Samurott, The Formidable Pokémon. One swing of the sword incorporated in its armor can fell an opponent. A simple glare from one of them quiets everybody. Part of the armor on its anterior legs becomes a giant sword. Its cry alone is enough to intimidate most enemies.

Overview

Samurott looks like a pretty strong Pokémon, and was my favourite final form for a long time. I dunno, the big spike, the colours, the way it stands, it just seems like it'd be powerful. This is true... to an extent. Samurott has nice Attack and Special Attack, and really bad Speed. It has alright HP, but the defences are subpar. It has some good moves, but misses out on ones I feel it should get. All in all, Samurott is... meh. It's no Swampert in terms of bulk, no Feraligatr in regards to dealing damage, and definitely no Empoleon when it comes to sweeping everything. It definitely drew the short straw when abilities were being handed out though. Like every other Water starter, it gets Torrent. That's fine, but for its Dream World ability it gets Shell Armor? What a letdown.

Abilities

Torrent: In a pinch, your Water attacks do an extra 1.5x damage. It's alright, nothing special without the set being based around it.
Shell Armor: it gets more use than Torrent. You can't be hit with critical hits, which is nice and all, but doesn't really improve Samurott in any way. .

Movesets

Shell Dance

- Swords Dance
- Waterfall / Razor Shell / Aqua Jet
- Megahorn / X-Scissor
- Night Slash / Return
Item Attached: Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Torrent / Shell Armour
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Swords Dance boosts your sort of nice Attack up to a high level, leaving you with three attacking moves to use it with. Waterfall is the most reliable Water move in the game, and can flinch. Razor Shell can lower the opponent's Defence by 1 stage, which is nice, but it has less power and accuracy than Waterfall. Aqua Jet gets priority and bypasses Samurott's Speed, which is nice. Megahorn is a really good move with an awesome name, and it stops bulky Grass type from walling you. X-Scissor is usable, but Megahorn's power, in my opinion, outweighs the lesser accuracy. Night Slash murders Jellicent, which you really, really want to do. Return gets the cool Water/Normal offensive combo, which is all good. Life Orb means more damage, which is more important than getting a little health back from Leftovers.

Specurott

- Surf / Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent / Shell Armour
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Surf is pretty much the best Water move, although if you're like me, you'll go for way more power and a little less accuracy, which is why Hydro Pump is there. Ice Beam combos with Water and hits Grass and Dragon Pokémon way harder than your Water move will. Grass Knot hits Water Pokémon hard, which will love to come in and wall you. Hidden Power [Fire] stops Ferrothorn, which is the worst nightmare of pretty much every Water type in the game.

Support shell... thing

- Taunt / Toxic
- Encore / Toxic
- Scald
- Grass Knot / Ice Beam / Dragon Tail
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armour
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

Taunt stops your opponent from setting up or healing, which is always useful. Encore forces your opponent to do something they likely don't want to do. Both of these moves work well with entry hazards and Toxic, which does more damage the more turns it exists. Scald inflicts burn on occasion and is sort of strong as an attack anyway. Grass Knot helps break down Water Pokémon, and Ice Beam works well against Grass and Dragon Pokémon. Dragon Tail forces switches, and considering the opponent will want to switch a lot due to Taunt, Toxic and Encore, you can inflict some serious damage with entry hazards.

Berry sweep

- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall / Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Item Attached: Salac Berry / Liechi Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

Substitute is here to get down to berry range. Swords Dance gives you a huge boost, which on top of your berry boost is awesome. Waterfall hits hard and works well with Salac Berry due to the flinch. Aqua Jet is a bit wasted with Salac Berry, but if you run Liechi Berry it might be worth it. Megahorn is the best move you have for the final slot.

EVs & Natures

Shell Dance
Max Attack and max Speed keeps Samurott at max offensive potential. You could run Jolly but... Adamant is better.

Specurott
Exactly the same as the physical set, just... special.

Support shell... thing
Max HP gives you huge bulk, at least in terms of HP. 176 Defence gives you a jump point and a nice stat. You could run max, but I like Scald being able to deal some damage.

Berry sweep
4 HP thankfully makes your HP divisible by 4, meaning you can make 3 Substitutes and get down to 25% for the berry boost.

Other Options

Aqua Tail, Assurance, Choice Band, Rest, Revenge
Aqua Tail hits harder than Waterfall... but it has no secondary effect, and isn't 100% accurate.
Assurance... is a physical attack. Yeah, Samurott doesn't have many options.
Choice Band gives you some instant threatening power, although it doesn't really have many moves outside of Megahorn, Water move, Normal move.
Rest heals your health and status. It's useful, but with no Sleep Talk it's a bit too risky in my opinion.
Revenge is a Fighting attack but isn't exactly that strong.

Double & Triple Battle Options

Compared to every other Water Pokémon, Samurott has little going for it. Seaking has Swift Swim which makes it a better Water type with Megahorn. Samurott can use Water Pledge with a Fire starter. It has alright Special Attack so it can use Surf, which is all good. I dunno... it is hardly strong enough to deal serious damage, and definitely not bulky enough to be worth it to stall.

Partners

Lightningrod Zapdos is a great partner. Beats bulky Waters, takes Grass and Electric hits well, a great partner. Magnezone also works well. Samurott is just a standard Water Pokémon. Politoed makes for constant rain which means more damage, just watch out for Thunder. Grass types help with taking Electric and Grass attacks. Pair it up with a Dragon and take the Ice attacks for it whilst it takes the Grass moves aimed at you. As I said, Samurott is a generic Water Pokémon. Anything that works with other Water Pokémon is pretty much guaranteed to work with Samurott.

Countering Samurott

Hardly dangerous, hardly bulky, Samurott is not hard to counter. Bulky Waters make for great counters, but can't do too much back. If you can avoid Megahorn, bulky Grass types work really well. Tentacruel, Empoleon, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Jellicent, Suicune, and Rotom-W are some notable Pokémon. Dragon Pokémon work well, as long as they don't get hit with Ice Beam. Samurott is so friggin' generic as a Pokémon, it really isn't hard to counter. Standard walls work great. Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Poliwrath, Forretress, the list is practically endless. I could list more, but is it needed? It's such a shame Samurott is so ineffective, as its design really is cool. I wish it got Earthquake and Shell Smash.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game.

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game.

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game.

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game.

Black/White:
Evolve Dewott

Animé Appearences

At time of writing, Samurott has yet to appear in the anime. # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics M14 White: Victini & Zekrom Victini & The Black Hero: Zekrom Pics M14 Black: Victini & Reshiram Victini & The White Hero: Reshiram Pics S28 TBC Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 Introduction Pics 755 The Road to Humilau Humilau Gym Battle! Mantine VS Samurott Pics 765 Mission: Defeat Your Rival! Fierce Fighting! Win Your Way Through the Rival Battles!! Pics 768 Cameron's Secret Weapon! Ash VS Cameron! The Hydreigon Secret Weapon!! Pics 769 A Unova League Evolution Unova League Conclusion! Lucario VS Pikachu!! Pics 1228 Must Be Our Heroes and the Witch! Brock, Cilan and the Forest Witch! Pics