Floatzel
[Overview]
<p>Floatzel has always been a solid Pokemon, sporting a good Attack stat, an excellent Speed stat, and a decent Special Attack stat; this makes it a great offensive threat. Floatzel can use moves such as Ice Beam in tandem with Waterfall and other physical moves, allowing it to take down most of the Pokemon in the UU tier. Floatzel is also the fastest Pokemon with Swift Swim in the game. However, like most fast sweepers, Floatzel is rather frail with only 55 Defense and 50 Special Defense stats. Fortunately, they are somewhat patched up with a good HP stat of 85, and, due to its Water typing, Floatzel only has two weaknesses.</p>
<p>Despite this, Floatzel still has a hard time in the UU tier due to all the new additions to the tier. Suicune, Slowbro, and Empoleon put a stop to Floatzel if it doesn't carry the right move, while faster threats, such as Jolteon, can easily KO it. However, Floatzel did receive two new tools to play with this generation: Switcheroo and Water Veil. With Switcheroo, Floatzel easily shuts down several Pokemon in combination with Choice Band, whereas Water Veil prevents Scald from burning Floatzel. All this makes Floatzel a dangerous and tricky Pokemon to face.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Sweeper
move 1: Waterfall
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Brick Break / Crunch
move 4: Rain Dance
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Rash
evs: 240 Atk / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Rain Dance, in combination with Swift Swim, makes Floatzel the sweeper that it is. With the above EVs and Swift Swim, Floatzel reaches an incredible Speed stat of 540, outspeeding the entire tier. With Rain Dance, Floatzel also makes a great hail counter. Waterfall is a reliable STAB with a good side effect, and it hits hard in rain. Ice Beam helps in taking care of Floatzel's greatest counter, Tangrowth, as well as other Grass- and Dragon-types. The choice of the third move depends solely on what you want to hit. As Floatzel counters hail so well, Brick Break makes a great choice. Brick Break hits Ice-type Pokemon for super effective damage, the most noteworthy being Abomasnow. Brick Break also hits Empoleon and Ferroseed for super effective damage. Crunch, however, hits Slowbro for super effective damage, who resists Floatzel's other moves. Either one can be used over Rain Dance if you have rain support on your team already.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Several other moves can be made of use on this set. Aqua Tail hits harder than Waterfall, but has lower accuracy; this is a major flaw since Floatzel can't really afford to miss. Aqua Jet is also an option since it has priority, but it's rather redundant with Swift Swim. Low Kick hits Empoleon slightly harder than Brick Break, but does less damage to Chansey. Taunt can prevent other Pokemon from setting up on or status Floatzel. The listed EVs make Floatzel hit as hard as possible with all its moves, while it also letting it outspeed up to neutral 85 base Speed Pokemon, such as Heracross, outside of rain. Uxie is a great partner to Floatzel since it can provide dual screen support as well as rain support if Floatzel isn't carrying Rain Dance itself. Floatzel also benefits from all kinds of entry hazards. Uxie can set up Stealth Rock in tandem with screens, while Roserade and Nidoqueen can set up Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock, respectively. If Floatzel lacks one of its coverage moves, Brick Break or Crunch, Pokemon that can take care of Empoleon and Slowbro make great partners. Mismagius can easily take care of Slowbro with Nasty Plot and the super effective Shadow Ball, while Heracross can easily dispose of Empoleon with Close Combat. Rhyperior is also a great partner, taking care of Electric-type Pokemon such as Jolteon and Zapdos.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Waterfall
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Crunch / Brick Break
move 4: Switcheroo
item: Choice Band
ability: Water Veil
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Floatzel is a great Choice Band user thanks to its high Attack and Speed stats. Waterfall is Floatzel's main move, being a reliable STAB move with a good effect. Ice Fang is used to hit Grass- and Dragon-types harder than Waterfall. It won't do that much damage to Tangrowth, though. The third move depends on what you want Floatzel to hit. Crunch hurts Slowbro, who resists Floatzel's other moves, while Brick Break hits Empoleon and Ferroseed, who also resist its moves. Switcheroo is an excellent move for a fast Choice Band user, and sets Floatzel apart from other users of it, such as Kabutops. Switcheroo will make several Pokemon in the tier useless when used.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Aqua Tail is a viable option over Waterfall if you want more power, but the loss in accuracy hurts since Floatzel can't afford to miss. Aqua Jet can also be used for priority. Ice Beam is an option over Ice Fang to hit Tangrowth harder, as an uninvested Ice Beam 2HKOes it. A Naive or Naughty nature is recommended in this case. Low Kick hits Empoleon slightly harder than Brick Break, but does less damage to Chansey. Water Veil is used to prevent Floatzel from being burned, but it limits Floatzel to either Ice Fang or Ice Beam. Ice Punch is still an option for more power, but it can only be used with Swift Swim. Ice Punch is also illegal with Switcheroo, making Ice Fang the only choice for a physical Ice-type move. A bulkier spread of 240 HP, 252 Attack, and 16 Speed EVs is usable with Swift Swim and rain support.</p>
<p>Entry hazards are needed to score certain KOs. Roserade and Nidoqueen make good partners, with Roserade providing Spikes and Nidoqueen Stealth Rock; both can provide Toxic Spikes and absorb them as well. Neither are particularly harmed by Electric-type moves, and Roserade also resists Grass-type moves directed at Floatzel. Furthermore, Floatzel resists Fire-, Water-, Ice-type moves that Roserade and Nidoqueen are weak to. Donphan provides necessary Rapid Spin support, as Floatzel will be switching around a lot. Donphan is also immune to the dangerous Electic-type moves, and it's able to set up Stealth Rock as well. If you're going to use the bulky spread and Swift Swim on Floatzel, rain support is needed. Uxie makes a excellent choice for a Rain Dance user. Uxie can also set up dual screens, which Floatzel also benefits from. Rhyperior is also a great partner, as it can easily take care of Electric-types such as Jolteon and Zapdos.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Pursuit is an option to hit common Psychic- and Ghost-types, such Mew and Mismagius, hard on the switch. Return is also a viable option, as Water and Normal give great coverage, but it will leave Floatzel horribly walled by Slowbro and Empoleon. Both Surf and Scald can used on the first set with some success, if you feel a special Water-type move is needed. Also, Hidden Power Electric and Hidden Power Grass are usable to hit other Water-types; Hidden Power Grass is important if Quagsire is a problem. Icy Wind is a viable support Ice-type move since it lowers the opponent's Speed stat. Floatzel also has access to Bulk Up, but can find it hard to use in this highly offensive metagame. However, a set with Bulk Up and Agility can make Floatzel a good Baton Pass user. It does face competition from Mew; Floatzel is faster, but Mew is bulkier, making it a better choice overall.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Suicune is Floatzel's greatest counter. It resists Floatzel's STAB and Ice-type moves, and it takes little damage from Crunch and Brick Break. Switcheroo is a problem for Suicune though. Tangrowth is also a good counter, as without Ice Beam, Floatzel won't be doing any big damage. Physically defensive versions of Zapdos are also a good choice, as they won't take much damage from Floatzel's physical moves and hit hard with its Electric-type moves. Zapdos needs to be wary of Ice Beam though. Jolteon is also a dangerous Electric-type Pokemon, as it is faster than Floatzel and will easily KO it with Thunderbolt. Jolteon is the main reason a Bulk Up set won't work very well. There are also several Pokemon who check Floatzel depending on what move it's carrying. Both Quagsire and Slowbro will easily wall Floatzel if it doesn't carry the rare Hidden Power Grass and Hidden Power Electric, or Crunch, whereas Empoleon will wall Floatzel if it doesn't carry Hidden Power Electric or Brick Break. Abomasnow also poses a major threat if Floatzel doesn't carry Brick Break.</p>
