ROTTER>>
Overview
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Samurott is extremely powerful, boasting high offensive stats and amazing neutral coverage. It also has decent bulk and strong priority, allowing it to hold its own against faster Pokemon. Samurott's most threatening aspect is its unpredictable movepool, which easily punishes opponents that send in the wrong counter. However, Samurott is slow for an offensive Pokemon, and, as a result, it is reliant on Aqua Jet to be effective against faster offensive teams.
All-Out Attacker
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name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Grass Knot
move 4: Taunt / Aqua Jet / Superpower / Knock Off
ability: Torrent
item: Life Orb
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest / Rash
Moves
========
Hydro Pump is Samurott's most powerful STAB move, easily 2HKOing most neutral targets and packing a massive punch if Torrent is activated. Ice Beam hits Dragon-types and most Grass-types, smacking the likes of Dragalge, Vileplume, and Lilligant for major damage. Grass Knot covers Water-types such as Seismitoad and Poliwrath, and it's stronger than Hidden Power Grass against the majority of Grass-weak targets.
The last move can be easily customized according to your team's needs. Taunt gives Samurott utility as a stallbreaker, preventing entry hazards, status, and recovery while letting it use powerful attacks unhindered. Aqua Jet gives Samurott a weapon to use against offensive teams, outpacing faster threats such as Pyroar and Archeops as well as picking off weakened sweepers. Superpower allows Samurott to thrash the likes of Audino, Lickilicky, Ferroseed, and Regice, which would otherwise comfortably wall it. Knock Off can be used to easily cripple switch-ins by removing their items, such as Leftovers and Eviolite, and makes for a good filler move that does decent damage.
Set Details
========
Life Orb gives Samurott the immediate power needed to muscle past common walls in the tier. A Modest or Rash nature is chosen because the power is greatly appreciated over Speed, especially because Samurott's Speed tier is not particularly relevant. Rash is chosen over Mild because Samurott's Defense stat is substantially greater than its Special Defense stat and maintaining it allows Samurott to take priority moves better. The 4 leftover EVs can be moved into Attack if a physical move is used. When Samurott has under a third of its health, it can fire off a Torrent-boosted Hydro Pump that can easily 2HKO any Pokemon that does not resist it. Maximum Speed and Special Attack investment grant Samurott great offensive potential.
Usage Tips
========
Samurott is very powerful, meaning few Pokemon can safely wall it. Samurott should be brought in on Pokemon that are slower or unable to KO it in order to grab free hits and wear down opposing Pokemon for its teammates. If Aqua Jet is being run, Samurott can also be brought in to revenge kill weakened sweepers. Samurott forces many switches against offensive and defensive teams alike, so being able to predict switches well is highly effective with Samurott, especially when taking advantage of its wide array of coverage options.
Team Options
========
Sticky Web users, such as Kricketune and Leavanny, make for great partners, as they are able to set up Sticky Web to mitigate Samurott's subpar Speed, while Samurott's constant offensive pressure prevents opponents from being able to use Rapid Spin or Defog safely without risking a KO. Setup sweepers such as Belly Drum Slurpuff and Shift Gear Klinklang work well with Samurott, as it pressures their checks and counters greatly. Other entry hazard users, such as Crustle or Rhydon, are also incredibly useful when paired with this set, as they allow Samurott to pressure opponents even further. Faster offensive Pokemon, such as Lilligant, Sceptile, and Pyroar, can pick up the slack against faster offensive teams that can limit Samurott's ability to attack.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Megahorn
ability: Torrent
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
evs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Swords Dance enables Samurott to sweep, boosting its Attack so that it easily tears teams apart. Waterfall is the primary STAB move, giving Samurott a reliable and strong attack that also has a nice chance to flinch its target. Aqua Jet lets Samurott outprioritize and KO common revenge killers such as Rotom with a little bit of prior damage. Megahorn offers solid neutral coverage and allows Samurott to skewer most Pokemon that resist Water, especially Grass-types, dealing solid damage after a boost.
Set Details
========
The EV spread allows Samurott to outspeed neutral-natured base 55 Speed Pokemon such as Exeggutor and Golurk, while maximizing Samurott's Attack to hit as hard as possible. An Adamant nature is chosen for raw power. While Swords Dance Samurott faces competition from Feraligatr, its surprise factor gives it an important edge, as Samurott is usually assumed to be a special attacker. This often catches opponents off guard, giving Samurott an extra attack or boost in the process, and letting it differentiate itself from its physical Water-type brethren.
Life Orb allows Samurott to nab crucial KOs, such as an OHKO on Vileplume, Tangela, and Seismitoad with +4 Megahorn and a 2HKO on Ferroseed with +2 Megahorn, while Lum Berry helps Samurott set up more easily against status users, such as Probopass and Audino. Rindo and Wacan Berry can be used to prevent Samurott from being revenge killed by Grass- and Electric-types respectively, as they are usually the main methods of dispatching Samurott. Mystic Water can be used in place of Life Orb to avoid recoil while augmenting the power of Samurott's Water-type moves, but Mystic Water leaves its coverage move unboosted.
Usage Tips
========
Bluffing the special Samurott set is key, as it is what differentiates physical Samurott from Feraligatr. The threat posed by the special set means this strategy often works because few opponents are willing to take the risk in predicting a physical Samurott variant, which is less immediately threatening. Send Samurott in on Pokemon it threatens, such as Rhydon or Typhlosion, in order to set up safely. In fact, sending out Samurott against Pokemon that only a special variant of Samurott can threaten, such as Seismitoad and Gurdurr, can further enhance the bluff. Samurott can keep up the bluff with Life Orb Aqua Jet to keep opponents guessing.
Samurott can use Swords Dance on Pokemon that cannot really do much to it, such as Choice-locked Pokemon, weaker attackers, and status users that Lum Berry beats. Samurott can be used to smash walls for other physical sweepers early-game, setting up a Swords Dance and easily punching through most defensive Pokemon at +2 or +4. It can also be used early-game without setup to weaken walls or revenge kill sweepers with a powerful Aqua Jet. Samurott can function as a late-game cleaner and sweeper, as once it sets up it can use powerful Aqua Jets to easily sweep a weakened team.
Team Options
========
Swords Dance Samurott especially appreciates entry hazard support, as it makes KOing opponents with Aqua Jet significantly easier. As a result, Crustle, Qwilfish, Accelgor, and other entry hazard setters make for great partners, helping to wear down opponents for Samurott to sweep. Samurott has a difficult time KOing fast Grass-types, such as Lilligant, Leafeon, and Sceptile, as they can easily tank a Aqua Jet, outspeed Samurott, and KO it; Fire- and Flying-types such as Typhlosion and Swellow help to ease this issue and have amazing offensive synergy with Samurott. Bulkier answers to Grass-types, such as Dragalge and Flareon, also make for decent partners. Samurott has an easy time punching through and wearing down defensive teams, so pairing it with a similar setup sweeper, such as Slurpuff, Lilligant, or Klinklang, can overwhelm an opponent while breaking down each other's checks and counters.
Other Options
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Substitute grants Samurott a buffer against faster threats, greatly eases prediction, allows Samurott to activate Torrent at will, and makes Salac Berry and Petaya Berry viable options for it. A Speed-boosting nature on the Life Orb attacker set allows Samurott to Speed tie with opposing positive-natured base 70 Speed Pokemon, such as Ludicolo, Victreebel, Mightyena, and opposing Samurott, and outspeed their neutral variants, while outspeeding Jolly Kricketune so that it can be Taunted; however, Samurott becomes noticeably weaker as a result.
Razor Shell or Aqua Tail can be used over Waterfall on the Swords Dance set; Razor Shell offers a nice Defense dropping rate to cripple switch-ins and make walling Samurott an even more trying task, whereas Aqua Tail offers higher power. However, both moves can miss, while Waterfall's accuracy and flinch rate are hard to pass up, making Waterfall the more reliable STAB option most of the time. While Knock Off seems like a good option on physical Samurott due to its decent neutral coverage and item removal effect, it does not actually help physical Samurott sweep any better. Because Knock Off weakens against a target without a held item, it can fail to 2HKO the likes of Vileplume, Ferroseed, and Seismitoad even at +2.
The all-out attacker set can use Hidden Power Fire to bait in and hit Ferroseed, or Hidden Power Electric to tackle Mantine and Pelipper, which also check the set, but these moves have limited use outside of that. Megahorn can be used to OHKO Ludicolo on the switch, and Dragon Tail can be used to rack up entry hazard damage and prevent setup; however, these generally makes Samurott suffer from four-moveslot syndrome and tend to be inferior to other tools it has. Hidden Power Grass can be used over Grass Knot to hit extremely light Water-types such as Gorebyss and Lanturn, but it will do less damage against most other targets. Encore can buy Samurott and its teammates extra turns by locking opponents into unfavorable moves, although Samurott's lackluster Speed prevents it from making great use of the move.
Checks & Counters
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**Specially Bulky Pokemon**: Lickilicky, Audino, Regice, Articuno, and Cryogonal usually fear little from special Samurott, with the former two able to stall with Wish and Protect, while the latter three threaten Samurott with super effective attacks such as Thunderbolt and Freeze-Dry, respectively. However, all of them, including Articuno if it uses Roost, fear Superpower, while Cryogonal dislikes any physical move Samurott may have.
**Bulky Water-types**: Mantine and Lanturn do a good job at walling special sets, whereas Pelipper, Poliwrath, and Qwilfish can put a stop to Swords Dance sets.
**Faster Pokemon that resist Water**: Powerful attackers that resist Aqua Jet have the least trouble revenge killing Samurott. Grass-type attackers such as Lilligant, Leafeon, and Sceptile come to mind, easily dealing with Samurott using their STAB moves. Jynx does not commonly carry super effective moves to hit Samurott with, but Dry Skin grants it a complete immunity to Aqua Jet, allowing it to put Samurott out of commission with Lovely Kiss or simply KO a weakened Samurott.
**Faster Attackers**: Special Samurott is fairly slow, so most attackers can keep it in check. Electric-types such as Rotom, Rotom-F, Rotom-S, and Electivire are the big standouts due to their super effective STAB moves, but other hard hitters, such as Sawk, Zangoose, Mesprit, and Kangaskhan, can do a lot of damage to Samurott before it can move. Beware of Aqua Jet if you are using Water-weak Pokemon or weakened sweepers to check Samurott, as special Samurott tends to carry the move.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Ludicolo and Ferroseed can easily check Samurott due to their Ice neutrality, although Ludicolo has to worry about Megahorn and Ferroseed has to watch out for Taunt, Superpower, and Substitute. Other Grass-types have to watch out for Ice Beam on the switch, but otherwise can keep Samurott in check.
Overview
########
Samurott is extremely powerful, boasting high offensive stats and amazing neutral coverage. It also has decent bulk and strong priority, allowing it to hold its own against faster Pokemon. Samurott's most threatening aspect is its unpredictable movepool, which easily punishes opponents that send in the wrong counter. However, Samurott is slow for an offensive Pokemon, and, as a result, it is reliant on Aqua Jet to be effective against faster offensive teams.
All-Out Attacker
########
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Grass Knot
move 4: Taunt / Aqua Jet / Superpower / Knock Off
ability: Torrent
item: Life Orb
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest / Rash
Moves
========
Hydro Pump is Samurott's most powerful STAB move, easily 2HKOing most neutral targets and packing a massive punch if Torrent is activated. Ice Beam hits Dragon-types and most Grass-types, smacking the likes of Dragalge, Vileplume, and Lilligant for major damage. Grass Knot covers Water-types such as Seismitoad and Poliwrath, and it's stronger than Hidden Power Grass against the majority of Grass-weak targets.
The last move can be easily customized according to your team's needs. Taunt gives Samurott utility as a stallbreaker, preventing entry hazards, status, and recovery while letting it use powerful attacks unhindered. Aqua Jet gives Samurott a weapon to use against offensive teams, outpacing faster threats such as Pyroar and Archeops as well as picking off weakened sweepers. Superpower allows Samurott to thrash the likes of Audino, Lickilicky, Ferroseed, and Regice, which would otherwise comfortably wall it. Knock Off can be used to easily cripple switch-ins by removing their items, such as Leftovers and Eviolite, and makes for a good filler move that does decent damage.
Set Details
========
Life Orb gives Samurott the immediate power needed to muscle past common walls in the tier. A Modest or Rash nature is chosen because the power is greatly appreciated over Speed, especially because Samurott's Speed tier is not particularly relevant. Rash is chosen over Mild because Samurott's Defense stat is substantially greater than its Special Defense stat and maintaining it allows Samurott to take priority moves better. The 4 leftover EVs can be moved into Attack if a physical move is used. When Samurott has under a third of its health, it can fire off a Torrent-boosted Hydro Pump that can easily 2HKO any Pokemon that does not resist it. Maximum Speed and Special Attack investment grant Samurott great offensive potential.
Usage Tips
========
Samurott is very powerful, meaning few Pokemon can safely wall it. Samurott should be brought in on Pokemon that are slower or unable to KO it in order to grab free hits and wear down opposing Pokemon for its teammates. If Aqua Jet is being run, Samurott can also be brought in to revenge kill weakened sweepers. Samurott forces many switches against offensive and defensive teams alike, so being able to predict switches well is highly effective with Samurott, especially when taking advantage of its wide array of coverage options.
Team Options
========
Sticky Web users, such as Kricketune and Leavanny, make for great partners, as they are able to set up Sticky Web to mitigate Samurott's subpar Speed, while Samurott's constant offensive pressure prevents opponents from being able to use Rapid Spin or Defog safely without risking a KO. Setup sweepers such as Belly Drum Slurpuff and Shift Gear Klinklang work well with Samurott, as it pressures their checks and counters greatly. Other entry hazard users, such as Crustle or Rhydon, are also incredibly useful when paired with this set, as they allow Samurott to pressure opponents even further. Faster offensive Pokemon, such as Lilligant, Sceptile, and Pyroar, can pick up the slack against faster offensive teams that can limit Samurott's ability to attack.
Swords Dance
########
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Megahorn
ability: Torrent
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
evs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Swords Dance enables Samurott to sweep, boosting its Attack so that it easily tears teams apart. Waterfall is the primary STAB move, giving Samurott a reliable and strong attack that also has a nice chance to flinch its target. Aqua Jet lets Samurott outprioritize and KO common revenge killers such as Rotom with a little bit of prior damage. Megahorn offers solid neutral coverage and allows Samurott to skewer most Pokemon that resist Water, especially Grass-types, dealing solid damage after a boost.
Set Details
========
The EV spread allows Samurott to outspeed neutral-natured base 55 Speed Pokemon such as Exeggutor and Golurk, while maximizing Samurott's Attack to hit as hard as possible. An Adamant nature is chosen for raw power. While Swords Dance Samurott faces competition from Feraligatr, its surprise factor gives it an important edge, as Samurott is usually assumed to be a special attacker. This often catches opponents off guard, giving Samurott an extra attack or boost in the process, and letting it differentiate itself from its physical Water-type brethren.
Life Orb allows Samurott to nab crucial KOs, such as an OHKO on Vileplume, Tangela, and Seismitoad with +4 Megahorn and a 2HKO on Ferroseed with +2 Megahorn, while Lum Berry helps Samurott set up more easily against status users, such as Probopass and Audino. Rindo and Wacan Berry can be used to prevent Samurott from being revenge killed by Grass- and Electric-types respectively, as they are usually the main methods of dispatching Samurott. Mystic Water can be used in place of Life Orb to avoid recoil while augmenting the power of Samurott's Water-type moves, but Mystic Water leaves its coverage move unboosted.
Usage Tips
========
Bluffing the special Samurott set is key, as it is what differentiates physical Samurott from Feraligatr. The threat posed by the special set means this strategy often works because few opponents are willing to take the risk in predicting a physical Samurott variant, which is less immediately threatening. Send Samurott in on Pokemon it threatens, such as Rhydon or Typhlosion, in order to set up safely. In fact, sending out Samurott against Pokemon that only a special variant of Samurott can threaten, such as Seismitoad and Gurdurr, can further enhance the bluff. Samurott can keep up the bluff with Life Orb Aqua Jet to keep opponents guessing.
Samurott can use Swords Dance on Pokemon that cannot really do much to it, such as Choice-locked Pokemon, weaker attackers, and status users that Lum Berry beats. Samurott can be used to smash walls for other physical sweepers early-game, setting up a Swords Dance and easily punching through most defensive Pokemon at +2 or +4. It can also be used early-game without setup to weaken walls or revenge kill sweepers with a powerful Aqua Jet. Samurott can function as a late-game cleaner and sweeper, as once it sets up it can use powerful Aqua Jets to easily sweep a weakened team.
Team Options
========
Swords Dance Samurott especially appreciates entry hazard support, as it makes KOing opponents with Aqua Jet significantly easier. As a result, Crustle, Qwilfish, Accelgor, and other entry hazard setters make for great partners, helping to wear down opponents for Samurott to sweep. Samurott has a difficult time KOing fast Grass-types, such as Lilligant, Leafeon, and Sceptile, as they can easily tank a Aqua Jet, outspeed Samurott, and KO it; Fire- and Flying-types such as Typhlosion and Swellow help to ease this issue and have amazing offensive synergy with Samurott. Bulkier answers to Grass-types, such as Dragalge and Flareon, also make for decent partners. Samurott has an easy time punching through and wearing down defensive teams, so pairing it with a similar setup sweeper, such as Slurpuff, Lilligant, or Klinklang, can overwhelm an opponent while breaking down each other's checks and counters.
Other Options
########
Substitute grants Samurott a buffer against faster threats, greatly eases prediction, allows Samurott to activate Torrent at will, and makes Salac Berry and Petaya Berry viable options for it. A Speed-boosting nature on the Life Orb attacker set allows Samurott to Speed tie with opposing positive-natured base 70 Speed Pokemon, such as Ludicolo, Victreebel, Mightyena, and opposing Samurott, and outspeed their neutral variants, while outspeeding Jolly Kricketune so that it can be Taunted; however, Samurott becomes noticeably weaker as a result.
Razor Shell or Aqua Tail can be used over Waterfall on the Swords Dance set; Razor Shell offers a nice Defense dropping rate to cripple switch-ins and make walling Samurott an even more trying task, whereas Aqua Tail offers higher power. However, both moves can miss, while Waterfall's accuracy and flinch rate are hard to pass up, making Waterfall the more reliable STAB option most of the time. While Knock Off seems like a good option on physical Samurott due to its decent neutral coverage and item removal effect, it does not actually help physical Samurott sweep any better. Because Knock Off weakens against a target without a held item, it can fail to 2HKO the likes of Vileplume, Ferroseed, and Seismitoad even at +2.
The all-out attacker set can use Hidden Power Fire to bait in and hit Ferroseed, or Hidden Power Electric to tackle Mantine and Pelipper, which also check the set, but these moves have limited use outside of that. Megahorn can be used to OHKO Ludicolo on the switch, and Dragon Tail can be used to rack up entry hazard damage and prevent setup; however, these generally makes Samurott suffer from four-moveslot syndrome and tend to be inferior to other tools it has. Hidden Power Grass can be used over Grass Knot to hit extremely light Water-types such as Gorebyss and Lanturn, but it will do less damage against most other targets. Encore can buy Samurott and its teammates extra turns by locking opponents into unfavorable moves, although Samurott's lackluster Speed prevents it from making great use of the move.
Checks & Counters
########
**Specially Bulky Pokemon**: Lickilicky, Audino, Regice, Articuno, and Cryogonal usually fear little from special Samurott, with the former two able to stall with Wish and Protect, while the latter three threaten Samurott with super effective attacks such as Thunderbolt and Freeze-Dry, respectively. However, all of them, including Articuno if it uses Roost, fear Superpower, while Cryogonal dislikes any physical move Samurott may have.
**Bulky Water-types**: Mantine and Lanturn do a good job at walling special sets, whereas Pelipper, Poliwrath, and Qwilfish can put a stop to Swords Dance sets.
**Faster Pokemon that resist Water**: Powerful attackers that resist Aqua Jet have the least trouble revenge killing Samurott. Grass-type attackers such as Lilligant, Leafeon, and Sceptile come to mind, easily dealing with Samurott using their STAB moves. Jynx does not commonly carry super effective moves to hit Samurott with, but Dry Skin grants it a complete immunity to Aqua Jet, allowing it to put Samurott out of commission with Lovely Kiss or simply KO a weakened Samurott.
**Faster Attackers**: Special Samurott is fairly slow, so most attackers can keep it in check. Electric-types such as Rotom, Rotom-F, Rotom-S, and Electivire are the big standouts due to their super effective STAB moves, but other hard hitters, such as Sawk, Zangoose, Mesprit, and Kangaskhan, can do a lot of damage to Samurott before it can move. Beware of Aqua Jet if you are using Water-weak Pokemon or weakened sweepers to check Samurott, as special Samurott tends to carry the move.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Ludicolo and Ferroseed can easily check Samurott due to their Ice neutrality, although Ludicolo has to worry about Megahorn and Ferroseed has to watch out for Taunt, Superpower, and Substitute. Other Grass-types have to watch out for Ice Beam on the switch, but otherwise can keep Samurott in check.
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