NationalDex
relicanth
#369

Relicanth

Longevity Pokémon

WaterRock

A rare Pokémon discovered during a deep-sea exploration. It has not changed in over 100 million years.

Base Stats

HP 100
Attack 90
Defense 130
Sp. Atk 45
Sp. Def 65
Speed 55
Total 485

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Held Items

Evolution Chain

Moves

Locations

Details

Category Longevity Pokémon
Height 1.0 m
Weight 23.4 kg
Base Exp 170
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 25
Base Happiness 70
Gender 87.5% ♂ / 12.5% ♀
Habitat Sea
Egg Groups Water1 ,Water2

Sprites

relicanth Front Front
relicanth Back Back
relicanth Front Shiny Front Shiny
relicanth Back Shiny Back Shiny
relicanth Front ♀ Front ♀
relicanth Back ♀ Back ♀
relicanth Front Shiny ♀ Front Shiny ♀
relicanth Back Shiny ♀ Back Shiny ♀
relicanth Official Art Official Art
relicanth Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Choice Band
Item
Choice Band
Ability
Rock Head
Nature
Adamant / Jolly
EVs
Atk 252
Def 4
Spe 252
Rock Polish
Item
Life Orb
Ability
Rock Head
Nature
Jolly / Adamant
EVs
Atk 252
Def 4
Spe 252
Swift Swim Sweeper
Item
Life Orb
Nature
Jolly / Adamant
EVs
HP 4
Atk 252
Spe 252

Strategy Overview

At first glance, Relicanth looks like an inferior version of Kabutops or Omastar. However, Relicanth has a few niches, mainly its access to Rock Head. With Rock Head, Relicanth can abuse STAB Head Smash to great effect, punching holes in just about any Pokemon. It also isn't that bad defensively either; 100 / 130 / 65 defenses aren't half-bad for a Rock-type Pokemon.

However, Relicanth is in the NU tier for a reason: base 90 Attack is disappointingly average for a Pokemon with such a potent attack. To make matters worse, it doesn't have a single move in its arsenal with which to boost its Attack. Relicanth is also slow, base 55 Speed means that faster Pokemon can easily attack Relicanth before it can retaliate, though Rock Polish fixes this to an extent. Furthermore, Relicanth has a limited movepool, making it fairly predictable, and a poor typing, which grants it weaknesses to common types in the RU metagame, such as Electric, Fighting, and Grass. However, don't underestimate this bony fish--it has just enough power to rip through unprepared teams.

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc