Claydol (BW) | Hohou's Home | Competitive Movesets

Competitive Pokemon Black/White Movesets and Strategies for Claydol

Base Stats for Claydol

Ground / Psychic

Abilities:

Evolutions / Family:
Baltoy
Claydol

Weakness Chart for Ground/Psychic-type:

Bug

Dark

Dragon

Electric

Fighting

Fire

Flying

Ghost

Grass

2x

0x

0.5x

2x

Ground

Ice

Normal

Poison

Psychic

Rock

Steel

Water

2x

0.5x

2x

¼x

½x

2x

4x

Movesets for Singles

What is a good competitive moveset for Claydol? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Black/White Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Black/White generation metagame.

Claydol is a decent Ground and Psychic-typed Pokemon. It's pretty usual to find yourself dealing with Claydol when battling in the 5th generation meta. Claydol is weak to Bug, Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Water-typed attacks.

Species: Claydol
Item: Life Orb / Soft Sand
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Drill Run
- Double-Edge / Frustration
- Zen Headbutt
- Rock Slide / Smack Down

Physical Sweeper Claydol (Levitate)

Claydol is an awesome Physical Sweeper. It was designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Claydol's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Claydol is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.

♦ Earthquake is a physical STAB-boosted 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
♦ Drill Run is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Ground-type move (high critical hit ratio).
♦ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
♦ Frustration is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (max 102 power at minimum happiness).
♦ Zen Headbutt is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (20% chance to flinch the target).
♦ Rock Slide is a physical 75-base power Rock-type move (30% chance to flinch the foes).
♦ Smack Down is a physical 50-base power Rock-type move (removes the target's ground immunity).

Species: Claydol
Item: Life Orb / Soft Sand
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earth Power
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball

Special Sweeper Claydol (Levitate)

Claydol is an extraordinary Special Sweeper. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Claydol's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Claydol is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.

♦ Earth Power is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psychic is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psyshock is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Ice Beam is a special 95-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
♦ Shadow Ball is a special 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).

Species: Claydol
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
EVs: 210 Hp / 56 Def / 244 SpA
Moveset:
- Earth Power
- Power Trick
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

Claydol Special Tank (Cosmic Clay)

Claydol is an extraordinary Special Tank. It was designed to take a hefty amount of hits from special attacks while dealing some decent damage. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Claydol last longer regaining it's it's life every turn. With Levitate, Claydol is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.

♦ Earth Power is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Power Trick is a status move (switches Claydol's attack and defense stats).
♦ Psychic is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Ice Beam is a special 95-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).

Species: Claydol
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EVs: 252 Hp / 52 Def / 176 SpA / 28 SpD
Moveset:
- Earth Power
- Cosmic Power
- Psychic
- Toxic

Claydol Special Tank (Tootsie Pops )

Claydol is an interesting Special Tank. It is primarily designed to take a decent amount of hits from special attacks while dealing some decent damage. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Claydol last longer regaining it's it's HP every turn. With Levitate, Claydol is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.

♦ Earth Power is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Cosmic Power is a status move (raises your Claydol's defense and special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psychic is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Toxic is a status move (badly poisons the target).

Movesets for Doubles

What is a good doubles moveset for Claydol? These builds have been optimized for Black/White Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Black/White generation metagame.

Species: Claydol
Item: Life Orb / Soft Sand
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Rock Slide / Smack Down
- Double-Edge / Frustration
- Zen Headbutt

Doubles Physical Sweeper Claydol (Levitate)

Claydol is an astounding Physical Sweeper. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Claydol's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Claydol is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.

♦ Earthquake is a physical STAB-boosted 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
♦ Bulldoze is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent pkmn speed by 1 stage).
♦ Rock Slide is a physical 75-base power Rock-type move (30% chance to flinch the foes).
♦ Smack Down is a physical 50-base power Rock-type move (removes the target's ground immunity).
♦ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
♦ Frustration is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (max 102 power at minimum happiness).
♦ Zen Headbutt is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (20% chance to flinch the target).

Species: Claydol
Item: Life Orb / Soft Sand
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earth Power
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball

Doubles Special Sweeper Claydol (Levitate)

Claydol is a pretty decent Special Sweeper. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Claydol's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Claydol is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.

♦ Earth Power is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psychic is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psyshock is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Ice Beam is a special 95-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
♦ Shadow Ball is a special 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).

Movepool

Wondering what moves can Claydol learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.

Combo List

These are a list of several common move combinations Claydol can perform in Black/White. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.

Competitive BW Move and Ability Combos for Claydol

Moves: Sunny Day + Solar Beam
Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Magic Coat, Ally Switch

Optimize Claydol's EVs for Black/White

Competitive Information for Claydol [Black/White]