Vaporeon

Vaporeon finds a niche in Tradebacks OU as it gains Growth, which allows it to boost its already high Special even higher. Once boosted, Surf mows down most foes with little issue, 2HKOing foes such as Tauros and Persian at +1 and 2HKOing even bulky foes such as Snorlax and Zapdos at +2. This, combined with Acid Armor to patch up its lacking base 60 Defense, lets Vaporeon be a great wall not only specially, but also physically; at just +2 Defense, Snorlax's Body Slam becomes a 6HKO. Vaporeon has much higher base Special compared to the other notable Water-type setup sweeper, Slowbro, dealing good damage with Surf even without any Growth boosts. Vaporeon's higher base Special also allows it to tank special hits much easier; Starmie or Chansey only 4HKO with Thunderbolt. This higher base Special also allows Vaporeon to live a critical hit Thunderbolt from Starmie and Chansey with relative ease, taking just 63.4% maximum from a Starmie Thunderbolt critical hit. Vaporeon's large amount of boosting moves also lets it reapply a paralyzed foe's Speed drop up to nine times, while Slowbro can only reapply a paralyzed foe's Speed drop three times.

However, Vaporeon is in stark competition with Slowbro for the role of bulky Water-type, and Slowbro has Amnesia, better physical bulk, and Thunder Wave. Vaporeon also shares Slowbro's issues of having to rely on Rest for recovery and takes a lot more turns than Slowbro to set up, making it quite exploitable. However, once Vaporeon gets the ball rolling, it's hard to stop it, with a +5 Surf mowing over even Water-resistant foes. It also can tank one critical hit Thunderbolt from Starmie, Chansey, or Gengar, which Slowbro can't do due to its worse special bulk. Vaporeon is also noticeably faster than Slowbro, outspeeding the likes of Snorlax, Chansey, Exeggutor, and Rhydon, although it's still not fast enough to outspeed most common foes.