With incredible Special Defense, an excellent defensive typing that allows it to deal with threats like Primarina, Keldeo, and Celesteela, and the distinction of being one of the only viable Rapid Spin users in the tier, Tentacruel is a solid option for many balance and bulky offense teams. Access to Knock Off alongside Scald and Sludge Bomb make Tentacruel nearly impossible to switch into, threatening foes like Amoonguss with a burn or Slowking with a Sludge Bomb poison. Additionally, it matches up well against common entry hazard setters like Cobalion and Skarmory. Its base 100 Speed lets it outrun and deal heavy damage to offensive threats like Excadrill and Mamoswine. While its Special Defense is excellent, its Defense and HP are fairly poor, making it difficult for Tentacruel to switch into strong physical attackers like Cobalion and Scizor. This is further worsened by Tentacruel's mediocre attacking stats making it difficult to acquire KOs and leaving it overly reliant on status, which worsen its matchup against foes like Azelf, Galarian Slowbro, and Salamence. These weaknesses also put Tentacruel at a disadvantage against other common entry hazard setters like Hippowdon, Nidoqueen, and Excadrill, which can handle Scald, and make it difficult to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel's lack of recovery severly hinders its ability to check foes it normally would with its typing like Cobalion, Scizor, and even Keldeo, causing other Water-types like Slowking and Primarina to be preffered over it.