Carracosta Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Shell Smash allows Carracosta to boost both its offensive stats and Speed and OHKO opposing Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Mega Metagross at the start of turn 2. Hydro Pump is the special Water-type STAB move used as the base for Hydro Vortex to KO most opposing Pokemon such as Mega Charizard X and Magearna. Aqua Jet can finish off opposing Sturdy Pokemon such as Magnezone and Crustle and can help deal additional necessary chip damage to Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y. This also can be used for a physical Hydro Vortex, which can aid against Pokemon like Magearna. Aqua Tail is a second option for Hydro Vortex that can take out Calm Mind Pokemon such as Meloetta or naturally specially defensive Pokemon like Chansey. Alternatively, Rock Slide can be used against Pokemon that resist Carracosta's Water-type STAB moves such as Kyurem and Araquanid. Protect can be run to alleviate the threat of Fake Out from certain Pokemon, such as Mega Medicham. Set Details Waterium Z powers up Hydro Pump, Aqua Tail, or Aqua Jet to Hydro Vortex to deal as much damage as possible. 240 Speed EVs and a Naive nature allow Carracosta to outspeed base 110 Pokemon after a Shell Smash, notably Mega Metagross. Special Attack is maximized to boost the power of special Hydro Vortex, since Carracosta already has superb Attack, and the remaining EVs go into Attack in order to aid against Mega Charizard Y with physical Hydro Vortex followed by Aqua Jet. Sturdy allows Carracosta one free turn to set up Shell Smash. Usage Tips Against most bulky Pokemon like Mega Metagross, Tapu Lele, and Meloetta, turn 1 can be used to set up Shell Smash. However, against Pokemon faster or potentially faster than base 110 such as Choice Scarf Porygon-Z and Speed Boost Mega Blaziken and against opposing Sturdy or Trace users like Magnezone and Gardevoir, turn 1 should be used to attack. Against Pokemon that can boost either or both defensive stats, such as Magearna, Z-Celebrate Meloetta, and Z-Conversion Porygon-Z, it is ideal to repeatedly use Shell Smash as long as Sturdy remains intact, and only Attack if your Sturdy is broken or you have maxed out your offensive stats. Team Options Carracosta is particularly strong when paired with Fire- and Grass-type Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, Mega Venusaur, and Kartana. Carracosta can cover the opposing Fire-types like Mega Charizard X and opposing Heatran for them while the Fire-types can threaten Serperior and Ferrothorn and the Grass-types can threaten opposing Water-types like Primarina and Tapu Fini. Choice Scarf users like Porygon-Z, Landorus-T, and Victini are helpful in dealing with Fake Out users like Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham and Zeraora. In return, Carracosta can get through bulkier Pokemon such as Meloetta and Heatran with the help of Shell Smash. Electric-types like Zeraora and Magnezone can also be helpful, as they can deal with bulky Water-types such as Primarina and Tapu Fini that Carracosta struggles with, while Carracosta can deal with annoying Ground-types like Landorus-T and non-Extreme Speed Zygarde.

Carracosta can take on a role as a very effective tank, supporting its team via Stealth Rock while making use of its decent resistances, gargantuan Defense stat, and the incredibly useful Solid Rock trait. Stealth Rock is naturally the most alluring part of this Carracosta, being the most important entry hazard in the game, as Carracosta sets up freely against many offensive Pokemon in the tier, such as Swellow, Bouffalant, and most Calm Mind Sigilyph. Waterfall hits remarkably hard from Carracosta's fairly solid Attack, especially with an Adamant nature, significantly damaging the likes of Steelix and Rhydon while also possessing very good neutral coverage in RU. Stone Edge is Carracosta's second STAB option, hurting the Grass-, Water-, and Dragon-types that resist Waterfall. Finally, Aqua Jet rounds off the moveset, giving Carracosta the ability to pick off weakened Fire-types such as Moltres, while also allowing it to beat fast Focus Sash holders and Sturdy users. Maximum HP gives Carracosta a huge amount of bulk, especially in tandem with Solid Rock, which weakens super effective attacks against it. Maximum Attack beefs up Carracosta's powerful Stone Edges and Waterfalls, allowing it to hit as hard as possible. The remaining EVs are placed into Defense in order to better make use of Carracosta's nifty Normal- and Flying-type resistances. More Defense can be used, although it's somewhat unnecessary, as Carracosta solidly survives even powerful super effective attacks without more than 4 EVs of Defense investment, such as Unburden Hitmonlee's High Jump Kick after Stealth Rock, Jolly Life Orb Sawsbuck's Horn Leech, and Choice Band Aggron's Head Smash. In addition, Life Orb Aerodactyl isn't even capable of 2HKOing Carracosta with Earthquake. Leftovers is the item of choice, simply because the durability it adds to Carracosta is more valuable than anything added by any other item. However, Stone Plate is an option to 2HKO standard mixed defensive Slowking after Stealth Rock, while type-resist berries such as Shuca Berry can be used to allow Carracosta to serve as a niche check to some Pokemon, such as offensive Sandslash. Tank Carracosta pairs well with most defensive team support Pokemon, such as Wish and either Aromatherapy or Heal Bell users. Clefable and Lickilicky are bulky enough to take hits from many offensive Grass- and Electric-types that threaten Carracosta, while passing it Wish and curing status afflictions with Heal Bell. Miltank also pairs well with Carracosta, taking advantage of lured Grass-type attacks to increase its own Attack with Sap Sipper. Similarly, Bouffalant and Sawsbuck make good partners for Carracosta, despite sharing its Fighting-type weakness. Carracosta also goes very nicely with Spikes and Toxic Spikes users. Roselia, for example, resists almost all of Carracosta's weaknesses, sets up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and even has Aromatherapy for Carracosta to make use of. Ferroseed covers Electric- and Grass-type attacks for Carracosta without any trouble, while setting up Spikes and letting Carracosta switch into any Fire- or Flying-type attacks aimed towards it. Most Ghost-types also pair somewhat well with Carracosta, blocking Rapid Spin while also taking hits from most Fighting-type Pokemon. Spiritomb especially is a very nifty partner, trapping and beating the omnipresent Slowking in order to let Carracosta breeze through many teams.

Carracosta is one of the most effective physical or mixed Shell Smash users in RU. Thanks to its respectable base 108 Attack, Carracosta becomes a gargantuan powerhouse when boosted by Shell Smash. Stone Edge is Carracosta's main STAB option, hitting large portions of the metagame decently hard and allowing Carracosta to blow past bulky Water-types such as Slowking after a Shell Smash. Waterfall is the secondary STAB option available to Carracosta, hitting most Ground- and Steel-types much harder than Stone Edge, while also being more reliable. Aqua Jet rounds off Carracosta's moveset, allowing it to pick off Choice Scarf users and any weakened Pokemon that are faster than it. Ice Beam is another very usable option over Waterfall or Aqua Jet, letting Carracosta break through physically defensive Grass-types, most notably Tangrowth, that are capable of thoroughly manhandling any Carracosta lacking Ice Beam. If not using Ice Beam, Carracosta should generally use a purely physically offensive EV spread with max Attack and Speed. A Jolly nature is usually recommended over an Adamant Nature, as Carracosta is unable to outspeed positive nature max Speed base 100 Speed Pokemon if not using a Speed boosting nature itself. However, Adamant gives Carracosta significantly more power, most notably allowing it to always OHKO standard Slowking with Stone Edge after a Shell Smash boost. Carracosta is capable of always OHKOing physically defensive Tangrowth with Ice Beam even with a Special Attack decreasing nature; however, if specially defensive Tangrowth is an issue, a Naive nature can be used over Jolly, or Naughty over Adamant. However, EVs should generally not be moved from Speed or Attack into Special Attack, as Ice Beam only notably hits Tangrowth and Carracosta needs all the Attack it can get. Sturdy and Solid Rock Carracosta play somewhat differently and both require different amounts of support. Sturdy Carracosta should use a Lum Berry, which it makes use of very well to set up against Pokemon that attempt to inflict it with status conditions. It also pairs very well with Rapid Spin users such as Cryogonal and Kabutops, the latter of which can be paired with Carracosta in order to help wear down bulky Water- and Grass-types and aide in an eventual Carracosta sweep. Solid Rock Carracosta can make use of a Life Orb in order to hit significantly harder, notably giving its Aqua Jet the ability to OHKO many of the Choice Scarf users that outspeed boosted Carracosta. A White Herb can also be used on Solid Rock Carracosta, giving it the ability to beat Mach Punch users such as Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Generally, excellent teammates for Carracosta are Pokemon that provide hazard support. Ferroseed and Uxie are both good options, the former resisting two of Carracosta's common weaknesses, while the latter gives Carracosta easy setup opportunities thanks to U-turn and Memento. Many Fire-types, such as Magmortar and Entei, also pair fairly well with Carracosta, handling Rotom-C, Lilligant, and Tangrowth. Finally, offensive Grass-types such as Swords Dance Sceptile and Quiver Dance Lilligant pair well with Carracosta, as they can set up on Fire- and Flying-type attacks directed at them. Carracosta also has a few other nifty options up its sleeve. It can use Earthquake over any move other than Stone Edge, giving it excellent type coverage. Hidden Power Fire can be used to handle Ferroseed, while Hidden Power Grass is a solid choice for beating Poliwrath. Stone Plate and Splash Plate can be used on Sturdy Carracosta if adding extra power to Stone Edge, Waterfall, or Aqua Jet is necessary. They are also somewhat handy on Solid Rock sets in order to conserve health and avoid being easily KOed by priority users. Lastly, Carracosta can opt to use Aqua Tail over Waterfall for a bit of extra power, although Aqua Tail's lower accuracy and lack of a flinch chance are a bit of a letdown.

Using a Choice Band turns Carracosta into a powerful physical sweeper without having to set up. Waterfall deals massive damage, but since this set doesn't use Shell Smash to boost Carracosta's Attack, Aqua Tail can be used, as it hits harder than Waterfall, at the cost of a little accuracy. Stone Edge gives Carracosta a great STAB option, and when combined with Waterfall, gives a combination that only Empoleon and Ferroseed resist. In the third slot, Earthquake hits Steel-types such as Empoleon while Crunch nails Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Uxie, hard. Aqua Jet is a great move for this set, providing Carracosta with a priority attack to nail faster Pokemon, such as Arcanine and Krookodile. Solid Rock is the ability of choice here as it gives Carracosta more chances to switch in. Wish, Aromatherapy, and Rapid Spin support all help keep Carracosta healthy, and your own entry hazards make it easier for Carracosta to KO its opponent. Sturdy can be used over Solid Rock to guarantee at least one hit if Carracosta is at full health. However, Solid Rock lets Carracosta switch in more easily and benefits Carracosta more than Sturdy in the long run. Solid Rock, along with Carracosta's better coverage and higher Defense stat, is what sets it apart from Kabutops. Rock Slide can be used over Stone Edge if you prefer higher accuracy, but the loss in power means that Carracosta loses out on certain KOs. Body Slam provides excellent type coverage alongside its Water-type STAB, and its decent paralysis rate is helpful too. Because Carracosta is so slow, Pokemon that can spread paralysis are greatly appreciated. Ferroseed is a perfect example, as it can use Thunder Wave to spread paralysis, it can set up Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and it has access to Leech Seed, helping Carracosta to restore its health. Registeel can cripple opponents with Thunder Wave, switch into Grass-type attacks aimed at Carracosta, and set up Stealth Rock to weaken the opponent. Status absorbers, such as Clefable, also work well, as they can switch into Will-O-Wisp. Bronzong can set up Stealth Rock, cripple an opponent with Hypnosis, and set up Trick Room to remedy Carracosta's poor Speed. Qwilfish and Roserade are decent teammates as well; both can set up Spikes and Toxic Spikes and the latter can cripple an opponent with Sleep Power.

This set is self-explanatory; come in on a resisted attack or non-damaging move, use Shell Smash, and tear your opponent's team apart with Carracosta's great coverage. Waterfall is the obligatory STAB move of choice, as it not only deals massive damage, but also has a pretty useful chance to flinch. Stone Edge complements Waterfall beautifully, because it provides a way to hit Pokemon that resist Waterfall, such as Roserade, for neutral damage. In the last slot, Carracosta can either use Aqua Jet for priority to check faster threats, such as Choice Scarf Flygon and Krookodile, as it is still relatively slow even after a Shell Smash boost, or use Earthquake to hit Empoleon and Ferroseed, both of which resist its STAB combination. White Herb negates the defense drops that Shell Smash causes and pairs very well with Solid Rock, allowing Carracosta to maintain its bulk. The EV spread gives Carracosta the ability to outspeed positive base 100 Speed Pokemon after a Shell Smash. Carracosta can run Surf or Hydro Pump instead of Waterfall, since its base 83 Special Attack is nothing to scoff at, especially after a Shell Smash boost. However, a special Water-type attack does not offer much coverage outside of what Waterfall already hits, and splitting the EVs for a mixed set removes some of Carracosta's potency. Crunch can be used in the last slot if one is desperate to get super-effective damage on Ghost- and Psychic-types, such as Mismagius, but it only has 10 more Base Power than STAB Stone Edge against targets hit super effectively, so it isn't really worth it. Even after a Shell Smash boost, Carracosta is still outrun by faster Pokemon. Therefore, Carracosta needs support to work properly. Uxie and Cresselia pair well with Carracosta, sporting an immunity to Ground- and Fighting-type attacks, as well as the ability to provide dual screen and paralysis support. Entry hazards make the armored turtle's job much easier; pairing Carracosta with a hazard setter, such as Qwilfish or Roserade, will greatly facilitate a Carracosta sweep.

Carracosta makes a unique attacker in VGC play thanks to its exclusive access to Shell Smash and Sturdy, which gives it almost guaranteed setup and makes it an incredibly powerful attacker. Shell Smash forms the basis of this set, doubling Carracosta's Speed and boosting its Attack to incredible levels. Waterfall and Rock Slide are powerful STAB attacks which gain excellent coverage together, doing huge damage after a boost. Protect allows Carracosta to bypass its many weaknesses, and lets its partner take out a Pokemon which can threaten it, as well as keep its Sturdy intact in the face of an opposing Fake Out. The EVs and nature allow Carracosta to outspeed everything up to maximum Speed Whimsicott after a Shell Smash, and hit as hard as possible after a boost. Rock Gem makes Carracosta's boosted Rock Slide hit ridiculously hard after a boost, doing huge damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Aqua Jet with the boost from Water Gem OHKOes both Terrakion and Archeops after a Shell Smash, stopping them from using Quick Attack to finish off Carracosta before it can attack. However, it leaves Carracosta open to being double targeted before it can use Shell Smash, as well as being hit by first-turn Fake Outs. Because Shell Smash boosts both Attack and Special Attack, a special or mixed set is also feasible, although Carracosta's Special Attack is significantly lower than its Attack. If such a set is used, Carracosta should use a Naive nature and move some EVs to Special Attack, or use a Timid nature with 252 Special Attack EVs if it's using all special attacks. Some of the special attacks Carracosta can use on such a set are Surf, Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Scald, Blizzard, Focus Blast, and Hidden Power. An additional perk of a special set is its ability to use Ice Beam, which means it's not as helpless against Amoonguss as a purely physical attacker. Although somewhat unreliable, a strategy using a Simple Beam partner such as Audino or Beheeyem can make Carracosta nearly unstoppable. If it gets Simple and then uses Shell Smash, it will be at +4 Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, making it an incredibly powerful offensive force. However, Carracosta will also have -2 in both defenses, making it easy to KO if Sturdy has already activated. It cannot be stressed enough how useful Fake Out support is for Carracosta. While Sturdy allows Carracosta to take a single hit, it can easily be double targeted or even Taunted to stop it from setting up Shell Smash and hitting the opposing team. For this reason, Mienshao and Scrafty make excellent partners for Carracosta, allowing it to set up Shell Smash with ease thanks to Sturdy and proceed to outspeed and KO the opposing team. Fake Out also stops opposing Tailwind users such as Tornadus from setting up Tailwind the first turn, as a combination of Fake Out and Rock Slide KOes Tornadus, allowing Carracosta to use Shell Smash without fear of being outsped. Carracosta has weaknesses to Grass-, Fighting-, Electric-, and Ground-type attacks, and although Sturdy helps to mitigate this somewhat, it is unable to prevent Carracosta from being double targeted. For this reason, a partner which can take hits for Carracosta or remove some of its checks can prove incredibly useful. Amoonguss stands out as the most durable, able to easily take almost any hit and use Spore while Carracosta uses Protect, allowing it to use Shell Smash without fear of being double targeted. However, enemy Amoonguss also pose a huge problem to Carracosta, easily taking any hit and using Spore in return, or OHKOing with Giga Drain. For this reason, a partner such as Archeops or Tornadus can prove useful, OHKOing Amoonguss with Flying Gem-boosted Acrobatics, although a Coba Berry on Amoonguss will stop that. Choice Scarf Chandelure also makes an excellent partner, OHKOing many Pokemon that may threaten Carracosta with Overheat, and also OHKOing Amoonguss that do not hold an Occa Berry. Since Trick Room teams completely shut Carracosta down, negating its Speed boosts and hitting it hard before it can attack, Chandelure with Imprison can make an excellent partner, making it very difficult for the opponent to set up Trick Room, while Carracosta hits them hard with its boosted attacks.

While a Shell Smash set attempts to remedy Carracosta's poor Speed by boosting it, this set uses it to its advantage, outspeeding many threats with Trick Room in effect. Waterfall and Rock Slide again form Carracosta's powerful dual STAB attack combination, attaining excellent coverage and doing good damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Aqua Jet gives Carracosta a priority attack which outspeeds every other priority user under Trick Room, and allows it to work well outside of Trick Room, doing good damage to Terrakion and Landorus, and activating Archeops's Defeatist ability, making it much less of a threat. Wide Guard allows Carracosta to support a partner using Trick Room, stopping the powerful spread attacks that plague Trick Room teams. Protect is an option over Wide Guard, allowing Carracosta to stop itself from being KOed while its partner sets up Trick Room, but Carracosta's ability Sturdy, along with Wide Guard's general utility, makes Wide Guard generally the better option. A Water Gem boosts the power of Waterfall and Aqua Jet, allowing Carracosta to take out many weakened Pokemon, or just hit once very hard. While Carracosta's Attack is much higher than its Special Attack, a special attacking set is also feasible due to its large special movepool. Carracosta can use Surf in concert with Jellicent to form a pseudo-SazaJelly combination, but it can also use Ice Beam, or a more powerful STAB option in Hydro Pump. Since this set will ideally be used in Trick Room conditions, it doesn't have the same reliance on Sturdy as a Shell Smash set, since there is no need to set up. However, Carracosta's terrible Special Defense and multitude of weaknesses makes support absolutely necessary in order to succeed. Amoonguss makes an excellent partner, benefiting from Trick Room and also using Spore to incapacitate a threat to Carracosta. However, opposing Amoonguss also prove to be a thorn in Carracosta's side, outspeeding it in Trick Room and using Spore, or just OHKOing with Giga Drain. For this reason, Chandelure is a good partner, with the ability to set up Trick Room for Carracosta and also OHKO Amoonguss with Overheat or a Fire Gem-boosted Heat Wave. Reuniclus also makes a great partner, setting up Trick Room and forming a potent offensive combination with Carracosta, while also OHKOing most Amoonguss with a Life Orb-boosted Psychic. Although unorthodox, a Vanilluxe with Ice Gem can also prove to be a great partner in Trick Room, OHKOing most Amoonguss with an Ice Gem-boosted Ice Beam and also attaining excellent super effective coverage with its STAB Ice Beam. Beartic can work similarly.