http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/072.shtml
[Overview]
Tentacool presents itself in Gen V much as it did in Gen IV, as one of the most reliable Toxic Spikers / Rapid Spinners in the Little Cup Metagame. Little has changed for the Jellyfish Pokemon, however, much has changed in the Metagame around him, such as the appearance of fellow Spikers Tesshiido and Fushide, the Sturdy boost Pineco recieved, and the abundance of Fighting Types, which may provide further competition, or ease his role. Yet, he also got his fair share of improvements, as he received two new moves in Evil Eye and Venom Shock, and the promise of Rain Dish along the Dream World, all of which further enhance Tentacool's role as a Support Pokemon. Yet, in the end, everything remains pretty much the same for Tentacool, and he retains his crown as one of the most reliable Toxic Spikers in Little Cup, Stall Teams everywhere need look no further, as they have found their man for the job.
[SET]
name: Toxic Spikes Support
move 1: Toxic Spikes
move 2: Knock Off / Rapid Spin
move 3: Surf / Hydro Pump
move 4: Sludge Wave / Evil Eye / Giga Drain / HP Electric
item: Evolution Stone / Oran Berry
ability: Liquid Ooze
nature: Bold
evs: 196 Hp / 236 Def / 36 S.Atk / 36 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Here's the peak of Tentacool's usefulness, a Set which manages to gather all of Tentacool's strong points, merging them into a fantastic support set for Stall and Offensive Teams alike. In the first slot lies Toxic Spikes, the one move that turns Tentacool into such a great support Pokemon, granting support to both, Stall and Offensive teams alike by inflicting Poison upon Pokemon who switch in. The second slot focuses into Tentacool's support options, Knock Off and Rapid Spin both being excellent options to consider. Knock Off is generally the superior option, allowing Tentacool to provide invaluable support to Offensive Teams by entirely removing the opponent's Evolution Stone or Oran Berry, two key Items in today's Little Cup Metagame which may become the one thing to prevent a sweep by one of Tentacool's teamates. Stall Teams will find the support granted by Rapid Spin to be of much use as well, given the abundance of popular Entry Hazards setups like Tesshiido and Fushiide, as well as the boon Stall Teams receive by retaining the ability to Switch freely between it's menbers without the peril of Stealth Rock or Spikes harming Tentacool's teamates as they continue to stall the opponent. Hydro Pump and Surf will provide STAB, Hydro Pump providing superior power, whereas Surf provides reliability with it's 100% Accuracy. The choice for the fourth slot turns out to be slightly trickier than the first three, however. Sludge Wave provides powerful and reliable Poison STAB for Tentacool, which along Surf or Hydro Pump, provides a great attacking combination resisted by few Pokemon in Little Cup, such as Wooper, Tesshiido and Pururiru, among others. Tentacool, however, posseses an answer to the latter, as Evil Eye's sole purpose is to allow Tentacool to defeat Pururiru, by using a combination of Toxic Spikes and Evil Eye, Pururiru has few turns to live, all while Pururiru lacks the ability to deal significant damage to Tentacool in return thanks it's excellent base Sp. Def. Giga Drain allows Tentacool to defeat, or at least inflict consistent damage to fellow Water Types who may attempt to Switch into Tentacool, all while providing a way to regain some of the Hp lost during the course of the battle. Hidden Power Electric is yet another way to hit fellow Water Types, yet, in this case, it's a more reliable way to deal with the popular Mantyke, who can convincingly stop Tentacool in it's tracks by being immune to both, Toxic Spikes and Hydro Pump, and by also possesing an excellent base Sp. Defence.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>It is worth noting that only one layer or Toxic Spikes will often be more useful than the whole set, given the tendency in Little Cup to quickly Revenge a Pokemon, and then Switch back to a pivot or a counter to what the opponent just sent out. This allows the Poison to inflict prime damage over such shorts periods of time, however, it is also worth noting that Toxic Spikes will want to attain both of it's layers upon facing a Stall team, given how it will wear the opposing team down faster. The item choice for this particular set is a difficult one indeed, whereas Evolution Stone provides Tentacool with 23 / 21 / 24 defences with the recommended spread, whereas the Oran Berry will allow Tentacool a reliable source of healing aside from the costly Giga Drain, which also happens to suffer from PP shortage issues, yet, Tentacool's defenses translate into 23 / 14 / 16 upon loosing it's Evolution Stone. Yet, this may be a fair trade indeed, given Tentacool's natural bulk regardless. The choice of Liquid Ooze over both Clear Body and Rain Dish, when both appear as superior abilities weights down to the fact that Liquid Ooze provides Tentacool with another way of defeeating two potential counters, by literally walking into an unsuspecting Monmen's or Tesshiido's Leech Seed. Now, while Tentacool may be able to stall Monmen after Toxic Spikes, it is also worth noting that Tentacool cannot hurt Tesshiido at all, only brave through it's Hp by using Leech Seed as it's only way dealing damage while absorbing Teshiido's Bullet Seed, which is not advisable at all. </p>
[Team Options]
<p>Several Pokemon greatly appreciate the support Tentacool brings, both in the offensive and defensive departments, as mentioned before, Pokemon such as Baruchai, Tesshiido and Monmen greatly appreciate Toxic Spikes support, which assists them in bringing their intended targets, or rather, victims, a lot faster than via conventional means such as Leech Seeds alone. Pokemon who enjoy having their foes Poisoned, or crippled by loosing their Items, such as Gligar or Zuruggu also really like having Tentacool around, since Poison greatly assists Zuruggu in sweeping, by weakenning Pokemon who might normally barely survive it's boosted attacks to the point that Zuruggu might be able to OHKO them right away, for example, Pokemon such as Slowpoke and Dokkora, which might directly fall to Zuruggu after a couple of turns of Poison damage. Tentaccol and Gligar also achieve excellent Type synergy, all while Gligar greatly benefits to see it's common counters, like Hippopotas or Slowpoke, Poisoned, whereas Tentacool sees Electric Types such as Chinchou, which are often the Jellyfish Pokemon's bane, suppresed under Gligar's STAB Earthquakes. Tentacool also assists Gligar by getting rid of Pokemon such as Monmen, who easily come into a Gligar setting up and stop him in it's tracks, by stalling them with Toxic Spikes, and rendering Monmen's feared Substitutes a lot harder to make, in addition to loosing health due to Liquid Ooze. </p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Tentacool has quite a few options in it's arsenal aside from those mentioned in the Support set, each and every one of them as useful as the prime options, although slightly more gimmicky. Tentacool also has Swords Dance within it's grasp, which may allow him to pull off a Sweeper set along Waterfall, Poison Jab and Return which boast incredible coverage resisted only by Pururiru and Tesshiido, both of who happen to be Tentacool's counters, yet, Tentacool's 40 base Attack discourages many from this particular trail, and moves many players towards other sets. Tentacool gained the move Magic Coat, which in Gen V received several boosts to it's usefulness, allowing Tentacool to safely bounce Taunt, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and many other moves upon correct prediction, which may come incredibly handy in almost every situation. Given Tentacool's excellent Special Defence stat, Tentacool could easily run Mirror Coat in any of it's sets and with any given options while using the element of surprise to it's advantage, as well as being able to take down a threatening enemy Special Sweeper. Tentacool also has the boon of Haze, which may allow it to become a convincing stopper against the infamous Inconsistent Remoraid, or against other Special Sweepers which might have managed to snatch a boost over the course of the battle. Tentacool can also phaze by using Confuse Ray to trigger switches and take even further advantage of it's Toxic Spikes by poisoning more opposing Pokemon through the switching brought by Confusion. Tentacool could also include Ice Beam in any of it's sets as a way to deal with Flying and Grass Types, however, Poison STAB is generally a superior option which makes Ice Beam often not worth a moveslot. Finally, Tentacool has Accupressure in it's vast arsenal, which may allow it to snatch a boost or two given luck is on one's side, however, this strategy is gimmicky, and Tentacool does not posses reliable healing, which is something that may oppose to the full developement of this strategy.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Tentacool has a couple of convincing counters, Tesshiido appearing as number one in the list. Not only can Tentacool do nothing to Tesshiido, but Tesshiido can do a plethora of things in it's presence, from setting up Spikes or Stealth Rock, to Bullet Seed to harm Tentacool. Meditite and other assorted Psychic Types who can OHKO Tentacool without caring too much from it's attacks also rate high among Tentacool's counters, as said before, Meditite with it's STAB Zen Headbutt, will always OHKO Tentacool. Zuruggu could also be considered an effective stopper to Tentacool, should it pack Zen Headbutt, given how it doesn't take too much from anything Tentacool could throw it's way, as well as how with Shed Skin Zuruggu could get rid of the Poison Tentacool could provide, and finally, Zuruggu could easily set up several Dragon Dances in Tentacool's presence unhindered unless said Tentacool packs Hydro Pump. Finally, Ground Pokemon such as Gligar and Diglett can easily revenge kill Tentacool, or come into one of the turns it may take to setup, and Earthquake it into oblivion. Yet, it's worth noting that while Gligar may not be OHKOed by Tentacool's Surf, Diglett is OHKOed by both, Surf and Hydro Pump. Chinchou also comes to mind as an effective way to stop Tentacool, with STAB Super Effective Electric moves, and resistance to Tentacool's Water STAB, yet, while Tentacool may not be able to fully stall Chinchou, Chinchou may be worn down by the Toxic Spikes Tentacool provides.</p>
