Community POTW #10

[Kraleck]

Everyone keeps saying how a rubbish move Dragon Tail is, but why is it posted as a move in every POTW (For Poké's that learn it)?

Dragon Tail is basically Roar/Whirlwind plus Physical Damage. Plus, its base power allows for Technician Ability's Boost (which, in Samurott's case, requires a Double/Triple partner with Skill Swap). Speaking of Technician...

Technical Exchange
Stats: Adamant/Careful/Brave/Sassy, 252 Attack, fill HP and defenses as you see fit for Doubles/Triples. Speed can "safely" be ignored.
Ability: Either, but Shell Armor is preferred since you'll hit this Samurott with a Technician Pokemon's Skill Swap and it could use the defensive Ability.
Moves: Dragon Tail, Aerial Ace, Revenge/Megahorn, Aqua Jet/Aqua Tail

Aqua Tail is the only thing that doesn't get Technician boosted, but Aqua Jet is good enough for a low-HP KO.

Megahorn for Adamant/Careful, Revenge for Brave/Sassy, choice depends on what Types you want to counter - Megahorn for Psychic or Revenge for Steel. Both handle Dark and Aerial Ace already handles Flying, so Revenge is recommended).

Dragon Tail helps if your partner can throw out traps (especially Stealth Rock). If you wan to be more reliable with coverage, go with both Revenge and Megahorn instead.

[TheAwesomeOne]

^^I said that I get!!!

But what I what I actually meant is, loads of people are saying that it is crap-NOT ME
So why does everyone then go and post it in a move set?

That is what I meant, and everyone thinks that I am hating on this move (I do not need you to reply saying that you weren't, because I am talking in general).

Nuff said.

[Kindrindra]

No Choice Band love?


Samurai of Choice (Band)

Samurott w/ Choice Band + Torrent
Adamant Nature; 252 Attack, 252 HP, 6 Defense

Aqua Jet
Revenge
Night Slash
Megahorn/Return/Shell Blade


So, this set aims to hit very hard on the physical side. Aqua Jet disregards your low speed, and hits quite hard indeed with the Band and STAB. Revenge would normally seem like an odd choice, but by not investing in Samurott's already rather bad speed, you can almost guarantee the boost, providing a powerful physical move. Night Slash combines with Revenge for near-perfect coverage (resisted by only Heracross and Toxicroak, iirc). The last move depends on your needs. If you want a more powerful water move than Aqua Jet, you can always go for Shell Blade. However, Megahorn and Return both get great coverage with Aqua Jet. Megahorn hits harder and destroys grass-type switch-ins. However, Return has more reliable accuracy, but doesn't hit as hard, and doesn't hit anything super-effectively. Torrent is the ability of Choice- after frequent switching in and out, you're bound to take a few hits, and likely soak up a lot of entry hazard damage. With Torrent, you can turn this to your advantage, putting your opponent in a bad situation when you pull out a barrage of Torrent-boosted, STAB, Banded Aqua Jets late game when their water resistors are either taken out or too low on health to do their job.

[jesusfreak94]

I personally think this guy should be used mostly in UU battles. He's just too outclassed in OU. On that note, Megahorn+Water STAB should provide plenty of neutral coverage. Iirc, the only notable things allowed in UU that resist that combination are Poliwrath, Empoleon, and Quilfish, none of which are too common. Therefore, it might be a good idea to just run a SD set with Megahorn and Aqua Jet, with Waterfall for a strong Water STAB when you don't need priority. To be honest, Samurott really isn't bulky enough to get the full milage out of Revenge or Dragon tail, so Return and Night Slash are really his only other good options. Both will help handle Poliwrath and Quilfish a little more easily, but neither really helps against Empoleon.

On another note, Samurott actually works pretty well with a special set. It may not have a boosting move or priority, but its special attack is its higher offensive stat. It also has a few pretty good special moves, like Surf, Ice Beam, Grass Knot, and Air Slash. Just thought I'd point that out. Otherwise, it's just an inferior Feraligator, who beats it in every stat but HP and special defense, has a better offensive movepool, has Dragon Dance, and can take advantage of Sheer Force.

[garchompkid]

if you combine it with stealth rock and/or spikes you could do some serious damage by forcing the other team to rotate repeatedly and get exposed if you can take the hits. choice band and STAB can make it a deadly strategy, especially if youre playing with less than 6 (say battle subway)

sur;ey you would want choice scarf because it ups you speed

[TheAwesomeOne]

^Dragon Tail has negative priority.
So it would still go last.

[Abizzel1]

Countering Samurott

Everyone pretty much has Samurott down. It's an inferior Gyarados/Feraligtr with Megahorn and Aqua Jet. It has a pretty good Special Attack, but with no way to raise it outside of items and poor speed it's tough turning it into a special sweeper.

But with Life Orb it can be a pretty good mixed attacker.

Samurott is basically a bulky water and the usual counters for them work here as well. Bulky Grass (watch out for Ice Beam), Bulky Water, and possibly Bulky Steel since most will be running sword dance, to abuse Waterfall/Aqua Jet, Megahorn, and Dragon Tail.

Empoleon with Grass Knot, destroys Samurott resisting all of the Sword Dancer attacks. The only thing Samurott can do is hope to Dragon Tail it away. Once again I recommend Empoleon as a counter, and hopefully he'll be used again, check Cloyster counters


*********************I have a suggestion**********************

Maybe you guys could do 2 Pokemon of the Week. 1 for a new gen Pokemon, and another for a previous gen Pokemon that way we can have updates on what old Pokemon have moved up in the world as well as those that have fallen from grace. It's just an idea and I'm sure the community would love it, and it would be great if it's not a lot of work. Love the site, and POTW is one of the main reasons I come back every Sunday, so a little more POTW's would be great.

[Pokeman Man]

MixRott
Moves:
- Waterfall/Aqua Tail
- Grass Knot
- Megahorn/X-Scissor
- Air Slash/Ice Beam
Item Attached: Life Orb/Choice Scarf
Ability: Torrent
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Spd / 126 Atk / 126 Sp. Atk
Naive (+Spd, -Sp.Def) / Hasty (+Spd, -Def)

Samurott's movepool can give him a great mixed set. He has many great STABs to work with, Surf, Waterfall, Scald, Aqua Jet, and Aqua Tail. For this set, I prefer Waterfall because it's more reliable than Aqua Tail, and it's better to have two physical base options, and two special base options, to go through the common Blissey/Skarmory. Grass Knot is for the bulkier waters like Seismitoad and Swampert, and gets a great hit on Carracosta, which Waterfall wouldn't get an as great hit on cause of it's defense. Megahorn or X-Scissor is for taking out Exeggutor and opposing Grasses. Air Slash covers Fighting types well, especially since the 5th Gen is filled with all new fighting types and Scrafty that could wall Samurott with it's high defences, but Ice Beam has great coverage with Waterfall, and since Dragons would resist all of Samurott's other attacks, and the new dragons in 5th Gen. Plus, with Air Slash, you won't get your special base neutral hit on Skarmory. Life Orb is good for all sets, with the cost of a little HP each turn. Choice Scarf makes Samurott a faster opponent and revenge killer. Torrent is just better than Shell Armor.. Shell Armor is pretty useless. All Pokemon that hold Super Luck are taken down by Megahorn and Ice Beam anyway, so there's no need. The given EVs even out Samurott's offensive capabilities, and give him a 262 speed, outrunning the base 125 speed Pokemon and Shaymin-S. Samurott's speed with a Scarf is 393, and unforunately, it's just short of the common Jolteon, Aerodactyl, and Crobat, but won't set him back far.

[sixonesix]

for the double battle set it's probably better to go

item: wacan berry / sitrus berry
nature: quiet / modest
surf / scald / hydro pump
grass knot / aqua jet
ice beam / grass knot / blizzard
detect

pretty straightforward. surf, scald, or hydro pump for stab, grass knot for other waters, and ice beam for fliers. aqua jet can pick off weakened pokemon (like with sash). blizzard is best when it's paired with abomasnow, if abomasnow isn't allowed, probably don't bother unless you can handle misses. detect lets you stall a turn while your other pokemon attacks and can't be imprisoned as easily as protect.

the pledge combos are not very good in a serious battle, you might as well just hit them with a stronger stab attack instead of trying to set up the rainbow and only have a couple turns to use it (less if they like to stall with double protects)

[Kraleck]

^^I said that I get!!!

But what I what I actually meant is, loads of people are saying that it is crap-NOT ME
So why does everyone then go and post it in a move set?

That is what I meant, and everyone thinks that I am hating on this move (I do not need you to reply saying that you weren't, because I am talking in general).

Nuff said.

Sorry, I just needed some kind of intro to the setup - I didn't mean anything by it. People just hate Dragon Moves' Type Coverage - Great VS Non-Steel Dragons only, Okay VS Non-Steels and Steel/Dragon, Bad VS Steel, with Steel being the biggest PITA to both cover AND hit the lower defense with the higher attack. They'll complain until Game Freak changes Dragon somehow.

I, for one, love Dragon Moves because they're so easy to Type-supplement:

Slow & Steady Mixing
-Brave/Sassy
-252 Attack & Sp.Atk, 6 Sp.Def/HP -OR- 129 Attack & Sp.Atk, 252 Sp.Def/HP
-Ability doesn't matter
-Dragon Tail, Revenge, Brine, Hidden Power (Dark)
-Leftovers, Rocky Helmet, or Expert Belt

This setup allows coverage all around:
--Dark + Fighting will cover all except Heracross and Toxicroak (both handled by Dragon Tail or Brine unless Tox has Dry Skin).
--Water + Dragon handles all except Empoleon, Ferrothorn, and Shedinja (anyone using Shedinja will be screwed by SR or Spikes anyway, Empoleon and Ferrothorn are handled by Revenge)

Set up a Stealth Rock then send Samurott out. Like a Samurai in a test of wills, you must be patient, lucky, and skilled to pull this off. Brine will easily pick off any types that take 50% from Stealth Rock, Revenge will play into your already-sub-mediocre speed quite well, Dragon Tail will force SR hits, HP (Dark) for coverage.

The few Spinners that outspeed Samurott will take massive damage coming into SR and/or from Revenge. The Defoggers (if they ever try) are similarly vulnerable to Brine, Dragon Tail, or HP Dark.

Concerns with this set involve low-ish Move powers, Suction Cups, and the conditions you'll need to meet to fight effectively. Also, the fact 200+ Pokemon will out-Speed you is a cause for caution.

[Grassmaster411]

ok, this set is for general coverage and power.

item: Muscle band
Moves
megahorn.
waterfall/aqua tail/aqua jet
swords dance
dragon tail/ night slash/ retaliate/revenge

its a little self explanitory.
megahorn KOs most grass, dark, and psyhcics.
a water type move for STAB. waterfall for accuracy, aqua tail for power, or aqua jet for priority.
Swords dance brings its attack to ridiculase levels.
finally, your choice for a filler move. night slash is a little useless when running megahorn, but is not a bad move. retaliate and revenge are better for double battles. dragon tail gets nuetral coverage on most pokemon and is probably your best choice.

[Epicpip]

Yea, Sam(urott) doesn't have very much that Feraligatr (what tier is he in?) doesn't. It's like the Dragonite/Salamence, know what I'm saying? Aqua Jet is really nice with a couple Swords Dances, it's almost like a Scizor's Bullet Punch.

[Pledster]

No surprise that its Samurott this week with the past 2 weeks being the other 5th Gen Starters.

Physical Set

-Razor Shell / Waterfall / Aqua Tail
-X-Scissor / Megahorn
-Sword Dance
-Aqua Jet
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
Hold Item: Life Orb / Choice Band

Hit hard and finish off with Aqua Jet. Useful as a switch in when the opponents Pokemon has low HP. Boost Attack using Sword Dance for more power. X-Scissor / Megahorn can take out Grass Types as well as Psychic Types and Dark Types.

Special Set

-Surf / Scald / Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Grass Knot
-Hidden Power (Ground)
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Modest
Hold Item: Choice Specs / Wise Glasses

Can cover any Grass Types or Electric Types which may switch in against Samurott with Ice Beam and Hidden Power. Potential Burn with Scald, power from the Hydro Pump but lacks accuracy plus STAB. Grass Knot is useful for any heavy Pokemon which you may be up against especially Rock Types with it being supereffective.

[TheAwesomeOne]

Pokémon with Sturdy will survive a Grass Knot/Surf/Waterfall, so Aqua Jet would be good for any set really, just for the quick kill, because some Sturdy Pokémon will Explode before you can hit them again.

*********************I have a suggestion**********************

Maybe you guys could do 2 Pokemon of the Week. 1 for a new gen Pokemon, and another for a previous gen Pokemon that way we can have updates on what old Pokemon have moved up in the world as well as those that have fallen from grace. It's just an idea and I'm sure the community would love it, and it would be great if it's not a lot of work. Love the site, and POTW is one of the main reasons I come back every Sunday, so a little more POTW's would be great.

Post this on the 'Regarding our selection process' thread, because on here, it will get ignored.

[Pledster]

Sturdy has become really annoying now thanks to the change.

[CROWN]

Sword Saint
Samurott@Life Orb
Nature: Brave Evs:252Atk/252HP/4SpD
Ability:Torrent
Moves:
1: Swords Dance
2: Aqua Tail/Waterfall
3: Assurance
4: Revenge

This set gets great neutral coverage. SD up then, simply sweep. Yes he takes damage to do it but a 656 Atk stat with STAB Aqua Tail/Waterfall is great. Put that to Assurance which has 100 Base Power after he's hit and Revenge with 120 Base Power he can effectively kill most any pokemon with relative ease. Doesn't last long so I use Aqua Tail for the added power. This Samurott is NOT designed to last but to kill a couple of pokemon and die You could use Leftovers for a little extra longevity but mostly useless, just sweep.
Because of his design he usually gets some use from Torrent. Do not use Meghorn on this set Gyarados completely walls in such a case.

Sword Surgeon
Samurott@Razor Claw/Zoom Lens
Nature: Jolly Evs:252Atk/252Spe/4HP
Ability:Torrent
Moves:
1: Razor Shell
2: Stone Edge
3: Megahorn
4: Swords Dance/Focus Energy

The critical version of the above set. Razor Shell/Stone Edge take advantage of a 1 in 4 crit chance with the item. Megahorn is useful for a good many threats and may kill unboosted Reuniclus even without SD/Crit. Evs can be altered on both sets to make them last longer. Stone Edge terrifies Gyara and Razor Shell makes Gliscor think twice. Virizion/Terrakion/Cobalion are not safe from this set. SD or Focus Energy based on preference. If you want a 50/50 chance of critical go ahead but SD is more useful overall, if no other reason that without wasting a turn two of your moves have 1 in 4 crit rate, the other has 1 in 8 and it doubles your Atk stat making that Critical hit more effective.
This set is a little gimicky but I think it work with a little planning.

Hope you guys like the sets. Just thought I'd try to make a good for Samurott. Never tried to do this for the POTW before.

[Rhys29]

@CROWN: Samurott doesn't get Stone Edge.

[TheAwesomeOne]

No surprise that its Samurott this week with the past 2 weeks being the other 5th Gen Starters.

Physical Set

-Razor Shell / Waterfall / Aqua Tail
-X-Scissor / Megahorn
-Sword Dance
-Aqua Jet
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
Hold Item: Life Orb / Choice Band

Hit hard and finish off with Aqua Jet. Useful as a switch in when the opponents Pokemon has low HP. Boost Attack using Sword Dance for more power. X-Scissor / Megahorn can take out Grass Types as well as Psychic Types and Dark Types.

Swords Dance+Choice Band=Death
Or other Pokémon will come in and set up against you because you are going to be locked into SD.
And you can't finish off with Aqua Jet because you will be locked.