Thanks to Tentacruel's unique typing and high Special Defense stat, it can shrug off most Special Ice and Water attacks, so it should have enough opportunities to get in and and support the team. Surf is a good STAB attack and can be paired with either Ice Beam or Sludge Bomb for coverage. Ice Beam covers Dragon- and Flying-types mostly, while Sludge Bomb hits most Grass-types for higher damage and helps to wear down opposing Water-types. It also has a useful 30% chance of poisoning opponents which is especially useful for those Flying-types (like Gyarados) who not only take at worst neutral damage from all of Tentacruel's attacks but are also immune to Toxic Spikes. Rapid Spin rids your side of the field from entry hazards and is an incredibly handy move to have around. Knock Off can be used over any of the moves in the last two slots, although the third slot is the recommended choice. The ability to strips your opponent of its held item will often make them less effective. Toxic Spikes is an excellent move that will quickly wear down an opponents team should they lack a way of removing them. Giga Drain can 2HKO an incoming Water/Ground-type, particularly Swampert, and even though it does less damage than Sludge Bomb against most other Water-types it provides Tentacruel with a way to replenish HP outside of Leftovers recovery. The given EVs allow Tentacruel to counter some of the more threatening sweepers in OU. Max HP with the 120 EVs invested in Defense ensure that standard Infernape's Close Combat is always a 3HKO. Swords Dance variants can only amount to a 2HKO, which means Tentacruel can switch in, take a Close Combat, and then Surf for the KO. The Calm nature and Special Defense EVs make sure that a Choice Scarf Heatran will never 2HKO Tentacruel.
Tentacruel's excellent Special Defense stat and useful set of resistances (most notably Fire, Fighting and Ice) makes it a good choice to come in on threats such as Infernape, Heatran and Specs Lucario to set up Toxic Spikes. However with no reliable means of recovery Tentacruel can sometimes struggle to come in on these attacks repeatedly, and so will not always find the time to set down two layers of Toxic Spikes. However, the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk allows Tentacruel to replenish any lost health to allow it to come in on these threats again and again, making it much easier to get both layers of Toxic Spikes down. Tentacruel also makes a good switch into a number of the common sleep inducers, most notably Yanmega and Milotic. However, it does struggle against the likes of Gengar (Thunderbolt) and Bronzong (Earthquake) and can do very little back to Roserade, who sponges Surf easily and can also remove your Toxic Spikes upon switching in. If you don't feel that Toxic Spikes are necessary for your team, then there are several other options for the last slot, most notably Rapid Spin. With this set, Tentacruel makes an excellent spinner, being able to come in repeatedly and clear entry hazards. However, apart from Gengar, Tentacruel struggles to do anything to most anti-spinners, and when you consider that Tentacruel already clears Toxic Spikes upon switching in, this becomes a much less attractive option. Despite this, it is still worth considering if your team dislikes Stealth Rock or Spikes. Sludge Bomb gets STAB and excellent coverage with Tentacruel's Surf, and hits Abomasnow and Celebi hard. Ice Beam hits Salamence and maintains some coverage on Celebi, whilst Hidden Power Electric actually does something to other Water types, most notably Starmie and Gyarados. However, a utility move is recommended as otherwise Tentacruel's role in a team can be somewhat limited. It also helps to differentiate Tentacruel from other bulky waters who can run a similar set, such as Milotic and to a lesser extent Gyarados.
Swords Dance on Tentacruel may seem foolish at first due to its lackluster Attack stat; however, with the ability to go mixed with Hydro Pump or Surf, Tentacruel can still be a threatening sweeper. Swords Dance Tentacruel is a wall breaker of sorts that dates back to GSC era to beat the infamous Skarmory and Blissey combo. With the addition of the physical / special split as well as Life Orb, Tentacruel can accomplish this even better in the DPP era. A single Swords Dance nets Tentacruel 524 Attack. This is just enough to 2HKO most walls such as Blissey, Celebi, and even bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon and Suicune with Stealth Rock support. The combination of Poison Jab and Waterfall gets surprisingly good coverage, being only resisted by two Pokemon in OU: opposing Tentacruel and Empoleon. Hydro Pump or Surf (with a Lonely nature) are useful against physically defensive Pokemon like Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Forretress. The given EVs allow Tentacruel to outspeed Timid Heatran and Adamant Lucario. An Adamant nature and Hydro Pump is perfectly acceptable, as it will still 2HKO Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Forretress.
With the Choice Specs, Tentacruel’s Special Attack stat reaches a respectable 388. Its natural bulk on the Special side allows it to switch in relatively easily. While many view Tentacruel as a supporting Pokemon, its relatively high base Speed can surprise opponents and can grab some useful KOes. Your choice of Surf or Hydro Pump depends on whether you prefer the power of Hydro Pump, or the accuracy of Surf, this is very much a taste decision. Ice Beam will allow you to hit Dragons hard, which can prove useful considering that you will be faster than a Dragonite, and will at worst Speed tie with any Flygon or Salamence who haven’t boosted their Speed via Dragon Dance or Choice Scarf. Note that Dragonite may also choose to boost its Speed. Sludge Bomb is a STAB option that will hit a lot of Pokemon for neutral damage, most notably Gyarados; offensive versions will be 2HKOed outright. Rapid Spin is an option that can be used over Sludge Bomb whilst scouting for Tentacruel's counters. Giga Drain and Hidden Power Grass are predominantly there for Swampert, as neither will hit pure Water-types much harder than Sludge Bomb. Giga Drain will do 336 HP on average to the Standard MixPert, recovering over half of Tentacruel's health, but will fail to OHKO a full health MixPert. On the other hand, Hidden Power Grass will OHKO the mud fish 80% of the time with Stealth Rock up, but will deny Tentacruel the opportunity to leech half of that health back. If hitting Gyarados is a priority for you, Hidden Power Electric will OHKO even the bulkier versions after Stealth Rock. The EVs are fairly self-explanatory; maximize Special Attack to hit as hard as possible, and maximize Speed to ensure at worst a Speed tie with other positive base 100 Speed Pokemon. Liquid Ooze is the preferred Ability here as it is unlikely that Tentacruel will receive any problematic stat drops, which would warrant the use of Clear Body, when running this set. Although it doesn't pack as much power as other Choice Specs Pokemon, this Tentacruel has the element of surprise; few expect Tentacruel to carry Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power, and Ice Beam all on one set. Even fewer expect it to have such high Speed. Use this element of surprise to your advantage. You could potentially use a Choice Scarf over Choice Specs on this set, which will allow you to revenge kill more of the OU metagame (most notably Gyarados and neutral Speed natured Salamence with one Dragon Dance), but the power loss is undesirable outside of those specific situations. Other OptionsAcupressure is an option over Swords Dance, if you're feeling lucky. Tentacruel can't Haze too effectively, but it can work if Calm Mind Suicune is a concern. Mirror Coat can KO an opponent trying to Thunderbolt Tentacruel (Starmie, for example), but is a risky choice. Confuse Ray (which is illegal with Rapid Spin) and Safeguard are an offer for support, but neither are especially useful. Hidden Power Electric can 2HKO Gyarados. Black Sludge can be used over Leftovers if you are acting under Item Clause and it can somewhat harm Trick users; although they now have a dangerous item to Trick to another of your Pokemon. EVsIn addition to the standard Support set EVs, which make Life Orb Infernape's Close Combat and Choice Scarf Heatran's Earth Power 3HKOes, Tentacruel has a multitude of other EVing options. Calm nature with 204 HP / 96 SpA / 172 SpD / 36 Spe hits 245 Speed and 220 Special Attack, while ensuring Earth Power from Choice Scarf Heatran and Dragon Pulse from Choice Specs Salamence both fail to 2HKO. Timid with 204 HP / 156 SpA / 148 Spe allow Tentacruel to survive a Draco Meteor from Modest Choice Specs Salamence (managing 81.3% - 95.7%), outrun it, and guarantee a KO with Ice Beam; watch out for entry hazards, though, as with Stealth Rock, that same Salamence has a 53.9% chance of OHKOing Tentacruel. As far as Speed goes, you'll want to aim for the following Speed numbers. With a Speed-boosting nature, you can aim for 319, 308, or 300. 319 will let Tentacruel get the drop on all base 95 Speed Pokemon, including Electivire. 308 beats the fastest non-Scarfed base 90s, while 300 will outrun neutral-natured base 100s, including Salamence. With neutral natures, 285 beats Jolly Mamoswine, while 280 gets the drop on Adamant Lucario, and 244 edges past Jolly Tyranitar and Adamant Breloom. Max Attack for the Swords Dancer. Aiming for one of the higher Speed numbers - 319, 308, 300 - generally benefits a more offensive Tentacruel moreso than a slower Speed. The remaining should go toward Special Attack. Use an Adamant nature with Hydro Pump, or Lonely with either Hydro Pump or Surf. For the Choice Specs set, simply max Speed or aim for one of the "magic numbers" already mentioned for Speed, then Max Special Attack. Put the rest in HP. OpinionHis impressive Special Defense suggests "special wall", but unfortunate weaknesses to the ever common Thunderbolt, Psychic, and Earth Power mean he can't truly lay claim to that title. However, his fairly diverse movepool enables him to act as sweeper or supporter (or even a little of both), making him a valuable asset to most teams. In OU, you'll find his ability to spin away Spikes and Stealth Rock and switch into Aura Sphere and Fire Blast with little risk most welcome. Overall, Tentacruel is a decent Pokémon but his Ground and Electric weaknesses can limit his chances of switching in. CountersSwampert beats Tentacruel if it isn't carrying carry Giga Drain, although switching into Toxic Spikes will take a toll on Swampert's health quickly. Gastrodon functions in a similar fashion, and as a bonus has Sticky Hold to prevent Knock Off from working. Empoleon shrugs off everything Tentacruel has to offer, although he'll need Earthquake to bring down the squid quickly. Metagross can take Swords Dance Waterfalls well and kill off Tentacruel with Earthquake. Unfortunately, Hydro Pump from the Swords Dance set can do quite a bit of damage against said Metagross. Jirachi handles his attacks with relative ease and has Zen Headbutt, Psychic and Electric attacks to hit back with. Weezing can take on the Swords Dance set, but only if he has Thunderbolt as Substitute will block his attempts to burn Tentacruel with Will-O-Wisp. He can also Haze away your stat boosts, but Hydro Pump is taking a toll off of Weezing. Appliance Rotom can switch into the common support set and, besides taking little damage from Surf and being immune to Toxic Spikes, will prevent Rapid Spin from clearing entry hazards. Rotom-A can then threaten a STAB Thunderbolt which will deal over 40% damage to Tentacruel. Offensive Tentacruel can 2HKO most Rotom-A, but Tentacruel must set up the Swords Dance during the switch in and get lucky off the flinch rate from Waterfall. Latias can come in on any of the sets pretty easily and start setting up Calm Mind. With its high Special Defense it will not take much damage even from Ice Beam, and Levitate grants it immunity to Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes. Latias also has the option of STAB Psychic type attacks, though it rarely uses them. |
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