[Overview]
<p>Carracosta is a commonly overlooked and unloved Pokemon in RU, lacking the effectiveness that other more common Pokemon that share its typing, such as Kabutops and Omastar, have. On the other hand, Carracosta definitely is solidly useful in its own right, with access to two excellent abilities that aide it intaking advantage of its strong offensive prowess. In addition, if Carracosta manages to set up, it can be incredibly difficult for many teams to stop due to its solid type coverage and priority in Aqua Jet. Sadly, Carracosta's typing gives it a number of flaws, most notably a weakness to Fighting-, Electric-, and Ground-types, all of which are fairly common in RU. Regardless, Carracosta is definitely a solid, if somewhat difficult to support, Pokemon that can be quite effective for a number of teams. </p>
[SET]
name: Shell Smash
move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Waterfall / Ice Beam
move 4: Aqua Jet / Ice Beam
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Carracosta is one of the most effective physical or mixed Shell Smash users in RU. Thanks to its respectable base 108 Attack, Carracosta becomes a gargantuan powerhouse when boosted by Shell Smash. Stone Edge is Carracosta's main STAB option, hitting large portions of the metagame decently hard and allowing Carracosta to blow past bulky Water-types such as Slowking after a Shell Smash. Waterfall is the secondary STAB option available to Carracosta, hitting most Ground- and Steel-types much harder than Stone Edge, while also being more reliable. Aqua Jet rounds off Carracosta's moveset, allowing it to pick off Choice Scarf users and any weakened Pokemon that are faster than it. Ice Beam is another veryusable option over Waterfall or Aqua Jet, letting Carracosta break through physically defensive Grass-types, most notably Tangrowth, that are capable of thoroughly manhandling any Carracosta lacking Ice Beam. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>If not using Ice Beam, Carracosta should generally use a purely physically offensive EV spread with max Attack and Speed. A Jolly nature is usually recommended over an Adamant Nature, as Carracosta is unable to outspeed positive natured max Speed base 100 Pokemon if not using a Speed boosting nature itself. However, Adamant gives Carracosta significantly more power, most notably allowing it to always OHKO standard Slowking with Stone Edge after a Shell Smash boost. Carracosta is capable of always OHKOing physically defensive Tangrowth with Ice Beam even with a Special Attack decreasing nature; however, if specially defensive Tangrowth is an issue, a Naive nature can be used over Jolly, or Naughty over Adamant. Generally however, EVs should not be moved from Speed or Attack into Special Attack, as Ice Beam only notably hits Tangrowth and Carracosta needs all the Attack it can get. </p>
<p>Sturdy and Solid Rock Carracosta play somewhat differently and both require different amounts of support. Sturdy Carracosta should use a Lum Berry, which it makes use of very well to set up against Pokemon that attempt to inflict it with status conditions. It also pairs very well with Rapid Spin users such as Cryogonal and Kabutops, the latter of which can be paired with Carracosta in order to help wear down bulky Water- and Grass-types and aide in an eventual Carracosta sweep. Solid Rock Carracosta can make use of a Life Orb in order to hit significantly harder, notably giving its Aqua Jet the ability to OHKO many of the Choice Scarf users that outspeed boosted Carracosta. A White Herb can also be used on Solid Rock Carracosta, giving it the ability to beat Mach Punch users such as Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Generally, excellent teammates for Carracosta are Pokemon that provide hazard support. Ferroseed and Uxie are both good options, the former resisting two of Carracosta's common weaknesses, while the latter gives Carracosta easy setup opportunities thanks to U-turn and Memento. Many Fire-types, such as Magmortar and Entei, also pair fairly well with Carracosta, handling Rotom-C, Lilligant, and Tangrowth. Finally, offensive Grass-types such as Swords Dance Sceptile and Quiver Dance Lilligant pair fairly well with Carracosta, as it can set up on Fire- and Flying-type attacks directed at them.</p>
<p>Carracosta also has a few other nifty options up its sleeve. It can use Earthquake over any move other than Stone Edge, giving it excellent type coverage. Hidden Power Fire can be used to handle Ferroseed, while Hidden Power Grass is a solid choice for beating Poliwrath. Stone Plate and Splash Plate can be used on Sturdy Carracosta if adding extra power to Stone Edge, Waterfall, or Aqua Jet is necessary. They are also somewhat handy on Solid Rock sets in order to conserve health and avoid being easily killed by priority users. Lastly, Carracosta can opt to use Aqua Tail over Waterfall for a bit of extra power, although Aqua Tail's lower accuracy and lack of a flinch chance are a bit of a letdown. </p>
[SET]
name: Tank
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Aqua Jet
item: Leftovers
ability: Solid Rock
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Carracosta can take on a role as a very effective tank, supporting its team via Stealth Rock while making use of its decent resistances, gargantuan Defense stat, and the incredibly useful Solid Rock trait. Stealth Rock is naturally the most alluring part of this Carracosta, being the most important entry hazard in the game, as Carracosta sets up freely against many offensive Pokemon in the tier, such as Swellow, Bouffalant, and most Calm Mind Sigilyph. Waterfall hits remarkably hard from Carracosta's fairly solid Attack, especially with an Adamant nature, significantly damaging the likes of Steelix and Rhydon, while also possessing very good neutral coverage in RU. Stone Edge is Carracosta's second STAB option, hurting the Grass-, Water-, and Dragon-types that resist Waterfall. Finally, Aqua Jet rounds off the moveset, giving Carracosta the ability to pick off weakened Fire-types such as Moltres, while also allowing it to beat out fast Focus Sash holders and Sturdy users. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Maximum HP gives Carracosta a huge amount of bulk, especially in tandem with Solid Rock, which weakens super effective attacks against it. Maximum Attack beefs up Carracosta's powerful Stone Edges and Waterfalls, allowing it to hit as hard as possible. The remaining EVs are placed into Defensein order to better make use of Carracosta's nifty Normal- and Flying-type resistances. More Defense can be used, although it's somewhat unnecessary, as Carracosta solidly survives even powerful super effective attacks without more than 4 EVs of Defense investment, such as Unburden Hitmonlee's Hi Jump Kick after Stealth Rock, Jolly Life Orb Sawsbuck's Horn Leech, and Choice Band Aggron's Head Smash. In addition, Life Orb Aerodactyl isn't even capable of 2HKOing Carracosta with Earthquake. Leftovers is the item of choice, simply because the durability it adds to Carracosta is more valuable than anything added by any other item. However, Stone Plate is an option to 2HKO standard mixed defensive Slowking after Stealth Rock, while type-resist berries such as Shuca Berry can be used to allow Carracosta to serve as a niche check to some Pokemon, such as offensive Sandslash. </p>
<p>Tank Carracosta pairs well with most defensive team support Pokemon, such as Wish and either Aromatherapy or Heal Bell users. Clefable andLickilicky are bulky enough to take hits from many offensive Grass- and Electric-types that threaten Carracosta, while passing it Wish and curing status afflictions with Heal Bell. Miltank also pairs fairly well with Carracosta, taking advantage of lured Grass-type attacks to increase its own Attack with Sap Sipper. Similarly, Bouffalant and Sawsbuck make good partners for Carracosta, despite sharing its Fighting-type weakness. Carracosta also goes very nicely with Spikes and Toxic Spikes users. Roselia, for example, resists almost all of Carracosta's weaknesses, sets up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and even has Aromatherapy for Carracosta to make use of. Ferroseed covers Electric- and Grass-type attacks for Carracosta without any trouble, while setting up Spikes and letting Carracosta switch into any Fire- or Flying-type attacks aimed towards it. Most Ghost-types also go fairly well with Carracosta, blocking Rapid Spin while also taking hits from most Fighting-type Pokemon. Spiritomb especially is a very nifty partner, trapping and beating the omnipresent Slowking in order to let Carracosta breeze through many teams. </p>
[Other Options]
<p>Carracosta has a fairly wide number of options available. Aqua Tail can be used instead of Waterfall, giving Carracosta a slightly stronger STAB option at the cost of accuracy, although due to the possibility of a game changing miss, it's generally not recommended. On the flip side, Rock Slide is a usable choice over Stone Edge, but simply isn't strong enough to be as effective as a primary STAB. Earthquake manages to hit Drapion, Qwilfish, and Aggron, although those are handled by Stone Edge and Waterfall respectively. Carracosta can potentially make use of a Choice Band set moderately effectively, although Kabutops usually outclasses it in that regard thanks to a higher Attack and access to Rapid Spin. Defensive Carracosta can make use of Knock Off, stripping defensive Pokemon of their Leftovers and Eviolites, while knocking Choice items and Life Orbs away from more offensive Pokemon. Curse is another move that Carracosta can make use of, boosting its already solid Defense as well as its Attack. Due to its easily exploitable weaknesses, it is not as effective in sweeping or wallbreaking as Shell Smash, however. Carracosta can also pull off a purely specially based Shell Smash set, utilizing Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and one of Ancientpower or Hidden Power, which can surprise many common switch-ins, but it is simply not strong enough to sweep off of Carracosta'saverage Special Attack. Finally, purely physically defensive Carracosta is certainly usable, although again, its weaknesses to many common offensive types are a bit of a letdown. </p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p> Despite its offensive prowess, Carracosta is relatively easy for many Pokemon to handle. Notably, Poliwrath will stop anything Carracosta throws at it barring the rare Hidden Power Grass before phazing away Carracosta'sboosts with Circle Throw. Physically defensive Ferroseed can also take pretty much any attack from Carracosta other than the borderline nonexistent Hidden Power Fire. Quagsire can also wall any Carracosta lacking Hidden Power Grass, although it must be wary of the occasional Toxic fromtank Carracosta. Many Grass-type Pokemon can easily beat Carracosta, with fast ones such as Sceptile outspeeding Jolly Carracosta even after a Shell Smash boost and bulkier Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Tangela outright walling most Carracosta, although they must watch out for the occasional Ice Beam.</p>
<p> While Aqua Jet makes Carracosta fairly difficult to revenge kill after a Shell Smash boost, there are a few Pokemon that are capable of accomplishing the feat. Choice Scarf Manectric is able to survive a boosted Aqua Jet provided Stealth Rock is not up and easily OHKOes Carracosta with Volt Switch or Thunderbolt. Rotom-C is another very solid answer, with Choice Scarf Rotom-C outspeeding boosted Carracosta and threatening it with any of its STAB options. A few bulky Pokemon are also capable of surviving attacks from Carracosta and beating it depending on its moveset. For example, both Rhydon and Steelix can live boosted Aqua Jets, although Steelix can never OHKO Solid Rock Carracosta, while purely defensive Rhydon only manages to do so after a layer of Stealth Rock and a round of Life Orb damage. However, both make viable checks to any Carracosta lacking Waterfall. Finally, a few priority users are able to pick off weakened Carracosta lacking Aqua Jet. Hitmonchan, for example, can solidly 2HKO Carracosta with Mach Punch, and both Spiritomb and Absol can do a fair amount of damage with Sucker Punch, although none of those three are particularly solid checks. Finally, in the worst case scenario, a team with solid enough offensive pressure is often capable of exploiting Carracosta'scommon weaknesses and preventing it from setting up.</p>
