Gastrodon
Status: Will be written up in about a week's time.
QC: (PK Gaming, Iconic, Bloo) GP: (Zystral, Erebyssial)
[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 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 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, making it a solid check some to 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, and Starmie, all of which fail to deal any significant damage even with Grass-type 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, Tyranitar's Crunch cannot 2HKO Gastrodon even with uninvested Defense, unless 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 common targets like Gliscor and Salamence should you get them on the switch. 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.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>This EV spread gives Gastrodon the maximum special bulk possible. However, a physically defensive EV spread of 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD with a Bold nature can also be used, as it can allows Gastrodon to take significantly less damage from neutral physical attacks such as Excadrill's Earthquakes and Terrakion's Close Combat. Whilst this slightly reduces Gastrodon's utility against special attackers, the extra physical bulk and ability to capitalize fully on Ice Beam may be worth it, depending on your team's strengths and weaknesses. If you'd like Gastrodon to possess more offensive power than its meagre 220 Special Attack provides, then an EV spread of 124 HP / 252 SpA / 132 SpD with a Modest nature is perfectly viable. Both spreads allow Gastrodon to survive a +2 LO Focus Blast from Thundurus and still prevent Choice Scarf Latios from 2HKOing with Draco Meteor, although Life Orb variants can now break through Gastrodon's defenses. 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 and possible Drizzle support from an opponent's Politoed or your own, 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. Opponents will have serious problems switching into Gastrodon; maximum power Surf is guaranteed to 2HKO physically defensive Ferrothorn. If you predict it switching in, Earth Power deals 52.8% - 62.5% to even the most specially defensive 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. As you can see, with this much power available to Gastrodon in certain situations, it can prove to be a devastating 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, it still has enough bulk to stop most special attackers in their tracks. Considering many common pokemon give you a free attack and several give you Storm Drain boosts, Gastrodon finds many opportunities to wreak havoc.</p>
<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 physically 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 defenses, 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.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Gastrodon has a surprisingly extensive movepool, but unfortunately, few of these moves are worth using over the ones already listed. 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 synergises poorly with Toxic. Gastrodon can run a MirrorCoat + 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 permanent 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 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>
[Check 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 its STAB attack is absorbed 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. 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 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>
