Base Stats: 85 HP / 120 Atk / 80 Def / 85 SpA / 75 SpD / 85 Spe (530 Total)
Abilities: Torrent | Moxie
Notable Moves:
- Close Combat
- Aqua Step
- Wave Crash
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Tera Blast
- U-turn
- Ice Spinner
- Aqua Jet
- Rapid Spin
- Brave Bird
- Low Kick
- Bulk Up
- Taunt
Learned Moves:
Aqua Step @ Evolution
Pound @ Lv. 1
Growl @ Lv. 1
Water Gun @ Lv. 1
Double Hit @ Lv. 1
Work Up @ Lv. 7
Wing Attack @ Lv. 10
Aqua Jet @ Lv. 13
Low Sweep @ Lv. 17
Water Pulse @ Lv. 17
Aqua Cutter @ Lv. 21
Air Slash @ Lv. 27
Focus Energy @ Lv. 32
Mega Kick @ Lv. 38
Acrobatics @ Lv. 43
Liquidation @ Lv. 47
Feather Dance @ Lv. 52
Close Combat @ Lv. 58
Wave Crash @ Lv. 64
Reminder Moves:
Counter
Egg Moves:
Detect, Rapid Spin, Roost, Last Resort
TM Moves:
Swords Dance, Take Down, Hydro Pump, Surf, Hyper Beam, Low Kick, Agility, Swift, Rest, Substitute, Reversal, Protect, Icy Wind, Endure, Sleep Talk, Baton Pass, Encore, Rain Dance, Facade, Taunt, Helping Hand, Brick Break, Hydro Cannon, Air Cutter, Aerial Ace, Bulk Up, Water Pulse, U-turn, Close Combat, Fling, Air Slash, Brave Bird, Giga Impact, Low Sweep, Acrobatics, Water Pledge, Hurricane, Disarming Voice, Misty Terrain, Liquidation, Tera Blast, Ice Spinner, Chilling Water
Aqua Step @ Evolution
Pound @ Lv. 1
Growl @ Lv. 1
Water Gun @ Lv. 1
Double Hit @ Lv. 1
Work Up @ Lv. 7
Wing Attack @ Lv. 10
Aqua Jet @ Lv. 13
Low Sweep @ Lv. 17
Water Pulse @ Lv. 17
Aqua Cutter @ Lv. 21
Air Slash @ Lv. 27
Focus Energy @ Lv. 32
Mega Kick @ Lv. 38
Acrobatics @ Lv. 43
Liquidation @ Lv. 47
Feather Dance @ Lv. 52
Close Combat @ Lv. 58
Wave Crash @ Lv. 64
Reminder Moves:
Counter
Egg Moves:
Detect, Rapid Spin, Roost, Last Resort
TM Moves:
Swords Dance, Take Down, Hydro Pump, Surf, Hyper Beam, Low Kick, Agility, Swift, Rest, Substitute, Reversal, Protect, Icy Wind, Endure, Sleep Talk, Baton Pass, Encore, Rain Dance, Facade, Taunt, Helping Hand, Brick Break, Hydro Cannon, Air Cutter, Aerial Ace, Bulk Up, Water Pulse, U-turn, Close Combat, Fling, Air Slash, Brave Bird, Giga Impact, Low Sweep, Acrobatics, Water Pledge, Hurricane, Disarming Voice, Misty Terrain, Liquidation, Tera Blast, Ice Spinner, Chilling Water
Aqua Step -
-
Power: 80
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10 (16)
The user toys with the target and attacks it using
light and fluid dance steps. This also boosts the
user’s Speed stat.
Power: 80
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10 (16)
The user toys with the target and attacks it using
light and fluid dance steps. This also boosts the
user’s Speed stat.
Pros:
- Quaquaval has a wide and potent movepool with some interesting offensive, defensive, and supportive options.
- It has excellent boosting potential between Swords Dance, Moxie, and Aqua Step.
- Water / Fighting is a good typing with some offensive and defensive qualities, and it has great STAB options too.
Cons:
- Somewhat mediocre balanced stats leave it relatively easily outsped and hampers the potential of defensive sets.
- Between its STABs, it misses out on some defensive mons like Toxapex, Slowbro, and Amoonguss.
- As an offensive Water-type, it's quite overshadowed by Palafin.
Terastallize Potential:
- As a setup sweeper, Quaquaval is a good user of Terastallizing.
- Offensive SD sets can be very reliant on Tera Electric in order to defeat opposing bulky Water types, but it can also Terastallize into one of its STAB typings to amplify its power.
- Defensive sets should generally only Terastallize as a last resort.
Potential Sets:
Swords Dance
Quaquaval @ Leftovers / Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Electric / Water / Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Step
- Close Combat
- Tera Blast / Ice Spinner / Wave Crash / Brave Bird
SD Quaquaval can accrue a lot of boosts quickly and overwhelm the opponent. Aqua Step fixes the speed issue, letting Quaquaval become pretty tough to revenge kill after two boosts. Close Combat is your most powerful STAB attack. Tera Blast Electric lets you defeat bulky Water types, like Toxapex and Slowbro, while Ice Spinner is better for bulky Grass or Dragon types (like Amoonguss or Dragonite). If you care to overwhelm the opponent with sheer power, Wave Crash is your best bet, especially if you are running rain. Lastly, Brave Bird gets decent neutral coverage and can also handle those bulky Grass types. The item choice is up to preference mostly. There isn't a lot of status currently so I think Leftovers is probably the best. Life Orb is usable but makes you a lot easier to revenge kill overall. Some more specific items that are probably usable are Weakness Policy and Protective Pads, which could see use as the meta develops.
Defensive
Quaquaval @ Leftovers
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Fighting / Steel / Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Low Kick
- Rapid Spin
- U-turn
Defensive Quaquaval leverages a pretty solid defensive typing and utility options, despite having less-than-stellar bulk. This lets it pivot in on and check various threats like Chien-Pao, Kingambit, and to a lesser extent Palafin and Baxcalibur. Low Kick is your best STAB for this set in terms of PP and overall damage. Rapid Spin and U-turn are both great for utility, with U-turn being a good way to not be a momentum sink against mons that resist Low Kick. Rocky Helmet is probably usable to punish the contact attackers it checks, but Quaquaval really needs all the survivability it can get. Choice of Tera typing could be Fighting for a bit more power when it counts, or surprising defensive options like Steel, Grass, Fairy or something else being usable. This mon fits well in a defensive core with a specially bulky mon, and works well for one-sided hazard setting with something like Spikes Ting-Lu.
Other Options:
- Swords Dance + Rapid Spin is an option for an offensive spinner, but it comes at the cost of coverage.
- A SD set using Aqua Jet instead of Aqua Step fares better against certain fast revenge killers, but it struggles to run coverage since it prefers Wave Crash for a stronger STAB.
- Quaquaval has the makings of a decent Choice Band user as well, but it seems highly overshadowed by Palafin.
Overall:
Quaquaval is very cool, even though it doesn't stand out much currently. I think it's not likely to be an OU staple, but we could see it shine at some point once the tier settles down more. Being really overshadowed by Palafin currently seems to be what is holding it back, at least right now. In whatever tier it ends up in, it could definitely end up as a staple, versatile threat. What's your take on Quaquaval?
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