Drapion strats

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Khaotic Kebab

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    Drapion is my favourite Pokèmon, but I'm torn between a couple of ways to use it.

    The first is one that's won me many a battle. Confuse Ray + Swords Dance = good chance of free setup, plus status support. It's pretty good.

    The second is something I've started trying out. I gave it a choice scarf and decked it with Cross Poison, Knock Off, Aqua Tail and Earthquake. This gives it insane speed (190-odd) and Drapion's bulky enough to take a few physical hits too.
     
    Khaotic Kebab said:
    Drapion is my favourite Pokèmon, but I'm torn between a couple of ways to use it.

    The first is one that's won me many a battle. Confuse Ray + Swords Dance = good chance of free setup, plus status support. It's pretty good.

    The second is something I've started trying out. I gave it a choice scarf and decked it with Cross Poison, Knock Off, Aqua Tail and Earthquake. This gives it insane speed (190-odd) and Drapion's bulky enough to take a few physical hits too.
    Click to expand...

    Confusion is an unreliable status to throw around because it's easily cured by switching out of battle. Take note that 90 Attack isn't that strong, so Drapion is an underwhelming Choice Scarf user. Opting for Confuse Ray also means that Drapion can't deal with Rock Pokemon effectively. Here are better Drapion sets to use:
    -Swords Dance
    -Knock Off
    -Poison Jab
    -Earhquake/Aqua Tail
    Nature: Jolly
    EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
    Item: Life Orb
    Ability: Sniper

    Just because Drapion has access to Sniper doesn't mean it should be abusing it. Kingdra is a better Sniper user because it has Focus Energy to max out its critical hit ratio in conjunction with Scope Lens.

    Or
    -Toxic Spikes
    -Knock Off
    -Taunt
    -Whirlwind
    Nature: Careful
    EVs: 248 HP/244 SDef/16 Spe
    Item: Black Sludge
    Ability: Battle Armor

    While going physically defensive may seem like the more logical choice, specially defensive Drapion is better because it has better special resistances to take advantage of. Physically defensive Drapion is still vulnerable to Earthquake
     
    I appreciate your advice but you're making many assumptions about Drapion's stats. Mine is Adamant with max atk EV and IV, and has 155 attack at level 50. NOW tell me that "isn't that strong".

    Part of the reason I gave it confuse ray is to ENCOURAGE switches. Whether the opponent takes confusion damage or switches out, it gives Drapion a free turn to use Swords Dance. I've used this strat on Drapion a lot and know it works.

    "Better" is subjective - depending on what you're fighting. Calling your strategy better than mine when you've probably never even tried mine is quite arrogant. I also wouldn't call giving Drapion Cross Poison "abusing Sniper" - it's only one move and it takes advantage of Drapion's ability. Where's the wrong in that?

    I do appreciate and thank you for these ideas and I will try them, but I encourage you to open your mind a bit more - you claim things won't work, but I have firsthand experience of them and know they do work.
     
    Khaotic Kebab said:
    I appreciate your advice but you're making many assumptions about Drapion's stats. Mine is Adamant with max atk EV and IV, and has 155 attack at level 50. NOW tell me that "isn't that strong".

    Part of the reason I gave it confuse ray is to ENCOURAGE switches. Whether the opponent takes confusion damage or switches out, it gives Drapion a free turn to use Swords Dance. I've used this strat on Drapion a lot and know it works.

    "Better" is subjective - depending on what you're fighting. Calling your strategy better than mine when you've probably never even tried mine is quite arrogant. I also wouldn't call giving Drapion Cross Poison "abusing Sniper" - it's only one move and it takes advantage of Drapion's ability. Where's the wrong in that?

    I do appreciate and thank you for these ideas and I will try them, but I encourage you to open your mind a bit more - you claim things won't work, but I have firsthand experience of them and know they do work.
    Click to expand...

    That Attack is still underwhelming compared to things like Bisharp. 90 Attack pales in comparison to 125 Attack. Besides, offensive Drapion has to use a Jolly nature to be effective to outspeed opposing base 85-90 Speed Pokemon that run Speed boosting natures because Adamant Drapion fails to outspeed Pokemon in that Speed range of those Pokemon use +Speed natures.
     
    PlatinumDude said:
    That Attack is still underwhelming compared to things like Bisharp. 90 Attack pales in comparison to 125 Attack. Besides, offensive Drapion has to use a Jolly nature to be effective to outspeed opposing base 85-90 Speed Pokemon that run Speed boosting natures because Adamant Drapion fails to outspeed Pokemon in that Speed range of those Pokemon use +Speed natures.
    Click to expand...

    I'd rather not use Bisharp is all. The main reason I use Drapion is because it's so versatile. Confusion? Yep. Bulk? Yep. Decent Attack and Speed? Yep. Toxic Spikes? Yep. Near-perfect STAB coverage? Yep. FREAKIN' PURPLE SCORPION? Yep.
    Although yeah, have to agree with that Jolly nature. I just didn't have any compatible Jolly 'mons to breed my old Skorupi with at the time.
     
    Khaotic Kebab said:
    I'd rather not use Bisharp is all. The main reason I use Drapion is because it's so versatile. Confusion? Yep. Bulk? Yep. Decent Attack and Speed? Yep. Toxic Spikes? Yep. Near-perfect STAB coverage? Yep. FREAKIN' PURPLE SCORPION? Yep.
    Although yeah, have to agree with that Jolly nature. I just didn't have any compatible Jolly 'mons to breed my old Skorupi with at the time.
    Click to expand...

    The other issue with Drapion is that while 95 Speed is decent, it still falls short of outspeeding other common Pokemon it's up against and it lacks priority moves to compensate for this.

    You shouldn't rely on luck-based strategies like confusion. Competitive battling is more about skill than luck; what if the opponent successfully attacks during the entire time it's confused? What if the opponent snaps out of confusion the turn after it gets confused? Think about that. Luck can only get you so far.
     
    Victory comes from good choices and a little bit of luck, be it in Pokèmon or otherwise. Strike that, a good amount of luck.
    With that same logic, you could give ANY Pokèmon who uses status conditions or moves with less-than-perfect-accuracy the same hate you're giving Drapion. Don't presume to dictate how I battle.
     
    Khaotic Kebab said:
    Victory comes from good choices and a little bit of luck, be it in Pokèmon or otherwise. Strike that, a good amount of luck.
    With that same logic, you could give ANY Pokèmon who uses status conditions or moves with less-than-perfect-accuracy the same hate you're giving Drapion. Don't presume to dictate how I battle.
    Click to expand...

    Confusion is more luck-based than the inaccuracy of some moves. And while it's true that some moves are inaccurate, some of them are very important for some Pokemon to have, like Focus Blast.

    I'm not giving Drapion any hate. If you want to use Drapion your way, fine. Just take note that doing so may not be the best choice, as there are more efficient ways out there.
     
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