#claydolsweep
[OVERVIEW]
Claydol is one of the few Pokemon in NU with access to Rapid Spin, and it is one of the better users of the move. Its resistance to Stealth Rock plus immunity to Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web make it downright impervious to the entry hazards it tries to remove. These qualities also grant Claydol a rare resistance to Rock + Ground, shared only by Torterra in NU. Claydol boasts good defenses as well as a wide movepool to hit various threats, particularly entry hazard setters and spinblockers, meaning it is quite capable of performing its job. However, Claydol's most notable flaws include mediocre offenses and lack of reliable recovery, and most of all its typing leaves it with a huge amount of weaknesses, making it susceptible to the majority of Pokemon in NU, so it needs to be heavily accounted for from a defensive standpoint.
[SET]
name: Offensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Psychic / Psyshock
item: Leftovers / Soft Sand
ability: Levitate
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Rapid Spin clears the field of entry hazards. Earth Power is Claydol's main STAB move, and it does good damage to most entry hazard setters such as Crustle, Garbodor, Regirock, and Mawile. Shadow Ball allows Claydol to hit Ghost-types such as Mismagius, Rotom, and Gourgeist, which not only block its Rapid Spin but would also take its Earth Power with ease; it is also Claydol's best attack against Rotom in general. Shadow Ball also hits Psychic-types such as Uxie, Mesprit, opposing Claydol, Xatu, and Exeggutor, all of which also resist Earth Power while the former three occasionally carry Stealth Rock.
Psychic allows Claydol to hit Weezing, a potential Toxic Spikes user, for major damage, as well as being Claydol's strongest attack against the likes of Gurdurr, Poliwrath, and Vileplume. Psyshock allows Claydol to hit specially bulky targets such as Hariyama and Cryogonal; it also hits Mismagius for a more solid 2HKO than Shadow Ball. Grass Knot can be used to score great damage against heavyweights or 4x Grass-weak Pokemon, such as Golurk, Rhydon, and Carracosta. Ice Beam allows Claydol to take down or deter Flying- and Grass-types, such as Rotom-S, Scyther, Jumpluff, Swellow, Cacturne, and Torterra, while still netting coverage against Gourgeist. Should an extra attacking move not be necessary, Toxic can be used to cripple bulkier switch-ins. Alternatively, Claydol can even serve as the Stealth Rock user of the team, but keep in mind it isn't very well-equipped to handle the entry hazard removers.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Attack investment and a Modest nature allow Claydol to make the most of its coverage options. Maximum Speed investment allows Claydol to Speed tie offensive Garbodor. Using 216 Speed EVs is a fine alternative to outrun Magneton, Jolly Rampardos, Samurott, and Ludicolo, allowing Claydol to threaten a KO or simply pull off a Rapid Spin before eating a fatal hit. 120 Speed EVs let Claydol outrun neutral-natured Aurorus while also keeping ahead of foes such as Mawile and most notably Jolly Crustle. Running 136 Speed EVs allows Claydol to outspeed Pawniard, although this is only really a good idea if Colbur Berry is used, as Sucker Punch would otherwise render Claydol's Speed advantage moot. Basically, it isn't advised not to run Speed on Claydol, otherwise it would expose itself to its weaknesses too easily. The remaining EVs are simply dumped into HP for general bulk. Leftovers is used to increase Claydol's longevity, while Soft Sand allows Claydol to cleanly OHKO offensive Garbodor and 2HKO Rhydon. Colbur Berry can be used to give Claydol a spinning opportunity against Fighting-types and occasionally even Dark-types by weakening Knock Offs or Sucker Punches, which might deny the Rapid Spin.
Usage Tips
========
Should there be entry hazards on its side of the field, Claydol's biggest priority is to spin them away. Despite its resilience to entry hazards and decent bulk, one should not play recklessly with Claydol, as its numerous weaknesses render it vulnerable to a wide variety of foes. Claydol is best sent in on foes that it can force out, or on passive foes that cannot hurt it very much. Slower Ground-weak Pokemon, namely Rock-, Poison-, and Steel-types such as Rhydon, Regirock, Carracosta, Garbodor, Stunfisk, and Mawile, usually present the best opportunity for Claydol to enter battle and use Rapid Spin by threatening them out with its Ground-type STAB move, but Claydol's wide movepool and decent bulk allow it to choose a greater selection of foes to use Rapid Spin on or threaten out, such as Uxie, Aurorus, Lanturn, and even Torterra if Ice Beam is used.
Claydol can also find the chance to spin against slower passive walls such as Audino, Weezing, Regirock, and Granbull. Against more offensive teams, Claydol relies more on its resistances than its overall bulk to find spinning opportunities. Claydol can even be used as an anti-lead against entry hazard leads such as Archeops and Crustle, shrugging off most of their attacks and continuously spinning their entry hazards away. Keep an eye out for spinblockers; while Claydol can hit them on the switch with Shadow Ball, it will be forced back out by the threat of their Ghost STAB moves. Also remember that Claydol's offenses aren't great, so it shouldn't try to tackle attackers that aren't weak to its moves.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that suffer from major entry hazard weaknesses greatly appreciate Claydol as a partner. Scyther is one of the most notable partners, as its effectiveness is greatly improved in the absence of Stealth Rock; it even boasts good offensive synergy with Claydol as most bulky Pokemon that resist U-turn can be threatened by Claydol. Other partners include Fletchinder, Pyroar, Rotom-S, Archeops, Sturdy Sawk, and Jynx, which boast powerful offensive presence to compensate for Claydol's lack of immediate power. Claydol also appreciates a Pursuit trapper to take on the Ghost-types that would impede it. Sneasel does a fantastic job, and it also benefits greatly from Claydol's Rapid Spin support as a result. Liepard is also a fine candidate for a Pursuit trapper, and it has the important Prankster Encore to deter foes from taking advantage of Claydol's passiveness, particularly the likes of Shell Smash Huntail and Quiver Dance Lilligant.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
While Claydol's bulk would imply it can pull off a defensive set, it really relies on making use of its coverage to be effective, plus giving up its offensive presence would turn it into one of the easiest setup fodders in the tier due to its numerous weaknesses. Sandslash is a better defensive spinner because it has fewer weaknesses than Claydol and can still hit decently hard even without offensive investment. Life Orb gives Claydol's attacks a significant boost in power, but it cuts into Claydol's longevity, which is one of Claydol's main selling points. Assault Vest might seem appealing because Claydol can afford not to carry any non-damaging moves and would benefit from the special bulk, but the attacks that Claydol would survive with Assault Vest come from attackers Claydol wouldn't want to mess with anyway; Claydol usually appreciates Leftovers healing it from chip damage or weaker attacks, or it doesn't need Assault Vest to take on the special attackers it does handle.
Signal Beam is an option to check Malamar with as well as hitting Exeggutor extremely hard, but those are its only notable uses; most Dark-types take plenty from Earth Power, while Shadow Ball is a better coverage move against opposing Psychic-types due to its extra coverage on Ghost-types, which is much more important. Claydol's physical movepool consists of Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, and Rock Slide, but covers less targets than its special movepool. Claydol has access to various 5-turn moves, such as dual screens, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, and Trick Room. However, it shouldn't attempt to use them, as it faces great competition from the likes of Uxie, Meowstic-M, and Carbink, which boast superior bulk and Speed, Prankster, and important resistances, respectively.
Claydol's decent offensive movepool for a Psychic-type might imply it has a shot at performing Calm Mind sweeping sets, but its mediocre Speed and defensive typing not only make setup difficult but also leave it easily revenge killed. Alternatively, Claydol can attempt a Choice Specs set with Trick, but Psychic-types with superior sweeping potential, such as Mesprit and Mr. Mime, give it major competition. Claydol could try to take advantage of its numerous weaknesses with Weakness Policy to surprise its foes, but this is pretty much a gimmick, as Weakness Policy serves little purpose outside of that and directly conflicts with its chances to successfully use Rapid Spin.
Checks & Counters
========
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types prove a major obstacle at impeding Claydol's job, as they can both block Rapid Spin and threaten Claydol with super effective STAB moves. While they do not enjoy a Shadow Ball on the switch, Mismagius, Rotom, and Gourgeist all make solid checks, as they can force Claydol out should they switch into any other attack. Keep in mind that Gourgeist would detest switching into Toxic or Ice Beam, while offensive variants of Mismagius would feel the sting of Psyshock. Haunter and Golurk are riskier switch-ins in comparison due to their vulnerability to Shadow Ball / Psychic-type STAB and Grass Knot respectively, but they can also make good answers to Claydol.
**Grass-types**: With their Ground-type resistance and super effective STAB attacks, Grass-types make for fine responses against Claydol. Some of the greatest threats to Claydol include Lilligant, Exeggutor, and Ludicolo, which can easily set up on Claydol and proceed to end it with boosted STAB attacks. Other Grass-types such as Leafeon, Torterra, Vileplume, Tangela, and Cacturne can also send Claydol packing. The Grass-types should beware of bothersome moves on the switch, such as Toxic, Ice Beam, or even Psychic in Vileplume's case.
**Water-types**: Water-types can make quick work of Claydol, either with powerful STAB attacks or simply shrugging off its neutral attacks. Samurott, Ludicolo, Huntail, and Gorebyss can do away with Claydol easily or even take the time to set up in its face. Bulkier Water-types such as Mantine, Pelipper, and Prinplup can brush off Claydol's attacks and shower it with Scalds. Note that some Water-types, such as Kabutops, Carracosta, Quagsire, and Lanturn, dislike taking Claydol's Earth Power and/or Grass Knot.
**Ice-types**: Aside from Psyshock, Cryogonal has little to fear from Claydol and can beat it easily while also outlasting it. Jynx and Sneasel can take a hit or two from Claydol and start threatening it with powerful Ice-type attacks. Aurorus dislikes Earth Powers, but otherwise it is in the same league as Jynx and Sneasel, though it cannot switch in. While uncommon, Articuno and Regice pretty much make Claydol their playthings.
**Dark-types**: Sneasel, Liepard, and Pawniard can all threaten Claydol with their STAB Knock Off, although switching them into Claydol is usually not advised. Cacturne has the benefit of resisting nearly every common move in Claydol's arsenal bar Ice Beam and being able to threaten Claydol with both STAB types. Malamar is barely scratched by any of Claydol's attacks bar Signal Beam and either uses Claydol as setup fodder or just simply attacks with STAB Knock Off. Pursuit proves a serious threat as well, heavily limiting Claydol's survivability if not KOing it outright as it tries to flee.
**Bug-types**: While Bug-types are uncommon and it is even rarer for most of them to carry Bug-type attacks, they can prove to be bothersome for Claydol. The most notable Bug-type attackers are Scyther and Pinsir, which take paltry damage from Claydol's attacks and retaliate with powerful STAB attacks, the former only needing to watch out for Ice Beam if it is not carrying Eviolite. The only other noteworthy user of STAB Bug-type moves would be the rare Bug Buzz Vivillon, and Vivillon does not even need Bug moves to handle Claydol because Quiver Dance softens Claydol's blows bar Psyshock, while Vivillon can retaliate with boosted Hurricanes or even Giga Drains.
**Residual Damage**: While Claydol has good longevity as far as entry hazards are concerned, its lack of reliable recovery is still a problem for it. Status ailments such as Toxic and burn are amongst the best ways to wear it down, and even simply removing its Leftovers via Trick or Knock Off can make a decent hit to Claydol's survivability. Ferroseed gets special mention here, as it can wear down Claydol with Leech Seed and discourages the use of Rapid Spin to get rid of Leech Seed due to Iron Barbs. This also makes Ferroseed one of the few hazard setters with an outright advantage over Claydol.
**Bulky Setup Sweepers**: Despite Claydol's good coverage allowing it to put up a decent fight, it can still fall prey to numerous setup sweepers in the tier. Examples include Mega Audino, Malamar, Lilligant, Xatu, Musharna, Samurott, Huntail, Gorebyss, Vivillon, and Togetic. Claydol's best option against most setup sweepers is Toxic, but that only delays the sweep, as Claydol itself is still not out of danger.
**Super Effective Coverage Moves**: Coverage moves are easily Claydol's biggest issue, as they undermines its otherwise decent bulk. Nearly every Pokemon in the metagame carries a move that happens to be super effective against Claydol, giving them a way to take out Claydol without even consciously realizing it. Discounting the amount of Pokemon with super effective STAB moves against Claydol, even non-STAB coverage moves, the most common of which include Knock Off, Hidden Power, and U-turn, can put a sizable dent in Claydol, especially considering Claydol's lack of reliable recovery.
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