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Sand Veil
- Evasion increases by 20% in a Sandstorm.
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Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
70
|
- |
281 |
344 |
- |
| Atk |
115
|
239 |
266 |
329 |
361 |
| Def |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| SpA |
115
|
239 |
266 |
329 |
361 |
| SpD |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| Spe |
55
|
131 |
146 |
209 |
229 |
Well Cacturne is a very offensive based Pokémon with 115 in BOTH attacking stats. This is a Substitute/Leech Seed stalling set. Switch into something like Earthquake and set up Sub+Seed and annoy the hell out of the opponent. Hidden Power Ice works against those pesky Salamence, Flygon and Celebi while Thunderpunch hurts waters and Skarmory. Needle Arm takes out Swampert and dents Tyranitar. Best used with TSS(Toxic/Spikes/Sandstorm) teams because it's easier wearing them down with leech seed.
"Skarmbliss" counter. Get up a Substitute, Thunderpunch Waters, either of the Special moves can deal with Skarmory, and Blissey is messed up by Focus Punch. Leech Seed is a great move and even allows you to stall with Substitute/Leech Seed. It's pretty good at what it does seeing as the common Celebi cannot even touch Cacturne.
Any attack can be used in the last two slots. The idea is simple: Endure a killing hit to trigger Salac Berry. Destiny Bond will take your opponent down with you if they decide to land the finishing blow. If they don't, alternate Destiny Bond and Focus Punch. The moment they hinder Focus Punch is the moment they go down to Destiny Bond. Hidden Power Ghost is for Ghosts. Definitely a fun set that may work in standard because of Cacturne's Sand Stream immunity. Cacturne maxes out at 229 Speed (343 after Salac), so you won't be Destiny Bonding before some really fast Pokémon like Crobat, Raikou, Persian and Starmie.
Other Options
Counter will surprise and kill if it ever works, but Cacturne is really frail so you'll need to pump Defense and HP EVs. Grasswhistle is inaccurate, but can help you set up a Focus Punch or something. He gets Swords Dance as well but besides Dynamicpunch nothing interesting to work with it. He is too slow and fragile for it as well. He has Spikes but there are better Pokémon to do that.
EVs
Cacturne doesn't have the stats to tank efficiently, but to get in that extra layer of Spikes or to make Counter work you'll want to load its HP. Otherwise, focus on the offensive stats you're using. Destiny Bond set obviously needs max Speed to work well. With about 56 Speed EVs, you can outspeed Blissey, Weezing and Tyraniboah in standard if that's your thing.
Opinion
It has a great stalling movepool, but really low defensive capabilities. A jack of all trades, master of none. What he has going for him is the element of surprise, and the ability to mess up stall teams to an extent thanks to Leech Seed, Spikes and Focus Punch. However, any proper offense shuts him down. Hard to use in both standard and UU.
Counters
Standard: Gengar if he has no Dark move or Hidden Power Ghost. Forretress resists Grass 4x and has high Defense, doesn't take too much damage from Thunderpunch, can Rapid Spin off Leech Seed and Spikes, and Hidden Power Bug OHKOs Cacturne if he has it. Baton Pass Celebi can get a Calm Mind in when Cacturne switches in, and Baton Pass to something that can hurt him. Raikou can Substitute/Calm Mind up against you most of the time unless you carry a physical move, and the few ones recommended (Focus Punch and Dynamicpunch) are less than reliable against him.
Venusaur and Salamence resist both Fighting and Grass (and Venusaur resists Thunderpunch as well) and carry super-effective moves against Cacturne. Gyarados needs to beware of Thunderpunch but can Taunt your stall moves, Dragon Dance up and whack you with STAB Hidden Power Flying. Weezing doesn't like Dark moves from a decent Special Attack, but has Sludge Bomb and Grass/Fighting resistance as well.
UU: Fearow easily comes in on Grass moves or non-attacking moves and OHKOs with Drill Peck all the time. Thunderpunch and Focus Punch whack him up. Muk and Swalot, like Weezing, carry Sludge Bomb and resist Cacturne's main attacking moves. Gligar doesn't like Special Cacturne hits, but has enough Defense and Fighting resistance to come in easily, as well as a STAB Hidden Power Flying. Scyther resists both Grass and Fighting 4x, has STAB Bug moves for the OHKO, as well as the option to set up for Reversal. Any Fire-type obviously fries Cacturne.