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The Water-type starter Pokemon from Kanto, Blastoise, returns to be a powerhouse in Pokemon Sword and Shield that won’t go down easily.
Blastoise can be acquired by picking Squirtle after completing a challenge in the Isle of Armor DLC. This Squirtle will always evolve into a Blastoise that can Gigantamax, and Blastoise has a very impressive Gigantamax form.
Naturally, Blastoise is a very bulky Pokemon, with base 100 Defense and base 105 Special Defense. Doubling its HP in Gigantamax makes Blastoise just about invincibile. G-Max Cannonade, like Charizard’s and Venusaur’s G-Max moves, will inflict passive damage for four more turns. Blastoise can be a very strong Pokemon with this moveset:
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinion of the writer.
The best moveset for Blastoise in Pokemon Sword and Shield
The difficulty with choosing moves for Blastoise is finding how to take advantage of it’s high defense, while also doing damage with its powerful moves. This moveset increases Blastoise’s bulk and takes advantage of Blastoise’s power as well.
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Scald
- Ice Beam
With Blastoise’s high Special Defense, the Pokemon becomes a great candidate for Iron Defense. At +2 Defense, Blastoise can guard itself against both types of attacks. Blastoise can also use Iron Defense before entering Dynamax form and become exponentially more durable, which will allow it to use its powerful moves without fear of retaliation.
If a Pokemon gets Iron Defense, it should almost always use Body Press as well. Body Press would probably end up being Blastoise’s most powerful move after the Defense boost. There are many defensive Steel-type and Normal-type Pokemon in the Galar Region that won’t appreciate facing a Body Press. This also allows Blastoise to take care of some annoyances like Ferrothorn and Cradily.
Scald has the most utility in this moveset. Not only is it a powerful move, but Scald also has a chance to burn the opponent. If Blastoise gets a burn on any physical attacker, it will basically ignore any attack thrown at it. It also has enough power behind it to create a powerful G-Max Cannonade. Using this move can steamroll over teams with the passive damage and the outright power of the move combined. Scald is great for Gigantimax while being effective without it.
Ice Beam has typically been a coverage move of choice for Blastoise. This move allows Blastoise to hit Pokemon it normally has trouble defeating, mainly Dragon-type Pokemon. Blastoise has the defenses to take many hits from Pokemon like Garchomp and Dragapult. Responding with an Ice Beam should easily drop these opponents. The same goes for Grass-type Pokemon that can hit Blastoise for super effective damage.
This move can be replaced with Blizzard for players who are going to be using Gigantamax Blastoise frequently. Since G-Max Cannonade doesn’t bring up the rain like Max Geyser, this means that Blastoise will keep hail up if it uses Max Hailstorm. After Giganatamax expires, Blastoise will have a 100% accurate Blizzard while hail is up, which is great since it has a higher damage output than Ice Beam.
