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Crawdaunt

A lot of the reasons why some Pokemon don't get seemingly obvious moves while others do has a lot to do with translations and the differences between Japanese Pokemon/ move names and English Pokemon/ move names.

Take Sucker Punch for example (relevant to topic since people are often perplexed as to why Crawdaunt doesn't have it) is a terrible translation from tha Japanese name "Surprise Attack", which explains why the likes of Sharpedo (despite having no arms) gets it, but only a limited number of Fighting types (punching being associated with fighting) get it.

Anyway, the idea of Crawdaunt being a thug/ gangster and the Yakuza association sounds right. Hence it getting Dragon Dance. Whiscash, to us, just seems like a derpy catfish, but is actually based on a giant catfish who caused earthquakes, which when placed in context, Dragon Dance doesn't seem that strange of a move for it to learn.

Despite all that, I'm still pretty stumped as to why Flygon doesn't have it :/
I guess GF just have hardons for some pokes more than others.
 
Nice. Explain Wishcash now XD.
Whiscash has two explanations, its based off the Namazu, supposedly an extremely unruly catfish of japanese folklore who was responsible for Earthquakes for the hell of it. At the same time there is an actual real life asian fish known as a Tawny Dragon Catfish which is known for making a meal out of other fish.

In real life some catfish are pretty dominant and territorial in combination with its myth makes it seem to qualify on the same basis that Scrafty and Crawdaunt do.

One thing the other Dragon Dancers seem to have all in common is they're loosely based off or related to ideas of Dragons in myth. Dragon dances in real life are said to be a celebration of being descendents of dragons.

(Yes even Tropius has loose origins based off a mythological dragon).

Take Sucker Punch for example (relevant to topic since people are often perplexed as to why Crawdaunt doesn't have it) is a terrible translation from tha Japanese name "Surprise Attack"
I wouldn't call it a terrible translation since Sucker Punch is a euphenism for hitting someone when they're off guard which is literally Ambush anyway. Its simply people take it too literally.

But what about Flygon who is an actual dragon?
Flygon's a complicated story but my best assumption is it can be best summed up as a 'false dragon' based off misconceptions and dragon only in name.

Flygon's entire family are based off AntLion's no doubt about this, AntLion supposedly comes from a greek myth about a creature which was doomed to starve. This was because it had the top of a lion which craved meat but a ant's body which couldn't eat meat. The adult Antlion itself is known for being confused with a Dragonfly which are commonly also called Sand Dragons because they look almost identical and they're playing off this idea.

In short, Flygon is a wannabe dragon and if you take the earlier Dragon Dance idea than Flygon doesn't qualify because hes not actually descended from a Dragon.

Garchomp is similar I guess, its a land shark and not really descended from a Dragon in that sense, it just happens to look like one so again a dragon only in look and name. If anything Garchomp shares more similarities with a Aligator Gar.
 
Whiscash has two explanations, its based off the Namazu, supposedly an extremely unruly catfish of japanese folklore who was responsible for Earthquakes for the hell of it. At the same time there is an actual real life asian fish known as a Tawny Dragon Catfish which is known for making a meal out of other fish.

In real life some catfish are pretty dominant and territorial in combination with its myth makes it seem to qualify on the same basis that Scrafty and Crawdaunt do.

One thing the other Dragon Dancers seem to have all in common is they're loosely based off or related to ideas of Dragons in myth. Dragon dances in real life are said to be a celebration of being descendents of dragons.

(Yes even Tropius has loose origins based off a mythological dragon).

I wouldn't call it a terrible translation since Sucker Punch is a euphenism for hitting someone when they're off guard which is literally Ambush anyway. Its simply people take it too literally.

Flygon's a complicated story but my best assumption is it can be best summed up as a 'false dragon' based off misconceptions and dragon only in name.

Flygon's entire family are based off AntLion's no doubt about this, AntLion supposedly comes from a greek myth about a creature which was doomed to starve. This was because it had the top of a lion which craved meat but a ant's body which couldn't eat meat. The adult Antlion itself is known for being confused with a Dragonfly which are commonly also called Sand Dragons because they look almost identical and they're playing off this idea.

In short, Flygon is a wannabe dragon and if you take the earlier Dragon Dance idea than Flygon doesn't qualify because hes not actually descended from a Dragon.

Garchomp is similar I guess, its a land shark and not really descended from a Dragon in that sense, it just happens to look like one so again a dragon only in look and name. If anything Garchomp shares more similarities with a Aligator Gar.

Just to clarify the antlion thing:
Antlions are the common name for the larvae of lacewings; they also go by the name "doodlebugs", due to the way they sporadically move around like they're "doodling". Lacewings do look sorta similar to dragonflies, but they're a totally different insect order (dragonflies are Odonata, lacewings are Neuroptera).

So I would guess that Flygon is dragon-type due to the dragonfly resemblance, but strictly speaking, I suppose it's not really based off a dragon, so it wouldn't get Dragon Dance.

Though in my opinion, it should totally be Dragon/Bug.
 
sucker punch isn't a bad translation because its a phrase which means 'suprise attack' pretty much and not a punch. but they could have worded it more wisely i agree.
 
Take Sucker Punch for example (relevant to topic since people are often perplexed as to why Crawdaunt doesn't have it) is a terrible translation from tha Japanese name "Surprise Attack", which explains why the likes of Sharpedo (despite having no arms) gets it, but only a limited number of Fighting types (punching being associated with fighting) get it.
sharpedo doesn't get sucker punch...
 
I wouldn't call it a terrible translation since Sucker Punch is a euphenism for hitting someone when they're off guard which is literally Ambush anyway. Its simply people take it too literally.

I don't know, it seems to me that the names of moves ARE supposed to be taken literally, otherwise well, what's the point of thinking of names that are relevant to how the move works if its not actually relevant at all? Why do Pokemon that have arms and punch (like Hitmonchan, the PUNCHING pokemon) not learn Sucker PUNCH? Because its a bad translation.

sucker punch isn't a bad translation because its a phrase which means 'suprise attack' pretty much and not a punch. but they could have worded it more wisely i agree.

I know it means "to catch someone off guard" but in what world does the word PUNCH (in the context of fighting) not signify a punch? It still doesn't means its not a bad translation. If its name was kept as "Surprise Attack", a lot of confusion would be alleviated as to why things like Wormadam, Dugtrio and Mismagius get it despite not having arms, whereas seemingly obvious pokemon like Crawdaunt are excluded.

sharpedo doesn't get sucker punch...

Damn, here's where I get caught, as I've always argued that Sharpedo should get it since its called "surprise attack", which is exactly what sharks do. Wishful thinking I suppose.
 
Why do Pokemon that have arms and punch (like Hitmonchan, the PUNCHING pokemon) not learn Sucker PUNCH?
And while we're being overly literal, why does Thunder work on Pokemon with Soundproof? Thunder is OBVIOUSLY a sound.

Maybe, just maybe, they sometimes take a few liberties to make the names of the moves sound a bit cooler. I would rather have a Pokemon that knows Thunder or Thunderbolt than a Pokemon that knows Lightning or...um...Weaker But More Accurate Lightning, and I would rather have a Pokemon that knows Sucker Punch than a Pokemon that knows Surprise Attack. It just sounds cooler, and if we can make an effort to not get extremely annoyed/enraged at every little thing, we can enjoy playing the game without whining about what moves or Pokemon or called.

Or, you know, we can keep calling Ferrothorn "Nattorei" until the day we die.
 
Crawdaunt is a thug and a punk therefore associated with Yakuza, dragons are associated with Yakuza, so it gets Dragon Dance.

Same real reason why Scrafty gets it.

That's a very far-fetch'd explanation. In Chinese, and I'd assume Japanese as well, lobsters are "dragon prawns". So...yeah.

Also, I like to think Scrafty is more of a lizard punk, and lizards are dragons, sort of.
 
Ok this guy is craaazy !!

i play him in a rain trick room team with an offensive toed (who's quite slow to fit in a TR team ) and stab crabhammer in rain is ... monstruous !!

here's the set i'm running :

crawdaunt @ life orb

adaptability

-crabhammer (obvious stab , dealing 60-70 % to lati@s in rain )
-crunch
-aerial ace
-superpower

aerial ace for birijion who might try to wall him ( neat ohko ) , superpower if i predict a nattorei switch in , deals a good amount of damage , then i can switch to breloom who loves to set up on him ^^

and if the opponent is crazy enough and try to stall trick room turs with physical walls , here's some calcs :

Crabhammer in rain vs physically defensive skarmory : 68.3-80.8 % (lol , a neat 2hko )

crabhammer in rain vs specially defensive skarmory : 88 - 104 % (yeah , ohko with SR )

if rankurusu tries to stop your sweep ( well he's slower than you ) you can switch and come back later ..not sure if he'll enjoy crunch !! 96.2-113.2 % for the standard calm mind version ^^

i love this guy !!

you can go with an expert belt if you want to increase his lifespan but you lose some power !

YEAH THAT'S THE ULTIMATE STALLBREAKER FOR YOU !
 
Game Freak better give Crawdaunt Aqua Jet and/or Sucker Punch. Adaptability + STAB priority would make him amazing...

Aqua Jet would jump to base 80
Sucker Punch would jump to base 160

Without priority he is outclassed by Kingdra and even Sharpedo.

Game Freak should totally make Sucker Punch a move tutor move.
 
I think sometimes Pokemon don't get certain moves for balancing purposes (Garchomp with DD would be a fucking nightmare). There may be some truth to the whole Japanese translation thing, but don't look too deep in to it.
 
Poor old Kingler, he doesn't have any chance to compete now.

Good writeup btw.

Imagine Swords dance, Sucker punch, Aqua Jet, Filler on a bulky set =0
 
The last post might be ages ago but I cant resist to post my favourite crawdaunt set.

Sub DD Adaptability

- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall/Crabhammer

Adaptability adamant 4hp/252atk/252 spd adamant @ leftovers

I seriously cant believe this set hasnt been posted yet. It fits perfectly for RU where i swept more than 20 teams with this set. My brother swept even more.
It's hard to get in on something that's not a psychic move but if you can get it in after something dies on like choice locked kazam it sets up easily. Even better: It sets up on so many popular pokes:

- cress (without charge beam or hp fighting, very rare)
- dusknoir
- ferroseed

just to name the most popular ones. Get it in after something dies or on spikes/shadow punch/psychic.
Many pokes will try to status, but you sub. They will often have to switch out which grants a free dd and you're still behind the sub. Cress is somewhat the perfect set up fodder. Ferroseed, although resisting both moves can be used as setup fodder if lacking bullet seed. They will often t-wave or leech seed while you sub. if they decide to stay in and set up rocks/spikes you simply set up DDs. At +3 you can EASILY 2HKO ferroseed with crunch or waterfall. Gyro ball usually needs 2 hits to break the sub before reaching + 3. Fighting priority is rather rare for some random reason (in RU of course) and the only other things that can stop crawdaunt at +3 are max def blastoise with a lucky scald or roar and poliwrath, which of course should be weakened before you intend to sweep. This is imo the best set out there for the crab. If can be kinda deadweight if the opponent lacks a good set-up fodder, but if he has one, you will usually tear through at least half of his team :)
(all analysis for the RU tier)
 
My favorite Pokémon. One big problem is that glaring fighting type weakness plus being slower without a boost than most Fighting types is annoying. Crawdaunt also could've used Nasty Plot, especially in third Gen with stab Special Pursuit and Waterfall.
 
You know, if you really wanted Crawdaunt to live this long, just run the Choice Band set with paralysis support. There's no way you can't win if your targets cannot outrun you, especially when you have defensive support to fall back on in Drizzle teams. I'd start off by considering Jirachi (not SpD) and Ferrothorn.

Also, Crawdaunt is under Quality Control in OU, and if you view the thread, running Choice Band isn't such a bad idea, provided you have the correct support.
 
I think that off trick room he operates only with dragon dance and salac berry and possibly jolly. Otherwise, roasted lobster.
 
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