[OVERVIEW]
Gastrodon is a very useful defensive wall with its Water / Ground typing, very reliable recovery in Recover, and ability to easily come in on Water-type attacks thanks to Storm Drain, letting it take on many NU threats such as Slowking, Magmortar, and Heliolisk. However, it is incredibly vulnerable to Toxic, which quickly wears it down, and due to its 4x weakness to Grass, it is easily taken out by coverage moves. This weakness is easily exploited by many of NU's special attackers, including Delphox, Comfey, and Slowking, while Grass-types such as Dhelmise and Sceptile easily come in against it and KO it. Furthermore, only decent defensive stats mean that it can be taken out by Z-Moves such as Incineroar's boosted Malicious Moonsault. Gastrodon also generally brings less utility to a team than competitors such as Seismitoad, Blastoise, and Vaporeon, which bring Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, and Heal Bell support to a team, respectively.
[SET]
name: Defensive Wall
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Recover
move 4: Scald / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earthquake gives Gastrodon a very reliable source of damage, allowing it to OHKO Heliolisk while 2HKOing defensive Delphox. Toxic is Gastrodon's best source of damage against Water-types such as Vaporeon and Slowbro while also wearing down Pokemon such as Dhelmise. Recover gives Gastrodon a very reliable source of recovery, letting it easily take on Magmortar without Hidden Power Grass, Heliolisk, and Rotom. Scald is a reliable Water-type STAB move, hitting Pokemon such as Steelix and Rhydon harder than any of Gastrodon's other moves while providing a useful chance to burn; however, this burn chance can make dealing with Slowking significantly harder. Ice Beam is Gastrodon's best move to use against Grass-types such as Alolan Exeggutor and Sceptile, OHKOing the former after Stealth Rock while 2HKOing the latter, making it significantly harder for either to switch into Gastrodon.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Defense and HP investment with a Sassy nature means that Gastrodon easily takes Heliolisk's Hyper Voice after Stealth Rock and makes dealing with special wallbreakers significantly easier. Leftovers provides continual recovery for Gastrodon. Storm Drain means that Gastrodon can easily switch into Water-type attacks such as Vaporeon's Scald and gives it a Special Attack boost in the process.
Usage Tips
========
Given Gastrodon's severe weakness to Toxic, it should often immediately switch out against any opposing Toxic user, including defensive Slowking and Blastoise, and should only try to use Toxic on these threats on the switch. It is often helpful to try to scout for Grass-type moves; blindly leaving Gastrodon in against a Magmortar can easily lead to a KOed Gastrodon. Generally, try to keep Gastrodon's HP as high as possible, as it is otherwise easily put into range of attacks such as Heliolisk's Hyper Voice, and use Earthquake or Toxic if healing is not necessary. Gastrodon should be used to block Volt Switch as much as possible, fearing little from common Volt Switch users such as Heliolisk and Rotom. Use Ice Beam when a Grass-type is predicted to switch in, as it allows Gastrodon to potentially OHKO Alolan Exeggutor and heavily damage other Grass-types.
Team Options
========
Thanks to Gastrodon's ability to check several dangerous Pokemon such as Magmortar and Heliolisk, it can fit excellently on balanced teams. Given Gastrodon's extreme weakness to Toxic, Heal Bell and Aromatherapy users such as Mega Audino are excellent teammates. Grass-resistant teammates are a must given how often and easily Gastrodon invites in Grass-types, making teammates such as Braviary, Incineroar, and Golbat good partners. Gastrodon appreciates entry hazard control from Xatu, Silvally-Steel, and Decidueye to remove the Spikes and Toxic Spikes that trouble it. Physically defensive Pokemon such as Regirock and Weezing can make good partners for Gastrodon, with Regirock checking Pokemon such as Braviary and Incineroar that Gastrodon can struggle with while uninvested.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An offensive set consisting of Scald / Earth Power / Ice Beam / Sludge Wave can be run with Choice Specs and maximum Special Attack investment in order to take advantage of Gastrodon's good coverage and Storm Drain's Special Attack boost, but it finds itself easily worn down and outclassed by other options, especially Seismitoad, which offers far better Speed and Stealth Rock. Clear Smog can be run over Scald or Toxic to prevent opposing Pokemon from setting up on Gastrodon, but it fails to pierce Substitute and takes away valuable moveslots, making its usage hard to justify. Block can be used in a moveset of Block / Rest / Toxic / Scald to trap and KO walls such as Blastoise, Vaporeon, and Slowking, but because the set needs Rest to avoid damage from Toxic itself, it ends up being less generally applicable than standard sets. This set is additionally often done better by Pyukumuku and Slowking, which offer more utility to a team.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-type Attacks**: Grass-types such as Sceptile, Dhelmise, and Decidueye all take minimal damage from Gastrodon's Earthquake or Scald and easily force it out with STAB Grass-type attacks. However, Ice Beam can punish Alolan Exeggutor and Sceptile, while Dhelmise and Decidueye dislike Toxic. Grass-type coverage such as Hidden Power Grass from Magmortar and Energy Ball from Sigilyph can also heavily damage Gastrodon.
**Toxic**: Toxic from Pokemon such as Vaporeon, Blastoise, and Druddigon heavily limits the time Gastrodon can spend in play and easily wears it down, resulting in it being 2HKOed by attacks such as Heliolisk's Hyper Voice if it is whittled down too much.
**Setup Sweepers**: Setup sweepers that do not fear Toxic such as Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary and Bulk Up Scrafty can use Gastrodon as setup fodder, and many other sweepers such as Comfey and Nasty Plot Decidueye can use the threat of super effective coverage to easily set up against Gastrodon.
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Gastrodon's Defense stat leaves it vulnerable to wallbreakers such as Mega Glalie, Pangoro, Swords Dance Samurott, and Swords Dance Incineroar, which threaten to heavily damage it.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[quziel, 297859]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [Eternally, 295647], [Punchshroom, 169054]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Fireflame279, 231476], [Rabia, 336073]]
Gastrodon is a very useful defensive wall with its Water / Ground typing, very reliable recovery in Recover, and ability to easily come in on Water-type attacks thanks to Storm Drain, letting it take on many NU threats such as Slowking, Magmortar, and Heliolisk. However, it is incredibly vulnerable to Toxic, which quickly wears it down, and due to its 4x weakness to Grass, it is easily taken out by coverage moves. This weakness is easily exploited by many of NU's special attackers, including Delphox, Comfey, and Slowking, while Grass-types such as Dhelmise and Sceptile easily come in against it and KO it. Furthermore, only decent defensive stats mean that it can be taken out by Z-Moves such as Incineroar's boosted Malicious Moonsault. Gastrodon also generally brings less utility to a team than competitors such as Seismitoad, Blastoise, and Vaporeon, which bring Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, and Heal Bell support to a team, respectively.
[SET]
name: Defensive Wall
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Recover
move 4: Scald / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earthquake gives Gastrodon a very reliable source of damage, allowing it to OHKO Heliolisk while 2HKOing defensive Delphox. Toxic is Gastrodon's best source of damage against Water-types such as Vaporeon and Slowbro while also wearing down Pokemon such as Dhelmise. Recover gives Gastrodon a very reliable source of recovery, letting it easily take on Magmortar without Hidden Power Grass, Heliolisk, and Rotom. Scald is a reliable Water-type STAB move, hitting Pokemon such as Steelix and Rhydon harder than any of Gastrodon's other moves while providing a useful chance to burn; however, this burn chance can make dealing with Slowking significantly harder. Ice Beam is Gastrodon's best move to use against Grass-types such as Alolan Exeggutor and Sceptile, OHKOing the former after Stealth Rock while 2HKOing the latter, making it significantly harder for either to switch into Gastrodon.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Defense and HP investment with a Sassy nature means that Gastrodon easily takes Heliolisk's Hyper Voice after Stealth Rock and makes dealing with special wallbreakers significantly easier. Leftovers provides continual recovery for Gastrodon. Storm Drain means that Gastrodon can easily switch into Water-type attacks such as Vaporeon's Scald and gives it a Special Attack boost in the process.
Usage Tips
========
Given Gastrodon's severe weakness to Toxic, it should often immediately switch out against any opposing Toxic user, including defensive Slowking and Blastoise, and should only try to use Toxic on these threats on the switch. It is often helpful to try to scout for Grass-type moves; blindly leaving Gastrodon in against a Magmortar can easily lead to a KOed Gastrodon. Generally, try to keep Gastrodon's HP as high as possible, as it is otherwise easily put into range of attacks such as Heliolisk's Hyper Voice, and use Earthquake or Toxic if healing is not necessary. Gastrodon should be used to block Volt Switch as much as possible, fearing little from common Volt Switch users such as Heliolisk and Rotom. Use Ice Beam when a Grass-type is predicted to switch in, as it allows Gastrodon to potentially OHKO Alolan Exeggutor and heavily damage other Grass-types.
Team Options
========
Thanks to Gastrodon's ability to check several dangerous Pokemon such as Magmortar and Heliolisk, it can fit excellently on balanced teams. Given Gastrodon's extreme weakness to Toxic, Heal Bell and Aromatherapy users such as Mega Audino are excellent teammates. Grass-resistant teammates are a must given how often and easily Gastrodon invites in Grass-types, making teammates such as Braviary, Incineroar, and Golbat good partners. Gastrodon appreciates entry hazard control from Xatu, Silvally-Steel, and Decidueye to remove the Spikes and Toxic Spikes that trouble it. Physically defensive Pokemon such as Regirock and Weezing can make good partners for Gastrodon, with Regirock checking Pokemon such as Braviary and Incineroar that Gastrodon can struggle with while uninvested.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An offensive set consisting of Scald / Earth Power / Ice Beam / Sludge Wave can be run with Choice Specs and maximum Special Attack investment in order to take advantage of Gastrodon's good coverage and Storm Drain's Special Attack boost, but it finds itself easily worn down and outclassed by other options, especially Seismitoad, which offers far better Speed and Stealth Rock. Clear Smog can be run over Scald or Toxic to prevent opposing Pokemon from setting up on Gastrodon, but it fails to pierce Substitute and takes away valuable moveslots, making its usage hard to justify. Block can be used in a moveset of Block / Rest / Toxic / Scald to trap and KO walls such as Blastoise, Vaporeon, and Slowking, but because the set needs Rest to avoid damage from Toxic itself, it ends up being less generally applicable than standard sets. This set is additionally often done better by Pyukumuku and Slowking, which offer more utility to a team.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-type Attacks**: Grass-types such as Sceptile, Dhelmise, and Decidueye all take minimal damage from Gastrodon's Earthquake or Scald and easily force it out with STAB Grass-type attacks. However, Ice Beam can punish Alolan Exeggutor and Sceptile, while Dhelmise and Decidueye dislike Toxic. Grass-type coverage such as Hidden Power Grass from Magmortar and Energy Ball from Sigilyph can also heavily damage Gastrodon.
**Toxic**: Toxic from Pokemon such as Vaporeon, Blastoise, and Druddigon heavily limits the time Gastrodon can spend in play and easily wears it down, resulting in it being 2HKOed by attacks such as Heliolisk's Hyper Voice if it is whittled down too much.
**Setup Sweepers**: Setup sweepers that do not fear Toxic such as Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary and Bulk Up Scrafty can use Gastrodon as setup fodder, and many other sweepers such as Comfey and Nasty Plot Decidueye can use the threat of super effective coverage to easily set up against Gastrodon.
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Gastrodon's Defense stat leaves it vulnerable to wallbreakers such as Mega Glalie, Pangoro, Swords Dance Samurott, and Swords Dance Incineroar, which threaten to heavily damage it.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[quziel, 297859]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [Eternally, 295647], [Punchshroom, 169054]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Fireflame279, 231476], [Rabia, 336073]]
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