Pokémon Crawdaunt

[Ogami]

I was using max HP but I'm thinking about switching to max speed adamant. THis would allow you to outspeed uninvested rotom-w I think, and get the drop on weakened walls in general where 55 with no investment really sucks. Crawdaunt should probably be avoiding taking hits at all possible anyways, so the lack of bulk isn't the worst. Not sure if the defensive variants of Rotom Wash run speed often though, so this may not be a good strategy against them if they do.

Ahh greninja'd

 

[escarlata]

Between min Adamant (146) and max speed Jolly Crawdaunt (229), these are some important speed tiers to aim for imo (all are Adamant except the one I specifically stated Jolly):

• 44 for 0 Spd Aegislash
  
• 52 for 0 Spd Tyranitar
• 88 for 124 Spd Mawile and 76 Spd Trevenant (though both are made to speed creep Scizor, so just run 92 in case of Jellicent as well)
• 92 for 0 Spd Scizor and 44 Spd Jellicent
  
• 124 for 0 Spd Skarmory, Relaxed Mega Venusaur,
  
• 176 for 0 Spd Heatran
• 184 for 0 Spd Mega Blastoise
  
• 204 for 0 Spd Mandibuzz, Goodra
• 204 Jolly for 0 Spd Roserade (or base 90s)
• 244 for 0 Spd Cro-cune
• 252 for 0 Spd Rotom-W

 

[Jaroda]

I'd run Klefki. Klefki can throw out priority screens, Thunder Wave and Rain Dance, all of which help Crawdaunt. Jolteon is also possible with Volt Absorb able to take those Volt Changes and can throw out really fast Thunder Waves or BP a Sub or Agility if need be.

 

[TKGriffiths]

this thing needs sticky web support if you want to be able to kill more than 1 thing

He's not necessarily designed to get more than 1 kill, he's first and foremost a wallbreaker that does massive damage every time he attacks. Whether he K.Os the enemy himself or just puts them into K.O range of another of your pokes doesn't really matter. He also has great revenge killing potential with Aqua Jet.

 

[Ogami]

Honestly, with more priority around than ever focus sash seems a little silly. As practically every priority user outspeeds him he's not gonna get a lot done after it acitvates.

TKGriffiths is right. Craw doesn't need to get more than one kill. In fact if he gets no kills, but knocks off a few opponents, he's still done his job. He maims things, and does it very well. The fact that he also has aqua jet to come in and potentially finish off the foes he weakened makes him that much scarier. Wallbreakers are often hit and run pokes and he is no different.

I've been having pretty good success with the Life Orb Dragon Dance varient. If you have hazard control he still performs his wall breaking duties admirably, but has the added benefit of being able to set up on a lot of those switches he causes and start a mini sweep out of no where.

 

[Vert]

I think Crawdaunt will do really good this Generation. Might be even good enough to hit BL.
Azumarill vs Crawdaunt

I thought Crawdaunt was rather mediocre even with Adapdability. This generation, it all changed. It got Aqua Jet which is simple amazing, since it can revenge kill threats now, making it probably a better Azumarill this generation. I never like Azumarill ever since Crawdaunt got Aqua Jet. Azumarill only has about 606 Atk (iirc) and Crawdaunt has 558 Atk. Sure, it's a big difference, but they both do the job they are supposed to do, and Crawdaunt has 80 BP on Aqua Jet compared to Azu's 60 Bp on Aqua Jet. Crabhammer to 100 BP (200 with STAB) is simply amazing. Crawdaunt has the strongest physical Water-type move in the game. Knock-Off being 97.5 BP (195 with STAB) is amazing as well and also cripples the survivers of it by removing their item. This could be big, since if something that can MEvo loses its Mega Item, then it won't be able to MEvo. Some PKMN are useless without their stones (Ampharos, Pinsir) or considered bad PKMN like Houndoom. Now, Superpower is pretty nice, but the sheer force of Crabhammer and Knock-Off make it largely ignored. I would use Switcheroo in the last slot to cripple some of its counters or just to make some PKMN that force Crawdaunt out useless. Switcheroo has seen the most appealing in the last slot IMO.

The Swords Dance set... I have mixed feelings about it. Sure, it's a really good sweeper (easier to set-up than Belly Drum Azu), but I like the wall-breaking utility the Choice Band set. Swords Dance is really good on HO teams, since their are a lot of Hazards. The Dragon dance set is now complete trash, since Crawdaunt got Swords Dance + Aqua Jet combo, which sweeps easily by itself. With rain support, CB Aqua Jet can sweep by its self with Sr + at least 2 layers of Spikes

I feel like that Crawdaunt and Sharpedo were the main winners of the Gen 3 PKMN with the X/Y transition. Sharpedo has nothing to do with this, but it got Destiny Bond, so it has risen in usage greatly and is much better IMO.

EDIT: Ogami The Dragon Dance set is honestly really bad. even after a boost with Jolly Nature, it fails to outpace stuff like Terrakion and Latias which is sad. Priority makes it a waste too even if you get it to +2 Spe. Stick with SD Aqua Jet.

Crawdaunt | Mystic Water | Adapdability
Adamant | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Swords Dance | Aqua Jet | Knock-Off | Crabhammer

 

[amzaneok]

I think Crawdaunt will do really good this Generation. Might be even good enough to hit BL.
Azumarill vs Crawdaunt

I thought Crawdaunt was rather mediocre even with Adapdability. This generation, it all changed. It got Aqua Jet which is simple amazing, since it can revenge kill threats now, making it probably a better Azumarill this generation. I never like Azumarill ever since Crawdaunt got Aqua Jet. Azumarill only has about 606 Atk (iirc) and Crawdaunt has 558 Atk. Sure, it's a big difference, but they both do the job they are supposed to do, and Crawdaunt has 80 BP on Aqua Jet compared to Azu's 60 Bp on Aqua Jet. Crabhammer to 100 BP (200 with STAB) is simply amazing. Crawdaunt has the strongest physical Water-type move in the game. Knock-Off being 97.5 BP (195 with STAB) is amazing as well and also cripples the survivers of it by removing their item. This could be big, since if something that can MEvo loses its Mega Item, then it won't be able to MEvo. Some PKMN are useless without their stones (Ampharos, Pinsir) or considered bad PKMN like Houndoom. Now, Superpower is pretty nice, but the sheer force of Crabhammer and Knock-Off make it largely ignored. I would use Switcheroo in the last slot to cripple some of its counters or just to make some PKMN that force Crawdaunt out useless. Switcheroo has seen the most appealing in the last slot IMO.

The Swords Dance set... I have mixed feelings about it. Sure, it's a really good sweeper (easier to set-up than Belly Drum Azu), but I like the wall-breaking utility the Choice Band set. Swords Dance is really good on HO teams, since their are a lot of Hazards. The Dragon dance set is now complete trash, since Crawdaunt got Swords Dance + Aqua Jet combo, which sweeps easily by itself. With rain support, CB Aqua Jet can sweep by its self with Sr + at least 2 layers of Spikes

I feel like that Crawdaunt and Sharpedo were the main winners of the Gen 3 PKMN with the X/Y transition. Sharpedo has nothing to do with this, but it got Destiny Bond, so it has risen in usage greatly and is much better IMO.

EDIT: Ogami The Dragon Dance set is honestly really bad. even after a boost with Jolly Nature, it fails to outpace stuff like Terrakion and Latias which is sad. Priority makes it a waste too even if you get it to +2 Spe. Stick with SD Aqua Jet.

Crawdaunt | Mystic Water | Adapdability
Adamant | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Swords Dance | Aqua Jet | Knock-Off | Crabhammer

I thought we weren't allowed to discuss Azumarill anymore. But you did make a great point about Swords Dance being much easier to set up than Belly Drum (and their bulk is comparable with half HP on Azumarill anyways).

Never, ever use Dragon Dance. +1 Attack doesn't give it the power it needs to OHKO most threats (as it already OHKOs most offensive threats and 2HKOs most defensive threats just the same) and is better off attacking twice without Swords Dance. Crawdaunt begs for Sticky Web or Baton Pass support if it wants to sweep, and fortunately passing from Speed Boost Scoliopede is really, really easy.

I don't recommend Mystic Water. Use Life Orb, because a more powerful Knock Off is an incredible asset.

 

[Ogami]

Vertex: First of all, DD boosts are never needed for killing terrakion lol. Yes he is dreadfully slow, even after one boost. Maybe I was not clear as to why I've become a fan of dd.
First off, a crawdaunt before any dancing starts, with a life orb can be very dangerous. Being able to switch moves can add to how threatening he is to a team, as now things that could threaten it but are weak to an aqua jet kill can't come in. The use of life orb doesn't diminish his wall breaking potential by too much, especially if you use him with wallbreaking partners (I never like having only one breaker so this is never a problem for me). The way I use DD is as a situational fourth move that is very useful sometimes for closing out matches against slower, bulkier teams. I probably don't even dd half of my battles, but it's that extra layer of play that I enjoy having access too. I was never using the fourth move with the Choice Band set, and I wanted to see if there could be something more. The DD set has slightly less initial power, but offers more play in my opinion

Also, Tyranitar's pursuit is a nice way to weaken or kill a majority of the threats that outspeed craw after a dance and resist or are annoying to his boosts, ie, greninja, starmie, latii, Mmanectric. Finding ways to then whittle down or kill azumarill, genesect, conkeldurr and the like then become necessary for his partners, but those threats should be accounted for with any team that wants to be competitive anyways.

Also a little nitpick, Knock off is terrible against megas. It does not remove the stone and does not get the boost. This is important to know, and often makes who you're opponent is going to switch to when craw does come out painfully obvious. If that mega is venusaur forget about it, that's what is coming in.

 

[Salt]

On the max HP discussion:
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 270-318 (81.8 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 270-318 (100.7 - 118.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

So max HP is important if you don't want Talonflame to kill you. Just throwing this out there.

Also:

Also a little nitpick, Knock off is terrible against megas. It does not remove the stone and does not get the boost. This is important to know, and often makes who you're opponent is going to switch to when craw does come out painfully obvious. If that mega is venusaur forget about it, that's what is coming in.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 239-283 (65.6 - 77.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Just because it doesn't get the boost against megas doesn't mean it's "terrible" against them.

 

[Vert]

I thought we weren't allowed to discuss Azumarill anymore. But you did make a great point about Swords Dance being much easier to set up than Belly Drum (and their bulk is comparable with half HP on Azumarill anyways).

Never, ever use Dragon Dance. +1 Attack doesn't give it the power it needs to OHKO most threats (as it already OHKOs most offensive threats and 2HKOs most defensive threats just the same) and is better off attacking twice without Swords Dance. Crawdaunt begs for Sticky Web or Baton Pass support if it wants to sweep, and fortunately passing from Speed Boost Scoliopede is really, really easy.

I don't recommend Mystic Water. Use Life Orb, because a more powerful Knock Off is an incredible asset.

Oh, my bad. I didn't see the previous posts that got alexwolf pissed.

Yea, LO is really good too, but I like Mystic Water as the boost from SD is good enough to KO most faster threats.

Sticky Web is a really good move now, and Galvantula has OU worthy stats with its access to it and no hard competition.

Vertex: First of all, DD boosts are never needed for killing terrakion lol. Yes he is dreadfully slow, even after one boost. Maybe I was not clear as to why I've become a fan of dd.
First off, a crawdaunt before any dancing starts, with a life orb can be very dangerous. Being able to switch moves can add to how threatening he is to a team, as now things that could threaten it but are weak to an aqua jet kill can't come in. The use of life orb doesn't diminish his wall breaking potential by too much, especially if you use him with wallbreaking partners (I never like having only one breaker so this is never a problem for me). The way I use DD is as a situational fourth move that is very useful sometimes for closing out matches against slower, bulkier teams. I probably don't even dd half of my battles, but it's that extra layer of play that I enjoy having access too. I was never using the fourth move with the Choice Band set, and I wanted to see if there could be something more. The DD set has slightly less initial power, but offers more play in my opinion

Also, Tyranitar's pursuit is a nice way to weaken or kill a majority of the threats that outspeed craw after a dance and resist or are annoying to his boosts, ie, greninja, starmie, latii, Mmanectric. Finding ways to then whittle down or kill azumarill, genesect, conkeldurr and the like then become necessary for his partners, but those threats should be accounted for with any team that wants to be competitive anyways.

Also a little nitpick, Knock off is terrible against megas. It does not remove the stone and does not get the boost. This is important to know, and often makes who you're opponent is going to switch to when craw does come out painfully obvious. If that mega is venusaur forget about it, that's what is coming in.

Dragon Dance is a really bad move on Crawdaunt. It was a very bad move last generation. this generation has even more priority and faster threats. It's was really crappy last generation. In Gen VI, it has no success. the majority of competitive players agreed that DD is bad on it. I did the Crawdaunt skeleton and every QC member agreed that Dragon Dance was bad. This metagame is more offensive and Crawdaunt has to deal with hard set-up time already. You said it was good on slower, bulkier teams, but Swords Dance accomplishes the same thing. The slower, bulkier 'mons won't be able to outpace Crawdaunt due to lack of investment to Speed. The faster ones against faster teams are most likely killed by Aqua Jet with Spikes / SR. I don't really how it's good. Trust me and use Swords Dance. It's much better.

 

[VanGru]

Can anyone suggest viable partners to crawdaunt not based on a rain team?

 

[Schpoonman]

Klefki or Thundurus for Paralysis support, Galvantula/company for Sticky Web support. Basically stuff that will make Pokemon slower so he's better able to slap the shit out of everything with Crabhammer and Knock Off.

 

[escarlata]

Or anything that appreciate walls being destroyed, especially physical walls. DD users make good team mate, being able to get a sweep going very easily when their checks/counters are being obliterated by Crawdaunt. I've been running Crawdaunt/Mega Gyara like Gen IV Mence/Rayquaza, and it is working great so far.

 

[Clair]

There are two main ways you can run Craw - max HP Adamant without Life Orb, or max speed Adamant with Life Orb. The first spread conserves your HP to prevent revenge killing from the ubiquitous Talonflame, the second spread lets you get the jump on a fair number of important threats (0 Spe Rotom being the most significant). Personally I prefer the first because Talonflame is just everywhere, and most Rotom users will speedcreep a little anyway.

 

[Mitchhhhhh]

There are two main ways you can run Craw - max HP Adamant without Life Orb, or max speed Adamant with Life Orb. The first spread conserves your HP to prevent revenge killing from the ubiquitous Talonflame, the second spread lets you get the jump on a fair number of important threats (0 Spe Rotom being the most significant). Personally I prefer the first because Talonflame is just everywhere, and most Rotom users will speedcreep a little anyway.

That only works if Crawdaunt has little to no prior damage or Banded BB will OHKO it:

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 270-318 (81.8 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Whereas Talonflame faces a similar situation from Crawdaunt's AJ (assuming Adamant with enough spe to outspeed Jolly Excadrill, not sure if this is the standard spread for Banded Talon though as I mostly used BU Talon)

252+ Atk Splash Plate Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 192 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 288-340 (83.4 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Rotom is a whole different matter, it can tank a non LO Knock Off (even 2 of them) and OHKO back with Thunderbolt or a chance to OHKO with Volt Switch after SR:

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 270-320 (88.8 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

4 SpA Rotom-W Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Crawdaunt: 326-386 (98.7 - 116.9%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
4 SpA Rotom-W Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Crawdaunt: 254-302 (76.9 - 91.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Physically Defensive Rotom can quite comfortably live even a LO Knock Off (ok maybe not THAT comfortably, but it does live it and assuming no LO it lives 2 Knock Offs)

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 198-234 (65.1 - 76.9%)


The best check/counter to Crawdaunt is probably Mega Venusaur anyway as it doesnt fear any of it's moves and can easily heal back up while threatening back an OHKO with Giga Drain without any investment and healing back up in the process:

0 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Crawdaunt: 308-366 (93.3 - 110.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

 

[Tyrant laharl]

Just popping into to say crawdaunt absolutely destroys in trick room, and is possibly one of the best TR sweepers in the game.

 

[Pyritie]

5NJW-WWWW-WWW4-SSBX

ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ crawdaunt 4 ubers ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

 

[thaman]

I've been using crawdaunt for a few days on showdown and I've arrived at an ev spread of 208 hp/248 attack/52 speed. The speed tier allows you to outspeed ttar as noted above, and the hp evs guarantee surviving a adamant CB brave bird from talonflame. I like running choice band on him over other items, too, just because he rarely stays in for multiple attacks to avoid being revenged.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 208 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 270-318 (84.6 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Azelph]

I love the idea of life orb swords dance 0 speed iv brave crawdaunt on a trick room team. It would have great synergy with maybe a harvest bulky Exeggutor to set up TR and screens!

 

[GarchompPit]

I love the idea of life orb swords dance 0 speed iv brave crawdaunt on a trick room team. It would have great synergy with maybe a harvest bulky Exeggutor to set up TR and screens!

The problem with that, is that screens will only last 5 turns with no Light Clay so you might don't get enough turns to bring in Craw and try to set up..
Also what really sucks is that because of its mediocre defensive capabilities and that Pokemon like Conkeldurr, Machamp, Tangrowth, Mega-Aggron, Mega Mawile and Mega Ampharos can take an advantage of their ability to resist hits and also that they are slower than Craw, they can actually outspeed him in TR and get a benefit from it...So with all that in mind, I think that the DD set is just superior (Still the TR variant is really good, don't get my wrong).. but that's just my opinion :]

 

[Always!]

I've used a DD-Focus sash set, and as terrible as it sounds, it was fantastic. It killed a guaranteed 1-2 mons, mostly because of people underestimating it or lacking the knowledge/counter to it. A fantastic wallbreaker, and extremely strong.

 

[MadMunky20k]

I ran the damage calculations, and found out that Adamant Crawdaunt at +2 w/LO will OHKO Azumarill after Stealth Rocks with a Crabhammer.
Just saying.

 

[Darnell]

I've used a DD-Focus sash set, and as terrible as it sounds, it was fantastic. It killed a guaranteed 1-2 mons, mostly because of people underestimating it or lacking the knowledge/counter to it. A fantastic wallbreaker, and extremely strong.

How did DD Focus sash sound terrible at first? xD I actually prefer to use it over Life Orb. Just allows me to get up the set up and get of at least one hit. Obviously not dragon dancing against things with priority. I don't personally see why it can throw people of or why they underestimate it as it is really good.

 

[Always!]

How did DD Focus sash sound terrible at first? xD I actually prefer to use it over Life Orb. Just allows me to get up the set up and get of at least one hit. Obviously not dragon dancing against things with priority. I don't personally see why it can throw people of or why they underestimate it as it is really good.

Crawd is a wallbreaker, so it is apparently not the best way to use him, as most people prefer an SD set to beat out and KO some bulkier walls :/

Whatever, whenever Craw was on my team, it was awesome. If you ever need a powerful wallbreaker, you definitely shouldn't overlook this crustacean.

 

[tntskelebro]

Crawdaunt @ Focus Sash
Ability: Adaptability
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 196 Spd / 252 Atk / 60 HP
- Aqua Jet
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Dragon Dance