[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 6-8 points
**Overview**: Gastrodon is a defensive entry hazard setter that can check many dangerous offensive threats due to its combination of good bulk, reliable recovery, and useful resistances and immunities. Its offensive stats are merely adequate, but it can stave off some Pokemon that try to use it as setup fodder with moves like Clear Smog and Yawn. However, Gastrodon suffers from a major weakness to Grass that limits its capabilities as a wall. Furthermore, its lack of pivoting moves, poor offenses, and inability to reliably spread status can turn it into a momentum sink in some matchups.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Utility**: Gastrodon can take advantage of Pokemon that can't break through its bulk by setting Stealth Rock and Spikes. It can also spread status with Yawn and interrupt foes' attempts to set up with Clear Smog or Chilling Water.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Surf, Hydro Pump, Liquidation, Earthquake, Earth Power
**Setup Moves**: Curse
**Utility Moves**: Spikes, Stealth Rock, Clear Smog, Chilling Water, Memento, Recover, Substitute, Yawn
**Coverage**: Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Stone Edge
Niche Moves
========
**Whirlpool / Sand Tomb**: Whirlpool and Sand Tomb trap targets that Gastrodon can outlast through a combination of residual damage and health recovery. These moves can be used interchangeably to account for foes' resistances and immunities.
**Counter / Mirror Coat**: Gastrodon can surprise foes that expect to dispatch it without trouble by returning the damage dealt to it twofold using Counter or Mirror Coat.
**Bulldoze / Icy Wind**: Bulldoze and Icy Wind are options to lower the Speed of a threatening cleaner or setup sweeper so that it can be revenge killed later.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Leftovers makes Gastrodon less reliant on finding turns to heal with Recover to keep its health high.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Gastrodon resists Stealth Rock, but it still enjoys not having to worry about Spikes and Toxic Spikes, which can whittle away its health over the course of a battle.
**Rocky Helmet**: With Defense investment, Gastrodon is a serviceable Rocky Helmet user, especially against resisted hits. It can be paired with Sticky Hold as a niche way to punish weak Knock Off users.
Niche Items
========
**Rindo Berry**: Many Grass-type Pokemon will seek to exploit Gastrodon's 4x weakness, but a Rindo Berry gives it an opportunity to tank one hit and possibly KO the attacker in return with Ice Beam.
**Eject Button**: Gastrodon can become a one-time pivot with Eject Button, helping it position more dangerous offensive threats on the field.
Tera
========
Gastrodon should not be a Tera Captain, as its type combination is already attractive, and it has almost no potential as a setup sweeper. If given the ability to use Tera anyway, Gastrodon should choose Tera types that help cover its Grass weakness, such as Tera Poison and Steel, which come with the added benefit of an immunity to poison.
Draft Strategy
========
Gastrodon offers little to a team other than defensive utility and entry hazard setting. While its type combination may be its biggest strength, it can also be one of its biggest weaknesses due to its vulnerability to Grass-type moves. Teams that rely on Gastrodon as their special wall or hazard setter will have to keep contingencies in mind to mitigate this downside.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Gastrodon is primarily a special wall, so to make an effective core, it should be paired with Pokemon that are more physically defensive, such as Metagross, Corviknight, and Archaludon.
**Sweepers / Cleaners**: The entry hazards set by Gastrodon can enable setup sweepers and cleaners like Iron Valiant, Greninja, and Latios to finish off weakened teams that have taken too much chip damage to withstand their attacks.
**Grass-resistant Teammates**: The presence of Gastrodon on a team will almost invariably invite Grass-type coverage and Grass-type Pokemon to attempt to take advantage of its sole weakness. As such, Grass-resistant Pokemon such as Gouging Fire, Corviknight, and Heatran should be considered as partners to counteract this.
Checks and Counters
========
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Gastrodon's Defense is not horrible, but it is usually insufficient to make it a solid switch-in against most strong physical attackers.
**Grass-types**: Offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom, Meowscarada, and all formes of Ogerpon can force Gastrodon to switch out or face extermination by exploiting its quadruple weakness.
**Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-type coverage moves from Pokemon such as Thundurus-T, Iron Moth, and Manaphy can turn Pokemon that Gastrodon is meant to wall into very threatening foes.
**Substitute**: The effects of Chilling Water, Clear Smog, and Yawn are all blocked by Substitute, and Gastrodon lacks any other options to prevent setup sweepers from taking advantage of its relative passivity once its foes are safely insulated from its utility moves.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/guertena.582655/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 6-8 points
**Overview**: Gastrodon is a defensive entry hazard setter that can check many dangerous offensive threats due to its combination of good bulk, reliable recovery, and useful resistances and immunities. Its offensive stats are merely adequate, but it can stave off some Pokemon that try to use it as setup fodder with moves like Clear Smog and Yawn. However, Gastrodon suffers from a major weakness to Grass that limits its capabilities as a wall. Furthermore, its lack of pivoting moves, poor offenses, and inability to reliably spread status can turn it into a momentum sink in some matchups.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Utility**: Gastrodon can take advantage of Pokemon that can't break through its bulk by setting Stealth Rock and Spikes. It can also spread status with Yawn and interrupt foes' attempts to set up with Clear Smog or Chilling Water.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Surf, Hydro Pump, Liquidation, Earthquake, Earth Power
**Setup Moves**: Curse
**Utility Moves**: Spikes, Stealth Rock, Clear Smog, Chilling Water, Memento, Recover, Substitute, Yawn
**Coverage**: Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Stone Edge
Niche Moves
========
**Whirlpool / Sand Tomb**: Whirlpool and Sand Tomb trap targets that Gastrodon can outlast through a combination of residual damage and health recovery. These moves can be used interchangeably to account for foes' resistances and immunities.
**Counter / Mirror Coat**: Gastrodon can surprise foes that expect to dispatch it without trouble by returning the damage dealt to it twofold using Counter or Mirror Coat.
**Bulldoze / Icy Wind**: Bulldoze and Icy Wind are options to lower the Speed of a threatening cleaner or setup sweeper so that it can be revenge killed later.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Leftovers makes Gastrodon less reliant on finding turns to heal with Recover to keep its health high.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Gastrodon resists Stealth Rock, but it still enjoys not having to worry about Spikes and Toxic Spikes, which can whittle away its health over the course of a battle.
**Rocky Helmet**: With Defense investment, Gastrodon is a serviceable Rocky Helmet user, especially against resisted hits. It can be paired with Sticky Hold as a niche way to punish weak Knock Off users.
Niche Items
========
**Rindo Berry**: Many Grass-type Pokemon will seek to exploit Gastrodon's 4x weakness, but a Rindo Berry gives it an opportunity to tank one hit and possibly KO the attacker in return with Ice Beam.
**Eject Button**: Gastrodon can become a one-time pivot with Eject Button, helping it position more dangerous offensive threats on the field.
Tera
========
Gastrodon should not be a Tera Captain, as its type combination is already attractive, and it has almost no potential as a setup sweeper. If given the ability to use Tera anyway, Gastrodon should choose Tera types that help cover its Grass weakness, such as Tera Poison and Steel, which come with the added benefit of an immunity to poison.
Draft Strategy
========
Gastrodon offers little to a team other than defensive utility and entry hazard setting. While its type combination may be its biggest strength, it can also be one of its biggest weaknesses due to its vulnerability to Grass-type moves. Teams that rely on Gastrodon as their special wall or hazard setter will have to keep contingencies in mind to mitigate this downside.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Gastrodon is primarily a special wall, so to make an effective core, it should be paired with Pokemon that are more physically defensive, such as Metagross, Corviknight, and Archaludon.
**Sweepers / Cleaners**: The entry hazards set by Gastrodon can enable setup sweepers and cleaners like Iron Valiant, Greninja, and Latios to finish off weakened teams that have taken too much chip damage to withstand their attacks.
**Grass-resistant Teammates**: The presence of Gastrodon on a team will almost invariably invite Grass-type coverage and Grass-type Pokemon to attempt to take advantage of its sole weakness. As such, Grass-resistant Pokemon such as Gouging Fire, Corviknight, and Heatran should be considered as partners to counteract this.
Checks and Counters
========
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Gastrodon's Defense is not horrible, but it is usually insufficient to make it a solid switch-in against most strong physical attackers.
**Grass-types**: Offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom, Meowscarada, and all formes of Ogerpon can force Gastrodon to switch out or face extermination by exploiting its quadruple weakness.
**Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-type coverage moves from Pokemon such as Thundurus-T, Iron Moth, and Manaphy can turn Pokemon that Gastrodon is meant to wall into very threatening foes.
**Substitute**: The effects of Chilling Water, Clear Smog, and Yawn are all blocked by Substitute, and Gastrodon lacks any other options to prevent setup sweepers from taking advantage of its relative passivity once its foes are safely insulated from its utility moves.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/guertena.582655/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
Last edited:
