NationalDex
cranidos
#408

Cranidos

Head Butt Pokémon

Rock

A lifelong jungle dweller from 100 million years ago, it would snap obstructing trees with head butts.

Base Stats

HP 67
Attack 125
Defense 40
Sp. Atk 30
Sp. Def 30
Speed 58
Total 350

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Details

Category Head Butt Pokémon
Height 0.9 m
Weight 31.5 kg
Base Exp 70
Growth Rate Slow Then Very Fast
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 70
Gender 87.5% ♂ / 12.5% ♀
Habitat
Egg Groups Monster

Sprites

cranidos Front Front
cranidos Back Back
cranidos Front Shiny Front Shiny
cranidos Back Shiny Back Shiny
cranidos Official Art Official Art
cranidos Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

lc Usage: 6.4%
Choice Scarf
Item
Choice Scarf
Nature
Adamant / Jolly
EVs
HP 60
Atk 236
Spe 212
Rock Polish
Item
Life Orb / Oran Berry
Nature
Adamant
EVs
HP 60
Atk 236
Spe 212

Strategy Overview

Cranidos, quite frankly, hits about as hard as the comet that killed off its dinosaur brethren. Sporting an absolutely monstrous base 125 Attack equal to that of Gyarados all the way in OU, as well as a powerful STAB move in Head Smash, Cranidos is an offensive juggernaut to say the least. It also sports great coverage moves as well and an amazing ability in Mold Breaker. Combine this with good HP and decent Speed, and Cranidos has the potential to flatten unprepared teams.

However, not everything is peachy for Cranidos. Its Speed is only average, allowing faster Pokemon to prey on its mediocre defenses and take it out. Priority is also a thorn in Cranidos's side; most of the widely seen priority moves in Little Cup hit Cranidos super effectively, meaning that priority abusers probably need to be eliminated before Cranidos can be used effectively. Once most or all of the threats to Cranidos are gone, it can do what it does best: hit everything in sight as hard as possible.

Most Used Moves

Pursuit
21.8%

Most Used Items

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc