Pokémon Gastrodon

[farranpoison]

So posting a thread to discuss one of my favorite mons, and IMO a very underrated mon.

#423 Gastrodon

Type: Water/Ground
Base Stats: 111/83/68/92/82/39 (BST: 475)

Abilities:
Sticky Hold (The wielder's item cannot be removed. Increases chance of encountering Pokemon while fishing)
Storm Drain (When hit with a Water-type move, Special Attack is boosted by one stage. All Water-type attacks are drawn to this Pokemon)
HA: Sand Force (Increases power of Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks by 30% in a sandstorm)

General Analysis:
The Rain wall from 5th Gen comes squishing into 6th gen to find itself in a very changed metagame. Permanent weather is gone, and so Gastrodon cannot enjoy the benefits of constant rain, nor will he be sought after to stop the likes of Keldeo, Politoed and Starmie to stop rain sweeps cold. But the little slug has still a lot of qualities to remain viable in the OU environment, with its typing and its Ability Storm Drain, which absorbs any Water move and converts it into a SpA boost. With its fantastic defensive typeing, it boasts resistances to Rock, Fire, Steel, and Poison, as well as immunities to Electric and Water attacks, all common attacks thrown around the OU environment, and only has a weakness to Grass. With access to reliable recovery with Recover, and attacks like Scald and Toxic to threaten status, Gastrodon is a fantastic wall, capable of completely countering the ever-present Rotom-W, and checking or countering new threats like Talonflame, Klefki, Mega Manectric, and Diggersby.

Unfortunately, Gastrodon does have a few things it needs to be wary of. Its Grass weakness is something to be noted, with new threats like Gourgeist, Trevenant, and Mega Venusaur on the rise in usage. It also is by no means an extremely bulky wall, still being threatened by extremely offensive attacks from things like Garchomp and Mega Lucario. Its speed is horrendous, but sometimes it works it its favor, allowing Aegislash to attack first, OHKOing its 252HP/0Def Blade form with Earthquake. Despite these flaws, Gastrodon is a reliable pick to counter Rotom-W, and to partner with any mon that fears Scald or Electric attacks.

Potential Movesets:

Physical Wall
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Relaxed/Bold
252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
-Scald
-Earthquake/Earth Power
-Recover
-Toxic/Ice Beam

The physically defensive set from 5th gen makes a return, and still is Gastrodon's most reliable set. The defensive investment allows it to tank Talonflame's Brave Bird whether it be holding Life Orb or Sky Plate, but a Choice Band is a guaranteed 2HKO. Scald is the attack of choice, making any physical attacker think twice about switching in. Earthquake can be used to hit Specially defensive walls, or Earth Power can be used to benefit from Storm Drain. Recover is a necessity, giving Gastrodon reliable recovery. Toxic is used to threaten Rotom-W or any other wall that tries to switch in, but Ice Beam can also be run to threaten Dragons like Garchomp or Salamence.

Special Attacker
Item: Wise Glasses/Splash Plate
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Modest
172 HP/84 Def/252 SpA
-Surf
-Earth Power
-Ice Beam
-Recover

This set aims to be more of an offensive role, nabbing a Storm Drain Boost and threatening to wallbreak. Unfortunately, this set is more suited in Rain, and with perma-Rain gone, this set needs a lot of support to be viable. However, the surprise factor can be enough to nab some KOs, and a +1 Rain boosted Surf hits quite hard, OHKO or 2HKOing many mons who resist the attack.

Personal Opinion:
With Perma-rain gone, many people have predicted the fall of Gastrodon from OU, which I think is complete crap. While unable to enjoy a constant rain environment, Gastrodon is still one of the best Rotom-W counters, and is bulky enough to check a lot of OU. A Water immunity is amazing as well, seeing as the metagame is more physically oriented, and Scald usage is on the rise. While it hates Grass types, it can act as a great lure, if partnered with the likes of Goodra to abuse Sap Sipper or other mons that can ignore Grass attacks and can threaten the likes of Ferrothorn, Gourgeist, and Trevenant. If played to its strengths, namely its resistances, immunities, and Storm Drain, Gastrodon is something you won't regret to have on your team.

 

[Richitt]

With Rotom W being popular to use against things like Talonflame, there's still going to be a place for Gastrodon.

 

[alphatron]

Gastrodon has never been a good counter to Rotom-W, even in 5th gen. Outside of toxic, it doesn't do anything back. And then you have to cross your fingers and hope that the enemy Rotom-W is either running the scarfed set or isn't running hp grass (which isn't that uncommon).

Add mega venusaur and mega-gyarados to the list of things gastrodon has to worry about now, by the way. The former is obvious, but the latter 2hkos you with +1 waterfall while all you can do back is use toxic (to be fair, gastrodon had trouble with bounce gyarados last gen too). That's kind of my problem with gastrodon right now. The Pokemon that it used to be so good at stopping have either all vanished or don't exist yet (Pre-Pokebank). The remaining popular threats just run a train over you.

I'm not just here to hate though. My experience with gastrodon has been limited to my oppponent's failure this gen. Maybe, I actually need to use it myself to see if it's still worthwhile. After all, I thought defensive moltres was going to suck this gen, but alexwolf was right about it's capabilities.

If we're allowed to discuss triple battles here, where I've actually used gastrodon this gen, it's still pretty great on surf spam teams with politoed and heliolisk/parasect/toxicroak support. Heliolisk covers other water types. Toxicroak feints wide guard users. Parasect gets struggle bug and rage powder.

 

[MilkyWay]

Gastrodon has never been a good counter to Rotom-W, even in 5th gen. Outside of toxic, it doesn't do anything back. And then you have to cross your fingers and hope that the enemy Rotom-W is either running the scarfed set or isn't running hp grass (which isn't that uncommon).

Add mega venusaur and mega-gyarados to the list of things gastrodon has to worry about now, by the way. The former is obvious, but the latter 2hkos you with +1 waterfall while all you can do back is use toxic (to be fair, gastrodon had trouble with bounce gyarados last gen too). That's kind of my problem with gastrodon right now. The Pokemon that it used to be so good at stopping have either all vanished or don't exist yet (Pre-Pokebank). The remaining popular threats just run a train over you.

I'm not just here to hate though. My experience with gastrodon has been limited to my oppponent's failure this gen. Maybe, I actually need to use it myself to see if it's still worthwhile. After all, I thought defensive moltres was going to suck this gen, but alexwolf was right about it's capabilities.

If we're allowed to discuss triple battles here, where I've actually used gastrodon this gen, it's still pretty great on surf spam teams with politoed and heliolisk/parasect/toxicroak support. Heliolisk covers other water types. Toxicroak feints wide guard users. Parasect gets struggle bug and rage powder.

Gastrodon is immune to water attacks...unless your not running storm drain which would be really stupid

Edit: oh my bad forgot about mold breaker

 

[Magnemite]

Gastrodon is immune to water attacks...unless your not running storm drain which would be really stupid

Mega Gyarados has Mold Breaker, so it ignores ability-based immunities.

Gastrodon isn't bad this generation, but it was a fairly niche Pokemon in BW that lost its biggest niche in the transition between generations, so it will most likely be a lower tier Pokemon with a decent enough niche to be used in OU. However, it definitely misses the metagame in which every team needed a way of beating rain, especially since it countered rain so well.

 

[teamdelibird]

I've actually got some good use out of gastrodon so far, on the cartridge. With no RNG pokemon running around, there are practically no hidden power users at all, and I've yet to see a rotom-w running HP grass. But he still can always burn, so it's good to have cleric support.

 

[Dragontamer]

Gastrodon is a fantastic wall, capable of completely countering the ever-present Rotom-W, and checking or countering new threats like Talonflame, Klefki, Mega Manectric, and Diggersby.

252 Atk Choice Band Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 270-318 (63.3 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I don't know if that is a check. Granted, it is pretty hard to check Diggersby. It is a RU / UU wallbreaker. (likewise, I wouldn't expect Gastrodon to be able to check Reckless Hitmonlee, or any other wallbreaker, no matter the tier)

It is also a shaky check vs Talonflame. Without Choice Band, Talonflame dies to suicide Brave Birds, but Gastrodon is pretty much stuck in using "recover". With a Choice Band, Gastrodon fails to be a check at all.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 216-255 (50.7 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Richitt]

Gastrodon has never been a good counter to Rotom-W, even in 5th gen. Outside of toxic, it doesn't do anything back. And then you have to cross your fingers and hope that the enemy Rotom-W is either running the scarfed set or isn't running hp grass (which isn't that uncommon).

It's a good counter because it can pretty much switch into everything Rotom-W uses, except for the rare hp grass, which is rare because the only point to it was to hit gastrodon, more or less. You usually just hit back with toxic and stall it out. If Rotom-W isn't using the scarf set, you're still set if he doesn't have hp grass, because you really don't care about any of its other moves.

 

[farranpoison]

252 Atk Choice Band Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 270-318 (63.3 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I don't know if that is a check. Granted, it is pretty hard to check Diggersby. It is a RU / UU wallbreaker. (likewise, I wouldn't expect Gastrodon to be able to check Reckless Hitmonlee, or any other wallbreaker, no matter the tier)

It is also a shaky check vs Talonflame. Without Choice Band, Talonflame dies to suicide Brave Birds, but Gastrodon is pretty much stuck in using "recover". With a Choice Band, Gastrodon fails to be a check at all.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 216-255 (50.7 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You are correct, Choice Band Diggersby runs over Gastrodon, though it runs over most walls anyway. I was more referring to Choice Scarf Diggersby, which is also fairly common. Perhaps I should have mentioned that.

252 Atk Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 180-213 (42.2 - 50%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 198-234 (46.4 - 54.9%) -- 10.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

And I did say that it basically checks Talonflame... if it doesn't have CB. Sky Plate and Life Orb are both used as well as Choice Band, which is why I thought it was worth mentioning.

Pretty much, a lot of Gastrodon's utility comes from the fact that pretty much no one is running HP Grass on threats like Mega Manectric, Rotom forms, etc. But even then, I feel that Gastrodon can switch into a lot of Water attacks that are still common this gen, rain or no. Sure, Gastrodon can't take physical hits as well as a lot of physical walls, but I tend to abuse his immunities and resistances rather than just straight up making him tank any hit.

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

Just saying, I love this slug. Anything immune to greninja's, Rotom's and Gyarados's main stab moves and can kill them faster than they can kill it with coverage (or protean STAB moves) makes me happy. Not to mention all the other applications of a water ground type. With how few grass type moves there are, and how common its resistances/immunities are, I think its still completely viable. I just have 2 questions, is sludge bomb at all viable, and how do I get an eastern gastrodon (blue) on showdown?

 

[vonK]

Just saying, I love this slug. Anything immune to greninja's, Rotom's and Gyarados's main stab moves and can kill them faster than they can kill it with coverage (or protean STAB moves) makes me happy. Not to mention all the other applications of a water ground type. With how few grass type moves there are, and how common its resistances/immunities are, I think its still completely viable. I just have 2 questions, is sludge bomb at all viable, and how do I get an eastern gastrodon (blue) on showdown?

You should be careful about using Gastrodon to check Greninja, especially since 20% of Greninjas pack Grass Knot, which OHKO's the slug handily. Also I don't think Showdown allows eastern Gastrodons yet.

At the moment I'm a huge fan of Scald/Recover/Infestation/Toxic Gastrodon. He's great at breaking up defensive cores by eliminating pokemon like Skarmory/Mandibuzz(not carrying whirlwind)/Slowbro (not running Grass Knot) which don't tend to switch out when they see him and can't hit back harder than he can regenerate.

 

[SansNickel]

Gastrodon gets infestation. I've been using the defensive set with Scald/Toxic/Infestation/Recover to great success. When you're with Rotom-W (which is everywhere), they will always try to burn you first, thinking they can switch out later, and that's when you use infestation. Add toxic to that and you have a trapped dead Rotom-W. Also, against Chesto/Rest sets, you will always have more PP (you will win the stall battle). If they switch out once infestation wears out, they have a sleeping rotom-w, which means when they switch it in they lose momentum.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Rescuing from page 8.

Gastrodon is a pretty decent mon now. This is mainly due to its ability to beat both weather teams reliably, counter most-all electric-types, beat VoltTurn, and destroy Heatran. btw I like using Earth Power > EQ just in case Gastrodon has to switch in on Rotom-W and gets burnt.

It faces competition from the four big bulky waters (Slowbro, Alomomola, Quagsire, Suicune), but is able to differentiate itself with its mixed bulk, two immunities, and offensive presence, especially at +1.

Btw has anyone tried offensive (3 attacks + recover) or curse sets? I've heard of them, but I'd never really consider dropping Toxic.

 

[escarlata]

Rescuing from page 8.

Gastrodon is a pretty decent mon now. This is mainly due to its ability to beat both weather teams reliably, counter most-all electric-types, beat VoltTurn, and destroy Heatran. btw I like using Earth Power > EQ just in case Gastrodon has to switch in on Rotom-W and gets burnt.

It faces competition from the four big bulky waters (Slowbro, Alomomola, Quagsire, Suicune), but is able to differentiate itself with its mixed bulk, two immunities, and offensive presence, especially at +1.

Btw has anyone tried offensive (3 attacks + recover) or curse sets? I've heard of them, but I'd never really consider dropping Toxic.

I have tried the curse set before and it is actually quite good in practice, but pretty situational. However, it is really good against sand offense. As long as the grass attackers are gone, it almost gets a auto win assuming no crit happens. The thing about sand offense is that usually the only special attackers are either charizard, venusaur, or keldeo. Since Charizard and Venusaur cannot be used together, there is only 1 member gone for you to set up.
It is also pretty good against rain teams that drops the tornadus for an electric type, just needs kingdra/omastar to be gone to do some work.
However, I don't really find it that good against balance and bulky offense in general because it needs to many boosts to be effective, and said boosts only can be obtained against weather offense. Ferrothorn is a problem too, but Magnezone is a pretty good partner anyway.
Overall, I'd say that curse set is pretty worth using if weather is a problem for the team. The set I have used is:

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Recover

Scald is actually pretty vital over Waterfall so that Scizor doesn't set up on you and ruin your fun.

 

[Taliheim]

This thing is about to get its big break: Rain teams are on the rise. I'm expecting the usage of this to rise, albeit gradually - once Rain becomes big enough to be something you think about while teambuilding, Gastrodon will be the go-to panic 6th mon for teams weak to it, not to mention that rain teams themselves will be using it, as water-type moves are common, its STAB gets boosted, stops cold opposing pokemon trying to abuse the rain, and the much-sought after electric immunity. Heck, this thing might even rise to C+. It still won't be what it was in BW, but its niche is definitely getting bigger.

 

[DC-Shadow_Blaze]

Gastrodon has remained one of my most trusted mons through this gen.

While it hasn't been touched upon in this thread, Clear Smog is another strong niche it holds over other bulky waters. Both of its STABs are feared by steel types, so Clear Smog becomes spammable rather quickly. It also avoids taunt, which can help greatly against Lum Berry Gyarados.

 

[Yamborski]

I have tried the curse set before and it is actually quite good in practice, but pretty situational. However, it is really good against sand offense. As long as the grass attackers are gone, it almost gets a auto win assuming no crit happens. The thing about sand offense is that usually the only special attackers are either charizard, venusaur, or keldeo. Since Charizard and Venusaur cannot be used together, there is only 1 member gone for you to set up.
It is also pretty good against rain teams that drops the tornadus for an electric type, just needs kingdra/omastar to be gone to do some work.
However, I don't really find it that good against balance and bulky offense in general because it needs to many boosts to be effective, and said boosts only can be obtained against weather offense. Ferrothorn is a problem too, but Magnezone is a pretty good partner anyway.
Overall, I'd say that curse set is pretty worth using if weather is a problem for the team. The set I have used is:

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Recover

Scald is actually pretty vital over Waterfall so that Scizor doesn't set up on you and ruin your fun.

Probably not a huge deal but if Ferro is burned on the switch in it actually loses to Gastro (barring a crit though it still won't OHKO). Relaxed Gastro outruns 0 IV Ferro even at -2 speed so it can easily Curse / Recover spam in its face.

4 Atk burned Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 152-180 (35.6 - 42.2%)
4 Atk burned Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 114-134 (26.7 - 31.4%)
4 Atk burned Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon on a critical hit: 338-398 (79.3 - 93.4%)

+2 0 Atk Gastrodon Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 124-147 (35.2 - 41.7%)

Leech Seed is kind of annoying but I wouldn't count on Ferro as an end all Gastro counter. It can be worn down and defeated easier than you might think. I haven't had a chance to use the set yet but it seems really cool.