Pokemon of the Week #11: Grimer (See post #150)

Instead of ranting and typing I should probably just re post what I said on the creative moveset thread:
Well I've been using Grimer on a lot of my teams lately, more specfically this set:

@ Eviolite
Sticky Hold
Impish Nature
76 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SDef
~ Poison Jab
~ Shadow Sneak
~ Fire Punch / Ice Punch
~ Pain Split

I can never seem to replace grimer on my teams because it does so many roles. At first I thought it was one of those niche pokemon that has a "beats one pokemon all the time but sucks against everything else," mentality surrounding it, that pokemon being Mienfoo of course. With base 80 HP and Attack and base 50 Defenses, Grimer can be a really effective tank. It beats ALL fighting types 1 on 1 (Croagunk is indeed tough but Grimer will usually come out on top if Fire Punch is used) including Timburr, Mienfoo, and Scraggy, even if Scraggy carries Zen Headbutt. It also checks almost every Grass and Bug type in the tier like Foongus, and Shroomish. It can pick off Ghost types that like to switch in with Shadow Sneak, and it does a hefty 36% to Missy, which means that if it switches into Poison Jab (which it often will) and expects you to switch out and uses Nasty Plot, you will actually beat it most of the time. Many potential counters to Grimer, like Abra, are picked off with this move also. It can also finish off weakened sweepers like Dweeble, Clamperl, etc.

You might wonder why you would use Grimer over something like Shelmet, Missy, Croagunk, and even Koffing, but Grimer has advantages over all of them.

Grimer is much more offensive than Koffing, Shelmet, and Croagunk and is not vulnerable to Knock Off like the others are. Grimer is also immune to Trick and that would severely cripple all three of them. Koffing and Shelmet also lack priority, which Grimer has. Missy is still vulnerable to Knock Off and will lose against Scraggy and Timburr that carry Payback most of time while Grimer can handle these pokemon more comfortably. Missy also doesn't have priority (well it does have shadow sneak technically, but who would ever use it?)

Coverage is a little bit of a problem of course. I prefer Fire Punch because you can't do anything to steel types like Magnemite, Ferroseed, and Bronzor otherwise. Ice Punch is useful for Archen, Lileep and Ground types that switch in. Another perk that Poison Jab has that is often overlooked is it's 30% chance to cause Poison. This means that walls that want to switch in on Grimer, like Porygon, Hippo, and Lileep will eventually become poisoned and their job is much harder when they are losing 12% health every turn.

Grimer is really underused and underrated, I don't even think it breaks the top 75 in usage, probably because people think it's useless because it has difficulty with ground types which are always on Sand Teams, but it actually is very good.
Curse sets really aren't worth it, Grimer doesn't have good two move coverage to make it effective ( if you're using Pain Split of course ) If you want three move coverage Grimer won't be able to cover fighting types as well which is it's biggest pro.

Payback also is inferior to Shadow Sneak because Posion Jab does more to Psychics on the switch, and Grimer will beat Misdreavus if it switches in on Poison Jab with shadow sneak anyway (if it doesn't carry / use Will-o-Wisp, but even with it Missy will take a lot of damage)
 
Shouting alluded to this, but one of Grimer's greatest assets is that few things can safely switch in on Grimer. Grimer has the coverage to take a large chunk out of most foes and then outspeed for the possible kill via Shadow Sneak (I still don't see how Grimer can be sneaky but whatever).

The only noteworthy Psychic-type in my opinion is Abra, whom you can switch out of or break his Sash, allowing another mon the easy KO.

Sand teams do wreck the little piece of sludge, so Snover or Choice Scarf Porygon make good teammates. Both of these mons actually have decent synergy with Grimer as he can tank the plethora of Fighting type attacks that Snover and Pory hate.
 

dcae

plaza athénée
is a defending SCL Championis a Past SCL Champion
Shouting alluded to this, but one of Grimer's greatest assets is that few things can safely switch in on Grimer. Grimer has the coverage to take a large chunk out of most foes and then outspeed for the possible kill via Shadow Sneak (I still don't see how Grimer can be sneaky but whatever).

The only noteworthy Psychic-type in my opinion is Abra, whom you can switch out of or break his Sash, allowing another mon the easy KO.

Sand teams do wreck the little piece of sludge, so Snover or Choice Scarf Porygon make good teammates. Both of these mons actually have decent synergy with Grimer as he can tank the plethora of Fighting type attacks that Snover and Pory hate.
Yeah, Snover IMO is one of the best partners for this guy, because it lures out Fighting types like a dojo in Japan, while erasing Sand and smashing the Ground types plaguing Grimer. However, Grimer is actually a very solid pokemon, unfortunately very underrated, and can be hard to switch into. Abra is a good example, because it can't switch into a move without its Sash being broken, and then Shadow Sneak can pick it off. Drilbur and Hippopotas are probably the two biggest threat to this sludge pile's lack of popularity, but the recent rise in popularity of Scarf Snover as a partner provides a pretty solid core to use.
 

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