Psyduck (SS) | Hohou's Home | Competitive Movesets

Competitive Pokemon Sword/Shield Movesets and Strategies for Psyduck

Base Stats for Psyduck

Water

Abilities:
,
,

Evolutions / Family:
Psyduck
Golduck

Weakness Chart for Water-type:

Bug

Dark

Dragon

Electric

Fairy

Fighting

Fire

Flying

Ghost

2x

0.5x

Grass

Ground

Ice

Normal

Poison

Psychic

Rock

Steel

Water

2x

0.5x

¼x

½x

2x

4x

Movesets for Singles

What is a good competitive moveset for Psyduck? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield 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 Sword/Shield generation metagame.

Psyduck is an extraordinary Water-typed Pokemon. Psyduck is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Psyduck's only type-related weaknesses are Electric and Grass.

Species: Psyduck
Item: Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 188 Hp / 252 Atk / 40 Def / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Moveset:
- Aqua Tail / Waterfall
- Ice Punch / Double-Edge
- Shadow Claw
- Brick Break / Seismic Toss

Physical Sweeper Psyduck (Swift Swim)

Psyduck is an interesting Physical Sweeper. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Choice Band will increase the damage of Psyduck's physical moves by 1.5x at the cost of locking you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Psyduck's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Swift Swim, Psyduck's speed is doubled during rainy weather. Ice Punch was added to provide additional threat coverage.

♦ Aqua Tail is a physical STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move that deals a great amount of damage.
♦ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to flinch the target).
♦ Ice Punch is a physical 75-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
♦ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
♦ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
♦ Brick Break is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (destroys screens, unless the target is immune).
♦ Seismic Toss is a physical 0-base power Fighting-type move (does damage equal to your Psyduck's level).

Species: Psyduck
Item: Throat Spray / Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 188 Hp / 40 Def / 252 SpA / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Moveset:
- Surf / Scald
- Ice Beam / Icy Wind
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Round / Snore

Special Sweeper Psyduck (Swift Swim)

Psyduck is a decent Special Sweeper. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Throat Spray activates when a Pokemon uses a sound-based move (in this case Round or Snore) and boosts Psyduck's special attack stat by 2 stages. Life Orb boosts the power of Psyduck's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Swift Swim, Psyduck's speed is doubled during rainy weather.

♦ Surf is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. double damage on dive).
♦ Scald is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (30% chance to burn the target. thaws target).
♦ Ice Beam is a special 90-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
♦ Icy Wind is a special 55-base power Ice-type move (100% chance to lower the foes speed by 1 stage).
♦ Psychic is a special 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psyshock is a special 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Round is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (power doubles if others used round this turn).
♦ Snore is a special 50-base power Normal-type move (Psyduck must be asleep. 30% chance to flinch target).

Movesets for Doubles

What is a good doubles moveset for Psyduck? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield 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 Sword/Shield generation metagame.

Species: Psyduck
Item: Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 188 Hp / 252 Atk / 40 Def / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Moveset:
- Aqua Tail / Waterfall
- Ice Punch / Double-Edge
- Shadow Claw
- Brick Break / Seismic Toss

Doubles Physical Sweeper Psyduck (Swift Swim)

Psyduck is a spectacular Physical Sweeper. This moveset attempts to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Choice Band will increase the damage of Psyduck's physical moves by 1.5x at the cost of locking you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Psyduck's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Swift Swim, Psyduck's speed is doubled during rainy weather. Ice Punch was added to provide additional threat coverage.

♦ Aqua Tail is a physical STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move that deals a decent amount of damage.
♦ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to flinch the target).
♦ Ice Punch is a physical 75-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
♦ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
♦ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
♦ Brick Break is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (destroys screens, unless the target is immune).
♦ Seismic Toss is a physical 0-base power Fighting-type move (does damage equal to your Psyduck's level).

Species: Psyduck
Item: Throat Spray / Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 188 Hp / 40 Def / 252 SpA / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Moveset:
- Surf / Scald
- Icy Wind / Ice Beam
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Round / Snore

Doubles Special Sweeper Psyduck (Swift Swim)

Psyduck is a phenomenal Special Sweeper. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Throat Spray activates when a Pokemon uses a sound-based move (in this case Round or Snore) and raises Psyduck's special attack stat by 2 stages. Life Orb boosts the power of Psyduck's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Swift Swim, Psyduck's speed is doubled during rainy weather.

♦ Surf is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. double damage on dive).
♦ Scald is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (30% chance to burn the target. thaws target).
♦ Icy Wind is a special 55-base power Ice-type move (100% chance to lower the foes speed by 1 stage).
♦ Ice Beam is a special 90-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
♦ Psychic is a special 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psyshock is a special 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Round is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (power doubles if others used round this turn).
♦ Snore is a special 50-base power Normal-type move (Psyduck must be asleep. 30% chance to flinch target).

Movepool

Wondering what moves can Psyduck 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 Psyduck can perform in Sword/Shield. 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 SS Move and Ability Combos for Psyduck

Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Dynamic Punch
Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect
Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break

Optimize Psyduck's EVs for Sword/Shield

Competitive Information for Psyduck [Sword/Shield]