[OVERVIEW]
Cramorant's access to Defog and amazing defensive typing make it one of NU's premier entry hazard control options. Unlike Altaria, which is quite passive, Cramorant can utilize its ability Gulp Missile to spread chip damage and paralysis onto most opposing Pokemon. Gulp Missile paired with its STAB combination of Water and Flying-type attacks also gives Cramorant favourable matchups into many common entry hazard setters such as Bronzong, Copperajah, and Swampert. Cramorant is also great against offensive teams because it can take on common Fighting-types such as Breloom and both Paldean Tauros formes. Despite Cramorant's potency at removing hazards, it is very weak to common Electric-types such as Kilowattrel and Raikou. Cramorant also doesn't have as much bulk as other options like Altaria, which makes it somewhat easy to overwhelm for offensive teams. Furthermore, Cramorant is completely walled by Vaporeon, which can make it hugely ineffective against common balance structures. Special attackers like Munkidori and Choice Specs Chandelure also break Cramorant very effectively as it doesn't have the special bulk to take hits from any of these Pokemon.
[SET]
Name: Physically Defensive
Move 1: Defog
Move 2: Roost
Move 3: Surf
move 4: Brave Bird / Ice Beam
Item: Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Gulp Missile
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Tera type: Ground / Electric
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Brave Bird is a useful STAB attack for Cramorant to ensure it can still hit Vaporeon, Breloom, and Tsareena hard enough. On the other hand, Ice Beam further improves Cramorant's matchup into Flying-types like Altaria and Kilowattrel which otherwise don't mind attacking it. Cramorant can opt to run 64 Speed EVs in order to always outspeed Adamant Incineroar and bulky Tsareena, allowing it to use Surf and set up Gulp Missile to chip down these foes. Tera Ground lets Cramorant block an incoming Volt Switch or Thunderbolt from Raikou or Kilowattrel and hit back with a Surf to set up Gulp Missile. Tera Electric gives Cramorant a better matchup into Breloom as it commonly runs Electric-type coverage; Tera Electric means Cramorant resists this and isn't hit harder by Seed Bomb. Tera Electric also improves Cramorant's matchup into common Flying-types like Kilowattrel, Scyther, and Tornadus.
Breloom is an amazing teammate for Cramorant because of its ability to sweep the bulky teams running Vaporeon which Cramorant cannot touch. Cramorant is also benefitted by the presence of Flygon and Rhyperior, as they are immune to the Electric-type attacks Cramorant cannot handle. Cramorant's ability to wear down Steel-types with Surf can make it a beneficial partner to Munkidori and Diancie as they cannot handle these foes without support. Cramorant also patches up Water and Fighting-type weaknesses in defensive cores that use Rhyperior and a Steel-type, which makes it a useful option for balance teams. Access to Defog makes Cramorant useful hazard control for many teams, which benefits Choice Scarf users it could be paired with such as Infernape, and bulky Pokemon which prefer to run Leftovers like Klefki and Scrafty. Gulp Missile reinforces Cramorant's niche as a premier Defogger, alongside Altaria, because it is incredibly difficult to switch around without taking major chip damage and paralysis.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
While niche, Cramorant can use Endure to capitalise on situations where it has a Gulp Missile ready to paralyse the opponent. Endure allows it to survive an incoming attack, and recover with Roost, or use Surf again, the turn after when the opposing Pokemon is paralysed. Cramorant can run Ice Beam, however this only hits Flying-types like Kilowattrel and Altaria hard enough to warrant using a moveslot on it. Tera Steel provides a neutrality to Electric-type attacks and gives Cramorant the capability to take several strong, common attacks better such as Munkidori's STAB attacks, Toxtricity's Boomburst, Sylveon's Hyper Voice, and Flygon's Outrage. Hurricane would hit Scrafty running Bulk Up more effectively, but is less accurate than Brave Bird and unreliable.
Checks and Counters
====
**Electric-types and Electric-type coverage**: Cramorant being 4x weak to Electric-type attacks causes fast threats like Kilowattrel and Raikou to be especially threatening. Bellibolt is also a threat to Cramorant because it doesn't care about being hit by Surf and can threaten to OHKO Cramorant back. Several offensive Pokemon can run Electric-type coverage which threatens Cramorant and forces it to switch out, including Infernape and Breloom.
**Special Attackers**: Cramorant's mediocre special bulk causes it to be very weak to special attackers like Munkidori, Toxtricity and Meloetta as they can break through it easily before Cramorant even gets the chance to chip them with Gulp Missile.
**Vaporeon**. Vaporeon completely shuts down Cramorant's main way to hit back against its opponents. This makes Cramorant extremely ineffective against the many balance structures Vaporeon features on.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vaporeonds.671267/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user6.105/
Cramorant's access to Defog and amazing defensive typing make it one of NU's premier entry hazard control options. Unlike Altaria, which is quite passive, Cramorant can utilize its ability Gulp Missile to spread chip damage and paralysis onto most opposing Pokemon. Gulp Missile paired with its STAB combination of Water and Flying-type attacks also gives Cramorant favourable matchups into many common entry hazard setters such as Bronzong, Copperajah, and Swampert. Cramorant is also great against offensive teams because it can take on common Fighting-types such as Breloom and both Paldean Tauros formes. Despite Cramorant's potency at removing hazards, it is very weak to common Electric-types such as Kilowattrel and Raikou. Cramorant also doesn't have as much bulk as other options like Altaria, which makes it somewhat easy to overwhelm for offensive teams. Furthermore, Cramorant is completely walled by Vaporeon, which can make it hugely ineffective against common balance structures. Special attackers like Munkidori and Choice Specs Chandelure also break Cramorant very effectively as it doesn't have the special bulk to take hits from any of these Pokemon.
[SET]
Name: Physically Defensive
Move 1: Defog
Move 2: Roost
Move 3: Surf
move 4: Brave Bird / Ice Beam
Item: Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Gulp Missile
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Tera type: Ground / Electric
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Brave Bird is a useful STAB attack for Cramorant to ensure it can still hit Vaporeon, Breloom, and Tsareena hard enough. On the other hand, Ice Beam further improves Cramorant's matchup into Flying-types like Altaria and Kilowattrel which otherwise don't mind attacking it. Cramorant can opt to run 64 Speed EVs in order to always outspeed Adamant Incineroar and bulky Tsareena, allowing it to use Surf and set up Gulp Missile to chip down these foes. Tera Ground lets Cramorant block an incoming Volt Switch or Thunderbolt from Raikou or Kilowattrel and hit back with a Surf to set up Gulp Missile. Tera Electric gives Cramorant a better matchup into Breloom as it commonly runs Electric-type coverage; Tera Electric means Cramorant resists this and isn't hit harder by Seed Bomb. Tera Electric also improves Cramorant's matchup into common Flying-types like Kilowattrel, Scyther, and Tornadus.
Breloom is an amazing teammate for Cramorant because of its ability to sweep the bulky teams running Vaporeon which Cramorant cannot touch. Cramorant is also benefitted by the presence of Flygon and Rhyperior, as they are immune to the Electric-type attacks Cramorant cannot handle. Cramorant's ability to wear down Steel-types with Surf can make it a beneficial partner to Munkidori and Diancie as they cannot handle these foes without support. Cramorant also patches up Water and Fighting-type weaknesses in defensive cores that use Rhyperior and a Steel-type, which makes it a useful option for balance teams. Access to Defog makes Cramorant useful hazard control for many teams, which benefits Choice Scarf users it could be paired with such as Infernape, and bulky Pokemon which prefer to run Leftovers like Klefki and Scrafty. Gulp Missile reinforces Cramorant's niche as a premier Defogger, alongside Altaria, because it is incredibly difficult to switch around without taking major chip damage and paralysis.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
While niche, Cramorant can use Endure to capitalise on situations where it has a Gulp Missile ready to paralyse the opponent. Endure allows it to survive an incoming attack, and recover with Roost, or use Surf again, the turn after when the opposing Pokemon is paralysed. Cramorant can run Ice Beam, however this only hits Flying-types like Kilowattrel and Altaria hard enough to warrant using a moveslot on it. Tera Steel provides a neutrality to Electric-type attacks and gives Cramorant the capability to take several strong, common attacks better such as Munkidori's STAB attacks, Toxtricity's Boomburst, Sylveon's Hyper Voice, and Flygon's Outrage. Hurricane would hit Scrafty running Bulk Up more effectively, but is less accurate than Brave Bird and unreliable.
Checks and Counters
====
**Electric-types and Electric-type coverage**: Cramorant being 4x weak to Electric-type attacks causes fast threats like Kilowattrel and Raikou to be especially threatening. Bellibolt is also a threat to Cramorant because it doesn't care about being hit by Surf and can threaten to OHKO Cramorant back. Several offensive Pokemon can run Electric-type coverage which threatens Cramorant and forces it to switch out, including Infernape and Breloom.
**Special Attackers**: Cramorant's mediocre special bulk causes it to be very weak to special attackers like Munkidori, Toxtricity and Meloetta as they can break through it easily before Cramorant even gets the chance to chip them with Gulp Missile.
**Vaporeon**. Vaporeon completely shuts down Cramorant's main way to hit back against its opponents. This makes Cramorant extremely ineffective against the many balance structures Vaporeon features on.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vaporeonds.671267/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user6.105/
Last edited:
