Fans of the second generation of Pokemon were treated to a variety of new forms and evolutions with the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Gen 2 mons that desperately needed evolutions like Girafarig and Dunsparce finally got what they deserved in the form of Farigiraf and Dudunsparce, respectively. But it was the adorable Water/Ground type Wooper that received arguably the most attention of any Gen 2 mon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet with a new Paldean regional variant as well as a new evolution, Clodsire, replacing its previous one, Quagsire.
Gen 9's Paldean Wooper also swaps the Water typing of the original for the Poison type, which it carries over in its evolution into Clodsire. This new evolution of Wooper gained a lot of popularity among fans for its endearing expression and rotund body, and Quagsire similarly won Gen 2 players over with its carefree, absentminded personality. However, Clodsire holds a more sinister surprise than Quagsire with its nasty, poisonous spines that it can stick out from its back when threatened. Despite this deadly aspect of its design, Clodsire doesn't actually hold up to the power of Quagsire, making it the inferior Wooper evolution.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Clodsire May Just Be a Worse Quagsire
Upon first glance, it seems like Clodsire and Quagsire share a lot of commonalities that would earn them equal standing among trainers. They both evolve from Wooper at level 20, share the Ground typing, have base stat totals of 430, and get the useful Hidden Ability Unaware. Despite these similarities, Quagsire has found usage in the competitive meta of generations past, whereas Clodsire has seen little to no usage within Series 1 of VGC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Although historically a rather niche pick, Quagsire was at its competitive peak during Gen 7 thanks to its overall decent defensive bulk and fantastic ability in Unaware. Quagsire was typically used to stop opponents from sweeping with one or two mons since Unaware causes it to ignore enemy stat changes when giving or receiving damage. Combined with solid defensive stats, Quagsire could stop opponents who boosted their stats with moves like Swords Dance or Dragon Dance from sweeping the team. It also had access to Scald which could lower the opposing mon's Attack stat with a Burn, but was removed as a TM in Gen 9.
While Clodsire has access to Unaware as well, it loses a lot of what made Quagsire useful beyond walling an opponent's sweeper. It redistributes the defensive stats of Quagsire to give it solid Special Defense at the cost of Physical Defense, while at the same time having a higher HP, it loses most of Quagsire's offensive bite. The final nail in the coffin for Clodsire is the loss of Scald in Gen 9, leaving its only worthwhile offensive usage being that of a Toxic stall mon with its high HP and access to Recover. However, even this strategy is subpar due to Clodsire's low Defense stat, making it vulnerable to Physical Attackers.
There are better Poison and Ground-type options for players to use in the current competitive meta of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet such as Garchomp or Gastrodon for Ground-types and Amoonguss for a Poison-type supporter. As such, Clodsire is essentially obsolete as it is outclassed by too many other mons to be viable. The addition of Terastallization in Gen 9 also makes creatures with middling defenses like Clodsire difficult to use since a Terastalized monster gains a 200% damage bonus on STAB damage rather than the usual x1.5. Although Clodsire is as cute as Quagsire in the looks department, it ultimately falls short when compared to Quagsire's battle prowess.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.
