EpicUmbreon29
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[OVERVIEW]
+Cawmodore is an effective setup sweeper making use of Belly Drum
+An excellent defensive typing allows for setup on many Pokemon, including titans like Landorus-T, Chansey, and Ferrothorn.
+Access to STAB priority in Bullet Punch allows Cawmodore to take on Pokemon faster than itself like Kerfluffle, Syclant, and Stratagem.
+Doesn't require play around any Terrains, as Hawlucha does.
+Volt Absorb allows Cawmodore to be immune to Thunder Wave, which otherwise could easily stop its sweep. It also greatly improves its matchup against Tapu Koko, Krilowatt, and Rotom-Wash.
-Cawmodore's performance is heavily influenced by team matchup; if the opponent carries even one of its checks, it cannot set up and essentially becomes dead weight, but if the opponent lacks a check, it can win matches instantly after setting up.
-Many Electric-types, like Zapdos and Cyclohm, will run Fire-type coverage anyway and can still beat Cawmodore.
-Very common Pokemon in the CAP metagame, like Tomohawk, Cyclohm, and Choice Scarf Volkraken, can easily end a sweep once it has begun.
-Cawmodore tends to be very predictable, with high awareness of and preparation for its most viable and unchanging set.
-Cawmodore only has one real chance to set up during the match
-It's hard for Cawmodore to switch in when Stealth Rock is in use against your team, as it can't afford to lose HP before setting up
[SET]
name: Belly Drum
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Acrobatics
move 3: Drain Punch
move 4: Bullet Punch
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
-Belly Drum drastically buffs Cawmodore's Attack at the steep cost of half of its HP.
-Acrobatics is the primary move for dealing damage on this set. Once Cawmodore sets up and loses its Sitrus Berry, Acrobatics will OHKO most things that don't resist it. Some notable things that resist Flying that Acrobatics has the chance to OHKO include Kitsunoh, Plasmanta, Mega Mawile, and Tapu Koko.
-Drain Punch allows Cawmodore to OHKO some of the Pokemon that Acrobatics could not, specifically Heatran and Tyranitar. It's also useful against anything the user knows it can OHKO, as it allows Cawmodore to have more HP with which to survive priority moves.
-Bullet Punch is primarily for OHKOing Pokemon faster than Cawmodore, such as Kerfluffle, Stratagem, Syclant without Focus Sash, and Mega Alakazam. Bullet Punch will also OHKO Tornadus-T after Stealth Rock damage, and will OHKO Mega Lopunny 50% of the time after one layer of Spikes. This move is also useful for evading Sucker Punch, as its use prevents it from activating on slower Pokemon like Colossoil and Mega Mawile.
Set Details
========
-4 HP EVs is necessary to bring Cawmodore's HP up to an even number so that Belly Drum will be able to bring Cawmodore down to exactly half health and consume its Sitrus Berry, restoring its HP and powering up Acrobatics.
-252 Speed EVs with Jolly is vital for allowing Cawmodore to be able to outspeed and KO as much as possible. Without Jolly, Cawmodore will lose out to Krilowatt, Keldeo, Fidgit, Kitsunoh, Latias, and Latios.
-252 Attack EVs is important to make sure Cawmodore deals as much physical damage as possible.
-Sitrus Berry allows Cawmodore to both power up Acrobatics and regain HP immediately after setting up, the former of which is vital for being to OHKO Pokemon, while the second is important for being able to take priority moves and keep going.
Usage Tips
========
-Throughout the match, keep Cawmodore's health intact until it can set up safely; due to the nature of Belly Drum, it only gets one real chance to do this.
-Once these are gone or severely weakened, some Pokemon that Cawmodore can usually set up easily on include Chansey, Excadrill, Ferrothorn, Landorus-T, and Mega Scizor.
-Once Cawmodore is set up, everything is largely a matter of what move to select. Acrobatics, as previously mentioned, will OHKO most things. Drain Punch is recommended against anything it will OHKO, as HP recovery will be helpful. Drain Punch is also advisable against slower Pokemon with Focus Sash in order to regain HP before the opponent's attack, assuming it will be able to survive.
-Bullet Punch is the most effective option against Mega Crucibelle, having a chance to OHKO it, even if Mega Crucibelle is at +1 Defense. In addition, it should be used against faster Pokemon that can OHKO Cawmodore, or when the player predicts that the opponent is going to use Sucker Punch, as this will cause Sucker Punch to fail on slower Pokemon.
-You can use the threat of Cawmodore potentially earning a sweep to force an opponent to play more conservatively with their Cawmodore checks, thereby making them easier to predict.
-If Cawmodore is unable to set up, settle for using it without boosts, such as by picking off faster Pokemon with Bullet Punch. Cawmodore can also use its great defensive typing and ability to switch in on Pokemon like Landorus-T, Excadrill, and certain sets of Plasmanta, as well as absorb Toxic and Thunder Wave and deter VoltTurn strategies.
Team Options
========
-Spikes Greninja is a good teammate for Cawmodore, as it is capable of taking on some of Cawmodore's biggest checks and counters, especially Tomohawk, Cyclohm, and Volkraken. Having Spikes set up also guarantees more OHKOs for Cawmodore, as well as opening up the possibility for ones it could previously not get, including a guaranteed OHKO on Magearna with Drain Punch after three Spikes layers.
-As an extension, hazards are helpful to Cawmodore in general. Spikes setters include Arghonaut and Greninja, which both work well with Cawmodore thanks to their Fire resistance. Stealth Rock can be set by the likes of Mollux and Heatran. Good Toxic Spikes setters such as Toxapex and Pajantom work as well. Both Spikes and Stealth Rock help it to secure more OHKOs, with Spikes being especially helpful for breaking the common Focus Sash of the Stealth Rock-immune Syclant. Furthermore, Tapu Koko cannot be OHKOed before hazard damage, and Stealth Rock gives a chance of an OHKO against Tornadus-T. Toxic Spikes helps Cawmodore to pressure Arghonaut and Cyclohm, as they will lose due to Toxic damage if they must switch in on Cawmodore's boosted Acrobatics.
-Kyurem-B's potent offensive stats, combined with its access to STAB Ice Beam and a powerful Subzero Slammer, make it a potent teammate for its ability to take out Tomohawk and Cyclohm with little opposition. Reciprocally, Cawmodore can set up on notable stops to Kyurem-B like Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor.
-Fairy-type Pokemon are viable teammates for the reason that they are capable of easily eliminating Tomohawk and Cyclohm. In addition, Rotom-W and Mega Manectric are incapable of doing very much to remove them from the battle. Tapu Koko is especially notable because it can bring in Pokemon like Landorus-T, Chansey, and Tapu Bulu before pivoting out to Cawmodore and providing it with a setup opportunity.
-Ground-type Pokemon like Zygarde, Landorus-T, and Colossoil are similarly good for drawing out Pokemon like Landorus-T, Ferrothorn, and Tapu Bulu that Cawmodore can set up on. Also valuable is that SubToxic Zygarde can take on Tomohawk, as can Flyinium-Z Landorus-T.
-Hazard removal Pokemon like Rotom-W, Latias, Latios, and Mollux are important for Cawmodore, as it appreciates every bit of HP it can retain while attempting to set up. The examples listed are also good Pokemon to switch into when Cawmodore meets an opposing Fire-type on the field.
-Sticky Web, most likely coming from Necturna or Smeargle, can be very helpful to Cawmodore, as it enables it to defeat faster Pokemon that resist Bullet Punch, including Mega Manectric, Greninja, and many of the Choice Scarf users that check Cawmodore, like Volkraken, and Tapu Lele.
-Screen moves (Aurora Veil, Light Screen, Reflect) can be used by Pokemon like Ninetales-A, Klefki, and Fidgit, granting Cawmodore more setup opportunities.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
-Knock Off can be run in the place of Drain Punch. Notably, it guarantees an OHKO on bulkier variants of Kitsunoh and Jirachi, but beyond this its scope is rather limited, dealing only 12.1% more minimum damage on Celesteela, for example, than Drain Punch. The lack of recovery is also something to be missed. There is also a fair chance to OHKO Rotom-W and Zapdos after Stealth Rock damage.
-A Salac Berry set with Substitute / Belly Drum / Acrobatics / Drain Punch is plausible and allows Cawmodore to outspeed and defeat some of the checks to its regular set, including Greninja, Mega Pidgeot, and Tornadus-T, as well as Choice Scarf users like Volkraken, Tapu Lele, and Keldeo. This set requires that only 29 HP IVs are used (or 30 HP IVs with the extra 4 HP IVs placed elsewhere) so that Cawmodore's HP will be 240, a number divisible by 4 so that the Salac Berry will be used after one Substitute and one Belly Drum. However, this set is more difficult to set up with than the standard Sitrus Berry set, as all counters must first be removed from play, along with priority users like Mega Mawile, Colossoil, and Crawdaunt, and in addition Cawmodore needs a turn to set up Substitute without it breaking.
-A Z-Crystal set is possible on Cawmodore that allows it to act as a wallbreaker earlier on in the game. This Flyinium Z set has two possible main variants, with the first being Belly Drum / Sky Attack / Drill Peck / Drain Punch or Bullet Punch, and the second being Belly Drum / Fly / Drain Punch / Bullet Punch. Sky Attack actually gives Cawmodore a chance to OHKO Tomohawk if its boosts have been removed via Haze. It also does between 78.5 and 92.3% against a fully defensive Cyclohm and OHKOs Rotom-W. However, this only gives Cawmodore one practical opportunity to use its Flying-type STAB attack against the Pokemon that resist Drain Punch and Bullet Punch, making Drill Peck important. The set with Fly cannot OHKO Tomohawk from full HP using Supersonic Skystrike, but the invulnerability turn of Fly grants Cawmodore more freedom to run both Drain Punch and Bullet Punch on the same set. Altogether, the opportunity cost is rather high to give Cawmodore a Z-Crystal, given other powerful Z-Move users like Icium Z Kyurem-B and Magearna.
-Intimidate is possible to use, as it can make setting up Cawmodore easier. Notably, Cawmodore will take less than 75% damage from a -1 Attack Mega Crucibelle using Head Smash. However, Cawmodore will lose its immunity, causing difficulty with Rotom-Wash and Xurkitree, as well as the loss of setup opportunities against Choice-locked Magnezone and some Magearna sets.
-Iron Head is an option for scoring a 2HKO against Unaware Clefable.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Unaware**: Pokemon like Clefable, Arghonaut, and Quagsire can all tolerate damage from Cawmodore and deal it back and recover. Clefable has Fire Blast and Softboiled and Quagsire with Scald and Recover for this purpose. Arghonaut will still take substantial damage from Acrobatics, but it can phaze Cawmodore out with Circle Throw.
**Electric-Types**: Physically defensive Cyclohm has the distinction of being able to restore more HP per turn than Cawmodore can deal to it via a combination of Leftovers and Slack Off, making it a true Cawmodore counter. In addition, it has the chance to OHKO Cawmodore with Fire Blast. Rotom-W doesn't reach quite the same level of defensive prowess, but Cawmodore only 2HKOs it, giving it room to check by using Will-O-Wisp on Cawmodore. Once it does this, it actually has a fair chance to survive a second attack from Cawmodore, largely thanks to Leftovers, meaning it can use Pain Split to restore itself, followed by Hydro Pump to remove Cawmodore. Zapdos can take a hit from Cawmodore and get a chance to KO it using Heat Wave. Mega Manectric checks Cawmodore, outspeeding it, easily surviving a Bullet Punch, and OHKOing back with Flamethrower.
**Tomohawk**: Physically defensive Tomohawk is able to check Cawmodore thanks to its access to Prankster and Haze, meaning it can remove Cawmodore's boost before getting hit by Acrobatics. Also, Bullet Punch will take away less than 40% of Tomohawk's HP. Sets that run Rocky Helmet will be able to get rid of Cawmodore via chip damage and continuous use of Roost, as Acrobatics without any boosts will only take away a bit more than half of Tomohawk's HP.
**Skarmory**: Skarmory only loses about half of its health to Cawmodore once it has set up, meaning it can easily use Counter or Whirlwind to end Cawmodore's sweep.
**Faster Water-Types**: Greninja, Greninja-Ash, and Mega Sharpedo can all easily survive a fully-boosted Bullet Punch and KO Cawmodore in return with STAB moves. Greninja and Greninja-Ash will both deal KO a Cawmodore at 75% with Hydro Pump, while a Crunch from a Mega Sharpedo has over a 90% chance of KOing at this percent with Crunch.
**Choice Scarf Special Attackers**: Many Water-type or Fire-type Pokemon with Choice Scarf can easily take a resisted Bullet Punch and OHKO Cawmodore, Volkraken and Keldeo being good examples of this. Tapu Lele only has about a 50% chance to KO with Hidden Power Fire, but Psychic Terrain prevents Cawmodore from using Bullet Punch, so Pokemon like Kerfluffle and Syclant can finish Cawmodore if Tapu Lele fails to. Some rarer Choice Scarf users like Victini can also check Cawmodore, as can Blacephalon as long as it does not take Stealth Rock damage.
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