Blastoise
Official Pokemon Site
[Overview]
- Respectable defenses plus superior defensive typing allow it to take attacks from both sides of the attacking spectrum with relative ease.
- Decent support moves such as Haze, Roar, and Toxic.
- The addition of Rain Dish in the Dream World along with its excellent defenses make it difficult to KO.
- While not excellent, Blastoise does have respectable attacking stats making it possible to run an offensive set.
[SET]
name: Stall Tortoise
move 1: Rapid Spin / Rest
move 2: Substitute / Protect
move 3: Toxic / Dragon Tail / Roar
move 4: Boil Over
nature: Bold/Calm
ability: Rain Dish
item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
[set comments]
- With a combination of Rain Dish and Leftovers, Blastoise recovers 12% of its health each turn. That in combination with Protect/Substitute allows Blastoise to stall out many opponents, even those that carry Grass or Electric type moves
- Toxic is to help when stalling out opponents while Roar is for phazing opponents to either spread Toxic to the opponent's team or to rack up entry hazard damage. Dragon Tail can be used over Roar if you want to damage the opponent as well as have one other option against Taunt.
- An alternate EV spread of 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SDef should be run if using a Calm nature to maximize defenses on both sides.
- Boiling Water is there for the chance of burning physical threats, but Rapid Spin can be used if your team has no other spinner. Both moves prevent you from being Taunt bait.
- Rapid Spin can be used to get rid of entry hazards, but Rest should be noted as a way to return Blastoise to full health.
- If you are afraid of losing the rain, an alternative would be to use Blastoise's Torrent ability and put Aqua Ring in the first moveslot. This way Blastoise gets the same recovery but does not need to rely on rain. Unfortunately Rain Dish and Aqua Ring are illegal on the same set as of right now.
- While Blastoise is good at stalling for time, it does lack a instant source of recovery. While Rest is slashed on this set, a lot of time Rapid Spin is the better option, and as such Blastoise loves Wish support to return to full health.
- The EVs above are listed to give the most balanced defenses from both sides of the spectrum. If you would rather defend from only one side of the spectrum, just shift the extra EVs from one defense to the other and adjust the nature accordingly.
- This particular Blastoise set likes to be on a rain team, as it has a very similar role to Walrein in Generation IV, being able to take hits well and recover the health quickly.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Focus Blast
nature: Modest
ability: Torrent / Rain Dish
item: Choice Specs / Life Orb
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
[set comments]
- Taken almost directly from Generation IV analysis, this set remains viable in Generation V.
- Hydro Pump and Surf give STAB and are its most reliable move. If you opt for Torrent over Rain Dish it will also make a major dent in things when Blastoise gets into Torrent range. Hydro Pump for sheer power, but Surf is viable if you are worried about Hydro Pump's less than stellar accuracy.
- With the addition of even more Dragon types, Ice Beam remains viable as a way to deal with them.
- Hidden Power Electric lets it handle other Blastoise, while Hidden Power Grass lets Blastoise take on the Water/Ground types like Swampert, Quagsire, and Gamageroge.
- Focus Blast gives Blastoise a way to hurt Steel types that would otherwise completely wall this set.
- Choise Specs gives Blastoise more power that it needs to score a lot of KOs where Life Orb allows it to switch attacks. Life Orb should really only be used with Rain Dish to minimize recoil damage.
- Due to Blastoise's low speed, a Quiet nature with a spread of 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD could be run on a Trick Room team and use Water Spout in the first move slot.
- As mentioned earlier, Blastoise is very slow compared to other sweepers and as such would benefit from Agility passers on its team like Ninjask or Jolteon.
- Blastoise, despite natural bulk, would not mind Wish support on this set either, especially if there are a lot of hazards on the field.
[SET]
name: Rapid Spin Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Aqua Jet
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Rapid Spin
nature: Modest
ability: Torrent / Rain Dish
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
EVs: 144 HP / 252 SpA / 112 Spe
[set comments]
- Blastoise makes a very good lead as it is able to hurt many other opponents with Hydro Pump and finish them off with Aqua Jet even with a -Attack nature.
- Life Orb gives Blastoise a needed power boost, but Lum Berry protects it against status users that are becoming even more popular.
- Rapid Spin lets it get rid of the hazards that the opponent set up.
- If you are really worried about Blastoise not being able to seal a KO with Aqua Jet, a Mild nature could be run over Modest to give a small boost to Blastoise's Attack stat.
- Blastoise is able to catch a lot of teams off guard because most people expect a bulky Blastoise. Use this to your advantage. Also, this set fits well onto most teams, from hyper offense to stall.
- Wish support is a great asset to this Blastoise, allowing it to survive better and usually make it into the late game. This set can be used at any time during the battle, from lead position to late game cleanup.
[SET]
name: Pseudo-Hazer Utility
move 1: Dragon Tail
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Ice Punch / Hail
nature: Careful
ability: Torrent / Rain Dish
item: Leftovers / Wacan Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 6 SpD
[set comments]
- Blastoise has one main advantage over other bulky water Rapid Spinners in the OU environment, and that is access to Dragon Tail. If expecting a switch into a spinblocker, Blastoise can Dragon Tail to phaze it out.
- Aqua Jet and Ice Punch give Blastoise a way to strike back at some of the threats. With its bulk Blastoise can survive many unboosted hits (and some boosted) and strike back with a Dragon Tail or Aqua Jet. Torrent boosted Aqua Jet can put a major dent in Doryuzuu, netting a clean 2HKO.
- Ice Punch can be used to severely hurt Outrage-locked Dragons such as Salamence, Garchomp, or Ononokusu, but Hail can be used to get rid of other weather effects that so many sweepers rely on. Ice Punch also gives some redundant coverage on the Dragons with Dragon Tail being the focus of the set.
- As this set causes a lot of switches with Dragon Tail, something that can set up a lot of entry hazards like Nattorei or Roserade to spread damage to the opposing team almost goes without saying.
- If you opt to run Hail over Ice Punch, this set wouldn't mind another Pokemon who can switch weather effects too, as Hail aims to disrupt the perma-weather.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Water Spout / Hydro Pump
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake / Hidden Power Electric
move 4: Ice Beam
nature: Naive
ability: Torrent
EVs: 128 Att / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
[set comments]
- With a Naive nature and max Speed EVs, Blastoise reaches 420 speed with its Scarf.
- Water Spout at full health has a huge Base Power of 225 (337 in the rain). However, Hydro Pump deserves a mention because it has 180 Base Power (270 in rain) no matter what Blastoise's HP, allowing it to hit harder over the long run.
- Outrage is a Gen IV move tutor move, but it allows Blastoise to revenge kill all the dragons (even those that are not weak to Ice attacks, like Kingdra).
- Earthquake gives good neutral coverage, but Hidden Power Electric along with Ice Beam gives pseudo BoltBeam coverage that will give even better coverage.
- If you opt to use Water Spout, please note that Rain Dish is illegal with it. If you want Rain Dish recovery, you have to use Hydro Pump. Outrage is also illegal with Rain Dish.
- With a Scarf, Blastoise gets infinitely faster. However, it is still lackluster against other scarfers and as such should be used with caution.
- If your aim is to use this Blastoise to take out Doryuzuu in the sand, it needs an Agility passed to it otherwise it will not outspeed.
- This Blastoise makes a really good revenge killer. However, it does value Wish support on its team, but it isn't truly necessary.
[SET]
name: Trick Room sweeper
move 1: Water Spout
move 2: Hydro Pump/Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
IVs: 0 Spe
Ability: Torrent
Item: Life Orb / Leftovers
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 6 SpD
[set comments]
- This set aims to use Blastoise's dismal speed to its advantage. After setting up Trick Room, Blastoise is usually going to move first against everything except Pokemon like Rankurusu and Roobushin.
- Water Spout is a good move to lead with, as it allows it to leave a huge dent in almost everything, even those that resist it. As Blastoise's HP gets whittled down over time, Hydro Pump or Surf (depending on preference) becomes the better option.
- Ice Beam is there to provide good neutral coverage as well as a way for Blastoise to take out dragons silly enough to stay in during Trick Room
- The last slot is a matter of preference. Hidden Power Electric gives pseudo-BoltBeam coverage that hits almost everything in OU for at least neutral, but Hidden Power Ground gives Blastoise a way to hit the expected electric switch in for super effective damage. Hidden Power Fire smacks Nattorei hard, but if using Blastoise in the rain Hidden Power Ground is a better option.
- Rankurusu makes a good teammate on a Trick Room team due to its ability to set up Trick Room as well as its sturdier defenses compared to Blastoise.
- Where Blastoise is able to hit from the special side, a good physical teammate to Blastoise would be Roobushin or Shubarugo. Shubarugo is able to wall Electric or Grass attacks aimed at Blastoise, and Roobushin is yet another counter for Doryuzuu.
- If you're going to stall with Blastoise, rain support is almost required because otherwise Blastoise loses a lot of its bulk from Rain Dish recovery.
[optional changes]
- Blastoise is one Pokemon that can fill holes in a team. If you need a bulky water on a team with a glaring Grass weakness, Blastoise leaves its mark over Swampert/Gastrodon. Blastoise shouldn't be something to build a team around, but rather fills the gaps.
- As stated above, Foresight can be added if you want to be able to spin away hazards in the face of ghosts like Gengar, Shandera, or Burungeru.
- Blastoise is one of few Rapid Spin users with access to Foresight. With this, it is able to spin away hazards in the face of ghost types like Desukan or Burungeru.
[team options]
- Blastoise gets Rain Dish in the Dream World, so he absolutely loves Drizzle Politoed on his team to help his stall capabilites.
- Blastoise draws in a lot of grass and electric types, and teammates with Volt Absorb/Lightningrod/Herbivore will gladly take an electric or grass attack aimed at it.
- Offensive Blastoise is relatively slow and do very well getting passed some speed boosts to outspeed opponents.
- While Blastoise does have very good defenses, it lacks reliable recovery outside of Rest so any hard hitting attacker like Ononokusu and Shandera can usually handle Blastoise with relative ease.
- If using Blastoise for an offensive set, make sure that Blastoise is the best option for you. Other offensive bulky waters such as Swampert or Gyarados can fill the same role as Blastoise with better offensive stats. The one advantage that Blastoise has over most offensive bulky waters is access to Rapid Spin.
- Grass types such as Erufuun and Celebi make great counters for Blastoise with their resistances to its STAB attacks. They can also threaten it back with super effective Grass type attacks.
- Bulky water types like Slowbro can also wall Blastoise, forcing it to either switch out or not be able to do much damage.
- Steel types like Magnezone or Jirachi can force Blastoise out as they resist all of its attacks outside of the rare Hidden Power Ground/Fire and set up on the switch.
[Dream World]
- The Dream World was very kind to Blastoise. Rain Dish gives Blastoise a way to recover health passively in rain, which is fairly common with the addition of Drizzle to OU.
- Rain Dish should be used on either rain teams or when Blastoise wants to be more defensive. Torrent should be used on any offensive set simply because it allows it a free boost in its STAB attacks when under 1/3 health.
