This is a strategy guide for using Politoed in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Politoed, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Politoed - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Politoed

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Politoed
Abilities
Water Absorb	Restores HP if hit by an Water-type move.
Damp	Prevents the use of self-destructing moves.
Drizzle (Hidden)	The Pokemon makes it rain when it enters a battle.

Politoed Weaknesses and Resistances

	Type
Takes 4x damage	-
Takes 2x damage
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage	-
Takes 0x damage	-

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Politoed

Singles Moveset for Politoed

Drizzle Support Moveset & Best Build

This build maximizes Politoed's capabilities as a support Pokemon that sets up Rain for the rest of its team.

About Politoed's Moves

Scald is your primary offensive option as it gets a nice boost from the Rain and STAB. It also comes with a chance to Burn your opponent which is useful when dealing with physical attacking threats.

Ice Beam provides coverage against Grass-type Pokemon as well as meta juggernauts such as Dragapult and Landorus.

Hypnosis is a good utility move that puts its target to sleep. This allows you to safely switch to your Rain sweepers or any favorable matchups.

Encore discourages your opponent from setting up any form of entry hazard or moves that increases their power.

About Politoed's EV Spread

This EV spread gives Politoed maximum bulk in order to safely set up rain a second time if necessary. Giving it 100 extra EVs on its Defense stat increases its chances of surviving a Grassy Glide from a standard Rillaboom build.

About Politoed's Ability

Drizzle sets up Rain the moment Politoed is sent out on the field. This allows your sweepers such as Kingdra to do their work efficiently.

About Politoed's Held Item

Sitrus Berry gives Politoed an additional form of bulk. This item heals the user by 25% of its maximum health if it's HP falls under 50%.

Other Viable Moves

Doubles Moveset for Politoed

Rain Setter Moveset & Best Build

This is a standard Rain Setter build for Politoed that aims to capitalize on its Hidden Ability, Drizzle, as well as its high natural bulk to repeatedly get rain up.

About Politoed's Moves

Scald gives Politoed some form of offense as it gets bonus damage from the rain as well as STAB. Additionally, the Burn chance this move provides is a neat bonus.

Ice Beam acts as a coverage move for common threats such as Rillaboom, Landorus-T, and Dragonite.

Perish Song allows you to combat stall teams as well as poor matchups. Be wary of when to use Perish Song however, as much as possible try and save it for when you can safely switch out your Pokemon.

Protect gives your Politoed a form of cushion as it negates damage from non-Max Moves.

About Politoed's EV Spread

This EV spread gives Politoed maximum bulk in order to safely set up rain a second time if necessary. Giving it 100 extra EVs on its Defense stat increases its chances of surviving a Grassy Glide from a standard Rillaboom build.

About Politoed's Ability

Drizzle sets up Rain and is the core of this entire build. Rain gives Water-types an advantage as their Water-type moves get an increase in terms of power. Additionally, abilities such as Rain Dish and Swift Swim are triggered only under the Rain.

About Politoed's Held Item

Sitrus Berry gives Politoed an additional form of bulk. This item heals the user by 25% of its maximum health if it's HP falls under 50%.

Other Viable Moves

How to Use Politoed Effectively

While Politoed niche is being a primary/secondary Rain setter, it does have its use as a bulky support Pokemon. Helping Hand for example, allows its partner Pokemon to easily deal with threats. You can also provide defensive support with moves like Encore to prevent set up.

Generally, you'd want to Politoed to take the bulk of the damage, but you also want to keep it relatively healthy. You can do so by timing your Protects properly or by switching onto Politoed's slot efficiently.

How to Build a Team with Politoed

Rain Team Secondary Setter

Secondary Weather Setter	Special Attacking Sweeper	Defensive Pivot
Politoed	Kingdra	Landorus (Therian Forme)

Politoed's niche is being a Rain setter thanks to Drizzle. Because of this, Politoed has historically been used as a secondary Rain setter for when your primary one (usually Kyogre) faints from battle. Politoed was usually built with support moves as a priority as it has access to moves like Haze, Helping Hand, and Hypnosis.

How to Build a Weather Team

Counters for Politoed

Weakness

Counter with a Slower Weather Setter

One way to counter Politoed is to simply run a slower Weather Setter. This is because if two weather setters are to be sent out on the field at the same time, the slower Pokemon's ability will trigger last. For example if you start a battle with Politoed and your opponent starts with the slower Torkoal, Drought will activate after Drizzle . This will turn the weather from normal to Rain then to Harsh Sunlight.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Rillaboom	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Outspeeds and OHKOs even a fully defensive Politoad. ・Can easily tank an Ice Beam thanks to Assault Vest. Rillaboom - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
Regieleki	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Outspeeds and OHKOs Politoad. ・Also benefits from the Rain because of Thunder. Regieleki - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
Tsareena	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Similar to Rillaboom, it can OHKO Politoed with Power Whip. Tsareena - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 10 List of Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

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Klefki	Lycanroc	Amoonguss
Poliwrath	Palossand	Mienshao
Starmie	Heracross	Comfey
Porygon-Z	Alakazam	Politoed