Community POTW #35

[Diaglio]

Stalldicolo
Ludicolo @ Lefties
Rain Dish
Impish
252 Def, 252 HP, 4 Sp Def
-Rain Dance
-Leech Seed
-Toxic/Giga Drain
-Dive

Useful on Rain teams. Rain Dance for if weather is switched. Leech Seed for lots of fun. Toxic to widdle down HP. Dive to stall. Giga Drain for more hp. need i say more?

 

[kaiser soze]

SWIFT SWIM AND DRIZZLE ARE NOT BANNED PEOPLE! SMOGON IS UNOFFICIAL! IF YOU AREN'T BATTLING ON SMOGON, YOU CAN USE IT!
[/caps]

Serebii bans it too...

The Tier list and rules that will be used on Serebii (to be used on Wi-Fi)

Dream World Pokemon currently unavailable are banned.
All moves that increase Evasion only (e.g. Minimize) are banned.
All instant OHKO moves (e.g. Horn Drill) are banned.
You may not use a Pokémon team carrying both Pokémon with the ability Swift Swim and the ability Drizzle.
​

Still, I'm not seeing much discussion for using SS Ludi as a rain-team counter, similar to how many teams have Excadrill to stop sand teams.

 

[Monster Guy]

Ludicolo@Leftovers
Bold (+ Def - Atk)/Calm (+ SpDef - Atk)
252 Def 252 SpDef 4 HP
Ability: Rain Dish
Substitute
Leech Seed
Giga Drain
Scald/Surf/Hydro Pump

Subseed set. To be used with Drizzle Politoed obviously. Giga Drain gives you more HP on top of Rain Dish, Leftovers, and Leech Seed. Plus, it gets STAB on it. Scald is there for the burn chance, to soften physical hits (Especially If your nature is calm), and do more residual damage, but Surf and Hydro Pump are more powerful (Surf is more accurate than Hydro Pump, but Hydro Pump has higher BP.)

I suggest you take advantage of team preview, and get rid of Grass types (Especially Ferrothorn) before sending this out.

 

[Zachmac]

Stalldicolo
Ludicolo @ Lefties
Rain Dish
Impish
252 Def, 252 HP, 4 Sp Def
-Rain Dance
-Leech Seed
-Toxic/Giga Drain
-Dive

Useful on Rain teams. Rain Dance for if weather is switched. Leech Seed for lots of fun. Toxic to widdle down HP. Dive to stall. Giga Drain for more hp. need i say more?

And if you want to use it at the BS/PO, you can use Swift Swim and Substitute.

 

[PokefanTez]

Whenever I see Ludicolo, I always remember back to my collosseum days when Miror B had 5 or 6 of them. These things were annoying because they have only 3 weaknesses and, since it was collosseum and I had a very limited team, it made these things pure evil to fight. Anyway, on to the set.
Anti-Rain Dancer
Ludicolo@Choice Specs
Evs: 4Hp/252SAtk/252Spd
Ability: Swift Swim
Timid Nature

Energy Ball/Grass Knot
Surf/Scald/Hydro Pump
Focus Blast
Hidden Power Ground

This Ludicolo is designed to beat average rain teams with a bit of prediction. Energy Ball is there for reliable STAB, while Grass Knot potentially has more power, although somewhat risky. Surf is there for STAB, while Scald is an option for distributing burns and Hydro Pump there for more power in exchange for less accuracy, although not as much of a problem as Focus Blast, which incidentally is the next move. Focus Blast is there for Ferrothorn, in addition to any other steel types that may be found on a rain team. Hidden Power Ground is there for things like Toxicroak and Parasect that try to come in and kill you with STAB poison moves, in addition to taking out Tentacruel, who doesn't take very much damage from Energy Ball or Grass Knot.

 

[complete legitimacy]

SWIFT SWIM AND DRIZZLE ARE NOT BANNED PEOPLE! SMOGON IS UNOFFICIAL! IF YOU AREN'T BATTLING ON SMOGON, YOU CAN USE IT!
[/caps]

Yeah, but pretty much all good players go by Smogon's tiers, so...

 

[sbktdreed]

Fast Service
Ability: Rain Dish
Item: Lum Berry
Energy Ball
Hydro Pump/Waterfall/Scald
Zen Headbutt/Brick Break
Leech Seed

Zen Headbutt can be useful against Poison-types. Leech Seed can be useful against highly-defensive pokemon. Scald can be helpful against high-Attack pokemon by burn; who'll take advantage of the fact that Ludicolo is Physical defence is weaker than its Special Defence.

Partners:
Pokemon that know Rain Dance: Politoad can learn Drizzle from the Dream World.
As an Option, Miltank can use Heal Bell to protect against confusion and other status problems in the event that switching is impossible.

Countering:
A Poison/Bug/Flying-Pokemon that has high Attack and Special Defence like: Scizor, Heracross, Venusaur, Dragonite, and Braviary. Eventhough this pokemon's attacks are mainly even, its high special attacks makes you consider on getting a pokemon with Mirror Coat like Lopunny and Vanilluxe.

 

[Aurath8]

Counters
This is a tough pokemon to counter. It's typing gives it a load of helpful resistances and only a few uncommon weaknesses to Flying, Bug and Poison. Very few moves of these types exist in OU. An Excadrill's X-scissor. A Scizor's Bug Bite/ U-turn. A stray Sludge Bomb from the few OU poison types like Gengar. On top of almost nothing hitting it for SE damage, it has three reliable forms of recovery in Rain. Leftovers, Rain Dish recovery and Leech Seed, meaning he can heal his Subs in two turns.
The easiest way to counter Ludicolo is Taunt. Since he can't use Swift Swim anymore he's forced to use SubSeed most of the time meaning Taunt shuts him up completely. Thunderus. Whimsicott. You know them by know. Another way is to change the weather. Of all the other weathers, Abomasnow is best for beating Ludicolo as he's not weak to it's STABs and is immune to Leech Seed and his damaging Hail cancels out the healing of Lefties.
Breaking the Subs means Ludicolo is a sitting duck(no pun intended) for any stroong physical move. Cloyster can't take a Giga Drain post-Shell Break but he can still break his Subs with Icicle Spear.
Finally, getting Ludicolo off the field completely is great because he requires several turns to setup. Skarmory can Whirlwind him away while taking minimal damage from his attacking moves.
Finally, Toxic Spikes ruins Ludicolo completely, especially if you get two layers.

 

[WizardTrubbish]

Counters

The easiest way to counter Ludicolo is Taunt. Since he can't use Swift Swim anymore he's forced to use SubSeed most of the time meaning Taunt shuts him up completely .

No. He can useSwift Swim, just not with another pokemon on the team with Drizzle.

 

[UsernameSayWha?]

To run a SubSeed set you actually have to outspeed something. Rain Dish doesn't do that. The reason why Shaymin-S is the best SubSeeder in the game is because of his speed.

Counters
Hi. My name is Scarfed Reckless Staraptor. Ferrothorn craps on the sets it runs while Paralyzing. And just for the record, Scizor finds him hard to counter with the power and speed of Ludicolo's base 190 Surf under rain.

 

[Piplupstars]

Abilities:

Swift Swim: A nice ability to gain speed but not as good as Rain Dish

Rain Dish: An excellent ability for Ludicolo to stall and gain speed in the rain

Own Tempo: Not as good as Rain Dish but prevents being confused in battle is okay.

Sub-Seed
-Leech Seed
-Substitute
-Rain Dance/Toxic
-Giga Drain/Scald/Surf
Nature: Bold/Relaxed
Ability: Rain Dish
Item: Leftovers/Damp Rock

Leech Seed slowly recovers health overtime while Substitute stalls. Rain Dance activates Rain Dish and also boosts up water attacks but Toxic helps stall when with Leech Seed and Substitute. The last slot is to stop you from being Taunt bait. Both Scald and Surf get a boost if you decide to use Rain Dance, Scald can burn the foe but in exchange for less power. Giga Drain helps with the recovery while attacking.

Leftovers adds in with Leech Seed, Rain Dish, and Giga Drain but Damp Rock is another option for longer Rain Dance duration and to boost up Scald/Surf's damage.

Special Dancer
-Surf/Scald/Hydro Pump
-Giga Drain/Energy Ball
-Ice Beam
-Rain Dance/Fake Out
Nature: Modest/Timid
Ability: Rain Dish
Item: Choice Specs/Life Orb

This set focuses on Ludicolo's special attack and Scald hits a decent damage with a chance of burn, Surf is another option with perfect accuracy, Hydro Pump hits hard but at the cost of accuracy. Giga Drain is now boosted and helps recover during the tough spots but Energy Ball is another option that is a tad stronger than Giga Drain, so its an option. Ice Beam covers two of Ludicolo's weakness (Bug and Flying). Rain Dance activates Rain Dish but Fake out is another option and is annoying by causing flinching.

Choice Specs boosts damage but at the cost of switching out if needed and Life orb adds damage also but at the cost of losing HP.

Quick! Let's Dance
-Waterfall/Dive
-Swords Dance
-Seed Bomb/Zen Headbutt
-Drain Punch/Fake Out/Rain Dance
Nature: Adamant/Lonely
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb/Muscle Band/Big Root

Waterfall hits hard with a chance of flinching but Dive stalls for one turn but however your opponent can change into someone who can take the hit. Swords Dance adds power to Ludicolo. Seed Bomb gives you STAB but Zen Headbutt covers poison types who Ludicolo is weak to. The last slot is a filler; Drain Punch recovers, Fake Out flinches, and Rain Dance if you're not running a rain set.

Life Orb adds 30% power in return of losing 10% damage, Big Root goes well with Drain Punch, and Focus Band endures a hit where you can use recover. Swift Swim boosts your speed to hit hard and fast and outrun some pokemon.

 

[slowking79]

Magnezone is a good partner considering he can trap ferro who walls him like a b**** when ludi doesn't have Focus blast.

 

[zerozoner]

First time posting for POTW, so anyways here are some Ludicolo strategies.

Ludicolo (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Toxic
- Dive
- Fake Out

An annoying staler that will drive you insane leech seed + Rain Dish + Leftovers= awesome recovery. toxic wears your opponent down, while you stall for time with dive. Fake out is to be a further annoyance when you switch in.

Ludicolo (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Dive
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Protect

Another stalling set that has two moves that can protect you from damage, with leech seed and Giga Drain being your main way of dealing damage.

Mirror B. (Ludicolo) (M) @ Damp Rock
Trait: Swift Swim/Rain Dish
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SAtk / 56 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Nature Power

A move set taken Directly from Mirror B. himself, I will forever hate that guy and his never ending team a Ludicolos vs. my pathetic team that could only poison sting them. Rain Dance starts up Ludicolos abilities and powers up hydro pump. Giga Drain is for recovering and Nature Power has recieved a nice boost from Swift to tri attack in the generation shifts, making it a nice way of dealing status effect at random to your opponent.

Ludicolo (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Fire Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Ice Punch

A fun set that I made that has good coverage, but lacks any STAB moves. This is compensated by sword dance a little.

sun dancer (Ludicolo) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Sunny Day
- Fire Punch
- Seed Bomb

My version of a Ludicolo to counter the rain. sword dance raises your attack Blah blah. Sunny day completely destroys rain teams and they won't expect it from a Ludicolo. Fire Punch with Sun and Sword dance boost is devastating to the many steel types that hide in the rain (I'm calling you out Ferrothorn!). Seed bomb is for the water types that make a rain team a rain team.

Honer (Ludicolo) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish/Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Hone Claws
- Focus Blast
- Waterfall
- Seed Bomb

This is a random set that I made trying to kill Ferrothorn users with a reliable attack. while it might not be much, but Hone claws raises accuracy and attack. The accuracy raise is mainly to turn focus miss into a constantly reliable attack, while waterfall and seed bomb receive the attack raise.

 

[Monster Guy]

Nature Power becomes Earthquake in battles with other players.

Just wanted to bring that up.

 

[The Lord 67]

Swordicolo
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs:252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Ability: Rain Dish/Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Seed bomb
- Ice Punch/Thunder Punch
Very self-explanatory set. Use Swords Dance to set up, then utterly humiliate Swampert and other bulky waters with Seed Bomb, Waterfall gives great coverage, Ice Punch allows you to decimate dragons, but Thunder Punch helps kill something that would otherwise wall it, that being itself!

Counters
As I said earlier, Ludicolo can wall itself easily, being wary of Thunder Punch. Zapdos and other speedy Electric types bring trouble. Yanmega could pack a punch with Bug Buzz, but could be decimated by an Ice Punch. In all, Ludicolo is very hard to counter.

 

[UltimateVictini]

Stalling Dish

Ludicolo@lefovers
trait:rain dish
nature:bold
EV's:252 dfns 252 sp dfns 4 HP
moveset:

-leech seed/giga drain
-toxic/teeter dance
-protect
-substitute

 

[Vodka Haze]

Liquid Ooze provides an excellent counter to Ludicolo.

Ludicolous:
252 SpD/252 Def/4 Spe
Leftovers
Calm Nature
Rain Dish
Attacks:
Giga Drain
Leech Seed
Protect
Rain Dance/Icy Wind

This is an odd set, which is why I want to use it. Leech Seed is there as your main set up. Protect will cause great stalling and health recovery. Giga Drain is there to bring back more of your health. You can go with Rain Dance, but it's WAY better to have another Pokemon set it up. Icy Wind allows you to reduce your opponent's speed, to help cause more convenience for any Swift Swimmers you have, as well as Pokemon that aren't that fast.

 

[NAMBIRI]

Mirror B. (Ludicolo) (M) @ Damp Rock
Trait: Swift Swim/Rain Dish
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SAtk / 56 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Nature Power

A move set taken Directly from Mirror B. himself, I will forever hate that guy and his never ending team a Ludicolos vs. my pathetic team that could only poison sting them. Rain Dance starts up Ludicolos abilities and powers up hydro pump. Giga Drain is for recovering and Nature Power has recieved a nice boost from Swift to tri attack in the generation shifts, making it a nice way of dealing status effect at random to your opponent.

Mirror B........ Some damn nasty battler they made him. Thanks for the set I will try it out.
Just nasty battling him......

 

[Dragrath]

SWIFT SWIM AND DRIZZLE ARE NOT BANNED PEOPLE! SMOGON IS UNOFFICIAL! IF YOU AREN'T BATTLING ON SMOGON, YOU CAN USE IT!
[/caps]

I thought Pokemon Online banned Politoad...(or at least they did last time I was there)
also my anti Mirror B stratagy=Team Tyranitar, Tyranitar leads abyssal sands supporting an onterage of the various steel rock and ground types available in XD Gale of Darkness...(He HATES sandstorm especially from a level 70 Tyranitar... (warning ice punch= sad Flygon...)

remember all weather abusers can be ruined by ending their fun

 

[Soperman]

Fast Service
Ability: Rain Dish
Item: Perisim Berry/Lum Berry
Naive Nature w/ 255 on Speed, 100 each on Attack & Defence, and 55 on Sp Def.
Energy Ball
Hydro Pump/Waterfall
Zen Headbutt/Brick Break
Thief/Leech Seed

Zen Headbutt can be useful against Poison-types. Leech Seed can be useful against highly-defensive pokemon.

Partners:
Pokemon that know to protect against confusion with moves like Heal Bell, Aromatherpy, and Safeguard: Miltank, Chimecho, Delcatty.
Pokemon that know Rain Dance: Politoad can learn Drizzle from the Dream World.

Countering:
A Poison/Bug/Flying-Pokemon that has high Attack and Special Defence like: Parasect, Scizor, Heracross, Venusaur, Garbodor, Dragonite, and Braviary. Eventhough this pokemon's attacks are mainly even, its high special attacks makes you consider on getting a pokemon with Mirror Coat like: Electrode, Lopunny, Magnezone, Glaceon, and Vanilluxe.

What? What is this? Do you play competitively? This is not a good set for Ludicolo.
First of all, have you seen his Attack stat? Not that great. Also, 255 doesn't make a difference. 252 gives max Speed.
Why Thief? That's so pointless.
Why do you need to protect against confusion? It's so uncommon, and if you switch out (which you do a lot in competitive play) the confusion is healed.
No one uses Garbador or Parasect in OU. And glaceon is in RU for a reason. Electrode won't help you in any way. Neither will Magnezone.
Again, do you even play competitively?