phantom
Banned deucer.
Kawaii as fuck
[Overview]
<p>Throughout the generations, Ludicolo has established itself as one of the faces of rain offense—its trademark STAB combo, exquisite Swift Swim ability, and marvelous coverage all play a role in making it one of the most destructive rain sweepers in RU. Don't be under the impression that Ludicolo is just limited to dedicated rain teams, however, as it is fully capable of utilizing its unique blend of offensive characteristics to function as a potent, standalone sweeper all the same. Moreover, Ludicolo possesses solid bulk for an offensive Pokemon; this in turn eases its ability to set up Rain Dance and lay down a heavy beating on the opposing team. Unfortunately, Ludicolo's greatest asset is also its most crippling flaw. Despite that fact that Ludicolo performs superbly under the rain, that is pretty much all it can do—it can only function in rain, and as a result, it must dedicate a moveslot for Rain Dance, restricting Ludicolo's options to a certain degree. To make matters worse, Ludicolo's Special Attack is nothing short of mediocre, which makes it difficult to OHKO quite a few threats even with a rain-boosted Hydro Pump. Regardless of its shortcomings, Ludicolo is one of the most self-sufficient Pokemon there is; very little support is required to turn it into a late-game wrecking ball.</p>
[SET]
name: Swift Swim Sweeper
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set works superbly as a late-game cleaner with the aid of rain, as it gives Ludicolo the raw speed and power to eradicate the opposing team at a moment's notice. When attempting to use Rain Dance, it is advised to only do so against relatively weaker special attackers such as Manectric and Uxie. There are certain situations where it's better to just straight-up attack the opponent as opposed to setting up Rain Dance. One of the prime examples is when Ludicolo is up against weakened Pokemon that might choose to recover and thus become better equipped at stalling Ludicolo's rain turns; some notable Pokemon include Clefable and Cryogonal. Other situations are when Ludicolo is up against slower threats that can potentially KO or cripple it if given a free turn—both Escavalier and Druddigon are key threats to watch out for. Once Ludicolo has successfully set up Rain Dance, it is best to analyze the opposing team with Team Preview and determine which attack is most opportunistic. For instance, if the opposing team only has a single Water- resist as opposed to two or three Grass-type resists, then it is clear that Hydro Pump is the better move to continually utilize should the opponent choose to pivot switch around Ludicolo. Giga Drain is interesting in that it dilutes Life Orb recoil and is one of the main reasons why Ludicolo is so potent as a rain sweeper. The ability to simultaneously replenish health, attack, and mow down opposing Water-types that give rain teams headaches is invaluable. Lastly, Ice Beam quickly decimates the likes of Sceptile and Druddigon and should only be used if Ludicolo is against such threats, or if an obvious Amoonguss or Roselia switch-in attempts to ruin the fun.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The most useful nature is Modest because the extra speed granted by a Timid nature isn't necessary most of the time; however, a Timid nature can be valuable in that it allows Ludicolo to outspeed and OHKO the likes of Choice Scarf Durant and Manectric in the rain as well as other speedy Choice Scarf users, and outspeed neutral base 80s such as Kabutops. This is useful so that Ludicolo can outspeed and OHKO the previously mentioned threat as opposed to taking a Stone Edge to the face. Do note that if Ludicolo opts for a Timid nature, the drop in power prevents Ludicolo from 2HKOing the likes of Roselia and Amoonguss with the combination of a rain-boosted Hydro Pump followed by a Life Orb-boosted Ice Beam after Stealth Rock, and thus makes it much easier to check.</p>
<p>While Hydro Pump is easily Ludicolo's most powerful attack, if the 80% accuracy is a turnoff, Ludicolo can instead invest in Surf as its more reliable Water-type STAB. Another move Ludicolo can put to good use is Focus Blast. Focus Blast is notable in that it allows Ludicolo to bypass one of its better checks—Ferroseed. Focus Blast also finds use in situations where Ludicolo is without rain and must take out a weakened Cryogonal or Clefable. In terms of item substitutions, Damp Rock is useful on dedicated rain teams where Ludicolo can function as an interesting offensive supporter, although, Ludicolo will miss its Life Orb dearly because it will lose out on the ability to OHKO 0 / 0 Gallade and 156 / 0 Bouffalant with a rain-boosted Hydro Pump.</p>
<p>On dedicated rain teams, Uxie and Volbeat work as effective partners. Volbeat can utilize its Prankster ability to set up rain as quickly as possible, and from there, it can use its slow U-turn to get Ludicolo in safely or attempt to pass Ludicolo a nasty Tail Glow boost. Uxie lacks Volbeat's Prankster ability; however, its excellent bulk in comparison means that it will almost always set up Rain Dance against even the most powerful foes (lacking Taunt). Uxie also possess other advantages over Volbeat; the most notable is having the ability to set up entry hazards in the form of Stealth Rock; this makes it difficult for the opponent to continually switch around Ludicolo. In terms of offensive partners, both Qwilfish and Kabutops can team up with Ludicolo to form a vicious Swift Swim core. Kabutops and Qwilfish can take on annoying special walls such as Cryogonal and Clefable; Kabutops benefits the core even further by removing entry hazards with Rapid Spin; Qwilfish makes use of its Poison-type STABs to smash through opposing Grass-types and can take down a troublesome threat such as Ferroseed with the use of Destiny Bond.</p>
<p>Seeing as how Ludicolo isn't just limited to dedicated rain teams, there are a few other non-rain-exclusive partners that can be just as effective. The first two partners that work well with Ludicolo are Medicham and Gallade. Medicham and Gallade can use their STABs to easily take out Ludicolo's checks—Roselia and Amoonguss in particular won't enjoy taking a Psycho Cut. Moreover, both Gallade and Medicham can use their Fighting-type STABs to destroy Ferroseed, Clefable, and Cryogonal. While it might seem strange to pair a Fire-type such as Moltres with Ludicolo, Moltres can function surprisingly well under rain due to Hurricane's accuracy being increased to 100%. Moltres works effectively as a partner for many other reasons as well. Moltres can easily OHKO every Grass-type in the tier, use its wallbreaking prowess to soften up Ludicolo's opponents, and lure in defensive Water-types such as Lanturn to give Ludicolo better opportunities to set up.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Ludicolo's signature typing and overall acceptable bulk allows it to run a unique specially defensive set by making use of its Rain Dish ability along with Scald, Giga Drain, and any combination of Protect, Leech Seed, Ice Beam, and Synthesis. This allows it to counter specially based Water-types such as Omastar, Slowking, Lanturn, and opposing Ludicolo. In addition, it can also check the likes of Magmortar, Manectric, Magneton, and Mesprit. However, the defensive set falls short in that it lacks resistances to a slew of other special attacks—specially based Bug-types and boosting sweepers in particular greatly detract from the usefulness of such a set. Moreover, other specially defensive walls such as Clefable, Slowking, and Amoonguss give the set varying degrees of competition.</p>
<p>A Swords Dance set is an interesting take on Ludicolo's offensive capabilities, given that Ludicolo can hit many of RU's premier physical walls—Alomomola, Rhydon, Poliwrath—super effectively with its STABs alone. Ludicolo's physical movepool is also surprisingly extravagant, including good STAB moves in Waterfall, Bullet Seed, and Seed Bomb, as well as interesting coverage attacks in Drain Punch, Zen Headbutt, Focus Punch, and the three elemental punches. Yet, the main issue with the Swords Dance set is quite simple: Ludicolo's base 70 Attack stat is quite pathetic. The more notable issue is that Ludicolo is already a proficient sweeper with its standard set alone, not to mention that taking the time to set up Swords Dance will whittle away precious rain turns.</p>
<p>Lastly, Ludicolo can try out Toxic and Substitute. Toxic can be useful to cripple the likes of Druddigon and Cryogonal, but most of Ludicolo's checks are immune to the move. A more cautionary move is Substitute. Substitute can be used to block out paralysis-inducing moves and shield Ludicolo from priority attacks; however, Ludicolo simply doesn't have the room on its standard set to pull it off.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>When Ludicolo is under rain, it is surprisingly difficult to stop due to its great coverage, rain-boosted attacks, and insane Speed. It is usually better to play around Ludicolo by pivot switching around its attacks to draw out the rain turns and take advantage of the Life Orb recoil to wear it down even further. Entry hazards in general and especially Toxic Spikes are also useful at limiting Ludicolo's time on the battlefield; Roselia in particular can double up as a Ludicolo check and a superb Toxic Spikes user. In regards to pivot switching around Ludicolo, Regenerator cores—especially Amoonguss and Slowking—work quite well at abusing Ludicolo's Life Orb. On their own, Amoonguss and Roselia are usually your best bets at checking Ludicolo because they resist its STABs, can take an Ice Beam at full health, and 2HKO with Sludge Bomb. However, don't go switching either of the two directly in on Ludicolo, as a rain-boosted Hydro Pump followed by an Ice Beam will lead to their demise after a little bit of prior damage. Ferroseed can also tank Ludicolo's attacks fairly well; on the other hand, it fails at doing much of anything to Ludicolo should it lack Thunder Wave and will instead find itself easily worn out due to its lack of Leftovers and recovery. Speaking of paralysis, two Pokemon that can easily take a hit from Ludicolo at full health and cripple it are Clefable and Druddigon.</p>
<p>One of the more effective, offensively inclined checks is Unburden Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee can't directly switch in on Ludicolo; however, it does not fail at checking it if it comes in unscathed. For instance, Hitmonlee can use its Normal Gem-boosted Fake Out to activate its Unburden ability, and from there, it can proceed to demolish Ludicolo with its STAB Close Combat. Similarly, Choice Scarf Durant has a bit of difficulty switching in, but it can outrun Ludicolo and OHKO with its Bug-type STAB moves. Be warned that if Ludicolo uses a Timid nature, Durant will fail to outspeed Ludicolo and will find itself washed away by its powerful Hydro Pump. Choice Scarf Cinccinno can outrun Ludicolo in the rain regardless of the nature it opts for, though Ludicolo must be weakened a bit in order to be put in KO range. Finally, as a last resort, powerful priority users such as Entei and Absol can revenge kill a worn out Ludicolo.</p>
[Overview]
name: Swift Swim Sweeper
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- powerful attacker under rain
- excellent coverage and stabs
- good bulk for a sweeper only adds to its utility
- requires rain dance to get going
- rather mediocre spa
name: Swift Swim Sweeper
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- simple set to use - set up rain dance then proceed to spam the most opportunistic move
- Hydro Pump is bolstered by rain and smashes through practically almost all non-resits due to its overall high base power
- Giga Drain helps compensate for any residual damage and/or life orb recoil stacked up and is an excellent stab to have for a swift swim user, given that it can prey on water-types
- Ice Beam is mostly for opposing Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Rotom-C; works well against dragons such as druddigon too
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- timid nature to outspeed scarf manectric and scarf durant under rain
- Surf can be used over Hydro Pump for a more "reliable" water-type stab
- Focus Blast can be used to smash Ferroseed, which otherwise walls Ludicolo
- can run damp rock on dedicated rain teams
- can work on dedicated rain dance teams or as a stand-alone sweeper
- appreciates support from the likes of volbeat; sets up rain, helps get ludicolo in safely with a slow u-turn, and can attempt to pass a nasty tail glow boost
- Uxie provides similar support; however, uxie has access to stealth rock, which is imperative if you want to make the most out of ludicolo's sweeping capabilities
- on dedicated rain teams, swift swim kabutops and qwilfish work as rather nice partners given that ludicolo can take on the physical walls that pester them, while kabutops and qwilfish can use their physical stabs to power through the likes of amoonguss and roselia
- Gallade and Medicham are good partner, given that they can demolish both Roselia and Amoonguss with Psycho Cut and take out Ferroseed with Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick; in return, ludicolo can take out the likes of Alomomola and certain Spiritomb
- Moltres also works as an excellent partner given that it can benefit from rain by having hurricane increased to 100% accuracy and it benefits ludicolo by slaughtering opposing grass-types; ludicolo can support moltres by dealing with most water-types fairly well
- Defensive set with Scald / leech seed / protect / ice beam can be effective at countering almost all specially based water-types, though the lack of useful resistances hurts
- Swords Dance set if you're feeling particularly bold; ludicolo is, however, one of the few swords dance users that hits all of the prominent physical walls in ru with its stabs alone, but that base 70 attack is just far too low
- Substitute to dodge status and ease prediction, though there's hardly any room on Ludicolo's set
- Synthesis is Ludicolo's only reliable recovery, but it's rather ineffective in Ludicolo's primary setting (aka rain)
- Teeter Dance and Toxic to be especially annoying
- Hit it fast and hit it hard; keep it from setting up rain and you're fine
- Kinda hard to stop in rain due to its coverage
- Best way to beat it through smart plays and to take advantage of its limited sweeping opportunity
- Entry hazards and Toxic Spikes in particular restricts that time even more so
- Roselia / Amoonguss, ice beam stings though
- Ferroseed, though it can't really do much back
- Unburden hitmonlee can stop it by activating unburden with fake out, then smashing ludicolo with close combat, but it can't switch in
- Clefable and defensive Druddigon can tank a hit and cripple with Thunder Wave / Glare
- hates paralysis in general, so prankster users with paralysis-inducing moves can work as last resorts
- Scarf durant can outspeed modest ludicolo and KO with its Bug stabs
- Scarf Cinccinno can work, even outspeeding timid versions in rain, though it needs ludicolo to be weakened to properly take it out
- Priority helps too; Entei's Extreme Speed and Absol's Sucker Punch do a sizable amount
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