| Politoed | Frog Pokemon | Drizzle |
 | | | HP | 90 | 290-384 | | Atk | 75 | 139-273 | | Def | 75 | 139-273 | | SpA | 90 | 166-306 | | SpD | 100 | 184-328 | | Spe | 70 | 134-262 |
|
| Damp | Water Absorb |
OverviewPolitoed is a case of a Pokemon that never really got used in previous generations of competitive play, but received a huge boost of popularity in the fifth generation. The sole reason for this is Politoed's Dream World ability, Drizzle, which summons infinite Rain to the field. Politoed is usually put on teams just for Drizzle alone, as Rain can be used in many strategies. This is not to say that Politoed is useless, as Politoed is more than capable of proving its worth. Politoed's Water moves, due to the Rain boost and Stab boost, essentally receive a 2.25x power boost (again, while its Raining). This means that Politoed's Hydro Pump has 270 base power in the Rain, which is nothing to scoff at. Politoed can fulfill many roles, as it can use both the Choice Scarf and Choice Specs well, and it can use more defensive-oriented sets as well. Politoed's main downside is that its stats are average at best, which limits to some extent what it cn do. Don't let its non-outstanding stats fool you though; Politoed can be a dangerous Pokemon and a great team supporter in the hands of a skilled battler.
SetsSpecs-ToedBreakdown (Politoed) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 228 HP / 28 Spe
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Grass
This Politoed, due to its Choice Specs, is able to hit opponents hard and support the team due to its everlasting Rain. Politoed's
Hydro Pump hits especially hard, as it gets a boost from Stab, a boost from Rain, and a boost from Politoed's Specs. Because Politoed's Hydro Pump hits hard, Politoed's other moves are designed to hit oponents that resist Hydro Pump.
Focus Blast is a powerful move by itself, and it hits Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Tyranitar for major damage.
Ice Beam hits the Grass Pokemon and Dragon Pokemon that resist Hydro Pump, hitting foes like Dragonite, Salamence, Haxorus, and Celebi for major damage.
Hidden Power Grass is included on this set to it some specific targets, mainly Quagsire, Gastrodon, Jellicent, and Rotom-W.
The EVs are mainly designed to give Politoed as much power and bulk as possible. The 32 Speed EVs are used to outspeed typical Skarmory sets with 24 speed EVs, and the rest of the EVs are used to give Politoed bulk and power. A Modest nature is used to give Politoed as much power as possible, and this is important considering that Politoed only has a base 90 special attack stat. A Timid nature won't really work here, as Politoed wouldn't outspeed many Pokemon even with the Timid nature.
Scarf-ToedBreakdown (Politoed) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Grass
This set doesn't have as much power as the other sets, but the speed from the choice scarf makes up for the power loss. Scarfed Politoed actually can be very useful, and it can actually beat most other weather starters one on one (with Rain up).
Hydro Pump is listed as the main option here, as it is a powerful move in general because of the rain and stab bonuses.
Focus Blast is also a powerful move, mainly intended for foes like Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Hydreigon.
Ice Beam hits many opponents that resist Hydro Pump. More specifically, Ice Beam hits Grass typed and Dragon typed Pokemon hard.
Hidden Power Grass is the choice for the last slot, as it provides Politoed a way to effectively damage foes like Jellicent, Gastrodon, Rotom-W, and most other Water-type Pokemon for that matter.
Surf is a good alternative to Hidden Power Grass, because Surf is a 100% accurate Water-typed move that is nearly as strong as Hydro Pump. Also, having an accurate Water move can help ensure that an opposing Pokemon is eliminated.
The EVs are simply to figure out. Max speed and special attack is required for this type of set. A Timid nature is used here so that Politoed can outspeed as many Pokemon as possible.
Bulky-ToedBreakdown (Politoed) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Encore
While Politoed can perform offensive roles well, it can also pull off a bulky set as well. While Polioed may not have outstanding stats, it has few weaknesses, and it has good move options for a bulky set.
Scald is the best Stab option for this set, as it has a 30% chance to burn the opponent. Politoed's physical defense is not the greatest even with the defense EV investment, so burning opponents will help Politoed survive longer.
Toxic is put here so that Politoed can simply wear down opposing Pokemon. At times, it is better to badly poison opponents rather than burning them, especially with dealing with bulkier foes like Jellicent.
Protect is included here in the third slot because it allows Politoed to stall out opponents who are posoned or burned, and it allows Politoed to gain an additional turn of Leftovers recovery. Finally,
Encore is important here as well. Encore forces the opponent into using a certain move four turns in a row, which can put the oppoing Pokemon in a tough spot.
There are two other moves that can be put on this set as well, and these moves could really replace any of the other moves on this set barring Scald. Ice Beam can be included here, as Ice Beam hits certain Pokemon like Dragonite, Salamence, and Celebi for major damage, despite the minimal special attack. Also,
Perish Song can also be used to force certain Pokemon to switch out, especialy when facing something like a Baton Pass based team.
The EVs and nature are fairly straightforward. Max HP and defense EVs are needed, along with a Bold nature, to survive some physical attacks. Leftovers is also required for this set, again for Politoed to be able to survive some hits.
Tank-ToedBreakdown (Politoed) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SpA / 228 HP / 28 Spe
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
This Politoed is similar to the Choice Specs set, as both sets are designed to hit opponents hard. However, this set trades the raw power of the Choice Specs for the survivability and flexability of holding Leftovers.
Hydro Pump is the main move of choice here, as it hits most opposing Pokemon hard, even without Choice Specs.
Focus Blast is used to hit foes lke Tyranitar and Ferrothorn, while
Ice Beam is used to hit Pokemon like Dragonite and Salamence for major damage.
Perish Song is used for the last slot. It can be used to close out a battle, or simply force the opponent to switch out.
Much like the Bulky-Toed set, there are multple other moves that can be used well on this set. Protect can be used with either Toxic or Perish Song to stall out certain Pokemon, or it can be used to give Politoed some Leftovers recovery.
Toxic is also a decent option, as it can help wear down certain defensive Pokemon like Jellicent.
Hidden Power Grass can be used here to hit some specific Pokemon, mainly Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Jellicent. Finally,
Surf can be used in place of Hydro Pump if a more accurate Water-typed move is desired. Scald isn't the best choice for this particular set, as this set focuses more on power than on bulk, so Water-typed moves with a lot of power are preferred over less powerful moves like Scald.
The EVs and nature are designed for Politoed to have a deccent amount of both power and bulk. 252 Special Attack EVs, along with a Modest nature, are used to make Politoed as powerful as possible. 28 Speed EVs are used to outspeed most Skarmory, and the rest of the EVs are put into HP to make Politoed bulky.
CountersIn terms of direct counters, Jellicent is as good as they come against Politoed. Jellicent heals itself from Water attacks, is immune to Fighting attacks, and does not take much damage from Politoed's Ice Beam or even Hidden Power Grass. Jellicent only really has to worry about Toxic. Rotom-W is a very good counter to Politoed, as it doesn't take much damage from most of what Politoed has to offer, and Rotom-W can hit Politoed hard with its electric moves. Toxicroak also works well against Politoed, since Toxicroak absorbs Politoed's Water moves and doesn't take too much damage from Politoed's other options. Gastrodon also works very well against Politoed, however Hidden Power Grass will do a lot of damage to it. Tentacruel works well against Politoed as well, as it takes little damage from any of Politoed's moves, and it can't even be poisoned from Toxic. Blissey and Chansey also work well, as Politoed only uses special moves, and Blissey and Chansey are not affected by Toxic too much due to natural cure. Ferrothorn, Celebi, and Vaporeon are also good options to countering Politoed. Most other auto-weather starters can switch into Politoed and cause it problems. Ninetales, Tyranitar, and Abomasnow are all good options for countering or checking Politoed. In terms of offensive checks, Thundurus is a good option (especially scarfed versions) as it can hit Politoed very hard with its electric moves. Starmie is a good option as well because Starmie resists all of Politoed's main moves, and because Starmie can hit Politoed hard with its Thunderbolts. Jolteon does not have the greatest defenses, but it does outspeed all varients of Politoed, and Jolteon can dispatch of Politoed with its electric attacks. In general, strong physical attacks will usually be hard for Politoed to deal with, and repeated strong physical hits will usually bring Politoed down.
TeammatesDefensively, Ferrothorn is a great partner for Politoed. Ferrothorn resists the Electric and Grass moves that trouble Politoed, and Ferrothorn can usually do well against the Water-typed Pokemon that can give Politoed problems. Ferrothorn can also survive some fire attacks in Rainy conditions, so it makes a great partner for Politoed. Toxicroak also works well with Politoed. Toxicroak also counters most Water-typed Pokemon well, Toxicroak deals with Ferrothorn, Blissey, Chansey, and Tyranitar especially well, and Toxicroak even has the ability, Dry Skin, that gives 12.5% HP to Toxicroak every turn while it is Raining. Celebi also works well with Politoed, and Celebi works especially well against Rotom-W. Scizor works well here, because Scizor's Fire weakness is reduced in Rain, and Scizor can knock out foes like Blissey, Chansey, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Abomasnow. Dugtrio also is included, because its ability, Arena Trap, allows Dugtrio to trap and KO certain Pokemon. In particular, Dugtrio can KO the common weather starters Tyranitar and Ninetales, which can be very helpful in some battles. Last but not least, the powerful move Hurricane becomes 100% accurate in Rain. This makes Tornadus and Dragonite (to a lesser extent) good partners with Politoed.
