In-battle formes
Strategies
- en
Overview
Blastoise is a generic "bulky Water". It has good overall stats (defenses especially) and uses some good support moves, Reflect and Rapid Spin in particular. It is just a no-nonsense tank Pokemon: it's made to do one thing, and it does it well. It's UU because it isn't quite as defensive as Pokemon like Suicune or Slowbro (Slowbro also has the handy Thunder Wave), but it is not quite as fast and does not have as much variety as something like Starmie (who can also Reflect and Rapid Spin). Don't be fooled, though; Blastoise is not a bad Pokemon by any means, but as previously stated, Blastoise only plays one role.
Bulky Water
| Move 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move 2 | |||||||||
| Move 3 | |||||||||
| Move 4 |
|
Surf gets STAB and runs off of Blastoise's modest Special Attack. Rest takes advantage of its solid defenses. Rapid Spin is for the annoying Spikes and Leech Seed, and Reflect passes defense for the rest of the team and is a great answer to Tentacruel switch-ins.
RestTalk
| Move 1 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move 2 |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Move 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Move 4 |
|
Rest and Sleep Talk minimize your downtime while allowing you to tank for as long as you need Blastoise alive. Ice Beam covers Grass- and Flying-types, and Zap Cannon does decent damage against other Water-types and has a cool 50% paralysis chance. The low accuracy and PP aren't as bad on this set, because you simply have more chances to use it with Sleep Talk.
Other Options
Blastoise is a supporting Pokemon, so most of its alternate options are supporting moves. It learns Haze and Roar for phazing if you need either of those, and you can also use Mirror Coat to send a Thunderbolt back to an unlucky Electric-type for a KO. Toxic is also another option for opposing Waters and special walls in general. Blastoise can use Earthquake to keep Electric-types (except Zapdos) at bay. Your best bet is to stick to defensive measures--Blastoise is not an attacker.
Checks and Counters
Blastoise's HP is mediocre. As a result, the OU metagame proves too powerful with Zapdos, Raikou, and Jolteon knocking off over 50% HP with STAB Thunderbolts. In UU, Raichu, Magneton, and Electrode give Blastoise some problems as well. They must be careful of random Earthquakes or Mirror Coats, though.
If your opponent is running a Bulky Water set, feel free to bring in anything that resists Surf (Victreebel for UU, or even Lanturn for OU). Blastoise won't do a thing to it.
The RestTalk set can be annoying at times, but as mentioned before, Blastoise's below average HP sets it up for quick 2-3HKOs from Electrics. Blastoise isn't even that powerful to begin with.
