Wailord (NU Revamp)

Oglemi

Borf
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http://www.smogon.com/rs/pokemon/wailord

[Overview]
- Despite its absolutely massive HP stat, its low defenses mean that it's really not that great of a defensive Pokemon. In fact, it's overall less defensive than Dewgong and Whiscash, which means that it's almost directly outclassed by them when using a normal defensive set.
- It does still have a couple niches in the tier, though, making it worth using at times
- Curse and Selfdestruct are the main things it has over the other Water-types
- It also sports great attacking stats, which means that while it's only slightly less defensive than Dewgong and Whiscash, it hits significantly harder
- Definitely usable, but just make sure you're not using it in a way that it's outclassed

[SET]
name: Defensive Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Body Slam / Earthquake
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk / Surf
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Veil
nature: Careful
evs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
- Curse boosts Wailord's Defense significantly enough to effectively wall most physical attackers in the tier, while simultaneously letting it sweep late-game due to the Attack boosts
- RestTalk keeps Wailord alive throughout the match and makes sure it doesn't get ruined by status
- Unfortunately, the best attacks that Wailord has to make use of the Curse boosts leave it totally walled by certain Pokemon, which is why it's best used in the late-game when it's counters are removed
- Surf can be used over Sleep Talk if you are confident in your ability to keep Wailord alive through its Rest turns without the help of Sleep Talk. It also prevents Wailord from being totally walled by any Pokemon

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- A Careful nature should be used since Wailord will be boosting its Defense with Curse already. The Defense EVs can be switched to Attack to allow Wailord to go on the offensive sooner in the match, though it's not as needed due to Wailord's naturally high Attack stat.
- Pokemon that can lure out Wailord's counters are required to make the most of this set.
- First and foremost are Plusle and Grass-types that can easily KO Wailord with their STAB moves. Lures such as Substitute Pidgeot and special attacker Whiscash are thus good teammates.
- Haunter and Rock- and Steel-types are either immune or are super hard to break through with Wailord's attack, making Agility Hitmonchan and SubPunch Kecleon great teammates as well

[SET]
name: Offensive Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Selfdestruct
move 4: Hydro Pump / Earthquake
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Veil
nature: Brave
evs: 40 Atk / 196 Def / 252 SpD / 20 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- An offensive approach to using Curse, designed to need few boosts in order to dish out a lot of damage
- Not meant to really hang around either, lure in the Pokemon you need to and blow them up with Selfdestruct
- Hydro Pump blasts away the Rock- and Steel-types without needing very many Curse boosts to be effective, though Earthquake can be used to the same effect after a few boosts

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- The EV spread is specifically designed to do a few things; 40 Attack EVs with a Brave nature allows Wailord to OHKO standard Huntail with Selfdestruct without boosts, as well as grabbing stuff like the OHKO on defensive Shelgon at +1 after 1 layer of Spikes and a turn of Leftovers recovery. 20 Speed EVs allow it to outpace uninvested base 30s (notably Sudowoodo) after a Curse, avoiding issues with getting nailed by their own Explosion on that front.
- Some calcs demonstrating Hydro Pump's usefulness:

<ul="damage_calculations">
<li>Wailord Hydro Pump vs. Piloswine: 399-470 (101.2 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO</li>
<li>Wailord Surf vs. Piloswine: 317-374 (80.4 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO</li>
<li>Wailord Hydro Pump vs. Sudowoodo: 336-396 (97.6 - 115.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO</li>
<li>Wailord Surf vs. Sudowoodo: 266-314 (77.3 - 91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO</li>
<li>Wailord Hydro Pump vs. Haunter: 192-226 (83.1 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (KO after Sub+1 turn of Leftovers recovery)</li>
<li>Wailord Surf vs. Haunter: 153-180 (66.2 - 77.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO</li>
</ul>

- Hidden Power Ghost can be used so as to not be completely blocked by Haunter, though that's about its only use
- Wailord tends to lure in Grass-types and Plusle, making Pokemon that benefit from their removal the best teammates. Swift Swim Huntail and Relicanth make good examples, as do Pokemon like Flail Kingler and Crawdaunt
- A teammate to take on Haunter is also needed as it typically has an easy time switching in and is immune to Selfdestruct. This makes Chimecho and offensive Kecleon good teammates as well

[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Surf
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Protect / Roar / Ice Beam
move 4: Selfdestruct
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Veil
nature: Relaxed
evs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
- Wailord's decent bulk is put to use with this set, letting it effectively check the multitude of Rock- and Ground-types in the tier
- Toxic is Wailord's best option to spread damage on anything not weak to Surf
- Protect stalls for Toxic damage and Leftovers recovery
- Roar is hard to come by in the tier, and Wailord can phaze out some Pokemon most of the other phazers cannot
- Ice Beam can also be used to make sure that Grass-types can't just switch in for free and also nails the Flying-types that Wailord can check
- Selfdestruct is Wailord's ace in the hole, and is the major reason you'd be using as a defensive Water-type over Whiscash or Dewgong

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- There's no point in investing in Wailord's HP stat, since the gained bulk is minimal at best
- Relaxed is used so as to not lower the power of either Surf or Selfdestruct
- Really not a lot of options beyond those listed, RestTalk can be used to give Wailord quite a bit more longevity, but the main reason to use Wailord is Selfdestruct, which is counterproductive with RestTalk
- Wailord easily takes out the Rock- and Ground-types in the tier with Surf, but despite this, and the reason why it isn't that good of a defensive Pokemon, is that it's 2HKOed by attacks like Choice Band Piloswine's Earthquake. It does handily beat Pokemon like Choice Band Sudowoodo and can check a weakened Choice Band Hitmonchan though.
- Plusle and Grass-types can easily KO Wailord, making dedicated special walls like Kecleon and Lickitung good teammates
- Other Water-types pose a bit a threat against Wailord, though they have to be wary of Selfdestruct. Still, Plusle or Grass-types of your own make good teammates for this reason
- Haunter and Steel-types easily switch into Selfdestruct, so a plan should be made to prepare for their switch-in, and lures like Substitute Pidgeot can take them out

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Double-Edge
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Surf
move 4: Selfdestruct
item: Choice Band
ability: Water Veil
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 Atk / 164 SpA / 88 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- While Wailord lacks a good STAB move to make use of Choice Band, it does have good physical moves in Double-Edge and Earthquake to make use of its base 90 Attack
- Surf is a good coverage move to have on this set, since even when unboosted, it deals a ton of damage to the Rock- and Ground-types that would be able to tank its other moves
- Selfdestruct is the main reason you'd want to use this set, and it's a near-guaranteed KO on anything that doesn't resist it. For instance, even defensive Tangela is annihilated by Selfdestruct.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- 88 Speed EVs let Wailord outspeed minimum base 70 Pokemon like Dewgong, Attack is maxed out, and a Lonely nature with the rest pumped into Special Attack to beef up Surf
- Hidden Power Ghost can be used over Surf for a better hit on Haunter and Chimecho, but the stronger hit on Rock- and Ground-types is more desired
- Return can be used to avoid recoil, though Wailord doesn't suffer as much from Double-Edge's recoil as other attackers due to its massive HP stat
- Plusle and Grass-types normally have an easy time switching in and taking out Wailord, but this set gets the jump on them and can take them out of the match. However, they still usually have an easy time revenge killing, making special walls like Kecleon and Swalot still good teammates to use
- Wailord fits well on Explosion-heavy teams, making Graveler, Swalot, and Metang good teammates as well in order to blow massive holes in the opponent's team

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Water Spout
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Electric
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Veil
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
- Wailord's great base 90 Special Attack and access to the extremely powerful Water Spout are put to work with this set
- A full-powered Water Spout is nearly impossible to switch into safely if the opponent doesn't resist it, letting it 2HKO at worst nearly every common switch-in to Wailord, even defensive Tangela. Hydro Pump is only nominally weaker and should be used when Water Spout loses its power.
- Ice Beam and Hidden Power Electric take out a few of the Pokemon that can switch in on Water Spout safely, such as defensive Grass-types with the former, and Water-types with the latter

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Timid should be used to make sure Wailord outspeeds as much as possible and nail them with Water Spout, which most importantly includes neutral-natured base 65s like Flareon and Chimecho. Modest is an option though to allow Wailord to deal more damage to the likes of Bellossom and Dewgong who otherwise wall this set
- Plusle and Grass-types can easily KO Wailord, making dedicated special walls like Kecleon and Lickitung good teammates
- Wailord makes a good wallbreaker for another special attacker to come in and clean up, such Seadra, Plusle or Calm Mind Chimecho

[Other Options]
- Defensive RestTalk w/o Curse
- Blizzard
- Icy Wind / Rock Tomb

[Checks and Counters]
- Haunter, Plusle
- Grass-types, Bellossom, Tangela
- Steel-types, Metang
- Relicanth
- Bulky Water-types, Dewgong, Huntail
- Kecleon and Lickitung
 
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Honestly, I feel as though offensive Curse should get a much stronger acknowledgement, since it's a really cool utilitymon and tank (a little bit comparable in role to 'Lax, though definitely less versatile) for more offensively oriented teams, and Curse+Boom 'mons are typically cool. It's also a much more active check to stuff like Huntail, doesn't get walled by Haunter most of the time, etc. :[[[

For the sake of discussion, I was running the following set (albeit w/slightly different EVs):

[SET]
name: Offensive Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Self-Destruct / Rest
move 4: Hydro Pump / Earthquake / Hidden Power Ghost
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Veil
nature: Brave / Adamant
evs: 40 Atk / 196 Def / 252 SpD / 20 Spe

It can play like a basic Curse set or tank for the most part, so its ability to do both with moderate efficiency is what makes it effective imo. Furthermore, Cursing can bait in 'mons like Tangrowth who are expecting a moderately soft Wailord set, getting OHKOed by the subsequent +1 boom. It can take out a respectable sum of defensive pivots this way, paving the way for sweepers like DD Pupitar to clean up more comfortably, or just serve as a basic tank w/access to a moderately strong boom, either way it does work.

It's still geared largely towards investing in its bulk, though there are certain KO's that can be acquired more easily by investing further in Attack. Specifically, 40 Attack EVs w/a +Atk nature allows it to OHKO standard Huntail w/boom without boosts, as well as grabbing stuff like the OHKO on defensive Shelgon at +1 after Spikes (1 layer) + 1 round of Leftovers recovery. 20 Speed EVs allow it to outpace uninvested Base 30's (notably Sudowoodo) after a Curse in tandem w/a Brave nature, avoiding issues w/getting stuffed by boom on that front. I prefer Pump to Surf here, since it helps to ensure or otherwise push a bunch of KOs:
  • Wailord Hydro Pump vs. Piloswine: 399-470 (101.2 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • Wailord Surf vs. Piloswine: 317-374 (80.4 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • Wailord Hydro Pump vs. Sudowoodo: 336-396 (97.6 - 115.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
  • Wailord Surf vs. Sudowoodo: 266-314 (77.3 - 91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • Wailord Hydro Pump vs. Haunter: 192-226 (83.1 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (KO after Sub+1 turn of Leftovers recovery)
  • Wailord Surf vs. Haunter: 153-180 (66.2 - 77.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

For reference, I based these calcs off the standing revamp thread's spreads. Of course, accuracy is a thing, but it's something one has to cope with.

Aside from that, boom should probably have some kind of mention in the special attacker set, since it's just that good of a move for it imo. I'd also think that partners that benefit from the potential removal of Electric- and Grass-types would make significant partners for Wailord, since its ability to trade 'mons w/boom is a really significant boon for it, but idk.

Just my two ofc, take of it what you will.
 

Disaster Area

formerly Piexplode
EVs: 236 Atk / 60 Def / 28 SpA / 164 SpD / 20 Spe
Brave Nature

28 SpA gets the OHKO on Sudowoodo with Hydro Pump.
60 Defense gaurantees Adamant CB Hitmonchan fail to OHKO you after 3 layers of Spikes + 1 Leftovers turn.
164 Special Defense gaurantees Plusle Thunderbolt fail to OHKO you after 3 layers of Spikes + 1 Leftovers turn.
Same speed tier as previously mentioned.
Remainder in Attack, can be siphoned off into defenses as needs be.

Worth noting 252+ SpD lets you avoid the OHKO by Plusle's (non Magnet) Thunder except on 2 rolls, or a critical hit.
Generally it's a preference of how Offensive/Defensive you want it but on my very aggressive rain team I prefer as much power as i can justify! :D Maybe just list the EV spread in AC if you think the bulk is more preffered.
 

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