UU Tentacruel

EonX

Battle Soul
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[OVERVIEW]

* Solid typing and Special Defense let Tentacruel reliably check Keldeo, Primarina, bulky variants of Scizor, and Volcanion lacking Earth Power.
* Tentacruel's access to Rapid Spin, Haze, and Toxic Spikes make it a very useful support Pokemon.
* A high Speed tier for a defensive Pokemon lets Tentacruel naturally outpace Primarina without investment and Adamant Bisharp and Adamant Honchkrow with very minimal investment.
* Tentacruel lacks reliable recovery, so it is prone to being worn down by repeated switches in.
* Decidedly average Defense even when invested means that Tentacruel can't reliably check Entei and Swords Dance Cobalion throughout a match despite resisting their STAB moves.
* It also has competition from Starmie and Mantine as a bulky Water hazard remover, since both have reliable recovery to boast over Tentacruel.

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Scald
move 3: Toxic Spikes
move 4: Haze / Acid Spray / Toxic
item: Black Sludge / Icium Z
ability: Liquid Ooze
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Rapid Spin removes entry hazards for Tentacruel's team.
* Scald threatens physical attackers with a burn and 2HKOes most Pokemon weak to Water.
* Toxic Spikes harasses defensive teams that lack a grounded Poison-type and annoys spinners like Mega Blastoise and offensive Starmie.
* Haze allows Tentacruel to fend off Swords Dance Scizor, Swords Dance Decidueye, and other slower boosters that can't threaten Tentacruel with an OHKO. It also provides a one-off healing move when used with Icium Z.
* Acid Spray reduces Special Defense by two stages and can force some extra switches to take advantage of Toxic Spikes. In particular, it allows Tentacruel to beat most variants of Calm Mind Clefable one-on-one.
* Toxic is another way to harass defensive teams more directly. In particular, it's Tentacruel's best means to punish Latias, Slowbro, and Mantine switching in.
* Sludge Wave is an option if a stronger Poison-type STAB move is desired.

Set Details
========

* The EV spread maximizes physical bulk while allowing Tentacruel to outspeed Jolly Decidueye and Jolly Bisharp in order to wipe away their boosts with Haze or threaten a KO before being hit by a boosted move.
* 8 Special Attack EVs guarantee the 2HKO on Entei without the need for entry hazards.
* Black Sludge gives Tentacruel a form of passive recovery and a way to punish Trick users.
* Icium Z used in conjunction with Haze is perfectly viable to give Tentacruel a one-time full healing move should Tentacruel's team not have a way to utilize Z-moves in an offensive manner.
* Liquid Ooze is the chosen ability as it punishes the use of draining moves on Tentacruel.
* A Timid nature with 136 EVs can be used to outspeed Nidoking and Kommo-o or 148 EVs to outspeed Adamant Entei and below.

Usage Tips
========

* Tentacruel should be used on more balanced and defensive teams that need a reliable answer to most variants of Primarina, Keldeo, and Volcanion.
* Try to have a more reliable answer to physically offensive Fire- and Fighting-types as even resisted hits from them will do a lot of damage to Tentacruel.
* Scald is generally safe to throw out whenever there are no entry hazards on the field to get rid of.
* One layer of Toxic Spikes is often enough to hamper opposing teams as two layers is typically quite difficult to get up in a match.
* Haze helps against setup sweepers such as bulky Swords Dance Scizor and Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo.
* Acid Spray is generally used force switches and reduce the foe's chances to set up on Tentacruel.
* Toxic is the only way for Tentacruel to reliably pressure Latias, Slowbro, and Mantine, and should be used on the switch in, as Tentacruel cannot safely stay in on the former two.

Team Options
========

* Clefable is very nice for Wish / Cleric support. Also provides a secondary check to Keldeo variants with Hidden Power Electric.
* Krookodile has amazing defensive synergy, can set Stealth Rock, and threaten opposing Electric- and Psychic-types with its STAB moves.
* Hippowdon is a more defensive Ground-type that sets Stealth Rock and chases off Electric-types. It also pivots into Latias rather well with Special Defense investment.
* Setup sweepers that need some turns to become threatening, such as bulky Swords Dance Scizor and Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo appreciate Toxic Spikes to wear down the opponent. Keldeo also appreciates not having to deal with Toxic Spikes, as Tentacruel absorbs them upon switching in.
* Pokemon that dislike Stealth Rock, namely Mega Aerodactyl and Choiced attackers like Scizor and Raikou appreciate not having to deal with the residual damage.
* Ghost-types that can reliably spinblock to prevent the removal of Toxic Spikes are helpful. Decidueye, Doublade, and Gengar can be useful to prevent Rapid Spin attempts by opponents.
* More reliable checks to Entei and Cobalion are helpful as Tentacruel takes a fair amount of damage from them despite its defensive investment and typing.
* Swampert, Latias, and defensive Arcanine can often check these threats reliably. Volcanion provides a 4x resistance to Sacred Fire and Flare Blitz from Entei and Iron Head from Cobalion, but has to be wary of Stone Edge from Entei and a possibly boosted All-Out Pummeling from Cobalion.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
============

* An offensive set with Hydro Pump, Sludge Bomb, Ice Beam, and one of Rapid Spin or Toxic Spikes can be used. It faces stiff competition from Starmie and Mega Blastoise as an offensive Water-type Rapid Spinner, however. Such a set should use Black Sludge or Expert Belt as the item with maximum Special Attack and Speed investment.
* Knock Off can annoy opponents by removing items but it's hard to fit in over other utility options.
* A specially defensive variant of the utility set can be used in order to have an easier time with Primarina and Volcanion, but this makes Tentacruel falter against Choice Specs Keldeo thanks to Secret Sword hitting for physical damage.
* Assault Vest may seem like a cute idea for a bulky offensive set with Mirror Coat to surprise the likes of Alakazam and Celebi, but the extra utility options in Haze and Toxic Spikes help sell Tentacruel over defensive Starmie.

Checks and Counters
==================

**Psychic-types**: Latias is a major pain for any Tentacruel set. It's immune to Toxic Spikes via Levitate, doesn't care for Scald burns, can Defog away Toxic Spikes, and can use any Tentacruel without Haze or Toxic as setup fodder. It can also just choose to OHKO with STAB Psyshock. Starmie, Alakazam, and Reuniclus are other notable Psychic-types that generally don't care about what Tentacruel can throw at them.

**Scald switch-ins**: Volcanion and Mantine can easily switch into Scald thanks to Water Absorb. Mantine can proceed to get rid of Toxic Spikes with Defog while Volcanion can punish Tentacruel heavily if it carries Earth Power or Hidden Power Electric. Celebi and Starmie have access to Natural Cure to heal burns or poison upon switching out and can threaten Tentacruel with Psychic-type STAB moves. Clefable has Magic Guard to absorb Scald burns but it also has a hard time doing anything in return and can be pressured by Acid Spray. Toxicroak is less common, but it can use Dry Skin to easily get in on a Scald and is immune to Toxic as well as absorbing Toxic Spikes.

**Lures**: Pokemon that Tentacruel typically checks such as Keldeo and Primarina are easily able to run coverage options to push heavy damage onto Tentacruel. Both can 2HKO Tentacruel with Hidden Power Electric and Psychic respectively, although Primarina is still forced out due to being slower and weak to Sludge Bomb. Volcanion is another key example with Earth Power and Hidden Power Electric both reliably 2HKOing Tentacruel.

**Guts Users**: Conkeldurr adores switching into status and can easily absorb a Scald burn or switch in after Toxic Spikes have been set in order to punish Tentacruel's team with powerful Guts-boosted attacks. Heracross isn't as common, but is still notable thanks to its high Attack stat and higher Speed tier.

**Physical Attackers**: Pokemon that can hit hard with physical attacks, namely Entei and Cobalion, are able to push heavy damage onto Tentacruel in spite of its resistance to their STAB moves. Krookodile, Swords Dance Gliscor, Mega Aerodactyl, and Zygarde-10% can also plow through Tentacruel with Ground-type moves.

**Entry Hazard Removers**: While not every Tentacruel will run Toxic Spikes, Empoleon, Latias, Mantine, defensive Starmie, and opposing Tentacruel can very easily get rid of the Toxic Spikes Tentacruel may set. All are either immune to Toxic Spikes or have a means to get around it and are also immune to or not bothered by Scald burns. Latias and Starmie are by far the best answers to Tentacruel thanks to their Psychic-type STAB moves. Empoleon and opposing Tentacruel are immune to Sludge Bomb poisoning while Mantine has reliable recovery to outlast Tentacruel and can wear it down with repeated Air Slashes, only fearing the rare Toxic.
 
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the set should look like this:

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Scald
move 3: Toxic Spikes
move 4: Acid Spray / Haze / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Liquid Ooze
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 24 Spe

toxic spikes imo is one of the best things tenta has to offer, since it fucks with a lot of balance teams lacking their own tenta / amoon. acid spray is more useful than sludge bomb too imo. i would give sludge wave instead a mention in moves since fuck chesnaught if you really think a powerful psn stab is necessary.

the 8 spa evs seem a little off but its important for this -

0 SpA Tentacruel Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Entei: 182-216 (49 - 58.2%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO
8 SpA Tentacruel Scald vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Entei: 186-218 (50.1 - 58.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

and the slight dip in defense doesn't really hurt tenta.

liquid ooze is more useful than clear body in most scenarios, i would only give clear body a mention in set details to use if the team in particular is weak to sticky webs. being able to punish stuff like giga and leech is way more important tbh.

Toxic is another way to harass defensive teams more directly. In particular, it's Tentacruel's best means to punish Latias and Mantine switching in - add slowbro to this sentence since one layer of tspikes is gonna be way better for it in the long run and getting two layers up isn't the easiest thing to do.

for psychic-types in c&c, give alakazam a mention since magic guard makes it immune to tspikes

qc 1/3 after this
 

Pearl

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Hey there! Looking fine for the most part, but here are some possible changes:

[OVERVIEW]

* Secondary Poison typing makes it very valuable against teams relying on Toxic Spikes - Considering that Toxic Spikes centered teams aren't all that common anymore and that Tentacruel is pretty much the only viable Toxic Spikes setter (Forry and Nidoqueen can run them too, but it's pretty rare on either of them), I'd remove this mention.

Remove the Azumarill reference in the forth bullet point.

The SD Infernape mention is obsolete, so I think you should replace it with Cobalion.

[SET - UTILITY]

First of all, sorry for the lack of proper coordination, but after chatting with Bouff and Hogg for a while, we've come to the conclusion that this is the superior Tentacruel set at the moment:

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Scald
move 3: Toxic Spikes
move 4: Haze / Acid Spray / Toxic
item: Black Sludge / Icium Z
ability: Liquid Ooze
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 16 Spe

Timid Nature + 16 Speed EVs allows Tentacruel to outpace both Jolly Bisharp and Decidueye and potentially cripple them with Scald or Haze (if they've boosted up already) before they get to do anything back. Icium Z with Haze gives you access to an one time full recovery move while also making you stronger against Knock Off users such as Conkeldurr or even the aforementioned Bisharp. I've tested this extensively before and it's really good if your team doesn't have any Pokemon that makes good use of offensive Z moves (which isn't an uncommon sight on the kind of teams Tentacruel finds itself in). Make sure to change the Moves and Set Details sections accordingly, by the way!

Everything else looks fine for the most part, so good job! I'd probably tone down some of the Entei mentions, since it isn't as good as it was back in ORAS. Maybe something along the lines of "pair Tentacruel with better checks to physically offensive Fighting- and Fire-type Pokemon" over Entei should suffice? Also, there's another Azumarill mention in moves that should be removed.

[OTHER OPTIONS]

Looking good once again! Either remove the mention of Assault Vest or add that it gets Mirror Coat to screw some special attackers that it doesn't force out (think like Alakazam, Nidoqueen and Celebi) very hard, and that it could be used in tandem with Assault Vest. Still not something that should be recommended, however.

[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]

Remove the Heliolisk mention, since it isn't ranked in the current VR thread and Dry Skin doesn't justify using it over Raikou or even Rotom-C. Everything else is looking really nice though, so consider this a 2/3 after you've implemented all changes!
 

Freeroamer

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Add 8 EVs to Spdef in much the same vein as the SpA EVs for Entei, this allows you to always survive a Modest Specs Primarina Psychic after SR, allowing for a suicide spin or t spike or one last attack w/e. It's just another useful benchmark to hit.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Psychic vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Tentacruel: 270-318 (74.1 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tentacruel: 272-320 (74.7 - 87.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

ik Timid is accepted as generally better but the security of knowing you live anything after SR is nice in games.
 
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Specify Adamant/Jolly Bisharp and Decidueye in lines 1 and 3 of set details.

Specify that Acid Spray lets Tentacruel beat most variants of CM Clefable 1v1.

Rest of the analysis looks good! 3/3
 
[OVERVIEW]

* Solid typing and Special Defense lets Tentacruel reliably check Keldeo, Primarina, bulky variants of Scizor, and Volcanion lacking Earth Power.
* Tentacruel's access to Rapid Spin, Haze, and Toxic Spikes make it a very useful support Pokemon.
* A high Speed tier for a defensive Pokemon lets Tentacruel naturally outpace Primarina without investment needing to invest at all and Adamant Bisharp and Adamant Honchkrow with very minimal investment.
* Tentacruel lacks reliable recovery, so it is prone to being worn down by repeated switches in easier than one would like at times.
* Decidedly average Defense, (RC) even when invested, (RC) means that Tentacruel can't reliably check Entei and Swords Dance Cobalion throughout a match despite resisting their STAB moves.
* It also has competition from Starmie and Mantine as a bulky Water hazard remover, since both of which have reliable recovery to boast over Tentacruel.

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Scald
move 3: Toxic Spikes
move 4: Haze / Acid Spray / Toxic
item: Black Sludge / Icium Z
ability: Liquid Ooze
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Rapid Spin removes entry hazards for Tentacruel's team.
* Scald threatens physical attackers with a burn and 2HKOs most Pokemon weak to Water hits weaknesses hard enough.
* Toxic Spikes harasses defensive teams that lack a grounded Poison-type and annoys spinners like Mega Blastoise and offensive Starmie.
* Haze allows Tentacruel to fend off Swords Dance Scizor, Swords Dance Decidueye, and other slower boosters that can't threaten Tentacruel with an OHKO. It also provides a one-off healing move when used with Icium Z.
* Acid Spray reduces Special Defense by two stages and can force some extra switches to take advantage of Toxic Spikes. In particular, it allows Tentacruel to beat most variants of Calm Mind Clefable one-on-one.
* Toxic is another way to harass defensive teams more directly. In particular, it's Tentacruel's best way means to punish Latias, Slowbro, and Mantine switching in.
* Sludge Wave is an option if a stronger Poison-type STAB move is desired.

Set Details
========

* The EV spread maximizes physical bulk while allowing Tentacruel to outspeed Jolly Decidueye and Jolly Bisharp in order to whipe away their boosts with Haze or threaten a KO before being hit by a boosted move hard.
* 8 Special Attack EVs guarantee the 2HKO on Entei without the need for entry hazards.
* Timid nature allows Tentacruel to outpace Jolly Decidueye and Jolly Bisharp as well as even Jolly variants of Scizor. (You already mentioned this in the first bullet point)
* Black Sludge gives Tentacruel a form of passive recovery and a way to punish Trick users.
* Icium Z used in conjunction with Haze is perfectly viable to give Tentacruel a one-time full healing move should Tentacruel's team not have a way to utilize Z-moves (AH) in an offensive manner, as it gives Tentacruel a one-time full healing move with Haze.
* Liquid Ooze is the chosen ability as it punishes the use of draining moves on Tentacruel.
* A Timid nature with 136 EVs can be used to outspeed Nidoking and Kommo-o or 148 EVs to outspeed Adamant Entei and below is usable if these threats concern your team.

Usage Tips
========

* Tentacruel should be used on more balanced and defensive teams that need a reliable answer to most variants of Primarina, Keldeo, and Volcanion.
* Try to have a more reliable answer to physically offensive Fire- and Fighting-types as even resisted hits from them will do a lot of damage to Tentacruel more than one would like.
* Scald is generally safe to throw out whenever there are no entry hazards on the field to get rid of.
* One layer of Toxic Spikes is often enough to hamper opposing teams as and two layers is typically quite difficult to get up in a match.
* Haze helps against setup sweepers such as bulky Swords Dance Scizor and Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo should the team be extra weak to them.
* Acid Spray is generally used to force switches and keep opponents honest and reduce the foe's chances to set(add space)up on Tentacruel.
* Toxic is the only way for Tentacruel to reliably pressure Latias, Mantine, and Slowbro, and should be used on the switch in, as Tentacruel cannot safely stay in against the former two. when Tentacruel's team doesn't have the best time wearing them down.

Team Options
========

* Clefable is very nice for Wish / Cleric support. It also provides a secondary check to Keldeo variants with should it pack Hidden Power Electric.
* Krookodile has amazing defensive synergy, can set Stealth Rock, and threaten opposing Electric- and Psychic-types with its STAB moves.
* Hippowdon is a more defensive Ground-type that still sets Stealth Rock and chases off Electric-types. It also pivots into Latias rather well with Special Defense investment.
* Setup sweepers that need some turns to become threatening, such as bulky Swords Dance Scizor and Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo appreciate Toxic Spikes to wear down the opponent variants. Keldeo also appreciates not having to deal with Toxic Spikes, (AC) as Tentacruel absorbs them upon switching in itself.
* Pokemon that dislike Stealth Rock, namely Mega Aerodactyl and Choiced attackers, (RC) like Scizor and Raikou, appreciate not having to deal with the residual damage entry hazard.
* Ghost-types that can reliably to spinblock to prevent the removal of Toxic Spikes are helpful. Decidueye, Doublade, and Gengar can be useful to prevent Rapid Spin attempts by opponents.
* More reliable checks to the likes of Entei and Cobalion are helpful as Tentacruel takes a fair amount of damage from them in despite of its defensive investment and typing.
* Swampert, Latias, and defensive Arcanine can often check these threats reliably. Volcanion provides a 4x resistance to Sacred Fire and Flare Blitz from Entei and Iron Head from Cobalion, but has to be wary of Stone Edge from Entei and a possibly boosted All-Out Pummeling from Cobalion.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
============

* An offensive set with Hydro Pump, Sludge Bomb, Ice Beam, and one of Rapid Spin or Toxic Spikes can be used. It faces stiff competition from Starmie and Mega Blastoise as an offensive Water-type Rapid Spinner, (AC) however though. Such a set should use Black Sludge or Expert Belt as the item with maximum Special Attack and Speed investment.
* Knock Off can annoy opponents by removing items, (RC) but it's hard to fit in over other utility options.
* A specially defensive variant of the utility set can be used in order to have an easier time with Primarina and Volcanion, but this makes Tentacruel falter against Choice Specs Keldeo thanks to Secret Sword hitting for physical damage.
* Assault Vest may seem like a cute (lol) idea for a bulky offensive set with Mirror Coat to surprise the likes of Alakazam and Celebi, but the extra utility options in Haze and Toxic Spikes help sell Tentacruel over defensive Starmie.

Checks and Counters
==================

**Psychic-types**: Latias is a major pain for any Tentacruel set. It's immune to Toxic Spikes via Levitate, doesn't care for Scald burns, can Defog away Toxic Spikes, and can use any Tentacruel without Haze or Toxic as setup fodder. It can also just choose to OHKO with STAB Psyshock. Starmie, Alakazam, and Reuniclus are other notable Psychic-types that generally don't care about what Tentacruel can throw at them has to offer.

**Scald switch-ins**: Volcanion and Mantine can easily switch into Scald thanks to Water Absorb. Mantine can proceed to get rid of Toxic Spikes with Defog while Volcanion can punish Tentacruel heavily if it carries Earth Power or Hidden Power Electric. Celebi and Starmie have access to Natural Cure to heal burns or poison upon switching out and can threaten Tentacruel with Psychic-type STAB moves. Clefable has Magic Guard to absorb Scald burns, (RC) but it also has a hard time doing anything in return and can be pressured by Acid Spray. Toxicroak is less common, but it can use Dry Skin to easily get in on a Scald and is immune to Toxic as well as absorbing Toxic Spikes.

**Lures**: Pokemon that Tentacruel typically checks, (RC) such as Keldeo and Primarina, (RC) are easily able to run coverage options to push heavy damage onto Tentacruel. Both can 2HKO Tentacruel with Hidden Power Electric and Psychic respectively, although Primarina is still forced out due to being slower and weak to Sludge Bomb. Volcanion is another key example with Earth Power and Hidden Power Electric both reliably 2HKOing Tentacruel reliably.

**Guts Users**: Conkeldurr adores switching into status and can easily absorb a Scald burn or switch in after Toxic Spikes have been set in order to punish Tentacruel's team with powerful Guts-boosted attacks. Heracross isn't as common, but is still notable thanks to its high Attack stat and higher Speed tier.

**Physical Attackers**: Pokemon that can hit hard with physical attacks, namely Entei and Cobalion, are able to push heavy damage onto Tentacruel in spite of its resistance to their STAB moves. Krookodile, Swords Dance Gliscor, Mega Aerodactyl, and Zygarde-10% can also plow through Tentacruel with Ground-type moves.

**Entry Hazard Removers**: While not every Tentacruel will run Toxic Spikes, Empoleon, Latias, Mantine, defensive Starmie, and opposing Tentacruel can very easily get rid of the Toxic Spikes Tentacruel may set. All are either immune to Toxic Spikes, (RC) or have a means to get around it and are also immune to or not bothered much by Scald burns. Latias and Starmie are by far the best answers to Tentacruel thanks to their Psychic-type STAB moves. Empoleon and opposing Tentacruels are immune to Sludge Bomb poisoning while Mantine has reliable recovery to outlast wear down Tentacruel and can wear it down with repeated Air Slashes, (AC) only fearing the rare Toxic without much concern.

2 Asterisks for Checks and Counters formatting ;) i.e. **Psychic-types**: instead of *Psychic-types*: I didn't highlight them because that seemed a bit tedious so I decided to mention it here instead.

Excellent work buddy ol' pal ^_^

GP 1/1
 
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