FINISHED!
Gastrodon has a solid niche as a special wall due to it possessing a great defensive typing in Water / Ground combined with a high HP stat and decent Special Defense. Gastrodon stomachs numerous hits comfortably from menacing special wallbreakers such as Gengar, Nidoking, and Choice Scarf Hydreigon, and its Ground typing blocks Mega Manectric’s and Rotom-H’s Volt Switch and shuts down vital momentum. Storm Drain also grants a Water immunity for Gastrodon that makes it a solid switch-in to Tentacruel, Mega Blastoise, and Volcanion. What really sells Gastrodon compared to its Water / Ground counterparts in Swampert and Seismitoad is its access to reliable recovery, which further bolsters its strong defensive typing and lets it continuously check the aforementioned threats. However, Gastrodon lacks the ubiquitous Stealth Rock, unlike Swampert and Seismitoad, in a metagame that's favorable towards role compression. Gastrodon's typing is only weak to Grass, but it openly invites Grass-types like Celebi and Amoonguss onto the field with no repercussions and gives them free turns to act. Gastrodon is also a passive Pokemon that leaves it set up on by common sweepers such as Mega Altaria and Togekiss.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Scald
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Gastrodon uses Toxic to cripple defensive walls such as Slowbro, Jellicent, and Chesnaught. It should also be noted that Toxic is Gastrodon's form of pressure against Dragon-types like Latias and Hydreigon that could care less about its attacks.
Set Details
========
Storm Drain only further improves Gastrodon's defensive typing by adding a second immunity. This lets Gastrodon easily switch into Water-type attacks from Tentacruel, Primarina, and Starmie while also adding a marginal boost to Gastrodon's Scald if it stays in.
Usage Tips
========
Due to Gastrodon's higher Special Defense, it can be played much more liberally against the likes of Gengar and Nidoking. On the contrary, Gastrodon's poor Defense prevents it from being too hasty in switching into physical attackers like Cobalion or physical Infernape that its counterparts can handle more easily. Gastrodon also grants teams a valuable Volt Switch immunity against various pivots like Rotom-H, Mega Manectric, and Zeraora; however, it should still be wary of Toxic from the first and Grass-type coverage from the latter two. Double switching is a plausible strategy due to Gastrodon inviting Grass-types on the field for free, so an aggressive switch can be beneficial based on the scenario. Gastrodon can use Scald to fish for possible burns against some Grass-type switch-ins like Chesnaught and Tsareena to sabotage their offensive presence.
Team Options
========
Gastrodon should mainly be used on balance builds that find its higher Special Defense compared to Swampert and Seismitoad valuable to safely switch into wallbreakers like Gengar, Nidoking, and Starmie. Gastrodon easily benefits from the most consistent switch-ins to Grass-types like Latias, Togekiss, and Rotom-H, and the latter two appreciate Gastrodon checking Mega Manectric and Rotom-H. Gastrodon's resistance to Fire-type moves makes it a strong partner for Mega Aggron, which can set up Stealth Rock while also walling most offensive Grass-types that threaten Gastrodon out. Other Stealth Rock users, mainly Cobalion, Bronzong, and Diancie, also pair well with Gastrodon, either boasting a Steel typing or being a secondary Nidoking check that relieves pressure off of Gastrodon. Tentacruel, Empoleon, and Rotom-C synergize well with Gastrodon, as they provide hazard removal; in return, Gastrodon can pivot into Nidoking and multiple Electric-types. In a similar vein, Poison-types like Amoonguss minimize the chip damage that can eat away at Gastrodon by removing Toxic Spikes. Choice Scarf Infernape pressures Grass-types and also appreciates Gastrodon's Water immunity. Choice Scarf Hydreigon values Gastrodon reliably checking Substitute variations of Gengar and absorbing Water-type attacks. Heal Bell users such as Mega Altaria and the aforementioned Togekiss and Diancie replenish Gastrodon by removing Toxic. Rotom-H can benefit from Gastrodon's Storm Drain so it can pressure bulky Water-types more reliably. Gastrodon also appreciates Rotom-H's defensive typing to check some physical wallbreakers like Scizor.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Beam gives Gastrodon the coverage it needs to harm Grass-types and Mega Altaria, but its poor damage output leaves it eclipsed by Earthquake, which is Gastrodon's main attack for removing various special attackers that it checks. Gastrodon could utilize an offensive Groundium Z set with Scald, Earth Power, Ice Beam, and Recover, but this often invalidates Gastrodon’s main niche as a special wall. Curse can give Gastrodon a stronger matchup against physical wallbreakers, but it's largely inconsistent against any other of Gastrodon's matchups.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: Gastrodon is almost hopeless against Grass-types like Celebi, Amoonguss, Chesnaught, and Tsareena due to its quadruple weakness to Grass and gets obliterated by any of their primary attacks. It can cripple some of them with Toxic, but it will always be threatened out by them. Gastrodon should also watch out for Grass-type coverage from Mega Manectric, Zeraora, and Nihilego.
**Toxic-immune Setup Sweepers**: Mega Altaria and Togekiss exploit Gastrodon's passivity and use it as setup fodder due tier access to Refresh and Heal Bell, respectively.
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Gastrodon can be overwhelmed by physical wallbreakers like Scizor, Terrakion, and Crawdaunt, albeit they must all watch out for a potential Scald burn.
**Toxic Users**: Toxic from various users like Hippowdon, Gligar, and Slowbro severely cripples Gastrodon's longevity and ability to check its victims.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[BackAtYouBro, 451000]]
- Quality checked by: [[A Cake Wearing A Hat, 388157], [vivalospride, 151509], [Nuked, 382658]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Fireflame479, 231476], [Estronic, 240732]]
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