Pokémon Great Tusk

Immortal said:
What tusk set are most people running these days? The offensive set doesn't seem to be very effective anymore
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Not sure, i'm using:

Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat

not sure if it's optimal or not
 
Ive been using this set to punish glimmora and trick gholdengo and running this on a team with booster iron valiant
Great Tusk @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Taunt

and this valiant set to use for gholdengo and sweep
Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt

these sets punish switches into gholdengo and corv. These are usually your core however you can run a shed tail or even a defense core with something like garganacl which covers these mons very well.
 
Here are some Great Tusk sets I be running

Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Knock Off

Simple 4 Attacks wallbreaker with Booster Energy. I was carrying Grass because I hated matchups against Palafin at the time. But now I recommend Fighting, because after a Booster Energy and Fighting Tera Close Combat nukes the whole metagame. The movesets are all pretty standard I really like Ice Spinner to immediately nuke shit like Dragonite when they try to set up.

Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Ice Spinner / Rapid Spin
- Earthquake / Knock Off
- Close Combat

I run this set on HO, specifically to combat DDance Dragonite on other HO teams. This spread guarantees that Speed triggers with Booster Energy while having it's Attack and Defense as high as physically possible. If the team has zero issues with DNite, you can slit in Spin since it can double as excellent hazard control on HO, while ensuring that common Scarf and Booster Energy users like Valiant and Chi Yu didn't outspeed you. On a spin HO set I suggest going CC Spin Knock Off so that you are not walled to hell by Gholdengo, since Dark Fighting is actually solid coverage.

Great Tusk @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

This is the most recent set I've been running, and it honestly works like a dream. AV is less like a means of being a true Special Wall, and more like a stopgap, essentially allowing Great Tusk to live a lot of moves it has no business doing, and it's natural attack stat is still insane enough to nail most offensive Pokémon, while it's natural defense stat still means it can check physical Pokémon that do not hit it for SE damage quite well. It's just a fun all around Pokémon to put on offense, and I've found it's the set that can spin the most consistently on Gholdengo so that's great.
 
Seconding that AV is pretty cool. Still does Tusk things but you can actually take some special hits now and OHKO back:
252 SpA Choice Specs Sheer Force Chi-Yu Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Great Tusk: 253-298 (58.2 - 68.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*

252 SpA Choice Specs Sheer Force Chi-Yu Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Great Tusk: 276-326 (63.5 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*

252 SpA Choice Specs Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Great Tusk: 210-247 (48.3 - 56.9%) -- 94% max after two hits

252 SpA Glimmora (Tera Grass) Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Great Tusk: 206-246 (47.4 - 56.6%) -- 85.5% chance to 2HKO

(*Sheer Force since Beads of Ruin isn’t currently working on the calc, so it takes this a bit better in reality.)
Bulk isn’t crazy and I think Tusk’s attack is still worth exploring—for example, 100 HP / 156+ Atk / 252 SpD takes 60% max from Specs Pult’s Draco and OHKO’s back with Knock after SR. Of course it’s not hard switching into these threats in most cases, but AV allows Tusk to either check or trade with the tier’s special powerhouses when it’s healthy, something most offensive teams can’t do without screen support, as well as more reliably win the hazard war vs Glimmora.
 
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Easily one of the best pokemon in the tier. It is like Rhyperior on steroids, with Rapin Spin, a lot faster and no quadruple weaknesses. It also hits incredibly hard and destroys Gholdengo. It can be a little slow a times and frail on the special side but still outstanding.
 
Due to the recent shifts in the metagame I have found my self using Great Tusk more offensively. It doesn't really need to run AV or put tons of evs into bulk anymore due to hyper offensive taking a hit. Many of the things it is supposed check I don't see nearly as often. Plus it's Stabs hit almost everything for at least neutral damage and is a good lategame cleaner at +1.
 
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
ive been using this set from the hatt core, dk what the evs in def are for exactly tho
 
wut said:
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
ive been using this set from the hatt core, dk what the evs in def are for exactly tho
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When looking at EV spreads like this, it is better to look at the Spe stat first, the rest are likely just dumped into Def to maximise bulk after hitting the Spe breakpoint.
In the case of this set, 68 Spe puts you at 340 Spe after Rapid Spin, which outspeeds base 105s like unboosted Espathra and Pawmot.
0 Spe would instead result in a Spe stat of 315 after Spin, which is slower than the likes Chomp, and Volcarona in addition of the ones mentioned above.
 
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TH1N3 H4MM3R said:
tough question but who do you think is better great tusk or lando t?
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Lando-T and by far, even without Defog, Knock or Toxic is way more versatile than Great Tusk is ever going to be. SD, U-Turn and Explosion are cool tools that Tusk lacks. The defensive typing and Intimidate is also better than Tusks bulk. With Lando-T in the meta, Tusk is going to lose the S rank Status quickly.
 
Eeveeto said:
Lando-T and by far, even without Defog, Knock or Toxic is way more versatile than Great Tusk is ever going to be. SD, U-Turn and Explosion are cool tools that Tusk lacks. The defensive typing and Intimidate is also better than Tusks bulk. With Lando-T in the meta, Tusk is going to lose the S rank Status quickly.
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More versatile, yes. Lando will reprise its mixed pivot role with a much better longevity and U-turn, and has sets to explore further. However, the loss of those support options is still gonna give Tusk real use cases over Lando. In addition to having spin and Knock, Tusk is also stronger and considerably more physically bulky than Lando even factoring Intimidate. We’ll probably see the same Tusk sets we already have, albeit more dedicated physical tanking ones. Offensive sets like BU and CB also comes to mind since Tusk has can utilize its secondary STAB better than Lando can and ofc still has Protosynthesis for boosting either Defense or Attack.
 
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I'm willing to bet that when Lando-T comes out, Tusk will take a hit in usage and some of his sets will drop off as ones Lando does better. That said I still expect pretty good usage for him because the roles he does well, he's min-maxed to hell and back for so he'll keep doing those.

One thing in Great Tusk's favor for me is that as a glue mon her just seems a lot more sturdy overall than Lando thanks to the higher-even-with-Intimidate Bulk (and comparable ATK so he can afford to invest in it as much as Lando), much better Hazard resilience thanks to Rock 4x resist instead of neutrality (letting him run Leftovers more easily if he's not doing Boots as your Spinner) against teams without momentum to Spike-Stack, and things like Rapid Spin's Speed Boost give his sets a little side potential like lategame clean up after a boost.

Lando-T can be something of an anomaly in how it always finds a way to work (SpD is not something I would have expected it to pull off as well as it did last gen), but I think sooner or later the power creep is going to catch-up enough that he has to specialize, and the versatility being a big component of his omnipresence would give him trouble maintaining his throne.

Tusk (and maybe Gholdengo) are the first Pokemon I've seen in a while where the possibility of matching Balance Lion isn't just a Facebook-commenter meme
 
guys first off lando is a tiger
-second, im so glad (as a stall player lately) tusk is getting less use and lando loses knock
there are legit 4 mons in ou w/ knock as of rn
 
pika pal said:
I'm willing to bet that when Lando-T comes out, Tusk will take a hit in usage and some of his sets will drop off as ones Lando does better. That said I still expect pretty good usage for him because the roles he does well, he's min-maxed to hell and back for so he'll keep doing those.

One thing in Great Tusk's favor for me is that as a glue mon her just seems a lot more sturdy overall than Lando thanks to the higher-even-with-Intimidate Bulk (and comparable ATK so he can afford to invest in it as much as Lando), much better Hazard resilience thanks to Rock 4x resist instead of neutrality (letting him run Leftovers more easily if he's not doing Boots as your Spinner) against teams without momentum to Spike-Stack, and things like Rapid Spin's Speed Boost give his sets a little side potential like lategame clean up after a boost.

Lando-T can be something of an anomaly in how it always finds a way to work (SpD is not something I would have expected it to pull off as well as it did last gen), but I think sooner or later the power creep is going to catch-up enough that he has to specialize, and the versatility being a big component of his omnipresence would give him trouble maintaining his throne.

Tusk (and maybe Gholdengo) are the first Pokemon I've seen in a while where the possibility of matching Balance Lion isn't just a Facebook-commenter meme
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Lando doesn't do a lot of things that Tusk does. Tusk removes hazards with rapid spin which Lando can't, and Tusk can remove items with knock off (which Lando doesn't have). Tusk also has better offensive capability thanks to strong STAB like Close Combat and Headlong Rush.

Lando is a better wall overall but it doesn't have that much overlap with Tusk in its roles, aside from being a ground type
 
Hi guys, EVs are all over the place ITT. A simple rule of thumb with defensive Tusk is to use 252 HP EVs with Leftovers, and 240 without, so that Rocky Helmet/Spikes/Salt Cure/Poison etc. damage rounds down.

viol and bass said:
Seems to me that this is one of the few ground types ever where Protective Pads could be a legit option.
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It should be less niche because Protective Pads and Leftovers are Tusk's only reliable way to mitigate contact damage/effects. Personally, I would sooner use PP than HDB because 1/6th chip from Rocky Helmet is just awful.

Talpr0ne said:
I'm not sure if there is any notable benchmark that Headlong Rush gets but Earthquake fails to reach.
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The main difference is that uninvested Headlong Rush guarantees the OHKO on Gholdengo, and Flutter Mane in Ubers. I prefer EQ in OU for being non-contact.
 
I have some success with a scarf that let it outspeed and OHKO some threat that don't expect it

Great Tusk @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Headlong Rush
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Here is a replay where great tusk finish off some faster mon: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1771508821

Not sure about the Tera Type as I don't use it on him often.
I'm also thinking about replacing rapid spin with Ice spinner for better offensive pressure
 
I honestly think any iteration of this mon is good. Some can have more viability than others depending on the meta and how it shifts, but overall adding it to your team just makes it better. I've used defensive, assault vest, band, scarf, booster and it never fails to impact a battle in some way. It's such a fantastic pokemon overall. I'm currently paring band with a specs valiant to clear way for my kingambit and it's been doing numbers. It's been particularly nice facing off against ting Lu's thinking they can eat the hit, and watching them get ohko'd. Tusk just feels like it can't do wrong.
 
Bulk up + rapid spin sets are filthy. You can pick up a "free" speed boost with rapid spin to outspeed everything that doesn't have a scarf, then bulk up on virtually any physical attacker.
 
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