Intro
Today we will be discussing why Gastrodon is better, or at least just as good as Swampert. Gastrodon is UU, and our famous mudskipper is OU, a rather huge difference, don’t you think? I think people have knocked Gastrodon too fast. Now we will look at different aspects of both Pokemon.
Standard movesets
Let us look at the most common movesets. Other options will be worked out further when we’ll discuss movepools. These movesets will also be used for any calculation.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Relaxed : Sticky Hold
252 HP, 252 DF, 6 AT
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Surf / Toxic
Now for some short commentary; because Gastrodon is more of a wall than anything, you’ll want to max out its HP. Physical sweepers are much more common, and Defense is Gastrodon’s highest of the two defenses, so we will be maxing out that too. The last 6 EVs go in Attack.
The moves are pretty much straight forward. Earthquake is a strong STAB attack and combined with Ice Beam Gastrodon achieves great type coverage. Recover is an obvious choice to compliment Gastrodon’s survivability. The last slot can contain Toxic, for breaking down walls and bulky sweepers. Another possibility is Surf, which will hit 1HKO Donphan and Hippowdon, and increase your type coverage.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed : Torrent
240 HP, 212 DF, 56 SA
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Roar / Surf
As you can see, the EV spread has changed a little. However, it is still based around physical walling. 56 SA EVs are needed to OHKO Salamence (Gastrodon doesn’t need EVs for that). 240 HP lets Swampert survive 5 Seismic Tosses from Blissey, and the rest is dumped into Defense.
The moveset differs slightly as well. Earthquake and Ice Beam for great type coverage are still on there, but there’s no Recover. Swampert does have Stealth Rock on its set though. The last move can be Surf again (for reasons stated above), or Roar, which makes Swampert into a great phazer.
Capability of taking hits on both ends of the spectrum
We will now look at some damage calculations. These include an attack from Pokemon Swampert has to deal a lot with, on both the physical and the special side. Swampert’s Defense and Special Defense base stat is higher than Gastrodon’s, but Gastrodon has higher HP. Let’s see how that turns out.
Max Attack Adamant Scarf Garchomp Outrage
Gastrodon: 46.71% – 54.93%
Swampert: 43.25% – 51.00%
Max Attack Jolly Weavile Night Slash
Gastrodon: 23.71% - 27.93%
Swampert: 22.00% - 26.00%
Swampert takes physical hits around 7% better. Meaning if Gastrodon would take 100% from a physical attack, Swampert would only take 93%. Swampert and Gastrodon can easily survive a Sword Dance Outrage from the common Jolly Garchomp, and take 2 hits from a Swords Dance Weavile, facoring in Leftovers recovery.
Max Special Attack Timid Gengar Shadow Ball:
Gastrodon: 33.33% - 39.20%
Swampert: 33.00% - 39.20%
Max Special Attack Modest Yanmega Bug Buzz:
Gastrodon: 38.03% - 44.84%
Swampert: 37.75% - 44.25%
Now, Swampert only takes special hits 1% better. That difference is really neglectible. Also, I forgot to mention that Grass Knot’s on Gastrodon only has 60 base power comared to Swampert’s 80. So in a way, Gastrodon even takes special hits a bit better!
Attacking strenght
Swampert also has quite a lot more Attack than Gastrodon does. Gastrodon has the higher Special Attack. With these movesets, their Special Attack will be exactly the same though. As you can see, Swampert needed 56 EVs to reach that number (it is pure coincidence that this number 220 is also needed to OHKO Salamence). For that reason, I will only show calculations with Earthquake against commonly seen Pokemon.
Earthquake on standard Choice Band Metagross
Gastrodon: 41.48% - 48.63%
Swampert: 51.65% - 60.99%
Earthquake on standard Choice Band Tyranitar / Tyraniboah
Gastrodon: 43.32% - 51.00%
Swampert: 53.71% - 63.12%
Earthquake on standard Electivire
Gastrodon: 90.00% - 105.50%
Swampert: 113.06% - 132.00%
Earthquake on standard Weavile
Gastrodon: 48.00% - 55.87%
Swampert: 59.76% - 70.46%
This is a little let down. Gastrodon fails to 2HKO max HP Tyranitar and Metagross, where Swampert doesn’t. This doesn’t mean Gastrodon can’t wall them, it just means they will be able to hit Gastrodon once more before they die. With Stealth Rock up, Gastrodon will always OHKO Electivire, and have a good shot at 2HKO’ing Tyranitar. I was happy to see Gastrodon still 2HKO’s Weavile (unless he hits for minimum damage twice).
Movepool and other options
Now we will discuss what else these two Pokemon can do. I will list the most usable moves of both of them.
Gastrodon: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Surf, Recover, Toxic, Body Slam, Stone Edge, Rest, Sleep Talk, Yawn, Counter, Mirror Coat, Stockpile, Curse, Amnesia.
Swampert: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Surf, Waterfall, Avalanche, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Toxic, Roar, Rest, Sleep Talk, Counter, Mirror Coat, Curse.
As you can see, the only thing Swampert has over Gastrodon are Stealth Rock and Roar. It’s also a pity Gastrodon doesn’t get access to Hammer Arm, as it would help him fight Tyranitar even better.
On the other hand, Gastrodon has a huge plus in Recover, combined with Curse, Stockpile, or Amnesia. That’s something Swampert would love! Gastrodon also has Body Slam to spread Paralysis, and can attempt to pseudo pseudo haze with Yawn. I wanna see Gastrodon in OU with a Recover, Stockpile, Earthquacke, Toxic moveset. Or what about Amnesia, Recover, Counter, Surf?
Conclusion
I think Gastrodon should move way up in the tiers. If you can get something else to lay Stealth Rock, it walls better than Swampert anyday. I’m asking you to read this in its whole, and tell me your opinion.
Today we will be discussing why Gastrodon is better, or at least just as good as Swampert. Gastrodon is UU, and our famous mudskipper is OU, a rather huge difference, don’t you think? I think people have knocked Gastrodon too fast. Now we will look at different aspects of both Pokemon.
Standard movesets
Let us look at the most common movesets. Other options will be worked out further when we’ll discuss movepools. These movesets will also be used for any calculation.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Relaxed : Sticky Hold
252 HP, 252 DF, 6 AT
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Surf / Toxic
Now for some short commentary; because Gastrodon is more of a wall than anything, you’ll want to max out its HP. Physical sweepers are much more common, and Defense is Gastrodon’s highest of the two defenses, so we will be maxing out that too. The last 6 EVs go in Attack.
The moves are pretty much straight forward. Earthquake is a strong STAB attack and combined with Ice Beam Gastrodon achieves great type coverage. Recover is an obvious choice to compliment Gastrodon’s survivability. The last slot can contain Toxic, for breaking down walls and bulky sweepers. Another possibility is Surf, which will hit 1HKO Donphan and Hippowdon, and increase your type coverage.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed : Torrent
240 HP, 212 DF, 56 SA
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Roar / Surf
As you can see, the EV spread has changed a little. However, it is still based around physical walling. 56 SA EVs are needed to OHKO Salamence (Gastrodon doesn’t need EVs for that). 240 HP lets Swampert survive 5 Seismic Tosses from Blissey, and the rest is dumped into Defense.
The moveset differs slightly as well. Earthquake and Ice Beam for great type coverage are still on there, but there’s no Recover. Swampert does have Stealth Rock on its set though. The last move can be Surf again (for reasons stated above), or Roar, which makes Swampert into a great phazer.
Capability of taking hits on both ends of the spectrum
We will now look at some damage calculations. These include an attack from Pokemon Swampert has to deal a lot with, on both the physical and the special side. Swampert’s Defense and Special Defense base stat is higher than Gastrodon’s, but Gastrodon has higher HP. Let’s see how that turns out.
Max Attack Adamant Scarf Garchomp Outrage
Gastrodon: 46.71% – 54.93%
Swampert: 43.25% – 51.00%
Max Attack Jolly Weavile Night Slash
Gastrodon: 23.71% - 27.93%
Swampert: 22.00% - 26.00%
Swampert takes physical hits around 7% better. Meaning if Gastrodon would take 100% from a physical attack, Swampert would only take 93%. Swampert and Gastrodon can easily survive a Sword Dance Outrage from the common Jolly Garchomp, and take 2 hits from a Swords Dance Weavile, facoring in Leftovers recovery.
Max Special Attack Timid Gengar Shadow Ball:
Gastrodon: 33.33% - 39.20%
Swampert: 33.00% - 39.20%
Max Special Attack Modest Yanmega Bug Buzz:
Gastrodon: 38.03% - 44.84%
Swampert: 37.75% - 44.25%
Now, Swampert only takes special hits 1% better. That difference is really neglectible. Also, I forgot to mention that Grass Knot’s on Gastrodon only has 60 base power comared to Swampert’s 80. So in a way, Gastrodon even takes special hits a bit better!
Attacking strenght
Swampert also has quite a lot more Attack than Gastrodon does. Gastrodon has the higher Special Attack. With these movesets, their Special Attack will be exactly the same though. As you can see, Swampert needed 56 EVs to reach that number (it is pure coincidence that this number 220 is also needed to OHKO Salamence). For that reason, I will only show calculations with Earthquake against commonly seen Pokemon.
Earthquake on standard Choice Band Metagross
Gastrodon: 41.48% - 48.63%
Swampert: 51.65% - 60.99%
Earthquake on standard Choice Band Tyranitar / Tyraniboah
Gastrodon: 43.32% - 51.00%
Swampert: 53.71% - 63.12%
Earthquake on standard Electivire
Gastrodon: 90.00% - 105.50%
Swampert: 113.06% - 132.00%
Earthquake on standard Weavile
Gastrodon: 48.00% - 55.87%
Swampert: 59.76% - 70.46%
This is a little let down. Gastrodon fails to 2HKO max HP Tyranitar and Metagross, where Swampert doesn’t. This doesn’t mean Gastrodon can’t wall them, it just means they will be able to hit Gastrodon once more before they die. With Stealth Rock up, Gastrodon will always OHKO Electivire, and have a good shot at 2HKO’ing Tyranitar. I was happy to see Gastrodon still 2HKO’s Weavile (unless he hits for minimum damage twice).
Movepool and other options
Now we will discuss what else these two Pokemon can do. I will list the most usable moves of both of them.
Gastrodon: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Surf, Recover, Toxic, Body Slam, Stone Edge, Rest, Sleep Talk, Yawn, Counter, Mirror Coat, Stockpile, Curse, Amnesia.
Swampert: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Surf, Waterfall, Avalanche, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Toxic, Roar, Rest, Sleep Talk, Counter, Mirror Coat, Curse.
As you can see, the only thing Swampert has over Gastrodon are Stealth Rock and Roar. It’s also a pity Gastrodon doesn’t get access to Hammer Arm, as it would help him fight Tyranitar even better.
On the other hand, Gastrodon has a huge plus in Recover, combined with Curse, Stockpile, or Amnesia. That’s something Swampert would love! Gastrodon also has Body Slam to spread Paralysis, and can attempt to pseudo pseudo haze with Yawn. I wanna see Gastrodon in OU with a Recover, Stockpile, Earthquacke, Toxic moveset. Or what about Amnesia, Recover, Counter, Surf?
Conclusion
I think Gastrodon should move way up in the tiers. If you can get something else to lay Stealth Rock, it walls better than Swampert anyday. I’m asking you to read this in its whole, and tell me your opinion.
).
