[overview]
**Draft order**: Often drafted near the middle of the pack in an eight Pokémon draft league format, typically as a late round four or early round five pick.
**Price range**: 9-10
**Overview**: Utilizing a great defensive typing and a plethora of defensive moves, Tentacruel can be a nice mid-draft pick to fill in gaps for your team. It brings hazard utility by both removing them with Rapid Spin and also setting them with Toxic Spikes, it can function as a pivot with Flip Turn, remove items with Knock Off, status opponents with Toxic, and generally be an annoying Special wall. However, it struggles with four move slot syndrome, as it often can not fit all the moves it wants to into one set, and while its HP and SPDef are high Tentacruel still has difficulties trying to check threats across the course of a game due its lack of recovery outside of items.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
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**Special Wall**: Employing its good typing and naturally high HP and SPDef stats, Tentacruel can come in on opposing Special-attacking threats and either status the opponent, remove their item, remove their hazards, or pivot out to gain momentum for your team while slowing the opponent.
**Utility**: As a result of its high bulk, Tentacruel can effectively Rapid Spin to remove hazards against multiple threats and can set some of its own with Toxic Spikes. This can pair nicely with Knock Off to remove opposing Heavy Duty Boots, Flip Turn to maintain momentum, or Toxic to status non-grounded threats or if not running T-Spikes.
**Bulky Assault Vest Pivot**: With its access to Flip Turn and Rapid Spin alongside a variety of Psychical and Special moves at its disposal Tentacruel can don an Assault Vest to maintain its defensive capabilities while still bringing utility through Rapid Spin and generating momentum through Flip Turn.
Common Moves
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**Primary STAB moves**: Hydro Pump, Surf, Liquidation, Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb
**Setup moves**: Swords Dance, Acid Armor
**Utility moves**: Flip Turn, Haze, Knock Off, Rain Dance, Rapid Spin, Toxic, Toxic Spikes
**Coverage**: Blizzard, Dazzling Gleam, Facade, Giga Drain, Hex, Ice Beam, Tera Blast, Throat Chop, Weather Ball
Niche Moves
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**Acid Spray**: Acid Spray enables your special attackers to do even more damage to the opponent or helps Tentacruel if running special moves by lowering the opponents Special Defense by two stages.
**Chilling Water**: Can be used in a pinch to try and counter dangerous physical attackers by dropping their attack stat.
**Icy Wind/Mud Shot/Pounce/Scary Face**: While they all have different effects, they would function the same as a way to slow down faster opponents allowing your own Pokémon to revenge kill.
**Rest**: Rest, when used in combination with Sleep Talk or a Chesto Berry, provides Tentacruel with recovery.
**Skitter Smack**: Skitter Smack is a rarely seen option Assualt Vest or utility sets to further enhance Tentacruel's walling capabilities by lowering the opponents Special Attack.
**Whirlpool**: Whirlpool allows you to trap the opponent and whittle away their HP when combined with Toxic and Substitute or Protect.
Common Items
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**Sitrus Berry**: Running Sitrus Berry should be highly considered on almost every Tentacruel set, as it provides Tentacruel with the recovery it desperately needs and often will provide more healing than Black Sludge or Leftovers would over the course of a game.
**Assault Vest**: Assault Vest increases Tentacruel's fantastic special bulk, enabling it to check more threats while still retaining its hazard removing and pivoting capabilities.
**Black Sludge** Black Sludge should really only be used on a set running Protect or Substitute, as it functions great in those roles where it can prolong its time on the field and thus take full advantage of Black Sludge's healing.
**Heavy Duty Boots** The nearly ubiquitous item, you will almost never not get value with Boots on a 'Mon and Tentacruel is no exception, especially as its often tasked with removing hazards and therefore it is even more important that Tentacruel can come in multiple times throughout a match.
Niche Items
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**Eject Button**: Eject Button can be used in situations where you need as much momentum as possible against an enemy team, as Tentacruel's high bulk allows it to switch in once for free and then generate momentum by immediately getting forced out by Eject Button.
**Leftovers**: Should only be used over Black Sludge if you plan on Terastalizing Tentacruel into a non-Poison type.
Tera
========
This Pokémon's natural typing is already excellent defensively, and Terastalizing into a different type rarely if ever helps it so you would be much better off making a different Pokémon your Tera Captain.
Draft Strategy
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Tentacruel fits best on teams looking for hazards and hazard control, a grounded Poison type to counter opposing Toxic Spikes, momentum, and added bulk. It fits best on bulky offensive and balance drafts, as its ability to halt attackers and reclaim momentum for its team while providing valuable utility is best suited to those styles of play.
**Hazard Control**: Against teams without a grounded Poison type, or when you think they will not bring it, Toxic Spikes is deadly in Draft as even one layer puts a timer on every Pokémon and provides free chip damage which is even more important in a bulkier metagame and one where people specifically EV to survive sudden hits, only for your chip from poison damage to put them in range of your big attacks. Its ability to remove hazards with Rapid Spin is invaluable to many Pokémon that like switching frequently, such as Choice item users or other bulky Pokémon, allowing them to survive longer. It can also be used to support Pokémon weak to Stealth Rock or employing a Focus Sash, as Tentacruel can often get off a Rapid Spin even if it faints in the process allowing its teammates to forgo Heavy Duty Boots for more optimal items.
**Pivoting**: Many heavy-hitting but slow Pokémon appreciate Tentacruel creating free opportunities through Flip Turn, as otherwise they can often struggle to get on the field. Since Special attackers often have low defenses, slow but hard-hitting Psychical Pokémon pair well with Tentacruel.
**Stall Breaker**: While Tentacruel does not possess the ability to smash through stall like the Urshifu formes or Chi-Yu, through its immunity to Toxic and its possession of the move it can stay healthy through the course of a match and whittle down the opponent with Toxic or trap key 'Mons with Whirlpool, taking pressure off the player to draft other stall breakers (though having at least one more Pokémon that deals with Stall is greatly appreciated).
Checks and Counters
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**Psychical Attackers**: Due to Tentacruel's lower Psychical defense, Psychical attackers often can threaten it with large damage or an outright KO. This is best mitigated by having a psychically defensive 'Mon to switch into that can reliably handle Psychical threats.
**Set Up Sweepers Immune to Toxic**: As Tentacruel is often forced to run defensive investment and its attack stats are low, set up sweepers immune to Toxic or with Taunt to block Toxic can take advantage of Tentacruel and use it as set up fodder. A Mental Herb could negate Taunt, but to counter set up sweepers immune to Toxic it would be best to switch to Pokémon that can either check them defensively or threaten them offensively.
**Storm Drain/Water Absorb**: Pokémon with the ability Storm Drain or Water Absorb are immune to Tentacruel's Water-type attacks, notably Flip Turn which halts Tentacruel's momentum. The solution to this is double switching, which can leave your other Pokémon more vulnerable so adding extra bulk to them could be a wise move.
[credits]
Written by:
Delta4 | Smogon Forums
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