Quagsire, The Water Fish Pokémon. It has a sluggish nature. It lies at the river's bottom, waiting for prey to stray into its mouth. This carefree Pokémon has an easygoing nature. While swimming, it always bumps into boat hulls. It doesn't care if it bumps its head on boats and boulders while swimming. Due to its relaxed and carefree attitude, it often bumps its head on boulders and boat hulls as it swims.
Overview
Quagsire is one lucky little Pokemon. At first look, it may not look like much. Just another bulky Water-type with less than impressive stats and one of the funniest "derp" faces in the history of Pokemon. However, Quagsire manages to set itself apart with one of the coolest defensive abilities in the game: Unaware. At first, the only Pokemon to get this cool ability were the Bibarel line. Needless to say, it didn't see much use. Once BW came around, Quagsire was one of two old generation Pokemon gifted with this cool new toy via Dream World, and Quagsire has been a proud user of it ever since. Thanks to Unaware, Quagsire has become a great check to a solid variety of setup sweepers. Go ahead, set up as many boosts as you want. It won't save you from Quagsire piercing blank stare. Unfortunately, Game Freak also gave Clefable the new Fairy type in XY, making it yet another fantastic Unaware user. Unaware Clefable definitely gives Quagsire a lot of competition with its arguably better typing and supporting movepool. Still, Quagsire's ability to better handle Pokemon such as Mega Charizard X, Bisharp, and Swords Dance Aegislash make it more than worthy of a team slot.
Positives
+Unaware is a really cool ability for a defensive Pokemon. It doesn't matter how much the opponent sets up, Quagsire can still beat them 1-on-1.
+Water / Ground typing is pretty cool. Quagsire has a handful of useful resistances, an immunity to Electric-type moves, and only a single weakness to Grass.
+Thankfully, Quagsire has reliable recovery. It'd be far harder for it to actually check things if it had to rely on RestTalk or Wish support, so Recover is a huge blessing.
+While Quagsire may not have the expansive movepool of fellow Unaware user Clefable, it still has a decent collection of moves at its disposal.
+Pictures of Quagsire smiling always make me smile for some reason.
Negatives
-With a base 65 Special Defense stat, Quagsire isn't taking many special hits. You need significant investment to safely take Life Orb Thundurus's Focus Blast, for example.
-Quagsire's offenses aren't very good. It often relies on passive damage from Scald burns and Toxic or super effective hits to actually damage opponents.
-Base 35 Speed is really slow. Quagsire will virtually always have to take a hit before hitting back or healing itself, so keep that in mind.
-While it only has one weakness, it just so happens that it's a 4x weakness, so you should really avoid Grass-type attacks.
-Quagsire has no way to heal status inflictions, namely Toxic, so you'll want to pair it with something that can.
-Overall, Quagsire's biggest flaw is that it's pretty one dimensional. It's a great check to many setup sweepers on defensive teams, but it has little use outside of that.
Abilities
Damp: Explosion and Self-Destruct will not work when this Pokemon is on the field. This might have been better way back before the nerf of such moves, but even then its far more situational to be used over Quagsire's other abilities.
Water Absorb: This Pokemon is immune to Water-type attacks and instead heals 1/4 of its maximum HP when hit by them. Water / Ground typing with a Water immunity is pretty nice, but Gastrodon already pulls this off a little better. Not to mention how great Quagsire's third ability is.
Hidden Ability (Available):
Unaware: The foe's stat modifications are ignored. This is Quagsire's bread and butter, the pičce de résistance, the entire reason Quagsire gets the attention that it gets. Thanks to Unaware, Quagsire has earned itself a niche on defensive teams by combatting key sweepers such as Mega Charizard X.
Movesets
SWAGsire
-Scald
-Earthquake
-Recover
-Toxic / Yawn / Encore
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
Quagsire's physical bulk may not be super amazing on the surface, but when you lack the ability to boost your offensive stats to help break through it, you'll realize that Quagsire is a little more resilient than you might have thought. Quagsire is capable of escaping 2HKOs from powerful hits such as Garchomp's Life Orb Earthquake, Mega Charizard X's Tough Claws Dragon Claw, Bisharp's Life Orb Knock Off, Gyarados's Life Orb Waterfall, and even Adamant Dragonite's Outrage. The best part is that their boosts mean nothing to Quagsire because he literally doesn't care. He just sits there fearlessly while they boost their offensive stats to absurd levels and then walls them just as easily the next turn. That, my friends, is the true meaning of "swag." Scald may not be a very powerful move thanks to Quagsire's low Special Attack stat, it still does decent enough damage and has that wonderful 30% chance to burn that we all love so much (unless the opponent uses it, in which case that move can go die in a hole). Earthquake is considerably stronger thanks to its higher base power and Quagsire higher Attack stat, and it's a great move for targets such as the aforementioned Mega Charizard X and Bisharp. Recover is Recover. It's no surprise that reliable recovery is such an important factor on a defensive Pokemon like Quagsire, but since it just narrowly avoids some 2HKOs from boosting sweepers, it really needs to be able to heal half of its health instantly instead of having to rely on Rest like it would otherwise. Toxic gives Quagsire a method of actually threatening opposing defensive Pokemon, who might otherwise be able to tank its attacks really easily. However, Yawn forces opponents into an awkward situation. They can either switch out to heal off the drowsiness and lose momentum (and maybe even take entry hazard damage), or they can stay in and have something incapacitated by sleep. Encore is another pretty nice move; if you trap the opponent into the right attack, you might get a free setup opportunity of your own with one Quagsire's teammates. Even if it's just setting up Stealth Rock or removing it with Defog, every free turn you can get counts.
Other Options
Curse, Waterfall, Ice Punch, Stone Edge, Counter, Haze, Stockpile, Infestation, Bulldoze, Acid Spray, Ice Beam, Earth Power, Specially Defensive
Quagsire can use Curse to boost its own stats while ignoring the opponent's boosts. However, it really doesn't have the best special bulk in the world to pull this off, and it needs multiple boosts to be truly threatening.
Waterfall, Ice Punch, and Stone Edge are all physical moves that synergize well with Earthquake, but Scald is so good with its chance to burn that it's really hard to give up. If you were to run Curse Quagsire, though, using one of these alongside Earthquake and Recover would be the best option.
Since Quagsire can comfortably tank hits from a wide variety of physical sweepers, Counter can be used to return massive amounts of damage to the opponent.
Haze removes boosts, but you already have Unaware. Generally, matchups with Unaware Quagsire won't change regardless of whether or not you're using Haze. However, it is useful against Baton Pass chains, provided they aren't banned under the ruleset you're using.
Stockpile can boost Quagsire's defenses and make it extremely hard to take down in theory, but things such as random critical hits and Toxic can really mess this up.
Infestation is a weird option, but it does provide consistent passive damage. It can be used alongside Yawn to force an opponent to be put to sleep, but that's half of your moveset taken up right there.
Bulldoze is a lot weaker than Earthquake, but its ability to drop the opponent's Speed can make a lot of threatening sweepers much less threatening, even if they are able to get past Quagsire.
Acid Spray drops the opponent's Special Defense through the floor and allows Quagsire to follow up with moves like Scald, Ice Beam, and Earth Power for solid damage. However, this sort of wallbreaking is really done better by other Pokemon with more raw power.
Quagsire can run a specially defensive set to better handle special sweepers such as Manaphy and Thundurus, but Clefable's much greater special bulk makes it far more suited for this role.
Double & Triple Battle Options
Quagsire belongs in Doubles/Triples as much as a Bengal Tiger belongs in your local grocery store. The ability it's most associated with, Unaware, is hardly useful in a metagame where taking a turn to set up anything is risky. As a matter of fact, it's actually detrimental to Quagsire, as any damage done to Quagsire ignores the opponent's stat changes, good or BAD. This means that the -2 SAtk Salamence is free to target Quagsire for a Draco Meteor for full power.. repeatedly, as if the stat drop never occurred. This also means that Intimidate from a partner doesn't help it take hits better. Despite being defensive, it won't stand too many heavy hits before falling over. Sure it COULD stand up to the +1 Bisharp and pray for burns using Scald, but at that point you're in a bad position just HOPING to make it to even ground rather than handling the problem. SO with Unaware out of the picture, let's look at its other abilities.
Damp is hardly relevant anymore especially since Self-Destruct and Explosion no longer halve the targets physical defense, so not only is it not KOing anything, but the player who uses it KOs themselves. I say don't use Damp and let them make that mistake.
Water Absorb isn't a terrible ability, it's just that so many other Pokemon make better use of it in addition to being all around stronger than Quagsire. Lapras, Vaporeon and Jellicent come to mind immediately. But if you're forced to use Quagsire against your will here is a set I would try out.
-Morlord Nuoo-
Eerie Impulse
Recover
Scald
Protect/Acid Spray/Encore
Item Attached: Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
What's Eerie Impulse? It's Charm, but it lowers the target's Special Attack two levels instead of their Physical Attack. Nifty right? Now Aegislash and Hydreigon are pretty much forced to switch out, Gardevoir is crippled on the spot, there are a lot of cool targets to hit with this attack. Quagsire's partner will appreciate the SAtk drop as well. Recover is to keep Quagsire on the field longer so it can support more, and perhaps even discourage your opponent who was two points of damage away from the KO only to see that Quagsire is back at a little over 50% health. Scald is a great move, the damage won't be stellar, but the 30% burn rate can and will tip games in your favor. Combined with Eerie Impulse, your opponent may see a dramatic decrease in their offensive power.
Protect is self explanatory, but assuming the opponent's offense has been reduced, other options aren't bad ideas. Encore inside Trick Room or not is a great disruptive tool. Expect your opponent to Fake Out or Substitute? Give them a round of applause. Though Acid Spray isn't a bad choice either. The damage output again, makes Sandstorm and Hail damage seem ridiculously powerful, but the secondary effect, that activates 100% of the time, is that it drops the target's Special Defense two stages, this opens up holes for both Quagsire and it's partner, assuming their attacking with special attacks.
Quagsire would be a very niche choice pick for just about every team, including Trick Room. If Quagsire isn't in Trick Room, it's going to be moving LAST thanks to it's base 35 speed. and with 95 / 85 / 65 defenses, it's not gonna wanna take too many hits at all. So it's obvious partners would be ones who function well in Trick Room or Set Trick Room themselves. Gardevoir fits nicely as Quagsire's one weakness, grass is used very often by Pokemon like Amoonguss and Venusaur who Gardevoir can hit hard with Psychic type attacks.
Overall, despite being one of the few pokemon with access to the ability Unaware, which IS a strong ability, it simply doesn't have a place in a meta game where battles are finished in roughly 8-12 turns with multiple Pokemon who wouldn't risk setting up in the first place. It has below average defenses and below average offenses. Unless it's in singles where it can abuse it's unaware ability properly, it's going to perform.. well.. you know, below average in a doubles/triples environment.
Countering Quagsire
Quagsire has one weakness, but it's a really nasty one to Grass-type attacks. Targeting this weakness is a surefire way of wiping that derpy little smile off Quagsire's face. Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, and Breloom can all eliminate Quagsire with their STAB Grass-type attacks, although none of them are all that fond of Scald burns. Celebi in particular is a fantastic answer since it can threaten Quagsire with a STAB Giga Drain and even heal off status inflictions with Natural Cure. In a similar vein, Chansey with Toxic really doesn't care what Quagsire does thanks to its enormous bulk and Natural Cure, and it can wear Quagsire down with its own Toxic. Another way to beat Quagsire is to target its lower Special Defense stat with powerful special attackers. Pokemon such as Keldeo, Mega Charizard Y, and Latios are capable of breaking Quagsire through either super effective coverage or the raw power of their STAB moves. As mentioned before, Quagsire hates Toxic since it has no way of ridding itself of the status infliction, so that can be an effective way of crippling it. The main thing to keep in mind is that Quagsire is primarily a stop to setup sweepers, and there are a few that can still work their way past it. For example, Mold Breaker users such as Mega Gyarados and Excadrill ignore Unaware altogether thanks to their own abilities. While Quagsire can counter most variants of Mega Charizard X, the occasional Outrage versions can actually turn the tables on Quagsire and 2HKO regardless of Unaware. Other Pokemon with high Attack stats and boosting items can still 2HKO Quagsire with their powerful STAB moves, examples being Garchomp's Life Orb Outrage and Terrakion's Life Orb Close Combat, although they might need to be careful about taking a Scald or Earthquake. Finally, like many other defensive Pokemon, Quagsire is vulnerable to stallbreakers that use Taunt to wear down defensive opponents. Examples include Sableye and specially defensive Gliscor, the latter being immune even to Scald burns after its Toxic Orb has activated.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Safari Zone (Emerald)
Trade from Emerald, FireRed or Colosseum (Ruby/Sapphire)
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Evolve Wooper (FireRed)
Trade from Emerald, FireRed or Colosseum (LeafGreen)
Colosseum/XD:
Snagged from Bandana Guy Divel in Pyrite Town (Colosseum)
Evolve Wooper (XD)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Route 212, Great Marsh
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Route 10, Route 12, Route 13, Route 14, Route 15, Route 26, Route 27, Route 32, Ruins of Alph, Union Cave, Mt. Silver, Cliff's Edge Gate, The Cliff Cave
Black/White:
Evolve Wooper (White)
Trade from White, Black 2 or White 2 (Black)
Black 2/White 2:
Route 8 Swarm
X/Y:
Route 14, Route 19
Friend Safari
Animé Appearences
