[Overview]
<h4>UU</h4>
<p>Tangrowth is undisputedly a great Pokemon in UU; he has high HP, good overall defensive stats, and useful attack stats on both sides. On top of that, Tangrowth is one of the few Pokemon who get
s STAB on Power Whip. He has Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Knock Off, and a great physical and special movepool as well. However, Tangrowth is in an unfortunate position in UU, where his best counters are also the top Pokémon in the tier; Venusaur and Blaziken among others can beat him easily one-on-one. The threat from special sweepers in UU is, in general, much greater than that from physical sweepers, and the physical sweepers who are still considered threats can often beat Tangrowth anyway.</p>
<p>Don’t let this make you feel that Tangrowth is any the worse
for wear (I’ve never heard “any the worse” as a phrase by itself), though. Tangrowth can still function as a bulky Grass-type and be an annoyance to the opponent thanks to Knock Off, Stun Spore, and Sleep Powder. All the Pokemon listed above hate having these moves used against them. Stealth Rock support makes Tangrowth even better on the field, as many of Tangrowth’s counters hate having 25% of their HP chipped off. Tangrowth's potential is such that he can stand his ground with Power Whip and his support moves alone
, not to mention being. He is one of the best Rhyperior checks in the game, and one of the only Pokemon in UU who can call a halt to Swords Dance Kabutops in the rain.</p>
<h4>OU</h4>
<p>When one considers Tangrowth for use in Standard play, what usually springs to mind is that it is thoroughly overshadowed as a bulky Grass-type by Celebi, and to a lesser extent Shaymin. The former has access to reliable recovery and a Fighting-type resistance, and the latter is a more potent special attacker. Both also have higher Special Defense and Speed, as well as a fantastic ability in the form of Natural Cure.</p>
<p>However, Tangrowth does have some advantages over his legendary rivals. Although his Special Defense is subpar compared to the other two, he boasts a higher Defense stat. This, together with his high HP, means that he is physically bulkier than Skarmory and Forretress. He also has a higher Special Attack stat and a decent special movepool. While his Attack stat is the same as his rivals, he has access to high-powered physical moves like Power Whip and Earthquake that the others only wish they had. To round things off, he doesn't have Celebi's Pursuit weakness, so he fares much better against Tyranitar. Tangrowth certainly pulls his weight in the Standard metagame, provided that you play him to his strengths.</p>
[SET]
name:
UU Standard
move 1: Power Whip / Leaf Storm
move 2: Synthesis
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Sleep Powder
move 4: Earthquake / Sleep Powder
item: Leftovers
nature:
Impish / Bold Relaxed (standard is mixed, and it makes no sense to slash two other natures when the only factor that would make you change natures is move choice)
evs: 252 HP /
4 Atk / 252 Def
/ 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth is sometimes considered
to be overshadowed by other walls and other Grass-types with whom he competes for a spot on a team. However, he has a fantastic support movepool backed up by reliable defensive stats
—his overall physical defense is greater than that of Skarmory or Hippowdon
—and he has plenty of attacking power on both sides. This set best demonstrates his formidable walling potential alongside the individual moves that support his claim to fame.</p>
<p>Power Whip provides fairly reliable STAB, having 120 Base Power and no negative side effects besides
low imperfect accuracy. On the special side,
the most notable option for his most notable STAB is Leaf Storm, which has the perks of better accuracy and destructive power; however, this does mean that his Special Attack is cut massively after just one use, and Tangrowth is rendered easy setup fodder. Tangrowth also has access to healing moves
—Synthesis grants instant 50% recovery and is useful in UU where all the fully-evolved
instant auto weather changers are absent
; however, its low PP and the relative prevalence of rain teams in UU makes it somewhat shaky (completely untrue… Synthesis/Morning Sun are some of the most useful moves in UU). As for complementary moves, Hidden Power Ice can hit
Leafeon, Venusaur, Scyther, Swellow, and Altaria for decent damage, while on the physical side, Earthquake is usually the best choice for a coverage move, as it can hit opponents such as Drapion, Registeel, and Houndoom for super effective damage. Sleep Powder is a very valuable tool
indeed as it cripples one Pokemon on the opposing team, and Tangrowth is one of the most reliable sleep
- (remove hyphen and add space) inducers in UU
, able to cripple one Pokémon on your opponent’s team almost entirely.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>When choosing Tangrowth's offensive moves, you should carefully consider which move suits you and your team the best. Power Whip is Tangrowth's most reliable attack, and does reasonable damage to even neutral targets. Leaf Storm, however, has a number of advantages
, including allowing. It allows Tangrowth to function offensively even when burned, and
working works off his higher offensive stat. It is also guaranteed to OHKO 4 HP Absol with Stealth Rock damage, whereas Power Whip only musters around 78% on average. It also OHKOes 252 HP Slowbro while Power Whip
can even may fail to 2HKO,
though Power Whip, unlike Leaf Storm, can but in return Leaf Storm trades the ability to 2HKO standard Milotic. In the last two slots, you should choose a combination of the three moves listed. Sleep Powder has immense utility for Tangrowth and provides a way to cripple Tangrowth's counters, but if you already have a sleep
- (remove hyphen and add space) inducer on your team
, (comma) then Tangrowth can forgo it for extra coverage. For his other moves, Earthquake
is more helpful if Tangrowth can hit opponents such as Blaziken
, Toxicroak, (moving the Toxicroak mention up here since I deleted a sentence later) and Drapion
when they switch
ing in, while Hidden Power Ice lets Tangrowth take on
more dangerous Pokemon such as Venusaurand Altaria. In general, if Tangrowth only uses one coverage attack, Hidden Power Ice is more useful, as it allows him to fully counter Leafeon and other purely physical Grass-types, but you should pick depending on what suits your team best
- for example, if you have particular problems with Drapion and Toxicroak, Earthquake is usually better. If Tangrowth is running a fully physical set, use an Impish nature, and with a special set, run a Bold nature and switch the Attack EVs to Special Attack. If you
want to run are using (the standard moveset is mixed so this is more appropriate word choice) a mixed set, a Relaxed nature should be used. If you want to use a support move on Tangrowth but already have a sleep-inducer, Tangrowth has a number of other good options, most notably Knock Off, Stun Spore, and Leech Seed.</p>
<p>The EVs
may look simple on paper, but Tangrowth needs the defensive stats they yield to stand up to even the Pokemon he is supposed to counter are straightforward, as they maximize Tangrowth's physical defense (there is no “hidden reason” the EVs are straightforward, as the original would imply…). With the given EV spread, Tangrowth reaches 404 HP and 383 Defense, ensuring that +1 Adamant Life Orb Feraligatr, +2 Adamant Leftovers Feraligatr, and Adamant Choice Band Azumarill will never 2HKO with Ice Punch. It also ensures that Adamant Choice Band Kabutops fails to 2HKO with
X-Scissor Stone Edge, Adamant Rock Polish Leftovers Rhyperior almost always fails to 2HKO with Megahorn, and Adamant Choice Scarf Hitmonlee has only a small chance to 3HKO with Close Combat. Tangrowth can deal a significant amount back to all of these Pokemon with STAB Power Whip, or cripple them with Sleep Powder.</p>
<p>Being a pure Grass-type, he is certainly not short of weaknesses to exploit, and most special STAB attacks can
come close to KOing him deal massive damage due to Tangrowth’s low Special Defense. While this Tangrowth is not a sweeper, he is certainly aided greatly by Stealth Rock, which hits four out of the five types that give him trouble (Bug, Fire, Flying, and Ice) for increased damage. In particular, Moltres, Swellow, and Scyther will find it hard to switch in repeatedly
if at all whilst taking damage from the Rocks every time they switch in. For this reason, most Water- and Rock-types partner well with Tangrowth as they resist a fair number of his weaknesses; Rock-types such as Regirock get special mention for hitting four fifths of the types that Tangrowth is weak to for super effective damage and benefiting from Tangrowth’s resistances to Water, Grass, and Ground attacks. Poison-types such as Drapion and Toxicroak are more troublesome;
Claydol Uxie can deal with Toxicroak but falls to Drapion, while the inverse is true for Steel-types such as Steelix.</p>
[SET]
name: Double Powder
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Stun Spore
move 3: Power Whip / Leaf Storm
move 4: Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice
item: Leftovers
nature:
Bold / Impish
/ Bold (first move slashes are physical)
evs: 172 HP / 120 Atk / 216 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Double Powder is another interesting way in which Tangrowth can cripple his counters, this time with both sleep and paralysis. The way this set should be used is essentially the same as the Standard Wall: come in on someone who fears Tangrowth, such as Choice Scarf Hitmonlee or Choice Band Azumarill locked into Waterfall, then use Sleep Powder on the opponent’s Pokemon, and subsequently use Stun Spore on the switch-in. Hopefully, you will catch someone like Swellow off-guard and effectively neuter two Pokemon
for hopefully the remainder of the match, and surviving to block any physical assaults made later on.</p>
<p>The core difference between this set and the Standard set is the more offensive orientation of the set; while the Standard Wall takes hits and deals them back,
supporting his teammates at the same time, Double Powder is more aggressively played, with his primary objective being to cripple foes, and after that, to take hits. Because of this, it is generally preferable to forgo a healing move to provide better coverage. Earthquake hits Fire-, Steel-, and Poison-types who may pose Tangrowth problems, while Hidden Power Ice hits Flying-, Dragon-, and other Grass-types. It is best to choose between these two based on his STAB move of choice: Power Whip provides consistent power, while Leaf Storm has better accuracy and comes off Tangrowth’s better attacking stat.
Since Leaf Storm and Hidden Power are special but Power Whip and Earthquake are physical, it is best to choose one of these pairs to conserve EVs, and to avoid forcing Tangrowth to run a Relaxed nature.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Since Leaf Storm and Hidden Power are special but Power Whip and Earthquake are physical, it is best to choose one of these pairs to conserve EVs, and to avoid forcing Tangrowth to run a Relaxed nature.</p> Explain what the EVs do, which should also include what the player should do with the Attack EVs if he runs Leaf Storm + HP Ice.
<p>Tangrowth will enjoy all the benefits of Stealth Rock on his counters, but his ability to wall physical threats suffers slightly from the lack of a healing move.
With the The point of this set
being is to cripple Tangrowth’s counters,
so teammates who benefit from
their absence or crippling that work well alongside this set
, such as. These include Bug-types like Pinsir and Scyther, or slower Fighting-types like Hitmonlee, Pokemon like Venusaur and Hitmonlee (SD Scyther is not impeded by Moltres, and introducing the Pokemon by Type is misleading) who can hopefully pull off a sweep with Moltres out of the match.</p>
<p>Pokemon who are indifferent to this method of support are unfazed by this set, and so slower and bulkier Pokémon who switch into Stun Spore
, such as Muk, (Muk is too rare to justify a mention, and I thought for a while of a similar Pokemon and the best was Registeel who still doesn’t really fit so I don’t think this needs an example) will force
him it (refers to “this set” which is gender-neutral, but you could rephrase it to mean Tangrowth for consistency) out. However, this set’s biggest foes come from Natural Cure Pokémon, who can simply switch out to rid themselves of sleep or paralysis. Altaria has
a great
4x resistance to Tangrowth’s STAB and resistances to both
Hidden Power Fire Power Whip and Earthquake
, and can destroy Tangrowth with Fire Blast.
In this case a defensive Ice-type with reasonable offensive stats is the best option; Regice and Articuno get special mention (lol wtf, just say use Milotic or HP Ice in fact you mention Registeel later just get rid of this sentence), though Rapid Spin support is essential for prolonging their survival in the match. Registeel is
also a
reasonable great answer to
most forms of Altaria,
but is somewhat lacking in the offensive department and can set up Stealth Rock for Tangrowth. This does leave you with a large weakness to Fire-type moves, so a Pokemon such as Flash Fire Arcanine or Milotic can be a good asset.</p>
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Power Whip / Leaf Storm
move 2: Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Synthesis
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful / Calm
ability: Chlorophyll
evs: 136 HP / 120 Atk / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth is often looked down upon for his miserable base 50 Special Defense stat, which ordinarily makes him extraordinarily weak to special attacks of all descriptions.
Therefore, attempting To attempt to make use of this stat would seem
, therefore, pointless; however, by investing heavily on the special side, Tangrowth can use his resistances and improved defensive capabilities to decent effect, while relying on his immense physical Defense stat, which is formidable even without investment
, to make him a reasonable mixed wall. However, it should be noted that by running this spread, Tangrowth loses the ability to beat extremely strong physical attackers such as Rhyperior and Swords Dance Feraligatr
, so be aware of this if you wish to run this Tangrowth set.</p>
<p>Once again, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore and Synthesis are good support options
that help augment Tangrowth’s role as a wall. Sleep Powder is usually the best option, but if you prefer repeated status or already have a sleep inducer on your team, Stun Spore is worth a look. Leech Seed is also an option if you prefer that method of support.
You again Again, you have to make a serious decision with regard to offensive moves. Power Whip accomplishes the most out of Tangrowth’s STAB options, but its comparatively low accuracy can be a turn-off. Leaf Storm is again an option, but it has a number of faults that can make it a worse option. Not only do you only get one shot with it, which is bad especially on a Tangrowth such as this, which relies a great deal on firepower, but it is also not guaranteed to OHKO specially defensive foes such as Mismagius and Alakazam, whom this Tangrowth should be able to deal with. Most important, however, is that Tangrowth cannot beat Milotic, who is one of the main targets for this set, as after one use, Milotic can easily heal itself with Recover and leave Tangrowth looking useless. It does, however, have the helpful ability to OHKO Slowbro with 120 EVs in Special Attack. Again, Hidden Power Ice and Earthquake are your coverage options
—it is usually best to choose the option that works off the same stat as your STAB option, to avoid splitting EVs.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs are tailored to provide Tangrowth with the maximum capacity for taking attacks on both ends, and thus the Special Defense stat is maximized, which is a great boost to Tangrowth’s ability to take special attacks. This is particularly helpful against bulky Water-types, as Tangrowth is no longer 2HKOed by Ice Beam. It also means that Tangrowth can now survive Timid Mismagius’s Nasty Plot boosted Shadow Ball even with Stealth Rock, and the same rings true for Choice Specs Alakazam’s Psychic. The Attack EVs allow Tangrowth to 2HKO Slowbro and Milotic
, and
to OHKO Mismagius and Alakazam
, with Power Whip after Stealth Rock. The leftover EVs are placed in HP. If you would like, you can run 252 HP / 252 SpD in order to maximize hit-taking ability, but this compromises his ability to hit back, making
you him lose a big advantage over similar Venusaur. If you decide to run all special attacks, move the offensive EVs to Special Attack and run a Calm nature, and
likewise with a mixed set you should run a Sassy nature. With a mixed set, it is advisable that you invest the entirety of your offensive EVs in the same stat as your Grass-type STAB, since the EVs are needed to gain the KOs listed above, whereas Hidden Power Ice, for example,
usually requires no investment to 2HKO Leafeon and OHKO Altaria with Stealth Rock
for the most part.</p>
<p>Although Tangrowth’s ability
to take hits on the special side is improved, he still can’t deal with a powerful super effective STAB attack, especially from the special side. Hence, Moltres, Blaziken, Houndoom, specially inclined Venusaur and Nidoking, and Weezing all remain problems. To counter the large Fire-type weakness, Milotic or another bulky Water-type is a must, however Milotic is preferable mainly because she can reinforce the special side. Registeel can go along to create a powerful defensive core, and it can also deal with various problem Pokemon such as Scyther, Swellow, and Venusaur. Nidoking and Toxicroak remain troublesome; however, Toxicroak loses if he lacks a Poison STAB, and
your Tangrowth has Earthquake. Milotic can also switch into some Nidoking variants if need be. The combination of Milotic and Registeel should also be enough to beat most Altaria, though be careful with the Rest
- (no hyphen) Talk set, as
they the combination may struggle if Milotic does not have investment in Special Attack
and Ice Beam.</p>
<p>As this Tangrowth is more offensive than the standard variant,
and in particular relies on his offensive inclination as a chief reason for use over Venusaur, it
seems reasonable that, while being of use on stall teams, this Tangrowth can be of good use on bulky offense teams as well
as on stall teams. Here your partners should be somewhat different: Bulky Drapion can be helpful as a reasonable switch into Toxicroak, as well as helping to deal with special Venusaur (whom Tangrowth will have the most trouble with)
, and can act as a semi-reliable check to a number of Tangrowth’s foes. With heavy defensive investment, he can also act as a check to most Scyther and Swellow. Not only that, but he also helps to absorb Toxic Spikes, a serious threat to Tangrowth’s effectiveness. Arcanine can be useful along with Milotic to complete the Fire/Water/Grass core
—specifically
, he helping helps to deal with Grass-types
, such as Venusaur and Sceptile, as well as Weezing. Intimidate is also useful to hold down physical attackers who can beat Tangrowth, such as Scyther.</p>
<p>As previously mentioned, this Tangrowth loses the ability to defeat certain foes, such as Adamant Rhyperior, who can OHKO with Megahorn + Entry Hazards. Again, Milotic should be helpful here to OHKO with Surf if Tangrowth is too weak to stop him. Leafeon, too, can be a problem with Swords Dance boosted
X-Scissor Double-Edge,
so a Fire- or Poison-type, such as the aforementioned but Arcanine
or Drapion, can
be helpful to neutralize this threat. More powerful Water-types such as Swords Dance Kabutops and Feraligatr also become problematic, although the combination of Tangrowth and your Water-type should cover this
as well for the most part.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Sweeper
move 1: Power Whip
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Rock Slide / Sleep Powder
item: Life Orb
nature: Naïve
ability: Chlorophyll
ivs: 29 HP
evs: 200 Atk / 84 SpA / 224 Spe
I haven’t checked in a stat calculator but I think these EVs give 420 Speed with HP Fire—you want 424 at least to beat RP Torterra, not 422
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With proper support, Tangrowth can make a fearsome mixed sweeper in UU, with powerful STAB and coverage options backed up by solid base 100 and 110
attack Attack and Special Attack stats
, respectively
, as well as being very difficult to down in a single (physical) hit. To be used effectively, Tangrowth should be paired with sun support to activate his Chlorophyll ability, allowing him to outrun everyone up to and including Modest Scarf Rotom. It also boosts the power of Hidden Power Fire, but it is advised that Tangrowth himself should not run Sunny Day in the interest
s of type coverage.</p>
<p>Power Whip is chosen as the STAB move of preference, since it hits nearly everyone of significance harder than Grass Knot, with a few small exceptions such as Cloyster and Slowbro, who are 2HKOed by Power Whip anyway. If you’re prepared to take a little risk for the best of both worlds, SolarBeam is always an option,
with since it has Power Whip’s Base Power combined with Grass Knot’s accuracy
, as well as coming and comes off Tangrowth’s higher Special Attack stat
and guaranteeing an OHKO on Milotic after Stealth Rock damage.
SolarBeam also OHKOes Milotic after Stealth Rock damage. It is also blessed by the absence of the fully evolved instant-weather Pokémon in UU, so there is far less chance of the sun being banished and Tangrowth being locked into a weakened SolarBeam than in OU. Using SolarBeam or Grass Knot over Power Whip, however, will make Chansey far more of an issue. In the way of coverage, Hidden Power Fire gets a boost from the sun and hits Grass-, Bug- and Steel-types, while Earthquake gets super effective coverage on Fire-, Poison- and Steel-types. Thus
, five of the seven types resistant to Grass are covered; the final two being Dragon and Flying. The only common UU Dragon-type is Altaria, who is also part Flying. To deal with these Flying-types, the best choice is really Rock Slide, which will also hit Fire- and Bug-types for super effective damage
,; however
, it will fail to OHKO a min/min Altaria even after Stealth Rock damage, so they will need to have taken considerable prior damage for Tangrowth to get a kill.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>
Swords Dance is also available, as it boosts the power of Power Whip and Earthquake and thus makes available extra possible OHKOs on bulkier foes. (SD set) Lastly, Sleep Powder is always an option to cripple a troublesome foe. A 29 HP IV is given in order to allow a maximum of 11 uses of Life Orb
, and the The EVs and nature grant sufficient Speed to outrun Modest Scarf Rotom,
while splitting with the remaining EVs
split as
per importance necessary between the two attacking stats.</p>
<p>Sun support is indescribably crucial to getting a sweep off with this set. Most of the standard rain leads can perform the same trick with Sunny Day, such as Heat Rock Ambipom
and Uxie. Regirock has great offensive and defensive synergy with many sun sweepers, as it resists Fire- and Flying-type attacks and can Explode on bulky Water-type Pokemon. As with any sweeper, Stealth Rock is critical support, but it is especially useful to ensure OHKOes on Fire- and Flying-types, both of whom have a chance to survive and kill Tangrowth without Stealth Rock in play
, as well as to help with OHKOes on bulky Water-types such as Milotic and Slowbro. Thus, a Ghost-type such as Mismagius is recommended to block Rapid Spin. Also, heavily defensive Pokémon such as Uxie can come in, survive a hit and use Psychic or U-turn for a large amount of damage, while Tangrowth can do nothing significant back. In this situation
, Houndoom can be a good partner, absorbing Psychic attacks and benefiting from the sun himself.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Adamant / Jolly
ability: Chlorophyll
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>A combination of
merits in a respectable Attack stat, access to Swords Dance and Power Whip, and Chlorophyll allow Tangrowth to pull off a Swords Dance set with reasonable success. The core principle of the set is
, after coming in on an unsuspecting foe, to
come in on an ineffective physical attacker, use Swords Dance
, and proceed to knock holes in anyone Tangrowth can hit. Sceptile has higher Speed, which is useful for this type of set, but Tangrowth has a higher Attack stat and the killer variable, Chlorophyll, which with sun support allows him to plough through teams with Power Whip and Earthquake
– two essential moves that the only other competitive user of Swords Dance + Chlorophyll, Victreebel, lacks.</p>
<p>Power Whip is Tangrowth’s main source of damage and his best STAB move, which is a pity as it is resisted by nearly half of all the types in the game. Seed Bomb is an option if you don’t trust Power Whip’s less-than-reliable accuracy. Earthquake provides the standard coverage move, getting
the important hits on Poison-, Fire-, and Steel-types.
Brick Break is an option over Earthquake, providing the same coverage but being able to break screens, should the need arise. The last slot should be chosen depending on what you personally feel is most threatening to your sweep; Rock Slide
is the best choice completes Tangrowth’s coverage by, allowing
Tangrowth him to hit Flying-types like Scyther and Moltres as well as
hitting the Bug-types who resist the Grass/Ground combination.
Return is also an option if you prefer neutral coverage. (well all those alternatives suck and aren’t in the set anyways) Status moves such as Stun Spore and Sleep Powder are also usable for the same reasons as the mixed sweeper; Stun Spore in particular is important if you want to use this effectively at all without sun support.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>An Adamant nature and 240 Speed EVs allows Tangrowth to outrun neutral Scarf Blaziken in the sun, and with a Jolly nature and max Speed EVs this is extended to Adamant Scarf Primeape and other base 95 Pokemon. Life Orb should be used in the sun, since the added power is worth the loss in bulk, while non-Chlorophyll users should hold Leftovers, since they appreciate the bulk a lot more. If you do not wish to use Chlorophyll, the advised spread is 240 HP / 232 Atk / 36 Spe to increase hit-taking ability, and to give Tangrowth a chance to hit adversaries with Stun Spore, which is pretty much a mandatory move on non-Chlorophyll variants of this set. If you want to use a Hidden Power for extra type coverage, assuming you can afford the loss in power, you can go with a Rash nature and shift your leftover EVs to Special Attack. For the Hidden Power, Fire deals with Bug-, Grass-, Steel-, and Ice-type Pokemon and Ice takes care of Flying- and Grass-types.</p>
<p>
Grass and Ground will be the given moves on this set, and your last move really determines Tangrowth's counters. Rock Slide can’t do enough to OHKO most Grass-types, even after a Swords Dance, and Return is walled cold by Drifblim and will fail to OHKO Moltres. Bulky Grass-type Pokemon like Sludge Bomb Weezing and Hidden Power Ice Tangrowth can well this set since the most effective attack it can use against them is a not-very-effective Power Whip. Arcanine can use Intimidate to buffer his teammates from Tangrowth’s hits, but will be in trouble if Tangrowth keeps using Swords Dance. This set is also far easier to wall if you don’t give him sun support; he is then pretty much forced to run Stun Spore meaning he loses coverage and adds Bug-, Grass-, and Flying-types as solid counters
, —or at least revenge killers. Rhyperior can be a great help as he can wall Pokémon like Swellow, while Tangrowth can switch in on Earthquakes aimed at
him Rhyperior and set up.</p>
skipping the OU stuff cause this is goddamn long already
[SET]
name: OU Physical Tank
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Power Whip / Grass Knot
move 3: Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Knock Off / Stun Spore
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth is a decent physical wall and supporter who brings a good deal of advantages to the table. Tangrowth can take on powerful physical attackers such as Tyranitar and Gyarados with his immense Defense stat, and act as a buffer against other physical threats. Tangrowth has some excellent weapons in his arsenal that his legendary rivals Celebi and Shaymin do not, and the bulk of this set is built around these. Sleep Powder incapacitates one Pokemon on your opponent's team, and can be followed up by Stun Spore or Knock Off on the switch-in, allowing Tangrowth to neuter two threats to your team in two turns. Power Whip and Earthquake form Tangrowth's best offensive combination, but he can also go special if you like, though bear in mind that Celebi and Shaymin are both more reliable as special attackers than Tangrowth.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>If Knock Off and Stun Spore do not appeal to you, then Leech Seed can also be a viable alternative for the last moveslot. It is useful to restore some health each turn, especially if you manage to get one of Tangrowth's counters as it switches in, but the amount of health restored is usually very low. This can, however, be of use on a team that takes advantage of residual damage.</p>
<p>Although Tangrowth's Special Attack is higher than his Attack, he gets a lot of useful physical moves, such as STAB Power Whip, which can easily 2HKO Tyranitar, Gyarados, and Flygon. Tangrowth also gets Earthquake, which can help with Metagross, and even Heatran if you can catch them on the switch. However, going special is always an option, with Grass Knot available for a STAB move and Hidden Power for coverage. Hidden Power Ice and Hidden Power Fire can OHKO Dragonite and Scizor, respectively, with Stealth Rock support.</p>
<p>Max HP and Defense with Leftovers and an Impish nature are used to maximize defensive ability. Neither Jolly Choice Scarf Tyranitar nor Jolly Choice Scarf Flygon can even 3HKO him with Stone Edge or Outrage. It also means that Adamant Life Orb Gyarados fails to 2HKO with Ice Fang after a Dragon Dance, although Bounce is still an OHKO with Stealth Rock. In return, Tangrowth can 2HKO all of the above with Power Whip. He also has a high chance to survive Adamant Life Orb Lucario's Close Combat after a Swords Dance, even if he switches into Stealth Rock, which allows Tangrowth to OHKO with Earthquake after Close Combat's Defense drop. In addition, Adamant Choice Band Metagross cannot 2HKO with Meteor Mash. If you want to go mixed, a Relaxed nature is advised. Another option is to add 28 EVs to Speed in order to outrun Relaxed Swampert. Also, if you are running a fully special Tangrowth, remember to move the given Attack EVs to Special Attack, and run a Bold nature rather than an Impish nature.</p>
[Team Options]
<h4>UU</h4>
<p>Even when not running an offensive set, Tangrowth likes having Stealth Rock on the opponent’s side of the field, as many of his counters are weak to it and will find themselves losing a fair amount of HP if they try to switch in repeatedly. As such, a spinblocker such as Mismagius is advisable to make sure the Rocks stay put. On offensive sets this is a particularly important issue, as Tangrowth will want the extra damage on Fire- and Flying-types to ensure OHKOes with his weaker moves
, This is especially
the case on for the Mixed Sweeper, who is unable to boost his stats himself and may miss several important OHKOes, such as on Magmortar with Earthquake. Tangrowth will also generally benefit from the sun on all of his sets, since Leaf Guard on the defensive sets makes it harder for the opponent to remove Tangrowth as they cannot simply poison him; however, this is inadvisable unless you wish to run a full Sunny Day team, since your other team members are
likely to be harmed by it unlikely to benefit from the sun.</p>
<p>As a primarily defensive Pokémon, Tangrowth should ensure that he has partners to fall back on whenever he needs them, which will
be often
as be his
physical defensive defense stat on the special side is not spectacular. Rock-types such as Regirock make great partners to Tangrowth, as they resist Fire and Flying attacks, which will be Tangrowth’s great bugbears in battle, and benefit from Tangrowth’s resistances to Water-, Grass- and Ground-type attacks. Rhyperior has the benefit of also resisting Poison, in exchange for an Ice weakness. Rock-types tend not to be specially defensive either, however, which is why someone who can take special attacks is also advised. Milotic, Registeel
, and Chansey are all quite good choices on non-offensive teams; Milotic has good resistances to Fire and Ice, and Registeel to Bug, Flying, and Poison as well as Ice. However, all three are set-up fodder for Toxicroak, so Claydol would also be worth consideration.</p>
<p>As far as defensive partners are concerned, Tangrowth will also need support against those Pokemon
that who threaten him on the physical side with super effective STAB moves. Milotic can be immensely helpful, as she resists two of Tangrowth's weaknesses and is a good check to many threats to Tangrowth, including Swellow, Scyther, Arcanine, and Altaria. She is also a good secondary check to Rhyperior and Feraligatr. Registeel, too, resists four of Tangrowth's five weaknesses, and helps with a number of Tangrowth's foes, including Swellow, Scyther, and Venusaur. Drapion is also worth noting here, as he can check a number of the aforementioned threats with his impressive Defense and can absorb Toxic Spikes, which are a serious threat to Tangrowth. Lastly, Arcanine can take Fire-, Bug- and Ice-type attacks aimed at Tangrowth and has Intimidate to weaken physical threats, while Tangrowth in turn resists Arcanine's Ground- and Water-type weaknesses.</p>
<p>Tangrowth boasts remarkable coverage on his offensive sets and has strong base stats to back his moves up; however, bulkier foes will almost always be able to survive even super effective attacks and hit back.
For the mixed sweeper, Uxie, Spiritomb and other decent tanks are the main Pokémon who can survive a hit from
the Mixed Sweeper’s Power Whip variants under the sun, retaining a decent amount of health, and do a significant amount of damage or cripple him before he can 2HKO. Other methods of dealing with sweeper Tangrowth include fast Pokémon with special Fire or Ice attacks, and so a strong Fire-type such as Arcanine who can force out Grass-, Bug- and Ice-type Pokémon and Intimidate threats can be useful. It should also be noted that Tangrowth’s STAB is quite poor, in regards to his type coverage, meaning Tangrowth will be forced to rely on his auxiliary moves a fair amount, and they are not as formidable as they may appear
(??? STAB Grass is good in UU and pseudo-QuakeEdge is by no means poor coverage). Wall breakers who do not mind sun support, such as Blaziken, can come in on Spiritomb’s Will-o-wisp and wreak havoc with boosted Fire Blasts, and sweepers such as Rhyperior can come in on a resisted attack and set up
—Rhyperior also benefiting benefits also from weakened Water-type moves in the sun
(mostly useful for physical ones, as Surf will still OHKO).</p>
skipping the OU stuff cause this is goddamn long already
<h4>OU</h4>
<p>Wish support from Vaporeon or Blissey can be useful as Tangrowth does not have reliable recovery of his own, and this can improve his survivability quite a bit. Both of them also have considerable synergy with Tangrowth. Blissey can patch up Tangrowth's poor Special Defense thanks to its titanic Special Defense and HP, and can also support with Aromatherapy if need be. Vaporeon and other bulky Water-types such as Suicune also make good partners, as they cover Tangrowth’s Fire- and Ice-type weaknesses, while Tangrowth can cover their Electric- and Grass-type weaknesses. Rotom-A and Zapdos are also both notable for their ability to ward off Scizor and also, in the case of Rotom-A, to block Rapid Spin. In addition, they both benefit from Tangrowth's ability to come in on and beat Tyranitar.</p>
<p>The acclaimed "CeleTran" combination can also work very well with Tangrowth in place of Celebi. Heatran covers all of Tangrowth's weaknesses, and can beat most of Tangrowth's best counters, including Scizor. In return, Tangrowth covers all of Heatran's weaknesses except for Fighting-type moves, and can stop Pokemon such as Gyarados whom Heatran cannot handle. Although Celebi would seem a more viable partner as it resists Fighting in addition to all of the other types Heatran is weak to, and Heatran covers all of Celebi's weaknesses, Tangrowth does have the benefit of being able to take on Tyranitar, who is a big problem for both Celebi and Heatran.</p>
<p>Although bulkier teams will prefer teammates for Tangrowth who can deal with his counters, such as the ones listed above, on more offensive teams, it can be beneficial to include sweepers that have the same counters as Tangrowth, given Tangrowth's ability to disable his counters upon switching in. Tangrowth has a tendency to draw out Pokemon such as Heatran, Dragonite, and Scizor, and if any of them are crippled, it can be a very good thing for some Pokemon. Heracross, for example, is less likely to be revenge killed by a paralyzed Heatran or sleeping Scizor, and can hence bypass both of them. Another positive is that Tangrowth can deal with Gyarados, another big threat to Heracross. Other sweepers such as Swords Dance Lucario and Scizor also value this support for the same reasons.</p>
<p>Tangrowth is in the unfortunate position whereby all of his counters reside at the very top of OU play, and are hence used often in conjunction with one another. Scizor, Dragonite, and Heatran are all very often used alongside one another, and hence Tangrowth will often find that the opponent has a number of answers to him. Tyranitar and Gyarados are both often used alongside the former three, but Tangrowth can usually deal with them adequately. As mentioned above, Rotom-H and Zapdos can deal with Scizor and can also act as secondary checks to Gyarados, but may find themselves struggling against Dragonite and Heatran. These two are difficult to counter, but a bulky Water-type should be able to deal with both; Starmie or Vaporeon can use Surf on Heatran and can also attempt to ward off Dragonite with Ice Beam. If you can lure in and destroy Dragonite or Heatran by using Hidden Power Ice or Earthquake on Tangrowth, the benefits for your team can be very great indeed.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<h4>UU</h4>
<p>First and foremost, you should use sets that differentiate Tangrowth’s from his fellow Grass-types such as Sceptile. He is certainly not short of other support options, but often other Pokemon can make better use of them. Block is an interesting move that could be used alongside Sleep Powder and Leech Seed. With Block you can create an "annoyer" out of Tangrowth. The problem is that Tangrowth is left with only one move
, which is why it's not heavily recommended. Knock Off, despite being available from the move tutor, is still a fairly exclusive toy and Tangrowth can use it to great effect, removing items and possibly simultaneously telling you what variant of Pokémon you are facing. Tangrowth can use the popular Sub
- (no hyphen) Seed strategy, in which Tangrowth can Leech Seed the opponent and create a chain of near-infinite Substitutes. This is bolstered by the fact that Tangrowth can reach the magic 404 HP stat, meaning his Substitutes cannot be broken with Seismic Toss, allowing him to set up on Chansey; however, Sceptile and Jumpluff are both faster, and thus can perform the strategy more easily
, and so you would probably be better off with one of them. Toxic works on the Standard set and is an option over Stun Spore on the Double Powder set. Reflect is an excellent support move for Tangrowth
and to aid his pals; it’s just a pity that Tangrowth doesn’t get Light Screen to help out with his
mediocre dismal Special Defense stat. The only physical move of note not listed in the rest of the analysis is Poison Jab, which is Tangrowth’s most powerful physical move against Leafeon and other pure Grass-types, but has mediocre coverage after that. Sludge Bomb follows the same logic as Poison Jab; however, it works off of Tangrowth’s Special Attack stat instead (and with a higher Base Power as well).</p>
<p>Tangrowth is generally a defensive Pokémon and should be EVed as such. It is advised that you max out his HP before you work on his defensive stats. 252 Def is advised in UU play as it is essential to surviving boosted hits from key opponents, such as Dragon Dance Feraligatr, but you can branch out into Attack if you feel like the extra power would help. Offensively orientated sets should
emphasize concentrate on the attacking stat they're using. If you're using Chlorophyll with Sunny Day, 240 speed with Adamant or Modest nature, factoring in the IV drop from Hidden Power Fire, allows Tangrowth to beat neutral Scarf Blaziken; 224 EVs with a Timid, Jolly or Naïve nature allows him to beat Modest Scarf Rotom
(see Mix set: what about with HP Fire?); and max Speed with a positive nature beats Adamant Scarf Primeape, and ties with other Tangrowth. Without Chlorophyll, there is very little you can outspeed and you are best off going on the defensive route. 29 HP EVs are given on the mixed sweeper set to give Tangrowth a HP stat of 339, allowing him
at most 11 uses of Life Orb instead of 10.</p>
skipping the OU stuff cause this is goddamn long already
<h4>OU</h4>
<p>As mentioned previously, Tangrowth has a vast support movepool itching to be used. Tangrowth can run a Substitute + Leech Seed set, which can be effective as Tangrowth can create 101 HP Substitutes, meaning they cannot be broken by Seismic Toss. Tangrowth can also run Sleep Powder on such a set. However, Shaymin can perform the same trick with better Speed, Special Defense and the same 404 HP stat. Tangrowth can also use Reflect (but not Light Screen) for more support.</p>
<p>Tangrowth has a number of options for recovery as well. Synthesis can be used, but this is not viable with the prevalence of Tyranitar in Standard coupled with the low PP. Rest + Sleep Talk gives Tangrowth semi-reliable recovery, but uses up half of his available moveslots and leaves him almost a sitting duck for two turns. Lastly, Tangrowth has an interesting option in the form of Pain Split, which divides the HP of Tangrowth and his opponent and shares them equally. Although this may allow Tangrowth to stay alive longer, Tangrowth has such a titanic HP stat that more often than not he will not gain all that much HP for himself, and in some cases may even lose HP to the opponent. Tangrowth also possesses a number of setup moves such as Swords Dance and Sunny Day, which work in tandem with Chlorophyll to turn Tangrowth into a strong sweeper that is a staple on Sunny Day teams. Aside from that, however, Tangrowth isn't doing much sweeping in OU.</p>
<p>Tangrowth has a massive special movepool that can be called upon at times. Leaf Storm is an extremely powerful STAB attack that can maul almost everything it comes into contact with, but constitutes a free switch for Scizor or Dragonite, as Tangrowth is helpless after using it once. As for other STAB attacks, Energy Ball is more reliable than Grass Knot for consistent damage, but in general the latter deals more damage on average because of how heavy most OU Pokemon are. Giga Drain is also an option to recover a little health after each use, but the low power and low PP mean that this is not ideal. Lastly, SolarBeam can be used on Sunny Day teams, but turns him into bait for Tyranitar. Focus Blast is a very powerful yet very unreliable attack that does a great deal of damage to Tyranitar and Heatran. For other physical attacks that Tangrowth can use, Seed Bomb is, like Energy Ball, a more reliable but much less powerful alternative to Power Whip, while Rock Slide does a good deal of damage to most Flying-types. Finally, Aerial Ace can take out Heracross and Breloom, but doesn't do much aside from that.</p>
[Counters]
<h4>UU</h4>
<p>At first sight, it would appear that the Standard Tangrowth is quite easy to switch into – he has only one attacking move, which has a total of seven types resistant to it. However,
it is difficult to switch into Tangrowth, that is not the case—it is difficult to switch into Tangrowth, mainly because of his great support movepool. Sleep Powder, Stun Spore
, and Knock Off are moves that are very difficult to switch into and can cripple an opponent for the rest of the battle. Not only that, but since many of Tangrowth’s counters are weak to Stealth Rock, the Pokemon who switch in will likely be forfeiting a good amount of their health to do so.</p>
<p>As far as sheer resistances go, Moltres, Charizard, and Scyther all have quad resistances to Grass, and can all destroy Tangrowth with their STAB moves, but they all have quad Stealth Rock weaknesses as well, and so cannot switch in more than twice if the Rocks are up. Other Grass-types also make good counters, such as Venusaur and Sceptile; Venusaur gets special mention for having a quad resistance to Grass,
but no Stealth Rock weakness, and
also having STAB Sludge Bomb.</p>
<p>Other counters include Flying-, Fire-, and Poison-types. Of the Flying-types, Altaria has a quad resistance to Grass as well as access to special Fire-type attacks and Natural Cure, making him a fantastic counter. Swellow can activate his Toxic Orb, making him immune to sleep and paralysis attempts, and he is not bothered by Knock Off if his Orb has already activated. Drifblim has good defensive stats and can put up a Substitute if need be. Fire- and Poison-types need to beware of Earthquake from sweeper Tangrowth; however, they also make good counters should the need arise. Arcanine has Intimidate to let him come in safely, and can fry Tangrowth with STAB
Overheat or Flare Blitz. Ninetales, Typhlosion, Blaziken, Magmortar, and Houndoom are other notable checks. Of Poison-types, Weezing is immune to Earthquake, has good defensive stats and STAB Sludge Bomb to beat Tangrowth
with. The Nidos have no Grass resistance but have access to moves like Poison Jab and Ice Beam. Toxicroak can set up in Tangrowth’s face with Substitute and/or Swords Dance, but must beware of Earthquake from the Standard set or boosted Hidden Power Fire from the Mixed Sweeper in the sun. Muk and Drapion also make reasonably good choices.</p>
skipping the OU stuff cause this is goddamn long already
<h4>OU</h4>
<p>Despite the fact that Tangrowth has five weaknesses, countering him can be difficult because of his wide range of support moves. If Heatran switches in as Tangrowth uses Stun Spore, he will be murdered on the next turn by Earthquake. There are also very few Pokemon who want to switch into Sleep Powder. In general, you will want fast special attackers who can destroy him by exploiting his weak Special Defense, as even strong neutral or resisted attacks will sting him.</p>
<p>Dragonite is a great check to Tangrowth – he can switch in easily thanks to good defensive stats, a quad Grass-type resistance, and an immunity to Earthquake, only fearing status moves such as Sleep Powder and Stun Spore as well as the rare Hidden Power Ice. He can then set up Dragon Dance or wipe out Tangrowth with Fire Blast or Draco Meteor. Scizor is another potent threat, boasting the same quad Grass-type resistance as Dragonite but is neutral to Earthquake. STAB U-turn makes Tangrowth cry and, if Tangrowth switches out, he can scout the switch-in and keep momentum going for his user. Like with Dragonite, Tangrowth's only hope of winning is to catch him on the switch with status or the rare Hidden Power Fire. Heatran is another with a quad Grass-type resistance, but he also has a quad weakness to Earthquake, so if he walks into the wrong move he can still lose; however, once he is in Tangrowth is roasted by STAB Fire Blast. Another common Pokemon with a 4x resistance to Grass and immunity to Earthquake is Skarmory, who can take almost any attack save Hidden Power Fire, Roost off the damage, and attack back with Brave Bird or simply use Tangrowth as an opportunity to set up Spikes if Sleep Clause is active.</p>
<p>Other Pokemon with super effective STAB moves or useful resistances, such as Gengar, Infernape, Heracross, Weavile, and Roserade should all perform excellently as well. Remember that Tangrowth's offense isn't really all that great, so if someone can take hits and attack back, there is very little Tangrowth can do to stop them, especially if Sleep Clause has been activated.</p>
