He's NU, and looking at his stats, rightfully so. It's unfortunate that lower tiers have so few steel Pokemon, especially for my team which tries to earn a late game sweep with a Ludicolo in UU. I know he's outclassed by Registeel (Legendaries turn me off for some stupid reason), I know that Ludicolo can take the ground and water moves thrown at Steelix (who has access to Explosion and gets STAB with Earthquake), but Goddamn it, I love this little bastard and he's fun to use.
Mawile @ Choice Band w/ Intimidate
Careful
252 HP/252 Sp Def
Iron Head
Sucker Punch/Payback
Ice Punch/Thunder Punch/Rock Slide
Brick Break/Rock Slide
With 252 HP/252 Sp Def, he's as specially bulky as possible, and Intimidate makes it so the 252 evs in HP cover his physical defense. I wanted to make him as bulky as possible while still dealing a little bit of damage, so I opted for the Choice Band, though leftovers could be viable, as his HP maxed with EVs and IVs makes his HP divisible by 16, maxing Leftovers recovery.
Iron Head is for STAB. Sucker Punch is for priority, which negates his horrible speed, but you don't want your opponent getting wise and realizing you're locked into it. Payback might be sweet since he's a slow fuck anyway, but SP is preferential. For the third slot I prefer Ice Punch over the other choices, since a lot of the Poison Pokemon that could give Ludicolo trouble if the rain runs out are also grass types, and it still takes care of the flying types and incoming ground types. Thunder Punch is there for Parahax but Ludicolo can generally counter the water types that come in against him, and Rock Slide takes care of incoming Charizard and Moltres that feel safer to switch in now that Ludi is back inside his Pokeball, as well as Bug types, although Mawile will probably never take advantage of the move's secondary flinch. The last move rounds it out, I generally find having both Ice Punch and Rock Slide to be the most helpful stopping more of Ludicolo's counters, but you never know when having an Fighting move will come in handy, in case he needs something to stop maybe other Steels or something for Kangaskhan who I just fucking hate.
The idea is simple enough. Once the opponent realizes that Ludicolo in rain is no joke, trys to revenge kill him or switches in, Mawile is on. He switches in to a Bug, Flying or Poison move, Intimidates and takes in resisted damage that he can hopefully hit back for at least neutral damage off of a CB with a respectable (decent is closer) 85 base attack. When an Earthquaker comes in or the threat is subdued, Ludicolo starts his job over again, hopefully finishing it before his good buddy bites the dust. Ludicolo's defenses are usually such that he doesn't mind taking neutral damage too much, so the only time his sweep is really threatened is when users of a Bug, Flying or Poison move come in anyway which Mawile resists, hopefully intimidating the attackers power down. His only real hindurance besides his shitty speed and special defense is his lack of a ground move, but you can use Brick Break for steels and Ludicolo can switch into EQ's and Surf the Fire and Ground Pok'emon that give Mawile trouble.
I realize that the set is nothing to write home about, but it's a little different than what's on his analysis page. I just want to maybe show everybody that with a little team support, the Steel type can make Mawile a good Pokemon that does more than suck and die. Although, yes he might be outclassed, and lord, does he still die.
Mawile @ Choice Band w/ Intimidate
Careful
252 HP/252 Sp Def
Iron Head
Sucker Punch/Payback
Ice Punch/Thunder Punch/Rock Slide
Brick Break/Rock Slide
With 252 HP/252 Sp Def, he's as specially bulky as possible, and Intimidate makes it so the 252 evs in HP cover his physical defense. I wanted to make him as bulky as possible while still dealing a little bit of damage, so I opted for the Choice Band, though leftovers could be viable, as his HP maxed with EVs and IVs makes his HP divisible by 16, maxing Leftovers recovery.
Iron Head is for STAB. Sucker Punch is for priority, which negates his horrible speed, but you don't want your opponent getting wise and realizing you're locked into it. Payback might be sweet since he's a slow fuck anyway, but SP is preferential. For the third slot I prefer Ice Punch over the other choices, since a lot of the Poison Pokemon that could give Ludicolo trouble if the rain runs out are also grass types, and it still takes care of the flying types and incoming ground types. Thunder Punch is there for Parahax but Ludicolo can generally counter the water types that come in against him, and Rock Slide takes care of incoming Charizard and Moltres that feel safer to switch in now that Ludi is back inside his Pokeball, as well as Bug types, although Mawile will probably never take advantage of the move's secondary flinch. The last move rounds it out, I generally find having both Ice Punch and Rock Slide to be the most helpful stopping more of Ludicolo's counters, but you never know when having an Fighting move will come in handy, in case he needs something to stop maybe other Steels or something for Kangaskhan who I just fucking hate.
The idea is simple enough. Once the opponent realizes that Ludicolo in rain is no joke, trys to revenge kill him or switches in, Mawile is on. He switches in to a Bug, Flying or Poison move, Intimidates and takes in resisted damage that he can hopefully hit back for at least neutral damage off of a CB with a respectable (decent is closer) 85 base attack. When an Earthquaker comes in or the threat is subdued, Ludicolo starts his job over again, hopefully finishing it before his good buddy bites the dust. Ludicolo's defenses are usually such that he doesn't mind taking neutral damage too much, so the only time his sweep is really threatened is when users of a Bug, Flying or Poison move come in anyway which Mawile resists, hopefully intimidating the attackers power down. His only real hindurance besides his shitty speed and special defense is his lack of a ground move, but you can use Brick Break for steels and Ludicolo can switch into EQ's and Surf the Fire and Ground Pok'emon that give Mawile trouble.
I realize that the set is nothing to write home about, but it's a little different than what's on his analysis page. I just want to maybe show everybody that with a little team support, the Steel type can make Mawile a good Pokemon that does more than suck and die. Although, yes he might be outclassed, and lord, does he still die.