One Tough Dino - Bastiodon Discussion

[SwarmAndSing]

#411, the Pearl counterpart to the now infamous Rampardos. This dinosaur seems just aweful in comparison, but with a closer look, he could be a force to be reconned with. Let's look at his base stats.

HP: 60
Attack: 52
Defense: 168
Special Attack: 47
SP. Defense: 138
Speed: 30
Ability: Study (No OHKO)
Type: Rock / Steel

With crappy statistics in pretty much everything but his defenses, he looks like a sitting duck. But on the flip side, with those defenses, he has quite a bit of strategic possibilities. In addition to this, his combination only makes him week to three types, water (2x), and fighting / ground (4x). Here's a build I was toying with.

Bastiodon @ Leftovers
Sandstorm
Roar
Stealth Rock
Iron Head

Other notable moves:
Taunt
Toxic
Earthquake
Rest
... and many more. His movepool rocks, way to much to list. He just doesn't have the stats to back it up much. What do you think?

 

[Surgo]

Bastiodon is a bad Aggron and Aggron already wasn't great. This thing lacks any sort of attacking power whatsoever with an amazing attack stat of 52, and that 4x weakness to the most common physical attacks in the game isn't helping.

I feel no problem at all in saying 'welcome to UU' because I can't see myself being wrong here.

 

[Glen]

bad aggron indeed

i dont even see it making uu, since nosepass evo (im still learning names okay) is better in almost every way

 

[Misty]

It's a shame that both Sand Streamers are OU (or potentially uber in Tyranitar's case), because the special defense boost would be handy in dealing with Surfs. Then again, Aggron would probably still use it better.

In any case, Curse and Roar set this apart from Probopass, but special defense is its only advantage over Aggron... the easy cop-out is to make it NU, which is likely, but I'm not even going to speculate on the threats that will be posed in that tier.

 

[Footnote]

I'm pretty sure Bastiodon exists purely to take advantage of Metal Burst.

Block
Taunt
Metal Burst

Now, that being said, it doesn't mean that it's particularly good at using it with that low HP stat. Most of its movepool seems to be based around it, though.

I think Aggron is sort of meant to be a happy medium between pure Metal-Burst-user and physical attacker/tank.

 

[cookie]

This thing is terrible. It has no way to do any real damage, it's just set-up fodder.
@Leftovers
Stealth Rock
Roar
Toxic/Taunt/Protect
Metal Burst
With no way to recover damage apart from Protect and no offensive capabilities, it can't even stall. Taunt+Metal Burst could work, but they'll just switch. Ugh.

 

[Deck Knight]

It's a shame that both Sand Streamers are OU (or potentially uber in Tyranitar's case), because the special defense boost would be handy in dealing with Surfs. Then again, Aggron would probably still use it better.

In any case, Curse and Roar set this apart from Probopass, but special defense is its only advantage over Aggron... the easy cop-out is to make it NU, which is likely, but I'm not even going to speculate on the threats that will be posed in that tier.

NU still needs to formulated, but Stealth Rock + Roar beats the shnitzel out of all the NU Bugs out there. EQ for Plusle and this thing could become an NU staple. Aggron beats the stuffing out of it in UU, so chances are NU is its fate. I can see it working with a Sandy Rock Mawile passing Sandstorm and then just being a fat **** to Plusle et al.

 

[Footnote]

Oh, I don't know. It's sort of a hobbled Wobbuffet. On one hand, its HP is much lower and Metal Burst returns x1.5 the amount of damage instead of double. But on the other hand, it doesn't require prediction when fighting mixed sweepers. Also, nothing's immune to Metal Burst, unlike Counter and Mirror Coat. It could see use. Just...probably not very much use.

 

[X-Act]

Bastiodon @ Leftovers

~ Block
~ Taunt
~ Metal Burst
~ Rest

What Footnote said, but with Rest.

Switch in on something that can't do more than 50% to you. (This means anything that doesn't have any Ground or Fighting moves.) Use Block. The opponent would have probably switched to his or her Ground or Fighting move user. In that case, Metal Burst for the OHKO. If your opponent is a rather clever fellow who will boost up to try to OHKO you, Taunt, and then Metal Burst. After OHKOing, Rest and switch out. Wake him up with Aromatherapy, and repeat.

 

[Footnote]

Rest was my move of choice for that fourth slot as well. I'll bet this could work, but it does require many turns to set up. It really depends on what tricky stuff your opponent tries before you can lock them in with Block and Taunt.

I'll definitely be trying this thing out.

 

[Sheepasaurus Rex]

Also, nothing's immune to Metal Burst...

Actually, there is one--and only one--pokemon immune to Metal Burst...but it's a secret.

 

[Nicar]

X-Act's moveset looks like the best option, although I see no way Bastiodon would live long enough to Rest after taking the move he Metal Bursts back at the opponent, since he'll probably be very low on HP and anything the opponent send out after that will move faster and KO him.

Sandstorm SpD boost and/or if he could manage to pull off an Iron Defense when the opponent switches might make this viable though. I don't know what you would want to replace with Iron Defense though.

It's really a shame he's so bad because I've liked him since I first saw him... And about the immune to Metal Burst stuff Wobuffet is technically immune since there's no way he'd use an attacking move against Bastiodon.

 

[X-Act]

Hmm. I think Bastiodon's best with 252 HP, 252 Def and 4 SpDef EVs with a +Def nature. That way, he can survive even some STABbed EQs and Metal Burst back. The SpDef can be boosted by a Sandstorm. With max Defense and HP, Bastiodon is guaranteed to survive an EQ from a 295 attack Ground Pokemon. Against one with 296 Attack stat or more, the survival is not guaranteed, until we get to an Attack stat of 348 or more, where survival is impossible.

 

[Bliksem]

Actually, there is one--and only one--pokemon immune to Metal Burst...but it's a secret.

Sableye is who you're referring to? Also Pokemon with Lagging Tail.

 

[Footnote]

Actually, there is one--and only one--pokemon immune to Metal Burst...but it's a secret.

... And about the immune to Metal Burst stuff Wobuffet is technically immune since there's no way he'd use an attacking move against Bastiodon.

Sableye is who you're referring to? Also Pokemon with Lagging Tail.

Ha! (Laughing at myself) That's all true. I spoke way too soon. The first thing I came up with is Shedinja. It's also immune to Metal Burst.

 

[Edux]

Why Sableye is inmune to Metal Burst??, of course he isn't, i mean Sableye is inmune to both Counter and Mirror Coat because of his type combo (Ghost = inmunity to Fighting, Dark = inmunity to Psychic)

 

[Nicar]

Sableye can have the Stall ability which always makes him move last and since Metal Burst doesn't have a priority modifier it will go first and thus fail since it won't have anything to burst back.

 

[Deck Knight]

Set for NU:

Bastiodon @ Leftovers
Impish (+Def, -SA)
<Sturdy>
EVs: 252 HP/160 Atk/96 SD
~ Earthquake
~ Sandstorm
~ Stealth Rock
~ Roar

FAT.

Alright, there isn't much that can attack in NU, so Bastiodon uses its natural FATness to screw things up. Sandstorm rapes Sunnybeamers, and even without it Solarbeam from Timid Sunflora(the highest SA you'll run into) only does 37-44%. This thing craps all over Plusle, and it isn't worth maxing attack, you stll can't guarentee a OHKO. at 180 you have a slim chance to OHKO No HP/Def, but you're aided by the fact that 1: You are FAT and 2, you have Stealth Rock and Sandstorm. to deal damage. Having EQ at least stops you from being taunted by something like Mightyena, even if you can't do any damage once Intimidated. About the only thing that can do something to you is Whiscash, which should prompt a switch-out. Otherwise just switch in and eat attacks while you SR and Roar.

Sableye can have the Stall ability which always makes him move last and since Metal Burst doesn't have a priority modifier it will go first and thus fail since it won't have anything to burst back.

Anything with Focus Punch is immune to Metal Burst while simultaneously raping Bastiodon.

 

[Pyr0]

And no idea what Bastiodon would be doing in Ubers.. but, because Wob has 0 attacking moves, it is also immune.

50%+ of Umbreons out there are inmune

 

[MystErikEry]

In case you don't remember, Taunt forces the opposing Pokemon to use an attacking move. If it has none, the opponent is forced to Struggle. This is an even better result than "immune" to Metal Burst --- not only do you get to deal some damage back to them using the burst, but they take 25% of their HP as recoil automatically. Then you could even wait until a turn before they'd kill themselves (remember, Taunt now lasts a few turns, right?) and then Rest --- so you get to nearly fully heal afterwards, too.

Sounds like the only ones "immune" to Metal Burst are Stall traits (some Sableye, though I don't see any bothering to have it) , Wonder Guard traits (Shedinja... but how much of a threat is he?) , and Lagging Tail holders (but what a waste of a hold item, except for those using Trick, but what's the point of wasting a turn to do it?). Oh, and, as just noted, Focus Punchers. Ouch.

 

[Nicar]

Struggle against a Rock/Steel? That's some scary damage to use Metal Burst on =P Sure it works if your opponent doesn't have any attacking moves but anyone can do that, Metal Burst will do absolutely nothing since Bastiodon takes like 1 HP damage from Struggle.

But Focus Punch is cool, it's by far the best counter move against Bastiodon (Like you'd need something like that...)

 

[Footnote]

Yeah, you're right about Focus Punch. The ultimate Bastiodon killer!

Apparently Struggle has changed for D/P so that the user loses 1/4 of their max HP every time they use it. I guess GameFreak is trying to fix the stall-wars from last gen. So even if Bastiodon doesn't use Metal Burst, the Taunted opponent should kick the bucket after 6 uses of Struggle (taking Leftovers into account and assuming HP not divisable by 4) regardless of how much they hurt Bastiodon. Of course, Taunt doesn't last 6 turns, so that could be a problem, especially on foes with Recover or the equivalent.

Also, I don't think Struggle is a Normal attack. I think it's typeless. Otherwise Ghosts (Dusknoir and Spiritomb, specifically) would have a big advantage.

 

[Misty]

Struggle hits ghosts outside of RBY.

 

[SDShamshel]

Sableye can have the Stall ability which always makes him move last and since Metal Burst doesn't have a priority modifier it will go first and thus fail since it won't have anything to burst back.

On top of this, Sableye learns Seismic Toss/Night Shade, and steady damage that doesn't have to deal with Bastiodon's high defenses is basically Bastiodon's worst enemy.

 

[Forsety]

This thing really needed Taunt or Encore.