Crawdaunt, the Rogue Pokémon. Loving to battle, this Pokémon pinches all Pokémon that enter its territory with its pincers and throws them out. A rough customer that wildly flails its giant claws. It is said to be extremely hard to raise.
Overview
The more things change the more they stay the same is quite apt for Crawdaunt. For power is the name of Crawdaunt’s game and Crawdaunt does power quite well. This may be surprising when looking at Crawdaunt’s Attack, a solid Base 120, but nowhere near the reputation Crawdaunt has garnered for itself. This changes with Adapatability. The power boost from Adaptability cannot be understated to the point that even physically bulky walls struggle to switch into Crawdaunt safely just due to the sheer power of Adaptability Crawdaunt. Knock Off is already difficult enough to switch into for most Pokémon from the sheer utility of item removal, but in Crawdaunt’s claws, it is a tool of mass destruction, picking up OHKOs from even decently bulky Pokémon like Rotom-Mow, Slowbro, and Regidrago. Combined with the wide coverage from Crawdaunt’s Water STAB and there is little that Crawdaunt does not directly threaten. Add in Aqua Jet for picking off faster attackers and Close Combat to cover Fighting weak walls like Cloyster, and there is very little that Crawdaunt does not offensively threaten with its big meaty claws.
However, power is all that Crawdaunt has. 63 HP is rather poor to begin with but with Base 55 Special Defense, Crawdaunt struggles to take any special attack. Crawdaunt’s typing makes its defensive woes even worse, with common Electric, Grass, Fighting, Fairy and U-Turn weaknesses adding up to the point that almost as many Pokémon threaten Crawdaunt as Crawdaunt threatens with its own offense. Base 55 Speed should be a death knell for Crawdaunt, having it outsped by a majority of Pokémon, making it difficult for Crawdaunt to even exercise its offense. Adaptability also makes Crawdaunt rather predictable, to the point of being Terastalization adverse due to losing out on the Adaptability boost from whatever type it is not terstalized into. However, Crawdaunt avoids going the way of fellow crustacean Crabominable thanks to the numerous resistances offered by its typing, and its salvageable Defense. Crawdaunt is an exercise in managing its frailty in order to utilize its overwhelming power but pays off dividends for the trainers willing to shell out for such a task.
Positives
Base 120 Attack is solid and Crawdaunt can easily push it higher with Swords Dance or Dragon Dance.
Adaptability is an absurd ability that pushes Crawdaunt’s power through the roof and it has the STABs to abuse it with Crabhammer, Aqua Jet and Knock Off.
Water Dark typing provides wide coverage offensively and a myriad of resistances for Crawdaunt to enjoy.
Negatives
Water Dark typing is plagued by just as many weaknesses, lessening its defensive utility.
Base 63 HP makes tanking any attack difficult and 55 Special Defense gives Crawdaunt abysmal special bulk.
Base 55 Speed leaves Crawdaunt outsped by most Pokémon, leaving it reliant on Aqua Jet or Dragon Dance to make up the difference.
Movesets
Monster Lobster
-Dragon Dance
-Crabhammer
-Knock Off
-Close Combat
Ability: Adaptability
Item: Life Orb
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
While finding the opportunity to setup is difficult, Dragon Dance addresses Crawdaunt’s poor Speed while giving Crawdaunt even more power to devastate everything in its path. Get Crawdaunt in safely against something that it threatens to knock out, take advantage of the free switch to setup and place your opponent into a situation where they are forced to take heavy damage no matter what. Knock Off is primary STAB, combining absurd damage and item disruption into one move. If a target is neutral to both STABs, select Knock Off. Between the item removal and the gobs of damage Crawdaunt will do, anything on the receiving end is all but sure to be defensively compromised. Crabhammer is an amazing STAB, reaching frankly absurd levels of damage with Adaptability to the point that even targets as bulky as Registeel and Forretress take minimum two thirds of their health from a +1 Crabhammer. Pokémon that do not have such bulk, such as Torterra or Hippowdon, find themselves knocked out in short order. Close Combat, while not receiving the Adaptability boost, is still important for the coverage, especially against the likes of Cloyster, Hisuian Goodra, Kingambit, Wo-Chien and opposing Crawdaunt.
Tera Types:
Due to how Terastalization interacts with Adaptability, Crawdaunt rarely if ever wants to Terastalize, as it only gets the Adaptability boost to its current Type or Types, and the boost to the Adaptability + Terastalized attack is a mere 2.25 multiplier compared to Adaptability’s base 2 times multiplier. Thus when Terastalizing Crawdaunt often loses in power outside of its Tera Type. In the rare instances where one wants to Terastalize Crawdaunt, Tera Water is largely preferred, removing a lot of Crawdaunt’s more troublesome weaknesses while giving the bump to Crabhammer, which isn’t item dependent unlike Knock Off. However, Tera Water truly pulls ahead if running Aqua Jet as every bit of boost matters when trying to grab knock outs with the move. Tera Dark gives a sizeable buff to Knock Off, making it even more spammable and swinging OHKOs on the likes of Vileplume and Amoonguss into Crawdaunt’s favor. Tera Flying is another popular offensive option, great into the Grass and Fighting types that resist Crawdaunt’s Water and Dark STABs respectively.
EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Attack EV investment are recommended. Crawdaunt’s duty is to deal damage, so max Attack is natural and Speed is recommended to get the most out of Dragon Dance. Speaking of Dragon Dance, Jolly Nature is strongly recommended if running it, as with Jolly, Crawdaunt can outrun base 100 Pokémon after a Dragon Dance, which includes numerous targets like Galarian Zapdos, Jirachi, Entei, Flygon and Salamence. If running Adamant, Crawdaunt falls short of not only these targets, but Mimikyu as well. However, the math changes if running Aqua Jet. If using Aqua Jet, Adamant is recommended, as you will need every bit of power to reach knock outs with Aqua Jet and the speed boost from Joly matters less. Life Orb is recommended for the item, as Crawdaunt is so frail the HP drain is negligible and the power boost is greatly appreciated. Focus Sash is an alternative as a safety blanket for ensuring setup but requires good hazard control. If one is feeling that Crawdaunt is tearing itself apart too quickly with Life Orb, Mystic Water is a great alternative, boosting Crawdaunt’s Water STAB to a slightly lesser degree without the recoil.
Partners:
:
Crawdaunt’s frailty makes getting it on the field in any capacity without sacrificing a teammate difficult, so allies that can do so are invaluable. Forretress is one of the best options for Crawdaunt, its slow Volt Switches ensuring a safe switch in, while its hazards make it even easier for Crawdaunt to pick up knockouts without much issue. Drawing in Fire typed attackers that Crawdaunt has a chance of surviving is a nice bonus. Magnezone is another slow Volt Switch user that can also work to similar effect. Maushold is another strong option, able to use Encore to punish passive opponents to give Crawdaunt a free switch while loving Crawdaunt’s ability to obliterate the physical walls that stifle Maushold.
Since Crawdaunt will always be a wall breaker in some capacity, physically attacking allies that can take advantage of the holes Crawdaunt wrenches open make for natural partners. Galarian-Zapdos is a prominent example, loving how Crawdaunt effortlessly deals with Slowbro and Hippowdon, while it naturally handles the Fighting, Grass and Dark types often called to slow down Crawdaunt. Barraskewda, Gyarados, and Terrakion are other physical attackers that greatly benefit from Crawdaunt compromising their checks.
Other Options:
Swords Dance is an alternative boosting option that goes all in on power and ensures nothing can switch into Crawdaunt’s attacks safely.
Aqua Jet is a great option, especially if running Swords Dance, allowing Crawdaunt to deal with faster attackers it is unable to outspeed and giving it some utility against more aggressive teams.
Liquidation is a more reliable alternative to Crabhammer if one does not want to risk the imperfect accuracy.
Crunch is an alternative Dark STAB that doesn’t drop in power when the opponent’s item is removed.
Banded Lobster
-Knock Off
-Crabhammer
-Close Combat
-Aqua Jet
Ability: Adaptability
Item: Choice Band
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Choice Band Crawdaunt does away with setting up in return for immediately threatening its surroundings. As always, Knock Off is a fantastic STAB attack and an excellent low risk option for a Choice’d attacker like Crawdaunt. Very little likes switching into Crawdaunt and losing their item, let alone the power that an Adaptability boosted Choice Band Knock Off does to most Pokémon. Crabhammer is a great secondary STAB, perfect for breaking obliterating physical walls like Gliscor, Hippowdon, Rhyperior and dealing with most Fighting, Dark and Fairy types that can better handle Knock Off. Close Combat is coverage, against Fighting weak walls like Umbreon, Registeel, and Magnezone along with being Crawdaunt’s best answer into Wo-Chien who otherwise tanks its STABs quite nicely. Aqua Jet is an invaluable clean up tool, picking off normally faster targets that would otherwise threaten Crawdaunt while still boasting insane power from Adaptability and Choice Band. Even neutral targets like Gallade, Porygon-Z, and Flygon lose half of their health from Aqua Jet, making Crawdaunt even more difficult to handle.
Tera Types:
Tera Types:
Due to how Terastalization interacts with Adaptability, Crawdaunt rarely if ever wants to Terastalize, as it only gets the Adaptability boost to its current Type or Types, and the boost to the Adaptability + Terastalized attack is a mere 2.25 multiplier compared to Adaptability’s base 2 times multiplier. Thus when Terastalizing Crawdaunt often loses in power outside of its Tera Type. In the rare instances where one wants to Terastalize Crawdaunt, Tera Water is largely preferred, especially in conjunction with Aqua Jet, where the boost is far more significant to the point where even targets as bulky as max Speed Magnezone, and Necrozma can be 2HKO’d by Aqua Jet. The defensive benefit in removing Crawdaunt’s Fighting, Fairy and U-Turn weaknesses is a considerable as well.
EVs and Items:
Max Speed and Attack investment is once again recommended. While Crawdaunt is slow, it isn’t so slow that it can’t outrun select targets with some investment. Magnezone, Wo-Chien and Hisuian Goodra are dangerous special attackers that naturally outrun Crawdaunt, but rarely run enough any Speed investment allowing Crawdaunt to get the jump on them. However, Crawdaunt’s job first and foremost is power, hence why Adamant is preferred over other natures. With Adamant, Crawdaunt can reach the ridiculous knock out and two hit knock out thresholds it is feared for. Choice Band is the name of the set, giving Crawdaunt immediate power.
Partners:
:
Since Crawdaunt will always be a wall breaker in some capacity, physically attacking allies that can take advantage of the holes Crawdaunt wrenches open make for natural partners. Galarian-Zapdos is a prominent example, loving how Crawdaunt effortlessly deals with Slowbro and Hippowdon, while it naturally handles the Fighting, Grass and Dark types often called to slow down Crawdaunt. Barraskewda, Gyarados, and Terrakion are other physical attackers that greatly benefit from Crawdaunt compromising their checks.
Rain setters like Pelipper and Politoed work amazingly with Banded Crawdaunt, giving it an extra boost and pushing its Water STABs closer in power to Swords Dance sets without having to waste time boosting, while Crawdaunt is excellent in handling most Water resists between its sheer power and secondary Dark STAB meaning very few natural Rain checks actually hold up against Crawdaunt.
If running Swords Dance, Trick Room teams can turn Crawdaunt’s poor Speed into a strength while it can maintain pressure out of Trick Room thanks to Aqua Jet. Note to have Crawdaunt run a Brave Nature with Max HP investment instead. Such teams would love Crawdaunt for its ability to annihilate Slowbro whose sluggishness can be a problem for such teams. Mimikyu and Reuiniclus are notable setters while being able to threaten most Fighting types that trouble Crawdaunt like Chestnaught with ease.
Other Options:
Liquidation is a more reliable alternative to Crabhammer if one does not want to risk the imperfect accuracy.
Crunch is an alternative Dark STAB that doesn’t drop in power when the opponent’s item is removed.
As with any Choice user, Switcheroo is a great way to cripple a Pokémon that relies on move flexibility to succeed, though Crawdaunt is adept at handling most walls and the few that it can’t handle could benefit from a Choice Band.
Countering Crawdaunt
Any difficulty in handling Crawdaunt comes from its horrific damage, not its poor defenses, low speed and myriad of weaknesses.
Chesnaught is one of the few Pokémon that can rightfully claim to check, Crawdaunt. Its typing resisting both of Crawdaunt’s STABs, great physical bulk and access to STAB Drain Punch or Synthesis keep it healthy in the face of even Swords Dance Boosted Crawdaunt’s assault. It is still telling that Swords Dance Life Orb Crawdaunt can still 2HKO Chestnaught with a boosted Crabhammer or Close Combat, so Chesnaught can’t switch in due to being slower than Crawdaunt without speed investment. Choice Band and Dragon Dance variants are easier to handle as a result. Quagsire also survives boosted blows from Crawdaunt but needs Crawdaunt to be significantly weakened as it cannot even deal half damage with Earthquake while both Life Orb and Choice Band Crawdaunt still 2HKO with Crabhammer. If lacking Close Combat, Wo-Chien is also nightmarish for Crawdaunt, naturally resisting both STABs and eviscerating Crawdaunt with its own Grass STAB.
Choice Band sets are a little easier to handle damage wise though they don’t run the risk of setup either. Max HP and Defense Bellibolt is notable for only being 2HKO’d by Crabhammer while OHKOing with Volt Switch in return. Registeel can survive a Banded Close Combat and always knock out back with Body Press, though it needs Max HP and significant Defense investment to do so.
As all Crawdaunt’s attacks are direct contact, Pokémon that can punish such moves are invaluable. Effect Spore Vileplume, and Static Bellibolt along with Rocky Helmet users make Crawdaunt much easier to handle in general.
Against Crawdaunt, the best defense is a good offense. However, this is complicated by Crawdaunt’s access to Aqua Jet, which with the sheer power involved meaning frail non-resistant targets are not a reliable check for Crawdaunt since they can be taken out preemptively. This still leaves a significant list, with Noivern, Rotom-Mow, Hisuian-Lilligant, Dry Skin Toxicroak, and Kingdra, being some of the Pokémon that can stomach a Swords Dance boosted Aqua Jet and OHKO back.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Evolve Corphish
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Colosseum/XD:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Celestic Town
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Trade from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
Black/White:
Evolve Corphish (White)
Black 2/White 2:
Route 3, Striaton City
X/Y:
Route 3, Friend Safari
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Route 117, Route 123
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Vast Poni Canyon
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Axew's Eye, Giant's Seat, South Lake Miloch, Turffield, Forest of Focus, Challenge Beach, Training Lowlands
Max Raid Battles: Dusty Bowl, Giant's Mirror, South Lake Miloch, Stony Wilderness, West Lake Axewell, Fields of Honor, Soothing Wetlands, Courageous Cavern
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Celestic Town, Grand Underground
Legends: Arceus:
Not in game
Scarlet/Violet:
Fellhorn Gorge
Tera Raid Battles: 4 Star Raid Battles, 6 Star Raid Battles
Anime Appearences
