Azurill [QC 1/3]

[Anna says hi]

Overview
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Pros:
+ Huge power gives it 24 attack, as much as Cranidos
+ Lack of speed makes it a good trick room sweeper
+ Fairy typing provides a resistance to Sucker Punch and Knock Off, two moves that would otherwise threaten Azurill
+ Life orb-backed Return is insanely powerful, 2HKOing everything that doesn't resist
+ Heck, even without any hazards up Azurill 2HKOs at worst everything except SturdyJuice users and LILEEP.
+ Has access to the newly-buffed Knock Off, threatening Ghosts that are immune to Azurill's STAB

Cons:
- Weak to bullet punch, a common priority move
- Absolutely no Fairy STAB whatsoever
- Terrible movepool, only gets Waterfall, Knock Off, Iron Tail, Bounce, and Rollout outside of STAB
- Incredibly frail, this thing will not take even resisted hits well at all
- Seriously, it's only slightly bulkier than Carvanha
- Also incredibly slow, with max investment it can hit only 12 speed
- Faces competition from Cubone and Cranidos as a trick room sweeper, both are more powerful and have more coverage options
- Faces competition from Bunnelby as a Huge Power abuser, as it hits 28 attack to Azurill's 24 and is much faster
- This leads to an argument over whether Azurill is truly viable, or merely usable
- This thing needs Trick Room to function properly, once Trick Room ends, Azurill becomes reduced to death fodder unless your opponent tries to set up on Azurill instead of killing it
- No matter how hard you try, Azurill will NOT be sweeping teams at all unless your opponent misplays terribly
- Azurill cannot do anything outside of Trick Room before it is KO'd
- Requires lots and lots of team support to do its job as well possible


Trick Room Sweeper
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name: Trick Room Sweeper
move 1: Return
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Double-Edge
ability: Huge Power
item: Life Orb
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 116 Def / 36 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Brave

Moves
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- Return is your spammable STAB
- Knock off is for Ghosts or steels
- Waterfall is for Rock-types
- Double-edge should be used only when Return won't OHKO, but Double-edge will


Set Details
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- Brave is used because you're going to be using this in trick room(duh), attack is maxed to make Azurill hit as hard as possible
- The Defense EVs are to weaken opposing priority, so that Azurill doesn't become useless after being hit with a Quick Attack or the like
- Azurill is frail enough for every 80 Defense EVs to matter
- Azurill can't hit 19 HP, so 23 HP is its next-best bet
- Life orb makes Azurill hit even harder

Damage Calculations
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calcs

196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 196 HP / 156+ Def Eviolite Slowpoke: 18-23 (64.2 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Return vs. 212 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Spritzee: 16-19 (59.2 - 70.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Return vs. 116 HP / 76+ Def Eviolite Vullaby: 16-19 (64 - 76%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 76 Def Eviolite Timburr: 21-27 (87.5 - 112.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Eviolite Mienfoo: 21-27 (100 - 128.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Usage Tips
========

- Azurill is best brought in after a teammate's death as an early-game wallbreaker
- Don't switch Azurill in to an attack, it will most likely be weakened to the point where it's useless, if it doesn't faint outright
- Spam attacks and wreak havoc, then sac it when Trick Room runs out
- Try to avoid Pawniard
- If you can't KO a wall, Knock Off is helpful to cripple it
- Azurill's goal is to weaken the opposing team to the point that whatever cleaner you have can finish the job easily, don't think about sweeping with it

Team Options
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- Trick Room setters such as Porygon and Spritzee
- Pumpkaboo-Super deserves mention as it can Explode or Destiny Bond after setting Trick Room, giving Azurill a free switch-in while weakening or killing one of the opposing mons, making Azurill's job easier
- Late-game cleaners such as Choice Scarf Bunnelby work well, and like Azurill for softening up the opponent's team
- Hazard setters break Sturdy, something that Azurill is very much grateful for, as just one layer of spikes lets it OHKO Magnemite and Timburr and possibly OHKO Tirtouga before they can OHKO it
- Azurill requires a lot of support to use effectively, but late-game sweepers and cleaners appreciate its help in busting through even the bulkiest of LC walls with relative ease



Other Options
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- Almost none due to Azurill's barren movepool
- Iron Tail can be used if you dislike redundant normal-type moves, but it doesn't hit anything important that Azurill's STAB would except Lileep
- Azurill can be used outside of a Trick Room team with a healthy amount of Baton Pass or Thunder Wave support
- Azurill can have maximum speed investment to outspeed most walls outside of Trick Room


Checks & Counters
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- Very few things have the massive physical bulk required to avoid the 2HKO, but Spritzee, Vullaby, and Slowpoke avoid the OHKO and can KO back with their respective moves
- Fake Out Mienfoo can stall out Trick Room, although something has to switch in, which is difficult without Azurill KOing it
- Pawniard avoids the OHKO from any move, and OHKOs with Iron Head unless Waterfall flinches
- Lileep avoids the 2HKO, and can spam Recover as Azurill falls to Life Orb and Double-Edge recoil or fails to break through it with Return
- Sash+Protect Abra can stall out Trick Room, ending Azurill's attempt at a rampage
- Anything with sturdy, as long as hazards aren't up (e.g. Tirtouga, Dwebble, and Magnemite in particular)
- Tirtouga avoids the OHKO unless both SR and Spikes are up, and Stone Edge will certainly KO Azurill after Life Orb recoil
- Priority wrecks this thing, it's frail enough for priority to easily do over 50% (Mienfoo, Fletchling, and Timburr are all common priority users, but Bunnelby sometimes runs Quick Attack)
- If you make good predictions to stall out Trick Room, Azurill becomes deadweight

 

[Stinson]

Azurill is normal type, did you mean Mach punch instead of bullet punch? Also be sure to mention his typing and lack of resistances makes it hard to take any hits well.

 

[The Avalanches]

Azurill is normal type, did you mean Mach punch instead of bullet punch? Also be sure to mention his typing and lack of resistances makes it hard to take any hits well.

He's Normal/Fairy. He's hit neutrally by Mach Punch and super effectively by Bullet Punch.

 

[Amp Pharaohs]

"Iron Tail can be used if you like longevity over accuracy, but Azurill won't be surviving many attacks anytime soon"
What exactly does Iron Tail hit that threatens Azurill and merits use of a 75 accuracy move?

You say Azurill is an amazing Trick Room sweeper, but can you go into detail as to why? There are certainly stronger users of Huge Power/Pure Power who have better coverage, and similar bulk, or even Cranidos who has arguably better coverage and hits the same attack stat.

I don't know, I'm not impressed with the calcs considering it needs Trick Room set up and plenty of prior damage/hazards to even attempt to OHKO things that threaten it

-196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Return vs. 76 HP / 76 Def Eviolite Timburr: 19-23 (76 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-196+ Atk Timburr Drain Punch vs. 116 HP / 116 Def Azurill: 13-16 (56.5 - 69.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-196+ Atk Timburr Mach Punch vs. 116 HP / 116 Def Azurill: 7-9 (30.4 - 39.1%) -- 17.6% chance to 3HKO
These calcs mean that you will lose Azurill either way, since Life Orb recoil will always KO you after Drain Punch+Mach Punch
-196+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azurill Double-Edge vs. 76 HP / 76 Def Eviolite Timburr: 21-27 (84 - 108%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
You pretty much have to rely on Double Edge in this case for a more reliable KO.

I really think emphasis should be put on the fact that Azurill has a very short time to sweep and that Sturdy Pokemon need to have it broken. And that Tirtouga calc does not show Azurill in a good light, it means even with Stealth Rock to break sturdy you still lose, since he deals considerable damage with Waterfall/Stone Edge and can finish you off with Aqua Jet after your Life Orb recoil (Actually the LO recoil might KO you, but you die either way).

 

[Anna says hi]

The only thing Iron Tail works against is Lileep, which otherwise avoids the 2HKO from any move. Lileep is not common against to warrant usage of Iron Tail, so it is removed from the set.

 

[Kavatika]

remember the new C&C format in the writeup; it's easier to do it now though.

• remove choice band from OO.
• add in the overview that meditite and bunnelby give it competition as a huge power abuser.
• the damage calculations thing is fine I think, I know there's some way you can do it, but you'd have to look to be sure.
• "Azurill may look like a waste of a team slot to an inexperienced player, but a skilled player can make its strengths outshine its weaknesses." remove this. basically anything at the end of an analysis that attempts to redeem a pokemon like "Overall, despite its numerous downfalls, Aron is a decent choice for any team, though you must provide the support it requires." should not be in an analysis, since it is simply filler which is not necessary for an overview
• emphasize azurill's frailty anywhere you can. to be specific: overview, set details, usage tips, and checks and counters.
• "Azurill is the slowest out of everything that hits 21 or more attack, making it the best to use in a trick room team" remove this. cranidos is a far better choice on a trick room team. just because it's the slowest doesn't mean it's the best for tr. again, it's frail as fuck and it's coverage is kinda eh.
• "A wish passer with a slow u-turn, volt switch, or Baton Pass can let Azurill regain health, but this is risky and unadvised" remove this. I'm pretty sure there is no such thing lol.

overall this looks to be a great start for your first analysis. just make sure you check out other analyses and use the various resources given to you.

 

[sparktrain]

For spoiler tags, this

produces this

Calcs

calc1
calc2
calc3

 

[Rowan]

wow your overview is very lengthy. most points are relevant, just remember to be concise when you get to writing it up. overview is meant to be... well an overview, not a massive thing. people like to glance at them just to get a basic feel for the mon.

moves:
give a couple of examples of when return won't KO, but DE will... mienfoo and timburr or w/e

it's unnecessary to have so many calcs imo. maybe just keep the first 3, since they're very bulky things, then maybe Mienfoo and Timburr. Also, use the spreads in the other analyses, instead of the ones that appear on calc. Mienfoo for example uses 76HP/116Def usually. check the other analyses for the spreads. tbh I'm gonna discuss with the other QC member about whether having calcs is necessary at all.

usage tips:
say wallbreaker>holepuncher. standard term
mention using knock off vs. walls is very helpful if you can't KO them

other options:
iron tail hits lileep lol
remove bounce it's useless
mention running it outside of TR. 12 Speed can outspeed most walls. can also be used with Baton Pass or TWave support
remove scarf mention
remove rollout mention. it's possible other options, not listing what isn't usable
remove mention of non-serious team. anyone who wants to make a non-serious team isn't going to be looking at analyses...

c&C:
anything with physical bulk (spritzee, slowpoke, vullaby)
remove mentions of setting up lol - its counter, not what doesn't counter
group these better: put stuff like meditite and mienfoo under the priority section, tirtouga under the sturdy section
'but remember to actually KO it' - most players have a basic understanding of the need to KO pokemon

1/3, i'll get back to you about the calcs

 

[Anna says hi]

The calcs were made using usage stats, and if the recommended spread has changed, I'll redo the calcs. And yes, I know that the calcs are not necessary.

April 17th edit:
Mentions of Murkrow and Meditite are removed