Dragon Dance Dragonite who benefit most from this support. At the same time, Claydol can remove entry hazards thanks to Rapid Spin, which helps Pokemon who switch in and out often and are weak to Stealth Rock, such as Dragonite and Gyarados.</p>
<p>Defensively, Claydol will need good partners to cover up its many weaknesses. Steel-types are perhaps the best defensive complements, as they have great defensive synergy together with Claydol – Steel-types resist five of Claydol's six weaknesses (Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Bug), while Claydol resists Fighting- and Ground-type attacks, two of Steel's three weaknesses, and can deal with most Fire-types in OU to an extent. There are two types that resist both Fire- and Water-type attacks: Dragon-types and Water-types themselves. In the case of Water-types, bulky Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Suicune make excellent partners; not only do they resist Fire- and Water-type attacks, but they also reinforce Claydol's Ice-type weakness, and Vaporeon in particular can aid Claydol with Wish support. To compensate, Steel-types resist their shared Grass-type weakness and Claydol itself is immune to Water-type's Electric-type weakness. Gyarados is an interesting case as Claydol resists both of its weaknesses, while it can take on many of Claydol's biggest adversaries, such as Scizor and, to an extent, Tyranitar.</p>
<p>In the case of Dragon-types, Dragonite resists Claydol's Water-, Grass-, and Bug-type weaknesses, while reinforcing Steel-types' Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type weaknesses. Furthermore, your Steel-type can take Ice-, Rock-, and Dragon-type attacks aimed at your Dragon-type with ease. In the case of Tyranitar, a bulky Water-type, as already described, can usually fend off its assaults. Tyranitar itself can be very helpful as a partner, as not only does it have some defensive synergy with Claydol, but it can also prove very useful in disposing of Rotom-A and Jolteon, whom Claydol may struggle against otherwise. Using Tyranitar, however, adds a considerable weakness to Scizor, which can be addressed with Rotom-A or Zapdos.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Claydol can be specialized for different teams, as it has a whole host of other support options that can easily be slotted in instead of Rapid Spin or Stealth Rock. Chief among these are Reflect and Light Screen, which have great merit on offensive teams that rely heavily on set-up sweepers, especially considering that Claydol also learns Stealth Rock. Claydol can also mimic pure support Uxie in this way, using Stealth Rock alongside dual screens with Explosion in place of Memento. Reflect and Light Screen take up both of Claydol's predefined support slots; therefore, Light Clay is recommended as the item over Leftovers on a dual screen set to maximize their effect. Gravity is another field effect that Claydol can set up, and although Claydol is slightly overshadowed by Bronzong or Forretress in this role, it is the only Pokemon capable of setting up Gravity who has STAB on Ground-type attacks. It also has access to Stone Edge, which gains perfect accuracy, and, unlike Bronzong, does not gain a Ground-type weakness under Gravity. Claydol also learns Trick Room and can be extremely useful to Trick Room teams, though remember to run a 0 IV in Speed and a Relaxed nature to minimize Claydol's Speed stat. Rest and Sleep Talk can be useful to provide Claydol with some form of recovery, if you want it to last longer throughout the battle. Lastly, Trick can be used alongside a Choice item to hopefully cripple a wall or counter switching in.</p>
<p>Shadow Ball is another decent option, allowing Claydol to hit Ghost-types as they switch in to block Rapid Spin, which is particularly important as two of the three OU Ghost-types, Rotom-A and Gengar, are immune to Earth Power by virtue of their Levitate ability. Psychic is Claydol's other STAB choice, though it has a reputation as a poor attacking type in OU. Nevertheless, it can be useful as it has a chance to OHKO Gengar after Stealth Rock damage, and makes Claydol much more adequate at taking on Fighting-types. Bulky Water-types are one of Claydol's biggest worries, but it has a couple of options if these Pokemon are troublesome. Toxic is a very interesting option, as it can cripple the bulky Water-types who will commonly switch into Claydol, such as Swampert and Vaporeon, and other common switch-ins such as Rotom-A and Tyranitar as well. This is particularly notable as the only two types that are immune to Toxic—Poison- and Steel-types—are both hit for super effective damage by Claydol's Ground-type STAB. Grass Knot, with the standard EV spread, is guaranteed to 2HKO 252 HP Swampert through Leftovers, but it will deal pitiful damage to Suicune and Vaporeon.</p>
<p>You may decide to run 236 EVs in HP in order to maximize Leftovers recovery, which is particularly beneficial to Claydol as it is immune to sandstorm and takes minimal damage from entry hazards. Claydol's type combination would usually mark it out as a physical wall; however, you may decide to make greater use of Claydol's Special Defense stat, which often goes neglected due to Claydol's typing having difficulties in special walling. The same investment of 144 EVs in its Special Defense stat with a Calm nature will ensure that none of Timid Heatran's Fire Blast, Modest Magnezone's Hidden Power Ice, Timid Life Orb Zapdos's Hidden Power Grass, and Timid Choice Specs Jolteon's Hidden Power Grass will ever 2HKO with Leftovers. At the same time, Claydol has a fair chance of not being 2HKOed by Rash Life Orb Dragonite's Draco Meteor and Naive Life Orb Infernape's Grass Knot. Bear in mind, however, that this durability at one end of the scale will usually come at the expense of the other; so, you should choose what your individual Claydol should be best at taking on depending on your team's interests.</p>
<p>While Claydol's Speed stat is not impressive, it is high enough to actually be quite threatening even without any Speed EVs—it is worth noting that Bold Claydol without any Speed EVs can outrun most Metagross, standard 8 Speed Scizor, and 96 Speed Tyranitar. Therefore, it can help in many situations not to cut your Claydol's Speed stat short; however, if Claydol runs a mixed set, this is often unavoidable. If Claydol runs a set with purely special attacks, it should use a Bold nature; likewise, with physical attacks, it should run an Impish nature. As previously mentioned, while Speed is useful, it is in your best interests to run a Relaxed nature in order to preserve Claydol's offensive stats on both sides if it is running a mixed set. If Claydol is running a specially defensive spread, use a Calm, Careful, or Sassy nature as appropriate.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Bulky Water-types are perhaps the best counters to Claydol, as most of them have enough bulk to take whatever Claydol throws at them and retaliate with their STAB moves. Gyarados is probably the best choice, as it is immune to Earthquake, takes little from Ice Beam, and can easily rack up Dragon Dances, or use Taunt in order to stop Claydol from supporting. The most Claydol can muster against Gyarados is Stone Edge, which does little to bulky variants thanks to Intimidate, and Toxic, which can be troublesome, but Gyarados can always run a Rest + Sleep Talk set in order to avoid this. The same is more or less true of for Suicune and Vaporeon, who both dislike Toxic but have strong Water-type STAB moves that will make Claydol tremble. Starmie has no such problem, thanks to its Natural Cure ability healing it of poison, and it also has access to Recover to offset any damage that Claydol can do with its STAB moves. Swampert does worse, as it is 2HKOed by the rare Grass Knot and dislikes Toxic, but the principle is much the same. Lastly, while most Dragon-types cannot take Claydol's Ice Beam, Kingdra is neutral to Ice-type attacks and can take almost anything Claydol throws at it while destroying Claydol with its Water-type STAB moves or setting up Dragon Dance.</p>
<p>Bulky Ghost-types are the next-biggest worry—Gengar and Rotom-A are both extremely common, immune to Earthquake by virtue of their Levitate ability, and able to defeat Claydol with their STAB moves, although Gengar cannot switch into Shadow Ball or Psychic twice and defensive Rotom-A dislikes Toxic. Dusknoir acts identically but does not have any strong Ghost-type STAB moves nor an immunity to Ground-type moves. Yet, it is still an impassable fortress to Claydol.</p>
<p>Bug- and Dark-types present a particular problem for Claydol as the common users of these types are more offensive and, in particular, have access to the move Pursuit, which can chase down and defeat a fleeing Claydol. Scizor can take anything Claydol throws its way barring Hidden Power Fire, and can Pursuit if Claydol tries to flee or Also, Scizor can U-turn, which will kill Claydol if it stays in and allows Scizor to escape from Claydol's Scizor check if it runs one. Tyranitar is much the same, but it has a more powerful STAB Pursuit and can also use STAB Crunch against a Claydol who tries to stay in; however, it is crippled by Toxic and can be 2HKOed by physical Claydol's Earthquake after Stealth Rock damage. Weavile also has access to STAB Pursuit and can scout with Fake Out, but is not strong enough to deal with a full-health Claydol, as not even Choice Band Ice Punch can OHKO 252 HP Claydol while Weavile is 2HKOed by Earthquake in return after Stealth Rock damage. Heracross is also worth noting, as it has a powerful STAB Megahorn, can absorb Toxic for a Guts boost, and has access to Pursuit. It is also the only one of the above who resists Earth Power, but this comes at a price of a weakness to Psychic.</p>
<p>Grass-types can sometimes be a problem for Claydol as well. The biggest problem in this bunch is Celebi, who resists both of Claydol's STAB moves, doesn't take too much damage from Ice Beam and Shadow Ball, and hits Claydol hard with Grass Knot. Breloom does well too, despite weaknesses to Psychic and Ice Beam, and can use Spore or Seed Bomb to defeat Claydol. Roserade lacks the Ground-type resistance of its peers and also has weaknesses to Ice Beam and Psychic, but has a high Special Defense stat and access to STAB Grass Knot and Leaf Storm.</p>
<p>Lastly, Bronzong and Skarmory can take just about anything from Claydol, but they cannot immediately pose a threat; Bronzong has to have Grass Knot to cause any real damage, and can only really hurt it by putting it to sleep with Hypnosis. Skarmory can whittle it down with Brave Bird, but it must be wary of being caught by Earth Power when it uses Roost if Claydol is slower. Blissey can take any special hit and is not terribly bothered by most physical attacks from Claydol. It can try to Toxic-stall Claydol to death, with Natural Cure curing Toxic and Softboiled recovering HP. However, if Claydol uses an unexpected Explosion, Blissey is pretty much out of the game, which can be crippling to teams that rely on it.</p>
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Changes:
- Grammar Check 1, thanks to AccidentalGreed
- GP Grammar Check 1, thanks to uragg
- GP Grammar Check 2, thanks to Flora
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