Floatzel Discussion

[Axa]

85/105/55/85/50/115
Swift Swim/Water Veil

Overview:

Blistering speed, decent attack and an almost passable Sp.Atk... except brought down by a movepool that just doesn't have what it needs. Low powered moves (it doesn't even get Hydro Pump), a boosting move in Bulk Up but not the defenses to use it consistently, and it doesn't even get Work Up or Swords Dance. Water Veil's a nice ability, though it'd have loved Encourage. Still one of the fastest Taunters and BPers, and can shoot off a fairly strong Aqua Jet and be an offensive presence in the rain.

Movesets

Choice Band
@Choice Band
Water Veil
4HP, 252Atk, 252Spd
Adamant/Jolly
~Waterfall
~Return
~Switcheroo
~Aqua Jet/Brick Break/Crunch/Ice Fang/Baton Pass

Water/Normal provides near unresisted coverage except for Ferroseed, Shedinja and haha Frillish. Switcheroo gives 'zel a bit of a surprise to mess up a wall or counter. The fourth move gives either priority, coverage or a scouting move (why didn't it get U-Turn?)

Choice Specs
@Choice Specs
Water Veil
4HP, 252Sp. Atk, 252Spd
Modest
~Surf
~Ice Beam
~Switcheroo
~Focus Blast/HP Grass/HP Fire/Baton Pass

Switcheroo's probably the only thing that saves SpecsZel from being completely inferior. Floatzel really needs the boost from Modest otherwise, and the fourth slot is once again for coverage, or for scouting purposes.

Mixer
@Life Orb
Water Veil
252Atk, 240Sp. Atk, 16Spd
Naughty
~Waterfall
~Ice Beam
~Return/Crunch
~Taunt/Baton Pass/Aqua Jet

Ice Beam rips apart Tangela, Crunch is your best option against Cresselia (still a 3HKO though), Return provides neutral hits. Last move is for auxillary support or priority.

PassZel
@Leftovers/Flame Orb
Water Veil
80HP, 176Sp. Def, 252Spd
Impish/Careful
~Bulk Up/Agility/Aqua Ring
~Baton Pass
~Taunt/Switcheroo
~Waterfall

One of the few Pokemon that can BP Bulk Up. Either run Taunt for general annoyance or Switcheroo with Flame Orb to mess up physical brutes.

SwiftSwimmer
@Choice Band
Swift Swim
252HP, 252Atk, 6Spd
Adamant
~Waterfall
~Return
~Low Kick/Aqua Jet/Ice Punch/Crunch
~Switcheroo

Floatzel shows off its best moves with access to SS. Access to Switcheroo means it can still cripple opponents and supersonic speed with Swift Swim means it can run HP EVs for some bulk. If you're concerned about outspeeding opponents outside of Rain, shift some EVs from HP to Spd.

SwiftSetter
@Damp Rock/Life Orb
Swift Swim
80HP, 252Atk, 176Spd
Adamant/Naughty/Hasty
~Waterfall
~Rain Dance
~Taunt
~Baton Pass/Ice Beam

Floatzel makes a decent in-between in terms of setting up Rain and doing some decent damage. Either go with BP to get out after setting up Rain or Ice Beam to maim Grass types.

 

[jas61292]

I just don't understand why Swift Swim Floatzel doesn't get more love. I guess Kabutops outclasses it for the most part, but 105 Attack is nothing to mess around with when it has double STAB in the rain, and 115 Spe makes it the fastest Pokemon in all of existence when the rain is pouring down. It might not have great coverage, but the ability to come in, outspeed the entire world, and hit incredibly hard makes it a great revenge killer (Also, interesting to note, based on my calculations, Jolly Floatzel would speed tie +3 Spe Modest Yanmega in the Rain, meaning it can beat it if it comes in before it has 2 boosts already)

 

[Stratos]

floatzel is just outclassed, even in RU.

 

[Redjar]

On the CB set (my favorite) I really like the idea of switcheroo but hate the idea of losing priority and coverage. So I'd say switch up Return with Icefang/Crunch and leave the last slot to Aqua Jet. Is water/ice or water/dark that inferior to water/normal?

 

[jas61292]

Is water/ice or water/dark that inferior to water/normal?

Well, as far as neutral coverage, yes it is. In RU, Water/Normal is resisted by only Ferroseed and Frillish, only one of which is actually used. Water/Ice on the other had is resisted by many Water types, and Water/Dark is resisted by guys like Poliwrath, Shiftry, Ferroseed, Crawdaunt, and Sharpedo. In addition, these coverage moves have lower power than Return. They are not horrible options, but I would say Return should be the primary choice.

 

[Peternummer14]

I've been using this very floatzel as a lead in a couple of teams and it really messes your opponent up.

Nature: Jolly
Item: Choice Scarf
Moves: Switcheroo, taunt, waterfall, toxic
EVs: HP = 252 Spe = 164 SpD = 159 (the only reason it's specially defensiv is because my team got swept by any heatran otherwise, you might as well invest in attack and speed)

164 speed is enough to outspeed anything barrin deoxys S with a jolly nature and choice scarf (337 speed, please correct me if I'm wrong). Switcheroo is a complete brain fart as noone expect their defensive wall to be scarfed just from switching in. Porygon2, dusclops and chansey might be awsome walls but without their eviolite they're complete trash. Got yourself a black sludge from Gengar? Fine! Switch out and give it to Jellicent later in the game. Toxic in combination with taunt is awsome for previously mentioned chansey and clops as well as a cople of other walls, and also the ability to taunt something choiced into a status-move. Waterfall is for STAB.

It might seem as a waste to use something as floatzel just to screw one of your opponents pokes up, but when your opponent sees Latios or Rotom-W a trick is atleast expected. You'de be suprised to see how gladly people switch their premier wall in this thing and render it useless for the rest of the match. It works exceptionally well alongside a bunch of immunities and resistances. Also, therefore, disable-gengar is a nice team8 as it can disable your opponents choiced move and put up a free sub on the switch.

The best thing about this set is the fact that it can function in any tier (I use it primarily in OU), even Ubers to some extent.

 

[Foxy Grandpa]

This is RU so all of those example are moot because those all took place in OU / UU.

 

[moogleking]

This is RU so all of those example are moot because those all took place in OU / UU.

Ferroseed and Frillish are still common.