[OVERVIEW]
* Gastrodon's solid defensive typing, movepool, decent natural bulk, and access to reliable recovery makes it a potent bulky presence in the UU tier.
* Storm Drain alongside its typing grants Gastrodon with immunities to Water- and Electric-types. However, it means that Gastrodon sports a 4x weakness to Grass-types.
* Gastrodon does not provide much for its team since its utility focuses on tanking hits and spreading status conditions.
* Due to its nature of switching in and out a lot, Gastrodon is easily worn down with chip damage, entry hazard stacking, or status conditions.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Scald
move 2: Earth Power / Ice Beam
move 3: Recover
move 4: Toxic / Ice Beam / Clear Smog
item: Leftovers
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Scald is Gastrodon's main STAB move since it has a 30% chance to burn its foes, which discourages physical attackers and Leftovers-reliant Pokemon such as Empoleon, Mega Sharpedo, and Scizor from switching in.
* Earth Power is Gastrodon's secondary STAB move that deals with opposing Water- and Steel-types that are more physically bulky such as Volcanion and Cobalion.
* Earthquake is an alternative to Earth Power that deals more damage to more specially bulky Pokemon such as Raikou and Klefki, while securing the KO onto Gengar. However, its power is hampered by burns and it doesn't benefit from the Special Attack boost from Storm Drain.
* Recover is essential since it prevents Gastrodon from being worn down periodically, which allows Gastrodon to switch in more often.
* Toxic can be used to cripple Pokemon that do not mind Scald or Earth Power such as Latias and Slowbro.
* Ice Beam is an alternative that allows Gastrodon to deal with Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tsareena, Dragon-types such as Hydreigon and Latias, while also being able to chunk Gliscor.
* Clear Smog prevents Gastrodon from being used as set up bait for bulky set up users such as Clefable and Reuniclus.
Set Details
========
* Maximum EV investment in both HP and Special Defense allows Gastrodon to tank hits from specially offensive Pokemon such as Gengar, Latias, Choice Scarf Hydreigon, and Alakazam.
* An alternate fully physically defensive 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD spread along with a Bold (Relaxed if you are using Earthquake) nature can be used as well. This enables Gastrodon to take on physical threats such as Bisharp, Offensive Scizor, and Mega Sharpedo much better.
* A Calm nature is used to help boost Gastrodon's Special Defense. If Earthquake is being utilized, a Sassy nature should be used instead.
* Leftovers provides Gastrodon a form of passive recovery.
* Storm Drain allows Gastrodon to be immune to Water-type attacks while also providing a Special Attack boost.
* Sticky Hold is an alternative to Storm Drain which will allow Gastrodon to permenantly retain its Leftovers while being a reliable Knock Off switch in. However, the popularity of Water-types such as Keldeo, Swampert, and Suicune makes Storm Drain much more useful.
Usage Tips
========
* Switch Gastrodon into specially offensive threats such as Gengar, Raikou, and Mega Blastoise, Pokemon where Gastrodon has the type advantage such as Mega Aerodactyl and Hippowdon, and defensive Water-types such as Jellicent, Tentacruel, and Swampert.
* Make sure that Gastrodon stays as healthy as possible with Recover so it can continue to switch in and take hits.
* Try to scout for Grass-type coverage on Pokemon Gastrodon will be able to check such as Raikou and Volcanion.
* Be careful of status conditions since they can slowly wear down Gastrodon while Taunt causes Gastrodon to be unable to recover.
* Gastrodon can also afford to stall out its foe with Toxic due to its access to Recover.
Team Options
========
* Due to Gastrodon's glaring weakness to Grass-types, Steel-types such as Magneton and Cobalion, Fire-types such as Arcanine and Infernape, and Flying-types such as Togekiss and Mega Aerodactyl are great partners.
* The aforementioned Fire-types also benefit from Gastrodon's ability to check Water- and Ground-types such as Hippowdon, Mega Blastoise, and Swampert. While the Steel-types mentioned above appreciate having the aforementioned Ground- and Fire-types checked by Gastrodon.
* Grass-types such as Decidueye, Celebi and Amoonguss benefit from Gastrodon's ability to pressure Fire-types while also functioning as checks to opposing Grass-types.
* Entry hazard removers such as Togekiss, Latias, and Tsareena allow Gastrodon to switch in more often by removing Spikes and Toxic Spikes.
* Physically defensive walls such as Doublade and Cresselia can help take physical hits Gastrodon struggles with.
* Clerics such as Clefable and Blissey can provide Heal Bell support for Gastrodon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Sludge Bomb can be used to deal more damage to Fairy-types such as Primarina and Clefable while still being able to hit Grass-types such as Tsareena and Celebi.
* A Curse set can be run instead but, it takes a while to get Gastrodon going. It also makes Gastrodon more vulnerable to burns and it would have to give up either Toxic or coverage to compensate.
* Mirror Coat or Counter can be used lure in and knock out Pokemon that would 2HKO Gastrodon such as Mega Sharpedo, Amoonguss, and Mienshao.
* Whirlpool can be used to trap and eliminate Pokemon such as Swampert and Klefki.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: Grass-types such as Celebi and Amoonguss all threaten Gastrodon with 4x effective Grass-type STAB while also resisting Gastrodon's dual STAB combination. However, physically offensive Grass-types such as Decidueye, Chesnaught, and Tsareena must be careful of a Scald burn. Gastrodon also must be careful of potential Grass-type coverage on Pokemon such as Keldeo, Infernape, and Primarina.
**Status Conditions**: Status conditions can easily wear Gastrodon down as the match progresses, which limits its longevity. Toxic puts Gastrodon on a timer while burns annul the recovery from leftovers.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Hydreigon, Mandibuzz, and Mew can prevent Gastrodon from using Recover, which will make it prone to being worn down. Gastrodon also won't be able to Toxic its foes which will allow Pokemon that can take on Gastrodon's attacks such as Mantine and Slowbro switch in without worrying about Toxic.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Bulkier Pokemon such as Blissey, Mew, and Clefable are able to live multiple hits from Gastrodon. Blissey and Clefable do not mind status conditions due to Heal Bell or Magic Guard while Mew reflects them back with Synchronize. Togekiss, Reuniclus, and Clefable can also take advantage of non-Clear Smog variants of Gastrodon to set up while still being able to tank hits and ignore status conditions.
**Strong Physical Attackers**: Pokemon such as Mega Sharpedo, Scizor, and Conkeldurr are able to 2HKO Gastrodon due to its weaker physical defense. However, they must be careful of Scald burns, while Conkeldurr and Heracross in particular do mind status conditions due to Guts.
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