Checkmater
It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
Mizuhime is also a good resource, she used it in some spl game or something
youll still outrun sylveon and aegislash since they should also be 0 quietthere's value to not going minspeed, such as outspeeding those middling speed tiers such as azumarill or tr mons out of trick room, it really depends on what you want. Also sylveon and aegis outspeeds, along with ttar can be nice.
yes but if it runs speed evs (80 at minimum on a tailwind team, usually more) it outruns 0 speed modest politoed anyway lol. and analyses are NOT about doing creep for other sets that use speed investment beyond 0 or 252.sylveon and aegislash are definitely not 100% quiet.
Aegis often creeps as far as 175+, or runs neutral with some speed evs (see flan's set)
sylveon is almost never minspeed quiet unless it's a tr sylveon
omg i didnt even get a notificiation from the post :[[Meloettaa, since it's been a week and you haven't done this, I went ahead and made this c/p for you
In the future, try and get these does quickly.[OVERVIEW]
Politoed's resistance to Fire and ability to induce rain allow it to switch into Heat Waves from Heatran or Charizard, and that is basically the only edge that Rain has over sand or sun: the typing advantage. Politoed is mostly viable as a bulky rain setter, as its 90 / 75 / 100 defenses allow it to survive many hits and rain's power boost to Scald lets Politoed fully invest EVs into its defenses without losing out on too much power. Outside of being bulky and having Drizzle, it usually fits no other role than supporting. A big downside to Politoed is the fact that it is deadweight in a lot of matchups. Rain teams are always hyper offensive, and Politoed does not fit the mold of a hyper offense Pokemon. Even though it is a viable support Pokemon with Helping Hand and Encore, it doesn't offer offensive pressure like Ludicolo and Mega Swampert do. Rain struggles to match the power of many other weather archetypes, which have an easier time maintaining momentum because of the offensive pressure setters like Mega Charizard Y and Tyranitar can impose on the field. Politoed itself, however, struggles to match the utility or power of other Water-types such as Rotom-W and Keldeo, respectively. Additionally, Politoed gets beaten by the numerous Electric- and Grass-types in the metagame such as Rotom-W and Ferrothorn, and Water- and Grass-types take advantage of Politoed too, because Politoed cannot threaten them. However, although Water-, Electric-, and Grass-types beat it, they absolutely hate to switch into Politoed, because rain-boosted Scald is a powerful move with a high burn chance. This is especially annoying for Pokemon like Amoonguss and Ferrothorn. While Politoed is a decent support Pokemon, it can also run a Choice Specs set that can deal tons of damage, even though you'll trade all its utility away for it. Choice Specs Politoed tries to convert Politoed into both a weather setter and a respectable attacker. Because rain often makes Politoed's partner very threatening, having a slower but still really hard-hitting Politoed sets the field to a two-on-two rather than allowing your opponent to essentially ignore Politoed. That said, Choice Specs Politoed has its strengths but also its weaknesses, being unable to switch moves, lacking Speed, and having a lower amount of bulk.
[SET]
name: Rain Setter
move 1: Scald
move 2: Icy Wind
move 3: Helping Hand / Encore
move 4: Protect
item: Sitrus Berry / Damp Rock
ability: Drizzle
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Scald provides Politoed with a reliable STAB attack that has a chance to cripple and burn threats such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Metagross, which otherwise could be threatening for your team. Icy Wind is a spread move that drops the foe's Speed by one stage. It's a move that is mainly used to support, but it does a decent amount of damage to Landorus-T and Dragon-types such as Hydreigon and Latios. Helping Hand works well with offensive partners, Swift Swim sweepers in particular, by boosting their damage output and letting them get key KOs. Encore instead of Helping Hand is a viable choice too, allowing Politoed to foes into non-threatening moves such as Protect, Substitute, and Fake Out. Lastly, Protect lets Politoed scout, stall out field conditions, rack up chip and status damage, and avoid taking an otherwise deadly attack.
Set Details
========
A standard 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD EV spread with a Bold nature allows Politoed to tank as many physical hits as possible, as well as significantly boosting its overall bulk. You can choose between Sitrus Berry and Damp Rock for Politoed's item. Using a Sitrus Berry allows Politoed to live longer, while Damp Rock allows Politoed to support its team even better by offering more turns of rain. Drizzle is the only ability you should use on Politoed, because the rest of the abilities are not useful. You can use 0 Speed IVs on Politoed so it can Encore Trick Room setters such as Cresselia and Chandelure into Trick Room.
Usage Tips
========
Politoed can use Drizzle to cancel other weather such as sun or sand out. You could pair this with a Damp Rock to extend the duration of rain. Politoed is especially a great switch-in to Mega Charizard Y, as it removes the sun from Drought and forces Charizard to switch out, with the threat of Scald. You'll still have to be careful because if Charizard switches back in while Politoed is still on the field, you are in trouble until rain is up again. It is important to note that to support its teammates as long as possible, Politoed has to stay alive for as long as possible to keep rain up.
Use Encore to lock foes into support moves or other harmless moves. Use Helping Hand for a power boost only if the power boost is significant. If you use a Pokemon with a sleeping move on your team, be careful with using Scald, as it might burn an enemy that you would rather put to sleep.
Team Options
========
Swift Swim Pokemon work well with Politoed, because their Speed gets doubled by Drizzle. Ludicolo, Kingdra, and Mega Swampert are the best Pokemon to fulfill this role. Even though Mega Charizard Y doesn't like to be up versus Politoed, a fast and strong Electric-type is often beneficial to get rid of it. Good Pokemon to fulfill this role are Thundurus, Raikou, and Thundurus-T. Their offensive presence with moves such as a perfectly accurate Thunder allows them to check other things than only Charizard. The only downside to Electric-types is that they have a lot of trouble switching in directly. Bulky Steel-types such as Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, and Scizor resist Dragon- and Fairy-type attacks and benefit from the rain removing their Fire weakness. Having a Steel-type on your team also helps to check Kyurem-B, which is often used for beating rain teams. Be aware,however, as Kyurem-B still hits really hard with Earth Power and Steel-types have trouble switching in directly. Intimidate support from the likes of Landorus-T can help Politoed to live longer. Teammates that can check opposing Electric- and Grass-types such as Kyurem-B and Hydreigon also work really well because they can soak up attacks aimed at Politoed. Other strong Flying-types such as Talonflame and Togekiss are very useful for cleaning up bulkier Grass Pokemon. Fast Dragon-types such as Kyurem-B, Hydreigon, Latios, and Garchomp to an extent are good picks to beat sun teams and opposing rain teams. Lastly, you could add Fire-types to your team. Even though this seems counterintuitive, they are great on rain teams because they check Grass-types and are even stronger when rain faces sun. Talonflame is a prime example, but Heatran is a good option too. Fairies such as Mega Gardevoir and Mega Diancie are good picks because they can beat Kyurem-B, which is normally a threat to rain in general. Mega Diancie also beats Thundurus and Mega Charizard Y, both of which are big threats to rain too.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Scald
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Focus Blast / Psychic
item: Choice Specs
ability: Drizzle
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Hydro Pump is usually Politoed's go-to move due to its high power and STAB boost. Even though it has somewhat shaky accuracy, it deals tons of damage to foes that don't expect it, and having a Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pump makes it difficult for opposing Pokemon to just switch into Politoed. Use Scald when you don't want to risk a miss; it is also a nice move for crippling physical attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Metagross, dealing tons of damage to them and possibly even burning them. Ice Beam deals tons of damage to Grass-types such as Amoonguss and non-Mega Venusaur, Ground-types such as Landorus-T, Flying-types such as Thundurus, and Dragon-types such as Hydreigon and Latios. For the fourth moveslot, you can decide between Focus Blast, which hits a few quite notable threats to rain teams in Ferrothorn and Kyurem-B, and Psychic, which hits Keldeo and Mega Venusaur super effectively.
Set Details
========
A 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA EV spread allows Politoed to do a lot of damage and increases its bulk significantly. A Quiet nature with 0 Speed IVs allows Politoed to check Trick Room more easily, and most opposing non-Trick Room Pokemon would outspeed Politoed anyway; notably, it makes Politoed slower than Cresselia, which can be nice. Politoed generally should not use Speed EVs, as it is unlikely to benefit from that; however, 84 Speed EVs with a Modest nature allow Politoed to outspeed uninvested Togekiss, and 112 Speed EVs with a Modest nature allow Politoed to outspeed Adamant Choice Scarf Landorus-T under Tailwind. Choice Specs maximizes Politoed's damage output, and Drizzle is the only ability to use on Politoed because the other two abilities don't offer anything while Drizzle significantly boosts Politoed's power.
Usage Tips
========
Drizzle boosts Politoed's STAB moves even more. Usually Hydro Pump is the best move to use, unless a foe is 4x weak to one of Politoed's other moves. Be wary of opposing sun teams, though, as even though Politoed is still fairly strong thanks to Choice Specs, they'll drastically cut its damage output.
Team Options
========
Considering this set focuses on dealing damage instead of providing rain support, having a second rain setter is appreciated; examples include Rain Dance Kingdra, Rain Dance Thundurus, and Rain Dance Tornadus. Even though you are usually way less rain reliant when using Choice Specs Politoed, you can still use Swift Swimmers effectively, mainly Ludicolo, Kingdra and Mega Swampert. Due to Politoeds low Speed, it fits well on Trick Room. Some decent Trick Room setters are Slowbro and Jellicent because Drizzle's rain boosts their Water-type moves too; however, they will stack weaknesses with Politoed. Other viable setters are Gourgeist-XL, because its Fire weakness is removed in rain, and Chandelure, because rain teams often like having a Fire-type to take care of Grass-types that can easily take Politoed's strong Hydro Pump. Good Trick Room attackers are Fairy-types such as Mega Mawile, Sylveon, and Azumarill because they are able to get rid of Dragon-types such as Kyurem-B, Latios, and Hydreigon. Escavalier is a good Pokemon too because it can take care of Grass-types, such as opposing Ludicolo and Venusaur, and Ice-types, notably being able to take out Kyurem-B with Iron Head. If you want another Steel-type, you could also use Mega Scizor. An Electric-type such as Mega Ampharos is also appreciated, because it gets rid of other Water-types. If you are not using Trick Room, you could still use Talonflame or Heatran to get rid of opposing Grass- and Steel-types that wall Politoed. Ludicolo is the most effective Swift Swim Pokemon because it beats other Water-types that try to soak up Hydro Pumps, but other Grass-types such as Venusaur and Serperior, while they are less useful, can still be put on the team. Fairy-types such as Mega Gardevoir and Mega Diancie can get rid of Kyurem-B, which walls rain teams. Mega-Diancie also gets rid of other Flying-types in addition to some Electric-types that are dangerous to Politoed, such as Thundurus and Zapdos. Finally, you can use your own Dragon-types such as Latios, Hydreigon,and Kyurem-B to get rid of other Dragon-types and to beat Sun, which negates a lot of Politoed's damage. Kyurem-B also has a strong Ice-type attack to get rid of Zapdos and Thundurus.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Perish Song can be used to force notable threats out, as well as more bulky threats such as Cresselia. If you are using the Choice Specs set, you can also use Hyper Voice as a spread move to breaks Focus Sashes, but it is usually less effective than other moves. Another set you could use is a Choice Scarf set. It is significantly less bulky due to requiring full Speed and Special Attack investment, but you will be able to catch opponents off guard by surprising them with this set. Note that this set is more for teams that aren't reliant on rain and is usually less effective.
Checks and Counters
========
**Opposing Weather**: Because sun halves Water-type attacks' Base Power avoid using Scald on opposing Mega Charizard Ys or other Fire-type Pokemon when sun is up. The pair of Mega Charizard Y and Venusaur is able to use Grass-type moves on Politoed, and Politoed does hardly any damage while sun is up. Hail can also be fairly annoying because Abomasnow resists Politoed's attacks and can do a ton of damage with its Grass-type moves in return.
**Typing Advantage**: Electric- and Grass-types such as Thundurus, Rotom-W, Ferrothorn, and Amoonguss are all major threats to Politoed. Thundurus has the ability to 2HKO Politoed with Thunderbolt, and Amoonguss doesn't care about Politoed, even if it's Encored.
**Strong Attackers**: Politoed still has trouble with strong attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Gardevoir, and Hydreigon, which can all take it out with strong attacks.