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Community POTW #016

Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
Staff member
Admin
Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and this week we remain in Paldea, so who else but Clodsire?

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KyogreThunder

Call of Fate
Clodsire
Brave nature/Adamant nature
Ability: Unaware/Water Absorb
@Choice Band/Life Orb/Black Sludge
EVs: 252 Attack/252 Def/4 SpDef
-Earthquake
-Poison Jab/Gunk Shot
-Liquidation
-Megahorn/Recover/Stone Edge/Low Kick
 
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Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Up until SV, Unaware users have been few and far between, and generally have mediocre-at-best stats to make up for how incredible Unaware is as a defensive ability. Then for some reason SV dropped 3 new Unaware users with incredible stats on us. Clodsire is one such user, although at the moment, it tends to run Water Absorb far more often than Unaware in order to check Walking Wake. In a metagame where Wake isn't an issue, though, Clodsire is one of the more splashable Unaware users as balance and even bulkier offensive teams appreciate its ability to stack hazards while stall teams can take advantage of its fantastic special bulk and unique typing.

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Clodsire @ Black Sludge
Careful - Unaware
248 HP, 8 Defense, 252 Sp. Def
-Earthquake
-Toxic
-Recover
-Stealth Rock / Spikes / Toxic Spikes

Earthquake is Clodsire's obligatory STAB move. It can be useful for getting some chip damage on opponents that Clodsire can come in on, but unfortunately with Clodsire's underwhelming offensive stats it's not going to be dealing an incredible amount of damage by itself. That's where Clodsire's next move comes in; Clodsire is one of the few Pokemon fortunate enough to have access to Toxic in SV. Toxic is just as crippling as it ever was and it allows Clodsire to put dangerous sweepers on a timer, all while being able to ignore their boosts with Unaware, making it an incredible stop to many dangerous offensive threats. Recover keeps Clodsire healthy and allows it to check opponents and set up hazards multiple times throughout the match. Finally he has room for a hazard of choice; which one to carry depends on what your team needs most as he gets them all (except Sticky Web).

Clodsire's typing is a bit of a mixed bag, unfortunately. While it comes with some useful resistances such as to Fairy, Fighting, and Rock, it also comes with weaknesses to common coverage types like Ground and, if not running Water Absorb, Water. This allows some opponents such as Iron Valiant that he should otherwise have a good match-up against to bypass him with some prediction. It also leaves him in the unfortunate position of being a Poison type that doesn't actually reliably check the most popular Fairy-types in the metagame (Iron Valiant, Hatterene, and Azumarill). He also faces stiff competition from Dondozo, another incredibly bulky Unaware user who can force some progress with Curse, and Skeledirge, who might be a bit frailer but has some significant offensive utility thanks to Torch Song and Will-O-Wisp + Hex. That being said, there are plenty of good reasons to consider using Clodsire on your team and he can definitely pull his weight. An Unaware user with access to Toxic and hazards is enough of a reason alone to consider him.​
 

XaelOstigian

Competitive...kinda
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Clodsire is just...perfection. We all wondered what P. Wooper's evolution would look like, but Clodsire surpassed all expectations both aesthetically and competitively. Not only is Clodsire a great defensive tank with access to Toxic, Curse, entry hazards, recovery, and two great abilities, but Clodsire is just the peak of Pokemon design. Simple, derpy, and absolutely adorable, it is hands down the best Pokemon released this generation for casual and competitive players alike. Suck it Corviknight. All hail the choco bread!
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Bulky Beloved Blob
Ability: Unaware/Water Absorb
Item: Black Sludge
Nature: Impish/Careful
EVs: (HP 252) (Attack 4) (Defense/Sp. Defense 252)

Moves:
Curse
Recover
Earthquake
Rock Slide/Poison Jab

Set Details:
A set up tank set that capitalizes on Clodsire's access to Curse. Boost attack and defense with Curse, Recover as needed, Earthquake is your main STAB, and Rock Slide is your best neutral coverage option, though Poison Jab offers good secondary STAB and gives Fairy types something to fear. Your ability of choice is Unaware so you can set up without fear of your opponent doing the same, but Water Absorb removes a key weakness and turns it into an immunity that heals, and you might be able to bluff Unaware anyways...at least until you gulp down an opponent's Hydro Pump. Black Sludge is bulky Poison type standard, and EVs and nature are also pumped all into bulk. Investing in special defense is an option since Curse already has you covered on the physical side, but since Clodsire already has high special defense, investing solely in physical defense is an option too since it is the weaker of its two defenses.

I can think of no downsides of adding Clodsire to your team. It's an easy early catch in the game, it is bulky as all hell, and it is adorable beyond all words. How such perfection has not been mass produced as a life-sized stuffed animal is truly the greatest folly of man.
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Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Of the 3 new Unaware users in Gen IX, Clodsire is the weakest, but still has strong points that have it stand out. Unlike Skeledirge, Dondozo and the available Quagsire Classic, Clodsire has phenomenal Special Bulk as opposed to the other's physical. Furthermore, it is the first Ground Poison type since Red and Blue (Nidoking and Nidoqueen) and can fully show off the type's defensive merits... Sadly Ground and Poison have many predominantly physical resistances (bar Poison, Electric and Fairy) and special weaknesses which seems to be a mismatch but the areas where Clodsire shines, it really shines.

Clodsire easily sits on Iron Moth, Nasty Plot Gholdengo, Volcarona and H-Zoroark with ease thanks to its insane special bulk. While Skeledirge and Dondozo can cover some of these, by dint of their paltry Special Defense and in some cases typing, they can't cover all these threats the way Clodsire can. Additionally, both are ruined by Toxic Spikes (well ok, Dondozo can wipe that with Rest, but that represents its own problems), while Clodsire can wipe them away and even set them up by dint of its Poison typing. Clodsire walling these threats so effortlessly gives extra value to its own Toxic Spikes and other entry hazards, which thanks to Unaware + Recover, Clodsire has the bulk to repeatedly throw up these hazards in the face of removal.

Clodsire is not without competition however. In addition to the aforementioned Unaware users there is Ting-Lu. While lacking Unaware and its Toxic Spikes immunity, Ting-Lu makes up for it in spades with absurd bulk both physically and specially, enabling it to take hits Clodsire can only dream of. Yet Its lack of recovery means that Clodsire shines more over protracted battles, as Ting-Lu can be worn down, but Clodsire takes so much more work.

Water Absorb does deserve mention. In addition to completely stymieing Walking Wake with Tera Fairy, Water Absorb turns Rotom-Wash into almost free setup (Clodsire does not like getting burned by Will-o-Wisp), as well as Dondozo, Pelipper, Gastrodon, and Toxapex who all regularly lack the coverage to deal with Clodsire.

Clodsire excels on bulkier teams that can play out the long game and draw extra turns of Toxic damage. As such partners like Dondozo and Corviknight stand out for being able to stall out precious turns and being physical walls who compliment Clodsire's special while enjoying the Electric immunity it provides (and able to answer Ground [both], Ice [both], and Psychic [Corviknight] attacks. Gholdengo deserves mention as well -keeping Clodsire's hazards up makes a world of difference in winning the chip war.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
As Walking Wake will remain legal in OU, Tera Fairy + Water Absorb will likely be the standard set for Clodsire in that format for the forseeable future, unless other answers to Wake are present on the team or Wake usage severely dips off.
 
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