[OVERVIEW]
Quagsire is an excellent defensive Pokemon in NU thanks to its ability Unaware, which gives it a niche in checking most of the setup sweepers in the NU metagame. Quagsire also has a fantastic Water / Ground typing which leaves it with only one weakness, Grass. Quagsire also has access to Recover, giving it a reliable source of recovery. However, Quagsire is not unbreakable due to its mediocre defensive stats and the fact that it is greatly threatened by all the common Grass-type Pokemon in NU, such as Lilligant and Vileplume.
[SET]
name: Defensive Wall
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Recover
move 3: Scald
move 4: Curse / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Unaware
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earthquake hits Fire-, Rock-, and Steel-types for super effective damage. Recover allows Quagsire to replenish 50% of its health. Scald is Quagsire's most spammable move, as it has a nice 30% chance to burn the opponent, and, even though it can't take advantage of the Attack boosts from Curse, it provides utility outside of setting up. Curse raises Quagsire's Attack and Defense at the cost of lowering its Speed, and it is used to beat passive, bulky boosters that would normally PP stall Quagsire such as Malamar and Mega Audino. Toxic cripples Grass-types, such as Lilligant, Exeggutor, and Torterra, while also wearing down special attackers such as Samurott and Musharna that don't mind being burned by Scald. Waterfall can be used over Scald because Curse boosts its power as well; however, Scald is generally preferred thanks to the 30% burn chance, offering greater defensive utility before setting up.
Set Details
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252 EVs in both HP and Defense allow Quagsire to never be 2HKOed by Tauros's Life Orb-boosted Rock Climb after Stealth Rock damage and Leftovers recovery while also having a pretty good chance to not be 2HKOed after one layer of Spikes. A Relaxed nature lets Quagsire maintain a neutral nature in both attacking stats but lowers its Speed, which is largely irrelevant. Unaware lets Quagsire ignore the stat boosts of opposing Pokemon, so they can't set up on Quagsire. An alternate spread of 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD can offer Quagsire some more special bulk while still avoiding a 2HKO from Kangaskhan, Archeops, and Hariyama.
Usage Tips
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Quagsire can come in on almost every non-item-boosted physical attacker as well as weak or resisted special attacks such as Magneton's Flash Cannon and Togetic's Dazzling Gleam. Scald and Toxic should be used early-game in order to wear down the opponent's Pokemon with status. Quagsire is best used by checking a lot of common setup sweepers that lack Grass-type coverage such as Fletchinder and Swords Dance Sneasel. Note that Quagsire can end up sweeping late-game with Curse if the opponent has no strong special attackers or Grass-type Pokemon left, although this situation is uncommon. Do your best to avoid status as it forces Quagsire to use Recover more. Toxic is the most detrimental status to Quagsire as it can't simply keep recovering off the residual damage. Use Recover when Quagsire is low on health in order to maintain its ability to check setup sweepers. Earthquake is Quagsire's most reliable STAB move and should be used when Quagsire has attained boosts, or if you want to get more damage off. Be wary of Grass-type coverage moves from the likes of Garbodor, Magmortar, and Magneton, as they can surprise Quagsire with and deal a ton of damage or simply knock it out.
Team Options
========
Quagsire appreciates teammates that can take Grass-type moves and handle Grass-type Pokemon; Fletchinder, Vileplume, and Bouffalant all work rather well. Passive, defensive Pokemon that often get set up on such as Ferroseed and Uxie are good partners because Quagsire can stop pretty much all setup sweepers that threaten them. Quagsire also appreciates teammates that can tank special hits such as Hariyama or Mantine because Quagsire can't stay in on a lot of strong neutral special attackers. Clerics such as Mega Audino or Musharna also work well with Quagsire because they can heal any stray status that can cripple Quagsire. Quagsire works really well on more balanced and defensive teams because it acts as a blanket check to most of the NU metagame as well as being a glue that can check setup sweepers efficiently.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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An offensive set that has either a Choice Band or 3 Attacks + Recover allows Quagsire to maintain its offensive presence while checking weaker setup sweepers. Running Protect over Curse or Toxic allows Quagsire to scout for Grass-type coverage moves such as Energy Ball or Hidden Power Grass in order to avoid being OHKOed by them. Encore can allow Quagsire to check bulky boosters without setting up itself. Haze allows Quagsire to come in on bulky setup sweepers, eliminate their boosts, and pivot into a teammate that can handle it from there, as well as allowing Quagsire to act as an emergency check to Stored Power Musharna.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: Grass-types come in for free on Quagsire and exploit its 4x weakness to Grass-type moves. Also, most Grass-types are specially based, which lets them hit Quagsire on its weaker Special Defense stat . However, almost all Grass-types outside of Roselia and Vileplume don't appreciate Toxic; both Roselia and Vileplume shrug off Earthquakes easily.
**Wallbreakers**: Strong wallbreakers break past Quagsire pretty easily because of the consistent offensive pressure that they apply, as well as taking advantage of Quagsire's middling defensive stats. Quagsire's typing also doesn't offer it a lot of resistances against premier wallbreakers such as Sawk, Zangoose, and Samurott. However, wallbreakers have a hard time switching into Quagsire, as they risk being crippled by a potential Scald burn or Toxic.
**Toxic**: Quagsire can shake off burn and normal poison damage pretty well thanks to Recover, but Toxic damage stacks every turn, which prevents Quagsire from simply continuing to recover off the damage.
**Special Attackers**: Special attackers such as Pyroar and Mesprit can easily break through Quagsire's low Special Defense and hit it with powerful neutral attacks such as Hyper Voice or Psychic, respectively.
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