June 26 2010-Ludicolo

Ahh, Ludicolo, the Mexican rather racist and stereotypical sombrero we all love (or hate) depending on the side of the field he is on. Cool art, excellent typing and ability that complement perfectly his rather modest move pool would seem like enough to make him OU, however, the presence of stronger Special Sweepers who require less support, the increased amount of sweepers with high speeds, the presence of Celebi and before going to Ubers, Latias made Ludicolo unable to get out of UU during gen IV, however, this doesnt mean he is useless in OU, he can be as good as a wall breaker as Mixmence, provided he receives the proper support. Without further ado, here is the POTW - Ludicolo


Rain Dance Sweeper
252 Sp Atk / 252 Spe / 4Def
Modest/Timid
Life Orb/Leftovers/ Damp Rock
Swift Swim

Surf
Energy Ball/Grass Knot
Ice Beam
Rain Dance

What? Come on, you cant tell me you didn't see this set coming. Of all the Ludicolo sets, this is the one you'll see the most, and with a good reason, of course, Ludicolo's rather lacking move pool is one of those, but with the moves he has access to, he gets perfect neutral coverage except for Shedinja, who will die to SR/Spikes/SS/Toxic/Burn anyways.
The item choice is entirely up to you, Life Orb can grant some useful 2HKOs, while Leftovers simply grants a bit of bulk. Damp Rock should be used exclusively if Ludicolo will be your only Pokemon with Rain Dance.
Something to keep in mind in both, OU and UU is that Ludicolo's success is based in big part to the Rain, so you gotta make sure of getting Tyranitar and Hippowdon out of the way before sweeping with Ludicolo, as not only does the lack of Rain reduce his speed to abysmal levels(by OU Standars) but the presence of Sandstorm hurt him.

The EVs can be played around with, for example, in UU a spread of 112 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe allows you to outspeed Modest Choice scarf Rotom under the rain, have max Special Attack, an HP of 329(rounding down LO damage if you choose to use it) and have 1 extra special defense point. In OU, the EVs are a bit more simple, as there are only a few milestones you should aim for, for example 209 speed, which allows you to out speed all ScarfTrans under the Rain, 255 Spd, to outrun +1 Base 100(namely DD Mence) and ScarfRachi, or simply go with the spread above to tie with Breloom, Metagross and other base 70s.

In OU, you can run HP Electric over Rain Dance if so you wish, however, keep in mind that SR hits Gyarados for 25% damage, thus assuring the 2HKO on even the RestTalker set if SR are up with Energy Ball(and Grass Knot, once again, if you choose to use it)

SD Sweeper
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Adamant/Jolly
Life Orb/Leftovers
Swift Swim

Sword Dance
Waterfall
Seed Bomb
Ice Punch/Thunderpunch

While physically mediocre, and usually being better off using his special sweeping sets, Sword Dance Ludicolo has an undeniably surprise factor little Pokemon have. The basic idea of the set is to switch into something Ludicolo will scare(Water/Ground and Rock/Ground types are the perfect example) and Sword Dance on the switch. If you are lucky, and your opponents switches to a Special Wall, such as Blissey, Chansey or others, you can choose whether to risk yourself and go for the second Sword Dance and hopefully start one of the most humiliating sweeps for your opponent, or simply go for the Waterfall and OHKO both, Blissey and Chansey as long as you are under the rain.

As with any physical sweeper, Ludicolo enjoys the presence of entry hazards, and, due to his inability to set up both SR and RD, he needs partners to do the job, making both Kabutops and Uxie excellent partners. Kabutops can take advantage of the Rain, and set up Stealth Rock itself, while Uxie can provide a bulky lead, who can also take some hits Ludicolo would hate.

Choice Specs
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Modest/Timid
Choice Specs

Hydro Pump
Surf
Ice Beam
Energy Ball

While other Ludicolo sets focus on Sweeping, this one is more focused on Wall Breaking, hitting like a truck as soon as it comes out, the sheer power of Choice Specs Ludicolo make this even resistant to its hits run in fear, for example, both, Defensive Dragon Dancer Altaria gets 2HKOd with Stealth Rock damage by a Rain Dance, Choice Specs Hydro Pump, assuming you use a Modest Nature, while Registeel only has a slim chance of surviving 2 if using Leftovers(and that if he doesn't have either SR or Spikes damage).
Hydro Pump is the superior choice early game, when you know that, no matter what it hits, it will hurt, even when resisted. Surf is better off used in the late game, when you have information about the opponent`s team, and they are generally weak enough to get OHKO or 2HKO by a Rain boosted Surf.

Subseeder
Calm
40 Def / 216 SpDef / 252 Spe
Rain Dish/Swift Swim

Leech Seed
Substitute
Protect
Ice Beam

And finally a small set Shnoogle had the kindness to test. Subseeder Ludicolo, while at first sight seeming like an inferior Sceptile or Venasaur, has many things going for it, neutrality to fire and Psychic, access to Ice Beam, an ability that basically grants him a second Leftovers, and weaknesses only to extremely rare types, Flying, Poison, and Bug. While the lack of a STAB move can seem disappointing, there is no need for one, as the Pokémon who don't get hit by Leech Seed are hit for SE damage by Ice Beam, something neither Surf nor Energy Ball can accomplish
A lot of Ludicolo sets run Swift Swim, and for a good reason, as the improved speed grants him a lot of advantages, but Rain Dish is superior option in this case, as Ludicolo isn't looking to sweep, but to stall(and to a degree, annoy) and thus prefers the extra recovery Rain Dish grants

Yay the first one if up

Haha idk what was up with my computer at 3:14 (lol it's pi)

Tell me if you like the layout of the stuff and what I should change next time, too

Ooo narrated, that is a nice touch. All I would say is to maybe make the font on the video a bit bigger. Apart from that, promising start. Have a 7.

Note: Watch for typos, I can see some.

oniongravy64 wrote:

Ooo narrated, that is a nice touch. All I would say is to maybe make the font on the video a bit bigger. Apart from that, promising start. Have a 7.

Note: Watch for typos, I can see some.

AAk where are they? That's weird because my computer should have underlined misspelled words...

And
yeah, the reason the font is a little small (I think you mean the OU
Special Sweeper Set) is because when I tried to do this in iMovie it
zoomed in the PowerPoint slides for some reason, so I made them smaller
so no one would notice... I didn't put it back large enough when I
started using Camtasia

Haha I accidentally edited you post when I meant to click quote... lol not used to these mod powers =P

EDIT: I just checked my PowerPoint file and everything was spelled correctly. If you are referring to Thunderpunch, it is spelled like that in game... there is no space

Shnoogle wrote:

oniongravy64 wrote:

Ooo narrated, that is a nice touch. All I would say is to maybe make the font on the video a bit bigger. Apart from that, promising start. Have a 7.

Note: Watch for typos, I can see some.

AAk where are they? That's weird because my computer should have underlined misspelled words...

And
yeah, the reason the font is a little small (I think you mean the OU
Special Sweeper Set) is because when I tried to do this in iMovie it
zoomed in the PowerPoint slides for some reason, so I made them smaller
so no one would notice... I didn't put it back large enough when I
started using Camtasia

Haha I accidentally edited you post when I meant to click quote... lol not used to these mod powers =P

EDIT: I just checked my PowerPoint file and everything was spelled correctly. If you are referring to Thunderpunch, it is spelled like that in game... there is no space

Same happened to me

I think he refers to my write-ups

Gir wrote:

Shnoogle wrote:

oniongravy64 wrote:

Ooo narrated, that is a nice touch. All I would say is to maybe make the font on the video a bit bigger. Apart from that, promising start. Have a 7.

Note: Watch for typos, I can see some.

AAk where are they? That's weird because my computer should have underlined misspelled words...

And
yeah, the reason the font is a little small (I think you mean the OU
Special Sweeper Set) is because when I tried to do this in iMovie it
zoomed in the PowerPoint slides for some reason, so I made them smaller
so no one would notice... I didn't put it back large enough when I
started using Camtasia

Haha I accidentally edited you post when I meant to click quote... lol not used to these mod powers =P

EDIT: I just checked my PowerPoint file and everything was spelled correctly. If you are referring to Thunderpunch, it is spelled like that in game... there is no space

Same happened to me

I think he refers to my write-ups

Indeed I am. Powerpoint spelling-wise looks bulletproof to me.

heh, i commented on the video itself and was the very first view! ill say it again anyway nice job!

dragonmxz wrote:

heh, i commented on the video itself and was the very first view! ill say it again anyway nice job!

lol I know... I have many more subscribers now than I did b4 lol... I had 0 now 7 Not a lot, but 700% more than before

EDIT: Made some grammar changes, Gir, lol... Not tons, but it's better now

Shnoogle wrote:

dragonmxz wrote:

heh, i commented on the video itself and was the very first view! ill say it again anyway nice job!

lol I know... I have many more subscribers now than I did b4 lol... I had 0 now 7 Not a lot, but 700% more than before

800% now

mrcatz wrote:

Shnoogle wrote:

dragonmxz wrote:

heh, i commented on the video itself and was the very first view! ill say it again anyway nice job!

lol I know... I have many more subscribers now than I did b4 lol... I had 0 now 7 Not a lot, but 700% more than before

800% now

Sweeeet lol thanks