Cloyster (OU revamp) [QC 0/2]

[Sceptross]

[OVERVIEW]

Unlike what is seen in later generations, Cloyster's role in RBY is more of a supporter. Using Clamp to provide free switches to its teammates, or walling some of the most prominent physical threats, such as Snorlax (specially Reflect Snorlax) and Tauros, or even using Explosion on Starmie for a Rhydon or Tauros sweep - Cloyster has several tools at its disposal to support its teammates. Its Ice type gives it immunity to freeze and STAB on Blizzard, at the expense of being weaker to Rock Slide. However, Cloyster has some drawbacks that stop it from being one of the top threats of RBY OU. Firstly, not being a Normal type means it can be paralyzed by Body Slam, unlike Chansey or Snorlax. Secondly, Clamp's subpar accuracy could prove deadly to Cloyster's pretentions. Lastly, it needs to rely on Rest as means of recovery which means it's going to remain completely passive for 3 turns once it goes for it.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Clamp
move 2: Blizzard
move 3: Rest / Hyper Beam
move 4: Explosion

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Cloyster's best set and the one you should expect when you see it. Clamp provides a free team switch to another teammate. It also does respectable amounts of damage due to having high base power for a Wrap-like move and having STAB (for instance, it hits Zapdos and Snorlax for around 10%). Blizzard is Cloyster's best attacking option, a powerful STAB move that needs dedicated resists (such as Starmie or Lapras) or special walls (such as Chansey) to answer and giving Cloyster the possibility of scoring a freeze. Explosion allows Cloyster to act as a wallbreaker once its support capabilities are no longer needed, blowing up on Pokemon such as Starmie or Chansey, allowing a sweeper to perform its job more easily. For the third move, Rest is the by far the most common option, as it allows it to perform its walling duties much more easily. However, Hyper Beam can also be used if the team favours the possibility of doing extra damage to Chansey. It is also the best option on dedicated Wrap teams since they can't afford to do momentum-draining plays, but those teams tend to be very inconsistent and thus rarely seen.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

The options listed give Cloyster the best tools to perform its roles effectively, so other options should generally not be considered. Reflect could be used in place of Clamp or Explosion to make for a very hard wall to beat, but Cloyster loses on one of its key supporting roles when doing so and the extra bulk is generally not needed. Even if Cloyster is used as a wall, Ice Beam should never be considered over Blizzard because Cloyster's Ice Beam is very weak - it's not even likely that you 4HKO Snorlax with it - and Cloyster generally doesn't need the extra 8 PP.

[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]

**Starmie:** Starmie is the premier Cloyster counter - it takes virtually no damage from Clamp or Blizzard and can cripple Cloyster with Thunder Wave or do heavy damage to it with Thunderbolt or Psychic, while being able to Recover all damage taken from Cloyster. It must watch out for Explosion as it can easily score a KO if Starmie is not at full health.

**Chansey:** Chansey counters Cloyster in a similar fashion to how Starmie does - except it is almost always KO'd by an Explosion and the possibility of Cloyster having Hyper Beam makes things worse for the pink blob. It is also naturally slower than Cloyster, which means that it will struggle to paralyze it more than Starmie.

**Lapras:** Lapras also shrugs off all of Cloyster's attacks and can Thunderbolt for an almost guaranteed 2HKO. However, it can't cripple Cloyster with Thunder Wave like the aforementioned Pokemon.

**Electric types:** Electric types such as Jolteon and Zapdos outspeed and 2HKO Cloyster. Zapdos must be wary of switching in though, as Blizzard is a 2HKO.

**Slowbro:** Slowbro can switch in on Cloyster with impunity, cripple it with Thunder Wave and start setting up on it. If it's carrying Reflect, it's even worse, as Cloyster does a measly 30% to it with Explosion. It's even more dangerous for Cloyster if it's packing Psychic - a +4 Psychic is already more than 50% likely to OHKO Cloyster. Thus, Cloyster is forced to Clamp and then switch out as soon as Slowbro enters the field, which is both risky due to the low accuracy and predictable due to the imminent threat that Slowbro poses.

**Victreebel:** Victreebel speed ties Cloyster and can do at least 85% damage with Razor Leaf. However, it's a shaky check at best as it's also 2HKO'd by Cloyster's Blizzard.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Sceptross, 123746]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[Oglemi]

Just as a note, there's no need to give a history of Cloyster in the overview, especially when you're mentioning future generations (but just in general I find the history lesson unneeded). It's nice to add a perspective in a way, but just starting from your sentence "Using Clamp to provide free switches" is, I feel, better overall.

 

[Amaranth]

A few corrections / suggested rewordings for improved clarity

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[OVERVIEW]
Throughout the generations, Cloyster's role was mostly to engage in the entry hazard war using tools such as Spikes and Rapid Spin, or in later generations, even sweep with Shell Smash. However, since none of those moves exist in RBY, Cloyster's role in the metagame is that of a supporter.

Seconding Oglemi, this is unnecessary

Using Clamp to provide free switches to its teammates, or walling some of the most prominent physical threats, such as Snorlax (specially Reflect Snorlax) and Tauros, or even using Explosion on Starmie for a Rhydon or Tauros sweep - Cloyster has several tools at its disposal to support its teammates. Its Ice type gives it immunity to freeze and STAB on Blizzard, at the expense of being weaker to Rock Slide

This is good, maybe some rewording is in order to fit the other changes but its fine

from Rhydon and Golem, turning 4HKOs into 3HKOs.

Unnecessary detail, keep the intro short and sweet and mention this in the full analysis if you have to

However, Cloyster has some drawbacks that stop it from being one of the top threats of RBY OU. Firstly, not being a Normal type means it can be paralyzed by Body Slam, unlike Chansey or Snorlax. Secondly, Clamp's subpar accuracy means that a miss could prove deadly to Cloyster's pretentions, as a Thunder Wave or a Body Slam paralysis can make its job much harder.

Clamp's low accuracy can make it garbage even when unparalyzed and it's an unreliable move even when healthy, this should be something like "could prove deadly to Cloyster's pretentions, especially if paralyzed"

Lastly, it needs to rely on Rest as means of recovery, instead of the more reliable Recover or Softboiled, which means it's going to remain completely passive for 3 turns (the turn it uses it, the turn it sleeps and the turn it wakes up) once it goes for it.

Too verbose/detailed for the intro imo, should be "Lastly, it needs to rely on Rest as means of recovery, which means it's going to remain completely passive for 3 turns once it goes for it".

This is Cloyster's best set and the one you should expect when you see it. Clamp provides a free team switch to another teammate. It also does respectable amounts of damage due to having high base power for a Wrap-like move and having STAB (for instance, it hits Zapdos and Snorlax for around 10%). Blizzard is Cloyster's best attacking option, doing considerable damage to the likes of Snorlax, Tauros, Exeggutor, Zapdos and Dragonite and giving Cloyster the possibility of scoring a freeze. Explosion allows Cloyster to act as a wallbreaker once its support capabilities are no longer needed, blowing up on Pokemon such as Starmie or Chansey, allowing a sweeper to perform its job more easily. For the third move, Rest is the by far the most common option, as it allows it to perform its walling duties much more easily. However, Hyper Beam can also be used if the team favours the possibility of doing extra damage to Chansey. It is also the best option on dedicated Wrap teams since they can't afford to do momentum-draining plays, but those teams tend to be very inconsistent and thus rarely seen.

Dragonite is meme tier, don't mention it. Just say that Blizzard is a powerful STAB move that needs dedicated resists or special walls to answer rather than listing all the things it hits. The rest is good, although you should consider adding a second paragraph to explain how to actually play Cloyster in a game - what it switches into, what it can pressure, when to use it etc. See all the second paragraphs in the set descriptions here for an example of what I mean

**Starmie:** Starmie is the premier Cloyster counter - it takes virtually no damage from Clamp or Blizzard and can cripple Cloyster with Thunder Wave or do heavy damage to it with Thunderbolt. It must watch out for Explosion though, although it needs to be chipped for Explosion to score a KO.

"...to it with Thunderbolt or Psychic, while being able to Recover all damage taken from Cloyster.", and "It must watch out for Explosion as it can easily score a KO if Starmie is not at full health"

**Chansey:** Chansey counters Cloyster in a similar fashion to how Starmie does - except it is almost always KO'd by an Explosion and the possibility of Cloyster having Hyper Beam makes things worse for the pink blob. It is also naturally slower than Cloyster, which means that it will struggle to paralyze it more than Starmie.

Add something about how Clamp can deny Chansey from recovering if she's low, when you talk about how Chansey being slower affects the match up

**Slowbro:** Slowbro can switch in on Cloyster with impunity, cripple it with Thunder Wave and start setting up on it. If it's carrying Reflect, it's even worse, as Cloyster does a measly 30% to it with Explosion. It's even more dangerous for Cloyster if it's packing Psychic - a +4 Psychic is already more than 50% likely to OHKO Cloyster.

Add: "Thus, Cloyster is forced to Clamp and then switch out as soon as Slowbro enters the field, which is both risky due to the low accuracy and predictable due to the imminent threat that Slowbro poses."

Will give QC mark when implemented

 

[EB0LA]

Some Checks & Counters I feel are missing.
-Cloyster
-Maybe bunch all Water-Types into 1 category, as they almost all hard wall Cloyster.
-Alakazam? Zam doesn't mind going in on a Cloyster if it is not paralyzed & simply recovering/throwing status.
-Gengar? Tbolt does significant damage, maybe can get a slight mention in Electric-Types category.

Also in Other Options is Reflect really a thing on Cloyster? Also Double Edge can be a thing, although checking the calc's it doesn't really make much sense for the slight extra damage to self damage ratio, so that's a ?, although I have seen it before. And I think Toxic is something that can be considered too.