[OVERVIEW]
Politoed is one of the primary rain setters due to Drizzle alongside decent defensive typing and stats, although it has lackluster offensive presence. It can often survive long enough to set rain multiple times, maintaining weather control. Attackers like Urshifu-R, Zapdos, Kingdra, and Tornadus take advantage of rain, and Helping Hand boosts their strength even further. Scald burns and support moves such as Icy Wind and Encore give Politoed further utility value beyond setting rain. A major drawback Politoed faces is matching up poorly against a plethora of common Pokemon, such as Rillaboom, Tapu Fini, Kyurem-B, Amoonguss, and Dragapult, among others. The aforementioned teammates, along with others like Genesect and Tsareena, can help this, though. Politoed's relative passivity can also clash with the typically fast-paced nature of rain teams. Therefore, it faces competition from Pelipper as a rain setter, which has Hurricane to deal with troublesome Grass-types and Tailwind, making it more offensively suited than Politoed.
[SET]
name: Rain Setter
move 1: Scald / Weather Ball
move 2: Helping Hand
move 3: Icy Wind / Encore
move 4: Protect
item: Eject Button / Damp Rock
ability: Drizzle
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
* Scald is Politoed's primary attack, doing reasonable damage while boosted by rain and offering utility in the form of potential burns. Weather Ball has more raw power at the cost of utility and being incredibly reliant on rain, for instance guaranteeing the OHKO on Landorus.
* Helping Hand mitigates Politoed's limited offensive presence by allowing it to boost a stronger teammate's attack instead. It also lets Politoed make a move before Eject Button forces it out.
* Politoed's third moveslot is quite flexible, and which option is best can differ depending on the exact team. Icy Wind provides speed control for teammates, while Encore can lock a foe into a move like Fake Out or Protect, punish setup such as Dragon Dance from Kyurem-B, or disrupt Trick Room users.
* Protect allows Politoed to stall out a turn, wasting turns of opposing Tailwind or Trick Room, or keeping it safe while a teammate is brought out to be assisted with Helping Hand.
* Eject Button helps Politoed get off the field after its job of setting rain is done, allowing more offensive teammates to switch in and benefit while saving Politoed to set rain again later. Alternatively, Damp Rock extends the duration of rain, reducing the need to set it an additional time.
* The given EV spread patches up Politoed's more vulnerable physical bulk to ensure it can survive almost any single attack. This further helps Politoed fulfill its duty of maintaining rain throughout the match.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toxic and Hypnosis are notable support options but require terrain control to be truly effective, as they otherwise struggle against teams with Tapu Fini. Ice Beam trades the utility of Icy Wind for damage, helping Politoed against Grass- and Dragon-types, but it still struggles against the likes of Rillaboom and Kyurem-B. Sitrus Berry complements Politoed's natural bulk, but it is usually inferior to Eject Button or Damp Rock for maintaining rain. Hydro Pump is an offensive option even stronger than Weather Ball, although the imperfect accuracy makes it difficult to justify. Perish Song offers an alternative win condition for when the opponent has only two Pokemon left, but it does little otherwise.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yoda2798, 243662]]
- Quality checked by: [[zee, 501951], [Memoric, 215000]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
Politoed is one of the primary rain setters due to Drizzle alongside decent defensive typing and stats, although it has lackluster offensive presence. It can often survive long enough to set rain multiple times, maintaining weather control. Attackers like Urshifu-R, Zapdos, Kingdra, and Tornadus take advantage of rain, and Helping Hand boosts their strength even further. Scald burns and support moves such as Icy Wind and Encore give Politoed further utility value beyond setting rain. A major drawback Politoed faces is matching up poorly against a plethora of common Pokemon, such as Rillaboom, Tapu Fini, Kyurem-B, Amoonguss, and Dragapult, among others. The aforementioned teammates, along with others like Genesect and Tsareena, can help this, though. Politoed's relative passivity can also clash with the typically fast-paced nature of rain teams. Therefore, it faces competition from Pelipper as a rain setter, which has Hurricane to deal with troublesome Grass-types and Tailwind, making it more offensively suited than Politoed.
[SET]
name: Rain Setter
move 1: Scald / Weather Ball
move 2: Helping Hand
move 3: Icy Wind / Encore
move 4: Protect
item: Eject Button / Damp Rock
ability: Drizzle
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
* Scald is Politoed's primary attack, doing reasonable damage while boosted by rain and offering utility in the form of potential burns. Weather Ball has more raw power at the cost of utility and being incredibly reliant on rain, for instance guaranteeing the OHKO on Landorus.
* Helping Hand mitigates Politoed's limited offensive presence by allowing it to boost a stronger teammate's attack instead. It also lets Politoed make a move before Eject Button forces it out.
* Politoed's third moveslot is quite flexible, and which option is best can differ depending on the exact team. Icy Wind provides speed control for teammates, while Encore can lock a foe into a move like Fake Out or Protect, punish setup such as Dragon Dance from Kyurem-B, or disrupt Trick Room users.
* Protect allows Politoed to stall out a turn, wasting turns of opposing Tailwind or Trick Room, or keeping it safe while a teammate is brought out to be assisted with Helping Hand.
* Eject Button helps Politoed get off the field after its job of setting rain is done, allowing more offensive teammates to switch in and benefit while saving Politoed to set rain again later. Alternatively, Damp Rock extends the duration of rain, reducing the need to set it an additional time.
* The given EV spread patches up Politoed's more vulnerable physical bulk to ensure it can survive almost any single attack. This further helps Politoed fulfill its duty of maintaining rain throughout the match.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toxic and Hypnosis are notable support options but require terrain control to be truly effective, as they otherwise struggle against teams with Tapu Fini. Ice Beam trades the utility of Icy Wind for damage, helping Politoed against Grass- and Dragon-types, but it still struggles against the likes of Rillaboom and Kyurem-B. Sitrus Berry complements Politoed's natural bulk, but it is usually inferior to Eject Button or Damp Rock for maintaining rain. Hydro Pump is an offensive option even stronger than Weather Ball, although the imperfect accuracy makes it difficult to justify. Perish Song offers an alternative win condition for when the opponent has only two Pokemon left, but it does little otherwise.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yoda2798, 243662]]
- Quality checked by: [[zee, 501951], [Memoric, 215000]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
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