Overview
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Support
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name: Support
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Aqua Jet/Waterfall
ability: Battle Armor
item: Eviolite/Focus Sash
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Def
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Team Options
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Offensive Swift Swim
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name: Swift Swim
move 1: Rain Dance/Aqua Jet
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Waterfall/Aqua Jet
move 4: Knock Off
ability: Swift Swim
item: Eviolite/Damp Rock
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 156 Spd
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Team Options
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Other Options
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Checks & Counters
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***Water Absorb, Storm Drain, and Dry Skin*** With their immunity to water STAB, they can usually switch in on a predicted aqua jet/waterfall and often KO Kabuto
***Fighting Types*** Mienfoo and Timburr both can do a lot of damage with Drain Punch, removing Kabuto quickly
***Grass Types*** Especially Cottonee, Foongus, Lileep, and Ferroseed. Cottonee can come in and force Kabuto out if it has giga drain, and Foongus can either giga drain to remove Kabuto or Spore to make the switch in weight. Ferroseed walls the offensive Kabuto completely, and can also beat Utility Kabuto with Bullet Seed, while Lileep also has the dreaded Storm Drain
***Chinchou*** Chinchou can take all of Kabutos moves and 2HKO with electric STAB
***Diglett*** exclusively on Swift Swim sets lacking aqua jet when rain is down. With Life Orb and Earthquake, it has a 93.8% chance to OHKO with Earthquake, and Kabuto cannot switch out
***Abra*** With Life Orb it has a fairly good chance to OHKO with psychic, and aqua jet cannot OHKO. Energy ball, in addition, is always an OHKO.
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- Good attack and defense
- Good support movepool with knock off, rapid spin, and stealth rock
- Can also go offensive with access to either rock polish or utilizing swift swim
- Typing is a mixed blessing, on one hand it's the only thing with knock off, spin, and rocks not weak to water, on other hand common weaknesses to electric, fighting, ground, and 4x to grass
- Largely outclassed by faster or bulkier or all around stronger things
- Despite physical bulkiness, specially defense is low
Support
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name: Support
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Aqua Jet/Waterfall
ability: Battle Armor
item: Eviolite/Focus Sash
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Def
nature: Adamant
Moves
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- Knock Off is to help the rest of the team remove threats, while also hitting Misdreavus and Honedge harder
- Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin are good for getting your hazards up and theirs down
- Aqua Jet vs Waterfall, while waterfall hits twice as hard, aqua jet makes up for kabuto's low speed and allows it to hit faster things twice
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- The given EVs allow Kabuto to avoid being OHKOed by anything aside from a grass type attack
- Eviolite is far preferred, although Kabuto can choose to run focus sash as a hazard lead
- With Eviolite, Kabuto can survive a 236+ Drilbur Earthquake and 2HKO with aqua jet, or survive a 232+ Chinchou Volt Switch
- Adamant nature allows Kabuto to deal a little extra damage to spinblockers with Knock Off or Aqua Jet
- Battle Armor is chosen so that a lucky critical hit cannot happen
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- Typically get hazards up as fast as possible or take down the opponent's hazards, whichever is more important
- Taunt users, especially fighting type taunt users, are dangerous to allowing Kabuto to do its job
- Kabuto can be used to take fire type attacks extremely well, due to its 4x resistance
- Avoid sacking Kabuto for as long as possible, especially if the opponent has their hazards setter or remover still alive
- Knock Off is the move of choice, especially in earlygame, as it allows sweepers on the team to do their jobs more successfully
Team Options
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- Flying types either resist or are immune to three of Kabuto's weaknesses, and especially can remove troublesome grass types and the problematic Mienfoo
- Kabuto also pairs extremely well with other grass types, as it resists four of the types they're weak to, and they are able to take three of Kabuto's weaknesses as well. Cottonee, especially, resists everything Kabuto is weak to
- Spinblockers, especially Misdreavus, are extremely useful for easing Kabuto's burden while Pawniard is good for absorbing defogs
Offensive Swift Swim
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name: Swift Swim
move 1: Rain Dance/Aqua Jet
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Waterfall/Aqua Jet
move 4: Knock Off
ability: Swift Swim
item: Eviolite/Damp Rock
evs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 156 Spd
nature: Adamant
Moves
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- Rain Dance is the best speed boosting move Kabuto can use, while also boosting the power of waterfall, but only if another teammate has Rain Dance, Aqua Jet can be used instead.
- Rock Slide is STAB and also Kabuto's best move for grass or opposing water types
- Waterfall is the move of choice, doing a fantastic amount of damage under the rain, although Aqua Jet can be chosen in order to hit things outside of rain
- Knock Off does good damage to slowpoke and possibly baited spinblockers, while also aiding the team
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- The EVs give Kabuto 28 speed under the rain, which outspeeds most scarfers, including Pawniard, while speed tying scarf 19 speeds.
- Adamant nature is chosen for obvious reasons
- With Eviolite, Kabuto has 21/24/16 bulk, allowing it to comfortable take neutral physical attacks
- Damp Rock is a possibility if the rest of the team is helped by rain, but Kabuto will typically not be sweeping teams anyways
- Life Orb should not be used, as it fails to add any notable OHKOs and eviolite helps Kabuto survive opposing priority
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- Rain Dance should almost always be the first move used, so that Kabuto can actually outspeed and kill most opponents
- Bulky Water Types that resist rock slide are difficult to deal with, and so should be dealt with before using Kabuto
- Kabuto can switch in on flying types and fire types lacking electric or grass coverage easily
- Knock Off is the best move to use if your opponent is switching, as it allows Kabuto to possibly do more damage the next turn if they hold an Eviolite
- Waterfall is the move to spam in all other situations, as in the rain it has essentially 180 base power
- Using Kabuto in lategame is preferable, as Kabuto can sweep through a weakened team
Team Options
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- Teammates that either set up rain or benefit from rain are highly advisable, as Kabuto enjoys being able to switch in and immediately wreak havoc, but is also unlikely to remain in for long periods of time
- Flying type teammates are extremely helpful for dealing with Croagunk
- Fighting types, especially Mienfoo, are very useful for dealing with Lileep, Ferroseed, and defensive Tirtouga
- Something to deal with Chinchou is also helpful, as Kabuto is unable to 2HKO Eviolite Chinchou
Other Options
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- Kabuto can run rock polish, but it is largely inferior to rain dance, considering that rain also boosts Kabuto's water type moves
- Kabuto has a decent special movepool, but poor special attack makes them nothing more than poor coverage options
- Kabuto can run a Berry Juice and Thief set fairly effectively, due to decent bulk even without eviolite, but it plays similarly to the other sets
- Weak Armor is a possibility, but is overall inferior to Rain Dance, as Kabuto either prefers a defensive ability, or doesn't need any more speed
- Hone Claws is Kabuto's only boosting move, and while it also allows Rock Slide to be more accurate, it usually doesn't find its way onto Kabuto sets
Checks & Counters
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***Water Absorb, Storm Drain, and Dry Skin*** With their immunity to water STAB, they can usually switch in on a predicted aqua jet/waterfall and often KO Kabuto
***Fighting Types*** Mienfoo and Timburr both can do a lot of damage with Drain Punch, removing Kabuto quickly
***Grass Types*** Especially Cottonee, Foongus, Lileep, and Ferroseed. Cottonee can come in and force Kabuto out if it has giga drain, and Foongus can either giga drain to remove Kabuto or Spore to make the switch in weight. Ferroseed walls the offensive Kabuto completely, and can also beat Utility Kabuto with Bullet Seed, while Lileep also has the dreaded Storm Drain
***Chinchou*** Chinchou can take all of Kabutos moves and 2HKO with electric STAB
***Diglett*** exclusively on Swift Swim sets lacking aqua jet when rain is down. With Life Orb and Earthquake, it has a 93.8% chance to OHKO with Earthquake, and Kabuto cannot switch out
***Abra*** With Life Orb it has a fairly good chance to OHKO with psychic, and aqua jet cannot OHKO. Energy ball, in addition, is always an OHKO.
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