Crobat? More like Probat

There's a Pokemon in the metagame that I've been thinking a lot about lately in CAP. Crobat. Crobat is a badass Pokemon, but besides that, it also happens to be one of the few things to hit base 130 Speed. It also is among the elite few that can switch in on a max speed, Jolly Pyroak as it uses Dragon Dance and both reliably outspeed it and threaten it. As if that weren't enough, its access to Brave Bird and Taunt allow it to subsequently beat the nasty SubSeed Pyroak, Revenankh, and even Arghonaut. I've been trying it out, and have been pleasantly surprised by just how effective it has been in a metagame rife with so many obscenely dangerous threats. See below for more.



Crobat
CrobatStats.gif

Why Crobat?

It may be tough to see why you'd use Crobat with its base 90 Attack stat over something like Staraptor with base 120 Attack and Intimidate, but there are numerous reasons you'd want to use Crobat. The first reason is its Speed stat. Base 130 is a Speed tier shared by very few Pokemon, and even fewer Pokemon who can abuse it effectively in the CAP metagame. Pyroak is, at present, the most deadly threat in the CAP metagame both offensively and defensively. Crobat with Brave Bird and its Speed stat sits right at the threshold that a Dragon Dance-boosted Pyroak can never reach, always being outsped by the bat. This makes Crobat an excellent Pyroak check if it can switch into Wood Hammer or Dragon Dance. The added benefit of being able to OHKO Revenankh and Arghonaut with entry hazard support are not to be forgotten, either, as very few Pokemon boast the ability to take down this trio effectively.

Crobat @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Naive / Hasty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Brave Bird
Heat Wave
U-turn /
Taunt
Roost

Relevant Offensive Calculations:
Code:
[B]Brave Bird
[/B]252 Hasty Life Orb Crobat Brave Bird  
  vs. 252/224 Adamant Life Orb Pyroak : 73.1% - 86.3% [B](LeadOak)[/B]
  vs. 252/0 Bold Leftovers Pyroak : 81.3% - 95.9% [B](SubSeed)[/B]
  vs. 56/8 Jolly Life Orb Pyroak : 100.3% - 117.7% [B](Dragon Dance)[/B]
  vs. 252/252 Impish Leftovers Arghonaut : 71.5% - 84.5% [B](Tank)[/B]
  vs. 252/0 Adamant Leftovers Arghonaut : 100% - 117.9% [B](SubPunch)[/B]
  vs. 252/40 Careful Leftovers Revenankh : 105.6% - 124.5% [B](Bulk Up)[/B]
  vs. 252/148 Careful Leftovers Revenankh : 94.9% - 111.7% [B](Wall)[/B]
  vs. 252/4 Bold Leftovers Fidgit : 42.6% - 50.3% [B](Support)[/B]
  vs. 0/4 Jolly Life Orb Syclant : 187.9% - 222.1% [B](Most Sets)[/B]
[B] 
Heat Wave
[/B]4 Hasty Life Orb Crobat Heat Wave  
  vs. 16/0 Leftovers Kitsunoh : 55.7% - 65.6% [B](Wispy Kit)[/B]
  vs. 12/0 Leftovers Kitsunoh : 55.9% - 65.8% [B](Stallbreaker)[/B] 
  vs. 252/0 Impish Leftovers Skarmory : 56.3% - 66.5% [B](Physically Defensive)
[/B]  vs. 252/252 Impish Leftovers Skarmory : 41.9% - 49.7% [B](Specially Defensive)

U-turn
[/B]252 Hasty Life Orb Crobat U-turn  
  vs. 0/4 Adamant Life Orb Colossoil : 49.6% - 58.5% [B](Life Orb / Choice Scarf)[/B]
As you can see, Crobat has respectable damage output against many of the most common threats in the metagame. The best part about it, though, is that Crobat actually outspeeds basically all of them. Only Stratagem matches Crobat's Speed, and only speed ties it at that. Still, Crobat won't want to risk the speed tie with a STAB super effective Paleo Wave, so it'll flee. Regardless of this Strata weakness, Crobat stands as a very unique and interesting check to many of the biggest threats in the CAP metagame, and I'm posting this thread to give it a bit of the support and notice that I think it deserves.

Crobat also serves as an excellent Stallbreaker, up there with Kitsunoh using the following set:

Crobat @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 104 HP / 152 Atk / 252 Spe
Brave Bird
Taunt
U-turn
Roost

I'd be interested to hear about any success/failure stories you have using it in this current metagame. Unfortunately, Krilowatt walls the set I posted above, but at the least you can U-turn out to an appropriate response. Also, if you come up with any of your own cool Crobat sets for CAP, please feel free to share them here!
 
The offensive calculations contain the Hasty nature, yet the set contains a Timid nature. Other than that, I'm pleasantly surprised : I never expected Crobat of all things to be a stallbreaker. Anyways, I'll go try it now. I'll edit this post after I've tested how it works...

EDIT : It is quite effective. It counters Bulk Up Revenankh excellently as well, but if a Wall Revenankh catches you on the switch with a Will O Wisp, then Crobat is near useless. Also, I don't know, but it looks like Crobat could make an decent pair with Kitsunoh.
 
yeah, crobat is definitely a big threat. i've actually had my old stall team torn apart by crobat before, although the player was using a slightly different set...

Crobat @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 104 HP / 152 Atk / 252 Spe

Brave Bird
Taunt
Roost
U-turn / Toxic

this is the first set in the analysis, and functions very similarly to gliscor and kitsunoh. the fast taunt, combined with the ability to reliably wear down walls and heal, means this thing is actually a pain in the balls for stall teams to hit, even in the standard metagame. in CAP, the effect is increased dramatically, as stall often depends on revenankh and/or arghonaut.

even at +1 atk/def, crobat can switch into revenankh, taunt it to prevent further bulking up, and 2hko cleanly, taking less than 25 % from shadow sneak (and lol % from hammer arm). it performs similarly against arghonaut, always doing at least 50 % with that brave bird. 90 base attack doesn't sound that impressive, but brave bird really punctures holes in things.

cyclohm tends to walk all over pretty much any crobat, but it's not terribly common, nor difficult to beat. tyranitar gives crobat serious problems; u-turn is a lifesaver against him if you have it.

also crobat has some serious rain dance potential... :)
 
Yeah, Crobat is awesome, but you guys are forgetting that Psychic type moves are popular in the CAP metagame to deal with Pokemon like Arghonaut. Crobat's Special Defence is pretty low too
 
you might want to run naive over hasty. It helps a littleith taking the higher amount of physical hits. This is pretty interesting, i'll try it out
 
Mektar said:
Yeah, Crobat is awesome, but you guys are forgetting that Psychic type moves are popular in the CAP metagame to deal with Pokemon like Arghonaut. Crobat's Special Defence is pretty low too
All of the things that use those STAB Psychic-type attacks are things you wouldn't keep Crobat in against anyway (Metagross, etc). Most of these Pokemon also hate getting smacked by a U-turn to go to a counter. (Celebi, etc.) I think that after trying it, it still fares fairly well.
Cherub Agent said:
you might want to run naive over hasty.
Yeah, I slashed it in a bit ago. However, most of the hits you're going to be switching into (Pyroak, Revenankh) are physical, so it's probably a better idea.
 

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