Pokemon Ramblings of a Star(mie) Defender: Top 100 Pokemon #94: Samurott

Making a good first impression is always important, which is why the starter Pokemon are always among the most important Pokemon in a generation. They are among the first Pokemon ever revealed for a given generation, are the first Pokemon the player will pick up, and will very likely become the trainer’s companion for the rest of the game. For this reason, GameFreak usually puts additional effort into designing these Pokemon and making them competitive, and they are frequently mentioned among a fan's favorite Pokemon. This is no different for me, as of the 15 starter Pokemon lines, I'd have to say that I really like 11 of them, and of those 11, 8 have made it into this list.

Making it at #94 on my list is, unfortunately for all you Gen V fans, the only line of the three there to make it onto my list. Not that the other two are bad (well, okay, Emboar is tiring out my tolerance for Fire/Fighting starters), but this is the guy that broke into the top listing...

Serperior? I saw him over at the Dream World trying to be Contrary.

#94: Oshawott/Dewott/Samurott

This is a cool line of Pokemon. Their names indicate a basis on otters, which are cute animals, and Oshawott does not disappoint in realizing this design to maximum cuteness potential.

Those eyes can steal a soul.

Now, typically, the middle stages of three-stage-evolution Pokemon, starters included, don't get a whole lot of attention. They typically don't have particularly memorable designs and serve more as a bridge between the cuter first form and the more powerful-looking last form. Dewott, though, is one of the few that does remain fairly memorable, finding just that right balance of looking both adorable and badass.

You'll want to hug him and he'll want to cut you up with his Razor Shells.

So then we move on to the final form and...

...wait a second, what happened to the sea otter concept? Somehow, we switched to sea lions instead.

Yeah, the evolution of Dewott into Samurott is kind of an awkward jump, and is part of the reason why Samurott isn't any higher. Though he still has a cool, samurai-inspired design. It can be a bit hard to tell exactly how a quadruped like Samurott is supposed to dual-wield the swords on his legs, though, so a visualization is in order here...

Badass = ability to switch from quadriped to biped in the blink of an eye.

Okay, I've got nothing else to say about Samurott's design. Even without the otter base, it's pretty clear how awesome it is. So let's talk combat capabilities.

Samurott is a balanced Water-type with a good Base 100 Attack and Base 108 Special Attack, and solid stats elsewhere. Base 70 Speed is a bit on the slow side, though it's still good for lower tiers. He is a well-balanced Pokemon that has good attacks on both the physical and special side. Physically, he can use Swords Dance to power up attacks like Waterfall, Megahorn, and Aqua Jet. On the special side, he gets to use his slightly higher attacking stat to hit hard right off the bat with the usual moves like Surf, Hydro Pump, and Ice Beam. He can also go mixed, such as having a special set with Aqua Jet to pick off weakened foes.

Unfortunately, there's not much else to this guy. He's cool and a good, solid Pokemon all-around competitively, though nothing particularly standout, and that does partially hurt him in these rankings. In the competitive scene he's a major threat in NU, especially with Swords Dance, and that's about as interesting as this guy gets. In-game, though, he's the best starter, at least in my opinion, and his overall strength and ability to learn strong moves like Razor Shell early will make him a top performer throughout your game.

That's all I have for this guy; a pretty short entry all things considered. So have another picture of awesome bipedal Samurott.