Samurott Movesets and Best Builds

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Samurott in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Samurott, as well as its strengths and weakness.

Samurott - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle	Tera Raid Build

Attention!	This is the best Ranked Battle build for Unovan Samurott. For the best counters to use against Hisuian Samurott in the 7-Star Raid Event, click here!

Samurott Base Stats, Type, Ability and Weakness

Blueberry #208		Type
Samurott
		Abilities
		Torrent Shell Armor (Hidden)
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Samurott

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Samurott

Swords Dance Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	HP 252 / Atk 252 / Def 4
Final Stat Values	HP 202 / Atk 167 / Def 106 / Sp.Def 90 / Spe 90
Ability	Shell Armor
Tera Type
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・ Swords Dance ・ Razor Shell ・ Tera Blast ・ Aqua Jet

Summary

Access to Swords Dance and a wide special movepool allows Samurott to fill the role of a physical setup sweeper, with Tera Fire giving it great neutral coverage with just its two STAB moves alone.

Access to Swords Dance and a priority STAB move. Shell Armor protects it from critical hits. Tera Fire gives it great neutral coverage alongside Water STAB.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Shell Armor

Shell Armor is the best Ability for this setup sweeping Samurott as it prevents it from getting hit by a critical hit, even against moves that have a guaranteed critical hit such as Meowscarada's Flower Trick.

Life Orb gives Samurott an extra boost of power, increasing the damage of its moves by 30% at the cost of some recoil damage at the end of every turn.

Moves Breakdown

Swords Dance raises Samurott's Attack by two stages, allowing it to hit hard with STAB Razor Shell which has a 50% chance to lower the target's Defense by one stage.

Fire-type Tera Blast rounds off Samurott's coverage and has great synergy with Razor Shell, allowing Samurott to hit Grass-types for super effective damage.

Aqua Jet is its last move and offers great utility thanks to its increased priority, allowing it to hit faster but weakened Pokemon

Best Tera Type: Fire

Fire Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Terastallizing into a Fire-type not only gives Samurott Fire-type STAB to round off its coverage, it also allows it to to stay on the field against Grass-types and gives it neutrality to Electric-type attacks.

Best Fire Type Pokemon for Ranked Battle

EV Spread and Nature

We're using a standard bulky attacking EV spread with full HP and Attack investment to give it as much bulk and physical offense as possible, with the remaining 4 EVs invested in Defense to slightly boost its Defense.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Samurott's given EV spread with an Adamant Nature, +2 Attack from Swords Dance, and a Life Orb boost.

Damage Dealt by Samurott
207 HP｜200 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Impish) Item: Leftovers	Razor Shell 187-221 (90.3 - 106.7%) 37.5% Chance to OHKO
194 HP｜161 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Bold) Item: Leftovers	Tera Blast 244-291 (125.7 - 150%) Guaranteed OHKO
183 HP｜115 Def No Defensive EV Investment: HP 0 | Def 0 (Jolly) Item: Leftovers	Aqua Jet 87-103 (47.5 - 56.2%) 25% Chance to 2HKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

Sub-Petaya Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Modest (+Sp.Atk, -Atk)
EV Spread	HP 252 / Def 4 / Sp.Atk 252
Final Stat Values	HP 202 / Def 106 / Sp.Atk 176 / Sp.Def 90 / Spe 90
Ability	Torrent
Tera Type
Held Item	Petaya Berry
Moveset	・ Substitute ・ Hydro Pump ・ Ice Beam ・ Tera Blast

Summary

Samurott's higher base Special Attack stat but lack of boosting move means it needs to rely on Substitute and Petaya Berry to get a boost to increase the power of its special attacks without getting locked with a Choice Item.

Higher base Special Attack. Substitute gives it immunity to status. Most of its special attacks have higher base power.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Torrent

Since this build requires Samurott to get to low HP, Torrent is the best Ability to give its Water-type moves 1.5x more damage when its HP is 1/3 or less of its max HP.

Petaya Berry raises Samurott's Sp.Atk by one stage when its HP is at 1/4 or less.

Moves Breakdown

Substitute is vital for this build since it needs to use it once or twice to get its HP low enough for both Torrent and Petaya to activate. Hydro Pump is its main STAB move, with Ice Beam providing great coverage against Grass, Flying, and Dragon-types.

Its last move is Electric-type Tera Blast and gives Samurott pseudo BoltBeam coverage and allows it to hit almost every Pokemon for neutral damage.

Best Tera Type: Electric

Electric Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Terastallizing into an Electric-type not only allows Samurott to stay on the field against Grass and Electric-types, it also gives Samurott near-perfect neutral coverage alongside Ice Beam.

Best Electric Type Pokemon for Ranked Battle

EV Spread and Nature

We're using a standard bulky attacking EV spread with full HP and Special Attack investment to give it as much bulk and special offense as possible, with the remaining 4 EVs invested in Defense to slightly boost its Defense.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Samurott's given EV spread with Torrent and Petaya Berry boost.

Damage Dealt by Samurott
207 HP｜167 Sp.Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Sp.Def 252 (Careful) Item: Heavy-Duty Boots	Hydro Pump 198-234 (95.6 - 113%) 68.8% Chance to OHKO
184 HP｜120 Sp.Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 144 | Sp.Def 0 (Adamant) Item: Heavy-Duty Boots	Ice Beam 150-178 (81.5 - 96.7%) Guaranteed 2HKO
157 HP｜170 Sp.Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Sp.Def 64 (Bold) Item: Leftovers	Tera Blast 140-168 (89.1 - 107%) 37.5% Chance to OHKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

Doubles Movesets for Samurott

Swords Dance Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	HP 252 / Atk 252 / Def 4
Final Stat Values	HP 202 / Atk 167 / Def 106 / Sp.Def 90 / Spe 90
Ability	Shell Armor
Tera Type
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・ Swords Dance ・ Razor Shell ・ Tera Blast ・ Aqua Jet

Summary

Samurott has an easier time setting up Swords Dance in Doubles thanks to redirection support from the likes of Amoonguss and Toedscruel. It can also get Helping Hand support, allowing it to easily KO Pokemon that don't resist its moves.

Access to Swords Dance and a wide physical movepool. Razor Shell has a 50% chance to lower the target's Defense by one stage. Tera Fire gives it immunity to burns from Will-O-Wisp.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Shell Armor	Life Orb

Shell Armor gives Samurott immunity to critical hits, including guaranteed critical hits from moves like Flower Trick.

Life Orb boosts the power of Samurott's moves by 30% at the cost of recoil damage at the end of every turn.

Moves Breakdown

Swords Dance raises Samurott's Attack by two stages, boosting the power of its Razor Shell and Fire-type Tera Blast.

Aqua Jet gives it some utility against faster but weakened attackers, allowing Samurott to KO them before they can make a move.

Best Tera Type: Fire

Fire Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Terastallizing into a Fire-type not only gives Samurott Fire-type STAB to round off its coverage, it also allows it to to stay on the field against Grass-types and gives it neutrality to Electric-type attacks.

Fire Tera Type also gives Samurott immunity to burns from Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to turn the tables against defensive Pokemon looking to stop its sweep.

Best Fire Type Pokemon for Ranked Battle

EV Spread and Nature

We're using a standard bulky attacking EV spread with full HP and Attack investment to give it as much bulk and physical offense as possible, with the remaining 4 EVs invested in Defense to slightly boost its Defense.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Samurott's given EV spread with an Adamant Nature, +2 Attack from Swords Dance, and a Life Orb boost.

Damage Dealt by Samurott
222 HP｜201 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Impish) Item: Leftovers	Razor Shell 182-218 (81.9 - 98.1%) ) Guaranteed 2HKO
194 HP｜161 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Bold) Item: Leftovers	Tera Blast 244-291 (125.7 - 150%) Guaranteed OHKO
130 HP｜75 Def No Defensive EV Investment: HP 0 | Def 0 (Timid) Item:	Aqua Jet 133-156 (102.3 - 120%) Guaranteed OHKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

How to Use Samurott Effectively

Best Used as a Physical Attacker

Although Samurott has higher base Special Attack, it's best used as a physical attacker due to its wider physical movepool and access to Swords Dance.

How to Build a Team with Samurott

Samurott is a good addition to balanced teams looking for a slower but bulkier physical attacker that can provide extra coverage with its moves.

Sample Singles Team

Lead Attacker	Defensive Pivot	Special Attacker
Samurott	Garganacl	Flutter Mane

Leading with Samurott is a good idea since your opponent will need to scout or guess if your current build is a physical or special attacker, giving you potentially a free turn to setup with Swords Dance or setup with Substitute.

Garganacl serves as this team's defensive pivot, while Flutter Mane with Choice Specs provides strong special coverage and pressure to the opposing team.

Sample Doubles Team

Redirection Support	Lead Attacker
Amoonguss	Samurott
Special Attacker	Physical Attacker
Flutter Mane	Roaring Moon

With Amoonguss providing redirection support with Rage Powder, Samurott can safely set up with Swords Dance and even set up multiple times.

Flutter Mane and Roaring Moon are this team's sub attackers, with the latter providing an immediate threat with Booster Energy and can put the pressure on the opposing team if it attacks alongside Samurott.

Counters for Samurott

Overpower it with Special Attacks

Samurott's low Special Defense means it's easily checked by a Special Attacker that can hit it with its super effective attacks. Samurott is especially weak against faster special attackers as even with full Speed investment, it's easily outsped by many fast special attackers.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Iron Bundle	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Faster than Samurott and can easily KO it with STAB Freeze-Dry. ・Can also KO Samurott with STAB Hydro Pump if it terastallizes into a Fire-type. ▶️Iron Bundle Best Movesets
Sandy Shocks	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Faster and easily KOs Samurott with STAB Thunderbolt. ・Can also KO Samurott with STAB Earth Power if it terastallizes into a Ground-type. ▶️Sandy Shocks Best Movesets
Tatsugiri	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Faster and absorbs Water-type moves with its Storm Drain Ability. ・Can set up with Nasty Plot and threaten Samurott with boosted Dragon Pulse or Draco Meteor. ▶️Tatsugiri Best Movesets

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