Summary

Politoed, or William as he is known in some circles, is a great budget water type with surprisingly good bulk, usually filling the role of a sleep-inducing lead using Hypnosis, but also has a plethora of other utility options such as Perish Song, Toxic, Substitute, Haze, Rain Dance, and Counter. Notably, it has an amazing ability in Water Absorb, allowing it to switch into water moves for free while healing itself up, shutting down or at least forcing coverage when dealing with water Pokemon such as Calm Mind Slowbro. It also has a second ability, Damp, that can be used to neuter matchups that may have Explosion/Self-Destruct users with Choice Band, though its utility and applicability is less than Water Absorb, especially since many times Explosion users do not run Choice Band. His statline with a pure Water typing and Ice coverage lends itself well to a semi-bulky water Pokemon role, appreciating the lack of 4x weaknesses. This set usually fills its movepool with a Water move (Surf or Hydro Pump), Ice Beam, and 2 flexible slots.

The usual role he’ll be filling is that of a lead sleeper, running Hypnosis and a 4th move, usually Hidden Power or Toxic, while holding either Leftovers or Salac Berry. Salac Berry presents itself as a viable option considering Politoed can often be speced to live specific hits on 25% or less and have enough speed to outspeed large swaths of the field at +1, which can often be useful to try and get a second chance to land a Hypnosis if the first one misses (which amounts to a 84% chance to hit over those 2 turns) or get some damage after sleeping the opponent. Politoed usually has 252 EVs on Special Attack, whatever Speed is needed to outspeed a threat, and the rest in bulk. The issue with this set is that it is very predictable and may get countered with either a Lum Berry lead or something that can kill it. There are creative options available with this set, like itemless Thief or a physical Hidden Power, to deal with any potential leads the opponent might have (such as a Hidden Power Bug for lead Celebi). However, you can also play off of that expectation and load Politoed in the back to avoid clicking Hypnosis into something with a Lum Berry or even with Perish Song to force setup Pokémon out or to guarantee that you faint the opponent's last Pokémon. Of course, with 90 special attack, decent bulk and 70 speed, you can also use Politoed as a budget offensive water with little to no change on its moveset or spreads, just on the way it is used.

Despite all the praises that have been sung for it, do keep in mind Politoed performs best when you take into account that it is meant to be a budget complement to your team, performing well when supported defensively by other more expensive pieces such as Registeel or Weezing. Do not rely solely or majorly on Politoed to be the defensive backbone of your draft. Whether you do draft around its strengths or just happen to stumble on a draft that appreciates it, picking Politoed late in the draft will have you finding that it really helps round out Standard or 8-Mon drafts very well.

Summary written by Rambode

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