Samurott (Analysis)

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[Overview]
<p>With the advent of
<p>With the fifth generation comes Samurott, another Water-type with decent defenses and above average offensive stats. As in previous generations, Water is a good type to have due to its amazing neutral coverage and few weaknesses. In addition to its impressive offensive stats, it gets Swords Dance to help boost its Attack to high levels. Samurott's movepool is fairly shallowshallow, but includes some interesting support options such as Encore and Taunt. Samurott's accessFurther, Access to priority in the form of STAB Aqua Jet sets it apart from its bulky Water-type brethren such as Suicune or Milotic, which also aids toand helps Samurott work around its mediocre speed. UnfortunatelySpeed. Unfortunately, Feraligatr also sports an impressive Attack stat and Aqua Jet, and Samurott would be ouclassed exceptleave Samurott outclassed, if not for an important, key move: Megahorn. Megahorn is a fantastic move,boon to Samurott, crushing the plethora of bulky Grass- and Psychic-types littering the UU metagame. Being able to crush them with its coverage attack is an invaluable skill that sets Samurott apart from Feraligatr.</p>


[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Aqua Jet / Taunt
nature: Adamant
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
evs: 152 HP / 8 Def / 252 Atk / 96 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This
<p>This set capitalizes on Samurott's access to Swords Danceunique and well-balanced movepool. With priority in the form of Aqua Jet. With Aqua Jet, Samurott can check frail, faster threats. WithAfter a Swords Dance and Megahorn,boost, Samurott using Megahorn with a Life Orb OHKOes Tangrowthall Slowbro, and Slowbro afterhas a boost, easily66.66% chance to OHKO the most defensive Tangrowth, toppling two foes that stand as complete stops to the majority of UU's physical sweepers. It also OHKOes defensive variants of Mew and Celebi, whom Feraligatr fails to OHKO with Swords Dance BoostedDance-boosted Crunch or Ice Punch. To top it all off, Megahorn destroys Abomasnow, who is the ringleader of UU's infamous hail teams. After a Swords Dance, Samurott with full Attack investment reaches an Attack stat over 650of 656, which really hurts when equipped with a Life Orb maximum Attack investment.Orb. The HP EVs reach a Leftovers number as well as a Life Orb number, and the Speed EVs allow Samurott to outspeed Milotic, almost all Hitmontop, Honchrow, and maxmaximum HP Mamoswine.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>In
<p>In the last moveslot, you can use Encore or Taunt can be used to help with setup (specifically setup—specifically, to stop walls from healing or using status moves against Samurott), though Samurott—though if you predict a healing move, it might be wise to simply use Swords Dance again. If Ghost-types pose a significant threat, you can use Night Slash can be run over Megahorn instead of Megahorn, although Samurott loses out on its main selling point, the point—the ability to OHKO Tangrowth and Slowbro after a boost. Night Slash's only significant advantage is taking down the very rare Frillish. Without a Swords Dance under its belt, Samurott lacks the raw power to effectively destroy opponents opponents, so getting up a Swords Dance is crucial to this set’s success.</p>

<p>Max Maximum HP provideshelps Samurott survive for more survivabilitytime with Samurott'sits passable defenses, and Leftovers can bolster its survivability furtherthis further, at the cost of losing Life Orb's significant power boost. Also, an alternative EV spread of 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to allow Samurott to outspeed more threats. More specifically, Samurott can run 124 EVs in Speed to outrun Suicune or 84 EVs to outrun neutral base 80 Speed Pokemon that don't invest in Speed.the stat. Samurott can runuse Toxic to cripple its would-be counters (though Empoleon walls Samurottit regardless), but it is not necessarynecessary, due to the power of Megahorn and Waterfall after a boost.</p>

<p>Samurott appreciates teammates that resist its Grass- and Electric-type weaknesses. Registeel and Nidoqueen in particular are useful teammates that can switch into these types of attacks and set up entry hazards and resist Samurott's Grass- and Electric-type weaknesses.hazards. They also give Samurott switch-in opportunities by luring in attacks it tanks with its Fire- and Ice-type resistances. Fire-types are also useful teammatesteammates, as they resist Samurott's GrassGrass-type weakness and absorb incoming Will-o-Wisps.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Return can be used over Waterfall or Aqua Jet, offering greater neutral coverage at the expense of either power or the loss of priority. A special set is viablealso viable, as Samurott has access to Grass Knot, Ice Beam, and Hidden Power for coverage. Choice sets are somewhat outclassed by the Swords Dance set due to itsthe latter's greater powerpower, and speed issues mitigated by priority in Aqua Jet.Jet's priority. A support set with Encore and Taunt could work, as bulky Water-types such as Milotic and Suicune do not have access to those moves, but is generally ineffective.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Countering Samurott is not too difficult because of its low speedSpeed and imperfect coverage. Registeel is generally a great counter to SamurottSamurott, as it can switch in relatively easily due towith its naturally high Defense and cripple Samurott with Toxic. Ghost-types with access to Will-o-WispWill-O-Wisp can burn Samurott and render it useless for the rest of the match. Empoleon is probably the number onebest Samurott countercounter, due to its resistance to Bug- and Water-type moves and the ability to burn Samurott with Scald. Furthermore, Poliwrath and Qwilfish also resist the Water / BugWater- and Bug-type attack combinationcombination, and easily handle the Swords Dance sets. Poliwrath will simply attack and phaze Samurott with Circle Throw, while Qwilfish will cut Swamurott's attack with Intimidate, set up Spikes, and cut away any attempt Samurott makes to set up and sweep with Haze. Altaria, while relatively uncommon, resists Bug- and Water-type moves, but is unable to take repeated, boosted,repeated boosted Waterfalls. It can stop Samurott's sweep with Toxic or Perish Song, or it can simply Draco Meteor to destroy Samurott's weaker special defenses.Special Defense. Unfortunately, Samurott's defenses aren't the best, and strong, STABedSTAB Electric- and Grass-type moves can easily OHKO. In addition, entry hazards such as Toxic Spikes can prematurely end its sweep.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Samurott gets the ability Shell Armor from the Dream World, which is fairly useless sinceuseless, as it only prevents critical hits. It has some possible use on a support set, but Torrent is going to be the best option regardless.</p>

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