Pokémon Crawdaunt

[dialganet]

Keep in mind that, despite the perma rain loss, Crawdaunt has been given at least 3 buffs: the overmentioned two, Crabhammer and Knock Off, are brutal. Crawdaunt has a 200 BP water move that lands frequent critical hits and a 195 BP dark move with an incredible secondary effect. Not a lot of Pokemon can be proud of such a brutal output. Crawdaunt's wallbreaking power is undeniable.

The third buff is just icing on the cake: Aqua Jet. The amount of 2HKOes that the combination of STAB move of choice+Aqua Jet nets are just unbelieveable. Given the chance, Crawdaunt can destroy teams by himself alone. DD is such a great move, I'm surprised it is so underestimated. Just run Adamant and enough speed to outrun uninvested-neutral neture base 80 speed (Mandy tier), invest max in attack and the rest in bulk, and DD when given the chance. You won't outspeed fully invested higher speed tiers, but you'll sit at a much more confortable speed and the increase in power is just great. Moreover, with Aqua Jet, Crawdaunt is allowed to somewhat check some top threats, like Landorus Incarnate, Excadrill, basically everithing weak to water.

Although Craw has some serious issue (sub par bulk even when invested, awful speed, easily revenge killed by faster priority users even when using Aqua Jet... and dkkc19 I completely agree with you, LO recoil just kills him), it's a very good Poke, and perfectly OU viable imho.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

I found HP dark to be useful on my Keldeo as most of the Pokemons that switch in into Keldeo are either Psychic or Aegislash. How useful would HP Flying be again Mega Venusaur? Icy Wind could wreck Dragonite and Garchomp so I might switch HP Dark for it.

Why is DD Crawdaunt garbage? I'm trying both CB Crawdaunt and DD Crawdaunt and so far I prefer the DD set. After a Sticky Web and a Dragon Dance, Crawdaunt 1hko's almost everyone, the only drawback is the Life Orb recoil.

Life Orb is fine, I like it more than CB as you can Knock Off/Crabhammer on something you force out and then Aqua Jet to finish them off, DD might work with Sticky Web but that means you're running 2 suboptimal mons as there's nothing really good that gets Sticky Web (Galvantula and Smeargle are both rather predictable and mediocre in OU and Shuckle even more so) and it's highly unreliable as it doesn't slow things with Levitate or Flying types as well as backfire against Bisharp.

But yeah the issue is that even after a DD Crawdaunt is still rather slow reaching only 313 speed (outspeeding up until max +speed MegaChomp) or 343 with Jolly (outspeeding up until max +speed Mega Pinsir) but Jolly loses a lot of power, basically you're still outsped by things like Keldeo, the Latis, Thundurus and Greninja most of which also happen to resist your priority, the DD set also loses out on either Aqua Jet or Superpower (or even Crunch).

Imo the best Crawdaunt set is this:

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Superpower/Crunch/Aerial Ace

With your last move being basically coverage to whatever your team is weakest against (Crunch for a better STAB vs Megas or things without item, Superpower for Mega Gyarados mostly and Aerial Ace for Chesnaught)

 

[the-bumper-car]

The thing is, a majority of offensive pokemon are good if you can get them in a free switch. Crawdaunt, IMO, is a waste of a free switch since the rest of the offensive pokemon in OU are far more devastating when they get a free switch in, and some of them can even take advantage of their resists/neutrals to come in and start setting up. Crawdaunt doesn't have that luxury thanks to its hideous speed and poor bulk. It is weak to or doesn't resist the most common priority you'll be seeing around (M-Pinsir's Quick Attack, Talonflame's BB, Sucker Punch), and it gets caught in the crossfire as the current meta is currently overprepared for powerful Flying type mons (note all the good Electric mons/electric type coverage in the top tier of the viability rankings). Sure, Crawdaunt can mangle someone who's switching in with a really strong Crabhammer or Knock-off, but I find in my experience that when Crawdaunt comes in, it's far better to let my current pokemon stay and keep on attacking rather than switch in a counter.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

The thing is, a majority of offensive pokemon are good if you can get them in a free switch. Crawdaunt, IMO, is a waste of a free switch since the rest of the offensive pokemon in OU are far more devastating when they get a free switch in, and some of them can even take advantage of their resists/neutrals to come in and start setting up. Crawdaunt doesn't have that luxury thanks to its hideous speed and poor bulk. It is weak to or doesn't resist the most common priority you'll be seeing around (M-Pinsir's Quick Attack, Talonflame's BB, Sucker Punch), and it gets caught in the crossfire as the current meta is currently overprepared for powerful Flying type mons (note all the good Electric mons/electric type coverage in the top tier of the viability rankings). Sure, Crawdaunt can mangle someone who's switching in with a really strong Crabhammer or Knock-off, but I find in my experience that when Crawdaunt comes in, it's far better to let my current pokemon stay and keep on attacking rather than switch in a counter.

I'd be hesitant to call most offensive mons in OU 'more devastating' than Crawdaunt, better overall perhaps, but few things pack the same raw power as CB/LO Crawdaunt.

Sure you can stay in, it will likely mean you die though, which isn't neccesarily a bad thing, but it's a testament to the power of Crawdaunt.

Also the only priority Craw is weak to is Mach Punch/Vacuum Wave the former of which is rare in OU (only Conkeldurr, who is fairly easy to switch into by non-HO teams, Breloom who is rare period and the most Brelooms I've seen lately have been Poison Heal and occassionally on Infernape who's also not the greatest choice in OU) the latter is downright non-existant since Lucarionite was banned (I've seen a grand total of 1 Vacuum Wave Infernape since XY came out). Mega Pinsir's QA doesn't even 2HKO from full health and it can definitely not switch into anything but Aqua Jet or Superpower from a LO Craw as Aqua Jet will finish it off.

 

[escarlata]

The thing is, a majority of offensive pokemon are good if you can get them in a free switch. Crawdaunt, IMO, is a waste of a free switch since the rest of the offensive pokemon in OU are far more devastating when they get a free switch in, and some of them can even take advantage of their resists/neutrals to come in and start setting up. Crawdaunt doesn't have that luxury thanks to its hideous speed and poor bulk. It is weak to or doesn't resist the most common priority you'll be seeing around (M-Pinsir's Quick Attack, Talonflame's BB, Sucker Punch), and it gets caught in the crossfire as the current meta is currently overprepared for powerful Flying type mons (note all the good Electric mons/electric type coverage in the top tier of the viability rankings). Sure, Crawdaunt can mangle someone who's switching in with a really strong Crabhammer or Knock-off, but I find in my experience that when Crawdaunt comes in, it's far better to let my current pokemon stay and keep on attacking rather than switch in a counter.

Comparing some of the most powerful realistic physical attacks ever:

252+ Atk Choice Band Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 255-300 (60.7 - 71.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 228-268 (54.2 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 212-250 (50.4 - 59.5%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 187-222 (44.5 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Slaking Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 187-222 (44.5 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 178-211 (42.3 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 160-189 (38 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

I don't know about you, but having the 3rd most powerful unboosted physical attack is far from saying majority of offensive Pokemons are more devastating.

 

[Megoodraggon]

Now calc it with Crabhammer. Gliscor? Hippowdon? Tissue paper. Slowbro, Cofagrigus, etc all get hit by Knock Off, also. Crawdaunt is one of the best wallbreakers in the game IMO, just plagued by low bulk.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

Now calc it with Crabhammer. Gliscor? Hippowdon? Tissue paper. Slowbro, Cofagrigus, etc all get hit by Knock Off, also. Crawdaunt is one of the best wallbreakers in the game IMO, just plagued by low bulk.

And godawful speed, AJ is nice but it's not breaking any walls, you're right about it being one of the best wallbreakers though.

 

[Megoodraggon]

And godawful speed, AJ is nice but it's not breaking any walls, you're right about it being one of the best wallbreakers though.

I use a Focus Sash with Dragon Dance (and Sticky Web support when possible) so the Speed hasn't been too much of a problem tbh

 

[the-bumper-car]

Comparing some of the most powerful realistic physical attacks ever:


I don't know about you, but having the 3rd most powerful unboosted physical attack is far from saying majority of offensive Pokemons are more devastating.

Why the eff is Kyurem-B using Outrage on Hippowdon, when it's got Ice Beam on its wallbreaking sets? Also how is your Choiceband Crawdaunt running a Focus Sash and Dragon Dance at the same time, as per your later post? And where's the calc for Huge Power Azumarill's Waterfall? Or Mega-Gyara's Waterfall?

Having the 3rd most powerful unboosted physical attack is pointless if you can't switch in to a majority of the field, and you are 0HKO'd or outsped and 2HKO'd by the majority of OU.

 

[escarlata]

Why the eff is Kyurem-B using Outrage on Hippowdon, when it's got Ice Beam on its wallbreaking sets? Also how is your Choiceband Crawdaunt running a Focus Sash and Dragon Dance at the same time, as per your later post? And where's the calc for Huge Power Azumarill's Waterfall? Or Mega-Gyara's Waterfall?

Having the 3rd most powerful unboosted physical attack is pointless if you can't switch in to a majority of the field, and you are 0HKO'd or outsped and 2HKO'd by the majority of OU.

The focus sash dd one is not even my post. Kyurem can use ice beam, sure, but crawdaunt can use crabhammer. The calculation is just an arbitrary one to showcase how hard it is to switch in. Azumarill waterfall is exempted because it is a SE while I'm showcasing neutral hits. Anyway, enjoy:

252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 436-516 (103.8 - 122.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 306-362 (72.8 - 86.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Besides, being a wall breaker, you only need to outspeed walls, most of which are uninvested in speed. Crawdaunt is more than capable of outpacing uninvested base 80s, which are some of the fastest walls. As a wall breaker, it's meant to switch into walls, usually via double switch or voltturn anyway. So it doesn't matter if it can't switch in to offensive pokemons

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

I use a Focus Sash with Dragon Dance (and Sticky Web support when possible) so the Speed hasn't been too much of a problem tbh

So you're using it as a sweeper, not a wallbreaker, Sticky Web is rather unreliable as there's a boat load of fast Pokemon that it doesn't work on, sash sounds cool in theory but keeping hazards off the field while preserving your own and making sure you don't get defogged on/rapid spinned on will take a lot of slots to cover reliably (sw setter, craw, spinner, defiant mon, spinblocker) that's 5/6 slots gone right there, and craw isn't even that good of a sweeper as even if you do manage to keep web up, get in safely and set up a dd, there's still things like Lati@s, Thundurus, Talonflame, etc that don't care for web and easily pop your sash.

Crawdaunt is simply not a good sweeper, stick to CB/LO wallbreaker set tbh with Knock Off, Crab hammer, Aqua Jet, Superpower/Swords Dance/Crunch/Aerial Ace.

 

[Megoodraggon]

So you're using it as a sweeper, not a wallbreaker, Sticky Web is rather unreliable as there's a boat load of fast Pokemon that it doesn't work on, sash sounds cool in theory but keeping hazards off the field while preserving your own and making sure you don't get defogged on/rapid spinned on will take a lot of slots to cover reliably (sw setter, craw, spinner, defiant mon, spinblocker) that's 5/6 slots gone right there, and craw isn't even that good of a sweeper as even if you do manage to keep web up, get in safely and set up a dd, there's still things like Lati@s, Thundurus, Talonflame, etc that don't care for web and easily pop your sash.

Crawdaunt is simply not a good sweeper, stick to CB/LO wallbreaker set tbh with Knock Off, Crab hammer, Aqua Jet, Superpower/Swords Dance/Crunch/Aerial Ace.

Crawdaunt's raw power lets him act as a wallbreaker even without boosts, he's a backup sweeper that can clean shop if SW is still up mid to late game. And at +1 you outspeed a lot of Talonflames with Aqua Jet as Max Jolly is pretty rare in my experience and you see a lot of bulky variants.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

Max Adamant Talonflame easily outspeeds +1 Craw (Adamant or Jolly doesn't matter, SW doesnt matter either) and running both DD and Aqua Jet means you have no coverage moves and nothing to hit Mega Venusaur or (Mega) Gyarados with, both of which are hugely popular in OU right now.

 

[Megoodraggon]

Max Adamant Talonflame easily outspeeds +1 Craw (Adamant or Jolly doesn't matter, SW doesnt matter either) and running both DD and Aqua Jet means you have no coverage moves and nothing to hit Mega Venusaur or (Mega) Gyarados with, both of which are hugely popular in OU right now.

Like I said, a lot of Tflames you see are running bulk, with Will-O-Wisp, Roost, etc. And you have other team members for a reason.

(Also at +1 Knock Off is a 2HKO on MVenu and Crabhammer has an 81.6% chance to 2HKO MGyarados [guaranteed after SR], so they can't switch in)

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

Like I said, a lot of Tflames you see are running bulk, with Will-O-Wisp, Roost, etc. And you have other team members for a reason.

(Also at +1 Knock Off is a 2HKO on MVenu and Crabhammer has an 81.6% chance to 2HKO MGyarados [guaranteed after SR], so they can't switch in)

Most talonflames are max adamant CB and they'll easily RK you when your sash is gone.


You need +1 and SR to 2HKO Mega-Venusaur meaning you DD as it switches in, use Knock Off, it takes you down to your sash with Giga Drain and heals up meaning you cant kill it the next turn.


Intimidate gets rid of your boost:
252+ Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 106-125 (31.9 - 37.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 3HKO
This is a very very small chance of 2HKO 37.6*2 is 75.2% and after rocks it will have 75% left assuming no prior damage, which I think is fair as you're also banking on your sash being intact and Gyara cleanly 2hkos with EQ.


DD Crawdaunt is simply not very good and basically need the stars to align perfectly to be able to sweep which won't really happen against halfway decent players.

 

[Megoodraggon]

Most talonflames are max adamant CB and they'll easily RK you when your sash is gone.


You need +1 and SR to 2HKO Mega-Venusaur meaning you DD as it switches in, use Knock Off, it takes you down to your sash with Giga Drain and heals up meaning you cant kill it the next turn.


Intimidate gets rid of your boost:
252+ Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 106-125 (31.9 - 37.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 3HKO
This is a very very small chance of 2HKO 37.6*2 is 75.2% and after rocks it will have 75% left assuming no prior damage, which I think is fair as you're also banking on your sash being intact and Gyara cleanly 2hkos with EQ.


DD Crawdaunt is simply not very good and basically need the stars to align perfectly to be able to sweep which won't really happen against halfway decent players.

You don't need SR to 2HKO MVenu, and MGyara doesn't have Intimidate - regular Gyara, which does, takes 25% from SR on switchin, then 46.9% from the +0 Knock Off even without the boost from Knocking Off an item, which puts it in guaranteed KO range from the +0 Crabhammer. Crawdaunt is frail so it's not a top tier threat, but those 2 are NOT hard counters - they can't switch in to a +1 Crawdaunt and win 100% of the time, and in fact will LOSE assuming SR is up and Crabhammer hits.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

Mega Venu commonly runs 88+ Def or even 252+ so yeah, you do.

Mega Gyarados pre megaevolving does and takes less damage from knock off on top of resisting it, assuming it comes in on DD as you were going by +1 craw.

 

[Megoodraggon]

Mega Venu commonly runs 88+ Def or even 252+ so yeah, you do.

Mega Gyarados pre megaevolving does and takes less damage from knock off on top of resisting it, assuming it comes in on DD as you were going by +1 craw.

Gyara-N does NOT resist Knock Off and takes 46% minimum on the switch.

The MVenu "usage" set on the damage calc is a clean 2HKO without rocks, so even if the optimal set isn't 2HKOed without rocks, the one that you're most likely to encounter is.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

Gyara-N does NOT resist Knock Off and takes 46% minimum on the switch.

The MVenu "usage" set on the damage calc is a clean 2HKO without rocks, so even if the optimal set isn't 2HKOed without rocks, the one that you're most likely to encounter is.

Pray tell how do you get to +1 AND hit Gyarados on the switch?

The usage sets on the calc are extremely outdated/bad, it's possible that those are the sets people use at lower ranks but modest mega venusaur is definitely not the set you should be aiming to wall break, even then you'll still need to be +1 meaning it gets to hit you back, meaning Giga Drain will ruin your chance of 2hkoing.

You don't simply get to +1 for free, it doesn't work like that, you either hit something on the switch OR use DD, NOT both.

 

[Megoodraggon]

Pray tell how do you get to +1 AND hit Gyarados on the switch?

The usage sets on the calc are extremely outdated/bad, it's possible that those are the sets people use at lower ranks but modest mega venusaur is definitely not the set you should be aiming to wall break, even then you'll still need to be +1 meaning it gets to hit you back, meaning Giga Drain will ruin your chance of 2hkoing.

You don't simply get to +1 for free, it doesn't work like that, you either hit something on the switch OR use DD, NOT both.

It's very easy to get to +1 with a Sash Crawdaunt - when you're out with a Crawdaunt, most people won't switch directly to MVenu/Gyarados, they'll attempt to 1-shot you (which they obviously can't), allowing you to set up - Then they switch in their "counter", who is 2HKOed as they come in and then are outsped.

 

[Durant]

It's very easy to get to +1 with a Sash Crawdaunt - when you're out with a Crawdaunt, most people won't switch directly to MVenu/Gyarados, they'll attempt to 1-shot you (which they obviously can't), allowing you to set up - Then they switch in their "counter", who is 2HKOed as they come in and then are outsped.

Or they sacrifice the pokemon that is attacking Crawduant to safely bring in mega Venusaur or mega Gyarados and go from there.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

It's very easy to get to +1 with a Sash Crawdaunt - when you're out with a Crawdaunt, most people won't switch directly to MVenu/Gyarados, they'll attempt to 1-shot you (which they obviously can't), allowing you to set up - Then they switch in their "counter", who is 2HKOed as they come in and then are outsped.

I'm sorry but that's just confirmation to me that you're fighting bad players and it's distorting your view.

The scenario you're describing makes no sense why would someone try to kill Crawdaunt with something you brought it in on (I'm assuming you at least try to bring it in on stuff that it forces out) and then switch out after it sets up? That's not how it works, either you switch in your check/counter directly or you let whatever is in stay in as fodder while using your most effective move to cripple Craw as much as possible.

 

[Megoodraggon]

I'm sorry but that's just confirmation to me that you're fighting bad players and it's distorting your view.

The scenario you're describing makes no sense why would someone try to kill Crawdaunt with something you brought it in on (I'm assuming you at least try to bring it in on stuff that it forces out) and then switch out after it sets up? That's not how it works, either you switch in your check/counter directly or you let whatever is in stay in as fodder while using your most effective move to cripple Craw as much as possible.

Eh maybe I am fighting bad players (been sitting between 14 and 16 hundred for a while now) but it works for me :)

 

[Stallion]

I'm currently at 1861 (and rising) with a team featuring Crawdaunt, so I can safely say that it's an absolute menace if you use it correctly.

Anyway to give you an idea of its power:

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 161-190 (49.8 - 58.8%) -- 71.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 130-153 (40.2 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Crawdaunt hits roughly 10% harder then a CB Azumarill while holding a Life Orb. I use it to pressure stuff like Heatran/Tyranitar/Landorus-T, because if you get it in safely something is going to get hit hard. Also excellent for punching gaping holes through stall teams. Buffed Knock Off is no joke.

In short please try Crawdaunt :)

 

[derter22]

To me Crawdaunt is a pretty decent pokemon overall, ever since adaptability it's earned it self a place in BL. The problem is that it's bulk and speed let it down. Speed you can fix through dragon dance and bulk through screens I suppose.
here's the set I run
Crawdaunt@Focus sash/Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability Ev's: 252atk/252Sp/4hp Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance/Superpower
knock off/ crunch
Crabhammer/ Waterfall
aqua jet
With this set the aim is to kill as much as you can before you get Ko'd yourself. Focus sash is to ensure you get at least one DD before actually get ko'd and life orb is to hit as hard as possible. If you choose life orb it would be better to take the more powerful moves just to make sure that you get a 1HKO.
Dragon Dance gives you a mediocre speed boost but of you can set up two you'll get the ball rolling but watch out for supereffective priority such as mach punch an vacuum wave.