[OVERVIEW]
Cryogonal is one of the tier's premier Rapid Spin users and better specially defensive walls. Its Levitate ability allows it to come in safely on all entry hazards except Stealth Rock, while access to Recover gives it longevity. Its Ice typing and sky-high Special Defense allow it to reliably check a multitude of special attackers including Vanilluxe, Palossand, Vikavolt, Vivillon, and Whimsicott. Unfortunately, its typing also gives it a weakness to Stealth Rock and making it lose 25% of its health every time it switches into the entry hazard and forcing it to use Recover more often. Cryogonal's low Defense stat also makes it vulnerable to Pursuit trapping and any non-resisted physical attacks; this further hinders its capacity to remove entry hazards, as common entry hazard setters like Garbodor, Steelix, Diancie, and Rhydon can hit it hard with their physical attacks.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Freeze-Dry
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 104 SpD / 156 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Rapid Spin lets Cryogonal clear entry hazards to support its teammates. Freeze-Dry lets it hit Water-types like Slowbro, Blastoise, and Vaporeon super effectively, an ability not many Ice-types possess. Toxic cripples Pokemon Cryogonal can't hurt with Freeze-Dry such as Incineroar, Delphox, Hariyama, and Piloswine. Recover allows it to stay healthy throughout the match.
Set Details
========
248 HP EVs maximize Cryogonal's HP while also minimizing the damage it takes when switching into Stealth Rock. The Speed investment lets it outspeed up to base 80 Speed Pokemon such as non-Choice Scarf Braviary, Medicham, and Passimian in addition to outspeeding Vanilluxe. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Defense to maximize Cryogonal's capacity to switch into special attacks. Leftovers increases Cryogonal's durability and capacity to outlast opposing entry hazard setters. Levitate grants it an immunity to all entry hazards except Stealth Rock as well as an immunity to Ground-type attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Switch Cryogonal into most special attackers such as Palossand, Blastoise, Rotom, and Vanilluxe and badly poison them with Toxic or make use of their inability to break Cryogonal to remove entry hazards. Be careful if the opponent has a Pursuit trapper like Sneasel, Houndoom, or Aerodactyl, as these Pokemon can remove Cryogonal from the game. The first two are especially dangerous, as they have little to fear from Freeze-Dry and don't mind being badly poisoned by Toxic. While Cryogonal has a great matchup against Palossand, Omastar, and defensive Druddigon, as they fear Freeze-Dry and Toxic, other entry hazard setters such as Garbodor, Diancie, Rhydon, Torterra, and Steelix can force Cryogonal out with any of their physical STAB attacks. Toxic lets you punish less durable Pokemon such as Incineroar and Hariyama early in the game. Besides being able to remove entry hazards, Cryogonal also serves as a standalone wall to Pokemon such as Vanilluxe, Heliolisk, Comfey, and Vikavolt.
Team Options
========
Teammates that appreciate entry hazard removal such as Vivillon, Incineroar, Delphox, and Sneasel are good partners for Cryogonal. The same applies to pivots that become far less durable with entry hazards up such as Choice Scarf Braviary and Vikavolt. Water- and Ground-types that appreciate having Vanilluxe, Vikavolt, and Grass-types taken care of pair well with Cryogonal. Prime examples include Slowbro, Vaporeon, Rhydon, Palossand, and Steelix. In return, all these Pokemon also provide valuable defensive utility to deal with physical attackers. Pursuit trappers such as Sneasel, Houndoom, and Rhydon can remove spinblockers such as Mismagius and Rotom and thus also pair well with Cryogonal.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Knock Off helps Cryogonal break through Pokemon it can't beat easily with Toxic like Assault Vest Slowbro, Slowking, and Steelix while also being a good utility move in general. This, however, comes at the cost of being unable to do anything substantial to Pokemon that are unfazed by Freeze-Dry. An offensive set holding Never-Melt Ice with the moves Ice Beam, Freeze-Dry, Rapid Spin, and Recover, maximized Special Attack and Speed EVs, and a Timid nature grants Cryogonal a way to bypass its otherwise low damage output and pick up important KOs on Sceptile, Steelix, and Vivillon. However, this comes at the cost of being less capable of switching into special attacks. A physically defensive set with an EV spread of 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spe and a Bold nature can be used on more defensive teams to take significantly less damage from Pursuit users such as Sneasel, allowing Cryogonal to stall them out. Lastly, a dual screens set with Light Screen and Reflect holding Light Clay can be utilized to give your team greater setup opportunities, but this takes away the main utility you would normally use Cryogonal for.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Stealth Rock**: Cryogonal loses 25% of its HP upon entering the field when Stealth Rock is up, discouraging it from switching in and thus hindering its job. Cryogonal is also not able to switch directly into Stealth Rock setters such as Diancie, Rhydon, and Steelix.
**Faster Physical Attackers**: Cryogonal's low Defense stat leaves it vulnerable to physical attackers like Passimian and Sneasel. Sneasel and Aerodactyl, in particular, are problematic, as they can also trap it with Pursuit. On the other hand, some fast physical attackers like Aerodactyl and Choice Scarf Braviary can't safely switch into Cryogonal but threaten it once in the field.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types like Incineroar, Magmortar, Houndoom, and Delphox can switch into Cryogonal only risking being induced with Toxic, forcing Cryogonal to switch out. Additionally, Houndoom can Pursuit trap it, while Swords Dance Incineroar and Calm Mind Delphox can utilize it as setup bait.
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Scrafty and Thick Fat Hariyama can switch into a Freeze-Dry and force Cryogonal out. Choice Scarf Fighting-types such as Passimian and priority users like Medicham and Hitmonlee can threaten to OHKO Cryogonal.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Silvally-Steel, Klinklang, and even Steelix have very little to fear from Cryogonal's weak Freeze-Dry. Steelix, despite its neutrality to Ice and low Special Defense, is not 3HKOed by Freeze-Dry and threatens Cryogonal out with a super effective STAB move.
**Bulky Setup Sweepers**: Cryogonal can be used as setup fodder for many threats like Swords Dance Incineroar, Calm Mind Delphox, Malamar, Scrafty, and Klinklang.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rhydonphilip, 254798]]
- Quality checked by: [[Kay, 240237], [Rabia, 336073], [Eternally, 295647]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The-Dutch-Plumberjack, 232216], [Fleurdyleurse, 195877]]
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