[Overview]
<p>Bastiodon,
with its although possessing gargantuan defenses and access to many useful support moves including Stealth Rock, Toxic, and Taunt, has always been overlooked for a role on a team due to its lackluster offenses. But thanks to moves such as Metal Burst and Torment, Bastiodon can present a serious threat when given the proper
support reinforcement, as well as being
able to become a defensively orientated, supportive Pokemon.</p>
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock / Rest
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Roar / Taunt
move 4: Iron Head / Stone Edge / Rock Slide
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With its amazing base defenses, and access to an array of supporting moves, it seems as though Bastiodon was designed to play the role of a supporting Pokemon on a UU team. Not only can the prehistoric Pokemon
provide set up the always valuable Stealth Rock
support, it can also provide stall or balanced teams with
Toxic support,
allowing maximizing the effectiveness of the team’s
strategy, to maximize its effectiveness as well as being an
effective efficient phazer that can be utilized on almost any UU team.</p>
<p>Rest is an alternative to Stealth Rock which can be used in conjunction with Sandstorm
support, making as this combination will make Bastiodon quite durable. Taunt is another valuable asset, as it
prevents many bulky
foes, like
Miltank, from simply healing off Toxic
damage, as well as
preventing stopping common foes, most notably Venusaur, from putting Bastiodon to sleep and
setting up starting to set up. Roar can be used to slowly chip away at an opponent’s health with residual damage
when entry hazards are up;
Roar it is also useful if you find yourself facing an opponent who has already set up. The final moveslot will hold Bastiodon’s only attacking move and the decision of which one to use is based upon your preference; both Iron Head and Stone Edge
provide are great STAB attacks, but since the latter is not fully accurate, Rock Slide can be used instead
of Stone Edge for better accuracy
in exchange for but less Base Power.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Leftovers and an Impish nature are used in
conjunction tandem to increase Bastiodon’s overall bulk and longevity in the battle as
he it will often be switching in
repeatedly to check certain Pokemon
, thus his durability needs to be as high as possible. The
EVs are used for a similar function as the nature; to increase Bastiodon’s bulk while focusing on
increasing his its durability on the special
side, as its physical defense is already very impressive due to his naturally greater durability on the physical side. It should be noted, however, that you can alter the EVs to make Bastiodon slightly more
offensive, as it may need the extra Attack investment due to its mediocre base 52 Attack stat.</p>
[SET]
name: Torment
move 1: Torment
move 2: Substitute / Toxic
move 3: Protect
move 4: Roar / Toxic
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>A great amount of
bulk, coupled with Bastiodon’s massive base defenses, along with its access to moves
including such as Protect and Roar,
means that Bastiodon can be turned into a fierce Torment user when given the proper support. The strategy to this set is simple; Torment an opponent to block their STAB or super effective
move, and follow up with a
repeated combination cycle of the other moves mentioned in the
set, repeat until the foe’s HP bar reaches 0.</p>
<p>The decision between using
Substitute or Toxic comes down to your personal preference; although Substitute can act as a
reliable barrier when one foe has fainted and another switches in, allowing you to set up Torment
again without taking any damage at all, Toxic makes the entire Torment-stall process faster as with it, the opponent will be taking a lot more residual damage every passing turn;
as without Toxic, the stalling process will take a lot more time. Protect is a staple on the set as it allows Bastiodon to regain health every turn through Leftovers while
also being able to stack up more and more residual damage on the opposing Pokemon. The last move slot is given to Roar, which can be effectively used alongside entry hazards or simply for
the use of phazing; Toxic can also be
used here fitted into this slot if you prefer its stalling capabilities over Roar’s phazing ones.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The nature and EVs have been chosen and distributed to make Bastiodon as bulky as possible, on both the physical and
the special
side, while also retaining a huge amount of HP, making it more effective in this role; if you decide that instead of being bulky on the special side, you want to focus primarily on being physically bulky in order to take most Fighting-type attacks better, the EV spread and nature can be changed accordingly. Also, it should be noted that any user of Taunt will completely shut down this Bastiodon set as it relies solely on defeating enemies through the use of indirect damage.</p>
[SET]
name: Metal Burst
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Metal Burst
move 3: Stealth Rock / Earthquake
move 4: Earthquake / Stone Edge / Iron Head
item: Leftovers / Focus Sash
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Atk
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>
Excluding Aside from Aggron and Dialga, Bastiodon is the only Pokemon who can learn the
fiercesome fearsome move Metal Burst, which is the equivalent of Mirror Coat and Counter,
aside from the fact except that Metal Burst works on both physical and special attacks. When
taking Bastiodon’s natural defenses, bulk and mediocre Speed
are taken into account, it becomes clear, that with the proper support, Bastiodon can effectively use Metal Burst to its advantage
and take out many opposing threats.</p>
<p>Taunt and Metal Burst are staples on the set as their combination forces the opposition to attack,
at which time, which means Bastiodon can use Metal Burst to inflict twice the damage caused by the
opposing incoming attack. Stealth Rock is mainly mentioned for supportive
purposes, as Bastiodon can still be an
offensively-oriented orientated Pokemon while having a supportive pivot; if you feel
as if you don’t need Stealth Rock
is unnecessary on the set, an attacking move can be used instead. Since this set focuses primarily on the combination of Taunt and Metal Burst, it is very susceptible to users of Taunt. Thus, the final moveslot is
used to cause best filled by a move that causes direct damage. Earthquake can be a valuable asset as it hits many common threats in UU for super effective damage, while Stone Edge
is also viable can be used as it is
powered boosted by STAB and also hits Flying-
types, which Earthquake is unable to do. Iron Head is another
option, but compared to the two aforementioned moves, it is not recommended
due to the low Base Power, even after
being boosted by STAB.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Leftovers along with a Careful nature help increase Bastiodon’s bulk and defensive
prowess, allowing it to survive a larger
plethora array of attacks from a range of users and retaliate
back with Metal Burst, although it should be noted that a Focus Sash can be used to defeat foes like Choice Band Hariyama and offensive Hitmontop who are
otherwise guaranteed the OHKO on Bastiodon
lacking a Focus Sash. The EVs are used to maximize Bastiodon’s bulk and make it more specially
defensive, as it will need the extra EV investment when facing foes like Milotic and Houndoom; also, a 0 IV in Speed
makes sure ensures that the opponent
always gets to uses its attack first, before Bastiodon uses Metal Burst.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Sandstorm support provided by Hippopotas can almost be called a necessity when using any Bastiodon set, as the Special Defense boost gained from the weather condition greatly aids Bastiodon in performing its role on a UU team effectively. Since Fighting-Type Pokemon cause huge problems for Bastiodon, it would be wise to include a Pokemon who can deal with them; Slowbro, courtesy of its natural bulk and Psychic-typing, can easily check common Fighting-types and KO them with a STAB Psychic. Slowbro can also help deal with Bastiodon’s Ground-type weakness as
Slowbro it can deal serious damage
with STAB Surf to Ground-types
with a STAB Surf.
Similarly, Weezing can also be a valuable defensive partner to Bastiodon as the two Pokemon have decent synergy with each other. If you are looking for a decent offensive partner to Bastiodon, Swellow would be a great
candidate, as not only can it defeat the Fighting-types which plague Bastiodon’s existence, it can also start a sweep of its
own, leaving Bastiodon to clean up after it.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Outside of the mentioned sets, Bastiodon doesn’t have many other options to choose from; sets utilizing Metal Sound,
Curse, and Rest can be
utilized, but compared to the mentioned sets, their usage and viability are really limited. Also, an all-out offensive set revolving around Curse, Metal Sound and two attacking moves can be
used, but due to Bastiodon’s mediocre base 52 Attack stat, and
lack of the set not having a reliable recovery move, it is not recommended. For any of Bastiodon’s
sets, an EV spread of 252 HP / 8 Atk / 192 SpD can be used if you’re intent on being able to break the
Substitutes of Nasty Plot Mismagius and Sub-Charge Rotom.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Even with Bastiodon’s immense defenses, Fighting-types like Hitmontop and Hariyama are excellent counters as they can 2HKO, and in some cases even OHKO Bastiodon after it has taken some residual damage.
Similarly Similar to the aforementioned Fighting-types, bulky Ground-types also cause problems for Bastiodon with their super effective STAB attacks and immunity to
Sandstorm, a factor Bastiodon heavily relies on to slowly wear down bulky foes. It should be noted, however, that when sending
in a counter to face Bastiodon, you must beware of the possibility that Bastiodon may survive the attack and strike back, literally with twice the
power, with Metal Burst. Finally, any user of Taunt will be able to defeat the sets lacking an attacking
move. as without one, Bastiodon won’t be able to do anything.</p>
