Slowbro vs. Milotic?

In my opinion, they're the two best bulky waters in UU and have pretty similar playing styles, but which one's better?

I get this feeling that people generally prefer Milotic over Slowbro...but I somewhat beg to differ.

For Milotic, I'll probably be mostly referring to the Bulky Water set, and occasionally the sweeper set. For Slowbro I'll be referring to his bulky set.

I've used both fairly extensively...and here's my thoughts.

I feel like Slowbro is better, statistically. His high defense is very well complimented by Calm Mind, which also boosts his mediocre sp. attack (due to neutral nature and 4 EVs). This makes him an extremely durable attacker, or even sweeper. His two STAB attacks, Surf and Psychic, already provide really good coverage, not to mention his ability to learn Ice Beam and all that jazz. He also learns Slack Off, so one can't argue that Milotic has a move advantage.

On the other hand, Milotic has a clear type advantage. Its mediocre defense is compensated by the lack of physical Electric/Grass types, and the fact that it's not scared of Mismagius and Dark types. However, if one maxes out defense/HP, its Special Defense is gonna be average..so basically, with both defense stats under 300 and no stat-boosting moves, its defenses are pretty iffy. Also, Milotic's better typing allows it to sacrifice some of its defenses for a more offensive build, making it a more versatile pokemon.

So ultimately...
They both have a strong primary STAB attack, many other options for good secondary attacks, and a recovery move.
Slowbro is statistically superior, learns Calm Mind (which fits his bulky set like a puzzle piece), and has access to another powerful STAB attack for good coverage.
Milotic can run both a bulky and sweeper set, learns the somewhat useful Aqua Ring, and better typing.

I'd say Slowbro is better, but that might be because I use him more, and I wiped the floor of every story of the Battle Tower with the Tycoon's Milotic using Slowbro. With 2 Calm Minds in my pocket, it couldn't even do enough damage with Dragon Pulse to do any net damage at all after Leftovers. Of course, the AI's dumb and the Milotic is poorly trained, but still :)

Thoughts?
 
Milotic learns haze, which is a big advantage to stopping sweepers. Slowbro's psychic typing hurts him more than it helps, especially now with Heracross all over the place.
 
Well you kinda summed it up pretty well, Slowbro's problem is it's Psychic typing is a pretty big curse. Not only does that mean people can pursuit for the lulz, but it also means that Slowbro fails to counter Houndoom, a pretty big threat. Slowbro also has a fair bit of trouble with Moltres, due to it being 2koed by pretty much any combination of attacks from it. Milotic just makes a much better bulky water in most situations.

Calm Mind also isn't as big an advantage as you make it out to be. The time that you need to set up to make Slowbro anywhere near threatening gives your opponent plenty of time to stop you, either by phazing (ironically haze Milotic takes you quite well), or even statusing you. Calm Mind also doesn't help in switching in to those Special Fire threats since you won't be able to Calm Mind up before they take you out.

Slowbro's main advantage would be the ability to take on most Fighting types much better than Milotic, especially Toxicroak who sets up on Milotic quite well. Unfortunately with HeraBOSS in UU, that advantage has also been shaken up a bit.
 

Erazor

✓ Just Doug It
is a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
You use Slowbro for very specific threats to your team. For example, if DD Feraligatr or SubPunch Azumarill or SD Blaziken are problems for your team, then use Slowbro over Milotic. Milotic, however, is more of a catch-all bulky water, and it isn't Pursuit weak.

The problem is that Slowbro has poor Special Defense, and the minute you use Calm Mind, you're going on the offensive with Bro, which takes away from your walling ability.
 
I like Slowbro better as a Pokémon (obviously), but during battles it differs pretty much. While Slowbro's secondary typing can be advantageous in some situations, most of the time it makes it worse. I think, as Erazor said, that Milotic fits more teams than Slowbro.
 
Slowbro should be used over Milotic for one reason, Thunder Wave. Its ability to spread paralysis can be very handy for some teams who rely on it to cripple fast threats. If paralysis support isn't desired, Milotic is almost always the better, more versatile option.
 
well IDK
slowbro
access to curse and can perform it good
great movepool
bulky
good Sp. Atk

Milotic
good movepool
access to haze
bulky
good sp. Atk

thats sums it up IMO
 

Agammemnon

A wild Zubat appears!
is a Contributor Alumnus
I can't totally agree with muffin01 reductive post.

Slowbro's best setup move isn't Curse to my knowledge, as it's already physicallyBulky.
You'd better use him with Calm Mind to become an Ironman. It's a sort of reverse-Curselax (Well ?)

What I think :
Slowbro has access to setup moves, where Milotic hasn't.
Milotic has access to Haze moves, where Slowbro hasn't.
Slowbro is far more physically bulkier than Milotic (394/394 HP, 350/257 Def)
Milotic has better special bulk than Slowbro, however it can't setup, as previously said.
Slowbro has access to Toxic / Yawn / T-wave, Milotic has only access to Toxic.
Slowbro has a secondary type that might be awful because of it sloooooowness.
 
Yeah that pretty much summed it up pretty well lol ^

I'm still leaning towards Bro. Although he often gets put into a dangerous position by Dark and Electric sweepers before he gets a chance to Calm Mind his defenses to be able to endure 3 hits instead of 2, his status moves can be extremely crucial in allowing him to recover HP while wearing down the foe. Haze is useful, but UU doesn't have that many stat-boosters beyond the many Nasty Plotters, most of which are easilly dispatched by both Bro and Milotic. I'll definitely admit Milotic has amazing typing, as Dark is a fairly common type in UU (although most of which are physical attackers).
 
I think Slowbro's secondary typing is as much a boon as it is a fault, since it gains a very valuable resistance to Fighting types - think Azumarill and Hariyama (it's slower than Hariyama too, so Payback hits at half power). Getting eaten by Heracross's Megahorn is no fun, but then again resisting its Close Combat is very helpful too. Just hope it's a Scarf Heracross or with Slowbro's speed you'll get Megahorn'ed next.

I think Milotic is the superior Pokemon, although not by a lot. Milotic's ability to Haze set-uppers - of which there are a lot, such as Feraligatr, Rhyperior and Altaria - is very useful. Haze Milotic is a full-stop to Feraligatr, but Feraligatr might get to +4 or even +6 vs. Slowbro, even worse if it has Substitute to avoid Thunder Wave (Sub + SD is unorthodox, but I've seen it ...), and even if it gets paralyzed Aqua Jet is Aqua Jet and bypasses the paralysis. Milotic also has Marvel Scale, which can potentially let it become a physical wall as well and certainly is a better ability than Own Tempo. Finally Milotic's special defense is such that it can survive stuff like Magmotar's Thunderbolt, which Slowbro cannot.

Slowbro has its strengths, but unless I need it specifically for something like Guts Hariyama (which Milotic does not wall), I can't say it's better than Milotic. Milotic is one of the most metagamed-against Pokemon in the entire tier, but it's still one of the most reliable as well.
 
I have to go with the majority and say a lot of what has already been said. Slowbro can be better in specific situations, like if you need a solid counter for SD Blaziken or Subpunching Azumaril, then yeah, Slowbro is the way to go. But if you're looking at it in a broad, generic way, I think Milotic is better in more situations. In the situations where Slowbro will be better for your team, it's a lot better, but the situations where Milotic is better are more frequent.

Ew, that sounded realy long-winded, I hope my point is clear. >_<
 
Generally the teams I build (stallish) find Milotic more annoying, because Milotic can run more sets that I actually worry about because they can be quite tough to take down without hard hitters. Slowbro is Toxic bait.
 

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