Saturday, August 16

Ranking the Pokemon: #14- Cloyster


Just take a look at this thing. Look how devious it is. Look at that shell(s) around its face. Cloyster is a behemoth on the defensive end, and it doesn't care who knows it. It's actually #1 on the base Defense stat of any Pokemon in Generation I. Ahead of Rock-types like Onix and Golem, and ahead of alleged tanks like Weezing and Snorlax (Snorlax actually has below average defense, it's just very fat, so it looks like it should be able to take a hit). If someone uses a physical attack against Cloyster, go ahead and laugh, because they are either completely new to playing Pokemon, or their team is so lackluster that they don't have a special attack. Either way, you're going to win.

Cloyster's Attack and Special are both good, as well. It's just the HP and Speed that are lacking, and even Speed can be adequate. In subsequent generations, Cloyster's Special Defense was absolutely dreadful, but there are workarounds...well, around that. Speaking of different generations, Cloyster has had its go-to moveset change more drastically than probably 98% of Pokemon. There was a time where it could learn Spikes and Rapid Spin, and everyone and their mother would use it. Then it switched up to Shell Smash and other absurd moves; that's when chaos set in.

But we're talking Generation I here, so this is how I like to outfit my Cloyster: Surf and Blizzard to utilize STAB, Double Team to add some evasiveness to that ridonkadonk Defense, and then Explosion as a last ditch effort. It's very unlikely you won't also take out your opponent's Pokemon, so you could do a lot worse. I guess you could say it's a very Cloy play, on your part. Or you could not make stupid puns like a fool.

Other fun facts about Cloyster: there's apparently a subset of people who thinks it looks like a part of the female anatomy, its inner face appears to just be a Gastly, and it has the highest base Defense stat of any Water-type Pokemon to this day. Not too shabby.

Battling Grade: A-

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