[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Crabhammer
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Aqua Jet
item: Life Orb
ability: Adaptability
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Water
[SET COMMENTS]
Swords Dance Crawdaunt functions as an unstoppable wallbreaker and setup sweeper, capable of dismantling defensive cores with ease while threatening offense with strong priority. Aqua Jet ensures an already set up Crawdaunt can fire off strong attacks before being revenge killed, preventing faster Pokemon like Flygon, Gardevoir, and Thundurus from stopping a potential sweep. Adaptability-boosted Knock Off is Crawdaunt's most spammable attack, providing utility in item removal with the benefit of being incredibly difficult to switch into generally. Life Orb maximizes the breaking potential of Crawdaunt, enabling it to comfortably 2HKO nearly the entire unboosted metagame, including notable walls like Amoonguss, Galarian Weezing, and Slowbro. Crawdaunt does not get much value from using Terastallization, as the interaction between Terastallization and Adaptability provides minimal gain generally, but Tera Water is still the default choice to boost damage output for Aqua Jet while also removing the weakness to Bug and Fighting, which can prevent it from getting revenge killed by First Impression users Flygon and Slither Wing, as well as Mach Punch Conkeldurr.
Balance and bulky offense teams looking for a powerful wallbreaker, setup sweeper, and priority revenge killer can use Swords Dance Crawdaunt to fill all of these roles comfortably. As one of the strongest physical attackers in the metagame, Crawdaunt often is paired with strong Volt Switch users, namely Magnezone and Thundurus, to form a dynamic duo that keeps the opponent from getting comfortable, as specially defensive walls like Hisuian Goodra and Umbreon get worn down quickly trying to keep pace with the pivoting. Similarly, other strong physical setup sweepers, like Dragon Dance Flygon and Salamence, can take advantage of Crawdaunt racking up massive damage on physically defensive walls like Hippowdon and Slowbro to secure their own late-game sweep. However, Crawdaunt is often on a time crunch with regards to health, as it takes all forms of entry hazard chip damage in addition to its own Life Orb recoil and potential Rocky Helmet chip, making hazard removal teammates that can pivot Crawdaunt in safely like Cyclizar, Noivern, and Talonflame crucial to minimize the damage it takes and provide safe entry points against common switch-ins like Hippowdon, Hisuian Goodra, and Slowbro. Teams that utilize Crawdaunt often want to support it with their own hazards to capitalize on its strong Knock Off, making partners like Chesnaught, Jirachi, and Klefki valuable as both hazard setters and defensive pivots into Electric- and Fighting-type attacks from Pokemon like Thundurus and Slither Wing. Defensive teammates like Bellibolt, Empoleon, and Fezandipiti can provide immense value as switch-ins to revenge killers like Galarian Zapdos and Gardevoir while being able to provide safe pivots into Crawdaunt. Chesnaught and Wo-Chien are two of the few reliable Crawdaunt counters in the metagame, making teammates that can handle them like Ribombee and Galarian Zapdos appreciated.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sir-tetris.655207/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/machjacob.555741/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Crabhammer
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Aqua Jet
item: Life Orb
ability: Adaptability
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Water
[SET COMMENTS]
Swords Dance Crawdaunt functions as an unstoppable wallbreaker and setup sweeper, capable of dismantling defensive cores with ease while threatening offense with strong priority. Aqua Jet ensures an already set up Crawdaunt can fire off strong attacks before being revenge killed, preventing faster Pokemon like Flygon, Gardevoir, and Thundurus from stopping a potential sweep. Adaptability-boosted Knock Off is Crawdaunt's most spammable attack, providing utility in item removal with the benefit of being incredibly difficult to switch into generally. Life Orb maximizes the breaking potential of Crawdaunt, enabling it to comfortably 2HKO nearly the entire unboosted metagame, including notable walls like Amoonguss, Galarian Weezing, and Slowbro. Crawdaunt does not get much value from using Terastallization, as the interaction between Terastallization and Adaptability provides minimal gain generally, but Tera Water is still the default choice to boost damage output for Aqua Jet while also removing the weakness to Bug and Fighting, which can prevent it from getting revenge killed by First Impression users Flygon and Slither Wing, as well as Mach Punch Conkeldurr.
Balance and bulky offense teams looking for a powerful wallbreaker, setup sweeper, and priority revenge killer can use Swords Dance Crawdaunt to fill all of these roles comfortably. As one of the strongest physical attackers in the metagame, Crawdaunt often is paired with strong Volt Switch users, namely Magnezone and Thundurus, to form a dynamic duo that keeps the opponent from getting comfortable, as specially defensive walls like Hisuian Goodra and Umbreon get worn down quickly trying to keep pace with the pivoting. Similarly, other strong physical setup sweepers, like Dragon Dance Flygon and Salamence, can take advantage of Crawdaunt racking up massive damage on physically defensive walls like Hippowdon and Slowbro to secure their own late-game sweep. However, Crawdaunt is often on a time crunch with regards to health, as it takes all forms of entry hazard chip damage in addition to its own Life Orb recoil and potential Rocky Helmet chip, making hazard removal teammates that can pivot Crawdaunt in safely like Cyclizar, Noivern, and Talonflame crucial to minimize the damage it takes and provide safe entry points against common switch-ins like Hippowdon, Hisuian Goodra, and Slowbro. Teams that utilize Crawdaunt often want to support it with their own hazards to capitalize on its strong Knock Off, making partners like Chesnaught, Jirachi, and Klefki valuable as both hazard setters and defensive pivots into Electric- and Fighting-type attacks from Pokemon like Thundurus and Slither Wing. Defensive teammates like Bellibolt, Empoleon, and Fezandipiti can provide immense value as switch-ins to revenge killers like Galarian Zapdos and Gardevoir while being able to provide safe pivots into Crawdaunt. Chesnaught and Wo-Chien are two of the few reliable Crawdaunt counters in the metagame, making teammates that can handle them like Ribombee and Galarian Zapdos appreciated.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sir-tetris.655207/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/machjacob.555741/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Last edited:
