[OVERVIEW]
Gastrodon holds a place as one of the premier defensive Spikes setters in the tier. Its good natural bulk, coupled with a fantastic defensive typing that renders it weak only to a rare offensive type in the metagame, ensures that it can be very difficult to take down. Sticky Hold provides Gastrodon with further utility as one of the best Knock Off absorbers available, improving its matchup against Rapid Spin Cyclizar, which is the most common Pokemon in the tier. However, Gastrodon's mediocre attacking stats and lack of status spreading and disruption moves mean that it often struggles to punish setup sweepers like Calm Mind Slowbro and Suicune as well as Dragon Dance Gyarados for staying in. Despite Gastrodon's high HP stat, its low Defense stat leads to strong physical wallbreakers such as Slither Wing, Flame Orb Conkeldurr, and Crawdaunt often being able to take it down. Lastly, its Water / Ground typing's sole weakness comes into play as a vulnerability to Grass-type coverage attacks, including Energy Ball from Armarouge and Grass Knot from Empoleon.
[SET]
Defensive (Gastrodon) @ Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sticky Hold
Tera Type: Ghost / Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Recover
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Spikes is Gastrodon's main tool for making progress and chipping away at the opposing team's health. Earthquake is used over Earth Power to deal more damage to common specially defensive Pokemon like Hisuian Goodra, Empoleon, and Assault Vest Cyclizar. Ice Beam is very useful coverage that targets Flying-, Dragon-, and Grass-type Pokemon that can switch in on Earthquake like Noivern, Flygon, and Chesnaught. Rocky Helmet punishes weak attacks from Pokemon like Cyclizar, Jirachi, and Chesnaught while pairing well with Sticky Hold. Heavy-Duty Boots can help keep Gastrodon healthy on teams lacking reliable entry hazard control. Sticky Hold is the preferred ability, as it enables Gastrodon to act as a Knock Off absorber at little cost to itself, with the additional utility of blocking Trick from Choice Scarf Gardevoir and Jirachi. Tera Ghost provides Gastrodon with invaluable immunities to strong Fighting- and Normal-type attacks, including Slither Wing's Close Combat and Maushold's Population Bomb, and allows it to spinblock Cyclizar. However, Tera Ghost Gastrodon's weakness to Knock Off from attackers like Krookodile and Mienshao can be very detrimental to it, especially as Knock Off's power will always be boosted due to Sticky Hold. Tera Poison is an alternative that provides Gastrodon with an immunity to Toxic from Umbreon and Toxic Chain Fezandipiti, flips its weakness to Grass-type attacks like Giga Drain from Amoonguss, and offers resistances to Fighting-, Bug-, and Fairy-type attacks from offensive threats such as Slither Wing and Mimikyu.
Gastrodon fits best on balance teams that rely on stacking entry hazards to overwhelm the opposing team. Stealth Rock setters such as Jirachi, Registeel, and Krookodile are therefore important partners for Gastrodon. While Gastrodon itself is a reliable Cyclizar answer in these teams, it fails to prevent and punish common Defog users like Talonflame and Galarian Weezing; hence, strong special attackers that can break through these defensive Pokemon, like Volcanion, Armarouge, and Reuniclus, as well as Defiant users that deter Defog, like Bisharp and Galarian Zapdos, can make for great assets to Gastrodon's team. Knock Off users such as Cyclizar, Krookodile, and Galarian Zapdos can further the hazard stacking gameplan by removing Heavy-Duty Boots from defensive Pokemon like Slowbro and Fezandipiti. Late-game cleaners, including the likes of Calm Mind Armarouge, Choice Scarf Gardevoir, and Choice Scarf Krookodile, can operate well in these teams, as they can eliminate many of the common Pokemon in the metagame after marginal chip damage from hazards. Gastrodon's vulnerability to special setup sweepers such as Calm Mind Slowbro, Suicune, and Reuniclus necessitates the presence of Pokemon with access to disruption moves like Encore Jirachi, Taunt Volcanion, and Trick + Choice Scarf Gardevoir that can prevent these sweepers from winning the game outright.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Gastrodon has the ability to set Stealth Rock on teams that lack other entry hazard setters; however, this is not optimal, as Gastrodon becomes passive after just one turn of setting up Stealth Rock, which can allow bulky wallbreakers and sweepers such as Basculegion-F and Calm Mind Slowbro to exploit it without fear of it setting up more hazards. Sludge Bomb is a decent coverage option over Ice Beam that similarly hits Grass-types like Chesnaught while possessing a useful chance to spread poison. Clear Smog is an option that can mitigate Gastrodon's general weakness to setup sweepers, though it can be neutralized by Covert Cloak or Substitute. Leftovers is an alternative defensive item that can improve Gastrodon's longevity. Covert Cloak can also be used to prevent Gastrodon from being affected by moves like Slowbro's Scald and Reuniclus's Psychic Noise. Storm Drain allows Gastrodon to check Water-type wallbreakers such as Barraskewda and Basculegion-F; this is best used on rain teams that appreciate a Water-immune Pokemon that prevents opposing Water-type sweepers from using the rain against them. Earth Power can be used alongside Storm Drain to take advantage of the potential boost.
Checks and Counters
====
**Calm Mind Sweepers**: Bulky Calm Mind sweepers like Slowbro, Suicune, and Reuniclus take little damage from Gastrodon's attacks and can exploit it as setup fodder.
**Grass-type Attacks**: While there is a lack of offensive Grass-type Pokemon in RU, Amoonguss and certain special attackers with Grass-type coverage, such as Energy Ball Armarouge and Reuniclus as well as Grass Knot Empoleon, can threaten Gastrodon with significant damage. Niche picks like Hisuian Lilligant, Wood Hammer Mimikyu, and Tera Blast Grass Magnezone can also prove a challenge for Gastrodon.
**Powerful Physical Wallbreakers**: The strongest physical wallbreakers in the tier, including Choice Band Crawdaunt, Choice Band Slither Wing, and Flame Orb Conkeldurr, can threaten Gastrodon with massive damage, while they themselves don't fear staying in due to Gastrodon's weak offenses and lack of status moves.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sir-tetris.655207/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/machjacob.555741/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rarelyme.513635/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Gastrodon holds a place as one of the premier defensive Spikes setters in the tier. Its good natural bulk, coupled with a fantastic defensive typing that renders it weak only to a rare offensive type in the metagame, ensures that it can be very difficult to take down. Sticky Hold provides Gastrodon with further utility as one of the best Knock Off absorbers available, improving its matchup against Rapid Spin Cyclizar, which is the most common Pokemon in the tier. However, Gastrodon's mediocre attacking stats and lack of status spreading and disruption moves mean that it often struggles to punish setup sweepers like Calm Mind Slowbro and Suicune as well as Dragon Dance Gyarados for staying in. Despite Gastrodon's high HP stat, its low Defense stat leads to strong physical wallbreakers such as Slither Wing, Flame Orb Conkeldurr, and Crawdaunt often being able to take it down. Lastly, its Water / Ground typing's sole weakness comes into play as a vulnerability to Grass-type coverage attacks, including Energy Ball from Armarouge and Grass Knot from Empoleon.
[SET]
Defensive (Gastrodon) @ Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sticky Hold
Tera Type: Ghost / Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Recover
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Spikes is Gastrodon's main tool for making progress and chipping away at the opposing team's health. Earthquake is used over Earth Power to deal more damage to common specially defensive Pokemon like Hisuian Goodra, Empoleon, and Assault Vest Cyclizar. Ice Beam is very useful coverage that targets Flying-, Dragon-, and Grass-type Pokemon that can switch in on Earthquake like Noivern, Flygon, and Chesnaught. Rocky Helmet punishes weak attacks from Pokemon like Cyclizar, Jirachi, and Chesnaught while pairing well with Sticky Hold. Heavy-Duty Boots can help keep Gastrodon healthy on teams lacking reliable entry hazard control. Sticky Hold is the preferred ability, as it enables Gastrodon to act as a Knock Off absorber at little cost to itself, with the additional utility of blocking Trick from Choice Scarf Gardevoir and Jirachi. Tera Ghost provides Gastrodon with invaluable immunities to strong Fighting- and Normal-type attacks, including Slither Wing's Close Combat and Maushold's Population Bomb, and allows it to spinblock Cyclizar. However, Tera Ghost Gastrodon's weakness to Knock Off from attackers like Krookodile and Mienshao can be very detrimental to it, especially as Knock Off's power will always be boosted due to Sticky Hold. Tera Poison is an alternative that provides Gastrodon with an immunity to Toxic from Umbreon and Toxic Chain Fezandipiti, flips its weakness to Grass-type attacks like Giga Drain from Amoonguss, and offers resistances to Fighting-, Bug-, and Fairy-type attacks from offensive threats such as Slither Wing and Mimikyu.
Gastrodon fits best on balance teams that rely on stacking entry hazards to overwhelm the opposing team. Stealth Rock setters such as Jirachi, Registeel, and Krookodile are therefore important partners for Gastrodon. While Gastrodon itself is a reliable Cyclizar answer in these teams, it fails to prevent and punish common Defog users like Talonflame and Galarian Weezing; hence, strong special attackers that can break through these defensive Pokemon, like Volcanion, Armarouge, and Reuniclus, as well as Defiant users that deter Defog, like Bisharp and Galarian Zapdos, can make for great assets to Gastrodon's team. Knock Off users such as Cyclizar, Krookodile, and Galarian Zapdos can further the hazard stacking gameplan by removing Heavy-Duty Boots from defensive Pokemon like Slowbro and Fezandipiti. Late-game cleaners, including the likes of Calm Mind Armarouge, Choice Scarf Gardevoir, and Choice Scarf Krookodile, can operate well in these teams, as they can eliminate many of the common Pokemon in the metagame after marginal chip damage from hazards. Gastrodon's vulnerability to special setup sweepers such as Calm Mind Slowbro, Suicune, and Reuniclus necessitates the presence of Pokemon with access to disruption moves like Encore Jirachi, Taunt Volcanion, and Trick + Choice Scarf Gardevoir that can prevent these sweepers from winning the game outright.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Gastrodon has the ability to set Stealth Rock on teams that lack other entry hazard setters; however, this is not optimal, as Gastrodon becomes passive after just one turn of setting up Stealth Rock, which can allow bulky wallbreakers and sweepers such as Basculegion-F and Calm Mind Slowbro to exploit it without fear of it setting up more hazards. Sludge Bomb is a decent coverage option over Ice Beam that similarly hits Grass-types like Chesnaught while possessing a useful chance to spread poison. Clear Smog is an option that can mitigate Gastrodon's general weakness to setup sweepers, though it can be neutralized by Covert Cloak or Substitute. Leftovers is an alternative defensive item that can improve Gastrodon's longevity. Covert Cloak can also be used to prevent Gastrodon from being affected by moves like Slowbro's Scald and Reuniclus's Psychic Noise. Storm Drain allows Gastrodon to check Water-type wallbreakers such as Barraskewda and Basculegion-F; this is best used on rain teams that appreciate a Water-immune Pokemon that prevents opposing Water-type sweepers from using the rain against them. Earth Power can be used alongside Storm Drain to take advantage of the potential boost.
Checks and Counters
====
**Calm Mind Sweepers**: Bulky Calm Mind sweepers like Slowbro, Suicune, and Reuniclus take little damage from Gastrodon's attacks and can exploit it as setup fodder.
**Grass-type Attacks**: While there is a lack of offensive Grass-type Pokemon in RU, Amoonguss and certain special attackers with Grass-type coverage, such as Energy Ball Armarouge and Reuniclus as well as Grass Knot Empoleon, can threaten Gastrodon with significant damage. Niche picks like Hisuian Lilligant, Wood Hammer Mimikyu, and Tera Blast Grass Magnezone can also prove a challenge for Gastrodon.
**Powerful Physical Wallbreakers**: The strongest physical wallbreakers in the tier, including Choice Band Crawdaunt, Choice Band Slither Wing, and Flame Orb Conkeldurr, can threaten Gastrodon with massive damage, while they themselves don't fear staying in due to Gastrodon's weak offenses and lack of status moves.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sir-tetris.655207/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/machjacob.555741/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rarelyme.513635/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Last edited:
