Stakataka, The Rampart Pokémon. It appeared from an Ultra Wormhole. Each one appears to be made up of many life-forms stacked one on top of each other. When stone walls started moving and attacking, the brute’s true identity was this mysterious life-form, which brings to mind an Ultra Beast.
Overview
Stakataka is a Pokémon that defied many expectations. Completely new Pokémon introduced in the middle of a generation is not something many people expected to begin with, though seeing Stakataka revealed as a Rock/Steel type led many to immediately write it off as one of the worst Ultra Beasts. Contrary to many expectations though, Stakataka turned out to be the most broadly viable new Ultra Beast, boasting fantastic offensive prowess in both Singles and Doubles formats. Stakataka's immensely powerful Gyro Balls make it difficult for even moderately slow threats to switch into, and its respectable coverage options in Earthquake and Superpower allow it to cover a wide assortment of threats. Access to Trick Room is what really makes Stakataka stand out though, as it can turn its insanely low Speed into an advantage without external support thanks to its incredible physical bulk and respectable special bulk. This extends to Doubles where it can also offer support with Wide Guard and Ally Switch, giving it plenty of flexibility in a competitive setting. All of this comes at the cost of a huge double-edged sword of a typing though. While Rock/Steel offers a number of incredibly useful resistances, its suffers from very crippling weaknesses to Ground-, Fighting-, and to a lesser extent Water-type moves. These are all very common types so Stakataka isn't as difficult to take down as it may seem, but these weaknesses serve more as a counterbalance to its strengths and don't invalidate its offensive prowess. Ultimately Stakataka serves as yet another example of why you should never judge a Pokémon entirely on its typing.
Positives
+ Stakataka boasts a solid base 131 Attack and rock-bottom base 13 Speed, giving it the most dangerous Gyro Balls in the game that threaten even moderately slow Pokémon.
+ A respectable offensive movepool complements Stakataka's insane Gyro Ball attacks, ranging from Stone Edge and Rock Blast for STAB options to Earthquake and Superpower for coverage.
+ A fantastic 61/211/101 defensive stat line makes it nearly impossible to OHKO Stakataka without a super-effective or boosted attack, making it easier for it to find opportunities to use Trick Room.
+ As with most Steel-types, Stakataka has a solid range of resistances that allow it to safely switch into a variety of threats, including most physical hits in general.
Negatives
- As a heavily specialized physical tank, Stakataka struggles to break through physical walls if it can't get a sweep going and is greatly hindered by Intimidate.
- Huge weaknesses to Fighting- and Ground-type moves hurt Stakataka's survivability since both are very common coverage types, so it needs to be careful setting up Trick Room against anything that might have such coverage.
- While it has Trick Room to mitigate the issues of low Speed, a pitiful Speed tier means Stakataka will almost always take a hit before retaliating if Trick Room isn't active.
Abilities
Beast Boost: Increases the Pokémon's highest stat when it knocks out a Pokémon. The defining ability of all Ultra Beasts, and Stakataka makes excellent use of it. Gaining either Defense or Attack boosts can turn Stakataka into a huge threat if left unchecked. The latter requires a Lonely nature and a specific Defense IV (16-17 at level 50, 15 at level 100), but both boosts are equally viable depending on the format and make it literal wrecking ball.
Movesets
Quad Sphere
- Gyro Ball
- Stone Edge / Rock Blast
- Trick Room
- Earthquake / Superpower
Item Attached: Rockium Z / Groundium Z / Shuca Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave / Lonely Nature
Stakataka functions in a very straightforward manner, set up Trick Room and begin busting through everything in sight. The ability to run Trick Room itself is a huge boon over other slow and powerful attackers since the player doesn't need to waste a turn switching into the Trick Room sweeper after setting up. Gyro Ball should require no more explanation, just click it and watch your foes drop. Rock Blast and Stone Edge provide an excellent secondary STAB move, the former providing reliable accuracy and the ability to break through Substitute while the latter providing consistently high power. Earthquake provides excellent coverage alongside Stone Edge or Rock Blast, hitting opposing Steel-types such as Aegislash and Heatran. Superpower is an alternative that hits Ferrothorn harder though, which becomes more appealing if Aegislash isn't legal.
Maximum HP and Attack investment gives Stakataka the best combination of bulk and raw power, while the leftover EVs are put into Special Defense to avoid ruining intended Beast Boosts. In all cases Stakataka wants a 0 Speed IV to maximize Gyro Ball power against slower foes. A Brave nature maximizes raw power while maintaining its physical bulk, which is useful for surviving several relevant Earthquakes such as Mega Salamence Earthquake. However, a Lonely nature with a Defense IV of 16-17 (15 at level 100) allows Stakataka to gain Attack boosts from Beast Boost if the extra bulk is not necessary. The item choice is heavily preference-based, though Rockium Z should only be used with Stone Edge and not Rock Blast. Groundium Z is useful with Earthquake to OHKO Aegislash in Shield Forme under Trick Room. Shuca Berry also lets Stakataka punish foes that expect to OHKO it with Earthquake, which can sometimes be all it needs to win a game.
Wrecking Cube
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
Choice Band Stakataka is an alternative approach to wallbreaking that gives up its move flexibility for the ability to immediately punch holes into teams. This set usually requires Trick Room setup which tends to be easier to afford in 3v3 than 6v6 formats, but it functions similarly to other Stakataka variants. Gyro Ball hits at absurdly powerful levels with a Choice Band, and no Stakataka should ever be used without it. Rock Blast provides a secondary STAB move that allows Stakataka to avoid being stalled out by Substitute users and break through Focus Sash. Earthquake provides coverage for Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash, while Superpower rounds out coverage to hit Ferrothorn and Kartana.
Maximium HP and Attack investment ensures Stakataka is hitting as hard as possible while rounding out its bulk. Meanwhile the leftover EVs are placed in Special Defense. A Brave nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as it allows Stakataka to maximize damage against slow threats, achieving feats such as 2HKOing Porygon2 with Gyro Ball. The aforementioned Lonely nature setup can also be used to help Stakataka snowball faster but this is usually not necessary since Stakataka will often be forced to switch out if Trick Room is not active.
Other Options and Partners
- Stealth Rock allows Stakataka to fit a support role on the team, though it can rarely afford to make room for it and generally prefers to stick to the offensive approach.
- Toxic can surprise bulky foes that think they can safely switch into Stakataka, though in many cases these threats are either threatened enough by Gyro Ball or immune to Toxic regardless.
- Magnet Rise can be a cheeky option to catch switch-ins that think they can just hit Stakataka with Earthquake the following turn, though it's difficult to justify the moveslot over a coverage option.
- Air Balloon is a viable option on Battle Spot to give Stakataka an unexpected switch-in opportunity. This often forces the foe to take a heavy hit from Gyro Ball in order to make it vulnerable to Earthquake, which can sometimes mean losing a Pokémon just to beat beat Stakataka.
- Life Orb can be used to increase Stakataka's overall power, though this compromises its valuable bulk which is sometimes more important than the overall power boost.
-Fightinium Z can be used with Superpower to break through a Steel-type such as Ferrothorn, without dropping Stakataka's Attack and Defense in the process.
VGC, Double, & Triple Battle Options
Stakataka is one of the brand new toys that many trainers are trying out for the first time in ranked VGC battles on Battle Spot. While it has a good attack stat with potential to sweep, Stakataka's defense is so high that a Lonely nature with a defense IV of 17 or less is necessary to get attack boosts from Beast Boost. This Ultra Beast is so slow that even without a negative speed nature its Gyro Ball is very strong and it can thrive under Trick Room. Unlike many other Trick Room sweepers, however, it can also set up Trick Room itself, giving it a unique role in which you can potentially have two sweepers out for all of your Trick Room turns. Its typing may not make it the best pokemon in VGC 2018, but Stakataka can be one of the scariest Pokemon to see if your team is not built to handle it.
Attackattaka
-Gyro Ball
-Rock Slide
-Trick Room
-Protect
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
Stakataka wants to be very slow to power up its Gyro Ball and outspeed as much as possible under Trick Room, but a Lonely nature with a defense IV of 16 or 17 (at level 50) ensures that Beast Boost powers up its attack (while still maximizing its defense). If this is too difficult to get in-game, a Brave nature still maximizes attack, will not sacrafice any defense, and can make Stakataka even slower, but Beast Boost will give boosts to defense. Regardless of nature, a speed IV of zero is ideal. Maximum attack investment lets it hit hard, while max HP lets Stakataka take hits to set up Trick Room or get more attacks off. Life Orb gives a boost to its attack, and Beast Boost is the only available ability, but is great to get a stat boost after picking up a knock out.
Gyro Ball is a very strong attack with Stakataka's low speed, while Rock Slide is great for strong spread STAB damage with the chance for flinches under Trick Room. Trick Room sets up valuable speed control for Stakataka and its teammates, while Protect keeps the Ultra Beast safe from threatening attacks, especially z moves.
Other Options & Team Ideas
-Rockium Z gives Stakataka a strong single-target rock move that will not miss and avoids the opponents' Wide Guard.
-Chople Berry is a popular item to weaken the damage from fighting moves like Mega Kangaskhan's Low Kick. Recovery berries like the 50% pinch berries and Sitrus Berries see use to keep Stakataka healthy.
-Mental Herb can shake off an opponent's Taunt to more reliably set up Trick Room.
-Wide Guard keeps Stakataka and its teammate safe from spread moves like Earthquake.
-Superpower provides a super-effective attack against Mega Kangaskhan, Heatran, and other Stakataka. Earthquake is another spread attack, but be careful not to hit your teammate.
-Stomping Tantrum gives single-target ground damage. Iron Head can do good damage against slow opponents, but Gyro Ball is just so powerful against so much of the format. Stone Edge gives single-target damage that will not use up your z move, but has a higher chance to miss than Rock Slide. Zen Headbutt provides psychic-type coverage if needed.
-Skill Swap is fun to use and gain an ability like Levitate to protect Stakataka from ground-type moves, and Ally Switch can play mind games with your opponent.
-Substitute can be useful if you predict an opponent to double Protect and waste a turn of Trick Room.
-Fake Out, redirection, and Wide Guard support from a teammate can all help with Trick Room set up.
-Other Trick Room users can set up the speed control for Stakataka and allow it another move slot for an attack.
-Trick Room sweepers like Mega Camerupt or Mega Mawile can thrive next to Stakataka.
-Tapu Bulu’s Grassy Terrain weakens Earthquake and Bulldoze, which can do a lot to Stakataka.
-Misty and Electric Terrain stop Amoongus, a common Trick Room counter, from putting Stakataka to sleep.
-Intimidate support lets Stakataka survive certain attacks it is very weak to.
-Sand support from Pokemon like Tyranitar boost Stakataka's special defense, and can also help with slowing down rain teams' damage output.
Countering Stakataka
Beating Stakataka on paper really is as simple as hitting it with Ground- and Fighting-type moves from the likes of Landorus-T, Blaziken and Focus Blast users, though in practice this is often easier said than done. Under Trick Room, being able to survive a 150 BP Gyro Ball off of base 131 Attack is just as important as having the coverage to hit Stakataka for super-effective damage. Physical attackers need to be especially careful because Stakataka can comfortably survive non-STAB Earthquakes and Superpowers from full, so being able to wear it down is important. Stakataka lacks any form of recovery and rarely runs Leftovers or recovery berries, so chip damage hurts Stakataka a lot. Earthquake users also must be wary of Grassy Terrain from Tapu Bulu, since Stakataka will often carry such support to mitigate the damage it takes while also providing passive recovery. Similarly, physical Water-type STAB moves are rarely enough to take down Stakataka in one hit so having the bulk to survive Gyro Ball cannot be stressed enough. However, special attackers, such as Mega Lucario, Heatran, and Focus Blast Thundurus-T have a significantly easier time KOing Stakataka due to its Special Defense being not much more than decent without investment. Boosted Special Attackers will generally have an easier time breaking through this brick wall though they must also be careful dealing with it under Trick Room, since many special attackers tend to be physically frail. If Stakataka gets any opportunity to begin snowballing, it becomes significantly more difficult to stop, so pressuring it to prevent Trick Room setup or a Beast Boost KO is vital. In general, anything that can hit Stakataka super-effectively can shut it down or force it out quickly since its 4x weaknesses are often easy to exploit, but don't let that be your entire game plan against it. Few things are more terrifying than a brick cube ramming into you at high speed.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Not in game
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Not in game
Sun/Moon:
Not in game
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Poni Grove (Ultra Moon)
Trade from Ultra Moon (Ultra Sun)
Animé Appearences
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Stakataka has yet to make an appearance in the anime
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