Mr. Crustacean says hi!
Introduction
I know that it is a bit late to be posting an RMT for Gen V seeing that it is just about wrapped up, but I decided that, since I have been working on this team for quite a while and it has been pretty successful, I might as well post it for more review. The team is pretty simple, essentially it doesn't revolve around Crawdaunt but it does make it easier for Crawdaunt to set-up and sweep. Anyway, here it is, enjoy!
Team at a Glance
In-Depth Look
Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature
- Encore
- Toxic
- Protect
- Scald
Before I say anything else, let me just say Rain + Adaptability + DD + Crabhammer=Dead Skarmory. Now then, let's talk about Politoed. I chose a defensive set because needed Pokemon who can essentially disrupt the opponent, buying Crawdaunt time to set-up. Encore essentially screws over every other Pokemon that is setting up, although I do tend to be hesitant when using encore on an opposing DD user. Seeing that turn 1 of Encore is used to switch in, turn 2 is used for DD and turn 3 is for the attack, I must be absolutely sure that +1 Crabhammer/Crunch/Superpower KOs the opposing DD user. If it does not, I must follow a different plan of action because, by the time encore ends, the opposing Pokemon will have +4 Attack and Speed, something that will wreck a lot of stuff if not dealt with. Apart from that, the rest of the set is pretty self-explanatory. I maximized Politoed's Special Defense over Defense because nearly everyone aims to OHKO Politoed with a Special Attack, so it only makes sense that it would be maximized.
Xatu @ Light Clay
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Roost
- Night Shade
Dual Screen Xatu replaced Dual Screen Espeon for two reasons. First, Xatu has much more bulk than Espeon, allowing it to set-up safely. Second, Xatu provided useful resistances against Garchomp, who can wreck this team if Thundurus has not boosted its Speed. Apart from that, Xatu essentially plays the same role as Espeon, although it is much slower than Espeon. Also, Xatu has Roost for recovery, allowing it to set-up more screens than Espeon would be able to.
Mr. Crustacean (Crawdaunt) @ Shell Bell
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Crabhammer
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Dragon Dance
Mr. Crustacean is back. This set is recommended in lower tiers where Crawdaunt isn't outrun by just about everybody, including a good handful of Pokemon that outrun it even with +1 Speed. However, I found this set to be extremely effective in OU too. Adaptability is a great ability and turns Crabhammer into a great attack in the rain, even if I haven't used DD, although it probably won't get a chance to hit if I have no boosts to my Speed. Crunch serves as a great neutral attack while also getting that Adaptability upgrade. Amazingly enough, a lot of people switch Celebi in even after I used DD as if they don't expect me to have two STAB attacks with Adaptability. Apart from that, Superpower is there for Steel-types, such as Ferrothorn, which tends to be a common switch after Crawdaunt has set-up. The only questionable thing on this set is probably the item choice. Life Orb had been the first item choice, but lack of recovery with constant attacking tended to kill Crawdaunt on its own without the opponent's help. Next came Leftovers, but the recovery wasn't enough in the long run, so I tried Shell Bell. Once Crawdaunt starts attacking, the Shell Bell recovery tends to surpass Leftovers, so I stuck with Shell Bell. One point: I chose Crabhammer over Waterfall because of the extra base power with usable accuracy and a higher critical hit ratio.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Initially, Breloom had been in the place of Scizor in order to help provide more set-up opportunities through Spore while also being a bit offensive with SubPunch. However, this created too many set-up opportunities with not enough muscle, so I dropped it in favor of Scizor. Scizor mainly is used to force switches because, well, its Scizor. Apart from that, Scizor plays clean-up very well with Bullet Punch. U-turn allows me to predict my opponent's switch and throw them off by switching out too. I chose CB over SD because I already have two set-up Pokemon, so I didn't want to make half my team set-up reliant while the other half created set-up opportunities, making it so that nobody functioned unless everyone played their part.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 48 Def / 252 HP / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
This was initially Forretress, but I changed it to Ferrothorn because I really didn't need Rapid Spin as much as I thought I did. Also, Ferrothorn helped remedy Crawdaunt's horrendous Speed problem, using T-Wave to slow down some of the faster Pokemon so that 1 DD allowed Crawdaunt to outrun them. Apart from that Ferrothorn brings Leech Seed to the table, forcing switches to help create opportunities for Crawdaunt to set-up. Stealth Rock is probably the most important move on this set because of one Pokemon in specific: Skarmory. Crawdaunt + Skarmory=Skarmory. Switch Skarmory in, activate Sturdy, use Whirlwind, throw all my progress in the trash. For this reason, I need SR urgently and Ferrothorn brought them to the table. Gyro Ball was chosen over Power Whip to weaken fast Pokemon that I couldn't use Thunder Wave on, such as Espeon and Garchomp.
Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
I know that I have only been talking about everyone allowing Crawdaunt to set-up, but Thundurus-T also uses these opportunities too. However, this isn't the main purpose of Thundurus on the team. Instead, Thundurus is mainly here for Volt Switch while also possessing STAB Thunder coming off a great Special Attack as well as Focus Blast to deal with Steel-type that become even more annoying in the rain. However, Thundurus-T does occasionally get to use Agility, in which case it at least weakens a ton of stuff in anticipation of Crawdaunt's switch.
Conclusion
That is just about it for this team, thanks for reading! Please to leave whatever feedback you find necessary! I don't have any suggestions this time around because I haven't found anything that sticks out as a pain in the butt assuming that I don't fail really hard during the battle and switch Crawdaunt into Celebi for some reason. Apart from that, hope you liked it because I like this team a lot. Crawdaunt is such an underrated Pokemon even though it wrecks although it will probably be overshadowed by Greninja next Gen, but for now, he is a boss and he looks the part!
Credits
Terra from FC who helped test the team with me while also providing great changes that nullified a lot of the issues.
TonyMHFan2 from FC who played a lot of test battles with me to see how the battle would go if he knew what to stop.
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