Kabutops

[Aaronboyer]

[OVERVIEW]

• Despite the fact that it shares several similarities with other physically offensive Water-types such as Carracosta, Kingler, Swanna, and Floatzel, Kabutops differentiates itself from them with its Swords Dance sweeper or Choice Scarf sets.
• Kabutops' above average Attack stat alongside its decent Speed and secondary Rock typing allows it to take on certain Pokemon such as Abomasnow, Oricorio-E, and Rotom-Spin other Water-types would have greater trouble against.
• Kabutops also has other perks such as Swift Swim and Rapid Spin, acting as a rain hyper offense sweeper or countermeasure and removing entry hazards for teammates such as Scyther and Pyroar.
• However, Kabutops' typing isn't the best, sporting common weaknesses such as Electric-, Grass-, and Fighting that limits when it can safely switch in and set up.
• Kabutops also has poor 60 / 70 special bulk, which means it cannot take on special attackers such as Pyroar and Articuno despite what it's dual typing suggests.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Liquidation
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Superpower / Aqua Jet / Rapid Spin
item: Rockium Z / Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Liquidation is Kabutop's primary STAB Liquidation and super effectively hit Pokemon such as Regirock and Mudsdale. Liquidation also has a chance to lower the target’s Defense, allowing Kabutops to break physically defensive Pokemon such as Mesprit and Weezing.
• Stone Edge
• Swords Dance boosts Kabutops’ Attack by two stages with each use and allows it sweep weakened teams.
• Superpower nails Normal-types such as Kangaskhan and Audino, certain Steel-types such as Alolan Sandslash and non Choice Scarf Togedemaru, and hits Poliwrath harder than any other move.
• Kabutops can also opt for Aqua Jet in its fourth moveslot, acting as a priority move to pick off faster, weakened foes such as Alolan Raichu, depending on a teammate such as Poliwrath to take care of Ferroseed.
• If your team lacks a entry hazard remover Rapid Spin can be used to spin them away. However, Swords Dance variants have a harder time than Choice Scarf variants as they have to forfeit a coverage move.

Set Details
========

• Maximum Attack EVs allow Kabutops to hit as hard as possible, while maximum Speed EVs alongside a Jolly nature allow Kabutops to outpace the neutral base 80 Speed benchmark where Mesprit and Shiftry reside, as well as Pokemon under that benchmark such as Life Orb Hitmonchan and Alolan Raticate
• Rockium Z turns Stone Edge into Continental Crush, a stronger, one-time use STAB option that has perfect accuracy, whereas Life Orb boosts the power of all of Kabutops' attacks and deals more consistent damage overall at the cost of losing a portion of its health each use.
• Swift Swim doubles Kabutops' Speed under Rain, outspeeding other prominent Swift Swim users such as Ludicolo and Gorebyss. Even when Kabutops is not used on a rain hyper offense team, Swift Swim is still incredibly useful in allowing Kabutops to act as check against opposing rain teams. Battle Armor can also be utilized if opposing rain teams are not a concern to prevent the occasional critical hit.

Usage Tips
========

• If used on a rain-focused team, Kabutops should not be brought in unless rain is up.

Team Options
========

• Other Swift Swim users such as Ludicolo and Poliwrath can be used alongside Kabutops on a rain team to create a powerful offensive core.
• Volbeat and Uxie can reliably setup Rain Dance with either Prankster or their sheer bulk, activating Kabutops’ Swift Swim ability and doubling its Speed.
• However, Kabutops doesn't have to be used on rain team to perform as a solid Swords Dance sweeper. Kabutops can also fit onto balance offensive teams in need of a decently fast, late-game cleaner.
• Mesprit is a fantastic teammate for Kabutops, as it resists Fighting, is immune to Ground-type moves, and can lay down Stealth Rock to chip away at the opposing side's health.
• There are several Grass-types that make good partners with Kabutops such as Leafeon and Lurantis that resist three types Kabutops is weak to: Electric, Grass, and Ground. In return, Kabutops can take on the Poison-, Flying- and to some degree, Fire-types such as Skuntank, Swanna, and Combusken that threaten to KO its Grass-type teammates.
• Lastly, Pokemon that appreciate entry hazards being removed for them, namely Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock, such as Scyther, Pyroar, and Pinsir all make great partners for Kabutops. In return, these Pokemon can usually scare out Grass-types that threaten to KO Kabutops.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Liquidation
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Superpower
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Liquidation is Kabutops' most reliable physical Water-type STAB option, neutrally hitting Pokemon such as Skuntank and Mesprit and super effectively hitting Pokemon such as Golurk, Aurorus, and Lycanroc.
• Stone Edge is Kabutops' other physical STAB move, rounding off its coverage decently by neutrally hitting Water-, Grass-, and Dragon-type Pokemon such as Kingler and Alolan Exeggutor that would resist Liquidation.
• Rapid Spin allows Kabutops to act as an emergency entry hazard remover.
• Superpower is an important coverage move that nails Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Alolan Sandslash while also neutrally hitting Poliwrath which Kabutops couldn’t do with STAB moves alone.

Set Details
========

Describe the other aspects of the set such as what the EVs do and nature/item.

Usage Tips
========

Describe how to use the Pokemon in question.

Team Options
========

Describe some teammates that would be a good idea to pair with this Pokemon.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Fightinium Z allows Kabutops to nail Ferroseed at +0 without lowering its Attack and Defense, OHKOing it after just a little bit of chip damage. However, Rockium Z is more useful overall as Stone Edge is somewhat inaccurate whereas Superpower already has 100% accuracy, and Kabutops can already reliably KO Ferroseed with a +2 Superpower.
• Low Kick is another strong Fighting-type option for Kabutops, walloping Pokemon such as Aggron and Golem with the same base power as Superpower again without lowering its Attack and Defense. Kabutops' main target, Ferroseed, however, isn't very heavy, making Low Kick not worthwhile.
• Weak Armor doubles Kabutops' Speed without the necessity of Rain being up; however, it also lowers Kabutops' Defense and makes it more susceptible to priority users such as Gurdurr, Hitmonchan, and Carracosta.
• A physically defensive spread alongside Leftovers and utility options in Knock Off and Rapid Spin could make Kabutops a decent defensive spinner. However, Kabutops is very susceptible to special attackers such as Mesprit, Lilligant, and Manectric, and possesses several common weaknesses such as Fighting and Grass that would lose too much momentum to be worthwhile. Not only this, but Kabutops does not have access to reliable recovery outside of Leftovers, meaning it can become worn down very easily over time. Defensive variants of Kabutops should run Battle Armor to prevent critical hits from prematurely knocking it out.
• Knock Off could also be used on a more offensive set but doesn’t really synergize well with Kabutops’ other attacks and would mean Kabutops would have to forgo Superpower, an important coverage move that nails Ferroseed and to a lesser extent Poliwrath.
• X-Scissor deals super effective damage against Grass-types such as Lilligant and Ludicolo as well as Mesprit.
• Ice Beam nails physically defensive Grass-types such as Tangela and Leafeon, but utilizes Kabutops’ much weaker Special Attack stat and again only hits Ferroseed neutrally.
• Earthquake nails Electric-types such as Lanturn and Manectric while also being Kabutops' best option against Qwilfish. Earthquake also avoids Skuntank's Aftermath ability due to the fact that it is a non-contact move.
• Kabutops can use Rain Dance to function as a self-sufficient rain sweeper but forgoing coverage and the fact that Kabutops is incredibly frail on the special side makes Rain Dance overall a poor option.
• Toxic can cripple physically defensive Pokemon such as defensive Mesprit and Leafeon but doesn't make use of Kabutops' attacking prowess on the first set and isn't locking yourself into a status move on the second set is ill-advised.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Grass-types**: Grass-type Pokemon such as Lurantis and Alolan Exeggutor are threatening to Kabutops with their 4x super effective STAB moves. Some such as Lilligant and Leafeon can outspeed it outside of rain and revenge kill it with Energy Ball and Leaf Blade, while others such as Tangela and Gourgeist-XL can stomach even a +2 Continental Crush and follow up with a Giga Drain or Seed Bomb. Abomasnow can even nullify Kabutops's Swift Swim with Snow Warning.

**STAB resists**: Pokemon that resist both Water and Rock such as Poliwrath and Ferroseed are only cautious of a boosted Superpower. Ferroseed can also stall Kabutops out of Superpowers fairly easy with Protect and switching in and out although this could allow Kabutops to obtain Swords Dance boosts.

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Gurdurr and the aforementioned Poliwrath can tank any off Kabutops' hits and fire off a Drain Punch or Focus Blast. A weakened Kabutops can even be picked off with a priority Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave.

**Electric-types**: Although they typically have a frailer physical defense stat and are therefore not safe switch-ins, Electric-type Pokemon such as Alolan Raichu and Manectric can outspeed Swords Dance Kabutops and knock it out with Thunderbolt.

 

[Aaronboyer]

Sorry this has been taking a while, been trying to balance PUPL, ZU stuff, and irl stuff. This is just about "finished," but will require some extra time to take out of WIP once it's "finished" to update mentions of certain Pokemon to accommodate for the recent tier shifts. (aka why did Ferroseed have to leave? ) Just wanted to let you guys know I'm still working on this. It's my first ever analysis with more than one set.