[OVERVIEW]
Stakataka carves its niche in OU as a solid offensive Trick Room user, utilizing its low Speed in tandem with Attack boosts from Beast Boost to clean up opposing teams. In particular, its STAB Gyro Ball is incredibly powerful, even leaving enormous dents in Pokemon that resist it. When this is combined with Continental Crush and Superpower, taking Stakataka on defensively is a difficult task. Due to Trick Room, Stakataka is also difficult to revenge kill, making it a serious late-game threat to offensive teams. With that said, weaknesses to common attacking types, including two quadruple weaknesses to Ground and Fighting, limit Stakataka's opportunities to switch in and hinder the utility of its fantastic raw bulk. Furthermore, it becomes much easier to handle defensively once it has used up Continental Crush, and its ability to be checked by staple Pokemon like Landorus-T and revenge killed by Ash-Greninja's Water Shuriken makes it a manageable threat for offense.
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Superpower
item: Rockium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 15 Def / 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
With its very low Speed and high attacking power, Stakataka makes for an ideal user of Trick Room, enabling it to punch holes and wreak havoc against weakened teams. As Stakataka is much slower than most of its foes, Gyro Ball reaches its maximum Base Power against any Pokemon with 186 Speed or higher, giving Stakataka a 150-Base Power nuke against most of the OU tier. To provide an idea of Gyro Ball's raw power, it has a chance to OHKO Blacephalon and usually 2HKOes Keldeo, both of which resist the attack. Stone Edge is Stakataka's other STAB attack and is quite powerful in its own right, allowing Stakataka to break through defensive threats like Celesteela, Toxapex, defensive Mega Scizor, and Landorus-T with the help of Rockium Z. For the last slot, Superpower is preferred to prevent Stakataka from being walled by Ferrothorn as well as to OHKO Kartana and Excadrill, which would otherwise be very solid checks. It also KOes offensive Magnezone sets with a bit of chip damage, which is notable because Magnezone can trap and usually KO Stakataka with Gigavolt Havoc. It's worth noting that Beast Boost helps negate the Attack drops from Superpower, meaning that its use is generally not detrimental to a sweep. Alternatively, Earthquake can be chosen to increase Stakataka's effectiveness against certain defensive cores if Ferrothorn is handled adequately by teammates, allowing it to defeat Toxapex and Heatran without using Continental Crush while still hitting Excadrill and Magnezone.
Set Details
========
Rockium Z makes it much easier for Stakataka to break down defensive cores, allowing it to to break through Pokemon like defensive Mega Scizor and Landorus-T that would otherwise wall it. Additionally, it gives Stakataka perfect accuracy for one use of its Rock STAB attack and extra power to secure KOs when needed. If your team is running another Z-Move user, Life Orb is an option, but it makes Stakataka easier to wear down and limits its breaking capabilities. The EV spread focuses on maximizing Stakataka's bulk and offensive power, while 0 Speed IVs ensure that Stakataka outspeeds most of the tier in Trick Room and make Gyro Ball as powerful as possible. 15 Defense IVs and a Lonely nature are used to make Beast Boost give Attack boosts instead of Defense boosts, which enhances Stakataka's cleaning capabilities, as it becomes more difficult to stop with each KO it obtains.
Usage Tips
========
The general goal for this set is simple: set up Trick Room and clean up the opposing team. To this end, it is critical to keep in mind that you have a limited number of Trick Room turns when attempting a sweep, as Stakataka becomes fairly easy to revenge kill once Trick Room is finished. Furthermore, while Stakataka's typing and bulk allow it to check threats like Mega Mawile and Latios, you should try to keep Stakataka healthy enough to take a hit when setting up Trick Room and survive priority attacks while cleaning if you want it to win games effectively. Against some teams, particularly balance, Stakataka might instead be more successful as a breaker, while other teams might have hard stops to it; in both cases, you have leeway to play less conservatively with Stakataka. This set primarily uses Gyro Ball to attack because of its incredibly high power and perfect accuracy, typically preserving Continental Crush where it is needed to break a defensive threat or secure a guaranteed KO. If running Superpower, remember that it drops Stakataka's Defense, which is mostly significant if Stakataka is already weakened, as priority moves like Mega Mawile's Sucker Punch and Mega Scizor's Swords Dance-boosted Bullet Punch become more threatening.
Team Options
========
Stakataka fits best on bulky offense teams as a standalone offensive Trick Room user due to its solid breaking and cleaning capabilities combined with some valuable defensive utility. Tapu Bulu is a fantastic partner, resisting both of Stakataka's 4x weaknesses and checking the Water-types that threaten its ability to clean. Landorus-T is another partner that covers Stakataka's 4x weaknesses and can give it opportunities to switch in with U-turn, as well as potentially chip at defensive answers to Stakataka with Toxic or Knock Off. Pokemon that can weaken Landorus-T and other Stakataka checks like bulky Water-types make for good offensive partners; some examples include Mega Medicham, the aforementioned Tapu Bulu, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir. Lures and partners that can put pressure on Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, such as Hidden Power Fire Tapu Lele, Hidden Power Fire Tapu Koko, and Blacephalon, are helpful.
Stakataka can also fit onto dedicated Trick Room teams alongside partners like Uxie and Cresselia, which cover Stakataka's 4x weaknesses, give additional Trick Room support, and provide additional utility like Uxie's Stealth Rock and Cresselia's Lunar Dance. Offensive partners like Alolan Marowak, Magearna, and Crawdaunt that can put pressure on defensive answers to Stakataka are also effective.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Choice Band is an option due to its insane power, especially with Gyro Ball, but the Trick Room set has a superior matchup against offense while having an easier time breaking down defensive cores between the ability to switch moves and access to Rockium Z.
Checks and Counters
========
**Ground-types**: Defensive Landorus-T is a pretty good answer to Stakataka, as it needs to be weakened to at least half HP for Stakataka to even KO with its Z-Move. With access to Roost and the ability to KO with Earthquake, Gliscor is a decent answer, although standard non-physically defensive variants crumble to Continental Crush if slightly weakened. It is important to note that neither Landorus-T nor Gliscor can handle Stakataka once it has an Attack boost under its belt, so they must switch in before Stakataka has Trick Room up and has secured a KO. Quagsire, Hippowdon, and Gastrodon hard counter Stakataka, tanking any hit with ease while having access to reliable recovery and super effective STAB moves to retaliate with. From an offensive standpoint, offensive Landorus-T variants, Zygarde, and Garchomp can all serve as effective checks, able to switch in once and threaten Stakataka with Earthquake.
**Water-types**: Aside from Gastrodon and Quagsire, which resist both of Stakataka's STAB moves due to their secondary Ground typing, some bulky Water-types can serve as usable answers to Stakataka. Alomomola is a fairly solid counter, surviving Stone Edge followed by Continental Crush. Certain other bulky Water-types, such as Toxapex, Tapu Fini, and Suicune, can tank a hit but are too unreliable at dealing with Continental Crush to be considered solid counters. Keldeo is a good offensive check, able to tank both STAB attacks and retaliate with a KO. Ash-Greninja can revenge kill Stakataka with Water Shuriken, which is helpful counterplay for offensive teams that have trouble tanking a hit from it late-game.
**Steel-types**: Defensive Mega Scizor is a good answer to Stakataka, as it can deal with Continental Crush and otherwise walls Stakataka effectively. If Stakataka lacks Superpower, Ferrothorn is a solid counter and Kartana is a good check. Magnezone can revenge kill Stakataka and typically KOes with Gigavolt Havoc, though it is unable to revenge kill when Trick Room is up. Excadrill can perform a similar role, able to switch into Stakataka's STAB attacks and revenge kill it.
**Fighting-types**: With Electric Seed or Grassy Seed, Hawlucha can survive a Gyro Ball and KO in return with High Jump Kick. Although other Fighting-types that aren't Keldeo are unable to deal with Gyro Ball, they are still notable for exploiting Stakataka's 4x Fighting weakness. Fighting-type coverage on Pokemon like Kartana and Mega Alakazam can also be very potent, though they lose if Trick Room is up. Fake Out from Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham can also be effective to stall a turn of Trick Room, putting Stakataka in a bad position if it is on its last turn of Trick Room.
**Strong Special Attacks**: As Stakataka is not particularly specially bulky, high-powered special attacks from Pokemon like Blacephalon, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Lele will deal significant damage to it, limiting Stakataka's opportunities to switch in and set up depending on how much health it has left. For instance, Choice Specs-boosted Psychic from Tapu Lele 2HKOes Stakataka on the switch, limiting the use of Stakataka's Psychic resistance.
**Offensive Pressure**: For offensive teams, it is important to keep pressure on Stakataka and not give it free setup opportunities while preserving priority users, particularly Ash-Greninja, to prevent the team from being swept.
Stakataka carves its niche in OU as a solid offensive Trick Room user, utilizing its low Speed in tandem with Attack boosts from Beast Boost to clean up opposing teams. In particular, its STAB Gyro Ball is incredibly powerful, even leaving enormous dents in Pokemon that resist it. When this is combined with Continental Crush and Superpower, taking Stakataka on defensively is a difficult task. Due to Trick Room, Stakataka is also difficult to revenge kill, making it a serious late-game threat to offensive teams. With that said, weaknesses to common attacking types, including two quadruple weaknesses to Ground and Fighting, limit Stakataka's opportunities to switch in and hinder the utility of its fantastic raw bulk. Furthermore, it becomes much easier to handle defensively once it has used up Continental Crush, and its ability to be checked by staple Pokemon like Landorus-T and revenge killed by Ash-Greninja's Water Shuriken makes it a manageable threat for offense.
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Superpower
item: Rockium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 15 Def / 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
With its very low Speed and high attacking power, Stakataka makes for an ideal user of Trick Room, enabling it to punch holes and wreak havoc against weakened teams. As Stakataka is much slower than most of its foes, Gyro Ball reaches its maximum Base Power against any Pokemon with 186 Speed or higher, giving Stakataka a 150-Base Power nuke against most of the OU tier. To provide an idea of Gyro Ball's raw power, it has a chance to OHKO Blacephalon and usually 2HKOes Keldeo, both of which resist the attack. Stone Edge is Stakataka's other STAB attack and is quite powerful in its own right, allowing Stakataka to break through defensive threats like Celesteela, Toxapex, defensive Mega Scizor, and Landorus-T with the help of Rockium Z. For the last slot, Superpower is preferred to prevent Stakataka from being walled by Ferrothorn as well as to OHKO Kartana and Excadrill, which would otherwise be very solid checks. It also KOes offensive Magnezone sets with a bit of chip damage, which is notable because Magnezone can trap and usually KO Stakataka with Gigavolt Havoc. It's worth noting that Beast Boost helps negate the Attack drops from Superpower, meaning that its use is generally not detrimental to a sweep. Alternatively, Earthquake can be chosen to increase Stakataka's effectiveness against certain defensive cores if Ferrothorn is handled adequately by teammates, allowing it to defeat Toxapex and Heatran without using Continental Crush while still hitting Excadrill and Magnezone.
Set Details
========
Rockium Z makes it much easier for Stakataka to break down defensive cores, allowing it to to break through Pokemon like defensive Mega Scizor and Landorus-T that would otherwise wall it. Additionally, it gives Stakataka perfect accuracy for one use of its Rock STAB attack and extra power to secure KOs when needed. If your team is running another Z-Move user, Life Orb is an option, but it makes Stakataka easier to wear down and limits its breaking capabilities. The EV spread focuses on maximizing Stakataka's bulk and offensive power, while 0 Speed IVs ensure that Stakataka outspeeds most of the tier in Trick Room and make Gyro Ball as powerful as possible. 15 Defense IVs and a Lonely nature are used to make Beast Boost give Attack boosts instead of Defense boosts, which enhances Stakataka's cleaning capabilities, as it becomes more difficult to stop with each KO it obtains.
Usage Tips
========
The general goal for this set is simple: set up Trick Room and clean up the opposing team. To this end, it is critical to keep in mind that you have a limited number of Trick Room turns when attempting a sweep, as Stakataka becomes fairly easy to revenge kill once Trick Room is finished. Furthermore, while Stakataka's typing and bulk allow it to check threats like Mega Mawile and Latios, you should try to keep Stakataka healthy enough to take a hit when setting up Trick Room and survive priority attacks while cleaning if you want it to win games effectively. Against some teams, particularly balance, Stakataka might instead be more successful as a breaker, while other teams might have hard stops to it; in both cases, you have leeway to play less conservatively with Stakataka. This set primarily uses Gyro Ball to attack because of its incredibly high power and perfect accuracy, typically preserving Continental Crush where it is needed to break a defensive threat or secure a guaranteed KO. If running Superpower, remember that it drops Stakataka's Defense, which is mostly significant if Stakataka is already weakened, as priority moves like Mega Mawile's Sucker Punch and Mega Scizor's Swords Dance-boosted Bullet Punch become more threatening.
Team Options
========
Stakataka fits best on bulky offense teams as a standalone offensive Trick Room user due to its solid breaking and cleaning capabilities combined with some valuable defensive utility. Tapu Bulu is a fantastic partner, resisting both of Stakataka's 4x weaknesses and checking the Water-types that threaten its ability to clean. Landorus-T is another partner that covers Stakataka's 4x weaknesses and can give it opportunities to switch in with U-turn, as well as potentially chip at defensive answers to Stakataka with Toxic or Knock Off. Pokemon that can weaken Landorus-T and other Stakataka checks like bulky Water-types make for good offensive partners; some examples include Mega Medicham, the aforementioned Tapu Bulu, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir. Lures and partners that can put pressure on Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, such as Hidden Power Fire Tapu Lele, Hidden Power Fire Tapu Koko, and Blacephalon, are helpful.
Stakataka can also fit onto dedicated Trick Room teams alongside partners like Uxie and Cresselia, which cover Stakataka's 4x weaknesses, give additional Trick Room support, and provide additional utility like Uxie's Stealth Rock and Cresselia's Lunar Dance. Offensive partners like Alolan Marowak, Magearna, and Crawdaunt that can put pressure on defensive answers to Stakataka are also effective.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Choice Band is an option due to its insane power, especially with Gyro Ball, but the Trick Room set has a superior matchup against offense while having an easier time breaking down defensive cores between the ability to switch moves and access to Rockium Z.
Checks and Counters
========
**Ground-types**: Defensive Landorus-T is a pretty good answer to Stakataka, as it needs to be weakened to at least half HP for Stakataka to even KO with its Z-Move. With access to Roost and the ability to KO with Earthquake, Gliscor is a decent answer, although standard non-physically defensive variants crumble to Continental Crush if slightly weakened. It is important to note that neither Landorus-T nor Gliscor can handle Stakataka once it has an Attack boost under its belt, so they must switch in before Stakataka has Trick Room up and has secured a KO. Quagsire, Hippowdon, and Gastrodon hard counter Stakataka, tanking any hit with ease while having access to reliable recovery and super effective STAB moves to retaliate with. From an offensive standpoint, offensive Landorus-T variants, Zygarde, and Garchomp can all serve as effective checks, able to switch in once and threaten Stakataka with Earthquake.
**Water-types**: Aside from Gastrodon and Quagsire, which resist both of Stakataka's STAB moves due to their secondary Ground typing, some bulky Water-types can serve as usable answers to Stakataka. Alomomola is a fairly solid counter, surviving Stone Edge followed by Continental Crush. Certain other bulky Water-types, such as Toxapex, Tapu Fini, and Suicune, can tank a hit but are too unreliable at dealing with Continental Crush to be considered solid counters. Keldeo is a good offensive check, able to tank both STAB attacks and retaliate with a KO. Ash-Greninja can revenge kill Stakataka with Water Shuriken, which is helpful counterplay for offensive teams that have trouble tanking a hit from it late-game.
**Steel-types**: Defensive Mega Scizor is a good answer to Stakataka, as it can deal with Continental Crush and otherwise walls Stakataka effectively. If Stakataka lacks Superpower, Ferrothorn is a solid counter and Kartana is a good check. Magnezone can revenge kill Stakataka and typically KOes with Gigavolt Havoc, though it is unable to revenge kill when Trick Room is up. Excadrill can perform a similar role, able to switch into Stakataka's STAB attacks and revenge kill it.
**Fighting-types**: With Electric Seed or Grassy Seed, Hawlucha can survive a Gyro Ball and KO in return with High Jump Kick. Although other Fighting-types that aren't Keldeo are unable to deal with Gyro Ball, they are still notable for exploiting Stakataka's 4x Fighting weakness. Fighting-type coverage on Pokemon like Kartana and Mega Alakazam can also be very potent, though they lose if Trick Room is up. Fake Out from Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham can also be effective to stall a turn of Trick Room, putting Stakataka in a bad position if it is on its last turn of Trick Room.
**Strong Special Attacks**: As Stakataka is not particularly specially bulky, high-powered special attacks from Pokemon like Blacephalon, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Lele will deal significant damage to it, limiting Stakataka's opportunities to switch in and set up depending on how much health it has left. For instance, Choice Specs-boosted Psychic from Tapu Lele 2HKOes Stakataka on the switch, limiting the use of Stakataka's Psychic resistance.
**Offensive Pressure**: For offensive teams, it is important to keep pressure on Stakataka and not give it free setup opportunities while preserving priority users, particularly Ash-Greninja, to prevent the team from being swept.
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