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Moves Claydol's main role is to remove entry hazards, so Rapid Spin is crucial. It can also run Stealth Rock, but if another teammate is already running it, Toxic should be used to cripple bulky Pokemon that take little from Claydol otherwise such as Cryogonal and Articuno. Psychic is run in order to 2HKO Gurdurr, while Earth Power 2HKOes Skuntank. Set Details Colbur Berry allows Claydol to avoid the 2HKO from Skuntank's Crunch or Dark Pulse while also reducing damage from coverage moves such as Gurdurr's Knock Off. The Speed EVs allow Claydol to outspeed Jellicent, Aggron, and Modest Aurorus. Usage Tips Claydol should switch in to take resisted hits from Pokemon such as Hitmonchan and Lycanroc, but it has to watch out for being worn down. Furthermore, some Pokemon that Claydol can check have other moves that do a lot to it or cripple it, such as Aggron's Heavy Slam, Primeape's U-Turn, and Mudsdale's Toxic. However, if it does manage to come in, Claydol often forces the foe out and can use this as an opportunity to set up Stealth Rock or remove entry hazards. If there are hazards on your side of the field, Claydol can lure in spinblockers such as Jellicent and cripple them with Toxic instead. If Claydol isn't running Toxic, it can still lure the spinblocker but instead double switch to a Pursuit trapper or a strong breaker such as Drampa that can take advantage. Team Options Pokemon such as Ferroseed, Qwilfish, and Roselia can stack Spikes on top of Claydol's Stealth Rock, with the former two also being able to wear down Pokemon such as Skuntank and the latter providing a solid switch-in to Jellicent. Conversely, Pokemon that fear being worn down by entry hazards such as Aurorus and Choice Specs Jellicent appreciate Claydol's ability to remove them. Flying-types such as Dodrio and Scyther also enjoy Stealth Rock being off the field and can serve as checks to Grass-types such as Victreebel, Lurantis, and Ludicolo. However, these same Grass-types also make for good teammates, as they can help against Water-types such as Omastar and Jellicent. Pursuit users such as Stoutland and Spiritomb can trap and deal great damage to Ghost-types such as Oricorio-G and Silvally-Ghost, which greatly limits their spinblocking capabilities. Ghost-types can also spinblock for Claydol, while Primeape can ward off Defog users with Defiant. All of these Pokemon, as well as other offensive threats such as Kangaskhan and Lycanroc, also benefit from Claydol's hazards and Toxic wearing down the opposing team.

Moves Rapid Spin clears the field of entry hazards. Earth Power is Claydol's main STAB move, and it does good damage to various entry hazard setters such as Crustle, Garbodor, Regirock, and Mawile. Shadow Ball allows Claydol to hit Ghost-types such as Mismagius, Rotom, and Gourgeist, which not only block its Rapid Spin but would also take its Earth Power with ease. Shadow Ball also hits Psychic-types such as Mesprit, opposing Claydol, Xatu, and Exeggutor, all of which also resist or are immune to Earth Power. Psyshock allows Claydol to hit specially bulky targets such as Hariyama and Hitmonchan; it also hits Mismagius for a more solid 2HKO than Shadow Ball. Psychic allows Claydol to hit Weezing, a potential Toxic Spikes user, for major damage, as well as being Claydol's strongest attack against the likes of Poliwrath and Vileplume. Grass Knot can be used to score great damage against heavyweights or 4x Grass-weak Pokemon, such as Golurk, Rhydon, and Carracosta. Ice Beam allows Claydol to take down or deter Flying- and Grass-types, such as Rotom-S, Scyther, Jumpluff, Swellow, Cacturne, and Torterra, while still netting coverage against Gourgeist. Signal Beam is another coverage option that mainly targets Malamar, but also OHKOes Shiftry and Cacturne unlike Ice Beam which cannot. Set Details Maximum Special Attack investment and a Modest nature allows Claydol to make the most of its coverage options. Alternatively, a Timid nature can be used to outspeed neutral natured Hitmonchan, Magmortar, and Shiftry. Colbur Berry gives Claydol a spinning opportunity against Fighting-types and occasionally even Dark-types by weakening Knock Offs or Sucker Punches, which might deny the Rapid Spin. Soft Sand is another option which increases the power of Claydol's Earth Power, notably allowing it to OHKO offensive variants of Garbodor and 2HKO at worst all Rhydon variants. Usage Tips Should there be entry hazards on its side of the field, Claydol's biggest priority is to spin them away. Despite its resilience to entry hazards and decent bulk, one should not play recklessly with Claydol, as its numerous weaknesses render it vulnerable to a wide variety of foes. Claydol is best sent in on foes that it can force out, or on passive foes that cannot hurt it very much. Slower Ground-weak Pokemon, namely Rock-, Poison-, and Steel-types such as Rhydon, Regirock, Carracosta, Garbodor, Stunfisk, and Mawile, usually present the best opportunity for Claydol to enter battle and use Rapid Spin by threatening them out with its Ground-type STAB move, but Claydol's wide movepool and decent bulk allow it to choose a greater selection of foes to use Rapid Spin on or threaten out, such as Aurorus, Lanturn, and even Torterra if Ice Beam is used. Claydol can also find the chance to spin against slower passive walls such as Audino, Weezing, and Regirock. Against more offensive teams, Claydol relies more on its resistances than its overall bulk to find spinning opportunities. Claydol can even be used as an anti-lead against entry hazard leads such as Archeops and Crustle, shrugging off most of their attacks and continuously spinning their entry hazards away. Keep an eye out for spinblockers; while Claydol can hit them on the switch with Shadow Ball, it will be forced back out by the threat of their Ghost STAB moves. Also remember that Claydol's offenses aren't great, so it shouldn't try to tackle attackers that aren't weak to its moves. Team Options Pokemon that suffer from major entry hazard weaknesses greatly appreciate Claydol as a partner. Scyther is one of the most notable partners, as its effectiveness is greatly improved in the absence of Stealth Rock; it even boasts good offensive synergy with Claydol as most bulky Pokemon that resist U-turn can be threatened by Claydol. Other partners include Pyroar, Rotom-S, Archeops, and Focus Sash Jynx, which all boast powerful offensive presence to compensate for Claydol's lack of immediate power. Claydol also appreciates a Pursuit trapper to take on the Ghost-types that would impede it. Liepard is a fine candidate for a Pursuit trapper, and it has the important Prankster Encore to deter foes from taking advantage of Claydol's passiveness, particularly the likes of Shell Smash Huntail and Quiver Dance Lilligant.

Claydol is one of the few viable Rapid Spin users in the UU tier, and this set capitalizes on that factor. While Claydol does face competition from Hitmontop, it has some things going for it that Hitmontop lacks. The main factor is its ability, Levitate, which allows Claydol to switch unharmed into Spikes and Toxic Spikes, unlike Hitmontop. Even though Hitmontop has better initial Defense factoring in Intimidate, as well as better offenses, this more than makes up for it. Second in line is Stealth Rock. Hitmontop, along with all other Rapid Spin users beneath it, lack the ability to set up any entry hazard, so Claydol has much better utility and can give much better support to its team in general. For its offensive options, Claydol doesn't have many useful moves to choose from, though two stand out. Earthquake is a great, reliable STAB move that allows Claydol to hit Pokemon such as Raikou hard. Ice Beam works great in conjunction with Earthquake, allowing it to hit Flying-types that avoid Earthquake, such as Zapdos and Togekiss, for decent damage. Toxic is still a good option for wearing down certain opponents, especially opposing walls and setup sweepers, such as Calm Mind Raikou. An alternate EV spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD with a Relaxed or Bold nature, depending on what moves Claydol uses, is perfectly viable. However, it should be noted that the specially defensive spread is more suited for Claydol, as Claydol can then better take on certain threats, such as Raikou. The physically defensive spread does make better use of Claydol's Rock- and Fighting-type resistances, but Pokemon such as Rhyperior and Heracross also carry powerful super effective moves against Claydol, making it the lesser choice. Earth Power can be used over Earthquake to do more damage to physically bulky Pokemon, such as Cobalion, Rhyperior, and Slowbro, but it's a much worse choice against the Pokemon Claydol should be capable of handling, such as Calm Mind Raikou. If you decide to use it, go with a Calm or Bold nature instead, depending on what EV spread you're using. Claydol lacks a recovery move, which makes its job of spinning multiple times in a match much harder. This makes Rest somewhat viable, as it brings Claydol back to full health, while also removing any troublesome status. However, Rest puts Claydol in an awful position, making it even bigger setup bait for several Pokemon while it's asleep. This is a bit of a turn-off for using Rest, but it's unfortunately Claydol's only recovery move. Cleric and Wish support are great for Claydol, especially if it does use Rest. Pokemon such as Umbreon and Roserade can use Heal Bell and Aromatherapy respectively to cure Claydol of status ailments; Umbreon can also pass relatively huge Wishes to Claydol to restore its health. In addition, Umbreon resists Claydol's Ghost- and Dark-type weaknesses, while Claydol covers Umbreon's Fighting-type one; however, they do share a weakness to Bug-type moves. Roserade has decent type synergy with Claydol, resisting Grass- and Water-type moves, but they share an Ice-type weakness with each other. Suicune and Victini make great teammates for Claydol as well. Suicune resists Ice- and Water-type moves, while Victini resists Grass- and Ice-type moves. In return, Claydol covers Suicune's Electric-type weakness, as well as Victini's Ground- and Rock-type weaknesses. Obviously, one should also pair Claydol with Pokemon that really need Rapid Spin support. Yanmega, Darmanitan, and Zapdos are all weak to Stealth Rock and hence appreciate Claydol's support.

Rapid Spin is the most important move on the set, as it removes entry hazards that can be crippling for the rest of the Pokemon on your team; vice versa, Claydol can also cut opponents' lifespans short with its own Stealth Rock. Attacking moves are recommended in the last two slots as many OU Pokemon can cause Claydol trouble. The first of these should be a Ground-type STAB move, as Ground is an excellent attacking type and helps Claydol greatly against common Steel-types. Earthquake is usually the superior choice as it has a chance to OHKO Lucario and Infernape, as well as 2HKO Tyranitar and Jirachi, which Earth Power cannot do. However, Earth Power provides a guaranteed 2HKO on standard Choice Band Metagross, is not affected by Intimidate, and prevents the need for splitting EVs if you wish to run Ice Beam. There are a number of viable options in the last slot, but it is generally best to avoid splitting EVs as this reduces Claydol's already low offensive power. Thus, if using Earth Power, go for Ice Beam, and if running Earthquake, use Explosion. In general, Ice Beam is the best coverage option as it gives Claydol super effective coverage on not only the Grass- and Flying-types that resist or are immune to Ground, but also Dragon-types such as Dragonite and Flygon. However, it lacks power against foes it hits for neutral damage, such as Rotom-A. On the physical side, the option that most merits a mention is Explosion. This might seem ridiculous considering the fact that your opponent's first switch-in to Claydol is usually a Ghost-type, but it is by far Claydol's best way to deal significant damage. Explosion can create an important gap in the opponent's team, especially if it hits a bulky Water- or Grass-type, and also grants a free switch that could give you the opportunity to set up a sweep or regain momentum. Claydol is difficult to EV given its multiple traits and talents, and you will very rarely find Claydol that carry the same exact EVs. The 252 HP EVs grant Claydol optimum defenses, while the 144 Defense EVs ensure that it survives the 2HKO from Jolly Life Orb Mamoswine's Ice Shard as well as the OHKO from +2 Infernape's Fire Punch and Choice Band Machamp's Payback. 112 Attack EVs will let Earthquake OHKO Lucario and Infernape after Stealth Rock, 2HKO non-bulky Jirachi and Tyranitar, and add more sting to Explosion. If running a special set, 112 Special Attack EVs should be run instead to enable Claydol to always 2HKO 252/0 Metagross with Earth Power, and give Ice Beam a reasonable chance to OHKO 4/0 Flygon, as well as non-bulky Dragonite and 252/0 Gliscor after Stealth Rock.

Set Description Rapid Spin separates Claydol from the other Ground-types in OU, as spinning away Spikes is Claydol's main source of support for the team. STAB Earthquake can 2HKO Tyranitar, Jirachi, and most Metagross; additionally, Claydol can threaten Gengar if it dares to spinblock with its STAB Psychic, which can also be used to chip a Heracross or a Breloom attempting to switch in. Explosion gives Claydol some much-needed utility as a wallbreaker and also helps it to check offensive threats by preventing them from freely setting up in its face. In fact, every Pokemon that doesn't resist Explosion has to be fearful of its threat, including setup sweepers like Suicune and Snorlax, as well as walls like Blissey, Celebi, and Milotic and offensive threats like Zapdos, Moltres, and Salamence; however, make sure to use Explosion wisely against Spikes teams, because by losing your only spinner you will leave yourself open to common Spikes attackers such as Jolteon and Aerodactyl. Refresh is an alternative when Claydol is used on stall teams that can't make good use of Explosion, allowing it to spin safely against Toxic + Protect Skarmory without fear of getting poisoned and being very useful for pivoting into status spreaders like Toxic Blissey and Zapdos, as well as Body Slam Jirachi. Shadow Ball is an alternative to Psychic, as it hits opposing Claydol for super effective damage, but it fails to beat Will-O-Wisp Gengar; note that Refresh is not a reliable solution to the burn, as Gengar can pressure Claydol with Taunt. Claydol isn't normally very threatening, but this set is more offensively minded than others, with enough offensive investment to hurt key threats in OU such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi, and Gengar with its STAB attacks. 216 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature allow Claydol to always 2HKO maximum HP Tyranitar with Earthquake and hit hard with Explosion, while 32 Special Attack EVs guarantee the 2HKO of specially defensive Gengar in sand with Psychic. If using Shadow Ball instead of Psychic, one should put the Special Attack EVs in Attack for even greater damage output. Alternatively, Claydol can run a faster spread of 28 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 232 Spe; this is more suited for offensive teams that want to outspeed and cripple offensive Swampert and maximum Speed Tyranitar. Another common spread for Claydol is 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD with a Relaxed nature, which maximizes Claydol's resilience as a pivot into physical threats like Tyranitar and Aerodactyl; note that you should always pair this Claydol with Dugtrio, as otherwise Pursuit Tyranitar can be a problem. It's important to preserve Claydol's health as much as possible, taking advantage of its resistances and immunities in order to spin multiple times throughout the game. Note that because Taunt + Toxic or Drill Peck Skarmory will eventually force Claydol out, one should not attempt to switch Claydol in on Skarmory to spin a single layer of Spikes, unless Skarmory runs Toxic + Protect and Claydol runs Refresh or Skarmory is seeded or burned. In circumstances where Skarmory will eventually force out Claydol, one should instead send it in only to spin away two or three layers of Spikes. Team Options Claydol is featured as a spinner on stall teams that are frequently running the tried-and-true SkarmBliss defensive core; Claydol's Rock resistance is very helpful because it lets the team forgo Swampert as the default bulky Water-type, freeing up the slot for Milotic or Suicune. This setup of Claydol + Water-type is very sturdy against all sorts of mixed attackers and is still solid against all Dragon Dance Tyranitar variants. Most often these teams feature Tyranitar to set sand, although this compromises Suicune's and Milotic's bulk. On these stall teams Claydol really enjoys being paired with Dugtrio, as the combined effort of the two manages to take on even Hidden Power Bug versions of Dragon Dance Tyranitar more easily; Dugtrio is also important to trap and revenge kill Heracross, as Claydol stall teams tend to be very weak to it. Wish support from Blissey, Jirachi, or Vaporeon is greatly appreciated, as it allows Claydol to absorb more damage and survive longer throughout the game. Heal Bell support is also sometimes seen, allowing Claydol to ditch Refresh. Claydol is also featured on teams that are trying to set up a bulky sweeper that will cleave through the opposition with the right support. The most common bulky sweepers paired with Claydol are Curse Snorlax, Calm Mind + Rest Suicune, and Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi. All these threats like having Claydol as a partner because of their shared weakness to Spikes, which will slowly compromise their bulk and consequently their ability to sweep. On teams with Curse Snorlax, Claydol is always paired with Magneton, as the removal of Skarmory is necessary for Snorlax to sweep. The removal of Skarmory as a Spiker is also nice to make sure that Claydol can spin freely without fearing that Skarmory will set up Spikes again. Magneton also helps Claydol by trapping Forretress, which otherwise can be a real nuisance, especially if it's packing Hidden Power Bug. When Claydol is paired with Dugtrio, which can trap Tyranitar and Metagross, Curse Snorlax tends to run Shadow Ball as its coverage move; alternatively, when Claydol is paired with a Pursuit trapper to trap Gengar, Snorlax can ditch Shadow Ball in favor of Earthquake or Hidden Power Bug, and Claydol can spin more freely without the threat of Gengar spinblocking it. Besides spinning, Claydol provides a much-needed Rock-type resistance, as Magneton doesn't really count for this, and a Ground immunity, as most of its partners are grounded and vulnerable to Earthquake spam. Claydol teams supporting Calm Mind + Rest Suicune work very similarly; Claydol still enjoys being paired with Magneton, as Skarmory's phazing can be very annoying, but it also likes being paired with Dugtrio, as it allows Suicune to stay healthy for the end-game without having to take on Tyranitar and Metagross and helps deal with Celebi and Blissey so that Suicune is no longer walled. Claydol can also support Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi; this time it doesn't get paired with Magneton, as the team has enough special offense to take it on. Dugtrio, on the other hand, is a good partner, as Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi struggles against Tyranitar and Metagross. Alternatively, Skarmory can lay Spikes to help wear down Tyranitar and Metagross over the course of the game. When Claydol is supporting Curse Snorlax or Calm Mind + Rest Suicune, it doesn't generally pair with Tyranitar, as sand cancelling Leftovers of the bulky sweepers drastically reduces their longevity; for this reason, a weather-changing move is sometimes slotted on one of the team members—Rain Dance on Magneton, for example. Finally, it's worth noting that these archetypes tend to struggle against Cloyster, since it cannot be trapped by Magneton and threatens Claydol when it tries to spin. As far as offensive teams go, Claydol can sometimes fit on mixed offense, where it provides Rapid Spin support for its teammates and is chosen as a spinner over Starmie because of its strong Explosion and helpful Rock resistance. This archetype is often referred to as "Skarm beatdown" because it is trying to lure in Skarmory, bring it down with repeated chip damage, then spin away its remaining Spikes. Given the higher pace of play, Claydol tends to run a more offensive spread with more Speed EVs over bulk, with the intention of spinning only once throughout the game. Common partners in this archetype are mixed Metagross, mixed Salamence, Focus Punch Snorlax, offensive Celebi, Zapdos, offensive Suicune, and Dragon Dance Tyranitar. Here Claydol serves as a good defensive pivot with its Rock, Ground, and Electric resistances, as well as a wallbreaker with its powerful Explosion; this is very important because it allows Claydol to threaten common walls like Celebi, Blissey, and Milotic, which are all very difficult to deal otherwise. Since the roles of wallbreaker, defensive pivot, and spinner are all compressed into one, Claydol benefits greatly from Pursuit support, as it allows Claydol to perform its roles better in the face of a Gengar. Pursuit Metagross is a good option that puts Gengar in range of Claydol's Psychic while still having a good offensive presence compared to Pursuit Tyranitar.