[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Salt Cure
move 3: Recover
move 4: Earthquake
item: Leftovers
tera type: Water / Fairy
ability: Purifying Salt
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Garganacl's incredible defensive stats and access to Salt Cure make it a potent Curse user, letting it beat threatening physical attackers such as Weavile and Dragon Dance Dragonite while acting as a pseudo-sweeper. Earthquake lets Garganacl hit threats such as Gholdengo, Raging Bolt, and Galarian Slowking, with its high base power giving Garganacl offensive presence so it doesn't have to rely solely on Salt Cure for damage, which is especially useful since Raging Bolt commonly runs Leftovers and Galarian Slowking's Regenerator can mitigate Salt Cure damage as well. 52 Defense EVs lets Garganacl survive Ogerpon-W's Power Whip as well as +1 Protosynthesis-boosted Roaring Moon's Earthquake without the need for Curse boosts or Terastallization. Tera Water turns Garganacl's Water weakness into a resistance, letting it better handle Water-types such as Barraskewda and Hisuian Samurott. It also lets Garganacl check offensive Steel-types such as Gholdengo, with Purifying Salt letting it resist Shadow Ball. On the other hand, Tera Fairy gives Garganacl an immunity to Draco Meteor from Dragapult as well as Dragon Pulse from Raging Bolt, in addition to giving it a resistance to Knock Off from the likes of Roaring Moon. It also grants Garganacl a resistance to Fighting-type moves from Pokemon such as Zamazenta and Great Tusk and removes its Grass weakness, improving its matchup against Meowscarada. Both options remove Garganacl's weakness to Ground-type moves, letting it better handle Dragon-types that rely on Earthquake for coverage, such as Gouging Fire and Dragonite.
Garganacl fits well on bulky offense or balance teams. Due to not running Heavy-Duty Boots, Garganacl appreciates entry hazard removal from the likes of Great Tusk and Corviknight; Great Tusk in particular appreciates Garganacl checking spinblockers such as Dragapult and, with Tera Water, Gholdengo. Rillaboom makes for a great partner thanks to Garganacl appreciating the recovery from Grassy Terrain, which alleviates entry hazard chip damage, as well as the reduction in Earthquake's damage, letting it check Pokemon like Roaring Moon better. It should be noted that Garganacl's own Earthquake will deal less damage as a result of Grassy Terrain and Salt Cure's chip damage will be mitigated by Grassy Terrain's healing when combined with Leftovers, however. As Substitute blocks Salt Cure, Pokemon that can punish the use of the move, such as Encore Dragonite, Infiltrator Dragapult, and Whirlwind Ting-Lu, are appreciated teammates. Ogerpon-W makes for a great partner with Garganacl thanks to Water Absorb and its ability to force Ground-types like Gliscor out with Ivy Cudgel. It can also punish Substitute with Encore and remove items like Leftovers and Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off, accentuating the chip damage done by Salt Cure. In exchange, it appreciates Garganacl deterring defensive Pokemon like Skarmory with Salt Cure, as well as its ability to handle Dragon-types like Dragonite and Dragapult. Unaware Clefable forms a good defensive core with Garganacl, denying other setup sweepers the opportunity to set up on Garganacl while also appreciating its ability to absorb status from Pokemon like Galarian Slowking, Dragapult and Skeledirge. Garganacl also benefits from Clefable's ability to check Ting-Lu. Opposing Clefable can check Garganacl with both of its abilities, so Pokemon that can dispatch it, like Gholdengo and Heatran, make for good partners. Garganacl also enjoys Knock Off and hazard support, as the removal of items like Heavy-Duty Boots and the additional chip from hazards makes it harder to play around due to the chip damage from Salt Cure having more of an impact on Pokemon like Galarian Slowking, Alomomola, and Ting-Lu. Gliscor has access to Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Knock Off while also resisting Ground-type moves; in exchange, Garganacl checks Hex Dragapult, one of Gliscor's best checks. Finally, specially defensive Pokemon such as Galarian Slowking and Clodsire appreciate Garganacl's physical walling capabilities while making up for its inability to consistently handle special attackers like Primarina and Enamorus.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/bice.236507/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/magcargo.177111/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/veti.612907/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/stupidflandrs48.633500/
Last edited: