Laga
Forever Grande
This Is Halloween!
[Overview]
name: Spikes
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Destiny Bond / Swords Dance
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Seed Bomb
item: Focus Sash
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[SET]
name: Physical Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Drain Punch / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[Other Options]
[Checks and Counters]
- Awesome attacking stats, but let down by its horrible bulk and speed.
- Access to Spikes automatically gives it a niche.
- Swords Dance can also make it a deadly sweeper.
- STAB Sucker Punch hurts.
- and Immunities to Water and Psychic help it set up Spikes or Swords Dance.
name: Spikes
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Destiny Bond / Swords Dance
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Seed Bomb
item: Focus Sash
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- An effective suicide lead, but faces a lot of competition from Scolipede.
- Matches up great against popular leads such as Golem, Seismitoad, and Golurk.
- Spikes is the main move of this set, as any team benefits greatly from entry hazards support.
- Destiny Bond is great for forcing switches to rack up hazards damage, and also to gain a surprise kill.
- Sucker Punch is fantastic for powerful STAB priority, and it helps bypass its lackluster Speed.
- Seed Bomb is useful STAB coverage.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- EV Spread is as straight forward as can be. With a Focus Sash, there is no need for investment into bulk.
- Focus Sash is definitely the obvious item choice, as Cacturne's bulk is pitiful, but one could use a Life Orb instead.
- Substitute is an option to avoid status and ease prediction, but should not be used with Focus Sash.
- Golurk is a fantastic teammate; it can prevent Cacturne's Spikes from being spun away, and awesome offensive and defensive synergy.
- Any offensive Pokemon that appreciates Spikes support like Samurott, Sawk, Jynx and Kangaskhan to name a few.
[SET]
name: Physical Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Drain Punch / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Cacturne becomes a much more effective sweeper when it gives up Spikes in exchange for additional coverage or Substitute.
- Unfortunately, the loss of Spikes will make Cacturne less effective at supporting teammates.
- STAB Life Orb-boosted Sucker Punch is extremely threatening after a Swords Dance.
- Seed Bomb is great for hitting bulky Water types, and lets it muscle past Alomomola.
- Drain Punch is the preferred option in the last spot, as it will form perfect coverage alongside Sucker Punch, hits Steel types that are problematic, and makes up for the Life Orb recoil.
- Substitute is very potent though; it allows Cacturne to set up on Alomomola, and Misdreavus. It also eases prediction with Sucker Punch, as the opponent is forced to attack you.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Jolly is great if running Substitute, as you will outpace standard Misdreavus.
- Life Orb is the preferred item, but it is suicidal to run Substitute and Life Orb together, and Leftovers is therefore an option.
- Lum Berry or Dark Gem could be used. Lum Berry lets it bypass burns, Dark Gem will provide an immediate boost.
- A different EV spread of 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe Adamant can be used it tandem with Substitute and Leftovers, as it will outspeed Alomomola before it can use Toxic, and can also live a hit or 2.
- One of Cacturne's favorite teammates is Probopass, as it traps Steel types and sets up Stealth Rock to help Cacturne sweep more easily.
- Golurk is still a good option for this set since it, like Probopass, can set up Stealth Rock and threaten Steel types.
- Fire types such as Charizard and Rapidash will help it break through bulky Grass types and Steel types.
[Other Options]
- Even though it has a good Special Attack stat, and access to Nasty Plot, Giga Drain, and Focus Blast, special attacking Cacturne does not have priority, and it's bad speed and defenses will limit its sweeping capabilities.
- Mixed Set could work though; replacing Swords Dance with Focus Blast on the standard set will let it break through Steel types effectively.
- Substitute + Focus Punch
- Choice Specs or Choice Band could work, as it has access to Switcheroo, but being locked into a move with such terrible defenses and Speed is usually a bad idea.
[Checks and Counters]
- Not hard to counter at all, just don't let it have a free turn.
- Vileplume, Roselia and Tangela, Roselia being the most shaky.
- Scolipede.
- Steel types if it lacks Drain Punch, Metang even if it has Drain Punch.
- Braviary, most notably Substitute + Bulk Up.
- Faster Fighting-types such as Sawk, Primeape, and Combusken can resist Sucker Punch and OHKO easily, but at +2 with Life Orb, Cacturne can OHKO Combusken and, with a little prior damage, Primeape.
- Lovely Kiss Jynx is a shaky check.
- Bulky Rotom-S.
- Mandibuzz
[Overview]
<p>With tasty attacking stats and access to both Swords Dance and Nasty Plot, Cacturne might seem like a very potent sweeper. Alas though, poor Cacturne is let down by its lousy Speed stat, and its substandard defensive stats don't exactly help overcome its problem. That said, Cacturne hasn't only pulled short straws; boasting the craved move Spikes in its arsenal of moves, Cacturne has the ability to fill the role of an offensive Spiker. With access to STAB Sucker Punch, it can also bypass its terrible Speed stat to an extent, making Swords Dance a viable way to clean through offensive teams after Pokemon that resist Dark are out of the way. Its typing and ability also provide immunities to Psychic- and Water-type moves, allowing it to set up Spikes and Swords Dance much more easily.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Cacturne though, Scolipede overshadows it most of the time. Capable of stacking Spikes and hitting hard while doing so, Scolipede, more often than not, outclasses Cacturne in both of its main roles—that of offensive Spikes-stacker and Swords Dance sweeper—due to its much higher Speed stat.</p>
[SET]
name: Lead
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Destiny Bond / Swords Dance
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Seed Bomb
item: Focus Sash
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set focuses on making the very best out of Cacturne's ability to lay down Spikes and hit hard at the same time. The first moveslot is obviously Spikes; Spikes is one of the most useful moves any Pokemon can get, and even though Cacturne's stats don't exactly encourage using it, it's still the main reason to use Cacturne at all. In the second moveslot, Destiny Bond is usually preferred, as it can surprise an unsuspecting Pokemon and take it down. Swords Dance is also an option, as Cacturne can take advantage of bulky Water-types, such as Alomomola, and punch holes in offensive teams. Sucker Punch fills the third moveslot, as it helps bypass Cacturne's pathetic Speed stat and hits with stellar power after the STAB boost is taken into account. Seed Bomb is the obvious choice for the final moveslot, as it grants Cacturne additional STAB coverage and comes with the benefit of hitting Alomomola, a Pokemon that physical attackers normally have a hard time breaking through, extremely hard.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The only change that should be considered for the EVs and nature is using Adamant over Jolly. This is not recommended though, as Jolly allows Cacturne to outpace standard Misdreavus, something very useful for an entry hazard setter. Focus Sash is the only item you should use on this set. Even though Life Orb might seem like a viable alternative, Cacturne is simply too frail to miss out on the guaranteed one-time survival that Focus Sash brings, especially as it should be used as a suicide lead. A different move option would be Substitute, which can help Cacturne pressure the opponent and avoid status, but as you should never run Focus Sash in tandem with Substitute, it should only be used with Leftovers instead.</p>
<p>As this Cacturne set aims to set up Spikes, offensive Pokemon appreciate it for the extra damage output against walls, making them harder to switch into, the most prevalent being Samurott, Jynx, Sawk, and Kangaskhan. Cacturne's favorite teammate, though, is definitely Golurk; the two together have great synergy both offensively and defensively, as Golurk can spinblock the Spikes set by Cacturne and can even set Stealth Rock, a move that works amazingly in tandem with Spikes.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Drain Punch / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Making use of the deadly combination of Swords Dance and Sucker Punch, this Cacturne set is very scary if it gets to set up. Swords Dance makes Cacturne a deadly offensive threat; with a Life Orb boost, Sucker Punch can OHKO many prevalent threats such as bulky Scolipede, Primeape after Stealth Rock, and Samurott. Sucker Punch is the main attacking move, as the priority it has lets Cacturne threaten a myriad of offensive threats and helps it bypass its annoying Speed problem. Seed Bomb is necessary as it lets Cacturne hit threats such as Alomomola much harder and gives it way to avoid having to predict with Sucker Punch, which can be helpful against slower foes. Drain Punch is the main move for the final slot, as it provides perfect neutral coverage by hitting Steel-types hard. Substitute is a great move for use against Misdreavus and Alomomola to avoid status and set up easily though. It also pressures the opponent to attack Cacturne, which makes Sucker Punch more reliable.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A different EV spread of 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe and an Adamant nature can be used in tandem with Substitute and Leftovers, enables Cacturne to still outspeed Alomomola and save many EVs for HP to survive hits, thereby having a much easier time setting up. Without higher Speed investment though, Cacturne will be outpaced and burned by Misdreavus before it does anything. Life Orb is preferred if using Drain Punch, but if you plan on utilizing Substitute in the fourth moveslot, Leftovers is the definite item of choice. Lum Berry and Dark Gem are also viable options for the item slot, as the former helps Cacturne set up against walls and the latter allows for a single, hard-hitting Sucker Punch without eating away at Cacturne's HP like Life Orb does.</p>
<p>Offensive Probopass is one of the best partners for this particular Cacturne set; not only is it able to set up Stealth Rock to help Cacturne sweep more easily, but it also traps and kills most Steel-types that resist Cacturne's STAB attacks. Unfortunately, the core is demolished by just about any Fighting-type in NU. Golurk is a great partner with fantastic offensive and defensive synergy, and the ability to support Cacturne's potential sweeps by setting up Stealth Rock. Fire-types such as Charizard, Rapidash, and Camerupt are good partners too, as they can lure in Water-types, threaten bulky Grass- and Steel-types, and switch into Fire-type attacks aimed at Cacturne.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>When thinking of other options for Cacturne, its base 115 Special Attack stat stands out the brightest, especially alongside its access to the awesome boosting move Nasty Plot. That said, a fully special attacking set is almost out of the question due to Cacturne's abysmal Speed; physical sets work thanks to priority Sucker Punch, but Cacturne has no priority that hits off its Special Attack stat. A mixed set is an option though; Focus Blast is a move that has amazing coverage alongside Cacturne's STAB attacks, so it could be used in the second moveslot of the first set. Cacturne also has options left to choose when attacking physically, but the only notable one is Focus Punch, which can be used alongside Substitute. However, this will prevent Cacturne from using Spikes or Swords Dance—the building blocks of Cacturne's niche. Finally, Choice Band and Choice Specs sets are options, especially as Cacturne has access to Switcheroo, but they usually are not a good idea due to its atrocious Speed stat.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Unless you give Cacturne a free turn, it is not hard to counter at all. Common Pokemon won't have a hard time checking or countering it. Bulky Grass-types such as Vileplume, Tangela, and Roselia can all sponge Cacturne's hits rather well, and if given the chance, deal major damage with Sludge Bomb or Hidden Power Fire. Scolipede is a shaky check; it will often meet Cacturne in a lead versus lead position, where it will win, but it is unable to tank a +2 Sucker Punch. If Cacturne lacks Drain Punch, most bulky Steel-types shut it down, as they resists both of its STAB moves. Metang is probably the best overall Steel-type check to Cacturne, as it isn't hit super effectively by Drain Punch.</p>
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