Bulky Sweeper
EVS: 252 HP / 46 Def / 210 Spd
Nature: Careful
Tera Type: Flying
Ability: Sturdy
Held Item: Chesto Berry
Moveset:
- Rest
- Foul Play
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
Overview:
Bastiodon has been treated well in S/V. Gaining access to Body Press has been a much deserved buff to the beefy lad that can allow him to perform quite consistently even against high tier Pokémon, using its defence stat to put a massive wallop on unsuspecting trainers with its alarming amount of damage thanks to said move.
With this set, Bastiodon is extraordinarily bulky, and next to impossible for physical attackers to deal with due to its already absurdly high defensive stats and buffs from iron defence. It’s only real problems are it’s 4x weaknesses to Fighting and Ground, both types can easily remove bastiodon from the match instantly despite the Pokémon’s impressive natural bulk. Thankfully, this weakness is completely mitigated by the power of tera flying, allowing bastiodon to shed these weaknesses in favour of a resistance and immunity to both. Which can sometimes cleverly be used to absorb a ground type attack to get off a free iron defence and start setting up. However, this over-reliance on changing into a Tera flying type must be noted and can sometimes be a hinderance as bastiodon is very easy to dispose of without it, as fighting and ground are two very powerful offensive types that are absolutely everywhere.
However, once built up Bastiodon is a force of nature. Becoming almost impossible for physical attacking Pokémon to deal with and with the ability to OHKO even some of the bulkiest Pokémon in the game with a +3 Body Press this is a Pokémon that can get out of hand very quickly, and even if you can somehow manage to wittle it down, it has the ability to fall back on rest which after snacking on its chesto berry, will leave bastiodon as if nothing has ever happened and back to slamming your opponents Pokémon on like something straight out of the WWE. The addition of Foul Play also gives this beefy boi some extra cheeky shenanigans such as hitting ghost types who think they’re safe, or smacking other Pokémon who try to build up with a taste of their own medicine. It’s slow speed stat combined with this makes it a phenomenal powerhouse on trick room teams.
Obviously Bastiodon isn’t without flaws as awesome as he is. The aforementioned reliance on Tera flying to avoid getting annihilated by ground and fighting types makes Bastiodon a very niche pick at best. While by no means weak, it can become a liability in situations where you are forced to tera with another Pokémon instead of it leading it to explode immediately upon touching the field in some battles before it can do anything. Which is not something you want, especially when there are other Pokémon that can benefit far more from having their tera available. It is also quite susceptible to burn and stall. With burn, bastiodon essentially becomes a damage sponge that fails to meet expectations and dies shortly after, especially into Pokémon such as Milotic that are also naturally bulky and resist it’s primary offensive option, similarly this Pokémon struggles in matchups with Pokémon that are built for stall. Toxapex, Dondozo, even Alomomola are terrible matchups for Bastiodon as they can generally out-stall the big boy until it falls victim to chip damage or status effects.
Overall, bastiodon is a solid, niche tank/sweeper that can see success against underprepared teams and can compete with top-tiers in some scenarios, but is let down by the fact that there are simply better options for achieving a similar playstyle without needing to sacrifice your Tera or build your team around it. It is however, super fun and super cool to
Use and I would definitely recommend doing so.
EVS: 252 HP / 46 Def / 210 Spd
Nature: Careful
Tera Type: Flying
Ability: Sturdy
Held Item: Chesto Berry
Moveset:
- Rest
- Foul Play
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
Overview:
Bastiodon has been treated well in S/V. Gaining access to Body Press has been a much deserved buff to the beefy lad that can allow him to perform quite consistently even against high tier Pokémon, using its defence stat to put a massive wallop on unsuspecting trainers with its alarming amount of damage thanks to said move.
With this set, Bastiodon is extraordinarily bulky, and next to impossible for physical attackers to deal with due to its already absurdly high defensive stats and buffs from iron defence. It’s only real problems are it’s 4x weaknesses to Fighting and Ground, both types can easily remove bastiodon from the match instantly despite the Pokémon’s impressive natural bulk. Thankfully, this weakness is completely mitigated by the power of tera flying, allowing bastiodon to shed these weaknesses in favour of a resistance and immunity to both. Which can sometimes cleverly be used to absorb a ground type attack to get off a free iron defence and start setting up. However, this over-reliance on changing into a Tera flying type must be noted and can sometimes be a hinderance as bastiodon is very easy to dispose of without it, as fighting and ground are two very powerful offensive types that are absolutely everywhere.
However, once built up Bastiodon is a force of nature. Becoming almost impossible for physical attacking Pokémon to deal with and with the ability to OHKO even some of the bulkiest Pokémon in the game with a +3 Body Press this is a Pokémon that can get out of hand very quickly, and even if you can somehow manage to wittle it down, it has the ability to fall back on rest which after snacking on its chesto berry, will leave bastiodon as if nothing has ever happened and back to slamming your opponents Pokémon on like something straight out of the WWE. The addition of Foul Play also gives this beefy boi some extra cheeky shenanigans such as hitting ghost types who think they’re safe, or smacking other Pokémon who try to build up with a taste of their own medicine. It’s slow speed stat combined with this makes it a phenomenal powerhouse on trick room teams.
Obviously Bastiodon isn’t without flaws as awesome as he is. The aforementioned reliance on Tera flying to avoid getting annihilated by ground and fighting types makes Bastiodon a very niche pick at best. While by no means weak, it can become a liability in situations where you are forced to tera with another Pokémon instead of it leading it to explode immediately upon touching the field in some battles before it can do anything. Which is not something you want, especially when there are other Pokémon that can benefit far more from having their tera available. It is also quite susceptible to burn and stall. With burn, bastiodon essentially becomes a damage sponge that fails to meet expectations and dies shortly after, especially into Pokémon such as Milotic that are also naturally bulky and resist it’s primary offensive option, similarly this Pokémon struggles in matchups with Pokémon that are built for stall. Toxapex, Dondozo, even Alomomola are terrible matchups for Bastiodon as they can generally out-stall the big boy until it falls victim to chip damage or status effects.
Overall, bastiodon is a solid, niche tank/sweeper that can see success against underprepared teams and can compete with top-tiers in some scenarios, but is let down by the fact that there are simply better options for achieving a similar playstyle without needing to sacrifice your Tera or build your team around it. It is however, super fun and super cool to
Use and I would definitely recommend doing so.