Cranidos - Pokerealm.com

Earthquake
Stone Edge
Superpower
Thunderpunch

252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def

While Cranidos has a more than respectable base 125 Attack, its lacking defenses and poor Speed means it is often killed off before it can land a decent hit. This set attempts to remedy the latter situation of Speed, putting Cranidos at a Speed of 354, enough to outspeed even Kadabra and Electabuzz. Cranidos has a lot of options in its movepool that it can utilize, but many of them are situational, including the unlisted Iron Head, Crunch, Fire Punch, Return, Head Smash and Zen Headbutt. The listed attacks give Cranidos the best coverage in OU, however. Earthquake is Cranidos' main attack, 2HKOing even the standard Piloswine with Earthquake, and decimating Electabuzz, Magmar and Monferno. Earthquake even 2HKOs most variations of Rhydon (only the Focus Punch set survives), and 2HKOs would-be counters such as Poliwhirl. Stone Edge compliments Earthquake, OHKOing Golbat, Haunter and Togetic, while 2HKOing Gligar, Piloswine, and 87% of the time bulky DD Shelgon. Superpower rips through Sneasel, who otherwise would be able to KO Cranidos with Brick Break. Thunderpunch is mainly filler here, only proving useful against Mantyke.

A minimum of 220 Speed EVs with a Jolly Nature is required to be able to outspeed max Speed Kadabra and Electabuzz, who can both hit Cranidos for fatal damage. If the 32 EVs from Speed are dropped, it's usually best to invest in Defense or HP to help sponge weaker priority attacks, which are for the most part physically-based. However, Cranidos will fall to most Mach Punches or Bullet Punches due to its weakness to these types, anyway.

	Set Name	Nature		Item

RPDos

Adamant

Life Orb

Rock Polish
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Thunderpunch

252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def

Rock Polish remedies Cranidos' Speed problem, at the risk of being KO'ed on the turn that it is used. The key here is to send Cranidos in against something that it can force to switch out, either from the intention of the Choice Scarf variant, or a wall who cannot do much to Cranidos on the turn it uses Rock Polish. A risky set, but can pay off well if Cranidos is not met with a priority move. The 3 moves listed give Cranidos the best coverage. Stone Edge and Rock Slide hit everything in NFE for neutral damage, including usual counters Bronzor and Baltoy, because of Mold Breaker. Again, Thunderpunch is filler on this set, only proving its worth against Mantyke. A useful asset that Scarf Cranidos does not carry is that Rock Polish Cranidos can always 2HKO SubPunch Rhydon and bulky DD Shelgon.


	Team Benefit
	Cranidos makes an exceptional revenge killer for any OU team with its gargantuan Attack power. However, because of its low Defense, Cranidos has trouble with priority attacks that bypass its Speed boost, and hit its weak defenses. Machoke, Monferno, Metang, Piloswine, Prinplup, Sneasel and Staravia are the most common priority attack-users in OU, although Staravia's Quick Attack is not enough to take down Cranidos thanks to its resistance to Normal attacks. However, the other listed Pokemon can spell death to Cranidos with Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, Ice Shard (to an extent) and Bullet Punch, respectively. Bronzor, Marshtomp and one's own Metang all make sound teammates alongside Cranidos to take the priority attack as one switches out from Cranidos. Anti-priority Poliwhirl, consequentially, makes a fantastic teammate alongside Cranidos, although both share a Grass weakness, and can't take down the likes of Grotle and Bayleef. Switching Cranidos in is tough with its defenses, and if weakened too much, even STAB Ice Shards can possibly lead to a KO. Therefore, if you create synergy to allow you to switch to Cranidos, it should be for a Normal- or Fire-typed attack. Frail Grass and Bug Pokemon such as Yanma, Nuzleaf and Skiploom can accomplish this.
	Counters
	Nearly any Mach Punch, Aqua Jet or Bullet Punch can bypass Cranidos' Speed boosts, and almost always KO it because of its low Defense, making Metang, Sneasel, Machoke and some forms of Magmar useful counters. Bayleef and Grotle can take an Earthquake or Stone Edge, and threaten with a STAB Energy Ball, although switching into them may be dangerous. Rhydon has considerable Defense stats, and while it's weak to Ground, it can hit back with almost any attack with its high Attack stat to KO Cranidos. In most situations, Rhydon can weather 2 assaults from Cranidos to switch-in if it isn't locked into Earthquake. Marshomp is at worst 2HKOed by Cranidos' Earthquake, and can counter with Surf, Waterfall or Earthquake for an instant KO.