smoke err day
[Overview]
<p>While commonly overshadowed similar Pokemon in the tier, Camerupt does retain a couple significant niches in the RU metagame. Strong specially based Fire-types are in high demand in the tier, as they have very few adequate switch-ins, and its secondary Ground typing provides it not only a solid secondary STAB, but also a neutrality to Stealth Rock, making it notably less susceptible to entry hazards. This typing combination makes Camerupt one of the more effective defensive Fire-types, as well as one of the most thorough switch-ins to Electric-types in the tier. However, Camerupt's base stats, barring Attack and Special Attack, tend to limit its potency in either an offensive or defensive capacity. Even within a tier overflowing with slower bulky attackers, Camerupt's low 40 base Speed restricts it, being incapable of even outpacing relevant defensive Pokemon without a boost. While this is also the case with other relevant bulky attackers, such as Slowking and Druddigon, Camerupt lacks the natural bulk or self-sustainability to perform similarly, needing to invest itself almost entirely in order to appropriately fill a defensive role. Notwithstanding, Camerupt's unique set of traits make it worth consideration.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Hidden Power Electric / Toxic
item: Choice Specs
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Modest
evs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>A Choice Specs set appropriately capitalizes on many of Camerupt's strong points in the tier; its various high-powered STAB attacks, most significantly Eruption, when backed by Choice Specs allow it to inflict significant damage upon almost every switch-in, and its ability to pivot freely into Electric-types help grant it free switches in order to do so. That said, very few Pokemon are capable of switching into a full-power Eruption from this set, 2HKOing even bulky resists such as Druddigon and Alomomola comfortably. However, while it is ideal that Camerupt avoid damage so as to preserve the full power of Eruption, this is not always possible, and therefore it is advisable to run a secondary Fire-type as a precautionary measure. The choice between Fire Blast and Flamethrower is that of power vs. accuracy, though as a Pokemon geared towards breaking through defensive Pokemon, the former is largely preferable. While by no means as safe to lock into, Earth Power makes a fine option for dispatching certain relevant Fire-resistant Pokemon, such as Entei, Lanturn, and Kabutops. This STAB combination virtually unresisted in the tier, with the only pertinent issues being Aerodactyl and Moltres (neither of which comfortably switch into a Fire-type attack with Stealth Rock support), leaving Camerupt free to use its final moveslot for utilities. Hidden Power Electric not only hits both Aerodactyl and Moltres, but also provides Camerupt a "middle ground" coverage move, hitting both Water-types anticipating a Fire-type attack and Flying-types anticipating Earth Power. While Toxic does not provide such a luxury, it is Camerupt's most effective means of inflicting lasting damage upon Slowking, its most pertinent counter.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given Speed investment allows Camerupt to outpace minimally invested Lanturn, allowing Camerupt to outpace and KO it with Earth Power should the situation call for an aggressive switch into the predicted Volt Switch. A heftier investment in Speed can be made if need be in order to get the jump on the various other bulky attackers aiming for this same Speed benchmark, though obviously Camerupt can only go so far in doing so, and the use of a Timid nature substantially detracts from Camerupt's damage output. Alternatively, Camerupt can forgo Speed for bulk, allowing it to better stand up to coverage moves from Electric-types, though without a more thorough investment in bulk it will still struggle to stomach the stronger ones, such as Rotom-C's Leaf Storm, regardless. If one is particularly concerned with Moltres, Hidden Power Rock is capable of OHKOing any practical Moltres set without any prior damage, though typically Stealth Rock damage is sufficient for addressing this issue. Though a neutrality to Grass-type attacks increased the risk associated with switching into most sleep inducers, Camerupt can effectively run Sleep Talk in the final moveslot while retaining a high rate of pulling useful attacks, including a favorable chance of pulling a Fire-type attack to punish Grass-types that stay in upon putting it to sleep.</p>
- 'mons like OTR Slowking appreciate a partner that can apply significant pressure to bulky Water-types / drudd / spdef normals, as well as a Volt Switch deterrent, and the luxury of Trick Room support is definitely cool. Similarly, NP Jynx, though it's less "consistent" in the offensive support it can provide
- Cryo (usually offensive) is similarly chill, since between the most most common spdef 'mons are pressured to get stuff done, and spin support is neat for preserving Eruption's power (though not entirely mandatory)
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Lava Plume / Flamethrower
move 3: Protect
move 4: Toxic / Roar
item: Leftovers
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
- by investing in bulk, camel is one of the most thorough responses to non-Lanturn Electric-types in the tier, while also providing a solid check to specially-based Fire-types, which is neat
- EP allows Camerupt to immediately pressure general Fire- and Electric-types, as well as avoiding a free switch for 'mons like 'tops and oma
- lava plume is kinda necessary given that rotom-n / c / f-ish would otherwise be able to chip away at it pretty easily. the burn rate is definitely nice for chip damage and increasing the risked associated with a drudd / aero switch-in
- conflicting status is a thing though, mostly importantly against bulky waters, so flamethrower is worth consideration in conjunction with Toxic
- Protect is particularly useful to this set, since it runs a lot of status-inducing moves and finds itself matched up with various potentially choiced 'mons (electric-types, moltres, etc.), and being only moderately bulky and lacking in reliable recovery, the extra turn of leftovers is pretty significant
- Toxic is strong; Steel- and Poison-types have no place staying in on camel, it synergizes nicely w/protect, and gives it a means with which to chip away at Moltres
- Roar isn't as strong, but it can be useful as a means to check certain conservative boosters (cm psychics mostly), is nice with hazard support, and is p.significant against the occasional sub roost moltres
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- investing further in physical defense is sorta a thing if you want it switching into entei and occasional moderately strong physical attacks, but generally meh
- SR is a thing > Protect, but it's pretty difficult to give up on Protect in application tbh
- Wish support from Momo is definitely nice for increasing camel's longevity
- Along similar defensive routes, Roselia is pretty cool for spiking up v.bulky Water-types, and having an alternative 'mon for eating Volt Switch is cool b/c if Rose is your primary absorber, you're probably getting smashed by Spikes offense a lot
- 'Mons like Jynx / Cryo benefit from something that can rack up Toxic damage on Water-types for what might've otherwise developed into a war of attrition, plus the decent U-Turn / Fire-type attack absorber isn't bad either
[Other Options]
- SR tank set is an ok-ish hybrid of Specs / SpDef, but it tends to stretch camel too thin in most cases
- RP is lame. Doesn't outspeed relevant stuff, doesn't break through relevant fatmons well enough, etc.
- Physical movepool is ok, but the necessity for it is low (EQ is strong enough to break Slowking, Boom isn't worth it anymore, etc.)
[Checks and Counters]
- Slowking's basically the most thorough, since it has the bulk to eat up most hits from a good amount of HP, and Regen mitigates Tox / cumulative damage pretty nicely. Momo can't handle Specs 1v1, but it can sorta scout w/out getting smashed too hard w/regen, and defensive sets don't bother it. altaria relevant enough for mention?
- Drudd soft-checks every 'mon, can run spdef / dark gem to avoid being 2hkoed by eruption.
- bulkier moltres variant can pp stall specs, but really only trades toxics w/spdef
- keeping hazards up, especially tspikes, really restrict camel, since eruption is its major selling point offensively, and defensively it can't consistently provide support if it's constantly taking chip damage
[Overview]
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Hidden Power Electric / Toxic
item: Choice Specs
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Modest
evs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Lava Plume / Flamethrower
move 3: Protect
move 4: Toxic / Roar
item: Leftovers
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[Other Options]
[Checks and Counters]
- Weird camel, good on DPP Hail tho
- Being a strong, specially-based Fire-type is definitely cool, especially given access to Eruption, since the tier lacks sturdy answers to them (Slowking, SpDef Drudd, then obscures like Altaria)
- tGround subtyping offers an interesting niche to Camerupt: offensively, Ground STAB allows it to hit a handful of common switch-ins to Fire-type attacks ('Tops, Oma, Entei-ish, Lanturn, etc.) without going out on a limb prediction-wise, and defensively it allows it to serve as one of the more thorough switch-ins to Electric-types in the tier, resisting Fire and retaining a neutrality to most others (TWave immunity is cute too)
- Still slow as balls, to the extent that it can't even outpace the faster of defensive Pokemon w/out something like Choice Scarf backing it up
- deceptively frail; needs to be invested almost fully in bulk in order to effectively take on a more defensive role
- definitely a niche Pokemon, but it fulfills a rather unique role for teams, and should've be overlooked
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Hidden Power Electric / Toxic
item: Choice Specs
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Modest
evs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- its movepool and stat distribution lend itself to use as a Choice Specs user, exploiting its high-powered attacks in a hit-and-run fashion
- Eruption is the nuke; comfortably 2HKOs things like Drudd and Momo no problem, and hitting SpDef Normals such as Clefable for a chill 70+% on average
- while camerupt shouldn't typically be looking to take hits, chip damage will wear down Eruption over time, so a secondary Fire STAB becomes pretty significant. power v. accuracy / pp, etc.
- Earth Power isn't nearly as spammable as its Fire STAB, but a well-timed hit on the predicted Rock- or Fire-type can quickly dispatch the opponent's primary Fire resist for the game, and it isn't nearly as exploitable as some generic hidden power lock-in.
- strictly speaking, Moltres is the only common resist to this STAB combination, but uninvested variants are KOed by Fire Blast upwards of 90% of the time w/SR up
- for lack of vastly superior option, hp electric offers a reasonable "middle ground" option to camerupt should it lack a full-power Eruption, hitting both Flying-types predicting the EP and Water-types predicting the Fire STAB, while also covering Moltres
- Toxic is sort of a catch-all in a similar sense to HP Electric, getting off almost assured chip damage on the opponent (since nobody is actively switching a Poison- or Steel-type into it), and basically being Camerupt's best bet at crippling defensive Slowking
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- standard "outpace min speed lanturn" speed benchmark
- standard "u can speed creep this" comment
- it's possible to invest more heavily in bulk, but camel is kinda one of those "all-or-nothing" type of 'mons when it comes to that sorta thing, as it needs a full defensive investment in order to effectively serve a defensive role
- HP Rock if you really hate Moltres
- Sleep Talk is decent, since it pockets sleep moderately well and both its STAB can do stuff while it absorbs Volt Switch
- 'mons like OTR Slowking appreciate a partner that can apply significant pressure to bulky Water-types / drudd / spdef normals, as well as a Volt Switch deterrent, and the luxury of Trick Room support is definitely cool. Similarly, NP Jynx, though it's less "consistent" in the offensive support it can provide
- Cryo (usually offensive) is similarly chill, since between the most most common spdef 'mons are pressured to get stuff done, and spin support is neat for preserving Eruption's power (though not entirely mandatory)
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Lava Plume / Flamethrower
move 3: Protect
move 4: Toxic / Roar
item: Leftovers
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
- by investing in bulk, camel is one of the most thorough responses to non-Lanturn Electric-types in the tier, while also providing a solid check to specially-based Fire-types, which is neat
- EP allows Camerupt to immediately pressure general Fire- and Electric-types, as well as avoiding a free switch for 'mons like 'tops and oma
- lava plume is kinda necessary given that rotom-n / c / f-ish would otherwise be able to chip away at it pretty easily. the burn rate is definitely nice for chip damage and increasing the risked associated with a drudd / aero switch-in
- conflicting status is a thing though, mostly importantly against bulky waters, so flamethrower is worth consideration in conjunction with Toxic
- Protect is particularly useful to this set, since it runs a lot of status-inducing moves and finds itself matched up with various potentially choiced 'mons (electric-types, moltres, etc.), and being only moderately bulky and lacking in reliable recovery, the extra turn of leftovers is pretty significant
- Toxic is strong; Steel- and Poison-types have no place staying in on camel, it synergizes nicely w/protect, and gives it a means with which to chip away at Moltres
- Roar isn't as strong, but it can be useful as a means to check certain conservative boosters (cm psychics mostly), is nice with hazard support, and is p.significant against the occasional sub roost moltres
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- investing further in physical defense is sorta a thing if you want it switching into entei and occasional moderately strong physical attacks, but generally meh
- SR is a thing > Protect, but it's pretty difficult to give up on Protect in application tbh
- Wish support from Momo is definitely nice for increasing camel's longevity
- Along similar defensive routes, Roselia is pretty cool for spiking up v.bulky Water-types, and having an alternative 'mon for eating Volt Switch is cool b/c if Rose is your primary absorber, you're probably getting smashed by Spikes offense a lot
- 'Mons like Jynx / Cryo benefit from something that can rack up Toxic damage on Water-types for what might've otherwise developed into a war of attrition, plus the decent U-Turn / Fire-type attack absorber isn't bad either
[Other Options]
- SR tank set is an ok-ish hybrid of Specs / SpDef, but it tends to stretch camel too thin in most cases
- RP is lame. Doesn't outspeed relevant stuff, doesn't break through relevant fatmons well enough, etc.
- Physical movepool is ok, but the necessity for it is low (EQ is strong enough to break Slowking, Boom isn't worth it anymore, etc.)
[Checks and Counters]
- Slowking's basically the most thorough, since it has the bulk to eat up most hits from a good amount of HP, and Regen mitigates Tox / cumulative damage pretty nicely. Momo can't handle Specs 1v1, but it can sorta scout w/out getting smashed too hard w/regen, and defensive sets don't bother it. altaria relevant enough for mention?
- Drudd soft-checks every 'mon, can run spdef / dark gem to avoid being 2hkoed by eruption.
- bulkier moltres variant can pp stall specs, but really only trades toxics w/spdef
- keeping hazards up, especially tspikes, really restrict camel, since eruption is its major selling point offensively, and defensively it can't consistently provide support if it's constantly taking chip damage
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