Overview
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Swampert has a Mega Evolution that gives it a huge niche in OU. Swampert's Mega Evolution has an insanely high base 150 Attack stat and an amazing ability in Swift Swim, which doubles its Speed in the rain and allows it to sweep effectively. This capability allows Mega Swampert to be a great asset to rain teams for many reasons. First off, Swampert's Water / Ground typing is great offensively, hitting all targets bar Grass-types and Flying-types that resist Water for neutral damage. It is great defensively as well, giving Swampert only a weakness to the Grass-type, thus complementing its good bulk. Swampert's Ground typing also gives it an immunity to the Electric-type, which means that its sweep cannot be cut short by Thundurus's and Klefki's priority Thunder Wave. Furthermore, Swampert's Mega Evolution's added bulk means that it is less susceptible to priority moves such as Bullet Punch and Sucker Punch, making it even harder to revenge kill. However, Mega Swampert is somewhat slow outside of the rain, due to its underwhelming base 70 Speed, leaving it very prone to strong attacks. Mega Swampert is also worn down very easily due to its susceptibility to burns and all entry hazards. Mega Swampert also is unable to hold a boosting item unlike other rain sweepers such as Kabutops, which means coverage moves such as Ice Punch will have underwhelming damage outputs.
Swift Swim
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name: Swift Swim
move 1: Waterfall
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Low Kick
ability: Damp
item: Swampertite
evs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Waterfall is Mega Swampert's main STAB attack, and deals huge damage in the rain. Although minor, it also has a small flinch chance, which can be very helpful at times. Earthquake is Mega Swampert's secondary STAB attack, and hits targets such as Magnezone for good damage. Ice Punch provides coverage against Grass-types such as Breloom. Low Kick hits Pokemon that the above three moves can't hit for good damage, such as Ferrothorn and Mega Gyarados. If needed, Rain Dance is an option for manual rain, but Swampert will be missing out on coverage.
Set Details
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Damp is the chosen ability prior to Mega Evolving, but it will almost never see use due to the lack of exploding moves in OU and how Swampert will usually Mega Evolve immediately; however, Torrent is even more useless. Swift Swim is the ability after Mega Evolution, and doubles Mega Swampert's Speed in rain; do note that Swift Swim activates only the turn after Swampert Mega Evolves. Swampertite is needed for allowing Swampert to Mega Evolve. 252 Attack EVs with an Adamant nature maximize Attack, allowing Mega Swampert to hit as hard as possible. 152 Speed EVs let Mega Swampert outspeed Timid Mega Sceptile and Jolly Mega Beedrill under rain. 104 HP EVs add on to bulk.
Usage Tips
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Mega Swampert should be brought in immediately after rain has been set, as eight turns is relatively short and it would be very detrimental to lose any of it. Mega Swampert should sweep late-game when its checks and counters have been eliminated from the match or weakened to the point where it can finish them off. Mega Swampert should avoid burns and status under all circumstances, as the former cuts its Attack in half and poison puts a timer on its survivability. Waterfall is the move that you should be spamming most of the time due to its significantly higher power under rain.
Team Options
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The absolute best teammate that could ever be paired up with Mega Swampert is Politoed. Drizzle instantly activates rain, which enables Mega Swampert to sweep. Furthermore, it can cripple opposing physically bulky Pokemon such as Ferrothorn with Encore, opening the door for Swampert. Tornadus is a good partner as well, as it can set up its own rain easily thanks to Prankster, takes advantage of the rain with Hurricane, resists Grass-type attacks, and can U-turn into Mega Swampert. Partners that also take advantage of rain such as Kingdra make good partners, as they form rain offense cores. Kabutops in particular checks BirdSpam from the likes of Talonflame, making it harder to take down Mega Swampert. Ironically, Ferrothorn makes for a great partner, as it counters a good portion of Swampert's checks and appreciates Fire-type attacks being weakened in rain. Entry hazard support is great for netting more KOs; Skarmory resists Grass-type attacks and has both Stealth Rock and Spikes, while the aforementioned Ferrothorn is able to set up Stealth Rock. Magnezone traps and KOes Mega Swampert's checks such as Ferrothorn before rain is set, making it a good partner. Gothitelle can also cripple or defeat Mega Swampert's checks and counters, such as Mew with Trick and Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire. Latios and Latias are both great switch-ins to Rotom-W, and can weaken Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire to the point where Low Kick finishes it off.
Other Options
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Mega Swampert can run Stealth Rock in one of its slots to naturally wear down its opponents if nothing one else on your team packs it; however, it takes away coverage, which is generally undesirable. Curse is an option, but Mega Swampert struggles to find turns to set up, and it is counterproductive with Swift Swim. Power-Up Punch can be used over Low Kick to boost Attack. Superpower acts as a nuke and can KO weakened Rotom-W, but the stat drop is very undesirable. Swampert can run Protect to safely Mega Evolve and activate Swift Swim, but it takes up a moveslot. Endeavor can be used to wear down Swampert's checks.
Checks & Counters
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**Grass-types**: Because Mega Swampert won't OHKO most Grass-type opponents with Ice Punch, they are the easiest answers to Mega Swampert. Ferrothorn in particular stands out, as it can take any attack from Mega Swampert, including Low Kick, and OHKO back with Power Whip. Mega Venusaur can take any attack as well and regain its health with Giga Drain. Celebi also takes only up to 42% from Ice Punch, and OHKOes Mega Swampert in return.
**Physical Walls*: Mega Swampert's sheer power does not suffice in breaking through physically bulky Pokemon. Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro and Suicune can easily set up on or outlast Mega Swampert given they have recovery.
**Burns**: Like any physical attacker, burns easily hinder Mega Swampert's ability to deal much damage throughout the match, as they slice its Attack stat in half and leave it to deal laughable amounts of damage, as well as slowly wear it down. Sableye is able to use Prankster Will-O-Wisp before Swampert Mega Evolves, making it a problem as well.
**Weather Changes**: Swampert heavily relies on rain to be effective, so if the weather changes between Mega Charizard Y's Drought or Tyranitar and Hippowdon's Sand Stream, Swampert will be heavily impacted.
**Rotom-W**: Rotom-W resists every move Mega Swampert commonly carries, and it takes next to nothing from Low Kick. In return, Rotom-W can easily burn Mega Swampert or hit it with Hydro Pump, which will most likely be boosted by rain.
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