QC: dodmen / Hikari / dingbat
GP: P Squared / The Dutch Plumberjack
Taken over from FatPinkUU.
Overview
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Toxicroak's good mixed offenses make it a dangerous sweeper in the metagame. Dry Skin, Toxicroak's ability, is also very useful, because it lets Toxicroak counter a top-tier threat in Calm Mind Suicune as well as recover HP from opposing Water-type attacks. Toxicroak's movepool is pretty wide, with several usable boosting options such as Swords Dance, which boosts Toxicroak's Attack greatly. Furthermore, Toxicroak has a unique typing in Poison / Fighting, which gives it great neutral coverage between its STAB moves as well as a handful of useful resistances. However, Toxicroak has an average Speed stat, which leaves it very suspectible to being KOed by several revenge killers in the metagame. Toxicroak is very frail, which means it has a hard time setting up. Lastly, Toxicroak is very vulnerable to status; paralysis lowers its Speed and leaves it very easily revenge killed, while burn halves its Attack stat and deals damage to Toxicroak at the end of each turn.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Gunk Shot
move 3: Drain Punch
move 4: Sucker Punch
ability: Dry Skin
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
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Swords Dance is a great boosting move, and Toxicroak finds several opportunities to set up because of Dry Skin and its ability to force switches. Gunk Shot is Toxicroak's strongest STAB move, and it hits Fairy-types, which resist Drain Punch, hard. Drain Punch allows Toxicroak to recover some HP that it loses from Life Orb recoil or otherwise, and it hits Steel-types, which are immune to Poison. Sucker Punch is a priority move that allows Toxicroak to pick off weakened foes. It is also really useful for beating offensive Psychic-types. Ice Punch is also an option to use in a slot to hit common Ground- and Flying-type switch-ins, such as Gligar, Crobat, and Salamence.
Set Details
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252 Attack EVs maximize Toxicroak's damage output, and the Speed EVs boost Toxicroak's Speed stat. The 4 Special Defense EVs are invested to give Download users such as Porygon-Z an Attack boost instead of a Special Attack boost. Either an Adamant or Jolly nature can be used; Adamant significantly boosts Toxicroak's Attack stat, while Jolly lets it Speed tie with base 85 Speed Pokemon such as Nidoking and outspeed maximum Speed Chandelure and Fletchinder, causing Toxicroak's Sucker Punch to hit before Fletchinder's Acrobatics. Dry Skin provides a Water immunity and thus plenty of setup opportunities against Pokemon such as Suicune and Alomomola. Life Orb gives another boost to Toxicroak's damaging attacks; however, this does induce a small bit of recoil to it.
Usage Tips
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Toxicroak is a great switch-in to Water-types such as Suicune, as most of them do not run coverage moves for Toxicroak and cannot do anything while Toxicroak sets up. Set up on a predicted switch, but try to avoid doing that when the opponent has a check or counter to Toxicroak alive. Use Sucker Punch versus Psychic-types; most of them will be OHKOed, though you should play it carefully because of its low PP. When needed, use Drain Punch for some recovery, as Life Orb recoil will steadily wear Toxicroak down. Toxicroak is best off not switched in on a neutral attack, as it has pretty bad bulk and will not likely take the hit very well. Try to avoid paralysis and burn, as the former will hamper Toxicroak by leaving it easily revenge killed and the latter lowers its damage output. Switch out of Ground-types such as Hippowdon, Nidoking, and Gligar, as without Ice Punch, Toxicroak fails to touch them. Nidoking can win the Speed tie and OHKO Toxicroak with a STAB Earth Power.
Team Options
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Entry hazard support from Pokemon such as Gligar, Roserade, Forretress, and Nidoqueen is appreciated to KO foes with more ease. Pokemon that take advantage of Toxicroak beating bulky Water-types, such as Entei and Darmanitan, make for good teammates too. They also can weaken Mega Aggron, which avoids the OHKO from a +2 Drain Punch and can beat Toxicroak with Heavy Slam. Grass-types such as Mega Sceptile, Shaymin, and Roserade can beat Ground-types, which can easily come in and wall Toxicroak. Dark-types such as Mega Houndoom, Umbreon, and Honchkrow can switch into Psychic-types and weaken them so Toxicroak can beat them with Sucker Punch. Umbreon can also support it with Heal Bell if it has been statused. Pokemon that reliably take care of Flying-types, such as Mega Aerodactyl and Rotom-H, make for good partners, as Toxicroak struggles against those foes. Paralysis support from Pokemon such as Stun Spore Whimsicott lets Toxicroak outspeed faster threats. Whimsicott can paralyze the Flying-types it lures in and proceed to switch into Toxicroak, letting Toxicroak use Swords Dance while the foe switches and hit them with Ice Punch after. Memento support from Pokemon such as Dugtrio is really appreciated in order to ease setup for Toxicroak.
Other Options
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A special attacking set with Nasty Plot is an option, but as Toxicroak lacks good special attacks in its movepool, it cannot fully make use of it. Bulk Up is another option to boost Toxicroak's Attack and Defense stat, but Swords Dance generally provides more utility by boosting its Attack by two stages at once. Stone Edge can be run to hit Pokemon such as Crobat, which otherwise has a free switch in on Toxicroak, but they are hit hard by Ice Punch anyway. Substitute is another option for Toxicroak, as it has the ability to force switches, but Toxicroak lacks room for it in its moveset. Earthquake is an option to hit Nidoqueen, which would otherwise completely wall Toxicroak if it lacks Ice Punch, but does not have many other targets. Taunt can be used to get through and set up on defensive Pokemon, but Toxicroak cannot afford to miss out on any of the listed moves. Black Sludge gradually restores Toxicroak's health, but the extra power from Life Orb is preferred in most situations. Low Kick gives Toxicroak a good chance to OHKO Mega Aggron at +2, 2HKO specially defensive Hippowdon at +2, and OHKO Rhyperior, but Drain Punch is generally better for its recovery. Knock Off lets Toxicroak remove items and hit Psychic-type switch-ins, but Toxicroak really needs Sucker Punch more than Knock Off for the former's ability to beat faster Psychic-types such as Alakazam.
Checks & Counters
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**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Alakazam and Azelf can easily OHKO Toxicroak with a 4x super effective STAB move, but they have to be wary and play around Sucker Punch. Alakazam most likely does not need to, provided its Focus Sash is intact.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Bulky Ground-types such as Swampert, Nidoqueen, and Hippowdon can take a hit from Toxicroak and KO it with Earthquake.
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Crobat, Mega Aerodactyl, Fletchinder, and Mega Pidgeot all outspeed Toxicroak and can take it out with a STAB attack. They should be wary of a possible Ice Punch, however.
**Fire-types**: Because Dry Skin makes Toxicroak weak to Fire, Fire-types such as Arcanine and Entei can OHKO Toxicroak with a powerful STAB attack.
**Status**: Burns reduce Toxicroak's offensive presence and wear it down quickly coupled with Life Orb recoil. Paralysis forces Toxicroak to move last in most situations, leaving it easily revenge killed.
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