Supporting Tentacruel. Thanks to his high Special Defense and Water typing, he can just shrug off Ice Beams and Surfs, so he should have a few opportunities to get in a do his thing. Surf is the obvious choice, with Ice Beam and Sludge Bomb for coverage. Ice Beam also covers Dragons and Flying-types, while Sludge Bomb provides more power against most Grass-types and helps to wear down other Waters, like Milotic. It can also poison some incoming Flying-types (such as Gyarados) who are immune to Toxic Spikes. Knock Off and Rapid Spin are incompatible breeding moves, so pick which you need most. Even if you go with Knock Off, Tentacruel can still serve as your "spinner", but only to remove Toxic Spikes, by absorbing them as he switches in. Toxic Spikes gives you some more support for wearing down opponents and can prove useful to drain the likes of Dusknoir and Spiritomb, who will block Rapid Spin. Giga Drain can 2HKO an incoming Water/Ground-type, but it does less damage than Sludge Bomb against most other Water-types.
Tentacruel's Attack stat is rather poor, but with Swords Dance he can pose a decent threat. Poison may be a rather poor attacking type, but alongside Waterfall it is only resisted outright by other Tentacruel, Qwilfish, Quagsire, Empoleon and Dialga (who you shouldn't be facing with Tentacruel). The last slot is mostly personal preference. Substitute means Milotic can't do anything, since it will block her attempts to hit Tentacruel with Hypnosis and provides protection against other status inducers. Ice Beam can work here to bring down Salamence in one hit, if you're prepared to invest a few EVs in Special Attack. With Liechi Berry, Natural Gift is an 80 BP Grass attack, which has a good chance of OHKOing Quagsire and Swampert after a Swords Dance.
Special Attack is somewhat lacking, but he'll be reaching toward 400 here. Good movepool and Speed help to make this somewhat effective. 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 either Knock Off or Rapid Spin) and Safeguard are an offer for support, but neither are especially useful. Hidden Power Electric can 2HKO Gyarados. EVsMax Attack for the Swords Dancer. 300 Speed lets him beat everything in his base Speed group that doesn't use a +Speed nature, such as Dodrio and Salamence. You can aim a little higher for 319 to beat the highest possible for the base 95 Speed group, including Electivire. The remaining can go in HP. Hasty nature with around 220 Special Attack if you're using Ice Beam in order to have a good shot a OHKOing Salamence. For the Support set, Timid with 204 HP / 156 SpA / 148 Spe allow Tentacruel to survive a Draco Meteor, out run Modest Salamence and guarantee a KO with Ice Beam. If you want a sturdier set up, you can drop his Speed to outrun certain other threats. 285 beats Jolly Mamoswine, 280 gets the drop on Modest Lucario and 244 gets him ahead of Jolly Tyranitar and Adamant Breloom. Focus the rest of your EVs in HP, Special Defense and Special Attack. 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. For the Choice Specs set, 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, plus 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. Regardless of the metagame Tentacruel is operating in, the Swords Dance can be quite potent, although it is in UU where it can be most deadly. 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 and Bronzong can take Swords Danced Waterfalls well and kill off Tentacruel with Earthquake. 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. |
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