[overview]
**Draft order**: Late round 4 onwards
**Price range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: Tinkaton has what is arguably the best defensive typing in the game, Fairy / Steel. This helps it massively, since it's otherwise held back by a relatively sub-par stat spread. However, its plethora of strong resistances and immunities, in conjunction with its strong support movepool, means that it's able to act as a solid support Pokemon that can outspeed offensive threats and beat many defensive Pokemon. It's by no means a centerpiece of any team, but it is a solid enabler for its teammates.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Thanks to its expansive support movepool, Tinkaton is able to help out its teammates by safely pivoting into most attackers and forcing them out with its amazing utility options, consisting of moves such as Knock Off and Thunder Wave. Its Speed and bulk along with its strong STAB attacks also allow Tinkaton to take on slower, defensive Pokemon thanks to its access to Encore.
**Wallbreaker**: Thanks to Swords Dance and Gigaton Hammer, Tinkaton is able to wallbreak against slightly frailer teams, with it having passable coverage options to cover Steel-type checks. It is somewhat limited by Tinkaton's relatively low Attack but can still be effective in certain scenarios due to Gigaton Hammer's astronomically high Base Power.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Gigaton Hammer, Flash Cannon, Play Rough
**Setup moves**: Swords Dance
**Utility moves**: Knock Off, Encore, Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Light Screen, Foul Play
**Coverage**: Bulldoze, Ice Hammer, Rock Slide, Skitter Smack, Stone Edge
Niche Moves
========
**Brick Break**: Brick Break allows Tinkaton to help teammates by removing Reflect and Light Screen from the opponent's side of the field.
**Endure + Endeavor**: The combination of these moves allows Tinkaton to live any hit from strong, slower wallbreakers, allowing a teammate to easily revenge kill them. In some circumstances, Tinkaton itself can KO the opponent with Rocky Helmet recoil.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots helps Tinkaton avoid damage from entry hazards, allowing it to better check the offensive threats it's designed to beat. It's specifically better than Leftovers against teams with strong Spikers, as Leftovers otherwise offsets the damage from Stealth Rock.
**Leftovers**: Tinkaton has no natural recovery but does thankfully resist Stealth Rock; Leftovers can thus help keep it alive longer against teams with weaker Spikers.
Niche Items
========
**Light Clay**: In the event that Tinkaton runs dual screens, Light Clay can help give teammates more turns to utilize their effects.
**Rocky Helmet**: Against Pokemon that tend to spam Knock Off, Tinkaton can be a valuable switch-in, as it resists Dark. Rocky Helmet can then punish these Pokemon and put them in range of other attacks. Tinkaton is then able to steal the opposing Pokemon's item thanks to Pickpocket, punishing them even further for using Knock Off.
**Sitrus Berry**: Acting as an alternative to Leftovers, Sitrus Berry allows Tinkaton to take a big hit and remain healthy enough to then take another without having to wait for the turns of Leftovers recovery.
**Resistance Berries**: Shuca and Occa Berry can both be used to lure setup sweepers that are weak to Gigaton Hammer, hitting them for massive damage or potentially even OHKOing them depending on defensive investment.
**Air Balloon**: Air Balloon acts as a pseudo middle ground between Shuca Berry and Heavy-Duty Boots, giving Tinkaton the ability to switch into Ground-type Pokemon, especially those that are Choice-locked, while maintaining an immunity to Spikes. While it does pop after taking a single hit, Air Balloon can be helpful against attackers that are solely reliant on Ground-type moves to damage Tinkaton.
**Damage-boosting items**: On the occasion that Swords Dance sets barely miss out on guaranteed KOs, damage-boosting items are a viable choice to push its damage output over a required threshold.
Tera
========
Tinkaton should not normally be a Tera Captain. While it can benefit from Tera, other teammates of around the same price point tend to make fora better secondary Tera Captains, as they'll usually get more value out of the ability to Terastallize. If you do make Tinkaton a Tera Captain, it can benefit offensively from Tera Fairy and Steel to boost its STAB damage, as well as Tera Ground and Fire to help deal with Steel-types. Defensively, it can Tera into numerous types, ranging from Water to Flying to Dragon, in an attempt to mitigate its defensive weaknesses.
Draft Strategy
========
Tinkaton is not a centerpiece to any draft. Teams should never be drafted with the aim of supporting Tinkaton; rather, they should draft Tinkaton to support high-tier picks that value the supportive role compression and the strong defensive typing that it offers. Some examples of types of teammates that would benefit from Tinkaton are:
**Dark- and Dragon-type wallbreakers**: Thanks to its typing, Tinkaton is able to take on the Fairy- and Dark-types that tend to be checks to typical Dark-type wallbreakers, such as Darkrai, Chi-Yu, and Hisuian Samurott. A similar role can be played against the Fairy-, Dragon-, and Ice-types that tend to threaten typical Dragon-type wallbreakers such as Garchomp, Baxcalibur, and Dragonite. It can provide all of them with a safe switch-in to their checks, and it's able to punish those checks offensively with its STAB attacks, as well as use the forced switches to set up Stealth Rock.
**Dark-weak (AH) teams**: In a similar vein to above, Tinkaton can help pivot into most Dark-type attackers, as they tend to lack strong, super effective coverage to hit it. It's thus able to force them out and regain any lost momentum in the match. Furthermore, it's a great Knock Off switch-in, (AH, AC) since it's (AA) able to steal the opposing Pokemon's item via its ability Pickpocket.
**Entry hazard stacking teams**: For teams that aim for a hazard stacking angle, Tinkaton provides a solid Stealth Rock user, as well as Knock Off to remove any Heavy-Duty Boots from the opponent's Pokemon. It can excel in supporting strong Spikers such as Hisuian Samurott, Ting-Lu, and Glimmora.
**Fighting- and Ground-types**: Since Tinkaton is unable to punish Steel-type Pokemon outside of Knock Off, it'll be able to succeed at its role more easily alongside Pokemon that can punish Steel-types for hitting the field. Some examples of these include Urshifu-S, Landorus, and Sneasler.
Checks and Counters
========
**Strong physical wallbreakers**: Tinkaton can find itself stuck against strong physical wallbreakers, as they are able to cleanly 2HKO even defensive Tinkaton sets with non-resisted STAB hits. Wallbreakers such as Choice Band Palafin, Urshifu-S, and Sneasler are all able to cleanly break through Tinkaton, requiring it to be paired with a physically bulky Pokemon to take those hits for it.
**Chip damage**: Since Tinkaton has no reliable recovery, small damage against it across the course of the game can add up very quickly. A few rounds of entry hazards coupled with small hits are able to quickly whittle it down, allowing a cleaner or sweeper to pick it off with ease.
**Ground- and Fire-type Pokemon**: While Tinkaton does learn coverage to hit both of these in a vacuum, it ends up having to give up valuable moveslots to run relatively weak coverage, making the trade-off rather unfavorable against the rest of the team. It does fare slightly better against Fire-types, as they don't appreciate losing their Heavy-Duty Boots, but it's a far from an ideal matchup.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ken.594478/
**Draft order**: Late round 4 onwards
**Price range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: Tinkaton has what is arguably the best defensive typing in the game, Fairy / Steel. This helps it massively, since it's otherwise held back by a relatively sub-par stat spread. However, its plethora of strong resistances and immunities, in conjunction with its strong support movepool, means that it's able to act as a solid support Pokemon that can outspeed offensive threats and beat many defensive Pokemon. It's by no means a centerpiece of any team, but it is a solid enabler for its teammates.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Thanks to its expansive support movepool, Tinkaton is able to help out its teammates by safely pivoting into most attackers and forcing them out with its amazing utility options, consisting of moves such as Knock Off and Thunder Wave. Its Speed and bulk along with its strong STAB attacks also allow Tinkaton to take on slower, defensive Pokemon thanks to its access to Encore.
**Wallbreaker**: Thanks to Swords Dance and Gigaton Hammer, Tinkaton is able to wallbreak against slightly frailer teams, with it having passable coverage options to cover Steel-type checks. It is somewhat limited by Tinkaton's relatively low Attack but can still be effective in certain scenarios due to Gigaton Hammer's astronomically high Base Power.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Gigaton Hammer, Flash Cannon, Play Rough
**Setup moves**: Swords Dance
**Utility moves**: Knock Off, Encore, Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Light Screen, Foul Play
**Coverage**: Bulldoze, Ice Hammer, Rock Slide, Skitter Smack, Stone Edge
Niche Moves
========
**Brick Break**: Brick Break allows Tinkaton to help teammates by removing Reflect and Light Screen from the opponent's side of the field.
**Endure + Endeavor**: The combination of these moves allows Tinkaton to live any hit from strong, slower wallbreakers, allowing a teammate to easily revenge kill them. In some circumstances, Tinkaton itself can KO the opponent with Rocky Helmet recoil.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots helps Tinkaton avoid damage from entry hazards, allowing it to better check the offensive threats it's designed to beat. It's specifically better than Leftovers against teams with strong Spikers, as Leftovers otherwise offsets the damage from Stealth Rock.
**Leftovers**: Tinkaton has no natural recovery but does thankfully resist Stealth Rock; Leftovers can thus help keep it alive longer against teams with weaker Spikers.
Niche Items
========
**Light Clay**: In the event that Tinkaton runs dual screens, Light Clay can help give teammates more turns to utilize their effects.
**Rocky Helmet**: Against Pokemon that tend to spam Knock Off, Tinkaton can be a valuable switch-in, as it resists Dark. Rocky Helmet can then punish these Pokemon and put them in range of other attacks. Tinkaton is then able to steal the opposing Pokemon's item thanks to Pickpocket, punishing them even further for using Knock Off.
**Sitrus Berry**: Acting as an alternative to Leftovers, Sitrus Berry allows Tinkaton to take a big hit and remain healthy enough to then take another without having to wait for the turns of Leftovers recovery.
**Resistance Berries**: Shuca and Occa Berry can both be used to lure setup sweepers that are weak to Gigaton Hammer, hitting them for massive damage or potentially even OHKOing them depending on defensive investment.
**Air Balloon**: Air Balloon acts as a pseudo middle ground between Shuca Berry and Heavy-Duty Boots, giving Tinkaton the ability to switch into Ground-type Pokemon, especially those that are Choice-locked, while maintaining an immunity to Spikes. While it does pop after taking a single hit, Air Balloon can be helpful against attackers that are solely reliant on Ground-type moves to damage Tinkaton.
**Damage-boosting items**: On the occasion that Swords Dance sets barely miss out on guaranteed KOs, damage-boosting items are a viable choice to push its damage output over a required threshold.
Tera
========
Tinkaton should not normally be a Tera Captain. While it can benefit from Tera, other teammates of around the same price point tend to make for
Draft Strategy
========
Tinkaton is not a centerpiece to any draft. Teams should never be drafted with the aim of supporting Tinkaton; rather, they should draft Tinkaton to support high-tier picks that value the supportive role compression and the strong defensive typing that it offers. Some examples of types of teammates that would benefit from Tinkaton are:
**Dark- and Dragon-type wallbreakers**: Thanks to its typing, Tinkaton is able to take on the Fairy- and Dark-types that tend to be checks to typical Dark-type wallbreakers, such as Darkrai, Chi-Yu, and Hisuian Samurott. A similar role can be played against the Fairy-, Dragon-, and Ice-types that tend to threaten typical Dragon-type wallbreakers such as Garchomp, Baxcalibur, and Dragonite. It can provide all of them with a safe switch-in to their checks, and it's able to punish those checks offensively with its STAB attacks, as well as use the forced switches to set up Stealth Rock.
**Dark-weak (AH) teams**: In a similar vein to above, Tinkaton can help pivot into most Dark-type attackers, as they tend to lack strong, super effective coverage to hit it. It's thus able to force them out and regain any lost momentum in the match. Furthermore, it's a great Knock Off switch-in, (AH, AC) since it's (AA) able to steal the opposing Pokemon's item via its ability Pickpocket.
**Entry hazard stacking teams**: For teams that aim for a hazard stacking angle, Tinkaton provides a solid Stealth Rock user, as well as Knock Off to remove any Heavy-Duty Boots from the opponent's Pokemon. It can excel in supporting strong Spikers such as Hisuian Samurott, Ting-Lu, and Glimmora.
**Fighting- and Ground-types**: Since Tinkaton is unable to punish Steel-type Pokemon outside of Knock Off, it'll be able to succeed at its role more easily alongside Pokemon that can punish Steel-types for hitting the field. Some examples of these include Urshifu-S, Landorus, and Sneasler.
Checks and Counters
========
**Strong physical wallbreakers**: Tinkaton can find itself stuck against strong physical wallbreakers, as they are able to cleanly 2HKO even defensive Tinkaton sets with non-resisted STAB hits. Wallbreakers such as Choice Band Palafin, Urshifu-S, and Sneasler are all able to cleanly break through Tinkaton, requiring it to be paired with a physically bulky Pokemon to take those hits for it.
**Chip damage**: Since Tinkaton has no reliable recovery, small damage against it across the course of the game can add up very quickly. A few rounds of entry hazards coupled with small hits are able to quickly whittle it down, allowing a cleaner or sweeper to pick it off with ease.
**Ground- and Fire-type Pokemon**: While Tinkaton does learn coverage to hit both of these in a vacuum, it ends up having to give up valuable moveslots to run relatively weak coverage, making the trade-off rather unfavorable against the rest of the team. It does fare slightly better against Fire-types, as they don't appreciate losing their Heavy-Duty Boots, but it's a far from an ideal matchup.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ken.594478/
Last edited:
