Shadow Toxicroak
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Toxicroak is one of those Shadow Pokemon. It's one that is based on a "good, but never great" Pokemon, and is easy to overlook as a result. However, this is actually a pretty potent attacker of a Pokemon with some real value behind it. It's frail, but it's got a bit of potential as a second-string Fighting Type, and is also among the best Poison Type attackers currently in the game. That said, it's also not a great investment, as there are better Fighting Types and Poison is an under-powered type. It's not bad by any means, but it's a bronze medal holder at best on most relevant fronts.
Offense
- Counter and Dynamic Punch make Shadow Toxicroak a decent Fighting attacker.
- Pair Poison Jab with Sludge Bomb for great Poison-type DPS. Poison Sting falls behind.
- Mud Shot and Mud Bomb can work if you're absolutely desperate for some Ground Type damage, but it's severely outclassed.
- Shadow Ball doesn’t have any offensive use for Shadow Toxicroak.
Defense
- Poison Jab and Counter perform very similarly on defense, but Poison Jab has wider type coverage. Poison Sting falls behind.
- Same thing goes for Sludge Bomb and Dynamic Punch.
- Mud Bomb has lower energy cost, but it’s very weak and easier to dodge.
- Mud Shot is poor on defense.
- Shadow Ball hits pretty hard and has great counter-coverage, but Shadow Toxicroak is likely to drop to a few Confusions regardless.
Counter is the go to fast move for Toxicroak as it provides wide coverage and gains STAB.
Mud Bomb provides wide coverage and costs the least amount of energy. Sludge Bomb costs a modest amount of energy and provides situational coverage while benefiting from STAB. Shadow Ball can smack Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon that would otherwise be problematic for Toxicroak. Dynamic Punch, 90 Damage and 50 Energy cost, is also an option to double down on the Fighting coverage depending on the PvP format.
Toxicroak is one of those Pokemon that sees play every now and then in the open Great League thanks to its unique typing and good moveset. It's a Fighting-type that fares better against Fairy-type Pokemon like Azumarill and Alolan Ninetales compared to most others. This can make Toxicroak an appealing partner to some Dragon-type Pokemon as it simultaneously provides coverage against Steel-type Pokemon without outright losing to Fairies. Unfortunately, Toxicroak does suffer from its frailty, requiring shields to actually win matchups that it should be favored against. The dominance of Annihilape also greatly hurts Toxicroak; it is a generally superior Fighting-type choice, and it also walls any Toxicroak that lacks Shadow Ball. However, Toxicroak may not even want to run Shadow Ball as that gives up its unique Fairy coverage.
