Palossand [QC 0/3]

[OVERVIEW]

* Palossand is a decent physical wall in the NU tier thanks to its good physical defensive stats as well as its potent defensive typing.
* It brings good utility to its team in the form of Stealth Rock.
* Palossand should be used for its ability to check Fighting- and Rock-types, it can also act as a decent Heliolisk check, although it does have to be wary of Surf.
* Due to Palossand's naturally high Special Attack stat it is not too passive, despite being used as a wall.
* Unfortunately, Palossand is a rather poor spinblocker due to its bad matchup against most Rapid Spinners, it also has a poor matchup against most Defoggers like Sigilyph, Xatu, and Whimsicott, although it can take the former two on by hitting them with Shadow Ball on the turn they may switch in expecting Stealth Rock.
* While Palossand's physical bulk may be good it has rather lackluster specially defensive bulk, and thus gets overwhelmed by special attackers a lot easier.
* While Palossand's typing may bring a couple of good resistances with it it also brings lot of weaknesses with it, especially to common types like Ice, Dark, Ghost, Grass, and Water, this means it's weak to Pokemon like Sneasel, Guzzlord, Mismagius, Virizion, and Slowbro, for example.

[SET]
name: Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Shore Up
move 4: Shadow Ball / Toxic
item: Colbur Berry
ability: Water Compaction
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Due to Palossand's excellent defensive typing along with its access to reliable recovery means it's a very effective Stealth Rock setter. It also helps Palossand wear down opposing Pokemon that switch in, and chip them down for a teammate.
* Earth Power helps Palossand deal with Steel-, Poison, and Fire-types like Steelix, Garbodor, and Emboar.
* Shore Up helps Palossand stay healthy throughout the match and lets it take advantage of Pokemon that can't touch it, like Passimian and Garbodor.
* Shadow Ball allows Palossand to bypass Xatu, as well as act as a better check to Magnet Rise Klinklang.
* Toxic can be used instead of Shadow Ball to cripple walls like Slowbro and Slowking, it also helps in the process of wearing down Pokemon like Emboar, Delphox, Druddigon, and Hitmonlee

Set Details
========

* Maximum HP investment in conjunction with Maximum Defense investment and a Bold nature is needed for Palossand to take physical hits well.
* A Colbur Berry is used for Palossand to take Dark-type hits better, it's especially useful to escape Pursuit trappers like Sneasel and Spiritomb, but also allows Palossand to take on Knock Off users better.
* Ghostium Z is another option as it weakens Knock Off and serves as a powerful nuke, turning Shadow Ball into a 160 Base Power Never-Ending Nightmare.
* Leftovers can also be used to recover health and stay healthier throughout the match, although this does mean Palossand is susceptible to Pursuit
trappers and Knock Off users.
* Water Compaction is Palossand's best ability and means its Defense stat is raised by one stage every time it gets hit by a Water-type move.

Usage Tips
========

* Palossand can be used to pivot into strong physical attacks from Pokemon like Emboar, Druddigon, Zangoose, and Rhydon, it can also switch into the many Fighting-types thanks to its typing; pivoting into these Pokemon with Palossand allows it to force a switch and potentially set up Stealth Rock on that turn.
* Palossand can also punish potential switch-ins by using Toxic, this allows it to set the opposing Pokemon on a timer and wear it down.
* If the opposing team has a Xatu it is useful for Palossand to predict Xatu's switch in and use Shadow Ball, instead of Toxic or Stealth Rock
* Use Palossand to take on other hazard setters like Garbodor, Steelix, and Rhydon; this is a unique trait that sets Palossand apart from other hazard setters.

Team Options
========

* Palossand can be a valuable asset to balance and bulky offense teams that are weak to Fighting- and Rock- types like Passimian, Medicham, Sawk, and Rhydon.
* Palossand can check Rock- and Fighting-types, thus Pokemon that are weak to the aforementioned types, such as Klinklang, Braviary, and Swords Dance Rhydon greatly appreciate Palossand on their team.
* Pokemon that appreciate Stealth Rock support like Delphox, Klinklang, and Virizion appreciate Palossand's ability to set up Stealth Rock as it lets them achieve quite a few additional KOes.
* Palossand fails to pressure hazard removers itself and thus Pokemon that can pressure hazard removers like Sneasel, Vanilluxe, and Type: Null are very appreciated.
* Palossand is prone to getting Pursuit trapped and thus Fairy-types like Whimiscott and Mega Audino that can take on Pursuit trappers like Sneasel and Spiritomb are great additions to Palossand's team.
* Entry hazards tend to wear down Palossand fast, Toxic Spikes in particular, this makes entry hazard removal from Pokemon like Whimsicott, Sigilyph, and Silvally-Steel greatly appreciated; Silvally-Steel in particular benefits from Palossand's ability to pivot into Fighting-type Pokemon.
* Clerics that can remove status ailments like Mega Audino and Vaporeon heavily benefit Palossand as it gets worn down by Toxic very fast.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Palossand can utilize Giga Drain to beat Water-types that may try to switch in and capitalize on it, such as Samurott and Silvally-Water, but this does mean that it has to give up on one of its support moves, which it generally doesn't want to do.
* It is possible to use Palossand to sweep with Rock Polish and Weakness Policy, although, it misses out on critical team support options and is eclipsed by other set up sweepers.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Water-types**: Water-types like Slowbro, Samurott, Slowking, and Vaporeon can easily threaten Palossand with their super effective STAB moves, and Palossand, although Slowbro and Slowking are threatened by Shadow Ball, Palossand fails to threaten Samurott and Vaporeon, unless it's running Toxic, which is heavily out of favor. Silvally-Water is especially a notable threat as it can Defog away the Stealth Rock that Palossand may have set up and beat it in a one-on-one situation, Silvally-Water must however watch out for both Toxic as well as Never-Ending Nightmare.

**Grass-types**: Whimsicott, Virizion, and Sceptile are capable of threatening Palossand with their respective STAB moves, Virizion in particular is threatening as it can set up with Swords Dance on Palossand without much opportunity cost. Similarly, Venusaur can set up on Palossand with Z-Celebrate and can't be affected by Toxic, making it a very potent check.

**Ice-types**: Ice-type Pokemon like Sneasel, Vaniluxxe, and Cryogonal can safely switch into Palossand's attacks and can KO or force Palossand out with ease, Cryogonal, however, does not like to take a Toxic, and thus should be wary of it. Jynx, albeit rare, can threaten Palossand with both of its STAB moves and can potentially set up on Palossand if it runs Substitute.

**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Mismagius, Rotom, and Haunter can threat Palossand, if Palossand is lacking Shadow Ball they can easily abuse it, as they don't care much about Toxic.

**Hazard Removers With Super Effective Coverage**: Pokemon that can remove hazards like Cryogonal, Sigilyph, Xatu, and Whimsicott can threaten Palossand with their super effective attacks, and thus completely deter Palossand from setting up Stealth Rock effectively.

**Dark-types**: Sneasel and Guzzlord can threaten Palossand with their respective STAB moves and inflict great damage to Palossand, although this damage is minimized if Palossand is utilizing a Colbur Berry.

**Special Attackers**: Due to Palossand's relatively sub-par Special Defense stat it can get overwhelmed by special attackers like Delphox, Mesprit, and Vikavolt very easily, as it does not boast the tools to beat them.
 
Last edited:
Eternally dropping because of how god awful this mon really is, if anybody ever wants to write on this they can use this skeleton, i dont need credits.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top