Barnacles Can Bite.

(my first Pokemon analysis.)

Once while battling my way through The Battle Tower on Pokemon Pearl Version, I reached this trainer who had a Cradily. Of course, this Cradily did not have any nickname of sort, (mainly because he was an in-game trainer Pokemon) but if he did have one, I would have named him Mr. F^ck-me-up-the-a**. I hated Mr. F^ck-me-up-the-a** so much when I was battling him. He constantly used Double Team coupled with defence boosting moves. There was no way in hell I was going to beat him. To make matters worse, I was at the 7th battle at the tower and if I beat him I would receive some more Battle Points. But no, Cradily f^cked-me-up-the-a**, and I lost. However, through that rigorous battle, I became inspired to create a competitive style Cradily. He isn't the best of the best, but he does perform very well when the situation arises. I love having one in my team, because when all the circumstances happen, it is very satisfying!


[Only admins are allowed to see this image] @ Leftovers
Trait: Suction Cups
EV’s: 252 HP/ 80 Def/ 176 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
-Recover
-Stockpile
-Seed Bomb
-Toxic

This set is my original set that I came up with. Stockpile is a great move which boosts both Defence and SDefence. When 3 are set up, Cradily can take hits from almost any Pokemon. Recover is Cradily's most reliable move to regain health. Toxic is used for causing additional damage, as well as stalling other Pokemon out. Finally, Seed Bomb is a STAB move Cradily can use. It was mainly put there just so Taunt wouldn't completely render him useless. Cradily here is great for countering Pokemon like Swampert or Hippowdon because they are two Pokemon that like to use Roar an force switches, which cannot happen thanks to Suction Cups (and they hate Seed Bomb). Cradily can also absorb the move Dragon Tail quite well, and will not be forced to switch. A threat to watch out for is Skarmory, because they are resistant to Toxic and Seed Bomb, but players will probably slam their heads on the desk when the common Spikes, Brave Bird and Whirlwind combo don't work at all. Many Steel types can be quite threatening to Cradily, so watch out for them.

In this set, I focused on making Cradily able to absorb many Special Attacks. Earthquake can sometimes be difficult to switch into; however, Cradily usually survives.

[Only admins are allowed to see this image] @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain (DW)
EV's: 252 HP/ 176 Def / 80 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
-Giga Drain/ Energy Ball
-Stockpile/ Curse
-Swallow/ Rest
-Toxic

This is another variation of the set above; however, this one uses Special Attacks instead of Physical Attacks. Also, this one takes advantage of it's Dream World ability Storm Drain. With Storm Drain, Cradily is now one of those Pokemon that opponents need to be careful when using their water attacks. Giga Drain is used for extra recovery in the form of an attack, and if Cradily gets a Special Attack boost, Giga Drain could whack a punch. Energy Ball is a great alternative. With the added effect of lowering the opponent's Special Defence and with a decent base power, it can whack a good punch too! Stockpile and Swallow must go together. Unfortunately, because of the Dream World ability, Cradily can't learn Recover, so Swallow is his form of recovery. Stockpile boosts Cradily's Defence and Special Defence and once he reaches 3, Swallow can Recover almost all of Cradily's health. The downside is, all the boosts return back to zero. To some people, this might not be worth it, so the option of Curse and Rest is an alternative. Remember, Giga Drain and Curse cannot go together. Toxic is for stalling, but is mainly a filler.

The defence EV's in this set are reversed. By doing this, Cradily is more rounded in the defence department.

Cradily's stalling capabilities become even better when used in a sandstorm. Because Cradily is part Rock type, sandstorm boosts his Special Defence, which is always a plus! Also, the additional damage with Toxic stalls out some pokemon very well too! Tell me what you think, and feel free to post your own variations of Cradily.

I have my own Cradily set. What do you think?

TheDerp(Cradily)@ Life Orb
Suction Cups
228 HP/176 Atk/104 Spe Adamant(+Atk, -SpA)
~Stealth Rock
~Stone Edge
~Seed Bomb
~Recover

kk, I'm gonna assume for this stuff to be set in the context of the LU/UU metagame, because from personal experience I can tell you that Cradily has quite a great deal of trouble functioning in the OU metagame, mainly due to the presence of a multitude of Steel types. However, it really is key to use him partnered with Hippototas in UU, as the Sp.Def boost, coupled with Stockpile/Curse, Suction Cups and reliable recovery allow him to become a very potent threat. However, it does have to be wary of threats like Virizion and, on a lesser note, Terrakion.

However, speaking in the perspective of LU, this set basically looks like set-up bait for the likes of Durant/Cobalion/Klingklang :/ I'd suggest slashing in EQ over Seed Bomb, or simply stressing the importance of Tspikes support, opening up another moveslot. Also, the common Taunters of LU (Tornadus and Kobalion mainly), both resist Seed Bomb, so using that to prevent it from being crippled by Taunt isn't really doing much in the long run :/

As for the second set, it also doesn't really have a method of coping with Steel types. Perhaps you could try slashing Hp Fire in the first moveslot, even uninvested it OHKOes the standard Durant. Also, why does Curse get a mention in the specially offensive set, but not the physical one? Moreover, Swallow really shouldn't be used competitively, if anything a Rest-Talk set would be best.

Pip pip cheerio and all that rot .-.

Yes, I guess Curse was a mistake, but thanks for a better suggestion in Rest-talk! That sounds like a great idea!

When I use Cradily, I use him in OU, solely on the feeling of satisfaction when he succeeds! I once took out a Garchomp, Salamance and Dragonite because I had everything going for me! (It was SOOO awesome!) Strangely enough, the first Cradily set also works well in Ubers. I never thought it would, but because there are only a few threatening Steel types and most can take Toxic and Seed Bomb, he does pretty well!