[Overview]
<p>In a generation where Sandstorm has become so dominant, and where the combination of Drizzle and Swift Swim is illegal, Omastar struggles to maintain its momentum as a Swift Swim sweeper. This is compounded by the
the increased threat of priority from high-
Attack Pokémon, like Conkeldurr, who are constantly being used to deal with the more threatening Excadrill. However, not all is lost for Omastar, as the new generation kindly gave it a way for it to boost its stats outside of Rain and become a fearsome sweeper even in Sand: Shell Smash. This powerful move makes the cunning nautilus a lethal threat in just one turn, making it almost impossible to wall with such rapid boosting of speed and power. Of course, Omastar maintains its other niches that differentiate it from Swift Swimmers, such as access to all forms of entry hazards and an excellent
Defense stat that lets it take even the most powerful of priority attacks. Although the metagame has shifted out of Omastar's favor, it remains in a good position to pick up the pieces and find a new direction as a deadly setup sweeper.</p>
[SET]
name: Shell Smash
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Surf / Hydro Pump
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 108 HP / 252 SpA / 148 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is the standard sweeper set, and is the only one that is viable in a metagame so hostile to Omastar; a good offense is Omastar's best defense. Shell Smash is the move that makes Omastar worth using, granting it
a +2
in Special Attack and Speed in exchange for
a -1
to Defense and Special Defense. With the given EV spread
and after a Shell Smash
, Omastar has incredible firepower and enough speed to outspeed Scarf Tyranitar and by extension most OU threats, but still has enough physical bulk to take priority attacks in a pinch (at -1, it takes 65.3% - 76.9% from CB Scizor's Bullet Punch, and 61% - 72.7% from Conkeldurr's Mach Punch) The good thing about this set is that it's not dependent on weather to sweep; as long as it's not Sun and Omastar can get a boost, you're golden. However, Swift Swim is still the preferred ability, since Shell Armor isn't doing much for you and being able to abuse the Rain that an opponent's Politoed might bring is definitely worth it.</p>
<p>Surf is your standard STAB option, and with a Life Orb boost and a Shell Smash
Omastar you can OHKO almost anything that doesn't resist
it you. It also gains a possible 50% boost from Rain, making it near impossible to wall unless the opponent has a Pokémon with
an immunity to Water. Hydro Pump is a
high-powered alternative, managing to 2HKO Blissey at +2 even without Rain, but its lack of accuracy against other targets is discouraging. Ice Beam lets you hit
Grass- and Dragon-types that resist your onslaught, OHKOing Dragonite through Multi Scale if you have a boost and crippling it if you don't. The last move is dependent on what you want Omastar to beat, and what your teammates can do against the remaining uncovered threats. Hidden Power Fire
OHKOes physically defensive Ferrothorn, a threat which is both extremely common and would otherwise force Omastar to switch, whilst 2HKOing specially defensive variants. However,
in rain Omastar if Omastar is used with rain support then it only manages to 2HKO physically defensive sets, and fails completely against specially defensive ones making it a risky choice to stay in. Here, Hidden Power Grass is more helpful, since it prevents you from being walled by the multitude of Water types in this metagame, hitting defensive threats like Jellicent and Vaporeon for decent damage and stopping them from setting up on you. You should also note that using Hidden Power Fire lowers your Speed IV, so switch 4EVs from HP to Speed to compensate.
(since HP fire is the primary option should you not have 4 extra evs in speed, and suggesting moving them to HP when running HP Grass?)</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>When using this set in Rain, you get a 50% more powerful Surf and
Omastar's Speed is doubled. However, if you don't want to run a rain dance support Pokémon like Thundurus or Tornadus to ensure this, you can run Rain Dance in either the 4th or 1st slot, depending on what you're after. Running it in the fourth slot makes Omastar more self-sustaining, and allows him to remove the opponent's weather if the timing is right. It also provides a more conservative method of boosting
your Speed, should you not want to lower
your Omastar's defenses against a specific target. Running Rain Dance in the first slot instead of Shell Smash gives
Omastar more coverage, but makes
it significantly weaker and walled much more easily, although you still get the rain boost to Surf.</p>
<p>Offensively, Hidden Power Electric can be used to OHKO Gyarados, but it's otherwise inferior to Hidden Power Grass since Gastrodon and Quagsire
can now would set up on you. Hidden Power Rock can be used for secondary STAB, but it synergises poorly with your other attacking moves. If you don't fancy a Hidden Power in the last slot, you can use Stealth Rock, Spikes or Toxic Spikes
, which
lets you set up on the majority of Water types rather than kill
ing them. This is reasonable if you have something like Ludicolo or Ferrothorn in the wings, although if the latter is true you should probably run Toxic Spikes to avoid redundancy. Hazards synergise with the speed boosts provided by Shell Smash and Rain fairly well, but aren't as viable in Sand due to
you either
having low speed or lowered defenses.</p>
<p>Omastar can also run some different items to a degree of success. Using a White Herb allows Omastar to maintain its impressive defensive stats after a Shell Smash, making it less weak to priority attacks. Likewise, using a Lum Berry allows Omastar to set up more comfortably against foes like Blissey, who would be eager to
poison or
paralyze him. Whilst Omastar loses a significant amount of power when using these items instead of Life Orb, it no longer suffers the recoil that Life Orb inflicts either, giving it more utility and allowing Omastar to sweep for longer when attacking particularly bulky Pokémon, such as Blissey and Chansey.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Earth Power can be used offensively, but it offers fairly redundant coverage
, with Surf
already hitting Fire and Rock types harder. Knock Off lets you annoy opponents, especially Chansey who covets her prized Eviolite, but it struggles to find a space on Omastar's already crowded moveset. Icy Wind is interesting as a niche move, but it's largely redundant since Shell Smash is more effective at boosting your speed and Ice Beam is more effective at killing things. Muddy Water can be used as an alternative STAB move, with a chance to lower accuracy but also having lower accuracy itself; it isn't recommended since one miss for Omastar likely means game over, and it doesn't get specific kills like Hydro Pump does. AncientPower is also present for STAB, should you want to pray for a boost above all else. Omastar also has a lot of physical attacking options, such as Waterfall, Rock Blast and Gyro Ball, but lacks the Attack to use them effectively on a mixed set. Haze is also present as a support option, but Omastar is a poor candidate for using it since it lacks recovery and has a lot of exploitable weaknesses.</p>
<p>You can elect to run a 4 Attack LO set if a team mate such as Thundurus sets up Rain Dance, giving you good speed, excellent physical defense, a powerful STAB
move and excellent coverage without the drawbacks of Shell Break, although it lacks power in comparison. Slap Choice Specs on Omastar if you want, but it gains few notable KOs. You can also run a full support set with Rain Dance / Stealth Rock / Spikes / Surf, with more HP EVs and a Bold Nature, but this isn't really worth it due to Omastar having so many weaknesses, not to mention the prevalence of Taunt and Magic Coat in this metagame. You could try this in Sandstorm with all three hazards available and +1 SpD to boot, but again this isn't really worth it, and it's actually largely outclassed by Crustle thanks to Sturdy and better typing.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Blissey and Chansey will wall most offensive sets, but they must be wary of Shell Smash since they can't exploit Omastar's lowered defenses. Blissey is 2HKO'd by a +2 Hydro Pump, even out of Rain, so it needs to take down Omastar quickly or at least status it. Specially defensive Ferrothorn can take boosted hits, apart from Hidden Power Fire, and either OHKO with Power Whip or set up hazards or Leech Seed. Ice Beam will 3HKO physically defensive variants, but if it uses Leech Seed this becomes impossible. Jellicent and Vaporeon can also wall Omastar to hell and back, taking nothing from rain-boosted STAB and resisting Ice Beam. Even Hidden Power Grass will fail to 2HKO them without a boost, but Omastar
will keep trying to boost so make sure you can kill it before it can kill you
r Pokemon. Toxicroak can switch in on Omastar's Surf and deal around 70% damage with a Life Orb Vacuum Wave, limiting Omastar's sweeping potential significantly. If Lucario gets in for free, it can threaten a
n OHKO with a Life Orb Vacuum Wave, but this is less viable due to Lucario's poor bulk. Scarfed Fighting types such as Mienshao also do a good job
of taking out
a boosted Omastar
after it's boosted. Ludicolo makes a good offensive check in Rain, outspeeding it and obviously threatening a KO, whilst 4x resisting Surf and even surviving a +2 Ice Beam.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Dream World Omastar is unreleased, and has the ability Weak Armor. Whilst this could be abused on a set with Endure and Hazards, it's largely inferior to Swift Swim, with the possibility of you or the opponent setting up rain. Lowering Omastar's
Defense also makes
it more vulnerable to physical attacks and priority, so ultimately it's not worth it.</p>
