Moves
Swords Dance boosts Toxicroak's Attack to respectable levels, turning it into a formidable threat. Drain Punch is Toxicroak's preferred Fighting-type STAB attack because of its decent damage output and healing capabilities. Gunk Shot nails Fairy-types like Primarina, Mega Altaria, and Sylveon. It is also Toxicroak's best source of damage against most of the Water-types it sets up on, such as Alomomola, Suicune, and Mega Blastoise. When Poisonium Z activates, it becomes a powerful Acid Downpour, capable of OHKOing most neutral targets while patching up Gunk Shot's imperfect accuracy. Sucker Punch OHKOes the fast Psychic-types like Latias and Starmie that will try revenge killing Toxicroak after a boost. When Darkinium Z is activated, Sucker Punch turns into a powerful Black Hole Eclipse that is capable of powering through Pokemon that could otherwise tank a hit or evade Sucker Punch while crippling Toxicroak, most notably Mega Slowbro, Doublade, Bronzong, and Tentacruel, the latter of which can be particularly annoying due to its access to Haze and Liquid Ooze. Ice Punch can provide super effective coverage against Ground-types such as Gligar and Hippowdon. Knock Off can be used in the fourth slot to remove items and pressure a lot of slower Psychic- and Ghost-types, like Bronzong, Doublade, and Chandelure. However, Black Hole Eclipse achieves similar feats while also allowing Toxicroak to still use Sucker Punch.
Set Details
Full investment in Attack maximizes Toxicroak's offensive presence with a neutral nature. Full Speed investment with a Jolly nature provides it with crucial Speed advantages over a few common threats, including Mega Altaria, Togekiss, and Chandelure. Dry Skin is mandatory for securing Toxicroak's niche as a Pokemon that can utilize its pseudo-immunity to Water-type attacks to set up on Pokemon like Empoleon and Mega Blastoise. Life Orb puts a respectable amount of power behind all of Toxicroak's attacks, bolstering its sweeping capabilities. Poisonium Z is an option that Toxicroak can use alongside Gunk Shot to guarantee an OHKO on Pokemon such as Volcanion and defensive variants of Rotom-H. It also patches up Gunk Shot's slight accuracy issue. Darkinium Z can also be used in order to break past Pokemon like Jellicent and Doublade while still granting it access to Sucker Punch. It can also be useful for nullifying the use of Trick from Choice Scarf users such as Chandelure and Latias that may try evading Sucker Punch. The lack of power behind Toxicroak's STAB attacks is worth noting, however.
Usage Tips
Toxicroak should look to begin sweeping once its defensive checks like Hippowdon and Swampert are removed. Revenge killers that don't fear Sucker Punch, such as Infernape and Choice Scarf Krookodile, should also be removed in order to maximize Toxicroak's chances of cleaning up late-game. When it's ready to set up, it should switch in on Water-types like Alomomola and Choice-locked Primarina because of the pseudo-immunity to their Water-type attacks that Dry Skin will provide. Dry Skin also helps Toxicroak check these Pokemon as well, as it may not be able to set up and sweep upon forcing them out but can still prevent them from fulfilling their roles. If running Poisonium Z, Toxicroak should activate it if it needs to secure a crucial KO without worrying about Gunk Shot's accuracy, such as against Volcanion, or if it wants to power through a defensive Pokemon like Alomomola or Suicune in one hit. If it's being run, Darkinium Z should be activated against threats that can cripple Toxicroak upon tanking a hit or evading Sucker Punch. Said threats include Doublade and Slowbro. Toxicroak should keep Sucker Punch hidden if Pokemon like Nihilego and Latias are on the opposing team, as they would likely think that they can easily revenge kill it if under the impression that it isn't running priority to OHKO them after a boost.
Team Options
Toxicroak fits best on bulky offensive teams as a decent late-game cleaner and check to several hindrances to these archetypes, such as Alomomola, Suicune, and Empoleon. Entry hazard support is essential to Toxicroak's success because it can more easily break past foes that have taken residual damage. Swampert and Krookodile can both reliably set Stealth Rock for Toxicroak, while Klefki is particularly helpful in that it can allow Toxicroak to outrun several faster foes through crippling them with Thunder Wave in addition to providing Spikes support. Toxicroak's inability to break past most Ground-types means that checks to them, such as Mamoswine, Celebi, and Kyurem, often function as useful teammates. Lures to Ground-types, such as Grass Knot Infernape, are particularly useful because of their ability to remove the likes of Swampert, Hippowdon, and Rhyperior. Pokemon like Hippowdon and Scizor that are capable of taking care of most common revenge killers can aid Toxicroak in reliably dealing with the likes of Hydreigon and Choice Scarf Krookodile. Fire-types like Chandelure, Volcanion, and Infernape can weaken opposing teams while, more importantly, luring in bulky Water-types for Toxicroak to KO quite easily. Other powerful wallbreakers, such as Terrakion, Primarina, and Hydreigon, can punch holes in opposing teams and make it easier for Toxicroak to do its job late-game. Toxicroak appreciates Flying-type checks like Rotom-H and Mega Manectric on its team due to its vulnerability to popular threats in Moltres and Crobat. Pokemon that appreciate checks to bulky Water-types on their teams, such as the aforementioned Fire-types and Cobalion, partner well with Toxicroak thanks to its Dry Skin ability.