Azurill Movesets & Competitive Sets

The set aims to take advantage of Trick Room's limited turns by maximizing Azurill's offensive presence and minimizing its Speed. Access to Huge Power and salvageable coverage allows Azurill to perform decently well as a Trick Room sweeper, especially because it is one of a Trick Room team's few physical options. However, even on Trick Room teams, it finds itself outclassed by sweepers that can set up Trick Room and take advantage of it for themselves, such as Spritzee, and outside of Trick Room, it finds itself entirely outclassed by Meowth and Bunnelby.

Moves Return is your go-to reliable STAB move that hits anything that doesn't resist it very hard. Knock Off is a great coverage move that allows Azurill to hit Ghost-types, while Waterfall rounds off the coverage by hitting Rock-, Ground-, and Fire-types super effectively. Iron Tail allows Azurill to beat a few things that otherwise wall it such as Lileep and Spritzee. Lastly, Double-Edge is another heavy hitting STAB attack, but the recoil is not appreciated. Set Details A Brave nature is used because you're going to be using this in Trick Room, so the loss of Speed is actually beneficial, while its Attack is maximized in order to hit as hard as possible. The Defense EVs add substantial bulk, allowing it to take less damage from opposing priority such as Quick Attack. Finally, a Life Orb is the item of choice, as it allows Azurill to hit even harder. Usage Tips Azurill is best brought in after a teammate has been knocked out as an early-game wallbreaker. Don't switch Azurill into an attack, as it will most likely be weakened to the point where it's useless, if it doesn't outright get KOed. Try to avoid Pawniard as much as possible, and if you can't KO a wall, Knock Off is helpful to for crippling it. Azurill's goal is to weaken the opposing team to the point that whatever cleaner you have can finish the job with relative ease. Team Options Trick Room setters such as Porygon, Spritzee, and Pumpkaboo are mandatory. Late-game cleaners such as Choice Scarf Bunnelby work well and appreciate Azurill for softening up the opponent's team. Hazard setters can help to break Sturdy, something that Azurill is very much grateful for, as with just one layer of Spikes and some prior damage, it can OHKO Magnemite and Dwebble. Azurill requires a lot of support to use effectively, but late-game sweepers and cleaners appreciate its help of busting through even the bulkiest of Little Cup walls with ease.

Under Trick Room, Azurill can take advantage of its enormous 24 Attack stat. Return is its primary STAB option, possessing enough power to knock out a huge portion of the metagame in one or two hits. Double-Edge can also be used for the boost in power, yet the recoil ensures Azurill will fall to nearly any reasonably strong priority move. Waterfall is used as a coverage option, allowing Azurill to hit Pokemon such as Duskull or Gastly for neutral damage. Encore allows Azurill to catch Pokemon such as Ferroseed, which might try to set up on it, giving Azurill either a free attack or a free switch. Toxic can be used as well in the third slot to cripple Frillish, which otherwise walls Azurill entirely. Substitute works to take advantage of the free turn offered by Encore, as most Pokemon cannot take two hits from Azurill and live to tell the tale. Because using up Trick Room turns on non-attacking moves can be largely a waste, Azurill may be better off just spamming attacks rather than predicting switches to use moves such as Toxic or Encore. Using Hidden Power Fire over either Encore or Toxic is a viable option, as it can ensure a 2HKO on Ferroseed if Azurill is behind a substitute. The EV spread for this set seeks to take advantage of the free EVs Azurill has access to, thanks to the fact it needs no investment in Speed. A Brave nature, in conjunction with the lack of investment in Speed, ensures Azurill will be outspeeding nearly every other Pokemon in Little Cup, even Slowpoke and Ferroseed. The rest of the EVs are put into Azurill's defenses, as without any investment, Azurill will go down to priority far too quickly. Two of the major counters to Azurill are Ferroseed and Frillish, as they resist Azurill's entire movepool and can set up for free on it. For this reason, running Misdreavus alongside Azurill is a good option, as it can reliably take out both of those threats with relative ease. Also, in order to function at all, Azurill must be run alongside a Pokemon capable of setting up Trick Room, such as Slowpoke or Bronzor. Another support option is Rain Dance, which can be set up by both Slowpoke and Bronzor as well. Under Rain Dance, Azurill becomes an even more fearsome foe with its boosted Waterfall, and can only reliably be walled by Pokemon with Water-type immunities, such as Frillish, which can be crippled by Toxic or used to set up on by Vullaby. Packing a Pokemon capable of setting up entry hazards is also very important when using Azurill, as the added residual damage from a few layers of Spikes or Stealth Rock can be vital in achieving key KOs. For this reason, Ferroseed, and Dwebble all make great teammates for Azurill. Also, Knock Off Tentacool can be a great partner for Azurill, as very little can take repeated hits from Azurill without Eviolite.

Azurill has two useful attacks, given its stats: Return (or Double-Edge) and Waterfall. Thankfully, these moves together provide perfect neutral coverage and operate off of Azurill's massive 24 Attack. The choice between Return and Double-Edge comes down mostly to preference. Double-Edge has massive power, but destroys any chance at all of Azurill surviving any attack, even weak hits. Return has less power, but lets you conserve more of Azurill's HP. Ghost- and Steel-types that resist Azurill's chosen Normal-type attack are hit by Waterfall for massive damage. Iron Tail OHKOes all Lileep after Stealth Rock if Azurill is running Life Orb. Encore allows Azurill to punish those that try to use setup moves, letting it fire off a powerful attack without fear of retaliation. Substitute is a great choice for the last slot; the switches that Encore can force allow Azurill to safely set up a Substitute and proceed to KO the opponent's Pokemon at no risk to itself. Azurill really needs support to function. Trick Room and Rain Dance are both solid support options; with both up at once, Azurill becomes a monstrous beast that makes the most of its short lifespan. If your opponent does not have a Dry Skin / Water Absorb Pokemon and a Ghost-type, it will be difficult for them to address Azurill because they can't run down Azurill's timer with prediction. Therefore, in addition to Pokemon that can set up Trick Room, choose teammates that can get rid of Croagunk, the most common Pokemon with a Water-type immunity. Diglett can trap and KO Croagunk, but has to watch out for priority attacks. You will also want Pokemon that can set up Stealth Rock to break an opponent's Focus Sash. Azurill is generally EV'd to have more Special Defense than Defense so that Porygon with Download always gets an Attack boost rather than a Special Attack boost. Azurill's defenses are paper-thin anyway, so this maximizes its competitive usefulness. Azurill is so slow that only Trick Room and paralysis serve it well, so there's little use in maxing out Speed. Azurill will outspeed Munchlax and Trapinch outside of Trick Room with 8 Speed instead of 6, but that's it.