Is Corrosion really that good?

Question

Salazzle and Salandit both have Corrosion. I will mostly only talk about Salazzle, as it is better. Now, Corrosion let's you hit Steel types with Poison type moves, and normally they would have no effect. Now, if you think of it, you don't even need to hit Steel types with Poison type moves because you can easily Flamethrower them. Fire is super effective on steel already, so is Corrsion really even that useful? Note: Not competitively, just that is it even useful if you can hit super effectively?

Comments

yes and no. other abilities are better, but salazzle only has oblivious, so it is better.

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What game are you asking about? What are you doing with a Salazzle? Are you battle other people, in-game trainers, or something else?

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Umm, no. I'm not asking competitively, I'm just saying is it even good if you have super effective moves.

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Useful for Toxic tho

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Well, yes, Toxic normally wouldn't hit steel types, but Salazzle isn't really a hazard spreader, as it can easily be KO because of it's bad defenses.

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How useful something is depends on what you're using it for. So what game are you asking about? Are you using a Salazzle to battle in-game trainers or something else?

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I'm asking for example: You walk into a battle. You find another trainer. You use Salazzle and use Sludge Wave on the Copperajah. I'm asking if it really is useful if you can hit Steel types super effectively.

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Having corrosion is better than not having corrosion.

Using Toxic on a potentional switch in is a lot safer then attempting to use flamethrower and then being wrong and just allowing an opposing water type for e.g a free entry. Also, Heatran exists.

In game, it doesn't really make much difference

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Again, it depends on whether that's a regular in-game trainer or a trainer in a special battle facility, like the Battle Tower.

Answer 1

Oblivious is better than Corrosion in Gen 7, while Corrosion is more popular in Gen 8.

First off, if a Corrosion Pokemon uses a Poison move on a Steel type Pokemon, it will still have no effect. Corrosion just allows the ability-bearer to poison a Steel / Poison type? Don't believe me?

Corrosion allows the user to inflict poison on any Pokémon regardless of type, allowing them to poison Poison and Steel-type Pokémon. However, the user cannot conventionally poison the target with a physical move or a special move, and can only be conventionally done with a status move that inflicts poison.

If a Poison- or Steel-type Pokémon with Corrosion holds a Toxic Orb, it will badly poison itself. A Pokémon with Corrosion can poison Poison-type and Steel-type Pokémon if it uses Fling while holding a Toxic Orb or a Poison Barb.

This Ability has no effect on Toxic Spikes. It does not allow the Pokémon with this Ability to poison a Pokémon with Immunity. Corrosion does not allow the Pokémon with this Ability to damage Steel-type Pokémon with Poison-type moves.

If the Pokémon with this Ability uses a move, and that move gets reflected by the target due to Magic Coat or Magic Bounce, the reflected move will not be able to poison Steel- or Poison-type Pokémon. If a Poison- or Steel-type Pokémon with this Ability poisons a target with Synchronize, Synchronize will not be able to affect the Pokémon with this Ability.

If the Pokémon with this Ability uses Magic Coat to reflect a status move that inflicts poison, the reflected move will be able to poison Steel- or Poison-type Pokémon.

Source

Now that that's cleared up, this is why Oblivious is better in Gen 7.

First, Salazzle commonly runs Nasty Plot to deal decent damage. Taunt cripples this, so it's valuable to have Oblivious since it blocks Taunt. Corrosion isn't that good since it's very frail, and Poison resists Sludge Wave while Steel is immune to it. This means Corrosion is only good for Toxic, but, again, Salazzle is very frail and using a Focus Sash for Toxic will

1. Probably be shut down by entry hazards.

2. Not allow it to use Acid Downpour.

As for why Corrosion is more popular in Gen 8...

Salazzle's great Speed, Special Attack, and Corrosion ability turn it into a great wallbreaker, as it has a very strong STAB combination and is able to cripple most of its checks with Toxic.

Source

Yeah that's not very specific lol.

Anyway, basically, a lot of things check it, so it needs Toxic to wear down the opponent. It also gets Heavy-Duty Boots, so it's no longer crippled by Stealth Rock, allowing it to pivot more reliably. This means that it won't usually set up Nasty Plot, and it will mostly be firing off fast Toxic's. Salazzle also runs Knock Off a lot now? So Corrosion can chip down opponents that have the Leftovers knocked off.

So it kind of depends on what format/game you're playing.

Hope this helps! :)

Comments

But it's bad because you can hit Steel types super effectively instead of just neutral, right?
Thank you Y!

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Again you can't hit steel types with a poison move when you have corrosion lmao

Np

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Wait, you can't hit Steel types with Sludge Wave?

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"Corrosion allows the user to inflict poison on any Pokémon regardless of type, allowing them to poison Poison and Steel-type Pokémon."

Poison, not hit with Poison-type moves

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Yeah thats seriously why i included that whole quote from bulbapedia lmao