==General== *XY was extremely nice to Crawdaunt *Is able to have Adaptability and Aqua Jet at the same time now due to changes in breeding mechanics *Knock Off buff helps Crawdaunt become extremely threatening *Crabhammer also buffed to 100BP *Extremely slow *Powerful Adaptability-boosted priority attack in Aqua Jet *Access to good boosting moves Swords Dance and Dragon Dance *Mediocre defenses; Crawdaunt is a glass cannon *Weaknesses to common types (e.g. Electric, Grass, Fighting) *Not too bad to handle if it has not acquired an SD boost (slow + frail + Aqua Jet is not that powerful) ==Choice Band== Crawdaunt @ Choice Band Trait: Adaptability EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Aqua Jet - Crabhammer - Knock Off - Superpower / Crunch *Standard Crawdaunt set *Aqua Jet mitigates Crawdaunt's awful Speed stat and is boosted by STAB and Adaptability *Aqua Jet can also be used to sweep late-game *Crabhammer is Crawdaunt's strongest STAB and can hit Pokemon which are slower than Crawdaunt or to hit something on the switch *Knock Off hits almost as hard as Crabhammer when it is able to successfully knock off an item and will cripple that Pokemon for the remainder of the match *Superpower for Normal- and Dark-types like Hydreigon and Snorlax *Crunch is a secondary STAB option for Pokemon that resist Water *EVs maximize Attack and Speed so Crawdaunt can hit as hard as possible *Can be teamed up with Politoed for the boost that its rain gives its Water-type attacks *A bulkier EV spread of 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd can be used; 124 Spd EVs allow Crawdaunt to outspeed uninvested base 70s while the rest are dumped into HP and Atk ==Swords Dance== Crawdaunt (F) @ Life Orb / Focus Sash Trait: Adaptability EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Swords Dance - Aqua Jet - Knock Off - Crabhammer *Fires off powerful attacks after +2 SD boost *A little difficult to set up due to low defenses and speed *Aqua Jet hits really hard after +2 *Knock Off and Crabhammer are Crawdaunt's most powerful reliable STAB attacks *Watch out for revenge killers and priority users; Crawdaunt is prone to those with its low Speed stat *Can use Focus Sash to set up a free SD ==Other Options== *Switcheroo *Superpower *Dragon Dance *Waterfall *Splash Plate (bluffing Choice Band) *Return / Frustration ==Checks and Counters== *Mach Punch users (Breloom) *Chesnaught *Virizion (can possibly bolster its Attack with Justified) *Toxicroak *Hydreigon *Tangrowth *Mega Heracross *Granbull *Mega Blastoise (72 Spd EVs to outrun max Speed Adamant Crawdaunt) *Poliwrath
Maybe you could mention an LO or Mixed Set? Also, I think Sub should be in OO, because Daunt forces a lot of switches.
I don't see much point in Crunch there, tbh, as Knock Off generally hits harder than it anyways, due to opponents commonly having removable items. IMO Superpower wants to be there, as that puts much bigger dents in stuff like Virizion as they switch in. Mentioning a bulkier set with 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd is also worthwhile in my opinion, as Crawdaunt doesn't outrun much even when invested. Special moves like Ice Beam and obvious STABs can be mentioned, as Crawdaunt has a very useable base 90 Special Attack, and it can catch physical walls like Tangrowth off guard. Also, I second Substitute getting at least a mention. SubDD Crawdaunt fucked things up in BW NU, so I'm pretty sure it can do in XY UU too, lol.
Personally I would see Switcheroo > Crunch, because it allows you to cripple a huge list of the checks and counters you listed, as a matter of fact, none of them exactly appreciate Choice Band, and some of them including Gastro and Vaporeon are essentially useless after getting band tricked to them, making Choice Band Crawdaunt even more frightening. You should also possibly consider making whole set for Swords Dance with potentially Dragon Dance as optional choice of boosting move for extended sweeps and better wall breaking potential, it still hits hard, even without boosts, if you have Life Orb.
Yeah change Crunch to Superpower, allows you to nab OHKO's on stuff like Snorlax, Hydreigon, Scrafty etc. It's only a tad stronger than Crabhammer but it allows you to pick up a few situational KO's, and is generally more useful than Crunch. You could also mention Aerial Ace in Other Options as a somewhat Gimmicky way to beat Chesnaught. Edit: Ooh didn't realise it got switcheroo, thats a pretty neat option, though tricking away your CB takes away a lot of your wall breaking potential. Crawdaunts main other set should should be SD: Crawdaunt (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Adaptability EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Swords Dance - Aqua Jet - Knock Off - Crabhammer This set can run train through stall teams with +2 Crabhammers and Knock Offs, or Sweep offensive teams with +2 Aqua Jets. Superpower isn't necessary here as +2 Crabhammer will pick up the necessary kills. Mention Focus Sash in set comments, as this gives it a free chance to set up an SD, and can sweep if the opponent lacks a priority user of its own. Ice Beam is somewhat viable on a Life Orb set over SD, put it in other options, though do note it really isn't very strong uninvested. 4 SpA Life Orb Crawdaunt Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Chesnaught: 198-234 (52.1 - 61.5%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery As for Dragon Dance Crawdaunt, in theory it has a lot of potential: Crawdaunt (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Adaptability EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Dragon Dance - Aqua Jet - Knock Off - Crabhammer Jolly +1 Daunt hits 343, just shy of base 108 mons like Terrakion but enough for a majority of the unboosted meta. This set relies a lot less on Aqua Jet, an instead boosts Crawdaunts Speed allowing it to move first against threats like Mega Heracross/Mew/Zygarde (generally any mon which is faster and can take boosted Aqua Jets) and OHKO them with either Crabhammer or Knock Off. Aqua Jet is still incredibly useful to deter Revenge killers such as Terrakion or Scarf Victini/Chandelure. Note there are a multitude of threats which can outpace it even at +1 such as Terrakion/Weavile/Noivern and Scarf 90 base speed mons outspeed it at +2. Also can i just say that Gastrodon and Vaporeon really are not good Checks at all, both are 2HKO'd by a CB Knock Off, theyre ability to absorb Water attacks is only useful against CB Crawdaunt locked into a Water Attack. Also neither of them can do anything back to Crawdaunt really, apart from hope for a burn with Scald. Virizion takes about 70% form CB Crabhammer/Knock Off, but yeah I'll accept it as a somewhat decent Check. I think you should remove Vap + Gastro, and add Hydreigon, Tangrowth, Mega Heracross, Granbull and Poliwrath. Maybe Alomomola, Hitmontop + Qwilfish too.
I've added the SD set (I was on the fence on that to begin with), but I don't feel that Crawdaunt should run DD over CB or SD especially with Breloom being in the tier, and also existing threats like Weavile. And also SD Aqua Jet is better for hitting Terrakion that a DD boosted one
I am agreeing w/ Afro's SD set and Spoovo on Crunch being irrelevant. The General section should probably have a bullet on how frail Crawdaunt is; hell, it is practically a glass cannon. PS: Could you mention an alternative bulky EV spread for the CB set? I am sure there's one out there that at least compromises some speed for bulk, maybe still outpacing things like Umbreon, Politoed, and that general area.
Weavile requires Low Kick to even do damage to Crawdaunt, and even then its not even a 1hko. Furthermore, it gets screwed by a +2 LO Aqua Jet, so it shouldn't even be listed as a check. I guess Weavile can run Brick Break, but even then Crawdaunt has a higher chance of living then getting KO'd, and Low Kick does more damage to the majority of the pokemon in UU compared to Brick Break. 252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Low Kick (60 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 185-218 (69 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Brick Break vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 231-273 (86.1 - 101.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Weavile: 335-395 (118.7 - 140%) -- guaranteed OHKO Mention Return in OO as a possible coverage move, as Water+Normal actually has really good coverage with each other. Mega Blastoise is also a pretty incredible check to Crawdaunt, but needs to run 72 speed evs to outrun max speed Adamant Crawdaunt, as it has the bulk to brush aside a Aqua Jet and Aura Sphere easily KOs. Mention that as long as Crawdaunt does not get a SD boost, it is significantly easier to handle as while it packs a lot of power, Aqua Jet isn't going to do a huge amount of damage and can't KO frailer offensive attackers such as Weavile (though it will still do a good chunk) Might want to emphasize that while Water/Dark has excellent dual STAB coverage, it has many weaknesses to common types, such as to Fighting/Electric/Fairy/Grass moves. Its average defenses doesn't help it out either.
changes made thanks guys! i will be looking out for a bulkier spread and posting one here in the near future
double post in response to finch's PS, i have come up with a bulkier EV spread of 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe to get past uninvested base 70s like the aformentioned Politoed. there's probably a better spread out there but this will have to do for now
I run the same spread, but with four more Speed EVs, so that sounds good. Spoiler My set: fish (Crawdaunt) (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Adaptability EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Aqua Jet - Crabhammer - Knock Off - Superpower So, Pretty sure this is good, especially since you know what you're talking about and I found nothing wrong from another glance, but make sure to have other QC approve, ofc. Owait - mind explaining why Mega Heracross is in the CC? Doesn't it get smashed by any water move? I guess it can be a pretty good situational check, but..not sure if worth a mention in the C&C.
I would slash Focus Sash on the SD set, as it is very cool as an anti-lead being very effective vs offensive teams.