Tentacruel

[Politoad]

is octofish

Overview
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+ Access to Rapid Spin
+ Good special Bulk and Speed
+ Access to entry hazards and rapid spin make for a valuable team supporter
- Weakness to common ground types


Support
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name: Support
move 1: Scald
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Acid Spray
move 4: Rain Dance / Knock Off
ability: Rain Dish / Liquid Ooze
item: Black Sludge
evs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 Spe
nature: Bold

Moves
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• Scald is a good STAB move, with the chance to burn and adds up to Tentacruel's physical bulk (that isn't great)
• Rapid Spin is a great supporting move, as it gets all entry hazards layed by the opponent off the field
• Acid Spray is a decent STAB attack as well, as it gets more powerful everytime it hits (Thanks to the harshly dropping of the Special Defense as secondary effect)
• Rain Dance can be used for Rain teams, and besides, it heals Tentacruel if used with Rain Dish
• Knock Off is also an option as it knocks off the opponent's item and grants coverage against Psychic-types

Set Details
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• Bold nature, 224 EVs invested in HP and max invested EVs in Defense add up to Tentacruel's physical bulk, that isn't the greatest
• Black Sludge heals Tentacruel a bit and can harm damage, except if the opponent is Poison-typed
• Rain Dish is used when using Rain Dance instead of Knock Off, this way Tentacruel can recover 1/8 HP every turn (if you include Black Sludge healing)
• Liquid Ooze is the best option if Knock Off is used, since it deals damage to any seeder/drainer in OU, such as Ferrothorn
• 32 Speed EVs allow it to outrun threats such as Jolly Scizor, what it couldn't without the boost

Usage Tips
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USAGE TIPS GO HERE

Team Options
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• Grass Pokemon resist 2 of Tentacruel's weaknesses and are excellent teammates
• Any slow Volt Switcher U-Turn will work, because they grant Tentacruel a safe switch and the opportunity to spin or set up Rain
• Any Pokémon that benefits from Rain will work as well; The main reason to use Rain Dance is for allies to take benefit from it

Other Options
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• Acupressure
• Hydro Pump / Surf (hits harder than Scald)
• Ice Beam
• Swords Dance
• Sludge Bomb
• Toxic + Infestation + Confuse Ray

Checks & Counters
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CHECKS & COUNTERS GO HERE
NOTE THAT THIS WILL BE MORE THREATLISTY SO MENTION POKEMON / OTHER EFFECTS ONE AT A TIME

 

[alexwolf]

I don't like Protect at all, it just seems as a move randomly thrown there. Tentacruel's job is to spin, check a few threats, and then gtfo as it can be taken advantage of a lot of dangerous Pokemon. I guess it makes sense if you are using it on a rain team, but do you really want to waste your precious rain turns to use Protect with Tentacruel? Idk, maybe if i see Tentacruel being used on a good rain team i will change my mind, but right now, Toxic and Knock Off seem as the best options for the last slot (haven't used Rain Dance so no opinion, though it seems decent to screw sand teams and get some extra recovery).

 

[Politoad]

I don't like Protect at all, it just seems as a move randomly thrown there. Tentacruel's job is to spin, check a few threats, and then gtfo as it can be taken advantage of a lot of dangerous Pokemon. I guess it makes sense if you are using it on a rain team, but do you really want to waste your precious rain turns to use Protect with Tentacruel? Idk, maybe if i see Tentacruel being used on a good rain team i will change my mind, but right now, Toxic and Knock Off seem as the best options for the last slot (haven't used Rain Dance so no opinion, though it seems decent to screw sand teams and get some extra recovery).

Right, will edit

Edit; done

 

[Shayhok]

I don't know if it's worth considering, but when I was theorymonning with a friend the other day, Clear Body Tentacruel came up. It has the use of being able to spin reliably versus Sticky Web teams, as it can get the spin off first with its usual speed investment that comes from outpacing common Ground-types. Its main competition is obviously Air Balloon Excadrill, but Tentacruel gets to hold an item and can come in on hits without losing that web immunity for later. The benefit to using it over a Flying-type or levitating Defog user is that web teams (on ladder at least) always use Bisharp and even run Gravity sometimes. With Sludge Bomb it can also get rocks Clefable to leave which usually packs coverage for most hazard removers, but that's more a general perk versus other hazard removers instead of Clear Body specifically.

 

[Politoad]

clear body can be used if Rain Dance isn't used, I guess. I'll slash it

 

[Politoad]

do i have to include OO? since jukain said only one set to use. There might be more sets that deserve main mention

 

[Lumari]

do i have to include OO? since jukain said only one set to use. There might be more sets that deserve main mention

not QC or anything but I reckon you should, considering this is a full analysis, the fact that it only has one viable (main) set doesn't change anything about this.
Also, about the secondary ability, I think Liquid Ooze is better than Clear Body. Clear Body has no utility outside some more spinning reliability against Sticky Web, which to my knowledge isn't really relevant in OU (because of Bisharp), whereas Liquid Ooze completely poops on Leech Seed users (*cough* Ferrothorn *cough*)

 

[Politoad]

not QC or anything but I reckon you should, considering this is a full analysis, the fact that it only has one viable (main) set doesn't change anything about this.
Also, about the secondary ability, I think Liquid Ooze is better than Clear Body. Clear Body has no utility outside some more spinning reliability against Sticky Web, which to my knowledge isn't really relevant in OU (because of Bisharp), whereas Liquid Ooze completely poops on Leech Seed users (*cough* Ferrothorn *cough*)

duh-done

 

[Jukain]

Sorry, but I'm going to have to stop this right here. You had to ask me for what the set was in the first place, which means you clearly lack the knowledge of the Pokemon at hand (Tentacruel) to put together the set. Your bullet points exemplify this lack of knowledge. '32 Speed EVs are for Jolly Scizor', this EV investment is for Jolly Tyranitar and doesn't even outspeed Jolly Scizor. You say that Black Sludge can cause harm on the opponent, which is factually incorrect; I'll just hope you were referring to Trick. But when you don't even mention the whole point of Acid Spray, for Tentacruel, or anything about how it handles Keldeo/Azumarill/Clefable, and you mention VoltTurners for a defensive Pokemon plus 'Grass-types because they resist 2 of Tentacruel's weaknesses' without any actual examples and a dearth of partners in general, there's an issue. There is such a gaping lack of detail and knowledge in this analysis that I have to reassign it. Locking.