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| I do love how angry the shell is at all times. Is this really a symbiosis? Or does Slowbro just not give a flip about being eaten? |
Slowbro is a curious case of Pokemon evolution. Slowbro's tail shell is supposedly a Shellder that has evolved upon biting onto Slowpoke's tail (can't blame it, such tasty, tasty tail). But it sure doesn't look like it. That's my major issue with Slowbro, because otherwise it's kind of great and definitely one of the better Pokemon in the game currently. It's got both Water and Psychic typing, and I don't know if you've noticed, but Water typing is good... and Psychic typing is stupid good... so Slowbro is somewhere between good and stupid good. How good is that? Well...
Recommended movesets
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| Psychic powers are weird... And wait... is the shell also attacking? Hmm... |
Confusion + Psychic
Water Gun is niche
Yes, Slowbro gets Water Gun. Based on that... you would assume that Slowbro is solid. But then it only gets Psychic on top of that; which, to be fair, hits hard and is resisted by few. These two attacks do make Slowbro a decent attacker, but they're really less-than ideal. The best attackers tend to be ones with same-type attacks. Slowbro does get this option through Confusion + Psychic, but it's not like Psychic is that amazing. I mean... it's kind of like Aqua Tail or Flamethrower, which is never the recommended moveset for an attacker that gets options like Hydro Pump or Fire Blast. Confusion is also worse than Water Gun in DPS and dodging ability, but in order to give Slowbro two same-type attacks, you're forced to use Confusion or *shudder* I guess Water Pulse.
In other words, Slowbro isn't really the best attacker, but as a pure Psychic type with great stats, it's as good as any other available Psychic type, but picks up useful resistances from its Water-typing. You can use a Water Gun + Psychic Slowbro to attack into say... Nidoqueen, but why not just use Vaporeon if you want the power of Water Gun?
The one thing Slowbro with Water Gun + Psychic can do effectively is take on Lapras or opposing Vaporeon. As mentioned in the Vaporeon article, you can just kind of power through Lapras while dodging any big damage attacks you can. Water Gun is that good. But there are other good options for beating Lapras (e.g. Arcanine), making Water Gun + Psychic Slowbro a pretty niche answer.
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| Scrub, git gud |
Confusion + Water Pulse, Psychic, or Ice Beam
Defence is where Slowbro really shines. Confusion is a great defending attack, and Psychic is powerful and charged fairly quickly. Psychic type moves are also difficult to resist, and many of the good Grass types (Venusaur, Vileplume, Victreebel) are weak to Psychic to boot. Water Pulse is also a solid move for defending Slowbro, as it's charged quickly and gives Slowbro an alternate STAB move. Defending Pokemon are made much better when they have alternate move types, as it means a Pokemon rarely can resist both moves. Exceptions, of course, can be made for the likes of moves that almost nothing resists (like Dragon, Normal, or Psychic moves). Ice Beam is inferior to the other two options, except that it is most useful for Slowbro's biggest counter: Exeggutor. It also makes for a rude surprise to attacking Dragonites!
Base stats
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| If this is how Slowpoke evolves... what goes into Slowpoke candies? |
Attack: 184
Defence: 198
Stamina: 190
Slowbro also has the base stats to back up being a good defender. Facing a Slowbro is like facing a Gyarados, except it has a base 15 power STAB move as its quick attack, and it has a good charge move that it spams constantly and is difficult to dodge, instead of a non-STAB move or a Hydro Pump that everyone has dodged a bajillion times. Oh... and you don't get to take advantage of any double weaknesses against Slowbro.
Having a high 190 Stamina really helps Slowbro wall would-be attackers, thanks to the 2x boost applied to HP.
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| Just look at that face on the left... it knows what Slowpoke candies are made of |
Slowbro's biggest issue is Exeggutor. Exeggutor resists both of Slowbro's STABs, and can fire back with Solar Beam to hit for big damage. For this reason, Ice Beam is a very solid attack to help even up the damage trade and prevent Exeggutor from being a straight-up counter. Ice Beam also comes with the advantage of hitting Dragonite where it hurts, if the attacker opts to just try and power through Slowbro since nothing really hits it effectively outside Exeggutor. Slowbro with Lick or Gyarados with Bite can deal solid damage to Slowbro, and make for good Pokemon to take down the dopey wall.
Final say
With all that said, you can kinda see that Slowbro really just needs to have Confusion to be a good defender. And since Slowbro doesn't really make a great attacker, that just makes any Water Gun Slowbros kind of disappointing to receive. I mean... if you're low on Water Gun attackers then you can use Slowbro, but then you don't get to charge a Water move. If you want a Psychic attacker, you could usually have used something better. The only exception I can think of is if you're attacking a Tentacruel, which... I guess is fair?
But Slowbro is slow man. It doesn't want to live a life on the run, going from gym to gym taking down enemy teams. Let it chillax in a friendly gym. Go visit sometime and maybe you guys can spend some coin later. That's what Slowbro is all about.
Cheers,
Let's GO!
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