Slowbro (BW2 Revamp - Taken Over) | [QC: 2/3]

LilOu

PO poopyhead
Original idea and skeleton by Lord of Bays. Thanks for keeping this so far!

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.................wut?

[Overview]

  • The Bro to end all Bros
  • Seriously underrated physical wall, one of the best Fighting-type checks in the game, completely shuts down any Terrakion besides SD Rock Gem
  • Excellent physical Dragon check; Kyurem-B tops out at 88% with +1 252+ Atk Fusion Bolt
  • Gives less fucks about Pursuit than most Psychic-types thanks to insane physical bulk and Regenerator
  • Rather specially frail; can't take too many neutral hits, much less SE ones
  • Extremely slow, only outspeeds Ferrothorn, so it's taking several hits every time it switches, at least
  • If you're looking for team support/utility, almost every bulky water does that better, but Slowbro is a better wall than most of them
  • Offensive sets (Specs and Trick Room) appreciate rain support to boost his Water STAB

[SET]

name: Defensive Wall
move 1: Scald
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Thunder Wave / Psyshock / Psychic
move 4: Slack Off
item: Leftovers
ability: Regenerator
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
ivs: 19 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

  • Poops all over almost every Fighting-type ever
  • There are very, very few physical attackers that can beat Slowbro without fear of reprisal. Breloom is the only OU Pokémon that can OHKO fully healthy Bro without set-up, but Scizor, Tyranitar, and Kyurem-B can KO with hazard support (all with Choice Band, of course)
  • Scald for that evil, evil 30% burn chance
  • Thunder Wave cripple opposing Pokémon
  • Ice Beam puts the hurt on Dragons, OHKOing Salamence, Dragonite after Rocks, and does a minimum of 88.3% to Garchomp
  • Psyshock hits Gyarados harder as well as is the most consistent option against Terrakion. Psychic hits harder on average, and specifically hits Conkeldurr and Cloyster hard
  • 19 Speed IVs allows it to always underspeed Conkeldurr so it never takes full damage from Payback, Conkeldurr's most powerful attack against Bro

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

  • Toxic to cripple opposing walls, though Ferrothorn and any Pokémon with Natural Cure won't care
  • 4 SpA Flamethrower 2HKOs Ferrothorn out of the rain and OHKOs 248/0 Scizor 81% of the time, and brings 252/0 Forretress down to Sturdy, Fire Blast does even more damage (I would give calcs but Kalashnikov is down and I don't know any other reliable calculators. Suffice to say that Ferro can be OHKOd with Spikes support and Scizor never survives)
  • Thanks to Regenerator, you can conceivably drop Slack Off for a third attacking move or a second status move
  • The pink blobs and Celebi are good teammates, providing Heal Bell/Aromatherapy support as well as sponging most special attacks. Celebi shares Bug, Dark, and Ghost weaknesses, so watch out for that
  • Amoonguss also has Regenerator and synergizes nicely as a Regenerating Core, Slowbro as a physical wall and Amoonguss as a special wall. Unfortunately, outside of status they don't offer much team support
  • Heatran and Amoongus complete a Fire-Water-Grass core, worth looking into

[SET]

name: Choice Specs
move 1: Surf
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Psyshock / Psychic
move 4: Trick / Ice Beam / Grass Knot
item: Choice Specs
ability: Regenerator
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 19 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

  • Surprise your opponents with Slowbro's respectable base 100 SpA and Choice Specs
  • Received Trick in BW2, opening the ever popular strategy of tricking a Choice item to an opposing wall
  • Really doesn't give a damn about entry hazards with Regenerator, making him rather unique among Choice users
  • Fire Blast puts the hurt on Grass-types and Steels, especially Ferrothorn (fuck this guy)

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

  • Grass Knot for opposing Water-types
  • Ice Beam for Dragons; this is not a primary move because without that physical investment Bro is not such a good switch-in anymore
  • Anything that hates Ferrothorn (Choice Keldeo, Double Dance Thundurus-T, Kyurem-B) love to see it roasted on the lure so they can sweep more freely

[SET]

name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Surf
move 3: Psyshock / Psychic
move 4: Ice Beam / Shadow Ball
item: Life Orb
ability: Regenerator
nature: Quiet
evs: 232 HP / 24 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

  • Trick Room, fuck yeah
  • Life Orb gives Slowbro just a little sweeping power
  • More than enough bulk to tank a hit, put Trick Room back up if it's gone, and then Regenerate the hell out of there, letting something like Guts Conkeldurr have his day
  • STABs for attacking, most bang for your buck
  • Ice Beam hits Dragons thinking to prey on you when setting up Trick Room, Shadow Ball hits opposing Psychics hard

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

  • All other attacking options listed earlier are viable over Bro's STABs, just depends on what you need
  • Defensive spread (252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA) and Leftovers make Slowbro more of a pure Trick Room supporter. In this case, drop one of your attacking moves for Slack Off
  • Lots of Trick Room sweepers appreciate it if they can't put Trick Room up themselves or can't afford to spend the turn themselves: Conkeldurr, Reuniclus, Escavalier, Gigalith, Rhyperior, Magnezone, Tyranitar, Chandelure (honestly, I just threw a bunch of Pokémon with relatively low Speed stats and high attacking stats out here. This will be much cleaner in the final write-up)

[OTHER OPTIONS]

  • Could run a straight-up LO tank set. Regenerator seriously adds to that viability, Slack Off + 3 Attacks and whatnot
  • Calm Mind is seriously outdone by other Pokémon, but if you make it work more power to you

[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]
  • First and foremost: Special walls, barring Jirachi (SpDef Jirachi does dick for damage and risks Scald burns and T-Wave if it tries to stay in and flinch hax)
  • Powerful special attackers (so CM Jirachi with Thunder or Grass Knot, etc.)
  • Breloom HAS to watch out for Psyshock/Psychic and Scald Burns, but if it's in, Bullet Seed is going to shred Slowbro
  • Similar to Breloom, Scizor needs to beware Flamethrower/Fire Blast and Scald, but U-turn will tear Bro a new one
  • Bulky set-up attackers with Substitute; Gyarados' SubDD set is a prime example
  • CB Tyranitar does up to 88% with Pursuit on the switch, but that's really the only Pursuiter you should fear with Regenerator
 
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