Great Tusk, the Paradox Pokémon. Sightings of this Pokémon have occurred in recent years. The name Great Tusk was taken from a creature listed in a certain book. This creature resembles a mysterious Pokémon that, according to a paranormal magazine, has lived since ancient times.

Overview

One of the most excellent Pokémon introduced in Generation 9, Great Tusk has had a domineering presence over the meta game as the premier Entry Hazard remover, albeit in a format starved for Hazard Control. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Great Tusk can utterly shred Gholdengo, which blocks the otherwise excellent Corviknight’s Defog. Aside from that, Great Tusk has been taking up a similar role to Landorus Therian in generations past, as a flexible defensive Ground wall and terrifying powerhouse with an incredible offensive typing. Access to Knock Off and Stealth Rock provide incredible utility, all but ensuring Great Tusk’s slot on most teams, while the Sub Fighting Type provides numerous pivoting opportunities against the many popular Dark types including Kingambit and the Treasures of Ruin. Even the returning Landorus Therian struggles to match this level of utility, having lost Defog and Knock Off in the generational shift and is not safe against Great Tusk thanks to the latter’s access to Ice Spinner.

However, Great Tusk has a gaping Achilles Heel. Its pitiful Special Defense and common Ice, Water, Grass and Fairy weaknesses are readily exploitable and Great Tusk’s speed isn’t that fantastic until it gets a Rapid Spin boost. Lack of recovery also hurts repeated walling attempts, as Great Tusk can and will be worn down over time under repeated assaults. Additionally, Great Tusk suffers from its own success -since every team runs it, everyone is prepared for it and the other excellent Ground type powerhouses like Landorus Therian, Ting-Lu and Ursaluna running about. Suffering from success is a small price to pay for the heights that Great Tusk has reached.
Positives
Base 131 Attack coupled with incredible Ground and Fighting STABs and appropriate Ice and Rock coverage give Great Tusk titanic power even without investment.
115 HP/131 Defense with key Electric, Rock and Dark resistances ensures Great Tusk has incredible staying power and able to reliably pivot in.
Incredible support movepool including the rare Rapid Spin and Knock Off forms the crux of Great Tusk’s utility

Negatives
Ground Fighting has numerous common weaknesses, which can make it difficult for Great Tusk to stay in despite its great Defense.
Horrid Special Defense leaves Great Tusk a liability against Special Attackers it can’t outspeed.
Lack of reliable recovery and the defense dropping nature of Headlong Rush and Close Combat greatly reduces Great Tusk’s longevity.

Movesets

Juggernaut

-Earthquake
-Body Press
-Knock Off
-Rapid Spin
Ability: Protosynthesis
Item: Leftovers
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature

This is defensive Great Tusk, acting as a wall against many physically offensive staples like Kingambit, Roaring Moon, Cinderace, and Tera Normal Dragonite, using its titanic bulk to repeatedly take hits that would KO many others. And even defensive Great Tusk is far from passive; Earthquake and Body Press are fantastic STAB moves, the latter running off of Great Tusk’s invested Defense that enables it to destroy many of the listed targets without issue. Knock Off is a safe spammable coverage option, hitting targets like Air Balloon Gholdengo as well as punishing the many switches Great Tusk can trigger, depriving a target of its item like Leftovers for Dondozo, Heavy Duty Boots against Corviknight, opposing Great Tusk, etc. Rapid Spin rounds out the set, giving Great Tusk is famed utility, removing Entry Hazards as well as bolstering its speed, enabling Great Tusk to outspeed base 90 Pokémon despite the lack of investment.

Tera Types:
Tera Water is a fantastic option for Great Tusk, having a great Defensive profile that enables Great Tusk to check many of the monsters it is tasked with dealing before, while removing most of its weaknesses. Tera Steel is another reliable fallback option, given its many resists including wiping out all of Great Tusk’s weaknesses, but does render Great Tusk unable to check some of the targets it is normally tasked to. Tera Fairy is another niche option, maintaining Great Tusk’s ability to check Dark types while removing many of its common weaknesses, while few Steel or Poison types would risk switching in and eating an Earthquake.

EVs and Items:
Max HP and Defense are recommended. This set is all about bulk, with power being an afterthought, and even then, Body Press is still bolstered by the Defense investment. Leftovers is greatly recommended -Great Tusk has no reliable recovery, so any way to extend its longevity is greatly appreciated. Heavy Duty Boots is in a similar vein, or if you want Great Tusk to focus more on its Rapid Spinning role. Alternatively Rocky Helmet is also a stellar choice -enable Great Tusk to apply pressure even when switching in given many of the moves Great Tusk is meant to soak up are contact in nature and can help reach KOs despite the lack of investment.

Partners:
Hisuian Goodra is a fantastic partner for defensive Great Tusk, having the special bulk and resistances to pivot into Great Tusk’s weaknesses, resisting all but Ice and having the Special coverage to attend to threats like Dondozo and Tera Water/Fairy Skeledirge and Garganacl. In turn, Hisuian Goodra enjoys Great Tusk handing the predominantly physical Fighting and Ground attacks that give H-Goodra issues. Slowking also fares well, covering opposing Water, Psychic and non Freeze Dry Ice, and offering safe pivoting and chip with Chilly Reception + Future Sight while enjoying Great Tusk covering Dark and Electric attackers. Other specially defensive sponges can also work well with Defensive Great Tusk, providing a solid defensive core. Allies that can check Flying types are greatly appreciated, as Defensive Great Tusk struggles against them beyond knocking off their Heavy Duty Boots and/or setting up Stealth Rocks. Rotom-Wash stands out, handling not only most Flying types, but also Landorus-T and Dondozo which give Great Tusk a lot of problems and offering safe pivoting with Volt Switch. Tera Ice Thundurus and Zapdos also fill this role quite nicely albeit in different fashions. Tera Ice Thundurus is more offensive and can easily deal with Landorus Therian. Zapdos is a bulkier alternative able to repeatedly do so thanks to Roost and can natively handle Grass types thanks to Heat Wave.

Other Options:
Stealth Rock -incredible move and easy for Great Tusk to setup thanks to the amount of switches it forces, accruing passive damage that makes it easier to reach KOs, but space on this set is tighet, and losing out on Knock Off or Body Press leaves Great Tusk walled by what would otherwise be key targets.
Ice Spinner -Landorus Therian and numerous incoming Flying types are such a problem that having a coverage option is worth consideration.
Taunt -prevents dedicated walls/defensive targets like Skeledirge and Toxapex from recovering or inflicting Great Tusk with Burn/Toxic.
Play Rough -synergizes with Ground STAB and Tera Fairy, but Grat Tusk is strapped for moveslots with this set.

Yabba Dabba Doom

-Bulk Up
-Headlong Rush
-Close Combat
-Rapid Spin
Ability: Protosynthesis
Item: Booster Energy
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

Bulk Up Great Tusk is a fantastic setup sweeper and game ending cleaner. Bulk Up boosts Great Tusk’s two best assets into the stratosphere, ensuring anything that doesn’t resist Great Tusk’s STABs and/or has Unaware is going to be sent back to the Stone Age. Headlong Rush and Close Combat are absurdly powerful STABs essentially being different typed clones of each other that pair well with Great Tusk’s absurd attack and speed to close out games when it hits the field. Rapid Spin gives this set some utility until it is time to sweep and offers a Double Dance angle where Great Tusk can shore up its Speed, making it nigh untouchable to most offensive teams.

Tera Types:
Tera Fighting is recommended, bolstering Great Tusk’s already amazing Close Combat to superlative defying levels of power, capable of OHKOing the likes of Ting-Lu and Zamazenta without a Bulk Up, Corviknight, Thundurus and Tornadus with a Bulk Up and solidly 2HKOing defensive Zapdos post Bulk Up as well all post Attack boosting Booster Energy. Tera Fighting also removes Great Tusk’s common Water, Ice and Grass weaknesses, giving it valuable defensive utility as well. If running Ice Spinner, Tera Ice is recommended, turning a solid 2HKO on defensive Landorus Therian into a potential OHKO post Bulk Up as well as destroy many Flying, and Grass types alongside opposing Great Tusk.

EVs and Items:
Max Speed is mandatory -you want Great Tusk to get the jump on as many targets as possible to throw up Bulk Ups to bolster its Offense as well as reduce the damage you take from counter attacks after using the defense dropping Close Combat and Headlong Rush. Max Speed Jolly Great Tusk at +1 outspeeds effectively every unboosted Pokémon including max Speed Dragapult. Attack is recommended, giving Great Tusk as much immediate power as possible. However, one can forgo Attack investment into HP for a few reasons. One gives Great Tusk some more defensive utility, and makes setting up Bulk Up more reliable as Great Tusk is more likely to survive A special attack with Max HP investment. The other is that Max Speed investment with a Jolly Nature and no EVs in Attack ensures that the Protosynthesis Boost goes to Speed instead of Attack or Defense, forgoing the need to run Rapid Spin for a speed boost with Booster Energy and/or Sun Support. If confident on Sun Support, one can drop the Booster Energy for even more power with Life Orb, though an even shorter clock with Great Tusk.

Partners:
Torkoal deserves mention here, setting up the oh so important Sun for that Protosynthesis Boost. Torkoal also provides valuable utility, eliminating opposing Grass and Ice types with ease and in turns enjoys the Hazard removal Great Tusk provides.
Pokémon that can answer the Unaware walls of Tera Water/Fairy Skeledirge and Dondozo as well as Iron Defense Gargancl are greatly recommended as these threats need to be eliminated before Great Tusk can go for a sweep. Zapdos, Thundurus, Rotom Wash, and, if worried about Quagsire, Meowscarada all fill this role in some capacity. The fact that all of them offer pivoting moves to get Great Tusk in safely while chipping the opponent is just icing on the cake.
Glimmora works well with this set as well, offering excellent Hazard control, generating chip damage that makes reaching KOs easier while keeping Toxic Spikes that can end a sweep before it begins off Great Tusk’s side of the field. The ability to cover Flying and Bug types with Power Gem is a neat bonus as well.

Other Options:
Ice Spinner -Amazing option with wide coverage including Flying, Grass and Dragon types.
Stone Edge -hits Bug types, but less reliable than Ice Spinner and Landorus-T is a problem without Ice Spinner.
Knock Off -item disruption is invaluable and can mean the difference between a 2 and OHKO if you remove Leftovers.
One can also forego Bulk Up for a more supportive set and use Eject Pack to act as a pivot after clearing Entry Hazards using Headlong Rush’s and Close Combat’s stat drops to trigger it.

Doubles and VGC Options

Great Tusk’s success in Singles does not translate directly over into doubles. Entry Hazards are near non-existent in Doubles so Great Tusk’s primary niche is unneeded. Add in the fact that Intimidate is everywhere, from the currently popular Arcanine and Gyarados to the incoming Landorus-Therian and poor matchups against many of the top threats including Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, Amoongus, Palafin, and Dondozo and it seems that Great Tusk is better off sticking to singles. However, Great Tusk can still carve a niche for itself thanks to its coverage and power. Many of the top threats not listed and even Arcanine and Landorus-T who are can be OHKO’d by Great Tusk in turn. Sunny Day being even stronger in Doubles than in Singles means that Protosynthesis is usually online, boosting Great Tusk’s power even higher. While I expect Great Tusk's currently middling usage to drop off a cliff once Landorus returns and Ursaluna arrives, best not forget the Mammoth lest it crush your hopes and dreams.

Unstoppable Force

-Headlong Rush
-Close Combat
-Ice Spinner
-Protect
Ability: Protosynthesis
Item: Clear Amulet
Tera Type: Steel
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

Great Tusk acts as a powerful attacker and clean up artist with this set. Use speed control and Sunny Day to get the most out of your mammoth, cleaving through threats left and right. Headlong Rush is Ground STAB of choice, being single target that isn't weakened by being spread or Grassy Terrain, rending targets like Chi-Yu, Arcanine, Iron Hands, Garganacl, Gholdengo and Torkoal with ease. Close Combat compliments this with Fighting STAB, hitting the numerous Dark types running around alongside Iron Bundle and Ursaluna. Ice Spinner is mainly for Landorus Therian, but hitting Tornadus Thundurus, Zapdos, Amoongus, Tsareena, Salamence and Dragapult types offers invaluable coverage. Protect rounds out the set, keeping Great Tusk safe as you setup your speed control/Weather as well as renew it on top of a myriad of other uses including scouting for moves, stalling out an opponent’s Tailwind/Trick Room, etc.

Clear Amulet is recommended for item. Intimidate is everywhere, so avoiding Great Tusk’s attacks from being blunted is invaluable, as will Icy Wind and Parting Shot. Tera Steel is recommended here, turning Great Tusk’s weaknesses into resistances though one must be wary of Fire attacks while in the Sun.

Other Options & Partners:
Earthquake -great spread damage coming off of STAB. While there are numerous ways to blunt its power, Earthquake has been a staple in Doubles for good reason. Pair with Tera Ground for maximum effect.
Rock Slide -spread damage that hits Flying types with appreciable Flinch chance.
Knock Off -Item Disruption is always nice. Remove Covert Cloaks to make enemies vulnerable to Flinching, Choice items to blunt their speed and power, Leftovers to remove passive recovery, etc.
Bulldoze -some friendly fire is involved, but offers Great Tusk its own form of Speed Control.
Focus Sash -helps ensure Great Tusk can get a hit in cases where you can’t get the speed advantage.
Torkoal -sets up Sun for the Protosynthesis Boost, pivots into Grass and Ice attacks, weakens Water attacks and can punish opposing Trick Room users. Torkoal does a lot for Great Tusk. Other Sunny Day abusers such as Flutter Mane and Roaring Moon also deserve mention for the synergy.
Talonflame nearly does it all. Gale Wings Tailwind for superb speed control, Sunny Day to boost up Great Tusk, Taunt Quick Guard and/or Will-o-Wisp to disrupt the opponent, answers Amoongus, Talonflame works amazingly well with Great Tusk.

Countering Great Tusk

Dondozo is the counter to Great Tusk, taking little from its moves, ignoring any Bulk Up boosts, able to shrug off damage with Rest and has super effective Water STAB in turn to deal with it. However, Dondozo’s damage isn’t that great and will take several boosts/attacks to put down Great Tusk. Other physical walls like Skeledirge and Garganacl can also function well, but they both need to Terastalize in order to not get ruined by Great Tusk’s Ground STAB.

Defensive sets normally struggle with Flying types, since they often lack the room to fit Ice or Rock coverage on them. Especially if the sets lack Knock Off, as the Flying types would be able to switch in and either clear away Hazards with Defog (Corviknight) or setup (Thundurus, Tornadus). Sets lacking any coverage beyond STABs and Rapid Spin are completely walled by Air Balloon Gholdengo, who can freely setup.

Lures do work best with Defensive sets. Mixed Garchomp is a prime example of this, able to nearly OHKO with Draco Meteor, despite Great Tusk doing fine otherwise. Landorus-Therian with Grass Knot is another such example, though Great Tusk tends to be cautious around Lando-T without Ice Spinner.

Otherwise fast Special Attackers are able to handle Great Tusk with ease. Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, Specs Dragapult, Iron Valiant, Greninja and Walking Wake all easily outspeed and OHKO Great Tusk. Some physical attackers like Choice Band Meowscarada can also pull such a stunt off, but only if the Great Tusk has minimal Bulk investment. Do keep in mind Rapid Spin and Protosynthesis. If Great Tusk gets a Speed boost, it can outspeed anything without a matching speed boost which makes it so much more difficult to handle.

Anime Appearences

Great Tusk has yet to make an appearance in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics