Community POTW #076

[Serebii]

This week we're going to Hoenn

It's Ludicolo

Ludicolo #272 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Ludicolo Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Sword & Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

www.serebii.net

 

[Mestorn]

Ludicolo, the Sombrero Duck Pokémon, Purveyor of Coffee, and sole member of Dancing Legend Miror B's all star team. Ever since the 3rd generation, Ludicolo has been synonymous with Rain abuse. Either whittling away the opponent and staying healthy with a Rain Dish/Leech Seed/Leftovers set, or just going for the throat as a vicious Swift Sweeper, all thanks to its stellar typing making it neutral vs the common answers to Water types and only having 3 weaknesses itself. That is where the good news ends. Ludicolo's stats are below average, with Special Defense being the only stat that even hitting triple digits (though 80 HP is not bad either) which can have it struggle to deal or tank the necessary damage needed to function. Rain no longer being permanent has left a damper on Ludicolo's spirits, as it struggles to find a niche that couldn't be filled by a stronger pokémon, especially so many Pokémon can disrupt Ludicolo's rain. Also Freeze-Dry giving Ludicolo a 4x weakness does not help matters in the slightest.

Singing in the Rain
Ludicolo
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
-Hydro Pump
-Grass Knot/Giga Drain
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast
Nature: Modest (+SATK, -ATK)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 SPE

A set that is meant to have Ludicolo abuse Dynamax to setup its own rain and then go for the sweep. Though if you have a rain setting teammate, that works too. Hydro Pump has considerable power in the Rain, reaching 2HKOs on most targets that don't resist it and are not named Chansey or Blissey (or have an Assault Vest).

252+ SpA Life Orb Ludicolo Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko in Rain: 378-446 (134.5 - 158.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Ludicolo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable in Rain: 328-386 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Ludicolo Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 144 SpD Mandibuzz in Rain: 269-317 (63.5 - 74.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Most answers to water moves want nothing to do with Ludicolo as they are either weak to Ice Beam (Grass and Dragon), Grass Knot/Giga Drain (most Water types) and even Ferrothorn does not want to eat a Focus Blast:

252+ SpA Life Orb Ludicolo Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 176+ SpD Ferrothorn: 200-237 (56.8 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery.

This set is better saved for the late game, where Ludicolo's answers have been eliminated or weakened, as Ludicolo can't take many hits and Giga Drain is more for recovering Life Orb Recoil.

 

[XaelOstigian]

Ludicolo has to be one of the most interesting Pokemon gen 3 released to us back in the days of Ruby and Sapphire. A mariachi, lily pad, duck...that also has dual typing that matches two starter types! That typing is great offensively and defensively, not to mention it has a very wide movepool that allows you to run physical and special attacking sets. Top it off with Swift Swim as an ability and Ludicolo becomes hard to pass up on your team while playing your gen 3 game of choice. Sadly, Ludicolo isn't really able to function as well as I hyped it up, namely due to low it's base stats are, 4 all of which sit at an even 70, with 90 and 100 go to special attack and defense. That should not stop you from having fun using Ludicolo though. Miror B has four of them, and he's enjoying life to the fullest!

Miror B used Rain Dance!
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp.Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Rain Dance/Focus Blast
Hydro Pump
Giga Drain/Energy Ball
Ice Beam

Set Details:
A simple Rain Dance set that takes advantage of Swift Swim as your ability. Set up Rain Dance, or have your teammate do so for it for you (In which case sub out Rain Dance for Focus Blast to handle the likes of Ferrothorn), and then proceed to sweep with Hydro Pump. Your secondary Grass STAB will be used to handle Water types that resist Hydro Pump, and it is up to you which one you want to go with since Giga Drain offers recovery but Energy Ball has more power. Finally we have Ice Beam which takes out Grass and Dragon types that also resist your Hydro Pumps. Life Orb increases power output while your EVs and nature go into special attack and speed.

Sub-Seed Water Reed
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
EVs: (HP 252) (Defense 156) (Sp.Defense 100)

Moves:
Leech Seed
Substitute
Giga Drain
Scald/Ice Beam

Set Details:
Lay down Leech Seed and proceed to hide behind your Substitute while draining away your opponent's health. Giga Drain offers additional recovery with your STAB, while Scald offers secondary coverage with a high chance of burn allowing you to handles physical threats better. Ice Beam is still an option though since it handles other Grass types that are immune to Leech Seed and resist your dual STAB. Carry Leftovers this time to improve survivability and invest in your defensive stats.

Lily Pad Cad
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Sword Dance
Waterfall
Seed Bomb
Ice Punch/Fire Punch

Set Details:
A surprise physical sweeper set that employs Swords Dance to shore up your attack power. Waterfall becomes your main STAB this time and offers a nifty 30% flinch if you can move first (Rain support would be appreciated by your team so it can use Swift Swim). Seed Bomb is your secondary STAB, and the last move is a matter of what you prefer. Ice Punch handles the Grass and Dragon types like Ice Beam did before on the special attacking set, but Fire Punch is good deterrent against Ferrothorn and the Bug/Steels. Life Orb again will be used, while physical attack and primarily speed get your investment attention.

 

[Locormus]

Okay people.

Take a guess how many of the proposed Stonjourner-sets were used in the actual article?

NONE.

Why are people still posting sets here? They will not get used (by the 'writers' at least). It's been two weeks that I've checked now, and two weeks in a row they're ignoring your input.

Also from the STONJOURNER-article:

EVs and Items:
EVs are to max out Gigalith's physical bulk and the damage from Body Press due to the prevalence of Intimidate as well as ensure Gigalith can survive a super effective hit. Weakness Policy is to be used in tandem with Dynamax to buff Gigalith's attack to enormous heights and have it crush the opposing team. Nature and IVs are meant to bottom out Speed as so Gigalith can outslow the competition in Trick Room.

The set that refers to didn't even utilize Body Press, but chose to run Superpower. And Weakness Policy for that matter (the set ran Focus Sash), so it's not even a case of mistakingly writing Gigalith instead of Stonjourner, but a Copy/Paste-scenario from a different set.

 

[KyogreThunder]

Ludicolo
Modest nature
Ability: Swift Swim
@big Root/Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpATK/252 Speed
-Surf
-Giga Drain
-Ice Beam
-Leech Seed

 

[Mestorn]

Sub-Seed Water Reed
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
EVs: (HP 252) (Defense 156) (Sp.Defense 100)

Moves:
Leech Seed
Substitute
Giga Drain
Scald/Ice Beam

Set Details:
Lay down Leech Seed and proceed to hide behind your Substitute while draining away your opponent's health. Giga Drain offers additional recovery with your STAB, while Scald offers secondary coverage with a high chance of burn allowing you to handles physical threats better. Ice Beam is still an option though since it handles other Grass types that are immune to Leech Seed and resist your dual STAB. Carry Leftovers this time to improve survivability and invest in your defensive stats.

Question on why Swift Swim over Rain Dish? I mean, I can see arguments for both. Rain Dish + Leftovers = guaranteed Substitute each turn, while Swift Swim enables Ludicolo to throw up the Substitute faster and ensures that it can get Leech Seed and Giga Drain off to remain healthy. However, without investment, you barely outspeed +Speed Nature Base 110 targets like Gengar. Or is the ability meant to be a nonfactor, since this Ludicolo is not planned to be run in Rain?

 

[XaelOstigian]

Question on why Swift Swim over Rain Dish? I mean, I can see arguments for both. Rain Dish + Leftovers = guaranteed Substitute each turn, while Swift Swim enables Ludicolo to throw up the Substitute faster and ensures that it can get Leech Seed and Giga Drain off to remain healthy. However, without investment, you barely outspeed +Speed Nature Base 110 targets like Gengar. Or is the ability meant to be a nonfactor, since this Ludicolo is not planned to be run in Rain?

Made the set assuming you didn't have a teammate that could set up rain. But like you said, Rain Dish is a viable option to further recovery, though shoring up your speed is also hard to pass up. Granted, balancing bulk and speed is tricky given Ludicolo's base defenses aren't as high compared to other walls. Though with the Gengar example you are likely better off switching than staying in since STAB Sludge Bomb is a thing, especially now that Fairy types are a strong presence in the competitive tiers.

 

[Prince Amrod]

Why are people still posting sets here? They will not get used (by the 'writers' at least). It's been two weeks that I've checked now, and two weeks in a row they're ignoring your input.

In regard to this, whilst I can't speak for everyone, I enjoy seeing the sets posted here and have made use of them as alternatives to the POTW page. It's good to see how people run various pokemon in different ways, often because moves from previous generations are no longer available.

 

[Locormus]

In regard to this, whilst I can't speak for everyone, I enjoy seeing the sets posted here and have made use of them as alternatives to the POTW page. It's good to see how people run various pokemon in different ways, often because moves from previous generations are no longer available.

Yeah that was the only reason I could think off..

But on the otherhand, the text on the main page is still a lie and comes off as pretentious "compiled by our writers", "to get involved". I mean if they are not using the sets that are posted here, where are they compiling them from? Smogon?