Your goal here should be to take out your opponent's main physical threat. Anything else you can do is a bonus. With Swalot's high HP and decent Defense, it will live through a surprising amount. Hidden Power Grass is on this set because your main counters in the NU metagame (where you'll typically find Swalot) are more than likely going to be Whiscash or Relicanth, both 4x weak to Grass moves (Giga Drain is also available.). Alternately, you can use Fire Punch for the Bug / Poison Pokémon. You can hit them hard on the switch and live to Counter or Explode another day. If you're good (or lucky), you can do both.
Thunderpunch on this set is entirely for Pelipper, but if you use Giga Drain, it has 15 power over that on Pokémon like Wailord and Dewgong, compared to a mere 5 vs. Hidden Power Grass, so it's not entirely useless. Use Quiet with Explosion, Modest without. Other OptionsSwalot's movepool is massive and you can make a lot of decent movesets from it. Encore is always a good move and can fit onto almost any set and be useful. Same goes for Snatch. Body Slam helps quite a bit with Swalot's poor Speed. Swalot learns Yawn for pseudo-phazing. Shadow Ball is available but only really useful if you're using Swalot outside of NU, as there are no Ghosts in NU. Sing and Dynamicpunch are available if you're a gambler. Pain Split is there, but with your high hit points, Rest might be a better way to recover. It can Acid Armor and Amnesia if you like defensive stat uppers. Amnesia probably works best with Counter, as Amnesia keeps you safe from Special hits as you Counter physical hits. EVsOn the Counter set, Swalot survives an Earthquake from max Attack Adamant Piloswine and Trapinch (non-Choice Band) and a Choice Band Earthquake from Relicanth if you give it at least 220 Defense. Otherwise, Swalot's base stats are so balanced you can go any number of ways with your EVs and still be viable, depending on what you want to survive. OpinionSwalot can be played a number of ways because of its movepool. It is a great way to scout out your opponent's team with moves like Yawn, Encore, and Counter at its disposal. If played well, you can get your opponent to switch 2-3 times trying to figure out the best way to attack you. Unfortunately for Swalot, it will always be compared to its Poison cousins Weezing and Muk and cannot really stack up to either one. Shining in NU isn't so bad though, and it is somewhat usable in other metagames if you keep its limitations in mind. CountersOU: Most physical attackers will need to be wary of Swalot's Counter unless Swalot is weakened or they are carrying a Choice Band or very strong STAB Earthquake. Attacking from behind a Substitute is a good way to counter Counter. Almost any special attacker that can withstand a couple hits will likewise take Swalot on. This would include all bulky Waters, Zapdos, Raikou, etc. UU: Blastoise and Walrein make for easy switch ins. Lunatone can hit with a STAB Psychic and is only worried about Shadow Ball. Again, think special attackers that can take a hit. Counters will want to be careful of trying to stat up in front of Swalot due to Encore and / or Snatch. NU: Dewgong and Wailord will likely put you into a stalemate. Mawile isn't afraid of any attacks save Fire Punch, but has to look out for Swalot Encores. Whiscash, Piloswine, and Relicanth can't switch in easily due to the Giga Drain / Hidden Power Grass threat, but once they are in, they can damage Swalot with Earthquake, as Swalot will not OHKO them. |
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