[OVERVIEW]
Thanks to its great mixed offensive prowess alongside a potent STAB type combination of Dark and Grass, Cacturne finds its place in NU as a stellar wallbreaker. To complement its formidable offensive capabilities, Cacturne possesses a myriad of support options, including Spikes, Destiny Bond, and Spiky Shield. In particular, Cacturne is an excellent user of Spikes, being able to offensively pressure all common users of Rapid Spin while being more offensively inclined than the other two relevant users of Spikes, Garbodor and Roselia. In addition, Cacturne's ability Water Absorb lets it check many of the Water-types of NU, most notably Lanturn, Prinplup, and Quagsire. Despite these positives, Cacturne is not without its issues, the most apparent being how it faces stiff competition from Shiftry, which boasts better Speed, access to the coveted Defog and Knock Off, and a level of unpredictability, as it's able to run a multitude of sets alongside unique coverage options, most notably Explosion and Extrasensory. However, Cacturne separates itself with its excellent mixed attacking stats, Water Absorb, and access to Spikes. Cacturne's frailty is also noteworthy, preventing it from switching in on much other than a Water- or Psychic-type attack; even then, most Pokemon that use those attacks have coverage to hit Cacturne, such as Lanturn carrying Ice Beam and Mesprit having Signal Beam, making every direct switch into Cacturne a risky one. Furthermore, due to its low Speed, Cacturne struggles against faster-paced offensive teams its reliance on Sucker Punch to deal with faster attackers, as it can be easily exploited by sweepers to achieve free turns to set up.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Dark Pulse
move 2: Giga Drain / Energy Ball
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Spikes
item: Life Orb
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Mild
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Dark Pulse is Cacturne's main STAB attack, 2HKOing most of the tier thanks to its respectable Base Power and the small pool of reliable Pokemon that resist Dark-type attacks. Giga Drain is a powerful secondary STAB move, hitting Water-, Ground-, and Fighting-types for significant damage, recovering some health recovered after use, and providing excellent coverage alongside Dark Pulse. Energy Ball can be used for the higher power; however, it misses out on the recovery of Giga Drain, and the power gain is minimal. Cacturne's Sucker Punch is the strongest, albeit somewhat unreliable, priority move in NU, easily threatening faster Psychic- and Ghost-types that lack a Colbur Berry, as well as letting Cacturne overcome its lackluster Speed and pick off a faster foe. Spikes is the preferred choice for the last moveslot, letting Cacturne support its team by weakening grounded foes as they switch in. Cacturne is a particularly effective user of Spikes, as it beats nearly all users of entry hazard control outside of Skuntank. Destiny Bond can be used to take down a foe when Cacturne will be going down anyway, and it is particularly useful against a Mega Audino's Dazzling Gleam or Hariyama's Close Combat. Spiky Shield can be used to ease prediction against users of Choice items and to punish use of physical attacks.
Set Details
========
The EV spread and a Mild nature allow Cacturne to hit as hard and as fast as possible without taking away from its ability to switch into weaker special attacks or the power of Sucker Punch. Life Orb boosts Cacturne's power to incredible levels, with only a minor toll in the form of a small amount of recoil damage after each attack. Water Absorb is the necessary ability, as it makes Cacturne an excellent offensive check to the abundance of Water-types in the tier, most notably Lanturn, Prinplup, and Quagsire. A Hasty nature can be used over Mild; however, all this accomplishes is outspeeding neutral-natured Aurorus, Exeggutor, and standard Garbodor while tying with neutral-natured Flareon and Sandslash, at the cost of a noticeable drop in power that isn't really worth it for most teams. If you do choose to use a Hasty nature, however, Energy Ball should be chosen over Giga Drain to somewhat compensate for the loss of power.
Usage Tips
========
Due to its frailty, Cacturne should be brought in on a safe switch, such as by a slow U-turn or Volt Switch or after a teammate has fainted, to keep it as healthy as possible. If necessary, Cacturne should be switched in on an attack it's immune to, such as Lanturn's Scald or Musharna's Psychic, or a weaker attack, such as Quagsire's Earthquake or Rotom's Shadow Ball. Cacturne is oft best played aggressively early-game, punching holes in the team with its powerful STAB attacks or setting Spikes to whittle down foes upon them switching in. Destiny Bond, if chosen, should be used when Cacturne would otherwise be knocked out, in an attempt to take the foe down with it. This is especially useful when up against slower attackers that can knock Cacturne out, such as Hariyama and Mega Audino, if they choose to attack Cacturne. Be wary when using Sucker Punch, your opponent can play around this by going for a non-attacking move, often forcing 50-50 situations. This is particularly troublesome when Cacturne is facing setup sweepers, such as Klinklang, as they can avoid Sucker Punch while getting a free turn to set up. Additionally, it should be noted that many foes that Sucker Punch threatens, such as Rotom qnd Mismagius, can use Will-O-Wisp to avoid Sucker Punch and cripple Cacturne, as to get around it and weaken its Sucker Punch for the rest of the match. If Spiky Shield is run, it should be used primarily to get off chip damage on physical attackers such as Hariyama or to scout what move users of Choice items will be locking themselves into.
Team Options
========
Cacturne fits best on faster-paced offensive teams that appreciate a check to Water-types and Spikes support more than they would the speed and Defog support that Shiftry can provide. Klinklang is the near-perfect partner for Cacturne in offensive synergy, with Klinklang setting up on the Fairy-, Flying-, and Bug-types that plague Cacturne and Cacturne defeating the Electric- and Water-types that stop Klinklang; however, be aware that this core struggles with common Fighting- and Fire-types, so this should be accounted for accordingly. Electric-types, such as Rotom and Zebstrika, appreciate Cacturne eliminating Lanturn and Ground-types, while they check Flying-types in return. Lanturn makes for a noteworthy partner, checking the Fire- and Flying-types that Cacturne struggles with while Cacturne eliminates opposing Lanturn. Garbodor makes for a great partner, taking on the Fighting- and Fairy-types that trouble Cacturne while Cacturne handles the Ground- and Psychic-types that trash Garbodor. Using Garbodor also allows Cacturne to forgo Spikes for Destiny Bond or Spiky Shield. Running Spiky Shield on Cacturne when it is paired with Garbodor is also beneficial in that Cacturne can use Spiky Shield to maximize the damage stacked up by the Toxic Spikes set by Garbodor. Garbodor also punishes usage of U-turn with Rocky Helmet and Aftermath, which Cacturne attracts due to its 4x weakness to Bug-type attacks. Mesprit and Cacturne form a potent entry hazard-stacking core, with Mesprit setting Stealth Rock and Cacturne laying Spikes, whittling the foes down as they switch in. Late-game cleaners, such as Swellow, appreciate Cacturne punching holes in the opponent's team and laying Spikes so the cleaner can sweep up once the opposition is sufficiently weakened.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Substitute can be used in the last slot, as it capitalizes on Cacturne's ability to force switches and can make it far harder to revenge kill; this also synergizes well with Giga Drain, giving Cacturne a form of recovery to make up for the Substitute damage and Life Orb recoil. Cacturne can utilize a Swords Dance set to break down defensive teams; however, such a set is largely outclassed by Shiftry, only sporting a stronger Sucker Punch over it. Cacturne can act as a suicide lead, setting Spikes, eliminating physical attackers with Counter combined with a Focus Sash, and using Destiny Bond once its job is done; however, this set is mostly outclassed by other suicide leads, such as Crustle and Archeops.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Poison-types**: Poison-types such as Roselia and Garbodor can switch in on any attack Cacturne can use and retaliate with a super effective STAB move. Garbodor could be used as a soft check to Cacturne, resisting Grass-type attacks and taking little from Sucker Punch while being able to OHKO in return with Gunk Shot; however, it cannot outspeed Hasty variants of Cacturne, which 2HKO it.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Combusken, Magmortar, and Pyroar make for decent answers to Cacturne, being able to stomach a Sucker Punch and OHKO in return. Combusken in particular can reliably switch into any attack Cacturne might want to go for thanks to its resistance to both Grass- and Dark-type attacks and access to Eviolite, and it can retaliate with an OHKO. Pyroar can also play mind games with Cacturne, using Will-O-Wisp or Substitute to dodge Cacturne's Sucker Punch, meaning Cacturne will be crippled or give Pyroar a free Substitute.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Zweilous and Malamar can easily OHKO Cacturne with an Outrage or Superpower, respectively. Zweilous in particular is a solid counter to Cacturne, being able to switch into its STAB attacks with ease and to eliminate Cacturne with its powerful Outrage and use Rest to heal off any damage. Although it may not resist Cacturne's STAB attacks, Malamar has the Special Defense needed to survive any attack Cacturne might want to go for and can use it as setup fodder thanks to Superpower.
**Fighting-types**: While they won't enjoy switching into an Energy Ball, Fighting-types such as Sawk, Hariyama, and Gurdurr resist Cacturne's Dark-type attacks and can OHKO in return with their respective STAB moves. It's also worth noting that Gurdurr and Hitmonchan can pick off Cacturne with Mach Punch, preventing it from setting up a last-ditch layer of Spikes or firing off a Giga Drain. Hariyama can switch into any attack Cacturne might want to go for at least once and OHKO with Close Combat in return.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Mega Audino and Mawile can switch into a Dark-type move from Cacturne and OHKO it in return. However, Cacturne's Energy Ball has a chance to 2HKO both of these Pokemon after some chip damage, so keeping these Pokemon healthy is necessary for them to check Cacturne effectively.
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Scyther and Articuno can comfortably come in on any attack Cacturne might want to go for, use Roost to recover the damage dealt, and threaten it back with an Aerial Ace or Freeze-Dry, respectively.
**Faster Attackers**: Given a free switch, faster attackers such as Tauros, Rotom-S, Samurott, and Liepard can come in on Cacturne, take a Sucker Punch, and OHKO in return with their respective attacks. Be aware that these Pokemon are simply offensive checks and should not be switching into Cacturne.
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