Clamperl. The forgotten bivalve from hell.

[Mr Nude]

Clamperl. Just look at it. --->

Theres no way this little NFE clam could ever be useful in OU right? Look at the shoddy ladder! 30 usages in March. Just above Shuppet and Turtwig.

No. This little clam is in fact one of the most destructive monstrous late game special attackers ever. Why?

Deepseatooth. It boosts his special attack to... 542! Even Deoxys A can't reach that. You may be saying, his other stats are horrible. They are. Oh they are. His base 85 defense does not make up for his garbage 35 HP. His speed is a base 32. He's actually slower then Bronzong.

So we have a glass cannon that can barely outrun a Shuckle. Is this a bad thing? Not with Trick Room support. I tried this Clamperl out on Shoddy. Clamperl was paired with this Bronzong...

@ Damp Rock
Brave (+ Attack / - Speed)
252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Defense
Heatproof

Rain Dance
Trick Room
Gyro Ball
Explosion

Starts off with Rain Dance, then Trick Room, then Explosion. If i'm lucky Bronzong kills something with Explosion. If not, I still have three turns to attack with Clamperl. I like Heatproof, because pokemon rarely use Fire / Ground on the same moveset. They only get two attacks on Bronzong without using sleep, so i'm usually Exploded by the time they realize i'm Heatproof. Same goes for the attack styled EVs. Its hard to 2HKO even this Bronzong, especially in the rain. On the other hand, more Explosion damage is fun.

This is how I set up my Clamperl. It has more then enough attack without Rain Dance, so it fits on any team with Trick Room support.

Except no one cares about Bronzong. After he Explodes out comes Clamperl. "lol" my opponents go. Not for long...

@ Deepseatooth
Quiet (+ Special Attack / - Speed)
252 Special Attack / 252 HP / 4 Defense

Surf
Ice Beam
HP Electric
Toxic

... then Clamperl OHKOs their pokemon. Then another. Then another... Finally Trick Room wears off, and my opponent better have something still alive that hits harder then a wall. If not Clamperl takes a hit, and kills again. "Clamperl weak" I say.

About the set.. STAB Surf coming off a special attack higher then Deoxys IN THE RAIN will rip apart anything not resistant. Even Blissey is 3HKOed by it. Ice Beam obviously massacres the dragons and HP Electric is for Gyarados and other bulky waters. Toxic is filler, as the three moves I listed are literally his only special attacking options. Toxic does, however, bring down his bulky water counters.

If I said all this without giving proof i'd be talking out of my ass. Here are some assaulty calculations.

All done on Metalkids. I'm going to ignore obvious OHKOs. Sweepers, most tanks, anything weak to Clamperl's attacks...

Blue numbers are damage in the rain. Black is without it.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Choice Band Metagross
71.42 - 84.06
107.13 - 126.09
Massive damage even without rain. OHKO with.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Wall Skarmory
94.62 - 111.38
141.93 - 167.07
Annihilation. Skarmory dies.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Bold 252 HP / 252 Defense Blissey
26.06 - 30.56
39.09 - 45.84
Respectable damage, but not enough to beat Blissey unless she's under 50% health and in the rain.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Bold 252 HP / 252 Defense Cresselia
43.24 - 50.90
64.86 - 76.35
Again, it won't OHKO. But Cresselia won't be doing anything back without Psychic. Charge Beam likely won't OHKO.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Careful 252 HP / 252 SD Snorlax
30.92 - 36.64
46.38 - 54.96
Snorlax barely 3HKOs back with Body Slam. Clamperl actually has a chance of winning.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Calm 252 HP / 252 SD Zapdos
48.44 - 56.78
72.66 - 85.17
Stealth Rocks help a lot here.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Sassy 252 HP / 252 SD Bronzong
46.12 - 54.44
69.18 - 81.66
Bronzong can do almost nothing in return with EQ and Gyro Ball. Assuming Sleep Clause is active of course. Well, Bronzong could explode...

-- Clamperl Surf vs Impish 252 HP / 252 Defense Dusknoir
63.26 - 74.14
94.89 - 111.21
Rain really is important for some OHKOs. Stealth Rocks help them stay that way.

-- Clamperl Surf vs Relaxed 252 HP / 252 Defense Swampert
64.36 - 75.74
96.54 - 113.61
This one is important. OHKOing a Swampert is no small feat. Slaughtering one of the bulkiest pokemon in the game shows how you must either resist Surf, or pack massive amounts of Special Defence EVs to ward off the clam. That, or you die. This is also why HP Grass is useless on Clamperl.

Now for Ice Beam. No rain damage calculations here, obviously.

-- Clamperl Ice Beam vs Bold 252 HP / 252 Defense Celebi
78.72 - 92.58
It can OHKO with Stealth Rocks down. Unlikely though. Sadly Clamperl is heavy enough to take 80 base Grass Knot damage. Celebi is a bad thing unless its weakened to about 80-85%.

-- Clamperl Ice Beam vs Impish 252 Hp / 252 Defense Tangrowth
135.64 - 159.40
lol. It shouldn't surprise you.

-- Clamperl Ice Beam vs Jolly Swords Dance Garchomp
203.92 - 239.78
Yache Berry won't even save them.

OHKO on all dragons, and for the most part everything else weak to Ice Beam. For Ice Beam to be used over Surf, your opponent must resist water and be weak to ice. STABed Rain Danced Surfs get a 2.25 boost. Super effective Ice Beam only gets a 2x boost. Thats why the Ice Beam list is so small. I guess HP Electric next.

-- Clamperl HP Electric vs Adamant 252 HP / 252 Defense Gyarados
119.80 - 141.12
I actually forgot the bulkydos spread. OHKOs this at least, which is defensive overkill.

-- Clamperl HP Electric vs Bold 252 HP / 252 Defense Vaporeon
53.02 - 62.50
I consider this a counter. It can come in as a revenge kill and stall with Wish / Protect or kill with HP Electric (lol or even Surf). This is why I like Toxic as a final move.

-- Clamperl HP Electric vs Timid 212 HP spinner Starmie
85.98 - 101.28
Actually a lot more then I though. Usually OHKO with Stealth Rocks.

-- Clamperl HP Electric vs Calm 252 HP / 252 SD Tentacruel
41.76 - 49.46
Tentacruel is arguably the best counter next to Blissey, as everything else risks a 2HKO.

-- Clamperl HP Electric vs Bold 252 HP / 252 Defense CM Suicune
51.98 - 61.38
Heavy damage.

Now defense calculations! This might sound useless, but priority moves and random walls are occasionally unable to OHKO. These pokemon are annihilated. Lets look at some of the popular ones...

Clamperl is a little bulkier then you might expect. That 85 base defense brings it a long way.

-- 252 Attack Adamant Life Orb Lucario Extremespeed vs Clamperl
46.72 - 54.74
It actually has a chance of surviving a Swords Danced Extremespeed.

-- 252 HP / 252 SD Careful Snorlax Body Slam vs Clamperl
41.97 - 49.27
lol 3HKO. As long as i'm not screwed by paraylasis Snorlax has no chance.

-- 252 Attack Jolly Choice Band Weavile Ice Shard vs Clamperl
19.71 - 22.99
Skarmory would be proud.

-- 252 HP / 252 Defense Impish Skarmory Brave Bird vs Clamperl
45.26 - 53.28
Actually Skarmory would be pissed. This is only assuming Trick Room is down and Clamperl's opponent is running out of "counters".

-- 252 Attack Adamant Choice Band Metagross Meteor Mash vs Clamperl
69.34 - 81.39
lol it survives. Even without Trick Room Clamperl won't be a total burden to the team.

 

[Bam]

Actually, Fire/Ground isn't as "rare" as you think, due to Bronzong and Heatran, which necessitate either/or, and are often used with the Dragons (think DDNite/Mence, ChainChomp).

Those calcs are pretty impressive, though. I would just be worried about priority moves, though, especially since the common ones (Bullet Punch, Vaccuum Wave) hit it super-effective (it's Ice/Water, right?).

 

[Foxfish]

It's pure water, as it evolves into Gorebyss, who is also pure water. So it resists steel attacks.

Can it survive hits from Hera, Gyara, Infernape(fire attack), and Heatran(fire attack)?
Among others, how much does it do to Regice? And for UU, how does it fare against Hypno, Vileplume, Meganium, and Grumpig? I might try it out in UU first. ;)

Oh, and what's its ability? Does it have...um...Swift Swim?

 

[Mr Nude]

Actually, Fire/Ground isn't as "rare" as you think, due to Bronzong and Heatran, which necessitate either/or, and are often used with the Dragons (think DDNite/Mence, ChainChomp).

Those calcs are pretty impressive, though. I would just be worried about priority moves, though, especially since the common ones (Bullet Punch, Vaccuum Wave) hit it super-effective (it's Ice/Water, right?).

Its pure water.

Can it survive hits from Hera, Gyara, Infernape(fire attack), and Heatran(fire attack)?

Its unlikely, but with trick Room support it outruns and OHKOs all of them.

Among others, how much does it do to Regice? And for UU, how does it fare against Hypno, Vileplume, Meganium, and Grumpig? I might try it out in UU first. ;)

Judging from the calculations above, Hypno and Grumpig are 2HKOed if not outright OHKOed. Vileplume and Meganium are annihilated. I don't think he can do much to Regice though.

Oh, and what's its ability?

The block critical hits ability. Shell Armor or something.

 

[Aipom]

Clamperl is really ass slow, but in a trick room team, it may have some use.
Why would you not just use Gorebyss?
Granted it's not as high Sp.att, but it's bulkier and can actually take advantage of Swift swim.
This can't be said about Clammy:(

 

[Mr Nude]

Clamperl is really ass slow, but in a trick room team, it may have some use.

The point of this is to use it in a Trick Room team.

Why would you not just use Gorebyss?
Granted it's not as high Sp.att, but it's bulkier and can actually take advantage of Swift swim.

It still won't outrun as much or hit as hard. Its still not really bulky, and just gets walled even harder.

This can't be said about Clammy:(

It can in Trick Room / Rain Dance... Although Gorebyss takes much less setup, its next to useless against a bulky water. It most likely won't OHKO Starmie with HP Electric.

 

[RaikouLover]

Did you guys even read his post??? Some of you need to read everything before posting, seriously. The point was its a Trick Room sweeper, and I can say this set is dangerously potent. Trick Room is bad enough, but this thing can really leave a hole in your team. It made me say WTF when I was swept by one!

 

[Mr Nude]

Did you guys even read his post??? Some of you need to read everything before posting, seriously. The point was its a Trick Room sweeper, and I can say this set is dangerously potent. Trick Room is bad enough, but this thing can really leave a hole in your team. It made me say WTF when I was swept by one!

Were you playing against Anal Impact? That was me.

 

[maddog]

I think that Heatproof isn't really necessary on this set, as Rain Dance already eliminates his Fire weakness. Might as well keep the ability to switch into EQs

 

[Bentendo1]

Clamperl is a very viable option in doubles as well, although you probably wanna run Protect over Toxic to Protect while Zong starts up the Trick Room. With that, you probably want to make it go after Bronzong in TR, so make it faster than Bronzong, so it can set up Rain Dance first, although even Bronzong won't appreciate a Surf from it


From personal use, I've found that Trick Room is often too hard to get in your sweeper to perform the sweep, and it can only sweep for a certain amount of turns before it's fucked over by the dimensions coming back to normal :\

So that limits your TR starters to have either Explosion (Zong is a good TR starter), U-Turn, or Baton Pass, unless you want to risk something like Clamperl taking a hit. That's what made me give up on Trick Room. But if you can pull it off, hey, be my guest.

 

[Mr Nude]

I think that Heatproof isn't really necessary on this set, as Rain Dance already eliminates his Fire weakness. Might as well keep the ability to switch into EQs

I guess thats fine. I used Bronzong as a lead on shoddy. It wasn't really a team just the Bronzong / Clamperl combo. If everything went well the score would end up as 5-2 once Trick Room ended.

In other words, my Bronzong was just an example.

 

[Ambitions]

First off, T-Tar, Hippowdon, and Obamasnow, all in the top 11 leads fuck this over with out even thinking twice. So I would recomend Modest nature on B-zong with Grassknot and 224 Sp Att evs so its can always 3hko and 2hko 252hp/0sp def t-tar/hippo.

Second off. This kinda stuff isn't super easy to pull off, and if B-zong eats it, you basically have a wasted slot on your party, so make sure you pair this with other Rain Dancers.

Impressive damage calcs.

 

[Kijin]

First off, T-Tar, Hippowdon, and Obamasnow, all in the top 11 leads fuck this over with out even thinking twice. So I would recomend Modest nature on B-zong with Grassknot and 224 Sp Att evs so its can always 3hko and 2hko 252hp/0sp def t-tar/hippo.

Second off. This kinda stuff isn't super easy to pull off, and if B-zong eats it, you basically have a wasted slot on your party, so make sure you pair this with other Rain Dancers.

Impressive damage calcs.

Surf-
Hippowdon: Damage: 74.05% - 87.14%
Tyranitar: Damage: 59.16% - 69.55%
Abomasnow: Damage: 21.12% - 24.84%

Ice Beam-
Hippowdon: Damage: 49.52% - 58.10%
Tyranitar: Damage: 19.80% - 23.27%
Abomasnow: Damage: 28.26% - 33.23%


HP Electric-
Hippowdon: -immune-
Tyranitar: Damage: 14.60% - 17.33%
Abomasnow: Damage: 8.85% - 10.42%

The only attack any of the "counters" you listed can effectively switch in on is HP Electric. Hippowdon is 2hko'd after any non-HP Electric attack, Tyranitar is 2hko'd under Stealth Rock most of the time, and Abomasnow effectively walls Clampearl. Aside from getting rid of some OHKO's under Rain, I don't think switching TTar or Hippowdon into Clampearl to try and counter it is an effective strategy unless the trick room is down/ends the turn they come in.

 

[Ambitions]

They would switch in on Bronzong though, not Clamperl. Is there anything out there that can U-turn, Trick Room and Raindance? Jirachi?

 

[Hawkings 11]

Cool set. I always like creative stuff. Who would expect to get hit by a Clamperl sweep? The calculations are impressive. I would, of course, save Clamperl until mid to late game, until you know what your opponent has or some of his or her pokemon are down. If there are any outright counters to Clamperl I would destroy them right away with another pokemon (this goes for walls too), instead of trying to deal with them with Clamperl.

 

[Bentendo1]

They would switch in on Bronzong though, not Clamperl. Is there anything out there that can U-turn, Trick Room and Raindance? Jirachi?

I know Mr. Mime can TR, Rain Dance, and Baton Pass. I believe the pixies have access to TR, Rain Dance, and U-Turn.

Bronzong can also TR, Rain Dance, and then just Explode and then Clamperl can safely switch in to sweep.

Also, would you really switch in a T-Tar on Bronzong? O_o

 

[Chou Toshio]

This looks pretty sweet to me. Finally a use for my near-flawless Brave Heatproof Bronzong. xD

@Ambitions-- imo, as long as bronzong gets raindance + trick room going (which he probably can accomplish, especially since no one will earthquake right away), he doesn't need to explod. In fact, it's BETTER if Bronzong gets killed the same turn he sets up TR (assuming you Rdance first). Clamperl will come in and rape. Abama seems like he could pose a problem for clamperl though, resisting all but ice beam. Hopefully zong gets to blow up on it.

 

[Kijin]

They would switch in on Bronzong though, not Clamperl. Is there anything out there that can U-turn, Trick Room and Raindance? Jirachi?

But even still, Bronzong still gets the TR off and can, if it doesn't want to GyroBall or do other zany things (or just Rain Dance again) or Explode. If they switch into any of those, you still have Explosion to fall back on (if they didn't switch in on the Explosion). Either way, you have one dented-up physical wall coming into a Deoxys-strong sweeper under a trick room moving slower than Bronzong.

And what is Abomasnow going to do against Bronzong? Get blown up? Put to sleep? You get the weather change, but none of those guys are effectively countering the Clamperl that follows it and, from the damage calcs ITT, nothing is doing very well to come in even with non-Raindance support on the switch, as everything except Blissey, Tentacruel, Snorlax and water types on Surf can't effectively switch into Clamperl.

 

[Chou Toshio]

Off to breed a clamperl. xD

Only regret is that deepseatooth is not light orb. If Clamp's physical attack got boosted as well, it would be super sick . . . I mean, if would have bigger attack than Azumarril if that were the case. :(

 

[Bentendo1]

Off to breed a clamperl. xD

Only regret is that deepseatooth is not light orb. If Clamp's physical attack got boosted as well, it would be super sick . . . I mean, if would have bigger attack than Azumarril if that were the case. :(

If its physical attack got boosted, it would probably be one of the premier wall breakers of D/P, since it can hurt Bliss too. It might even get an analysis on the strategy dex then. :P

And hi Chou.

 

[Chou Toshio]

If its physical attack got boosted, it would probably be one of the premier wall breakers of D/P, since it can hurt Bliss too. It might even get an analysis on the strategy dex then. :P

And hi Chou.

xD lol . . . hey, it might get it's own page just from this. Pikachu has it's own page after all.

Hi Ben :D

 

[Bentendo1]

xD lol . . . hey, it might get it's own page just from this. Pikachu has it's own page after all.

Hi Ben :D

Yeah, I was kinda wondering why Clamperl didn't have its own page, probably one of the best sweepers there is in TR

I don't wanna get sidetracked, so I'll PM you ok? lol

 

[Sunday]

If you could do decent damage to Blissey it would be nice but now even 2HKOing one of the most common Pokemon in OU is a big problem.

EDIT: iirc my old thread partner Slice had one of these, but I've never tried it out myself.
*waits for Slice to post*

 

[phalanx]

only drawback is the current abundance of priority moves useage, used in conjunction with power swap shuckle though 2 sweepers in trick room, it seems rather nasty

 

[Aki]

Marowak seems to be a better TR sweeper, with a higher attack stat with Thick Club.

[/ProMaro]

Either way this is cool. I don't like how that the rain is absolutely crucial to getting the OHKO's: You say that you RD then TR then go boom. You've only got 2 turns of Rain left, and 3 turns of TR, and then you're potentially left without a RDTrick Roomer. It seems to be a huge waste of time and effort to set up, but i can see the sheer surprise and "WTFLOLZ" Factor just overwhelming people.