Gastrodon Movesets and Best Builds

Gastrodon Movesets in Other Games
SV	SWSH

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Gastrodon in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Gastrodon (West Sea), as well as its strengths and weakness.

Gastrodon (West Sea) - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle	Tera Raid Build

2022 Worlds Champion's Gastrodon Mystery Gift Code

Eduardo Cunha's Gastrodon Mystery Gift Code

Gastrodon (East Sea)
Level	50
Pokeball	Cherish Ball
Original Trainer	Eduardo
Ability	Storm Drain
Held Item	Leftovers
Moveset	・ Earth Power ・ Icy Wind ・ Yawn ・ Protect
Start	August 11, 2023
End	August 14, 2023
Code	23WCSGASTR0D0N

A Mystery Gift Code to receive a competitive ready Gastrodon has been announced to go live during the beginning of the 2023 Pokemon World Championships Livestream on August 11, 2023.

This Gastrodon is based on the 2022 Pokemon World Championships Champion, Eduardo Cunha (@MeninoJardim)'s Gastrodon. During its matches, Gastrodon was able to consistently stay on the field and offer its support to its team. It was great at redirecting Water Type moves with its Storm Drain, controlling speed with Icy Wind, and disrupting the opponent with Yawn.

Pokemon World Championships Gastrodon Mystery Gift Full Details

Gastrodon Base Stats, Type, Ability and Weakness

Paldea #328.1		Type
Gastrodon (West Sea)
		Abilities
		Sticky Hold Storm Drain Sand Force (Hidden)
Weak to:	(4x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Gastrodon

What are Natures?

Doubles Movesets for Gastrodon

Covert Cloak Gastrodon Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
EV Spread	252 HP / 236 Def / 4 Sp. Atk / 10 Sp. Def
Final Stat Values	218 HP / 118 Def / 113 Sp. Atk / 113 Sp. Def / 59 Spe
Ability	Storm Drain
Tera Type
Held Item	Leftovers
Moveset	・ Yawn ・ Earth Power ・ Ice Beam ・ Protect

Summary

Massively tanky. Natural typing and Tera Type makes it very difficult to KO. Matches up favorably against top Pokemon like Rapid-Strike Urshifu and Heatran.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Storm Drain	Leftovers

Gastrodon's Storm Drain allows it to passively protect teammates who are weak to Water by simply being on the field. This is especially valuable against Rapid-Strike Urshifu, whose Surging Strikes get neutralized simply by having Gastrodon on the field.

Leftovers is Gastrodon's Held Item, as it gives Gastrodon passive recovery when it does not run Recover.

List of All Items and Effects

Moves Breakdown

Yawn is a disruptive Move that forces opponents to fall asleep after a turn.

Gastrodon's most consistent STAB Move is Earth Power, a move that offers respectable damage.

Ice Beam is useful for OHKOing non-Assault Vest Landorus-T.
Lastly, Protect is great for scouting and stalling.

List of All Moves

Best Tera Type: Fire

Fire Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Fire Tera is chosen for Gastrodon, as it gives it a resistance to its major Grass weakness. Gastrodon has an immunity to Water thanks to Storm Drain, leaving it with weaknesses to only Rock and Ground.
Best Pokemon to Terastallize Fire

EV Spread and Nature

HP is given a full 252 EVs so that Gastrodon has as much HP as possible. This works in conjunction with its naturally high Defense and Special Defense stats, which are given 236 and 10 respectively.

Gastrodon is given more Defense EVs than Special Defense EVs so that it can better withstand Urshifu's Close Combat, and because its Calm Nature naturally boosts its Special Defense with minimal EV investment.

4 Special Attack EVs are then given so that Gastrodon can consistently 2-3 Hit KO most foes.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

Damage Dealt by Gastrodon
100 HP｜90 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def Tera Type: Item: Leftovers	Earth Power 74 ~ 90 (35.7 ~ 43.4%) 96.4% Chance to 3-Hit KO After Leftovers Recovery
87 HP｜91 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 HP Item: Choice Specs	Earth Power 104 ~ 126 (63.8 ~ 77.3%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO
56 HP｜60 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment 4 HP Item: Focus Sash	Earth Power 72 ~ 85 (54.5 ~ 64.3%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO
154 HP｜68 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment 140 HP, 116 Sp. Def Item: Assault Vest	Earth Power 78 ~ 92 (31.5 ~ 37.2%) 75% Chance to 3-Hit KO
Damage Received by Gastrodon (West Sea)
133 Sp. Atk Offensive EV Investment 252 Sp. Atk Item: Choice Specs	Make it Rain 68 ~ 81 (31.1 ~ 37.1%) 77.7% Chance to 3-Hit KO
100 Atk No Offensive EV Investment tem: Leftovers	Salt Cure 12 ~ 14 (5.5 ~ 6.4%) Possible 16-Hit KO
114 Sp. Atk Offensive EV Investment: 252 Sp. Atk tem: Focus Sash	Freeze-Dry 244 ~ 292 (111.9 ~ 133.9%) Guaranteed OHKO
130 Atk Offensive EV Investment: 252 Atk Tera Type: Item: Life Orb	Earthquake Gastrodon Tera Type: 229 ~ 270 (105 ~ 123.8%) Guaranteed OHKO

Covert Cloak Gastrodon Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
EV Spread	252 HP / 236 Def / 4 Sp. Atk / 10 Sp. Def
Final Stat Values	218 HP / 118 Def / 113 Sp. Atk / 113 Sp. Def / 59 Spe
Ability	Storm Drain
Tera Type
Held Item	Covert Cloak
Moveset	・ Muddy Water ・ Earth Power ・ Recover ・ Protect

Summary

Massively tanky. Natural typing and Tera Type makes it very difficult to KO. Matches up favorably against top Pokemon like Garganacl, Iron Bundle, and Gholdengo.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Storm Drain	Covert Cloak

Gastrodon's Storm Drain allows it to passively protect teammates who are weak to Water by simply being on the field. When Terastallized into Fire, Storm Drain leaves Gastrodon with only two weakness: Rock and Ground.

Covert Cloak is Gastrodon's Held Item, as it makes it immune to the effects of Snarl, Spirit Break, and most importantly, Salt Cure.
List of All Items and Effects

Moves Breakdown

Muddy Water is a reliable spread move that can reduce the opposing side's accuracy.

Gastrodon's most consistent STAB Move is Earth Power, a move that offers respectable damage.

Because Gastrodon isn't meant to be an offensive Pokemon, count on these moves to 2HKO or 3HKO even on super-effective hits. Expect Gastrodon to take out Pokemon at half health or at least put them in KO range for its other teammates.

Recover lets Gastrodon replenish valuable HP, letting it stay on the field for longer.

Lastly, Protect is great for scouting and stalling.

List of All Moves

Best Tera Type: Fire

Fire Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Fire Tera is chosen for Gastrodon, as it gives it a resistance to its major Grass weakness. Gastrodon has an immunity to Water thanks to Storm Drain, leaving it with weaknesses to only Rock and Ground.
Best Pokemon to Terastallize Fire

EV Spread and Nature

HP is given a full 252 EVs so that Gastrodon has as much HP as possible. This works in conjunction with its naturally high Defense and Special Defense stats, which are given 236 and 10 respectively.

Gastrodon is given more Defense EVs than Special Defense EVs so that it can better withstand Earthquakes, and because its Calm Nature naturally boosts its Special Defense with minimal EV investment.

4 Special Attack EVs are then given so that Gastrodon can consistently 2-3 Hit KO most foes.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

Damage Dealt by Gastrodon
100 HP｜90 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def Tera Type: Item: Leftovers	Earth Power 74 ~ 90 (35.7 ~ 43.4%) 96.4% Chance to 3-Hit KO After Leftovers Recovery
87 HP｜91 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 HP Item: Choice Specs	Earth Power 104 ~ 126 (63.8 ~ 77.3%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO
56 HP｜60 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment 4 HP Item: Focus Sash	Earth Power 72 ~ 85 (54.5 ~ 64.3%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO
154 HP｜68 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment 140 HP, 116 Sp. Def Item: Assault Vest	Earth Power 78 ~ 92 (31.5 ~ 37.2%) 75% Chance to 3-Hit KO
Damage Received by Gastrodon (West Sea)
133 Sp. Atk Offensive EV Investment 252 Sp. Atk Item: Choice Specs	Make it Rain 68 ~ 81 (31.1 ~ 37.1%) 77.7% Chance to 3-Hit KO
100 Atk No Offensive EV Investment tem: Leftovers	Salt Cure 12 ~ 14 (5.5 ~ 6.4%) Possible 16-Hit KO
114 Sp. Atk Offensive EV Investment: 252 Sp. Atk tem: Focus Sash	Freeze-Dry 244 ~ 292 (111.9 ~ 133.9%) Guaranteed OHKO
130 Atk Offensive EV Investment: 252 Atk Tera Type: Item: Life Orb	Earthquake Gastrodon Tera Type: 229 ~ 270 (105 ~ 123.8%) Guaranteed OHKO

How to Use Gastrodon Effectively

Use Gastrodon Against Top Pokemon

Gastrodon matches up favorably against Garganacl, Iron Bundle, and Gholdengo. Be sure to Terastallize wisely and use it only when necessary.

Use Gastrodon As A Win Condition

Gastrodon can outdamage Garganacl with Earth Power. With Covert Cloak, it is able to take no damage from Garganacl's Salt Cure residual damage. It can also heal itself with Recover, making it even harder to KO.

How to Build a Team with Gastrodon (West Sea)

Gastrodon enjoys defensive teams with teammates that are difficult to KO. Gastrodon itself can put a halt to hyper-offense, so it best synergizes with teammates with different types that can function similarly.

This Pokemon can win you games if you are able to run your opponents out of ways to hit it for meaningful damage.

Sample Doubles Team

Support	Special Attacker
Grimmsnarl	Iron Bundle
Physical Attacker / Tank	Special Attacker / Tank
Corviknight	Gastrodon (West Sea)

Grimmsnarl can provide Screens for its team and boost its overall defenses, as well as protect its partnered Iron Bundle from Status Conditions with Misty Terrain.
Iron Bundle matches up favorably against Grass-types and Ground-types, being an effective way to take out threats to Gastrodon.

Gastrodon enjoys the Screens support and Misty Terrain protection, and will comfortably take on the likes of Garganacl in the end game.

Corviknight also benefits from Screens, and can double as a tanky Physical Attacker that can take on other dedicated Attackers.

Counters for Gastrodon

Be Prepared for Gastrodon's Type

Gastrodon can pose a threat to your team and is countered by different Pokemon depending on whether it Teras or not. Always be ready with ways to hit it for super-effective damage, or at least deal more offense than Gastrodon can.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Iron Bundle	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Iron Bundle can be consistently 2HKOd by Earth Power, Iron Bundle can cleanly OHKO un-Terastallized Gastrodon with Freeze-Dry. ▶️Iron Bundle Best Movesets
Garchomp	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Can threaten massive damage on Tera Fire Gastrodon with Earthquake, or KO if it has an Attack boosting Item and Tera Ground. ・Muddy Water and Earth Power 3HKOs Garchomp. ▶️Garchomp Best Movesets
Iron Hands	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Despite being weak to Earth Power, Assault Vest Iron Hands can survive multiple Earth Powers thanks to Drain Punch's incremental recovery. ・Can out-damage Gastrodon with Drain Punch. ▶️Iron Hands Best Movesets

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