[Overview]
<p>Toxicroak is yet another one of those Fake Out-using Fighting-types, and with Hitmontop, Scrafty, Infernape and Hariyama running round the metagame you may question what it has to stand out from the competition. The answer lies in its ability Dry Skin, which is a godsend for Toxicroak in the doubles metagame, allowing it to merrily support rain teams while Surf-spamming partners replenish its health bar. Toxicroak's movepool comprises a neat mixture of attacking and supporting options, topped by the ever-useful Fake Out, which is an enormous asset to any Pokemon lucky enough to get it. Its unique Poison/Fighting typing is a mixed bag, giving it some nice resistances including a rare resistance to the common Fighting/Dark coverage, but also some crippling weaknesses to Psychic- and Ground-type attacks, and an ineffectual Poison STAB. Additionally, it faces competition from other Fighting types, most notably the ubiquitous Hitmontop, who also gets Intimidate and Wide Guard, outclassing it in many regards. If you are going to use Toxicroak, run rain and abuse Dry Skin, as otherwise other Fake Out users will be of more use.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Utility
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Cross Chop / Drain Punch
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb
ability: Dry Skin
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Toxicroak shouldn't be straying too far from this set. Fake Out is too good to pass up, as the potential for free damage and an opportunity for Toxicroak's partner to work with relative freedom for a turn can be game-changing. The choice of Fighting-type STAB is a tough one, but, despite being frustratingly miss-prone at times, Cross Chop is narrowly better, as it allows Toxicroak to achieve OHKOs on the likes of Hydreigon, Darkrai, Mamoswine, and Abomasnow, and a 2HKO on Ferrothorn, that would not otherwise be assured, and the fast-paced nature of doubles means that Drain Punch's healing is less useful. However, Drain Punch can be used for its consistency and healing, and with additional healing from Dry Skin can make Toxicroak a deceptively tough nut to crack. Sucker Punch has brilliant coverage with Cross Chop, hitting everything at least neutrally bar Heracross and other Toxicroak. Sucker Punch also does big damage to the likes of Latios, and allows Toxicroak to get around its middling speed stat. Protect is a staple, present on the vast majority of non-choiced doubles movesets, and Toxicroak is too frail to be an exception. Remember, when you use Protect in the rain, you get 12.5% health back for free.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is the item of choice for this set as Toxicroak doesn't hit very hard without it, and Dry Skin naturally offsets Life Orb recoil. Since Toxicroak is intended to stick around and support rather than blow massive holes in the opponent, a Life Orb is better than elemental Gems. A Jolly Nature is suggested to outrun Jolly Mamoswine, Adamant Excadrill (in rain) and speed tie Modest Hydreigon, and destroy them all with Cross Chop; however, if you have a Kingdra in your team you will have no trouble beating these anyway, so an Adamant nature can be used instead to do more damage to Chople Tyranitar and Ferrothorn and achieve a possible OHKO on Latios.</p>
<p>Toxicroak also gets cool support options like Taunt and Feint, which can be used. In particular, Feint has great synergy with Fake Out, as you can score free damage on an opponent predicting a Fake Out and selecting Protect; likewise, Taunt works beautifully with Sucker Punch as it prevents an opponent playing around Sucker Punch with status moves. However, in both of these cases, Toxicroak will have to give up one of the listed moves, and it really needs all of them to work at its best. These moves also require good prediction, as Feint is a wasted move should the target use anything other than Protect, and several common targets of Taunt like Cresselia and Togekiss will flat-out destroy Toxicroak should they choose to attack it. Substitute is another option to consider, as Dry Skin allows Toxicroak to make an almost indefinite number of Substitutes if necessary. It also encourages the opponent to attack Toxicroak, making Sucker Punch harder to play around.</p>
<p>Toxicroak’s Fighting STAB is hugely helpful to rain for two reasons: firstly, it heavily damages Tyranitar and Abomasnow, making it play a big part in winning the weather war, and secondly it destroys various Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and the rare Chansey, that rain traditionally struggles to break through. For teammates, Politoed is the most obvious as it brings rain. As well as the obvious benefit of Drizzle, Politoed can heal Toxicroak with Surf and use Helping Hand to allow Toxicroak’s moves to achieve more OHKOs, particularly Sucker Punch, which can now reliably kill Latios and Chandelure, and take a huge chunk out of Jellicent. Other rain abusers may also take advantage of the Dry Skin / Surf combination, particularly Ludicolo, who is additionally able to remove Gastrodon, a prominent threat to Toxicroak, and Manaphy, who will find it easier to set up a Tail Glow boost with support from Toxicroak’s Fake Out. Torndaus is a great partner, because it discourages Earthquake and Intimidate, two things Toxicroak hates. Scizor, Metagross and Genesect deal with the Psychic-types Toxicroak would rather avoid, while also benefiting from rain softening their weakness to Fire-type attacks.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Although the options in the main set are generally the best, Toxicroak has other options to play with if it wants to. Gunk Shot and Poison Jab are available Poison STABs, but Poison is an awful type offensively speaking; additionally Gunk Shot's accuracy is even worse than Cross Chop's. Swords Dance and Bulk Up are set-up options but Toxicroak lacks the bulk to set up consistently in such a fast-paced metagame, and Nasty Plot is even worse due to a poor special attack stat and special movepool. Rain Dance is useful to help win weather wars but you are often better off trying to kill the opposing weather setter and switching Politoed back in, as Toxicroak has a good match-up versus Tyrantar and Abomasnow. Sludge Wave, Rock Slide and Earthquake are your best options for a spread move, but none offers coverage as good as Sucker Punch. Stone Edge can be used to hit the likes of Volcarona and Thundurus, and particularly lures Volcarona who will often assume it is safe to set up, but its accuracy is a let-down. Ice Punch can OHKO various things that are 4x weak to it, but most of these outrun Toxicroak and OHKO first, so speed control support is a necessity. As far as different items go, Black Sludge or Leftovers are conceivably useful if you are really putting as much effort into keeping Toxicroak alive for as long as possible. Shuca Berry could let Toxicroak live an otherwise fatal Earthquake. Focus Sash is alright because of Toxicroak’s frailty but is broken by any weather that isn’t rain, including sun due to the negative side-effect of Dry Skin.</p>
[Checks & Counters]
<p> Because of Toxicroak’s regenerative capabilities, the best way to kill it is in a single hit. Fortunately, due to its lacklustre defenses, that isn’t very hard. Powerful Earthquake users like Garchomp and the Landorus forms are good examples. Mamoswine and Excadrill (outside of sand) can do the same but need speed control because they are outsped and crushed with Cross Chop or Drain Punch. Gastrodon’s Earth Power also does huge damage, even OHKOing with investment, and Gastrodon does well against rain in general. Offensive Psychic types like Latios and Deoxys-A destroy it but must be wary of Sucker Punch; bulkier Psychic types who don’t care about Sucker Punch like Cresselia, Metagross and Jirachi win easily. Bulky Ghost types can play around Sucker Punch with status, although Toxicroak can win if it carries Taunt; Sableye, with Prankster-accelerated Will-o-Wisp, is a particularly good counter. As the only major user of Flying STAB, Tornadus, both the Defiant and Prankster variants, beats it with Acrobatics or Hurricane. Scizor’s Bullet Punch leaves a gaping hole in Toxicroak, and Scizor can also OHKO with Acrobatics. Volcarona exploits Dry Skin to do huge damage: Fire Gem Overheat from the moth is capable of killing Toxicroak in one hit IN THE RAIN. Additionally, it can set up Quiver Dances with impunity due to its Fighting-type resist: even if Toxicroak attempts to stop this with Fake Out it risks being burnt by Flame Body. Toxicroak is also killed by really strong neutral attacks: Thundurus-T’s Thunder is a good example. Amoonguss can just spam Rage Powder in Toxicroak's face and Toxicroak can do little about it unless it has Taunt or Ice Punch. If all else fails, you can also take away the rain that replenishes Toxicroak. Ninetales does this well as sunlight damages Toxicroak, but Ninetales may get rough treatment from Toxicroak's Water-type teammates. Also, neither Tyranitar nor Abomasnow can take Cross Chop. Finally, Intimidate users generally blunt Toxicroak enough to make it switch out.</p>
<p>Toxicroak is yet another one of those Fake Out-using Fighting-types, and with Hitmontop, Scrafty, Infernape and Hariyama running round the metagame you may question what it has to stand out from the competition. The answer lies in its ability Dry Skin, which is a godsend for Toxicroak in the doubles metagame, allowing it to merrily support rain teams while Surf-spamming partners replenish its health bar. Toxicroak's movepool comprises a neat mixture of attacking and supporting options, topped by the ever-useful Fake Out, which is an enormous asset to any Pokemon lucky enough to get it. Its unique Poison/Fighting typing is a mixed bag, giving it some nice resistances including a rare resistance to the common Fighting/Dark coverage, but also some crippling weaknesses to Psychic- and Ground-type attacks, and an ineffectual Poison STAB. Additionally, it faces competition from other Fighting types, most notably the ubiquitous Hitmontop, who also gets Intimidate and Wide Guard, outclassing it in many regards. If you are going to use Toxicroak, run rain and abuse Dry Skin, as otherwise other Fake Out users will be of more use.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Utility
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Cross Chop / Drain Punch
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb
ability: Dry Skin
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Toxicroak shouldn't be straying too far from this set. Fake Out is too good to pass up, as the potential for free damage and an opportunity for Toxicroak's partner to work with relative freedom for a turn can be game-changing. The choice of Fighting-type STAB is a tough one, but, despite being frustratingly miss-prone at times, Cross Chop is narrowly better, as it allows Toxicroak to achieve OHKOs on the likes of Hydreigon, Darkrai, Mamoswine, and Abomasnow, and a 2HKO on Ferrothorn, that would not otherwise be assured, and the fast-paced nature of doubles means that Drain Punch's healing is less useful. However, Drain Punch can be used for its consistency and healing, and with additional healing from Dry Skin can make Toxicroak a deceptively tough nut to crack. Sucker Punch has brilliant coverage with Cross Chop, hitting everything at least neutrally bar Heracross and other Toxicroak. Sucker Punch also does big damage to the likes of Latios, and allows Toxicroak to get around its middling speed stat. Protect is a staple, present on the vast majority of non-choiced doubles movesets, and Toxicroak is too frail to be an exception. Remember, when you use Protect in the rain, you get 12.5% health back for free.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is the item of choice for this set as Toxicroak doesn't hit very hard without it, and Dry Skin naturally offsets Life Orb recoil. Since Toxicroak is intended to stick around and support rather than blow massive holes in the opponent, a Life Orb is better than elemental Gems. A Jolly Nature is suggested to outrun Jolly Mamoswine, Adamant Excadrill (in rain) and speed tie Modest Hydreigon, and destroy them all with Cross Chop; however, if you have a Kingdra in your team you will have no trouble beating these anyway, so an Adamant nature can be used instead to do more damage to Chople Tyranitar and Ferrothorn and achieve a possible OHKO on Latios.</p>
<p>Toxicroak also gets cool support options like Taunt and Feint, which can be used. In particular, Feint has great synergy with Fake Out, as you can score free damage on an opponent predicting a Fake Out and selecting Protect; likewise, Taunt works beautifully with Sucker Punch as it prevents an opponent playing around Sucker Punch with status moves. However, in both of these cases, Toxicroak will have to give up one of the listed moves, and it really needs all of them to work at its best. These moves also require good prediction, as Feint is a wasted move should the target use anything other than Protect, and several common targets of Taunt like Cresselia and Togekiss will flat-out destroy Toxicroak should they choose to attack it. Substitute is another option to consider, as Dry Skin allows Toxicroak to make an almost indefinite number of Substitutes if necessary. It also encourages the opponent to attack Toxicroak, making Sucker Punch harder to play around.</p>
<p>Toxicroak’s Fighting STAB is hugely helpful to rain for two reasons: firstly, it heavily damages Tyranitar and Abomasnow, making it play a big part in winning the weather war, and secondly it destroys various Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and the rare Chansey, that rain traditionally struggles to break through. For teammates, Politoed is the most obvious as it brings rain. As well as the obvious benefit of Drizzle, Politoed can heal Toxicroak with Surf and use Helping Hand to allow Toxicroak’s moves to achieve more OHKOs, particularly Sucker Punch, which can now reliably kill Latios and Chandelure, and take a huge chunk out of Jellicent. Other rain abusers may also take advantage of the Dry Skin / Surf combination, particularly Ludicolo, who is additionally able to remove Gastrodon, a prominent threat to Toxicroak, and Manaphy, who will find it easier to set up a Tail Glow boost with support from Toxicroak’s Fake Out. Torndaus is a great partner, because it discourages Earthquake and Intimidate, two things Toxicroak hates. Scizor, Metagross and Genesect deal with the Psychic-types Toxicroak would rather avoid, while also benefiting from rain softening their weakness to Fire-type attacks.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Although the options in the main set are generally the best, Toxicroak has other options to play with if it wants to. Gunk Shot and Poison Jab are available Poison STABs, but Poison is an awful type offensively speaking; additionally Gunk Shot's accuracy is even worse than Cross Chop's. Swords Dance and Bulk Up are set-up options but Toxicroak lacks the bulk to set up consistently in such a fast-paced metagame, and Nasty Plot is even worse due to a poor special attack stat and special movepool. Rain Dance is useful to help win weather wars but you are often better off trying to kill the opposing weather setter and switching Politoed back in, as Toxicroak has a good match-up versus Tyrantar and Abomasnow. Sludge Wave, Rock Slide and Earthquake are your best options for a spread move, but none offers coverage as good as Sucker Punch. Stone Edge can be used to hit the likes of Volcarona and Thundurus, and particularly lures Volcarona who will often assume it is safe to set up, but its accuracy is a let-down. Ice Punch can OHKO various things that are 4x weak to it, but most of these outrun Toxicroak and OHKO first, so speed control support is a necessity. As far as different items go, Black Sludge or Leftovers are conceivably useful if you are really putting as much effort into keeping Toxicroak alive for as long as possible. Shuca Berry could let Toxicroak live an otherwise fatal Earthquake. Focus Sash is alright because of Toxicroak’s frailty but is broken by any weather that isn’t rain, including sun due to the negative side-effect of Dry Skin.</p>
[Checks & Counters]
<p> Because of Toxicroak’s regenerative capabilities, the best way to kill it is in a single hit. Fortunately, due to its lacklustre defenses, that isn’t very hard. Powerful Earthquake users like Garchomp and the Landorus forms are good examples. Mamoswine and Excadrill (outside of sand) can do the same but need speed control because they are outsped and crushed with Cross Chop or Drain Punch. Gastrodon’s Earth Power also does huge damage, even OHKOing with investment, and Gastrodon does well against rain in general. Offensive Psychic types like Latios and Deoxys-A destroy it but must be wary of Sucker Punch; bulkier Psychic types who don’t care about Sucker Punch like Cresselia, Metagross and Jirachi win easily. Bulky Ghost types can play around Sucker Punch with status, although Toxicroak can win if it carries Taunt; Sableye, with Prankster-accelerated Will-o-Wisp, is a particularly good counter. As the only major user of Flying STAB, Tornadus, both the Defiant and Prankster variants, beats it with Acrobatics or Hurricane. Scizor’s Bullet Punch leaves a gaping hole in Toxicroak, and Scizor can also OHKO with Acrobatics. Volcarona exploits Dry Skin to do huge damage: Fire Gem Overheat from the moth is capable of killing Toxicroak in one hit IN THE RAIN. Additionally, it can set up Quiver Dances with impunity due to its Fighting-type resist: even if Toxicroak attempts to stop this with Fake Out it risks being burnt by Flame Body. Toxicroak is also killed by really strong neutral attacks: Thundurus-T’s Thunder is a good example. Amoonguss can just spam Rage Powder in Toxicroak's face and Toxicroak can do little about it unless it has Taunt or Ice Punch. If all else fails, you can also take away the rain that replenishes Toxicroak. Ninetales does this well as sunlight damages Toxicroak, but Ninetales may get rough treatment from Toxicroak's Water-type teammates. Also, neither Tyranitar nor Abomasnow can take Cross Chop. Finally, Intimidate users generally blunt Toxicroak enough to make it switch out.</p>
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