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[Competitive] Clear body or Infiltrator for Choice Specs Dragapult?

Shuckle99

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I am using a special sweeper Dragapult on my Pokémon showdown team in gen 8 OU singles. I am not sure which ability is better for competitive Specs Dragapult, however. Here is its information:

Dragapult @ Choice specs Ability: Clear body/Inflitrator (undecided) Nature: Modest Ev Spread: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP • Draco meteor • Shadow ball (Go-to move) • Fire blast • Thunderbolt

Clear body prevents Dragapult from losing speed from sticky web (which often leads to it being OHKOed before it can move), and infiltrator lets it hit through substitutes (which is great when it happens, but it doesn't happen too often).

Most people have said that infiltrator is the best ability for Choice Specs Dragapult, but I don't see substitute or screens being used very often in showdown (it has happened though, and it's very nice to ignore them) unlike sticky web and other stat crippling moves. Also, according to pikalytics, Clear body is used by the vast majority of players, which seems odd. Which ability is generally better for choice specs Dragapult?
 
Gavoca

Gavoca

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My DRAGAPULT
Item=Left Overs
Nature=Adamant
252 atk, 252 spd, 252 hp
Moves
=
Dragon Darts
Dragon Dance
Psychic Fangs
Phantom Force
and my ability was INFILTRATOR.....maybe it depends on your set
 
Nah

Nah

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I guess it depends on what you expect to see more of and/or personal preference. If getting hit with Speed drops is more of a concern, then Clear Body would help with that, although in the case of Sticky Web you can remove it or prevent it from being set in the first place too. But ignoring Substitute and screens can be really nice too.

Regarding the Pikalytics data, it keeps track of usage data for more than one metagame. For singles, Infiltrator is the most common ability. In doubles, it's Clear Body. Why this is the case, I don't know, but it is worth mentioning.
 
bobandbill

bobandbill

one more time
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Shuckle99 said:
quote
Click to expand...
Letting you know that I've moved your thread to the Competitive Pokemon section. You can post in this section in future for other competitive questions you may have.
Nah said:
For singles, Infiltrator is the most common ability. In doubles, it's Clear Body. Why this is the case, I don't know, but it is worth mentioning.
Click to expand...
Subs and the like are less common, while stuff like speed control, Intimidate (not that this matters here), etc are more crucial in Doubles, so avoiding stat drops as opposed to using a relatively niche Ability would explain that.
 
Figure

Figure

1,440
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On a special Dragapult it makes more sense to run Infiltrator, especially with Suicune back in the game because you don't care about Intimidate and being able to get to set up mons through sub is big.
 

FireintheSky

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I would use Clear Blody. I have seen it often in competitive videos (VGC), but now that I think about it, Infiltrator would be good as I see screens more often than anything else. Substitute I have not seen much besides on maybe Nihilego.
 
Squirtlenator

Squirtlenator

[color=#cecfc4]Hasta La Vista, Baby[/color]
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Shuckle99 said:
I am using a special sweeper Dragapult on my Pokémon showdown team in gen 8 OU singles. I am not sure which ability is better for competitive Specs Dragapult, however. Here is its information:

Dragapult @ Choice specs Ability: Clear body/Inflitrator (undecided) Nature: Modest Ev Spread: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP • Draco meteor • Shadow ball (Go-to move) • Fire blast • Thunderbolt

Clear body prevents Dragapult from losing speed from sticky web (which often leads to it being OHKOed before it can move), and infiltrator lets it hit through substitutes (which is great when it happens, but it doesn't happen too often).

Most people have said that infiltrator is the best ability for Choice Specs Dragapult, but I don't see substitute or screens being used very often in showdown (it has happened though, and it's very nice to ignore them) unlike sticky web and other stat crippling moves. Also, according to pikalytics, Clear body is used by the vast majority of players, which seems odd. Which ability is generally better for choice specs Dragapult?
Click to expand...

I've been out of the completive ring for a while but, if I were you I would go on a site like pikalytics and look at the top ten mons with the highest usage for your tier. I would look at their move sets and see if substitute is a high usage move. If it is and you don't have anything else on your team to deal with it than run inflitrator otherwise I would run clear body seeing as there's probably more of a chance of stat reducing moves or abilities - don't forget the dynamax stat reductions as well - at play.
 
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