CAP 8 Cyclohm Playtesting

[Xephyr]

If Dugtrio is truly giving your Cyclohm problems, you can use this set. I tried it, and it survived Earthquake and OHKO'd with Hydro Pump. My opponent was pissed.


Cyclohm @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 252 HP/144 Spd/112 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Slack Off

 

[Plus]

There are counters to every pokemon. However, that doesn't necessarily make Cyclohm a bad pokemon. Just because it is walled by Blissey and the likes doesn't make it bad at all. For example, there are many special sweepers in Ubers that are taken by Blissey. Yet, they are massively strong and thus have their place in Ubers. While I am pretty sure that Cyclohm is not uber and rather top tier OU, arguments for Blissey walling this are quite pointless.

As Beej said before, yeah. It's fucking insane. It's movepool is really diverse and has massive defensive stats. While it probably has the defenses of a Hippowdon, Cyclohm actually gets a decent speed able to outspeed some threats, as well as immunity to stuff like Togekiss and Jirachi hax. Cyclohm is probably even bulky enough to last an EQ from a CB Duggy with that bulk. What also sucks about using CB Duggy is that you are left vulnerable after it attempts to trap something, which is why both the user of Cyclohm should be cautious when switching it in as well as the opponent being aware that they are wide open for a kill after Dugtrio kills.

 

[Blue_Tornado]

even if it can revenge kill cyclohm it does not mean is any more useful to the metagame. I seen dugtrio being used more when it really it does pittyful damage to most things slower than it and adamant dugtrio is pretty much slower than things it likes to trap like infernape.

I've already tested Dugtrio, and it has enough uses to be viable. You can always run Jolly, and still get to about 380 attack with a Band - enough to do it's job. Aside from Cyclohm, he can revenge kill many other trublesome pokemon, such as Starmie (who I've actually seen a lot in the CAP ladder), CB Mammoswine that used any move besides Ice Shard, Magnezone (even with Scarf) and the list keeps on going. You may see Dugtrio useless, but it served me quite well in my CAP battles so far.

 

[zarator]

This is a variation on the offensive sets that works well on its own but really shines on Rain Dance or mini-RD teams.

Cyclohm @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability: Shield Dust
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/ 252 Spe

Rain Dance
Thunder
Hydro Pump
Draco Meteor

This set sports two 180 BP moves, Thunder and Hydro Pump, with Thunder being 100% accurate in rain, which is nice. It also has the ever-mighty Draco Meteor to finish things off when you need the increased power.

I'm currently using it alongside DD/RD/Waterfall/Outrage Kingdra, who, despite their shared Dragon weakness, really work well together under rain (Cyclohm opens up a lot of holes for Kingdra to come in and set up). I'm also giving it screen support via Bronzong to let it set up RD and survive Mamo switch-ins and OHKO with Hydro Pump. I'm sure it would be great on a dedicated Rain Dance team, though.

Cyclohm of course makes a great RD set-upper, but since Cyclohm itself checks pretty well a lot of RD sweepers (bar Kingdra of course), I don't think it is very viable as of now - it sort of reminds me of Manaphy suspect test form this point of view. But once playtest ends and waters settle down, I expect Cyclohm to be a huge boost to any Rain Dance team.

 

[Cantus Tropus]

Can I ask what this thing's base stats are, or are they somewhere else on the site?

 

[hydrolphin]

Surf seems to be the forgoten move on this things movepool. So far I've only seen mine. Surf has been quite effective, as it hits pretty much everything it needs to.

As for my set, I basically took hippowdon and Clyclotized it. It is a devistating late game sweeper, and works very well with Bronzong.

Cyclohm@ Leftovers
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Slack Off
- Thunderbolt
- Surf

This thing takes physical hits better than anything I've every used bar Skarm, while still mantaining a powerful offense. The only sad thing is that this thing kills things to quickly to be able to abuse Shield Dust.

 

[Umbreon Dan]

I use Surf as well, but everyone else seems to be using Hydro Pump. But then, everyone seems to be using the less accurate moves these days. Remember back when Infernape always used Flamethrower? Starmie used Surf? What happened?

I've been using mine with a Bronzong as well. I went with a physically defensive 'Zong because I needed it to be able to take a few hits from Mamoswine, but I'm thinking I may go back to Sassy. I also use a Wish Blissey to wall the special side and heal Bronzong. They make a great defensive trio.

 

[Flyingtacos]

I have been trying this support set but I think the ev's might be wrong
Cyclohm@Leftovers
Bold
252 HP/252 Def/4 spA
Light Screen
Thunder Wave
Slack Off
Dragon Pulse/Yawn/Knock Off

 

[zarator]

I use Surf as well, but everyone else seems to be using Hydro Pump. But then, everyone seems to be using the less accurate moves these days. Remember back when Infernape always used Flamethrower? Starmie used Surf? What happened?

I've been using mine with a Bronzong as well. I went with a physically defensive 'Zong because I needed it to be able to take a few hits from Mamoswine, but I'm thinking I may go back to Sassy. I also use a Wish Blissey to wall the special side and heal Bronzong. They make a great defensive trio.

Well, if we talk about things like Infernape, I'd use only Fire Blast if it guarantees me some needed OHKOes or 2HKOes. I still do not know if Cyclohm miss some KOs with Surf, but since it is pretty bulky, it can afford the occasional miss from Hydro Pump.

A bit off topic but, just to prove your point, I never used Fire Blast over Flamthrower on both 'Mence and Flygon =)

 

[MegaKick]

which are people using more on cyclohm-static or shield dust.

 

[tennisace]

which are people using more on cyclohm-static or shield dust.

From a quick look at the thread and experience battling, Shield Dust 100% of the time. It's just... better, plain and simple. You have other ways to paralyze the foe in your arsenal, but you don't have another way to stop the most annoying kind of hax (besides crits/misses).

 

[VKCA]

very nice to see him done, I have been running a bulky, some what offensive thing,

Cyclohm@Leftovers
Bold
180 HP/168 Def/160 spA
Light Screen
ThunderBolt
Slack Off
Dragon Pulse

ev's are a little random but he ends up with a nice and even 300 spA, and still has an overall defensiveness equal to that of a max/max skarm(well just a tiny bit worse). It's been doing pretty well for me so far.

 

[Ash Borer]

shield dust is superior, except on a restalk set. Maybe there are others, but generally speaking shield dust is better and cyclohm has slack off so restalk is not to viable.

 

[lol permanent name]

I'm starting to really love Cyclohm, he was my last pokemon against a 6x calm minded Blissey with 32% HP left and he managed a critical hit with Draco Meteor for the win...

 

[Sc4rfCh0mp]

I'm mainly lurking around on the CAP server(curse you Shoddy for not battling on slow Internet ><(at least I get faster internet at the end of the month)), and I've been noticing a lot of Latias and Mamoswine. Metagross is also showing up a lot.

 

[MegaKick]

I find that bulky gyra is making a good companion to cyclohm. Cyclohm can set up light screen to go with gyra's intimadate for easy setup. Plus, whenever I bring out Cyclohm, I always then go straight to gyra. He gets easy setup on all the mamo's and dugtrios that come in to take out cyclohm.

 

[Revolution.Z]

even if it can revenge kill cyclohm it does not mean is any more useful to the metagame. I seen dugtrio being used more when it really it does pittyful damage to most things slower than it and adamant dugtrio is pretty much slower than things it likes to trap like infernape.

Agreed. Though duggy has more uses I used him once to counter magnezone after he trapped one of my steels and even heatran.

 

[Infiltrator]

Wow, Cyclohm must be the most bulky Pokemon that can compare to Skarm.
I don't know why there has been a lot of usage in Gyarados with Cyclohme running all over the place, an LO sweeper Cyclohm can take them both down with ease. Anyways I've been using this set to with a lot of success:

Cyclohm@Life Orb
Modest/Timid
88 HP/168 Spe/252 SpA
~Draco Meteor
~Thunderbolt
~Slack Off
~Flamethrower

I've been using the EV spread from Tennis's choice specs set and had a lot of success with it. Draco Meteor with Life Orb hits harder than LOLatias's, it is able to 2HKO Swampert even after the special attack drop and other bulky Pokemon. Thunderbolt is able to OHKO Vaporeon + Stealth Rock interest and can 2HKO Suicune. It can also deal with the sudden rise in Gyarados. Slack Off -- auto recovery is always great for any pokemon.
Flamthrower can deal with the steel types like jirachi, Metagross and Magnezone, it can also take care of Mamoswine and other checks.

----
The only thing that I don't like about Cyclohm is that it has a lot of checks and doesn't have enough speed to try and stop those checks, but Cyclohm is bulky enough and has a impressive offensive stat that its able to take down does checks.

 

[ab114]

I find that bulky gyra is making a good companion to cyclohm.

Yeah, I've found the same thing. Anyways, I've been running this Cyclohm, and found it pretty useful:


Cyclohm@Leftovers
Ability= Static
EVs: 252 HP/ 110 Def/ 148 SpA
Bold nature
Slack Off
Discharge
Dragon Pulse
Roar

The idea with static and discharge is that between a physical attack on cyclohm (as, after all, he is a mainly physical wall) and a discharge on the opponent, there is a 51% chance of inflicting paralysis. Roar is for phazing, although I have noticed that I haven't used it much, so a 3rd attack could be more useful there. EVs are somewhat arbitrary but the SpA investment allows it to normally 2HKO 32HP/0SpD Scizor with Discharge after SR damage, which is always useful. (esp. if Discharge paralyses it).

There's probably a ton of improvements I could make to this set, but it kind of works how it is.

 

[hydrolphin]

Yeah, I've found the same thing. Anyways, I've been running this Cyclohm, and found it pretty useful:


Cyclohm@Leftovers
Ability= Static
EVs: 252 HP/ 110 Def/ 148 SpA
Bold nature
Slack Off
Discharge
Dragon Pulse
Roar

The idea with static and discharge is that between a physical attack on cyclohm (as, after all, he is a mainly physical wall) and a discharge on the opponent, there is a 51% chance of inflicting paralysis. Roar is for phazing, although I have noticed that I haven't used it much, so a 3rd attack could be more useful there. EVs are somewhat arbitrary but the SpA investment allows it to normally 2HKO 32HP/0SpD Scizor with Discharge after SR damage, which is always useful. (esp. if Discharge paralyses it).

There's probably a ton of improvements I could make to this set, but it kind of works how it is.

I dont see the purpose of running both Discharge and Static together on one set. If you were to run t-bolt, you could invest more in defense, or you could switch to shield dust for its overall utility. Yeah the 51% paralysis is quite nice, your missing out on a lot of defense EVs by using Discharge. With T-bolt, you still have a 37% chance of paralysis, but more power.

 

[ab114]

Thank you for the advice, I'm now running Tbolt over Discharge, flamethrower over roar and more Defense investment, and it seems to be working better

 

[Dr. Duck]

Unconditionally, I've found that Cyscarf (Choice Scarf) is incredibly durable, and with a timid nature, this Poke' can outrun quite a few Pokemon. It can't outrun Salamence though, who still manages to switch in on Cyclohm and absolutely destroy him.

I use him as my lead, mind you.

Cyclohm@Choice Scarf
Shield Dust
EVs: 100 Def/158 Spe/252 SpA
Timid Nature
Draco Meter
Hidden Power Grass
Thunderbolt
Surf

Incredible type coverage. Hidden Power Grass can 2HKO Mamoswine, who is without a doubt Cyclohm's biggest threat. That's just a precaution however, and I've actually never died to a Mamoswine lead. Draco Meter is for all leads who aren't in some way effected by the other base moves--a Choice Scarf'd 140 special damage, stab dragon move 2HKOs almost every Pokemon and will always OHKO a dragon (unless said dragon is Salamence who in a one-on-one confrontation is always faster). Thunderbolt is self-explanatory, and surf is for pesky Heatran and other grounds.

The three counters that always come in and give me grief are Dugtrio, Latias, and Salamence.

 

[Naxte]

Unconditionally, I've found that Cyscarf (Choice Scarf) is incredibly durable, and with a timid nature, this Poke' can outrun quite a few Pokemon. It can't outrun Salamence though, who still manages to switch in on Cyclohm and absolutely destroy him.

I use him as my lead, mind you.

Cyclohm@Choice Scarf
Shield Dust
EVs: 100 Def/158 Spe/252 SpA
Timid Nature
Draco Meter
Hidden Power Grass
Thunderbolt
Surf

Incredible type coverage. Hidden Power Grass can 2HKO Mamoswine, who is without a doubt Cyclohm's biggest threat. That's just a precaution however, and I've actually never died to a Mamoswine lead. Draco Meter is for all leads who aren't in some way effected by the other base moves--a Choice Scarf'd 140 special damage, stab dragon move 2HKOs almost every Pokemon and will always OHKO a dragon (unless said dragon is Salamence who in a one-on-one confrontation is always faster). Thunderbolt is self-explanatory, and surf is for pesky Heatran and other grounds.

The three counters that always come in and give me grief are Dugtrio, Latias, and Salamence.

Err... Just curious, but why would you use HP Grass against Mamo when you're also running Surf, which will do more damage to it (Ice doesn't resist Water; it only resists itself)?

hi everyone, first and foremost, this thing RULES!!, but ( i know this 'll sound noobish) how do i use this pokemon? :D

Download Shoddy Battle, connect to Doug's Create a Pokemon Server and register there. Then, log in, make a team, click on the Find tab on the right side of the chat screen, and look for a match. For more info, look at this thread:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48782

 

[0verload]

Alright...this set may seem really, really weird, but I've been using it for a while and it's been doing really well. It's saved me in several battles, too.

Cyclohm @ Leftovers
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 76hp / 88 def / 10 speed / 184 Spec. atk / 152 Spec. def
Nature: Calm (+Spec. Def , - Attack)
Moves:
-Vacuum Wave
-Dragon Pulse
-Flamethrower
-Charge Beam

The whole idea behind this set is to switch in on something that you wont take much damage from, raise your spec. atk with charge beam, and then sweep with dragon pulse, beam, and flamethrower. Vacuum wave is there because it's a backup for my scizor, which I run on the same team, and more importantly, nobody expects a Cyclohm to have Vacuum wave (It can also KO some pokemon like tyranitar after a bunch of charge beam boosts). It's like a scizor in disguise (kinda). If I switch in my scizor on something barely has any hp (an azelf that used a focus sash, for example) then they will switch out, expecting bullet punch. Not so with Cyclohm. They think, "Alright, I'll put a big dent in that Cyclohm, possibly KO it, with boom." But Cyclohm says, "Lolz you can't!!!!11!1!!!:happybrain:" It's situational, yes, but I still love this set.

 

[Dr. Duck]

Err... Just curious, but why would you use HP Grass against Mamo when you're also running Surf, which will do more damage to it (Ice doesn't resist Water; it only resists itself)?

Good point. I feel stupid now.

Eh, I thought it did resist water. In any case, I'll try running it with a different move in that slot, here in a little while.

=/