Elevator Music
12-16-2008, 03:05 AM
Original link: http://www.marriland.com/phpbb/viewtopi ... 3&t=298565 (http://www.marriland.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=298565)
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http://pokebeach.com/images/gallery/sugimori/80.png
You love him, who doesn't? But he's just not good enough for the metagame today, is he? Think again.
http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/080-m.png
Drag You Down to my [Speed] Level! @ Leftovers
Bold | Own Tempo
216 HP, 252 Def, 40 SpAtk
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Fire Blast / Ice Beam / HP [Electric]
Seems like a standard bulky water, right? Except Suicune and Swampert don't get that nice recovery move. Vaporeon does, but it doesn't get that kinda cool Thunder Wave. And none of them get Fire Blast, which I love to flaunt on my Slowbro for several reasons. Strangely enough, there's no mention of Thunder Wave in any Slowbro analysis I can find (Well the MCP DOES mention it actually... once). No mention of Fire Blast or Flamethrower (yes it gets that too and I'll touch on it later) is understandable, it didn't have much merit during early D/P.
Thunder Wave is an excellent move, and Slowbro is no exception. It makes a great switchin to Heatran (the only thing that can beat it is Specs Fire Blast/Earth Power, which is uncommon), so why not cripple it with Thunder Wave if it's dumb enough to stay in? Or cripple a switchin like Scizor, Zapdos or Tyranitar? Or a Gyarados/Salamence/Dragonite setting up DD's?
Fire Blast isn't as novelty as you'd believe it to be, especially when combined with Thunder Wave. It allows Slowbro to be a pretty good switchin into to Lucario. Also, two common switchins to Slowbro happen to be Celebi and Scizor. Scizor is (obviously) OHKOed with any Fire move, letting it act in the same way Thunder Wave+Earth Power Celebi acts against Heatran (which was never declared to be an unreasonable option). However, unlike the Celebi-Heatran analogy, Scizor can't come in anyways, as it can't OHKO Slowbro, not even with CB X-Scissor (though with prior damage it obviously will). Celebi falls short of a 2HKO, but it won't like coming in repeatedly. You can be a decent switchin to Metagross (though you don't need Fire Blast/Flamethrower to beat it), though I wouldn't reccomend it, since it can beat you with Thunderpunch (though without CB it won't 2HKO) and Explosion or cripple you with Trick. Flamethrower can obviously be used over Fire Blast for guarenteed hits against that Scizor or Luke or Metagross. However, keep in mind you won't beat OHKO Lucario with Flamethrower unless you come in on Close Combat.
That's not to say you can't use Ice Beam or HP [Electric] though. Ice Beam let's you easily beat the Dragons. It also lets you hit Celebi on a switch, and hits Zapdos hardest, another pokemon who will commonly come in to you. HP [Electric] means you beat Gyara, and hits opposing Bulky Waters (obviously not Pert though) hardest, unless you want to run Grass Knot.
Best Machamp counter in the game too(especially if you run Psychic somewhere). ; )
Damage Calculations
Against Celebi
Fire Blast vs. 252/0 Celebi~ (44.55% - 52.97%)
Flamethrower/Ice Beam vs. 252/0 Celebi~ (35.64% - 42.08%)
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Grass Knot vs. Slowbro~ (53.51% - 63.90%) [Not that you should stay in after you Fire Blast it anyways]
Both fire Blast and Flamethrower/Ice Beam are big enough dents to make Celebi think twice about switching in.
Against Lucario
Fire Blast vs. 4/0 Lucario~ (85.11% - 100.71%) [You should always win barring Def drops from Crunch or crits]
Flamethrower vs. 4/0 Lucario~ (68.09% - 80.14%) [Guarenteed OHKO after a Def drop]
Surf vs 4/0 Lucario~ (51.06% - 59.93%) [2HKO]
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Adamant 252 LO Crunch vs. Slowbro~ (38.96% - 46.23%)
+2 Crunch vs. Slowbro~ (77.40% - 91.43%) [Not a OHKO even with SR+Lefties factored in]
Jolly 252 LO Close Combat vs. Slowbro~ (19.74% - 23.38%)
Against Heatran
Surf vs. 4/0 Heatran~ (62.96% - 74.69%)
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252 Fire Blast vs. Slowbro~ (30.65% - 36.10%)
Specs Modest 252 Fire Blast vs. Slowbro~ (50.39% - 59.22%)
Everything else should be irrelevant... Earth Power does the same amount of damage as Fire Blast, everything barring Hidden Power [Grass/Electric] does less out of the somewhat common moves, and those aren't terribly common anyways.
Against Gyarados
HP [Electric] vs. 4/0 Gyarados~ (63.86% - 75.90%) [easy 2HKO]
HP [Electric] vs. 156/0 Gyarados~ (57.30% - 68.11%)
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Adamant 252 LO Earthquake vs. Slowbro~ (26.49% - 31.17%)
+1 Earthquake vs. Slowbro~ (39.74% - 46.75%)
Against Salamence
Ice Beam vs. 4/0 Salamence~ (103.61% - 122.89%)
Ice Beam vs. 152/252 Salamence~(70.46% - 83.47%) [~58% chance of a OHKO with SR, while LO recoil will kill it]
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Adamant 252 LO Outrage vs. Slowbro~ (50.65% - 59.48%)
+1 Outrage vs. Slowbro~ (75.06% - 88.83%)
Adamant 252 LO Dragon Claw vs. Slowbro~ (33.51% - 39.74%)
Against Scizor
Adamant 252 LO X-Scissor vs. Slowbro~ (65.97% - 77.92%)
CB X-Scissor vs. Slowbro~ (75.32% - 89.35%)
Scizor can't come in.
Against Tyranitar (though you shouldn't be!)
Surf vs. 176/0 Tyranitar~ (37.40% - 40.52%) [I think?]
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CB Adamant Crunch vs. Slowbro~ (76.88% - 90.91%)
CB Adamant Pursuit vs. Slowbro~ (38.96% - 45.71%)
You really shouldn't be in against Tyranitar unless it comes into you, so those are your options. Stay in and take a Crunch/Pursuit, or switch and take a Pursuit (which is equivalent to staying in and taking a Crunch).
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Slowbro is a team player, but what can work well with it? Well, here's some good pokemon that deserve a mention (only two, figure out the rest yourselves ?_?):
http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/448-m.png
Lucario really appreciates being on the same team as Thunder Wave Slowbro. When Salamence/Heatran/Zapdos are paralyzed or fainted, it has a much easier time sweeping. Most Fighting types in general like this, like Breloom, Heracross, and to a lesser extent Machamp. Scizor is also included.
http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/248-m.png
Slowbro doesn't like the SS, but CBTyranitar does a number on most switchins, including but not limited to Celebi, Zapdos, Rotom, and Blissey. Opposing Tyranitars are a pain in the butt though. It also likes having something to switch to after it's locked into Pursuit, so a pokemon like Lucario/Gyarados/Salamence can't set up on it. As a bonus, it's a general pain to most CMers (Jirachi, I'm looking at you), which commonly try to set up on poor Slowbro.
So that's Slowbro. If you haven't noticed, he can only be used with proper prediction, lest you bring him in on an Outrage from Salamence and not a Dragon Dance, or a Crunch from Lucario. However, the benefits he brings to your team can be excellent. Note that's not the only set you can use on Slowbro. A Calm Mind set warrants mention, though is is pretty outclassed by Jiarchi and/or Lati@s. He can also run Yawn or Toxic as a different stausing option, while the former is also obviously good at phazing.
Discuss?
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http://pokebeach.com/images/gallery/sugimori/80.png
You love him, who doesn't? But he's just not good enough for the metagame today, is he? Think again.
http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/080-m.png
Drag You Down to my [Speed] Level! @ Leftovers
Bold | Own Tempo
216 HP, 252 Def, 40 SpAtk
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Fire Blast / Ice Beam / HP [Electric]
Seems like a standard bulky water, right? Except Suicune and Swampert don't get that nice recovery move. Vaporeon does, but it doesn't get that kinda cool Thunder Wave. And none of them get Fire Blast, which I love to flaunt on my Slowbro for several reasons. Strangely enough, there's no mention of Thunder Wave in any Slowbro analysis I can find (Well the MCP DOES mention it actually... once). No mention of Fire Blast or Flamethrower (yes it gets that too and I'll touch on it later) is understandable, it didn't have much merit during early D/P.
Thunder Wave is an excellent move, and Slowbro is no exception. It makes a great switchin to Heatran (the only thing that can beat it is Specs Fire Blast/Earth Power, which is uncommon), so why not cripple it with Thunder Wave if it's dumb enough to stay in? Or cripple a switchin like Scizor, Zapdos or Tyranitar? Or a Gyarados/Salamence/Dragonite setting up DD's?
Fire Blast isn't as novelty as you'd believe it to be, especially when combined with Thunder Wave. It allows Slowbro to be a pretty good switchin into to Lucario. Also, two common switchins to Slowbro happen to be Celebi and Scizor. Scizor is (obviously) OHKOed with any Fire move, letting it act in the same way Thunder Wave+Earth Power Celebi acts against Heatran (which was never declared to be an unreasonable option). However, unlike the Celebi-Heatran analogy, Scizor can't come in anyways, as it can't OHKO Slowbro, not even with CB X-Scissor (though with prior damage it obviously will). Celebi falls short of a 2HKO, but it won't like coming in repeatedly. You can be a decent switchin to Metagross (though you don't need Fire Blast/Flamethrower to beat it), though I wouldn't reccomend it, since it can beat you with Thunderpunch (though without CB it won't 2HKO) and Explosion or cripple you with Trick. Flamethrower can obviously be used over Fire Blast for guarenteed hits against that Scizor or Luke or Metagross. However, keep in mind you won't beat OHKO Lucario with Flamethrower unless you come in on Close Combat.
That's not to say you can't use Ice Beam or HP [Electric] though. Ice Beam let's you easily beat the Dragons. It also lets you hit Celebi on a switch, and hits Zapdos hardest, another pokemon who will commonly come in to you. HP [Electric] means you beat Gyara, and hits opposing Bulky Waters (obviously not Pert though) hardest, unless you want to run Grass Knot.
Best Machamp counter in the game too(especially if you run Psychic somewhere). ; )
Damage Calculations
Against Celebi
Fire Blast vs. 252/0 Celebi~ (44.55% - 52.97%)
Flamethrower/Ice Beam vs. 252/0 Celebi~ (35.64% - 42.08%)
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Grass Knot vs. Slowbro~ (53.51% - 63.90%) [Not that you should stay in after you Fire Blast it anyways]
Both fire Blast and Flamethrower/Ice Beam are big enough dents to make Celebi think twice about switching in.
Against Lucario
Fire Blast vs. 4/0 Lucario~ (85.11% - 100.71%) [You should always win barring Def drops from Crunch or crits]
Flamethrower vs. 4/0 Lucario~ (68.09% - 80.14%) [Guarenteed OHKO after a Def drop]
Surf vs 4/0 Lucario~ (51.06% - 59.93%) [2HKO]
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Adamant 252 LO Crunch vs. Slowbro~ (38.96% - 46.23%)
+2 Crunch vs. Slowbro~ (77.40% - 91.43%) [Not a OHKO even with SR+Lefties factored in]
Jolly 252 LO Close Combat vs. Slowbro~ (19.74% - 23.38%)
Against Heatran
Surf vs. 4/0 Heatran~ (62.96% - 74.69%)
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252 Fire Blast vs. Slowbro~ (30.65% - 36.10%)
Specs Modest 252 Fire Blast vs. Slowbro~ (50.39% - 59.22%)
Everything else should be irrelevant... Earth Power does the same amount of damage as Fire Blast, everything barring Hidden Power [Grass/Electric] does less out of the somewhat common moves, and those aren't terribly common anyways.
Against Gyarados
HP [Electric] vs. 4/0 Gyarados~ (63.86% - 75.90%) [easy 2HKO]
HP [Electric] vs. 156/0 Gyarados~ (57.30% - 68.11%)
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Adamant 252 LO Earthquake vs. Slowbro~ (26.49% - 31.17%)
+1 Earthquake vs. Slowbro~ (39.74% - 46.75%)
Against Salamence
Ice Beam vs. 4/0 Salamence~ (103.61% - 122.89%)
Ice Beam vs. 152/252 Salamence~(70.46% - 83.47%) [~58% chance of a OHKO with SR, while LO recoil will kill it]
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Adamant 252 LO Outrage vs. Slowbro~ (50.65% - 59.48%)
+1 Outrage vs. Slowbro~ (75.06% - 88.83%)
Adamant 252 LO Dragon Claw vs. Slowbro~ (33.51% - 39.74%)
Against Scizor
Adamant 252 LO X-Scissor vs. Slowbro~ (65.97% - 77.92%)
CB X-Scissor vs. Slowbro~ (75.32% - 89.35%)
Scizor can't come in.
Against Tyranitar (though you shouldn't be!)
Surf vs. 176/0 Tyranitar~ (37.40% - 40.52%) [I think?]
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CB Adamant Crunch vs. Slowbro~ (76.88% - 90.91%)
CB Adamant Pursuit vs. Slowbro~ (38.96% - 45.71%)
You really shouldn't be in against Tyranitar unless it comes into you, so those are your options. Stay in and take a Crunch/Pursuit, or switch and take a Pursuit (which is equivalent to staying in and taking a Crunch).
-------
Slowbro is a team player, but what can work well with it? Well, here's some good pokemon that deserve a mention (only two, figure out the rest yourselves ?_?):
http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/448-m.png
Lucario really appreciates being on the same team as Thunder Wave Slowbro. When Salamence/Heatran/Zapdos are paralyzed or fainted, it has a much easier time sweeping. Most Fighting types in general like this, like Breloom, Heracross, and to a lesser extent Machamp. Scizor is also included.
http://www.serebii.net/platinum/pokemon/248-m.png
Slowbro doesn't like the SS, but CBTyranitar does a number on most switchins, including but not limited to Celebi, Zapdos, Rotom, and Blissey. Opposing Tyranitars are a pain in the butt though. It also likes having something to switch to after it's locked into Pursuit, so a pokemon like Lucario/Gyarados/Salamence can't set up on it. As a bonus, it's a general pain to most CMers (Jirachi, I'm looking at you), which commonly try to set up on poor Slowbro.
So that's Slowbro. If you haven't noticed, he can only be used with proper prediction, lest you bring him in on an Outrage from Salamence and not a Dragon Dance, or a Crunch from Lucario. However, the benefits he brings to your team can be excellent. Note that's not the only set you can use on Slowbro. A Calm Mind set warrants mention, though is is pretty outclassed by Jiarchi and/or Lati@s. He can also run Yawn or Toxic as a different stausing option, while the former is also obviously good at phazing.
Discuss?