Quality Control Drednaw [QC 1/2]

Anchor9

#ampharosforou
is a Tiering Contributor
[overview]

**Draft Order**: Round 8

**Price Range**: 2-3 Points

**Overview**: Drednaw is a rather flexible offensive threat that is a nice addition for teams needing another wincon. Drednaw can be a setup sweeper, a wallbreaker, and even a cleaner on rain teams. Strong Jaw and Swift Swim provides Drednaw plenty of flexibility for a team. However, Drednaw is held back by its mediocre Speed and terrible defensive typing.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
=========

**Setup Sweeper**: Drednaw is usually used as a Shell Smash sweeper. With its decent coverage, Drednaw can easily clean weakened teams after a Shell Smash. However, Shell Smash is extremely hard to set up due to Drednaw's bad defensive typing.

**Wallbreaker**: Drednaw can use a Choice Band to serve as a decently strong wallbreaker that can be difficult to switch into. Alternatively, Drednaw can use a Choice Scarf to boost its middling Speed and gain surprise KOs. Mystic Water, Expert Belt, and Life Orb can also be useful.

**Rain Sweeper**: Thanks to Swift Swim and rain-boosted attacks, Drednaw can serve as an additional rain sweeper. With the Speed boost, Drednaw can opt to use Swords Dance over Shell Smash to set up more easily.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Liquidation, Razor Shell, Waterfall, Stone Edge, Rock Blast, Head Smash

**Setup Moves**: Shell Smash, Swords Dance, Rock Polish, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves:** Stealth Rock, Dragon Tail, Substitute

**Coverage**: Crunch, Jaw Lock, Body Press, Earthquake, Ice Spinner, Ice Fang, Poison Jab, Smart Strike, Skitter Smack, Tera Blast

Common Items
========
**White Herb**: White Herb removes the drawbacks of Shell Smash, making it more difficult for opposing Pokemon to revenge-kill Drednaw.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band allows Drednaw to provide its team some helpful wallbreaking power. This is especially good on rain teams.

**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf provides Speed for Drednaw, allowing it suprise some threats.


Niche Items
========
**Focus Sash**: Focus Sash can be used on lead sets to set Stealth Rocks. It also is useful on Shell Smash sets, providing a free turn to set up.

**Damage-boosting Items**: Items such as Mystic Water, Expert Belt, and Life Orb can boost Drednaw's wallbreaking powers. These items work best on rain team since Speed is not as large of an issue.

**Mental Herb**: Mental Herb can prevent faster Pokemon from using Taunt on Drednaw to deny the use of status moves including Shell Smash.

Tera
========
Drednaw can be a nice secondary user of Tera, although this can be costly due to its hit or miss sweeping potential. Tera Flying allows Drednaw to dodge Ground-type attacks while providing Tera Blast Flying coverage for Grass-type threats. Tera Water can be used to boost Drednaw's Water-type attacks. This is especially potent on rain team sets. Drednaw can also use Tera Dark, Ice, and Ground to boost coverage such as Crunch, Ice Fang, and Earthquake.

Draft Strategy
========
Drednaw can be an excellent addition for teams needing an additional offensive threat with Stealth Rock utility. Rain teams also appreciate a cheap additional Swift Swim threat with excellent coverage.

**Entry-hazard Setters**: Drednaw appreciates entry-hazards in order to break past bulkier threats, so leads such as Glimmora, Landorus-T, and Iron Treads are useful.

**Pivots:** Drednaw needs as much HP as possible in order to successfully use Shell Smash. As a result, slow pivots that provide it a free switch-in such as Galarian Slowking, Corviknight, and Alomomola are appreciated.

**Special Sweepers:** Although Drednaw can slice through frailer teams, physically bulky walls are near impossible for it to break past. Thus, special sweepers that can beat these threats such as Raging Bolt and Gholdengo are valued.

Checks and Counters
========

**Physically Bulky Walls**: Due to its just above average Attack, physically bulky walls such as Dondozo, Alomomola, and Corviknight easily wall Drednaw. Even after a Shell Smash, Drednaw cannot break through Dondozo, while Alomomola and Corviknight can tank a hit and pivot to an appropriate answer.

**Priority**: Drednaw is prone to being revenge killed by priority due to its lack of recovery and Shell Smash Defense drops, especially from Rillaboom's Grassy Glide and Iron Valiant and Keldeo's Vacuum Wave.

**Taunt / Encore:** Drednaw is an underwhelming Pokemon without a Shell Smash boost, so any Pokemon that can prevent Shell Smash with Taunt or Encore greatly limit Drednaw.

[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/anchor9.652323/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/e-man.617175/
Grammar checked by:
 
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QC 1/2

[overview]

**Draft Order**: Round 8

**Price Range**: 1-2 2-3 Points

**Overview**: Drednaw is a rather flexible offensive threat that is a nice addition for teams needing another wincon. Drednaw can be a setup sweeper, wallbreaker a Choice Band or Scarf user, and even a cleaner on rain teams. However, Drednaw is held back by its mediocre Speed and terrible defensive typing.
should specifically mention strong jaw/swift swim here

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
=========
**Setup Sweeper**: Drednaw is usually used as a Shell Smash sweeper. With its decent coverage, Drednaw can easily clean weakened teams after a Shell Smash.
should clarify how hard it is for it to get a smash off

**Choice-item Attacker Wallbreaker**: Drednaw can use a Choice Band to serve as a decently strong wallbreaker that can be difficult to switch into. Alternatively, Drednaw can use a Choice Scarf to boost its middling Speed and gain surprise KOs.
talk about other damage boosting items

**Rain Sweeper**: Thanks to Swift Swim and rain-boosted attacks, Drednaw can serve as an additional rain sweeper.

mention sd as set up option here

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Liquidation, Razor Shell, Waterfall, Stone Edge, Rock Blast, Head Smash

**Setup Moves**: Shell Smash, Swords Dance, Rock Polish, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves:** Stealth Rock, Dragon Tail, Substitute

**Coverage**: Crunch, Jaw Lock, Body Press, Earthquake, Ice Spinner, Ice Fang, Poison Jab, Smart Strike, Skitter Smack, Tera Blast
alternate move to hit grass types

Niche Moves
========
**Endure**: Paired with Custap Berry, Endure allows Drednaw to pull off one last attack or set Stealth Rock.
this mon doesnt really get good niche moves - if u want something here i think super fang is better to mention otherwise u can delete the whole section

Common Items
========
**White Herb**: White Herb removes the drawbacks of Shell Smash, making it more difficult for opposing Pokemon to revenge-kill Drednaw.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band allows Drednaw to provide its team some helpful wallbreaking power.
say good in rain

**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf provides Speed for Drednaw, allowing it suprise some threats and set Stealth Rock faster.

Niche Items
========
**Custap Berry**: Custap Berry can be potent on lead sets and works best with Endure. This guarantees Drednaw will gain one last move.
replace with sash - works on smash and suicide lead sets

**Mystic Water**: Mystic Water can boost the firepower of Drednaw's Water STAB moves and is best on rain-sweeper sets.
change to damage-boosting items in general (expert belt, lorb, etc.) - move to bottom of common

**Mental Herb**: Mental Herb can prevent faster Pokemon from using Taunt on Drednaw to deny the use of status moves including Shell Smash.

**Air Balloon**: Air Balloon eases setup for Drednaw against Ground-type threats by removing its Ground weakness for a turn.

Tera
========
Drednaw can be a nice secondary user of Tera, although this can be costly due to its hit or miss sweeping potential. Tera Flying allows Drednaw to dodge Ground-type attacks while providing Tera Blast Flying coverage for Grass-type threats. Tera Water can be used to boost Drednaw's Water-type attacks. This is especially potent on rain team sets. Drednaw can also use Tera Dark, Ice, and Ground to boost coverage such as Crunch, Ice Fang, and Earthquake.

Draft Strategy
========
Drednaw should not be built around. Instead, it should complement a draft, serving as another offensive threat that pairs well with its teammates.
a 3 pointer should not be the center of the draft is already obvious - what makes this 3 pointer different?
what types of drafts would want/not want to pick this up near the end? should it be on rain drafts? (its the only swift swim mon with rocks) - doesnt have to be long for something this cheap but this currently says effectively nothing about the mon


**Entry-hazard support Setters**: Drednaw appreciates entry-hazards in order to break past bulkier targets or outspeed faster threats, so leads such as Glimmora, Landorus-T, and Araquanid are useful.
webs doesnt really fit here (uncommon + already outspeeding lots of scarfers after a smash) replace with a spiker/sr user

**Pivots:** Drednaw needs as much HP as possible in order to successfully use Shell Smash. As a result, slow pivots that provide it a free switch-in such as Galarian Slowking and Alomomola are appreciated.
3 examples

**Special Sweepers:** Although Drednaw can slice through frailer teams, physically bulky walls such as Dondozo, Zamazenta, and Corviknight are near impossible for it to break past. Thus, special sweepers that can beat these threats such as Raging Bolt and Gholdengo are valued.
no need to say which walls here - specifics for checks are good enough in below section

Checks and Counters
========
**Physically Bulky Walls**: Due to its just above average Attack, physically bulky walls such as Dondozo, Zamazenta, and Corviknight easily wall Drednaw.
zama is banned - replace
elaborate a bit more here - does anything change if it gets a smash off?


**Priority**: Drednaw is prone to being revenge killed by priority due to its lack of recovery and Shell Smash Defense drops, especially from Rillaboom's Grassy Glide and Iron Valiant and Keldeo's Vacuum Wave.

**Taunt / Encore:** Drednaw is an underwhelming Pokemon without a Shell Smash boost, so any Pokemon that can prevent Shell Smash with Taunt greatly limit Drednaw.
add encore

[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/anchor9.652323/
Quality checked by:

Grammar checked by:
 
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