Tentacruel

[Darusare]

Tentacruel looks really good
poison resists fighting
high defense
he cant taunt but he can poison jab the opponent
to hurt their setup

 

[PlatinumDude]

Tentacruel looks really good
poison resists fighting
high defense
he cant taunt but he can poison jab the opponent
to hurt their setup

-Tentacruel's Special Defense is actually higher than its physical defense. It'll still take a bit of damage from a resisted Fighting attack like Close Combat, but it can still take Focus Blast and Aura Sphere like a champ.
-Poison Jab isn't that good on Tentacruel unless it runs a Swords Dance set. Tentacruel is also better off using Toxic Spikes or Toxic to poison its opponents.

And you're right, it's a pretty good Pokemon if played right, especially with its DW ability.

 

[googlyeyesultra]

Tentacruel's real niche now in my opinion is as an offensive spinner. Although doryuuzu can do that well too, tentacruel has completely different typing and doesn't require sandstorm.

Timid, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 HP (You could run a slower, bulkier one (or perhaps a modest variant) if you only care about spinning duties, just outrun the ghosts then. Also note that without investment you aren't nearly as bulky as you expect).

The crux of this is Acid Bomb, which makes blowing through ghosts simple and makes up for mediocre offenses. Surf/Acid Bomb/Giga Drain hits every ghost quite hard. Acid Bomb makes your attacks do astounding amounts of damage, so you'll be doing more to Burungeru with Giga Drain than it is doing back (and you'll heal off the damage!).

 

[TheLD]

After giving it some thought, I'm wondering, could Tentacruel work on a team with Forretress? Collectively, they both somewhat compliment each other's resistances, Forretress can set up Rocks, Spikes, and spin, while Tentacruel can set up Toxic Spikes and leave off Rapid Spin, leaving another move slot open. I'm thinking something like:

Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Giga Drain / Acid Spray
Toxic Spikes


EVs are in the air. I'm thinking if running Giga Drain, max speed/max SpAtk, and if running Acid Spray, max speed and a split between HP and SpAtk or something.

Also, if giving up Rapid Spin isn't an option, in case Forretress faints at a critical moment, Tentacruel could be a backup spinner.

 

[idiotfrommars]

I have found Tenta to be hands down the best spinner in OU. He works wonders on my balanced rain team, pairing quite well with Nattorei, and clearing away stealth rocks for my heavy hitters.

I've been using a Protect/Boil Over/Toxic Spikes/Rapid Spin set. Protect is really useful for the extra recovery in the rain. I have considered Ice Beam in that spot to hit Thunderbro that try to come in.

 

[SlimMan]

^^^
I personally find Forry to be equally good, because Spikes (or even SR) are awesome, and so is Volt Change.
However, Forry can't burn shit with Boil Over (Scald), and Explosion got nerfed too.
I don't think either one is better than the other overall, and teams may benefit from one or the other depending on the other members.

 

[Joel]

I've been preaching about this for roughly two months now.

http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112026

Attacking lead...It works!

Tentacruel @ Expert Belt
Nature: Modest
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 36 HP/252 Def/220 SpAtk
Moveset:
-Acid Spray
-Giga Drain
-Surf/Scald
-Hidden Power Fire/Ice Beam

If you click my link, you can see the logs as solid proof, and what Pokes it can either take care of, or it is threatened by. I can't be bothered to re-post them here.

 

[RaRaRabbit]

I have been spouting out how awesome acid spray is since the beginning, and I still can not see any viable way of running a Tentacruel with out it. My most common set is a Tenta with Rapid Spin/Scald/Acid Spray/Toxic Spikes....

But this attacking lead looks pretty fun, so I may have to try that out.

 

[Lady Shinki]

For being offensive with Acid Spray, I'd rather use Eelektross despite its low speed or Accelgor despite its lower bulk...but anything that can use it is a good user of the move.

 

[Joel]

For being offensive with Acid Spray, I'd rather use Eelektross despite its low speed or Accelgor despite its lower bulk...but anything that can use it is a good user of the move.

You do realize niether of them get STAB from Acid Spray, right?

 

[alphatron]

Getting STAB on a base 40 power move isn't that important (if you mention the priority moves I will reach through the computer and tear you limb from limb). Those two using acid spray are supposed to boost their offensive capabilities, making it so that they aren't walled as easily.

 

[Kkop]

I think Tentacruel remains viable on Rain or Stall teams- I like the spin/tspikes combo very much. Granted, Forretress can also lay down and spin away hazards but I feel it loses a bit of punch with the loss of viability of Explosion.

DISCLAIMER: I may be a bit biased since Tentacruel was one of my favorites from back in the days of Gen I.

 

[Joel]

Getting STAB on a base 40 power move isn't that important (if you mention the priority moves I will reach through the computer and tear you limb from limb). Those two using acid spray are supposed to boost their offensive capabilities, making it so that they aren't walled as easily.

Those two can't make it a Base 100 on the second hit. They don't set the STAB to do it, and short of Steels and Grounds, the oppoeeing Poke will usually get 2HKO'd from Tentacruel.

And for that matter, base 50 after STAB, with my Lead set's perfect neutral typing get's a 2HKO on anything that either does not OHKO Tentacruel, or isn't Steel. Just saying.

 

[Lady Shinki]

Those two can't make it a Base 100 on the second hit. They don't set the STAB to do it, and short of Steels and Grounds, the oppoeeing Poke will usually get 2HKO'd from Tentacruel.

And for that matter, base 50 after STAB, with my Lead set's perfect neutral typing get's a 2HKO on anything that either does not OHKO Tentacruel, or isn't Steel. Just saying.

My point is that Eelektross and Accelgor have better type coverage with their primary attacking moves. Eelektross has Thunderbolt/Flamethrower/Grass Knot/Hidden Power for coverage, and Accelgor has Bug Buzz/Giga Drain/Focus Blast/Hidden Power, which hits more neutral targets. Importantly, both get better abilities and have higher special attack stats.

 

[Starman313]

I think Tentacruel remains viable on Rain or Stall teams- I like the spin/tspikes combo very much. Granted, Forretress can also lay down and spin away hazards but I feel it loses a bit of punch with the loss of viability of Explosion.

DISCLAIMER: I may be a bit biased since Tentacruel was one of my favorites from back in the days of Gen I.

off topic a bit but goddamn ok explosion doesnt nerf def anymore but its still a beastly attack idk y everyone keeps downing on it like it wont wreck a mofo regardless

 

[AuraSphere]

off topic a bit but goddamn ok explosion doesnt nerf def anymore but its still a beastly attack idk y everyone keeps downing on it like it wont wreck a mofo regardless

Explosion hasn't been affected? That's nice to know, as I believed it has been "nerfed", whatever that means.

 

[BurningMan]

Explosion hasn't been affected? That's nice to know, as I believed it has been "nerfed", whatever that means.

nerfed means that something gets less effective, and explosion was nerfed because it doesn't halves (or nerf if you want to say so) the opponents defense anymore.

 

[tehy]

Personally, i like rain dish a lot more than liquid ooze. While it's true that draining moves are more popular, i feel that rain is a large threat, and tentacruel with rain dish has the ability to get up t-spikes and spin much more easily against a rain team, and that's hugely helpful.

As for the acid bomb thing, i prefer sludge bomb, specifically for killing breloom. It's true that you can wreck a switch-in, but tentacruel should really be toxic spiking or rapid spinning on the switch anyways, and it can basically take down most popular ghosts anyways.

 

[King of Slack]

With rain dish and black sludge couldn't tentacruel become a very good sub stall on rain teams???

 

[PokéMontage]

^Don't use Black Sludge. I think there should be a big flashing sign that says that every time you visit Smogon since somebody always manages to bring it up.

 

[Lady Shinki]

In all honesty, Black Sludge is not a bad item. Just because you can get it tricked back onto something else, it only will affect you negatively if you play stupidly.

Also, as far as sub+protect stalling, I think Toxicroak and Ludicolo do it better (ludi because of higher spatk and better defensive typing, and toxicroak because it can run drain punch+toxic while stalling, and doesn't need leftovers to sub+protect stall its full health back up)

 

[PokéMontage]

The point is that there's no reason to use Black Sludge when Leftovers exists since there's a chance that Black Sludge will end up hurting something on your team. It's not going to happen often, but giving your opponent that option just isn't practical at all.

 

[AccidentalGreed]

I applaud offensive Offensive Tentacruel's ability to spin away hazards AND hurt things with Life ORb Hydro Pump on Drizzle teams. Even though it can't have it Hidden Ability (Rain Dish) with Giga Drain or Rapid Spin, it still does relatively fine with Liquid ooze. It's a shame; Rain Dish and Life Orb could have totally gone together.

 

[Miku]

The point is that there's no reason to use Black Sludge when Leftovers exists since there's a chance that Black Sludge will end up hurting something on your team. It's not going to happen often, but giving your opponent that option just isn't practical at all.

It also can be very useful if you predict wisely. When something with Trick gets Black Sludge, it will most likely use Trick again as soon as possible or at some point of the match. When that happens feel free to switch Tentacruel back in. If something just Tricked Leftovers for itself, it has no need to use Trick anymore and your Tentacruel will be screwed by Choice item for the rest of the match. With Black Sludge however, that shouldn't happen with good prediction.

 

[BurningMan]

It also can be very useful if you predict wisely. When something with Trick gets Black Sludge, it will most likely use Trick again as soon as possible or at some point of the match. When that happens feel free to switch Tentacruel back in. If something just Tricked Leftovers for itself, it has no need to use Trick anymore and your Tentacruel will be screwed by Choice item for the rest of the match. With Black Sludge however, that shouldn't happen with good prediction.

Or you misspredict and something on your team gets significantly hurt for the rest of the match.
You are taking a unnecessary risk for something that simply isn't worth it. A better player could always screw you up with this and you don't want a better player to get even more of an advantage over you ;)