Cradily (rejected already, move imo '-' )

[col49]

Ok, so while I enjoyed the SD and Curse sets at times, I found their performance far too inconsistent to be worth a set, and speaking subjectively at the very least the Curse set is "bad" in the current metagame. I'll put SD in hide tages below the standard set (with some changes, max atk+adamant was pretty bad when I used it for instance) and let qc determine if its worth it, I'm fine with either tbh.

[I]To-Do List:[/I]
[LIST]
[*]Confirm set viability (Curse / SD) [ ]
[*]Confirm move / ability(?) slashes [ ]
[*]chek [ ]
[*]writ [ ]
[*]chek2 [ ]
[/LIST]

aneMANe

[OVERVIEW]

• weird
• graced with two cool abilities and generally good stats across the board (with the obvious exception of Speed)
• surprisingly diverse movepool consisting of two solid boosting moves (SD+Curse), reliable recovery, and a good sum of offensive options
• Grass / Rock typing is a boon and a curse; its good offensive typing and makes it one of the better checks to certain 'mons like Manectric and Slowking, but a lot of one type's useful resistances are neutralized by the other (see Fire, Flying, Ground)
• tends to be very passive, which turns into setup bait for a plethora of different threats (a la momo)
• all in all a pretty solid Pokemon, though it does need team support if you don't want it exploited extensively

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Recover
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Rock
item: Leftovers
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

• Cradily's natural bulk, unique typing and high survivability can be utilized rather well in a defensive set
• Water Absorb is quite handy, making an immunity of a neutrality and helping it to not only switch into Scalds without fear of passive damage but also giving its attacks a little oomph to make up for low-end offensive presence
• Very little can capably OHKO Cradily, and it generally leads to multiple opportunities to set up Stealth Rock
• Giga Drain is standard faire Grass STAB, granting it a little extra recovery and cementing its ability to check Water-types
• Recover just compounds on Cradily's obnoxiousness, allowing it to keep healthy and generally being a great addition on any defensive 'mon
• The last move is based on what you're willing to let in safely and what whose actions you want to limit
• HP Fire allows it to pressure Steel-types such as Escavalier that come in as well as limiting the amount of Spikes Ferroseed can get up on you (Rose still sets up easily barring the Storm Drain boost), and HP Rock offers a decent secondary STAB capable of deterring Fire-type switch-ins

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• More special defense can be utilized if the users wishes to better bolster Cradily to handle specially inclined Electric-, Water-, and Grass-types, though generally speaking the physical bulk is more important, allowing it to take on 'mons like Kabutops, Tauros, and Crawdaunt more comfortably
• Toxic can be used to put a timer on Fire-types / Druddigons that attempt to switch in, though for the most part Cradily switch-ins aren't overly bothered by it (Lum Berry, Poison / Steel-type, etc.)
• Rock Slide can be used with a Relaxed nature to deter Cryogonal from coming in and spinning Cradily's rocks immediately, though it isn't doing much else
• considering cradily is hazard bait for a variety of common pokemon, a spinner is never a bad thing. cryogonal is usually the best partner for this (you could use 'tops, but its pretty redundant with no distinct benefits)
• defensive water-types such as slowking and even quagsire (i think the number of set-up 'mons it baits justifies quag being a primary ac mention, don't hurt me :[) have good defensive synergy with Cradily and can help wear down opponents with Scald burns
• a cleric is nice considering cradily is a common target of status, especially toxic. Msidreavus and Clefable are basically the options there '-'

Swords Dance

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Seed Bomb / Earthquake
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb / Suction Cup
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 Def

[SET COMMENTS]

• Due to Cradily good natural bulk, solid STAB moves, and reliable recovery it can make a pretty effective conservative SD sweeper
• Rock Slide offers a reasonably powerful STAB move to work with
• Seed Bomb complements Rock Slide pretty well, and allows Cradily to push through the bulky waters of the tier
• On the other hand, EQ provides perfect neutral coverage alongside Rock Slide and allows it to deal some damage to Steel-types like Aggron and Klinklang coming in.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• The EVs allow Cradily to perform as a capable pivot early- to mid-game, with enough Attack to 2HKO lefties Druddigon after SR at +2, OHKO Absol under the same conditions w/seed bomb, etc.
• A full offensive spread can be utilized, though it does really decrease Cradily usefulness outside of solely sweeping
• Stone Edge can be used if you're ok with getting pp stalled and losing your primary attacking option
• The choice between Storm Drain and Suction Cups is largely preferencial. Storm Drain reduces the necessity of a cleric (still advised obviously) and allows Cradily to pretty consistently set up on most Water-types lacking Toxic, though Suctions cups is of course helpful in preventing pHazing
• Once again, bulky waters are very helpful in supporting Cradily, offering good synergy and spreading Scald burns that help it set up on the opponent
• Clerics are again helpful since Cradily is subject to many a Toxic
• Paralysis support is nice if it can be afforded, since Cradily fails to make a big impact on offensively inclined team otherwise. Qwilfish is useful for this, as is Clefable (falling under clerics as well, but yeah :x)

[Other Options]

• Curse plays somewhat similarly to a slower, less good SD set
• It could potentially run 3 Attacks Offensive sets, though it would lose out a lot of crucial bulk in doing so
• Mirror Coat is a neat gimmick since Cradily can eat almost any singular attack and KO in return
• RestTalk anywhere

[Checks and Counters]

• Cryogonal is capable of switching into the defensive set ez and threatening with either the spin or an ibeam
• Fighting-types generally don't face much difficulty switching in and doing some damage
• Again, Cradily is very passive, so most hazard users can come in for free and use it as setup bait
• Similarly, most sweepers with good special bulk and a lack of grass / rock weakness can come in and set up on cradily, especially lum berry users. SD Gallade / Buffalo, BU Braviary, SubCM Uxie and so forth all are decent examples of this
• A lasting Toxic will basically put Cradily out of comission, forcing it to switch out infrequently and generally forcing it to Recover more than it should have to

 

[Oglemi]

QC Rejected 1/3

Cradily just doesn't offer anything to RU teams in the way of synergy or support. All it really does is set up Stealth Rock and then die tbh, if I wanted that I'd just use lead Aero. At least like Amoonguss and Tangrowth can threaten with sleep, all Cradily has is a piddly Giga Drain. It isn't even that good of a Water counter tbh, since Spikes and stuff really wear it down. The fact that it's completely wrecked by Toxic is just the icing on the cake.

idk I just really didn't like it

 

[Swamp-Rocket]

Recovery isn't as important as I thought because everything gets Synthesis now. There also aren't really too many Water-types worth countering and some of them can still cause issues (offensive Slowking can tank hits and Fire Blast, defensive ones can Toxic, and then there's 252 +2 Atk Life Orb Kabutops (+Atk) Stone Edge vs 252 HP/252 Def Cradily (+Def) : 83.24% - 98.4% (75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock)). All it can really do is counter Gatr in that case, since even Lanturn beats it if it is carrying Toxic or is using Specs.

I gotta agree with Oglemi, its not too great...

QC Rejected 2/3

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Being Escavalier bait is pretty bad, none of the Cradily's I've seen have accomplished much outside of setting up SR.

QC Reject 3/3