[OVERVIEW]
Claydol plays a fundamental role in ADV OU as one of the best spinners in the metagame. Spinning away Spikes is a great source of support for its teammates, and having a spinner that is immune to Spikes like Claydol is a godsend for many teams. Furthermore, Claydol's immunity to sand and good defensive typing raise its profile as a spinner, despite Starmie's higher Speed and ability to pressure Skarmory. Claydol also packs a Rock resistance and a Ground immunity that allow it to pivot into common attacks like Rock Slide and Earthquake from the likes of Tyranitar and Aerodactyl, and its Electric immunity is handy for pivoting into Thunderbolt from Zapdos and Jolteon.
However, Claydol's lack of a recovery move means it cannot take repeated hits from attacks like Tyranitar's Hidden Power Bug, Zapdos's Hidden Power Grass, and Aerodactyl's Double-Edge. Additionally, despite Claydol's good defensive typing, it cannot threaten back a lot of the Pokemon that it's supposed to check without committing to Explosion. Furthermore, it tends to lose momentum when it goes for a Rapid Spin, as six glaring weaknesses to common attacking types like Water, Ice, Grass, and Bug mean it can be taken advantage by threats such as Heracross and offensive Water types, and it's often forced to blow up to prevent setup from threats like Calm Mind Celebi and Calm Mind Suicune. Additionally, Claydol can't make progress by switching directly into the opposing Spiker if it's Cloyster, Hidden Power Bug Forretress, or Drill Peck Skarmory, as it will be forced out, leaving at least one layer of Spikes on the field; however, against Toxic + Protect Skarmory it can stay in safely as long as it has Refresh.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Explosion / Refresh
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
============
Rapid Spin separates Claydol from the other Ground-types in OU, as spinning away Spikes is Claydol's main source of support for the team. STAB Earthquake can 2HKO Tyranitar, Jirachi, and most Metagross; additionally, Claydol can threaten Gengar if it dares to spinblock with its STAB Psychic, which can also be used to chip a Heracross or a Breloom attempting to switch in.
Explosion gives Claydol some much-needed utility as a wallbreaker and also helps it to check offensive threats by preventing them from freely setting up in its face. In fact, every Pokemon that doesn't resist Explosion has to be fearful of its threat, including setup sweepers like Suicune and Snorlax, as well as walls like Blissey, Celebi, and Milotic and offensive threats like Zapdos, Moltres, and Salamence; however, make sure to use Explosion wisely against Spikes teams, because by losing your only spinner you will leave yourself open to common Spikes attackers such as Jolteon and Aerodactyl. Refresh is an alternative when Claydol is used on stall teams that can't make good use of Explosion, allowing it to spin safely against Toxic + Protect Skarmory without fear of getting poisoned and being very useful for pivoting into status spreaders like Toxic Blissey and Zapdos, as well as Body Slam Jirachi. Shadow Ball is an alternative to Psychic, as it hits opposing Claydol for super effective damage, but it fails to beat Will-O-Wisp Gengar; note that Refresh is not a reliable solution to the burn, as Gengar can pressure Claydol with Taunt.
Claydol isn't normally very threatening, but this set is more offensively minded than others, with enough offensive investment to hurt key threats in OU such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi, and Gengar with its STAB attacks. 216 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature allow Claydol to always 2HKO maximum HP Tyranitar with Earthquake and hit hard with Explosion, while 32 Special Attack EVs guarantee the 2HKO of specially defensive Gengar in sand with Psychic. If using Shadow Ball instead of Psychic, one should put the Special Attack EVs in Attack for even greater damage output. Alternatively, Claydol can run a faster spread of 28 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 232 Spe; this is more suited for offensive teams that want to outspeed and cripple offensive Swampert and maximum Speed Tyranitar. Another common spread for Claydol is 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD with a Relaxed nature, which maximizes Claydol's resilience as a pivot into physical threats like Tyranitar and Aerodactyl; note that you should always pair this Claydol with Dugtrio, as otherwise Pursuit Tyranitar can be a problem.
It's important to preserve Claydol's health as much as possible, taking advantage of its resistances and immunities in order to spin multiple times throughout the game. Note that because Taunt + Toxic or Drill Peck Skarmory will eventually force Claydol out, one should not attempt to switch Claydol in on Skarmory to spin a single layer of Spikes, unless Skarmory runs Toxic + Protect and Claydol runs Refresh or Skarmory is seeded or burned. In circumstances where Skarmory will eventually force out Claydol, one should instead send it in only to spin away two or three layers of Spikes.
Team Options
===========
Claydol is featured as a spinner on stall teams that are frequently running the tried-and-true SkarmBliss defensive core; Claydol's Rock resistance is very helpful because it lets the team forgo Swampert as the default bulky Water-type, freeing up the slot for Milotic or Suicune. This setup of Claydol + Water-type is very sturdy against all sorts of mixed attackers and is still solid against all Dragon Dance Tyranitar variants. Most often these teams feature Tyranitar to set sand, although this compromises Suicune's and Milotic's bulk. On these stall teams Claydol really enjoys being paired with Dugtrio, as the combined effort of the two manages to take on even Hidden Power Bug versions of Dragon Dance Tyranitar more easily; Dugtrio is also important to trap and revenge kill Heracross, as Claydol stall teams tend to be very weak to it. Wish support from Blissey, Jirachi, or Vaporeon is greatly appreciated, as it allows Claydol to absorb more damage and survive longer throughout the game. Heal Bell support is also sometimes seen, allowing Claydol to ditch Refresh.
Claydol is also featured on teams that are trying to set up a bulky sweeper that will cleave through the opposition with the right support. The most common bulky sweepers paired with Claydol are Curse Snorlax, Calm Mind + Rest Suicune, and Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi. All these threats like having Claydol as a partner because of their shared weakness to Spikes, which will slowly compromise their bulk and consequently their ability to sweep. On teams with Curse Snorlax, Claydol is always paired with Magneton, as the removal of Skarmory is necessary for Snorlax to sweep. The removal of Skarmory as a Spiker is also nice to make sure that Claydol can spin freely without fearing that Skarmory will set up Spikes again. Magneton also helps Claydol by trapping Forretress, which otherwise can be a real nuisance, especially if it's packing Hidden Power Bug. When Claydol is paired with Dugtrio, which can trap Tyranitar and Metagross, Curse Snorlax tends to run Shadow Ball as its coverage move; alternatively, when Claydol is paired with a Pursuit trapper to trap Gengar, Snorlax can ditch Shadow Ball in favor of Earthquake or Hidden Power Bug, and Claydol can spin more freely without the threat of Gengar spinblocking it. Besides spinning, Claydol provides a much-needed Rock-type resistance, as Magneton doesn't really count for this, and a Ground immunity, as most of its partners are grounded and vulnerable to Earthquake spam.
Claydol teams supporting Calm Mind + Rest Suicune work very similarly; Claydol still enjoys being paired with Magneton, as Skarmory's phazing can be very annoying, but it also likes being paired with Dugtrio, as it allows Suicune to stay healthy for the end-game without having to take on Tyranitar and Metagross and helps deal with Celebi and Blissey so that Suicune is no longer walled. Claydol can also support Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi; this time it doesn't get paired with Magneton, as the team has enough special offense to take it on. Dugtrio, on the other hand, is a good partner, as Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi struggles against Tyranitar and Metagross. Alternatively, Skarmory can lay Spikes to help wear down Tyranitar and Metagross over the course of the game. When Claydol is supporting Curse Snorlax or Calm Mind + Rest Suicune, it doesn't generally pair with Tyranitar, as sand cancelling Leftovers of the bulky sweepers drastically reduces their longevity; for this reason, a weather-changing move is sometimes slotted on one of the team members—Rain Dance on Magneton, for example. Finally, it's worth noting that these archetypes tend to struggle against Cloyster, since it cannot be trapped by Magneton and threatens Claydol when it tries to spin.
As far as offensive teams go, Claydol can sometimes fit on mixed offense, where it provides Rapid Spin support for its teammates and is chosen as a spinner over Starmie because of its strong Explosion and helpful Rock resistance. This archetype is often referred to as "Skarm beatdown" because it is trying to lure in Skarmory, bring it down with repeated chip damage, then spin away its remaining Spikes. Given the higher pace of play, Claydol tends to run a more offensive spread with more Speed EVs over bulk, with the intention of spinning only once throughout the game. Common partners in this archetype are mixed Metagross, mixed Salamence, Focus Punch Snorlax, offensive Celebi, Zapdos, offensive Suicune, and Dragon Dance Tyranitar. Here Claydol serves as a good defensive pivot with its Rock, Ground, and Electric resistances, as well as a wallbreaker with its powerful Explosion; this is very important because it allows Claydol to threaten common walls like Celebi, Blissey, and Milotic, which are all very difficult to deal otherwise. Since the roles of wallbreaker, defensive pivot, and spinner are all compressed into one, Claydol benefits greatly from Pursuit support, as it allows Claydol to perform its roles better in the face of a Gengar. Pursuit Metagross is a good option that puts Gengar in range of Claydol's Psychic while still having a good offensive presence compared to Pursuit Tyranitar.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
==========
Ice Beam can be run in order to better deal with the Dragon-types Salamence and Flygon, but it generally is not worth giving up another move for it. The same goes for Hidden Power Fire and Toxic; one could say that Claydol is a good example of four-moveslot syndrome for this very reason.
Checks and Counters
==============
Claydol's offensive presence outside of Explosion is so minimal that there's no shortage of defensive checks for it.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types stand out as the best defensive checks, as they don't fear any of Claydol's attacks; meanwhile, they threaten it with super effective damage but need to watch out for Explosion ending the turn and putting them in KO range of a follow-up sweeper.
**Gengar**: Gengar is the only spinblocker in OU and can threaten Claydol with status or super effective attacks, but since it doesn't want to switch into Psychic or Shadow Ball, good prediction is required for it to successfully spinblock Claydol. If Gengar happens to switch freely on a Rapid Spin, remember that Ice Punch and Giga Drain hurt Claydol considerably, on top of the threat of Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis, Destiny Bond and Explosion; this means that Claydol shouldn't try to stay in and push its luck against Gengar but instead just plan to keep wearing it down as it switches in.
**Pursuit**: Pursuit trappers are also quite annoying for Claydol to face because they can inflict chip damage every time it switches out; Umbreon is the most annoying of the bunch because it doesn't fear any of Claydol's attacks. The combination of a Pursuit trapper, a Spiker, and a spinblocker is the toughest one for Claydol to beat, with a single mistake possibly deciding the outcome of the Spikes war.
**Spikers**: Finally, it's worth pointing out that, despite Claydol's main asset being to spin away Spikes, it cannot meaningfully hurt the Spikers themselves; Drill Peck Skarmory can take any of Claydol's attacks and force it out with repeated chip damage, while Taunt + Toxic Skarmory can keep even Refresh Claydol poisoned. Claydol also faces similar issues dealing with Cloyster.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[mikmer, 511989]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [Triangles, 118250]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Rabia, 336073]]
Claydol plays a fundamental role in ADV OU as one of the best spinners in the metagame. Spinning away Spikes is a great source of support for its teammates, and having a spinner that is immune to Spikes like Claydol is a godsend for many teams. Furthermore, Claydol's immunity to sand and good defensive typing raise its profile as a spinner, despite Starmie's higher Speed and ability to pressure Skarmory. Claydol also packs a Rock resistance and a Ground immunity that allow it to pivot into common attacks like Rock Slide and Earthquake from the likes of Tyranitar and Aerodactyl, and its Electric immunity is handy for pivoting into Thunderbolt from Zapdos and Jolteon.
However, Claydol's lack of a recovery move means it cannot take repeated hits from attacks like Tyranitar's Hidden Power Bug, Zapdos's Hidden Power Grass, and Aerodactyl's Double-Edge. Additionally, despite Claydol's good defensive typing, it cannot threaten back a lot of the Pokemon that it's supposed to check without committing to Explosion. Furthermore, it tends to lose momentum when it goes for a Rapid Spin, as six glaring weaknesses to common attacking types like Water, Ice, Grass, and Bug mean it can be taken advantage by threats such as Heracross and offensive Water types, and it's often forced to blow up to prevent setup from threats like Calm Mind Celebi and Calm Mind Suicune. Additionally, Claydol can't make progress by switching directly into the opposing Spiker if it's Cloyster, Hidden Power Bug Forretress, or Drill Peck Skarmory, as it will be forced out, leaving at least one layer of Spikes on the field; however, against Toxic + Protect Skarmory it can stay in safely as long as it has Refresh.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Explosion / Refresh
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 8 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
============
Rapid Spin separates Claydol from the other Ground-types in OU, as spinning away Spikes is Claydol's main source of support for the team. STAB Earthquake can 2HKO Tyranitar, Jirachi, and most Metagross; additionally, Claydol can threaten Gengar if it dares to spinblock with its STAB Psychic, which can also be used to chip a Heracross or a Breloom attempting to switch in.
Explosion gives Claydol some much-needed utility as a wallbreaker and also helps it to check offensive threats by preventing them from freely setting up in its face. In fact, every Pokemon that doesn't resist Explosion has to be fearful of its threat, including setup sweepers like Suicune and Snorlax, as well as walls like Blissey, Celebi, and Milotic and offensive threats like Zapdos, Moltres, and Salamence; however, make sure to use Explosion wisely against Spikes teams, because by losing your only spinner you will leave yourself open to common Spikes attackers such as Jolteon and Aerodactyl. Refresh is an alternative when Claydol is used on stall teams that can't make good use of Explosion, allowing it to spin safely against Toxic + Protect Skarmory without fear of getting poisoned and being very useful for pivoting into status spreaders like Toxic Blissey and Zapdos, as well as Body Slam Jirachi. Shadow Ball is an alternative to Psychic, as it hits opposing Claydol for super effective damage, but it fails to beat Will-O-Wisp Gengar; note that Refresh is not a reliable solution to the burn, as Gengar can pressure Claydol with Taunt.
Claydol isn't normally very threatening, but this set is more offensively minded than others, with enough offensive investment to hurt key threats in OU such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi, and Gengar with its STAB attacks. 216 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature allow Claydol to always 2HKO maximum HP Tyranitar with Earthquake and hit hard with Explosion, while 32 Special Attack EVs guarantee the 2HKO of specially defensive Gengar in sand with Psychic. If using Shadow Ball instead of Psychic, one should put the Special Attack EVs in Attack for even greater damage output. Alternatively, Claydol can run a faster spread of 28 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 232 Spe; this is more suited for offensive teams that want to outspeed and cripple offensive Swampert and maximum Speed Tyranitar. Another common spread for Claydol is 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD with a Relaxed nature, which maximizes Claydol's resilience as a pivot into physical threats like Tyranitar and Aerodactyl; note that you should always pair this Claydol with Dugtrio, as otherwise Pursuit Tyranitar can be a problem.
It's important to preserve Claydol's health as much as possible, taking advantage of its resistances and immunities in order to spin multiple times throughout the game. Note that because Taunt + Toxic or Drill Peck Skarmory will eventually force Claydol out, one should not attempt to switch Claydol in on Skarmory to spin a single layer of Spikes, unless Skarmory runs Toxic + Protect and Claydol runs Refresh or Skarmory is seeded or burned. In circumstances where Skarmory will eventually force out Claydol, one should instead send it in only to spin away two or three layers of Spikes.
Team Options
===========
Claydol is featured as a spinner on stall teams that are frequently running the tried-and-true SkarmBliss defensive core; Claydol's Rock resistance is very helpful because it lets the team forgo Swampert as the default bulky Water-type, freeing up the slot for Milotic or Suicune. This setup of Claydol + Water-type is very sturdy against all sorts of mixed attackers and is still solid against all Dragon Dance Tyranitar variants. Most often these teams feature Tyranitar to set sand, although this compromises Suicune's and Milotic's bulk. On these stall teams Claydol really enjoys being paired with Dugtrio, as the combined effort of the two manages to take on even Hidden Power Bug versions of Dragon Dance Tyranitar more easily; Dugtrio is also important to trap and revenge kill Heracross, as Claydol stall teams tend to be very weak to it. Wish support from Blissey, Jirachi, or Vaporeon is greatly appreciated, as it allows Claydol to absorb more damage and survive longer throughout the game. Heal Bell support is also sometimes seen, allowing Claydol to ditch Refresh.
Claydol is also featured on teams that are trying to set up a bulky sweeper that will cleave through the opposition with the right support. The most common bulky sweepers paired with Claydol are Curse Snorlax, Calm Mind + Rest Suicune, and Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi. All these threats like having Claydol as a partner because of their shared weakness to Spikes, which will slowly compromise their bulk and consequently their ability to sweep. On teams with Curse Snorlax, Claydol is always paired with Magneton, as the removal of Skarmory is necessary for Snorlax to sweep. The removal of Skarmory as a Spiker is also nice to make sure that Claydol can spin freely without fearing that Skarmory will set up Spikes again. Magneton also helps Claydol by trapping Forretress, which otherwise can be a real nuisance, especially if it's packing Hidden Power Bug. When Claydol is paired with Dugtrio, which can trap Tyranitar and Metagross, Curse Snorlax tends to run Shadow Ball as its coverage move; alternatively, when Claydol is paired with a Pursuit trapper to trap Gengar, Snorlax can ditch Shadow Ball in favor of Earthquake or Hidden Power Bug, and Claydol can spin more freely without the threat of Gengar spinblocking it. Besides spinning, Claydol provides a much-needed Rock-type resistance, as Magneton doesn't really count for this, and a Ground immunity, as most of its partners are grounded and vulnerable to Earthquake spam.
Claydol teams supporting Calm Mind + Rest Suicune work very similarly; Claydol still enjoys being paired with Magneton, as Skarmory's phazing can be very annoying, but it also likes being paired with Dugtrio, as it allows Suicune to stay healthy for the end-game without having to take on Tyranitar and Metagross and helps deal with Celebi and Blissey so that Suicune is no longer walled. Claydol can also support Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi; this time it doesn't get paired with Magneton, as the team has enough special offense to take it on. Dugtrio, on the other hand, is a good partner, as Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi struggles against Tyranitar and Metagross. Alternatively, Skarmory can lay Spikes to help wear down Tyranitar and Metagross over the course of the game. When Claydol is supporting Curse Snorlax or Calm Mind + Rest Suicune, it doesn't generally pair with Tyranitar, as sand cancelling Leftovers of the bulky sweepers drastically reduces their longevity; for this reason, a weather-changing move is sometimes slotted on one of the team members—Rain Dance on Magneton, for example. Finally, it's worth noting that these archetypes tend to struggle against Cloyster, since it cannot be trapped by Magneton and threatens Claydol when it tries to spin.
As far as offensive teams go, Claydol can sometimes fit on mixed offense, where it provides Rapid Spin support for its teammates and is chosen as a spinner over Starmie because of its strong Explosion and helpful Rock resistance. This archetype is often referred to as "Skarm beatdown" because it is trying to lure in Skarmory, bring it down with repeated chip damage, then spin away its remaining Spikes. Given the higher pace of play, Claydol tends to run a more offensive spread with more Speed EVs over bulk, with the intention of spinning only once throughout the game. Common partners in this archetype are mixed Metagross, mixed Salamence, Focus Punch Snorlax, offensive Celebi, Zapdos, offensive Suicune, and Dragon Dance Tyranitar. Here Claydol serves as a good defensive pivot with its Rock, Ground, and Electric resistances, as well as a wallbreaker with its powerful Explosion; this is very important because it allows Claydol to threaten common walls like Celebi, Blissey, and Milotic, which are all very difficult to deal otherwise. Since the roles of wallbreaker, defensive pivot, and spinner are all compressed into one, Claydol benefits greatly from Pursuit support, as it allows Claydol to perform its roles better in the face of a Gengar. Pursuit Metagross is a good option that puts Gengar in range of Claydol's Psychic while still having a good offensive presence compared to Pursuit Tyranitar.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
==========
Ice Beam can be run in order to better deal with the Dragon-types Salamence and Flygon, but it generally is not worth giving up another move for it. The same goes for Hidden Power Fire and Toxic; one could say that Claydol is a good example of four-moveslot syndrome for this very reason.
Checks and Counters
==============
Claydol's offensive presence outside of Explosion is so minimal that there's no shortage of defensive checks for it.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types stand out as the best defensive checks, as they don't fear any of Claydol's attacks; meanwhile, they threaten it with super effective damage but need to watch out for Explosion ending the turn and putting them in KO range of a follow-up sweeper.
**Gengar**: Gengar is the only spinblocker in OU and can threaten Claydol with status or super effective attacks, but since it doesn't want to switch into Psychic or Shadow Ball, good prediction is required for it to successfully spinblock Claydol. If Gengar happens to switch freely on a Rapid Spin, remember that Ice Punch and Giga Drain hurt Claydol considerably, on top of the threat of Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis, Destiny Bond and Explosion; this means that Claydol shouldn't try to stay in and push its luck against Gengar but instead just plan to keep wearing it down as it switches in.
**Pursuit**: Pursuit trappers are also quite annoying for Claydol to face because they can inflict chip damage every time it switches out; Umbreon is the most annoying of the bunch because it doesn't fear any of Claydol's attacks. The combination of a Pursuit trapper, a Spiker, and a spinblocker is the toughest one for Claydol to beat, with a single mistake possibly deciding the outcome of the Spikes war.
**Spikers**: Finally, it's worth pointing out that, despite Claydol's main asset being to spin away Spikes, it cannot meaningfully hurt the Spikers themselves; Drill Peck Skarmory can take any of Claydol's attacks and force it out with repeated chip damage, while Taunt + Toxic Skarmory can keep even Refresh Claydol poisoned. Claydol also faces similar issues dealing with Cloyster.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[mikmer, 511989]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [Triangles, 118250]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Rabia, 336073]]
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