add/change,
remove,
comment
[Overview]
<p>With the single most common
Pokemon in the OU metagame being a
Grass-type, it is understandable that previously-useful bulky Water-types such as Swampert have seen a rapid fall in usage. Although Gastrodon was seldom used in the previous generation, it has curiously managed to avoid this trend and has actually gained significant popularity for a number of reasons. Gastrodon's signature ability, Storm Drain, has been buffed tremendously, not only giving it an immunity to Water-type attacks but also giving Gastrodon a free
boost to Special Attack
boost when it is hit by one. In addition, because many teams now use Ferrothorn as their only Grass-type attacker, Hidden Power Grass is now almost never used, letting Gastrodon completely wall special attackers such as Starmie,
Rotom-W, and Politoed. Because Gastrodon now boasts all of these advantages over its competitors
, and
over the metagame in general, it has turned from a trivial novelty into an unexpectedly dangerous tank, either when statusing helpless opponents or simply destroying them with the extra power that Storm Drain can provide.</p>
[SET]
name: Tank
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Ice Beam / Scald
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set allows Gastrodon to
capitalize on its natural special bulk,
and allows it making it a solid to check some of the tier's most threatening special sweepers whilst still maintaining an offensive presence. Some of the
Pokemon that Gastrodon can hard counter include Latios, Heatran, Rotom-W, Thundurus,
Skarmory, and Starmie, all of which fail to deal any significant damage even with Grass-type
d attacks. For example, Life Orb Starmie's Grass Knot fails to OHKO by a significant margin, as does +2 Life Orb
Thundurus's Focus Blast, which only deals 63.8% - 75.1%
damage. Likewise, even Draco Meteor from Life Orb Latios fails to 2HKO. Gastrodon can also
capitalize on
its resistance to Rock and pose a significant threat to Tyranitar, hitting it for super effective damage with either of its STABs or threatening it with status. Meanwhile,
Jolly Tyranitar's Crunch cannot 2HKO Gastrodon without Defense investment even with no investment in Defense Gastrodon is not 2HKOed by Jolly Tyranitar's Crunch, unless
they get it gets lucky with a
Defense drop.</p>
<p>Once Gastrodon's in, it can either threaten the opponent offensively using its excellent coverage and STAB (with a possible Storm Drain boost), status a switch-in, or simply Recover off any damage
to scout the opponent's decision. Earth Power is the STAB
attack of choice here, hitting many of the
Water-types that Gastrodon counters harder than Surf, as well as providing a powerful STAB in general. Ice Beam gives Gastrodon coverage against top threats such as Latios,
Dragonite, and other
high-usage common targets
like Gliscor and Garchomp should you get them on the switch
, such as Gliscor and Garchomp. Scald is also a good option, letting you hit Skarmory and Bronzong for decent damage whilst also letting you attempt to burn certain opponents, such as Excadrill and Jirachi. Toxic lets Gastrodon threaten many opponents it couldn't otherwise touch, such as Rotom-W, with
permanent and debilitating status, whilst Recover lets it
stall out enemies and increases its survivability.
stay in with impunity on enemies that can't 2HKO and simply stall them out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The
aforementioned EV spread gives Gastrodon the maximum special bulk possible. However, a
fully physically defensive EV spread can also be used, as it can survive two hits from Choice Scarf Garchomp's Outrage and 2HKO with Ice Beam. This spread also lets Gastrodon take a +2 Earthquake from 252 Jolly Gliscor and OHKO with Ice Beam. Whereas this
slightly reduces Gastrodon's utility against special attackers
slightly, the extra physical bulk and ability to
capitalize more fully on Ice Beam may be worth it, depending on your team's strengths and weaknesses. Whilst Gastrodon can go mixed and use Earthquake, bear in mind that it still fails to 2HKO offensive Tyranitar without investment and doesn't get boosted by Storm Drain. Likewise, while Hidden Power Fire is a tempting option to fry Ferrothorn with, it fails to OHKO and Gastrodon absolutely cannot take a Power Whip
even from fully defensive variants.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Surf
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Recover
item: Choice Specs
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Modest
evs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Choice Specs, a Storm Drain boost,
possible Drizzle support from an opponent's Politoed or your own,
and perfect neutral coverage, Choice Specs Gastrodon is a very real threat in today's metagame
with its perfect neutral coverage. To put
its power into perspective, with all of the above, Gastrodon has the equivalent of 1046
Special Attack when using Surf
, with no turns spent on setup (a little misleading imo since you need a turn for the storm drain boost). Opponents will have serious problems switching into
Gastrodon; maximum power Surf deals 41.8% - 49.1% to
252 HP / 252 SpD Sassy Ferrothorn, 47.4% - 56% to
252 HP / 208 SpD Relaxed, and 56.5% - 66.8% to
252 HP Relaxed, in this case netting a certain guaranteed 2HKO on the switch, even against variants with Protect. If you predict
its switch-in, Earth Power deals 52.8% - 62.5%
to even 252/252 Sassy to maximum Special Defense variants. Surf also deals 48.9% - 57.7% to
252 HP Bold Blissey;
unfortunately, this misses a guaranteed 2HKO, but it certainly dents it enough to make it scramble for recovery. It also deals 88.4% - 104.2% to
252 HP / 252 SpD Calm Jirachi, which is a certain OHKO with Spikes. As you can see, with this much power available to Gastrodon in certain situations, it can prove to be a devestating wallbreaker against Drizzle teams and an excellent offensive counter to them in general. Of course, Gastrodon is not limited purely to countering Drizzle teams with this set,
as it still has enough bulk to stop most special attackers in their tracks. Considering
a third of the top 20 many common Pokemon (just to clarify since it may look unnecessary, I changed this because the "top 20" can change at any time) give you a free attack,
Gastrodon finds many opportunities several provide Storm Drain boosts and one even provides Rain support for you, Gastrodon is in a good position to wreak havoc.</p>
I'm kinda iffy on this paragraph.. it goes on about calcs for too long, which is usually the kind of stuff that's put in AC. Might need a re-arrangement.
<p>Surf,
Earth Power, and Ice Beam all have excellent neutral coverage and great
Base Power; with good
prediction, there aren't many threats that can stand up to one of Gastrodon's attacks. Recover is used in the 4th slot simply because any offensive option would seldom be used, and it can be used to heal if you predict your opponent switching to Blissey or the like. If you're looking for an attack to use in this slot, Hidden Power Fire is the best option, since it can OHKO all Ferrothorn with just a Storm Drain boost and the absence of rain.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Alternatively, Gastrodon can elect to run a Life Orb instead of using Choice Specs. Whilst this has obvious advantages such as the ability to switch moves and the ability to use Recover more effectively, it also leaves Gastrodon unable to 2HKO physical
ly defensive Ferrothorn and Blissey with a Storm Drain boost in the rain. This somewhat compromises Gastrodon's role as an over-the-top wallbreaker, but can be more useful depending on your team. Also, in terms of managing Gastrodon's defense
s, the given EV spread allows Gastrodon to survive two
Life Orb Shadow Balls from Timid Gengar, whilst also giving it as much physical bulk as possible. To determine whether Gastrodon can survive an attack with the given spread or not, multiply the user's Special Attack and Base Power together, then use any multipliers. If the result is less than 120000, then Gastrodon will survive.
(not sure if this last part should really be there, but I left it.)</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Gastrodon has a surprisngly extensive movepool,
but unfortunately, few of these moves are worth using over the ones
already listed
in terms of general usefulness. Yawn can be used to
phaze opponents and give you time to boost your stats, but is hard to fit in over Recover or a STAB
attack and
synergizes poorly with Toxic. Gastrodon can run a
Mirror Coat + Counter set with
its large HP and modest defenses, but is arguably outclassed by Wobbuffet in that respect. Clear Smog is a new addition that allows it to take on stat boosters like Quagsire whilst still having an immunity, but risks being
outsped by these boosting sweepers signficantly and can risk being
OHKOed by powerful Swords Dance users before it has a chance to act. Memento can be used too, but it's generally a waste on such a premenant
(not a word - do you mean prominent? even that doesn't fit very well though) and otherwise useful
Pokemon. Offensively, Gastrodon lacks any other offensive options to use. It's too slow to effectively use Icy Wind, and other
Hidden Power types are largely redundant due to Gastrodon's
already-excellent neutral coverage.</p>
<p>A mono attacking set can be run with Rest / Sleep Talk / Toxic / Surf with Storm Drain, should you want a status absorber and
inflictor with powerful STAB
attacks. In this respect, it's a shame that Gastrodon lacks Calm Mind, but it can still be effective and alleviates Gastrodon's otherwise crippling weakness to status. Likewise, Curse and Stockpile sets can both be decent, but are largely outclassed by Unaware Quagsire unless you really need
to the
Water immunity. In the meantime, Gastrodon remains extremely vulnerable to almost any Toxic user, as even Blissey outspeeds it with ease. In terms of other abilities, Sticky Hold has a useful niche in blocking Trick and Switcheroo entirely, shutting down threats such as Choice Scarf Jirachi and forcing them to switch. However, missing out on Storm Drain's immunity and boosting capability, and thus the source of Gastrodon's newfound popularity, is
usually not worth it.</p>
[
Checks and Counters]
<p>Anything faster than Gastrodon with Toxic will rain on
its parade and destroy any potential it has at tanking the opposition for long. This includes Chansey, who will wall
its special attacks to no end and doesn't care about status
herself. Blissey,
Jellicent, and Politoed are equally annoying in this respect, although if Politoed tries to Toxic
Gastrodon after
absorbing its Surf then it most definitely won't be coming back. To use Gastrodon as effectively as possible, ensure that the opponent isn't likely to Toxic you on the switch. As a hard counter, Ferrothorn comes close if you haven't acquired any boosts with the
Choice Specs set and it manages to get in safely. It's immune to Toxic, can OHKO all Gastrodon instantly with Power Whip, or can alternatively Leech Seed the switch in
or just set up Spikes in
Gastrodon's face. Gastrodon really can't do anything to Ferrothorn unless it can hit it with a
Choice Specs, Storm Drain-boosted Earth Power on the switch. Conkeldurr can also be annoying to deal with as it can boost without fear of Toxic or Scald, is not 2HKOed by any non-boosted attack on the defensive set, and can exploit Gastrodon's weaker physical defense with a powerful Drain Punch.</p>
[
Dream World]
<p>Dream World Gastrodon has been released with the ability
, and has the hidden ability Sand Force. Whilst it's not as good as Storm Drain on most
sets, it certainly has its uses in the sand, letting Gastrodon run an intriguing Curse set with Earthquake / Stone Edge or Ice Beam / Recover and the equivalent of base 130 Attack when using Earthquake. On the other hand, Storm Drain is arguably more useful for Sand teams, providing a very useful
Water immunity and helping to glue together the team.</p>
