NationalDex
gastrodon
#423

Gastrodon

Sea Slug Pokémon

WaterGround

Long ago, its entire back was shielded with a sturdy shell. There are traces of it left in its cells.

Base Stats

HP 111
Attack 83
Defense 68
Sp. Atk 92
Sp. Def 82
Speed 39
Total 475

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Details

Category Sea Slug Pokémon
Height 0.9 m
Weight 29.9 kg
Base Exp 166
Growth Rate Medium
Capture Rate 75
Base Happiness 70
Gender 50% ♂ / 50% ♀
Habitat
Egg Groups Water1 ,Indeterminate

Sprites

gastrodon Front Front
gastrodon Back Back
gastrodon Front Shiny Front Shiny
gastrodon Back Shiny Back Shiny
gastrodon Official Art Official Art
gastrodon Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Physically Defensive
Moves
Ice Beam / Earthquake
Item
Leftovers
Ability
Storm Drain
Nature
Relaxed
EVs
HP 252
Def 252
SpD 4

Strategy Overview

Gastrodon holds an important niche in BW OU as one of the most reliable counters to offensive rain teams. Not only does its ability Storm Drain grant it a Water immunity, but its typing makes it one of the most reliable defensive checks to Rotom-W and Thundurus-T, provided that the latter isn't running Grass Knot. Gastrodon is also deceptively difficult to switch into, as most Pokemon that can reliably switch into Scald are ruined by Toxic. Gastrodon can also check physical attackers like Tyranitar and Gliscor. Finally, Recover and immunity to sand give it an easy time staying healthy to check the Pokemon it is supposed to. With these traits, Gastrodon is often used on sand teams that need a reliable answer to offensive rain teams. However, Gastrodon is very passive, meaning that Grass-types such as Ferrothorn and Breloom can freely switch in and use it as setup fodder. Gastrodon's susceptibility to entry hazards is also problematic, preventing it from checking very strong physical attackers such as Dragonite. Its vulnerability to Toxic also hurts against Pokemon it can otherwise check that run the move, like Heatran and Keldeo. Finally, Gastrodon faces significant competition as an answer to rain teams with Jellicent and Seismitoad, as the former can better check Keldeo, spinblocks, and has a better matchup against Ferrothorn, while the latter does a better job checking Rotom-W with its access to Refresh and better supports its team, able to run Stealth Rock and Knock Off.

Most Used Moves

Recover
99.2%
Scald
87.9%
Toxic
83.3%
Ice Beam
58.8%

Most Used Items

Leftovers
98.4%

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc