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5 votes
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If you have a good competitive moveset for Toxapex, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for its pre-evolutions, if any, can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Toxapex Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Sprite

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Thought I should mention, seeing as a lot of people here are recommending it: do *not* use 252 Def / 252 SpD on Toxapex. If you really want an even balance in Def / SpD (which is a lazy and unthoughtful EV spread anyway), then you should use 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD which is mathematically superior:
252 SpA Silvally Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 128 SpD Toxapex: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Silvally Take Down vs. 252 HP / 128 Def Toxapex: 76-90 (25 - 29.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Silvally Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Toxapex: 75-88 (31.1 - 36.5%) -- 62.3% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Silvally Take Down vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Toxapex: 70-84 (29 - 34.8%) -- 7.6% chance to 3HKO
https://calc.pokemonshowdown.com/

Also, Merciless sets are not good. Regenerator is a fantastic ability and building around it instead is a good idea.
Just wanted to add on about the 252 Def / 252 SpD thing:
You can use this equation to figure out a Pokémon's walling Pokemon capabilities:
HP*Def or HP*SpD
Let's apply this to Toxapex:
252 Def: 241*403=97,123
252 / 128 Def: 304*372=113,088
252 SpD: 241*421=101,461
252 / 128 SpD: 304*387=117,648

The higher the total, the more capable a Pokemon can wall physical/special attacks. In this case, the 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD spread gives Toxapex better walling capabilities.
the offensive sets here pain me

25 Answers

9 votes

Don't use Merciless. Just don't. It's real damn bad. If you use Merciless Toxapex, it is a complete waste of this Defensive powerhouse of a Pokemon. A lot of people think the crits will compensate for the low base Attack/Special Attack, but the opponent needs to be poisoned, and if your opponent is poisoned, why wouldn't you just take advantage of Toxapex's high defenses to semi-stall them instead? It will save HP, and probably take the same amount of turns considering its base 53 and 63 Attack Stats. On top of that, it's also slow. If you want to use an offensive Poison Type/Water Type, use Nihilego or Gyarados or Greninja or something. Not this.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover

Rocky Helmet and Black Sludge are both amazing on this Mon, this decision really just comes down to personal preference.

The ability to recover HP just by switching is an amazing tool to have, and it opens up a lot of extra opportunities for Toxapex and the rest of your team.

The EVs Maximize the Defensive potential of Toxapex, helping it beat a lot of powerful physical Attackers.
IVs: 0 Atk - Take a little less damage from Foul Play and confusion
- Toxic Spikes - Toxapex is a great user of Toxic Spikes, since it can usually sponge up a few hits in order to set up at least one layer.
- Scald - In my opinion, Scald is probably the second best move in the game. Being able to damage the opponent while having a 30% chance to burn them, which in turn chips at their HP and halves their Attack stat, is just perfect for a Mon like Toxapex.
- Haze - Haze isn't really a necessity on a good Toxapex moveset, but it really does help in order to not be complete and utter setup bait. Resetting all stat boosts with the click of a button is another really good tool for Toxapex to be as beneficial to a team as it can.
- Recover - Recovering 50% of your HP by just clicking the gray colour is almost completely necessary for any Toxapex set.

Also, Baneful Bunker is pretty bad, at least on Toxapex. It's very predictable, and it doesn't toxic poison opponents like Toxic Spikes can. It can be used, but if it's on your moveset, you need to make sure not to just spam it mindlessly.

Oh, and Stockpile is bad too. No point in raising your already sky-high defenses even further, it won't really help you in the long run. It's not like you can sweep a team by having high defenses. It really isn't worth the loss of a precious move slot.

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i think limber is the better ability, if you are paralysed and you want to heal but you can't due to full para, is really anoying. also why would you take of something that is so bulky.
3 votes

Role: Status inflicting wall

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic / Toxic Spikes
- Haze / Painful Bunker

Usage: This set is pretty much the typical bread and butter set that most people use. The HP EV's combined with the added EVs to its special defense and a bold nature, allow Toxapex to take hits very well. Recovery, Regenerator, and Black Sludge make it all the more difficult to take it down as well. Scald is for STAB and inflicting burns to compliment its bulk, Recover is for healing any damage taken.

Toxic is obvious, but Toxic Spikes can be very useful for inflicting status especially if your opponent has no Poison-type to get rid of them. Haze is generally the preferred move so it can prevent opponents from setting up on it, but Baneful Bunker is useful for scouting, and gaining back lost HP using Black Sludge. Baneful Bunker also poisons opposing mons that make contact with it.

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Out of Baneful Bunker, Toxic Spikes, and Toxic, I chose to run Toxic on mine. Though Toxic Spikes would be my next choice. Maybe have a lvl. 1 Smeargle set up Toxic Spikes with focus sash and then switch into Mareanie.
When people just put "Spd" I DON'T KNOW whether they mean SpDef or Spe and it annoys me so much
SpD is special defense. Spe is speed.
2 votes

Gen 8 OU
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic

Scald is for the chance to burn physical sweepers, crippling them. Haze is to get rid of stat boosts from opposing Pokémon. Recover is to get your HP back. Toxic is to wear down your opponent's HP.

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2 votes

National Dex


Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Haze

When the world needed it most, it returned.

Specially Defensive Toxapex is great in the current meta, as Ash-Greninja's usage increases and Moonblast+Flamethrower Calm Mind Clefable and Mega Charizard Y not faltering. Scald is a safe move to use and has a 30% burn chance, which is great. The burn chance and super effective damage allows it to pressure Landorus-Therian most importantly, who can Earthquake it to dust very easily. Toxic badly poisons the enemy, making it better than Scald in certain matchups. If you want reliable status, then use Toxic. Recover is reliable recovery, which is what makes it such a good counter to so many Pokemon. Haze allows Toxapex to beat Volcarona, as well as other Pokemon like Calm Mind Clef and Curse/Swords Dance Mega Scizor.

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 124-147 (40.7 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

+3 0 SpA Life Orb Clefable Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 90-105 (29.6 - 34.5%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Scorching Sands vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 102-120 (33.5 - 39.4%) -- 15.1% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Return vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex: 120-142 (39.4 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

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1 vote

Gen 9 Monotype Physically Defensive (Water)

Toxapex @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish / Bold Nature
- Toxic Spikes / Toxic
- Toxic / Haze
- Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb
- Recover

A Physically Defensive set for Water teams in Gen 9 Monotype. Toxapex lost Scald this Gen, which is rather unfortunate. This set might seem weird upon first glance considering this set has 2-3 moves that spread poison, so I'll explain the reason. Toxic Spikes is used to setup a hazard that can poison Pokemon upon switching in, potentially badly poisoning Pokemon with 2 layers of Toxic Spikes up. Toxic is used to be able to poison Flying-types, Levitate Pokemon such as Rotom-Wash and Eelektross, and Pokemon who use Heavy-Duty Boots such as Cyclizar, Volcarona, Brambleghast, and Chien-Pao. Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb is realistically used for an attacking move, but the chance of poisoning Pokemon can be useful should you drop Toxic for Haze and can let you poison Hatterene. Recover is used for HP recovery. Toxapex doesn't really need Haze on Water teams if you have Dondozo on the team. If you feel like you do need Haze however, you can either drop Toxic and have Toxic Spikes with Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb for your moves that spread poison or drop Toxic Spikes on the first slot for Toxic to have both Toxic and Haze on the same set along with Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb. 8 Speed EVs might seem useless on Toxapex, but the 8 Speed EVs allow Toxapex to outspeed Quagsire so it you can make your move before Quagsire. Safety Goggles might also sound weird on Toxapex, but it is useful vs Vivillon to prevent from using you as setup fodder with Sleep Powder + Quiver Dance should you also have Haze. Safety Goggles is also nice vs Breloom's Spore so you can check/wall it better.

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0 votes

image

This is prolly one of the best Poison types so far. I'd go with the following moveset:

Toxapex@Black Sludge
Ability: Merciless
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 Def/252 S.Def/4 HP

Toxic/Toxic Spikes
Venoshock
Scald
Recover/Baneful Banker/Toxic Spikes

So basically, Merciless will provide 100% critical hit probability once the foe is poisoned.
Venoshock will get 65 x 2 x 1.5 = 195 Base Power.
Scald will get 80 x 1.5 = 120 Base Power.
Recover or Baneful Banker can be used to heal and Black Sludge deals with Trick users.

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wow! nice tiki art! did you make it?
Oh, I completely forgot that. Lemme edit.
Which one is better and recommend me to use? Baneful Bunker or Recover?
Juz use both.
0 votes

Role: annoying staller

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Merciless
Calm Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 (???)
- Baneful Bunker
- Venoshock
- Stockpile / Recover
- Toxic / Recover / Toxic Spikes

With this set you can just spam Baneful Bunker while Toxic chips the opponent's health away.
Use Venoshock every other turn. If you have a Stockpile set, then use Stockpile first. If you replace Toxic with Recover, keep in mind that the only way you can poison the opponent is Baneful Bunker.

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0 votes

Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Merciless
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
Evs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 64 Def / 128 Spd

-Baneful Bunker
-Recover (Recovery)
-Liquidation
-Stockpile

Rocky Helmet goes well with Stockpile, and while you are setting up you could do some damage too. Its like Protect and poisons the target, which is quite helpful, and it also goes well with the Merciless Ability. Liquidation is a good move +STAB. It's better than Poison Jab, as many peeps uses Solgaleo nowdays. Stockpile is for bulk.

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0 votes

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Bold(+Defense, -Attack)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Defense / 4 Special Defense
- Toxic / Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Scald
- Recover

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0 votes

So you wanna train your Toxapex right to sweep Pokemon. Well, I have the perfect moveset, item, and other stuff. :D

Toxapex @ Black Sludge (it's a Poison type and you shouldn't use Leftovers because there's no point)
Ability: Regenerator
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD

-Scald (to faint any Steel types.)
-Toxic (to poison the opponent very badly and make it take damage over time.)
-Baneful Bunker (to protect you and let the poison damage increase over time)
-Venoshock (to double the power. so first it was 60 power, but now the since the opponent is poisoned, it's 120 power, which is a lot.)

This is mostly a moveset for patient people that want to see their opponent suffer by poison. The whole point is to not die by using Baneful Bunker and letting the opponent do very little damage. Even if you did a wrong move, thanks to Toxapex's very high Defense and Special Defense, it won't do a lot of damage. VEnoshock could be a sweeper move and scald is just in case of an emergency, like fighting a Steel type, so you still would do damage.

By the way tell me if you think something should change. Thank you for your time reading this <3

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I like this set because it’s amazing for in game teams and competitive
0 votes

Toxapex @ Black Sludge / Leftovers
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD
Nature: Lax
Ability: Limber / Regenarator
Role: Staller

-Toxic: Badly poison them

-Infestation: Hurt them even more

-Recover: Healing, every good staller needs a healing move

-Stockpile: Get even tankier than you already are

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0 votes

Slow Stall Pokémon

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Nature: Bold

-Toxic (has to hit since it is a Poison type Pokemon, poisons the opponent, then you can stay stalling)

-Scald (STAB Water type move, might burn opponent, making your Defense effectively doubled)

-Haze (I've done this many times, but with the attacker. I tried to Swords Dance twice, thrice even, just for it to Haze me. With Haze, you can counter many Swords Dance Earthquakers (most common attack) and kill them with the poison/Scald)

-Recover (Recover + Regenerator. This is for you healing 80% of health in 2 turns. See this? This will make you unkillable)

Stall it.

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0 votes

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Calm (+SpDef -Atk)
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 SpA

-Scald
-Haze
-Recover
-Toxic

Scald to avoid being Taunted. Toxic to badly poison opponent. Scald because it has a chance of burning, and Recover to heal HP.

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scald because it has a chance of poisoning...?
0 votes

Toxapex @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Limber
Nature: Careful (+Sp. Defense, -Sp. Attack) or Calm (+Sp. Defense, -Sp. Attack)
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Role: Wall

  • Baneful Bunker
  • Toxic
  • Venom Drench
  • Recover
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0 votes

image

This Pokemon is totally AMAZING, it's got a super strong Defence and Special Defence and can wall a lot of Pokemon.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge / Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD OR 252 HP / 156 SpD / 60 Def
Calm / Sassy / Relaxed Nature

-Scald
-Baneful Banker
-Recover
-Toxic Spikes / Toxic / Iron Defence / Stockpile

Explanation:
Ability
Honestly, Merciless SUCKS, and Regenerator is so good, it works well with a walling Pokemon. Limber is totally useless.

Items
No one knows that Rocky Helmet can work pretty well with it, same as Black Sludge and Leftovers can heal it. The reason I use Leftovers is in case you do not have Black Sludge.I

Moves
Scald will get the opponent burned, and make Toxapex more defensive against Physical sweepers and tanks. Recover for a nice recovery, and Baneful Bunker for protecting itself and might get the opponent poisoned.
Toxic Spikes are for entering poison hazards, Toxic gets the opponent poisoned, and Iron Defence let it become even more defensive.

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0 votes

Basic stall set:

Toxapex @ Black Sludge / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
252 HP /252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
Max sp.def is okay too
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze / Infestation / Subsitute / Baneful Bunker / Protect

Scald helps to bolster Defense.
Haze if you hate setup, Infestation to annoy.
You can sub first or Toxic first, then sub, then Recover next turn.
I prefer Protect over Baneful Bunker as I would prefer to kill with bad poison instead of just poison.

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0 votes

Toxapex@black sludge
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Calm Nature
Ability: regenerator
Moves:
- toxic
- recover
- scald/muddy water
- venom drench
The purpose of this mon is to let a frail poke get in safely
Toxic first, then venom drench. Toxic stack damage is increased incentive to switch. With reduced stats, the frail poke will be given some "bulk" to prob tank the hit and possibly ko or set up .
Muddy water can add on with lowered acc, but lacks the ACC and of scald. If opponent is steel or poison you prob want to switch

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0 votes


Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- Toxic Spikes
- Baneful Bunker
- Venoshock
- Recover

I think Toxic Spikes is a great option for poisoning the opponent team and teaming up with Venom Shock will make the opponent extra damaged. The Baneful Bunker move is one of the most impressive defensive moves as it both protects the user and poisons the opponent Pokemon - giving extra support for Venom Shock. Recover is also useful for Toxapex as it maxes out its main potential - defense and spamming Recover can both make opponents difficult to knock out the brutal star Pokemon and a good way to let them die in suffer from poison.

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0 votes

Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet / Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald / Sludge Bomb
- Haze
- Recover

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0 votes

Gen 9 OU Singles

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground / Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Toxic
- Recover
- Baneful Bunker / Venoshock / Surf
- Haze

STALLER. Wait! What about. . . STALLER. Toxic to do toxic things. Haze keeps opponents from setting up. Baneful Bunker will stall for poison. Venoshock if you want to watch out for Taunt. Recover is a must. Tera’s not really necessary, but if you know your opponent’s next attack, it’s a great way to buy an extra turn for poison. This move set will have trouble facing steel types, but you could use Surf to give you some sort of counter( not really).

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Stockpile and Haze don't work well together, as Haze would also get rid of your defense boosts from Stockpile.
I see. I forget explosion causes the user to explode and haze removes ALL stat changes. I can be really dumb.
Can Toxapex learn Clear Smog? I’m guessing not.
I think I can salvage this! A few moments later. . .
I’m just gonna give up on Stockpile.