Tangrowth Skeleton

[Overview]

- Very physically bulky Pokemon, with high 100 / 125 defenses
- Offenses are also great, allowing Tangrowth to function as an effective tank
- Biggest boon is its Regenerator ability, allowing Tangrowth to gain 1/3 of its health when switching out, effectively making it much more difficult to bring down
- Has access to Sleep Powder, enabling it to incapacitate an opponent for the duration of the battle
- Burdened by its horrible Special Defense and Speed stats, hampering its ability to both wall and sweep
- Faces stiff competition from Amoonguss, as the latter has a better defensive typing, access to the 100% accurate - Spore, and an actual Special Defense; although Tangrowth's offenses are much higher, allowing it to beat most setup attackers even after Sleep Clause has been activated
- Tier is also prepared for sleep inducers, lowering the effect of Tangrowth's main weapon, Sleep Powder
Access to high defensive stats + great offenses still make Tangrowth a fierce competitor for a teamslot

[SET]
name: Tank
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Power Whip / Giga Drain
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Synthesis / Leech Seed
item: Leftovers
ability: Regenerator
nature: Relaxed / Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

- Although it isn't as good as it used to be, this is Tangrowth's most effective set, utilizing good defenses, high offenses, and its ability to keep switching thanks to Regenerator to make for a powerful Pokemon that is still hard to take down; furthermore, it is pretty versatile, giving it more of an edge against other walls
- Sleep Powder is always valuable, as it can potentially deprive the opponent of a would-be important Pokemon; accuracy can backfire sometimes though
- Power Whip is a strong STAB move that also gives Tangrowth the ability to break past Cryogonal and Slowking and check Gallade, something Amoonguss can't boast to do
- Giga Drain can be used instead if you want simultaneous recovery and Tangrowth switching into Scald without fear of getting its main STAB weakened
- Hidden Power Fighting is used to maim Aggron as well as Sap Sipper users such as Bouffalant and Sawsbuck
- Hidden Power Fire, instead, can decimate Durant while getting a stronger hit on Escavalier and Ferroseed (although Hidden Power Fighting deals with the latter just fine)
- Synthesis can be used in the last slot as it is a reliable form of healing, which will make it so that Tangrowth can stay in and still recover a lot of its health
- Leech Seed provides chip damage and healing and is a useful way to force switches, especially on Spike-stacking teams; furthermore, Leech Seed can potentially offer healing to Pokemon such as Golurk

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

- The 16 SpD allows Tangrowth to avoid the OHKO from Absol's Fire Blast, the rest are thrown into HP and Defense for better physical bulk
- A Relaxed nature should only be used if using Power Whip, otherwise, use a Bold nature
- Hidden Power Rock can be used to catch Moltres and other Fire-types on the switch, but Sleep Powder does that as well and Hidden Power Fire is overall more helpful
- Similarly Rock Slide can be used while still keeping Hidden Power Fire, but again, the moves above provide more utility
- Stun Spore and Knock Off are other viable support options, but the above are usually preferred
- Earthquake can be used in the second slot to get a strong hit on Fire-types such as Entei and Emboar on the switch, but the moves listed are much more useful for hitting their respective Pokemon
- Similarly, Focus Blast can be used over Hidden Power Fighting for more power, but it makes dealing with Substitute Bouffalant and Sawsbuck a luck-driven game, since they can just fish for misses and PP stall Tangrowth
- Specially defensive Regirock, defensive Druddigon, and Thick Fat Miltank can easily switch into Fire-type moves while also setting up Stealth Rock
- Qwilfish and Poliwrath are great partners, coming in on common Fire- and Bug-types that switch into Tangrowth
Qwilfish and Regirock can also set up hazards, which are useful with Leech Seed
- Slowking forms with Tangrowth to make a solid Regenerator core, as they have excellent synergy together
- Pokemon to deal with Roselia, Lilligant, and Amoonguss are recommended, as Tangrowth is hard-walled by them; Fire-types such as Emboar and Moltres do that fairly well, especially since the former can also act as a sleep absorber with Sleep Talk

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: Hidden Power Rock
move 4: Sleep Powder
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
ability: Regenerator
nature: Modest
evs: 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

- Tangrowth can put its good offenses to a bigger use by running an offensive set
- Leaf Storm is the STAB of choice for this set, as it is insanely powerful coming off of Tangrowth's high base 110 Special Attack; the Special Attack drop isn't too worrisome, as Tangrowth likes switching thanks to Regenerator
- Focus Blast hits annoying Steel-types for solid damage, securing the OHKO on Steelix and Ferroseed, the latter after Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes
- Hidden Power Rock is here to deal with Fire-types, particularly Moltres
- While it seems odd to use Sleep Powder, especially on a set where Choice Specs is a viable option, it has utility as it can potentially remove one of Tangrowth's counters from the game; and as mentioned before, Tangrowth likes switching due to Regenerator

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

- The Speed EVs ensure that Tangrowth outspeeds everything up to and inclusing minimum Speed Lanturn
- Life Orb offers a sizable power boost to Tangrowth, and Regenerator really helps to off-put the recoil provided by the former
- Choice Specs can be used if you'd rather have immense power at the cost of getting locked into one move; however, Tangrowth will be switching often anyway, so getting locked into one isn't too bad
- Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Escavalier hard and get rid of other Steel-types more reliably than Focus Blast, but Hidden Power Rock hits Moltres very hard while also retaining coverage of Fire-types such as Typhlosion and Entei
- Giga Drain can be used in place of Leaf Storm, but the latter's power is usually preferred on this set than the former's healing
- Roselia and Amoonguss are still stops to Tangrowth (although take a ton of damage from Hidden Power Fire), so a Fire-type, such as Moltres or Emboar, is highly recommended; in return, Tangrowth blasts Water-types to make way for a sweep
- Gallade is a good partner to get rid of Amoonguss while also drawing in Pokemon such as specially defensive Spiritomb for Tangrowth to switch in on
- Similarly, Absol can be used to Pursuit trap annoying Pokemon such as Uxie while also baiting and getting rid of the troublesome Escavalier with Fire Blast, granted it runs both moves
- Lanturn also pairs up with Tangrowth, as it has solid synergy with it, can get it in safely with a slow Volt Switch, and also deals with Druddigon and other Grass-types with chip damage from either Toxic or Scald burns
- Entry hazard setters that share good synergy with Tangrowth are important to allow it to get important KOs, such as that on Ferroseed with Focus Blast; Qwilfish and Rhydon are good for this role
- Choice Specs Slowking + Tangrowth makes for a good Regenerator core, as they have good synergy with each while hitting like trucks

[Other Options]

- Chlorophyll is a good ability to use on a sun team, as it alleviates Tangrowth's Speed issue under the sun; it even has access to Growth, Solarbeam, and Synthesis to take further advantage of the sun
- A Swords Dance set is semi-viable, with Tangrowth having a good base 100 Attack stat and moves such as Power Whip, Earthquake, and Rock Slide; but Tangrowth's Speed presents itself as a major issue, and it's better off using its higher Special Attack stat for offensive presence
- Tangrowth has some other support options such as Toxic and Reflect, but it's better off using the moves above

[Checks and Counters]

- Vital Spirit Magmortar is a great check, as it hits Tangrowth super effectively on its weaker Special Defense and doesn't care about Sleep Powder
- Other specially offensive Fire-types such as Typhlosion and Moltres are great checks to Tangrowth, but must be wary of Hidden Power Rock and Sleep Powder
- Sap Sipper users such as Bouffalant and Sawsbuck can switch into Tangrowth's Grass-type STAB and receive an Attack boost, but must be wary of Focus Blast, and in the latter's case, Hidden Power Fire as well
- Galvantula and Accelgor are also very good at dealing with Tangrowth; they even land a super effective hit on Tangrowth's most common partner: Slowking
- Bulky variants of Sigilyph are very threatening to Tangrowth, being resilient enough to tank even a Choice Specs-boosted Hidden Power Rock, being able to outlast them with Roost, and being strong enough to comfortably KO Tangrowth with either Air Slash, Heat Wave, and even Psychic
- Durant and Scolipede are also excellent checks, as they even beat Slowking, Tangrowth's most common partner
- Other Fire-types such as Entei and Emboar are good answers even though they're physical, as a Choice Band-boosted Flare Blitz from either of them severely cripples Tangrowth
- Sleep absorbers, like the above two and even Choice Band or specially defensive Druddigon, are also an effective way of checking Tangrowth, as its most threatening weapon is Sleep Powder
- Roselia, Clefable, and Amoonguss can effortlessly wall Tangrowth after Sleep Clause has been activated, and can proceed to destroy Tangrowth with Hidden Power Fire or Fire Blast if they run it
- Generally any Special Attacker that has something to hit Tangrowth with can force it out, just be cautious of Sleep Powder immobilizing said attacker