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Gastrodon
Status: Will be written up in about a week's time.
QC: (, , , ) GP: (, , , )
[Overview]
- Whilst Gastrodon isn't as popular as other bulky waters such as Slowbro, Empoleon and Milotic, it does hold some advantages over them in key situations.
- For example, Gastrodon has an immunity to Electric attacks instead of a weakness, and since popular Fire types such as Victini and Arcanine run Electric coverage moves instead of Grass ones, Gastrodon can often completely wall them.
- Gastrodon also has useful dual STAB in Earthquake or Earth Power, which can be used to smack around the Poison and Steel types that can't be hit by Toxic.
- Not to mention Gastrodon has the support movepool of a god. It has Counter + Mirror Coat, Stockpile, Amnesia and Curse, Recover, Clear Smog, even Memento! What Gastrodon lacks in sheer walling capacity it makes up for in versatility.
- Storm Drain's buff, now granting immunity to Water attacks and giving Gastrodon a Special Attack boost, is also very nice. Unfortunately, almost all Water types in the tier run Toxic and outspeed Gastrodon, which means that Gastrodon will rarely be in a good position to use it.
[Set]
Name: Tank
Move 1: Earth Power
Move 2: Surf / Ice Beam
Move 3: Toxic
Move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 56 SpD
[Set Comments]
- This set provides a balance of defense and offense, tanking hits from common attackers as well as dealing decent damage especially if it gets a Storm Drain boost.
- Surf is good primary STAB as usual, getting some crucial KOs with its base power and Gastrodon's good special attack. Earth Power is dual STAB that can hit the Steel and Poison types which are immune to Toxic hard. Toxic deals with anything that Gastrodon can't really deal much damage to, and is useful in general for such a bulky wall. Recover gives it the fabled instant recovery that everyone wants.
[Additional Comments]
- Gastrodon is simply an excellent check to Victini, Arcanine, Zapdos and Nidoking with this EV spread. For example, Gastrodon is never 2HKO'd by LO Victini's V-Create or Zen Headbutt, and always survives Final Gambit if it hasn't taken prior damage. LO Arcanine can't 3HKO with Flare Blitz or 2HKO with Close Combat, and with lowered defenses both Fire types are taken out by Surf with certainty, unless Victini has HP investment for some reason. If it does, it's Trick Room Victini, and that could mean it's in a whole other world of trouble.
- Zapdos can't do shit to Gastrodon without HP Grass or Toxic, and even then HP Grass doesn't OHKO Gastrodon without a Life Orb. Nidoking also can't take out Gastrodon with a combination of Ice Beam + Earth Power, so basically Gastrodon can switch in on any attack other than Earthpower and KO 100% of the time with Surf and SR
- Special Kingdra is also dealt with fairly easily, with LO Draco Meteor never managing a KO and being healed off fairly easily. However, physical sets with Outrage can prove a nuisance, so be aware of this.
- Scald is another STAB option, but it lacks the ability to either burn or OHKO -1 Victini or -1 Arcanine. If you're not particularly fussed about OHKOing these two, since you wall them anyways, by all means go for Scald. Ice Beam can be used over Surf if you're not concerned about the OHKO too, giving you better coverage and letting you hit Grass types on the switch.
- If you're using either of these attacking options, then using a 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD Calm EV spread is recommended, giving you better special bulk and thus slightly more general utility.
[Set]
Name: All-Out-Attacker
Move 1: Surf
Move 2: Earth Power
Move 3: Ice Beam
Move 4: Recover
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
[Set Comments]
- Here, Gastrodon sacrifices some of its bulk to go on the offensive, in a similar vein to Life Orb Milotic. Whilst Gastrodon is slower and not as bulk, it boasts dual STAB and perfect neutral coverage, as well as a possible SpA boost from Storm Drain.
- Surf is picked over Scald for the power, Earth Power and Ice Beam follow it up as the perfect coverage options and Recover tops it all off, letting Gastrodon heal off residual damage and weaker attacks.
- Since Gastrodon isn't outspeeding anything any time soon (other than Slowbro), he still gets to maintain most of his bulk whilst also having maximum offensive power.
- Choice Specs can be used over Life Orb, but this limits Gastrodon's potential as an offensive tank in this tier; since there isn't going to be a likely Rain boost like OU, Specs Gastrodon just doesn't have the same wallbreaking power.
- If you don't want to hit Grass types on the switch, then Hidden Power Grass can be used to hit other Gastrodon and Quagsire harder.
[Set]
Name: Rest Talk
Move 1: Rest
Move 2: Sleep Talk
Move 3: Earth Power
Move 4: Ice Beam / Scald
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain / Sticky Hold
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
[Set Comments]
- Whilst normally Gastrodon is extremely vulnerable to status, Rest + Sleep Talk effectively makes it a non issue, and can help to increase Gastrodon's stalling power.
- Alongside RestTalk, Gastrodon can either run great neutral coverage or dual STAB, with both benefitting from a possible Storm Drain boost. However, since this Gastrodon set is wrecked more than any other by Trick users, Sticky Hold is perfectly viable as an ability. Whilst it can't augment Gastrodon's offensive power, it's arguably much more suited to hardcore stall teams.
[Set]
Name: Curse
Move 1: Curse
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Waterfall / Stone Edge
Move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
[Set Comments]
- Like Quagsire, Gastrodon makes a pretty good Curse user thanks to its good defensive typing, good STAB options, decent offense, etc.
- After a Defense boost, Gastrodon will be almost impossible to OHKO without a Grass move. Meanwhile, Gastrodon can proceed to tear into the UU metagame with its highly valuable STABs.
- Earthquake is your primary STAB choice due to its high base power and ability to hit bulky waters hard. Waterfall is good secondary STAB but has largely overlapping coverage, so Stone Edge may be used instead.
- Gastrodon gets Recover! Thank god for that.
- With this EV spread, Gastrodon can survive even some Grass moves. For example, defensive Celebi's Giga Drain only deals 62.9% - 74.2%, letting it take a Grass type attack if necessary and at near full health. Special attackers that lack Grass type moves will have a tough time getting past this, with LO Nidoking's Earth Power dealing only 39.4% - 46.5%. Physical attackers are obviously screwed, especially since the most common choices tend to be Fire types. Adamant CB Reckless Staraptor fails to OHKO a +1 Gastrodon, dealing 78.4% - 92.5%.
- If you're willing to build a team around it, Sand Power can also be used as Gastrodon's ability, and gives Gastrodon the equivalent of Base 114 Attack when using Earthquake / Stone Edge. The loss of Storm Drain isn't too bad for Gastrodon, since it really doesn't want to switch into most of the Water types in the tier anyways, and the Special Attack boost would go to waste. In this case, Stone Edge actualy outpowers Waterfall, and since it has a better secondary effect, it should always be used unless you have qualms over accuracy and PP.
- Gastrodon makes a great teammate to pokémon that are weak to Water and Electric types thanks to its immunities, such as Victini, Arcanine, etc.
- Yawn can be used to phase opponents and give teammates setup opportunities, but it's hard to fit in over Recover or a STAB attack, and synergises poorly with Toxic.
- Clear Smog works exactly like Haze except it's blocked by Substitute instead of Taunt. It can be useful when combined with Stockpile to deal with opposing stat boosters, but Gastrodon already has 4 moveslot syndrome as it is. If you don't want to use dual STAB, then it's a perfectly good option.
- Memento can be used for setup opportunities, but it's generally a waste on such a bulky pokémon.
- Substitute can be used on most sets for Gastrodon to use as an insurance against status, using it as bulky waters switch in, but again Gastrodon has issues fitting it onto its crowded movesets, and it's too slow to use Substitute to block status from anything other than Slowbro.
- A Countercoat set can be run, thanks to Gastrodon's large HP, modest defenses and single weakness. However, realistically Wobbuffet outclasses this thanks to Shadow Tag and better support moves.
- Stockpile can also be used to boost Gastrodon's bulk to near-unconquerable heights, but vulnerability to status and a 4x weakness to exploit make this somewhat unreliable. Against certain teams it's golden, against others it's worthless. Amnesia can be used in a similar way.
- Chansey walls Gastrodon forever, doesn't care about status and can outspeed Gastrodon to Toxic it.
- Boosting physical sweepers such as Heracross and Cobalion can make Gastrodon very uncomfortable, with Heracross being able to switch into Toxic and having decent enough special defensive to take a few STAB attacks, and Cobalion being a bulky mo-fo with Taunt and immunity to Poison.
- Roserade can either destroy Gastrodon, set up on him or Sleep Powder a switching teammate. It's pretty much a hard counter unless you predict it switching in and hit it with Ice Beam.
- Dream World Gastrodon has been released with the ability Sand Force. Since Sandstorm is uncommon in UU it won't really get much use unless you dedicate your team around it, but it can let Gastrodon become a surprisingly powerful physical tank in the right hands. Then again, Storm Drain is also a boon to Sand teams thanks to the water immunity it provides the team.
PLACEHOLDER.
