[OVERVIEW]
Cloyster finds itself a nice role on hyper offense teams through its ability to compress both the ability to sweep and utility in the form of entry hazard removal provided by Rapid Spin. Shell Smash boosts allow Cloyster to threaten frailer offense teams as well as balance teams without sturdy Ice-resistant Pokemon with the coverage of Icicle Spear and Rock Blast. However, Cloyster's stats aside from its whopping Defense are rather mediocre when unboosted, leaving much to be desired. Cloyster finds itself in the very populated Speed tier of base 70 with other Pokemon such as Bisharp, Volcanion, and Metagross before it Mega Evolves. These three all resist Cloyster's Icicle Spear and serve as great checks to it. Cloyster also faces tough competition from Weavile as a physical Ice-type attacker, which serves a similar role in breaking opposing teams but has both a higher Speed and Attack stat.
[SET]
name: Shell Smash
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Icicle Spear
move 3: Rock Blast / Toxic Spikes
move 4: Rapid Spin / Toxic Spikes
item: Focus Sash / Mental Herb / King's Rock
ability: Skill Link
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Shell Smash is a non-negotiable move on Cloyster, allowing it to sweep teams late-game or break holes for its teammates early-game. Icicle Spear is another non-negotiable move, as it is far and away Cloyster's best STAB move with Skill Link, and it allows Cloyster to break through physically defensive Pokemon that are weak to Ice like Garchomp. Rock Blast prevents Cloyster from getting walled by common Water-type Pokemon like Volcanion due to the super effective hit and Rotom-W, which is 2HKOed after one round of Stealth Rock damage. Toxic Spikes is also a viable option, since it allows Cloyster to function as a suicide lead and support option, poisoning defensive Pokemon that match up well against hyper offense teams such as Hippowdon and Slowbro. Rapid Spin lets Cloyster function as an entry hazard remover for hyper offense teams, since it can freely use Rapid Spin on the Ground-types that are commonly used to set Stealth Rock due to its massive Defense stat, its Ice-type STAB move, and the threat of Shell Smash.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and Speed EVs guarantee that Cloyster makes the most out of Shell Smash. An Adamant nature is run to maximise Cloyster's damage, since it's faster than the entire metagame after a boost from Shell Smash. However, Jolly should be run when using it on teams that need the extra Speed before Shell Smash, outspeeding and KOing defensive Zapdos and Garchomp, or when running Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin to make Cloyster a better support Pokemon. Running Focus Sash allows Cloyster to survive powerful special attacks from full HP such as Leaf Storm from Serperior and Flamethrower from Volcanion to guarantee at least one turn to set up with Shell Smash, which is invaluable in offense versus offense matchups. Mental Herb is also a viable option, since it allows Cloyster to be a good anti-hyper offense tool when leading against common leads such as Aerodactyl, Shuckle, and Mew. Cloyster can also run King's Rock to take advantage of potential flinches from its multi-hit attacks in Icicle Spear and Rock Blast; however, this is inconsistent.
Usage Tips
========
Cloyster functions best as either a lead that can immediately threaten to start punching holes into the opponent's team or as a late-game cleaner. When using Cloyster, avoid switching it in often because of its low HP and Special Defense as well as its weakness to Stealth Rock. Do note, however, that Cloyster has a good matchup against the common Ground-type Stealth Rock users, so it can afford to come in on them to use Rapid Spin to support its hyper offense team partners such as Volcarona.
Team Options
========
Cloyster fits best on hyper offense teams due to the utility it brings as both a setup sweeper and entry hazard remover. Teammates such as Landorus-T and Volcarona excel as partners, since they have good synergy with each other; Landorus-T sets up the Stealth Rock that Cloyster needs to break past checks like Rotom-W, while Volcarona appreciates both Stealth Rock being cleared from the field as well as Cloyster's ability to wear down Water-types like Keldeo and Volcanion, which both check it. Other good partners include Swords Dance Bisharp and Mega Alakazam, which appreciate Cloyster's ability to break down opposing teams to put them in range of Sucker Punch and Psychic. Both of these Pokemon also appreciate Cloyster's ability to OHKO their checks like Garchomp and Hippowdon or wear them down with poison from Toxic Spikes.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Water-type STAB moves such as Razor Shell, Surf, and Hydro Pump can be run over Rapid Spin as a secondary STAB option that hits targets like Heatran and Mega Scizor harder than Rock Blast. However, this requires dropping Rapid Spin, which isn't worth it on most teams. Explosion is also a viable option to allow Cloyster to get off a massive neutral hit on Water-type checks such as Keldeo and Volcanion. Similarly, Hidden Power Grass can be run to hit the afformentioned Water-types super effectively. Lastly, Spikes can also be run similarly to Toxic Spikes to force chip damage onto opposing Steel-types such as Mega Metagross, which would otherwise avoid the poison from Toxic Spikes. It should be noted that when running special moves such as Hydro Pump and Hidden Power Grass, Cloyster should have a Naive or Rash nature so as to avoid the Special Attack reduction from Jolly or Adamant.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Status**: Status moves that hit Cloyster on the turn it sets up, such as Thunder Wave and Glare from Clefable and Serperior, greatly hamper its sweeping potential. The same can be said for burn from the likes of Will-O-Wisp Rotom-W and Cofagrigus, which shuts down Cloyster's attempts at a sweep due to the Attack drop.
**Physically Defensive Pokemon Not Weak to Ice**: Pokemon such as Clefable, Slowbro, and Rotom-W have good matchups against Cloyster by nature of not being weak to its boosted Icicle Spear. They can all paralyse it with Thunder Wave or, in the case of Slowbro and Rotom-W, threaten to burn it with Scald or Will-O-Wisp. Rotom-W and Clefable also threaten to do massive damage to Cloyster, even picking up an OHKO Volt Switch and Moonblast after the Special Defense drop from Shell Smash.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mixnite.663475/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rufflespro.193716/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/paprikaflow.591583/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Cloyster finds itself a nice role on hyper offense teams through its ability to compress both the ability to sweep and utility in the form of entry hazard removal provided by Rapid Spin. Shell Smash boosts allow Cloyster to threaten frailer offense teams as well as balance teams without sturdy Ice-resistant Pokemon with the coverage of Icicle Spear and Rock Blast. However, Cloyster's stats aside from its whopping Defense are rather mediocre when unboosted, leaving much to be desired. Cloyster finds itself in the very populated Speed tier of base 70 with other Pokemon such as Bisharp, Volcanion, and Metagross before it Mega Evolves. These three all resist Cloyster's Icicle Spear and serve as great checks to it. Cloyster also faces tough competition from Weavile as a physical Ice-type attacker, which serves a similar role in breaking opposing teams but has both a higher Speed and Attack stat.
[SET]
name: Shell Smash
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Icicle Spear
move 3: Rock Blast / Toxic Spikes
move 4: Rapid Spin / Toxic Spikes
item: Focus Sash / Mental Herb / King's Rock
ability: Skill Link
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Shell Smash is a non-negotiable move on Cloyster, allowing it to sweep teams late-game or break holes for its teammates early-game. Icicle Spear is another non-negotiable move, as it is far and away Cloyster's best STAB move with Skill Link, and it allows Cloyster to break through physically defensive Pokemon that are weak to Ice like Garchomp. Rock Blast prevents Cloyster from getting walled by common Water-type Pokemon like Volcanion due to the super effective hit and Rotom-W, which is 2HKOed after one round of Stealth Rock damage. Toxic Spikes is also a viable option, since it allows Cloyster to function as a suicide lead and support option, poisoning defensive Pokemon that match up well against hyper offense teams such as Hippowdon and Slowbro. Rapid Spin lets Cloyster function as an entry hazard remover for hyper offense teams, since it can freely use Rapid Spin on the Ground-types that are commonly used to set Stealth Rock due to its massive Defense stat, its Ice-type STAB move, and the threat of Shell Smash.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and Speed EVs guarantee that Cloyster makes the most out of Shell Smash. An Adamant nature is run to maximise Cloyster's damage, since it's faster than the entire metagame after a boost from Shell Smash. However, Jolly should be run when using it on teams that need the extra Speed before Shell Smash, outspeeding and KOing defensive Zapdos and Garchomp, or when running Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin to make Cloyster a better support Pokemon. Running Focus Sash allows Cloyster to survive powerful special attacks from full HP such as Leaf Storm from Serperior and Flamethrower from Volcanion to guarantee at least one turn to set up with Shell Smash, which is invaluable in offense versus offense matchups. Mental Herb is also a viable option, since it allows Cloyster to be a good anti-hyper offense tool when leading against common leads such as Aerodactyl, Shuckle, and Mew. Cloyster can also run King's Rock to take advantage of potential flinches from its multi-hit attacks in Icicle Spear and Rock Blast; however, this is inconsistent.
Usage Tips
========
Cloyster functions best as either a lead that can immediately threaten to start punching holes into the opponent's team or as a late-game cleaner. When using Cloyster, avoid switching it in often because of its low HP and Special Defense as well as its weakness to Stealth Rock. Do note, however, that Cloyster has a good matchup against the common Ground-type Stealth Rock users, so it can afford to come in on them to use Rapid Spin to support its hyper offense team partners such as Volcarona.
Team Options
========
Cloyster fits best on hyper offense teams due to the utility it brings as both a setup sweeper and entry hazard remover. Teammates such as Landorus-T and Volcarona excel as partners, since they have good synergy with each other; Landorus-T sets up the Stealth Rock that Cloyster needs to break past checks like Rotom-W, while Volcarona appreciates both Stealth Rock being cleared from the field as well as Cloyster's ability to wear down Water-types like Keldeo and Volcanion, which both check it. Other good partners include Swords Dance Bisharp and Mega Alakazam, which appreciate Cloyster's ability to break down opposing teams to put them in range of Sucker Punch and Psychic. Both of these Pokemon also appreciate Cloyster's ability to OHKO their checks like Garchomp and Hippowdon or wear them down with poison from Toxic Spikes.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Water-type STAB moves such as Razor Shell, Surf, and Hydro Pump can be run over Rapid Spin as a secondary STAB option that hits targets like Heatran and Mega Scizor harder than Rock Blast. However, this requires dropping Rapid Spin, which isn't worth it on most teams. Explosion is also a viable option to allow Cloyster to get off a massive neutral hit on Water-type checks such as Keldeo and Volcanion. Similarly, Hidden Power Grass can be run to hit the afformentioned Water-types super effectively. Lastly, Spikes can also be run similarly to Toxic Spikes to force chip damage onto opposing Steel-types such as Mega Metagross, which would otherwise avoid the poison from Toxic Spikes. It should be noted that when running special moves such as Hydro Pump and Hidden Power Grass, Cloyster should have a Naive or Rash nature so as to avoid the Special Attack reduction from Jolly or Adamant.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Status**: Status moves that hit Cloyster on the turn it sets up, such as Thunder Wave and Glare from Clefable and Serperior, greatly hamper its sweeping potential. The same can be said for burn from the likes of Will-O-Wisp Rotom-W and Cofagrigus, which shuts down Cloyster's attempts at a sweep due to the Attack drop.
**Physically Defensive Pokemon Not Weak to Ice**: Pokemon such as Clefable, Slowbro, and Rotom-W have good matchups against Cloyster by nature of not being weak to its boosted Icicle Spear. They can all paralyse it with Thunder Wave or, in the case of Slowbro and Rotom-W, threaten to burn it with Scald or Will-O-Wisp. Rotom-W and Clefable also threaten to do massive damage to Cloyster, even picking up an OHKO Volt Switch and Moonblast after the Special Defense drop from Shell Smash.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mixnite.663475/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rufflespro.193716/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/paprikaflow.591583/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Last edited:
