Pokémon Sword & Shield Wild Area Event: Water & Ground-type Pokémon

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Meta375

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Published on August 4, 2020 9:00:18 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsgza_NzL34

Game:

Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)

Duration: 54:40

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2

With the Rock and Steel-type Pokémon out of the Max Raid Battles, from August 1st till August 31st, Water and Ground-type Pokémon will appear more in the Max Raid Battles. For the rest of my Wild Area event videos, they will take place on the Isle of Armor, but is possible to do it in the Wild Area in Galar, so it's not restricted to the Isle of Armor.
The following Pokémon that appear in the Max Raid Battles are Drednaw, Milotic, Quagsire, Sandaconda, Hippowdon, and Gastrodon, so a good collecting of Water and Ground-type Pokémon, and both Drednaw and Sandaconda can Gigantamax.
Then to go over their Hidden Abilities and viability in online battles and the competitive scene, and starting with Drednaw, its Hidden Ability is Swift Swim, and this is a Pokémon that prefers to be Dyanamxed over Gigantamaxed, because Max Geyser allows Drednaw to summon its own rain, because if you choose Gigantamax, you will need rain support from Pelipper or Politoed. Drednaw's G-Max move is G-Max Stonesurge, which is what its Water-type moves turn into, and it will scatter sharp rocks, so it has the effect of Stealth Rock. With Swift Swim, this will give Drednaw some surprising amount of speed, and it has good Attack, so Drednaw can hit hard with moves like Liquidation and Stone Edge.
Next is Milotic, its Hidden Ability is Cute Charm, and while it is nice for Hidden Ability collectors, this serves no use in the competitive scene, it is better off with either Marvel Scale or Competitive. Marvel Scale is more suited for defensive Milotic sets with moves like Rest and Sleep Talk, while Scald and either Ice Beam or Dragon Tail fill in for damaging moves. Competitive is more suited for offensive Milotic sets that use moves like Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, and Mud Shot, while Recover fills in for a healing move. In Double Battles, Competitive is the Ability you want, and Milotic can use Muddy Water to hit both targets, Coil is an option to boost Milotic's Accuracy.
Then onto Quagsire, its Hidden Ability is Unaware, that allows it to ignore the target's stat boosts, and Quagsire has seen use in the high tiers despite how average of a Pokémon it is. It is very slow, and is more of a defensive Pokémon, the most popular Quagsire sets use Scald, Toxic, and Recover, while Earthquake usually fills in for a fourth move, those can make Quagsire last a bit in battle against a powerful foe.
Then for Sandaconda, its Hidden Ability is Sand Veil, and out of its possible Abilities, Sand Spit is preferred, this Ability is exclusive to Sandaconda, and it allows it to summon a sandstorm if it is hit by a move. With Defense as its best stat and a fairly good Attack stat, Sandaconda is more of a Pokémon that fills in for more defensive roles, Glare and Coil are moves it can use, while Earthquake and Rock Tomb are for attacking, it can use Stealth Rock as well, while Stone Edge and Body Press are alternative moves for it. On the Gigantamax side, Sandaconda's Ground-type moves turn into G-Max Sandblast, which traps the opponent for four to five turns as if the effects of Sand Tomb are in the opponent's side.
Hippowdon's Hidden Ability is Sand Force, and while it is good offensively, Sand Stream is a better choice, and Hippowdon has the bulk to last in battle, it has great HP and Defense, and a good Attack stat. Earthquake is Hippowdon's main move in battle, while Stealth Rock and Whirlwind pair up well, and while most sets use Yawn to force opponents to switch, and Slack Off as a healing move, Rock Tomb and Thunder Fang are other notable moves for Hippowdon in battle, and it is a good user of Body Press with that good Defense stat.
Last up is Gastrodon, its Hidden Ability is Sand Force, but why take that over Storm Drain? When using Gastrodon, it can use moves like Scald, Earth Power, and Ice Beam, while Recover is good for a healing move. Sludge Wave is an alternative for Gastrodon if it needs a Poison-type move of some sort, and Sludge Bomb is preferred in Double Battles. I find that Gastrodon is better in Double Battles with that Storm Drain Ability, and Muddy Water is an alternative over Scald if you want to use Gastrodon as an attacker.
Those are some good choices of Water and Ground-type Pokémon in the Max Raid Battles, some of which can be good additions to your team for online battles.

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