Project BDSP OU Research Week

Cloyster:
I've been playing a lot of gsc recently, so I was interested to see how well Cloyster functioned as a spikes setter, as unlike Roserade (or Forretress ig), things like defog Scizor can't switch in so freely, and it can force a lot of switches as your opponent has to be wary of Shell Smash, so you have a lot of opportunities to get spikes up. I don't think there is significant opportunity cost to not running shell smash, as a lot of teams will check Cloyster easily, e.g Clefable will annoy it, Washtom outspeeds with scarf (and most scarfers in general), Milotic will sit on it, not to mention priority spam, all of which have to be dealt with before you can start to dent the opposing team. So my reasoning was by the time you have the right conditions to sweep, you've pretty much already won the game as 1-2 defensive mons are down, so Shell Smash is more of a win more kind of move.
:gs/cloyster:
Set:
Chillliwack (Cloyster) @ Hard Stone/Leftovers
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Spikes
- Ice Shard
- Rock Blast
- Icicle Spear/Surf
I found bulk to be more important than speed, so I maxed HP, as Cloyster only hits 239 speed with a neutral nature, so the only relevant outspeeds are Azu, Daunt, Defensive Rotom-W, and I think the ability to tank a hit from almost any physical attacker from full is more important.
Note in the replays I was using Surf and a Naughty nature with 8 EVs in SpA, with the idea being to hit Forretress and Donphan harder, that said when I actually did some calcs, Icicle Spear does more to Donphan (and gives 2HKOs on Clef+Tang), but then Forretress can come in safely (5HKOd from Rock Blast while 3HKOd from Surf). So at the cost of one fringe spinner being able to switch in you can hit much more so I think Icicle Spear is the better 4th move.

Hard Stone gives a 2HKO on Starmie and a chance to 2HKO of Scizor after rocks
252+ Atk Hard Stone Cloyster Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Starmie: 170-200 (52.4 - 61.7%) -- approx. 2HKO
252+ Atk Hard Stone Cloyster Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Scizor: 145-175 (42.2 - 51%) -- approx. 25.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Pros:
- Switches into Gliscor well and threatens it out, letting you set up a spike or get chip
- Can stay in vs most physical attackers, even Staraptor can't kill from full 252+ Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 244-288 (80.2 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- Threatens switches with Shell Smash so can set up spikes easily
- The only defogger/spinner that can switch into either surf/spear Cloyster is Empoleon, making it very effective and consistent at setting up hazards
- Brings priority can revenge kill physical attackers easily

Cons:
- SR weak, so have to run Donphan to not have too much waters
- while can get up a spike easily, many times may be better to click an attacking move
- threatened out by every special attacker
- despite massive physical bulk, doesn't switch in easily to physical attackers due to SR, or most of them having a pivot move

as of Monday
rw3.JPG

Team:
I used the same team for the whole challenge, i found it pretty fun to use, and relatively consistent as GXE is around the same as my main.
https://pokepast.es/c0a9ecf8f740dac9
The team is built around spikes stack (Cloyster) with modest Latias, which only misses out on outspeeding Garchomp and Infernape, but double Ice Shard lets you get rid of chomp easily, while Infernape tends to chip itself down. Idea is Roaring with hazards up lets Latias's checks get chipped, and threatens 50/50s, as often only 1 mon per team can shrug off psychic/draco, while a non-roar set would be hard walled by something like Blissey (not too dissimilar from Roar Raikou in gsc). Scarf ape adds needed speed, while threatening Latias's checks. Wish Jirachi and Washtom make a nice defensive core, giving the team more longevity in slower games. Donphan is the spinner+volt blocker, with 16 speed evs to outspeed daunt at +1.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576286016 Here's cloyster switching into pivoting scizor easily, letting Washtom preserve health for feraligator, also shows scizor getting 2HKOd by cloyster from 80%, and surf coming into play (if it were icicle spear it would have OHKOd)

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576269762 here cloyster heavily chips scizor, which expected a shell smash, tanks outrage from chomp at ~70% and chips washtom and roserade heavily- all of this would be possible without shell smash, so shows a scenario where it wasn't necessary

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1575774659 Cloyster tanking staraptor, which is pain for slower teams

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576391674 heres an example of roar latias in action vs blissey and clef, while I was outplayed, would have had better odds if i dracoed the tang, modest soul dew OHKOs

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576428039 cloyster tanking band outrage from Dragonite, as able to bluff Shell Smash

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576429697 heres another situation where icicle spear would be better, as lets it ohko gliscor

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576440165-vzdtqwlaxkxi6l5eo50wzbeq9knbtptpw another situation where cloyster is effective without shell smash

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1576380258-w7vwfmdrotjfl0dlcpmhu87gau58s4tpw cloyster being able to remove chomp in endgame, making up for modest latios

Conclusion:
Non-Shell Smash Cloyster is effective in BDSP OU, it still being able to function as an offensive threat, while offering additional support in the form of Spikes. While Shell Smash probably has its place, it think its harder to justify using a rocks weak water over another water breaker, as Crawdaunt is stronger, Azu is less weak to priority, etc. In practice, I find Cloyster much easier to set Spikes with than Roserade, and has more of an offensive presence, being able to chip heavily whatever comes in (ig Poliwrath and Slowbro tank it pretty well). Overall, I would recommend Cloyster as another option for spikes teams that are already using Roserade, though you do have to be wary of the weakness to Breloom that it opens up.
 
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blooclipse

formerly Bluecliqse
:ss/cloyster:
Cloyster @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
Basically just the SS OU shell smash cloyster. Nothing special. Max Atk and Spe to be able to clean or wallbreak effectively. The Jolly nature is to outspeed most scarfers at +2. Since I'm not super creative i just used the cookie-cutter shell smash cloyster set.
Icicle Spear and Razor Shell have good coverage together, and Rock Blast is a very good coverage move to go alongside them to hit water types and other ice + water resistant mons.
This Cloyster plays as a cleaner. Using its okay attack and good speed after a boost, it can easily clean weakened teams after it smashes. It has a lot of good attributes, but also a lot of downfalls.

PROS
- Can easily clean weakened teams
- Has priority if you want to use it
- Uses a multi-hit move as its stab which breaks sashes.
- Good STAB Combo
- Can outspeed most scarfers if running Jolly
-
CONS
- SR weak
- Can come a bit short of some KOs
- Runs in fear of every single Special attacker
- Can't setup on anything with a coverage move for it
- Crumples to a lot of super effective hits
- Too slow if running adamant even at +2

(https://pokepast.es/5a1d37fa9114cb20 and https://pokepast.es/f08a711da16667ca teams used)
The team I used is a modified HO sample team with Cloyster. I was thinking of building a balance team with cloyster as a dedicated cleaner, but I thought better of it and just decided to use an HO team.


In conclusion, Shell Smash Cloyster is an okay mon. It can fit on certain HO teams and can fit on more balanced team as a dedicated cleaner. It can have good defensive/offensive utility in STAB ice shard, and also has an okay defensive profile with its sky-high defense. Its stealth rock weakness and reliance on a boosting move can hold it back, but when it gets a smash up, it can threaten a lot with only a few moves.
 
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