No, Shell Smash Doesn't Make Torterra Top Tier Competitively

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Shell Smash Torterra, 2023
*Correction: Drednaw Got Shell Smash in Gen 9, where it's now NUBL( Banned from NU, not used enough for RU). The point is the same, Shell Smash Drednaw was used only as much as a 4th tier Pokemon even with Shell Smash/
Edited by: tazprods
0:00 Introduction
2:28 Torterra Stats and History
3:54 Torterra Shell Smash Movesets
5:45 Is Torterra Good?

[@FreezaiPokemon]

Play War Thunder for Free with my link, and get a massive bonus pack, including vehicles, boosters and more! playwt.link/freezai War Thunder is a highly detailed vehicle combat game containing over 2000 playable tanks, aircraft and ships spanning over 100 years of development. Immerse yourself completely in dynamic battles with an unparalleled combination of realism and approachability!

[@ahsrafulshamrat8113]

Get the bag Freezai

[@iss2075]

Torterra is probably going to be OU anyway, even if it's bad. At least at the beginning.

[@proximaace4332]

Did I miss something? Since when did you have sponsors??

[@Pam234]

⁠@@proximaace4332what? You can have sponsors at any time...

[@LiliumOrientalis]

Hell yeah Freezai get that bread! Even if I'll never touch that grindy mess

[@psychicjellyfish9466]

Someone once suggested giving Torterra Rock Head as an ability to mitigate recoil from Wood Hammer.

[@cristhianmlr]

I'd give him solid rock for lore accuracy.

[@BananaR777]

That'd help big timr.

[@Lunacy4]

@@cristhianmlr -pokemon -lore pick one

[@cristhianmlr]

@@Lunacy4 there's plenty of lore friendly abilties for Pokémon so both.

[@GAMERO-PHOBIA]

Go head smash wood hammers bruuuhhhh

[@sparktaylor8489]

Toterra getting shell smash is unironically one of the biggest things to happen in a while i hear people in public discuss like "bro torterra got shell smash, and now with grassy terrain and the loaded dice rock blast bullet seed it's gonna be crazy!"

[@cosmicgelatin9434]

this cant be real but what if it was

[@burritoman2k]

So its a grass type cloyster now

[@i_like_chomp6382]

​@@iantaakalla8180Polteageist is the best shell smash mon due to Weak Armor and stored power

[@iridium137]

@@iantaakalla8180”relatively bulky on both ends” bruh you do realize Cloyster has one of the lowest HP and spdef right?

[@unkown981]

@@iridium137who let him cook 😂

[@perladel95]

0:44 I think this infographic is a bit misleading regarding Drednaw. In Gen 8 Drednaw was in ZU but it didn't have Shell Smash unlike Carracosta and Crustle. In Gen 9 Drednaw got Shell Smash and now it's NUBL, as Tera-Dark Strong Jaw Crunch is demonic (and you're immune to prankster encore). It was even RUBL some time ago, while Cloyster was RU (probably the turtle dropped to NU because RU council freed its banlist too late)

[@FreezaiPokemon]

you're right, that was an oversight, after Drednaw got shell smash it became NUBL, still pretty low tier but not ZU levels of low. I'll add a correction to the description. Thanks for pointing it out

[@perladel95]

​@@FreezaiPokemon No problem. I'm always happy when you upload these videos in any case!

[@theimprovedbore550]

@@FreezaiPokemoncommon Freezai W

[@bluebaron6811]

".*blank* is now NUBL in gen 9" -Gen 9 Smogon, 2023. Seriously, NU just went through a loop the past few months. And Drednaw did not help it a single bit.

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

I think an issue with Shell Smash is that it becomes less viable each generation due to power creep. You essentially make your Pokemon into a glass cannon, but taking a turn to do that when you already have Pokemon that are fast, strong, and defensively weak without setting up, makes you question in higher-tiers "Why should I use Shell Smash Torterra when I could use Chien-Po?" It's creeping into lower-tiers, too.

[@haidynwendlandt2479]

For those wondering: Mega Blastoise is banned to Ubers in National Dex, as Shell Smash Mega Blastoise is, in fact, broken

[@RenegadeStriker7]

You don't say 😂

[@Matergamer-gr6ie]

Anything good is considered broken in smogon legit want to ban everything

[@haidynwendlandt2479]

@@Matergamer-gr6ie You have clearly never played against a shell smash mega blastoise

[@Matergamer-gr6ie]

@@haidynwendlandt2479 they wanted to ban terra did ban gmax I believe and ban anything that’s actually really good even some major players make jokes about then banning way to much baton pass evasion changing moves and last respects are also all banned

[@haidynwendlandt2479]

@@Matergamer-gr6ie you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about

[@turtlenator6249]

I'm just happy Torterra got any buffs to make it a bit better. Tried some sets in VGC doubles and it's been very fun to use.

[@IncoisaRadio87]

I'm just glad that even if he's no meta staple, Torterra has finally become an actually plausibly viable option.

[@swagdoll420]

While Torterra's chances in OU are pretty much nonexistent, but I do think it will be good in the lower tiers, like RU or maybe UU, where the strength levels are more manageable for it.

[@nlb137]

IDK about White Herb... Headlong Rush and Wood Hammer already cost you bulk on use (either raw HP or lowering defenses). How many situations are you going to smash (usually taking an attack first), then still have the bulk to take hits if you attack with your STAB moves first?

[@jmcbango]

Yea life orb is pretty much better on that set in every way

[@idkputsomerandomname9657]

Lum berry is better imo, since faster teams beat it anyway but we remove bulky teams' options to burn/poison it.

[@floorgle]

Not related to the video, but i love the change in enthusiasm between the video and the sponsored segment, honest fair play to get the bank from those sponsors

[@Carnagemode]

Torterra has always been my favorite starter and im so glad its finnalynusable outside of pu.

[@JGaleazziS]

Hopefully Torterra will perform better in VGC. Been waiting forever to use him since I got into VGC

[@yumdeliciouspancakes]

If you told me Torterra would be better than Heatran in OU in Gen 4 I’d have laughed at you, but here we are

[@cristhianmlr]

Why

[@enoyna1001]

Only that it's not

[@hauntedsunsets]

it doesn't have anything to do with the topic but seeing Torterra's 3d model in detail is really just. I can see how much modern pokemon tend to be designed with 3d models in mind so it can often work much better, but instead of getting any kind of upgrade that even subtly changes the design to make it work better in 3d some older mons get screwed over like Torterra with that lazily smoothed out clay instead of anything resembling grass on its back

[@WishMakers]

Some Pokemon really benefit from the shift - I can safely say that Pokemon like Muk actually improve their look due to all the texture and shader work they get now. Particularly some of the flying Pokemon/Pokemon that *can* now fly in SV instead of being exclusively grounded are cool too and get a new mode of expression. Unfortunately for mons like Torterra, they don't realistically give an equal amount of love to every Pokemon and Torterra has a particularly cool but asymmetrical and detailed design. He absolutely could work in 3D! But he needed more care and attention and clearly didn't get it. In general, I will always love the 2D art of Pokemon more. Call me a nostalgic curmudgeon if you will, but I think even newer Pokemon look better in sprite form. However, I do respect where 3D Pokemon's look is improving and I hope Torterra and mons like him get more of it, it's unfortunate to have such a cool base and be stuck with no detail...

[@hankhill6404]

Seeing the tera crystal flopping around on the tree like a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tubeman looks so bad lmao

[@jamesn0va]

​@@hankhill6404yeah man what the hell. Just googled old tortera art and the difference is night and day. Dangerous animal too children's toy

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

To be fair, Ursaluna is a new Pokemon designed for 3D that has similar issues with the model.

[@sideways5153]

Hell, just a lumpy moss texture would go a really long way

[@MrOMGanASIAN]

Theres something funny about it being able to play under trick room, but also the option to set up shell smash on a turn the opponent protects to burn the trick room turn. Might not be completely game breaking in VGC but its nice to have

[@sideways5153]

That would be a fun flex in a showdown compilation, but I feel like a Pokémon as limited as Torterra is going to be too easy to read for that to be a relevant game state most of the time

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

The other time Shell Smash was super good was also in gen 5 with Baton Pass, which you could argue is the reason Baton Pass got banned in gen 5 and hasn't returned since, whereas in the previous gens they'd tried to experiment with complex bans.

[@motherlove8366]

Baton Pass is not banned in gen 5 OU. It's banned in DPP, and gen 6 onward but seemingly not gen 5

[@rizachan8892]

Going from Untiered to UU with an OU niche in hyper offense team us genuinely an insane improvement

[@gabrielmarchena1755]

I usted to abuse shell smash Terra in volt white 2 it was busted with smash + rock head wood hammer combo also It had head smash and 64 base speed stat I just wish terra some day received that kinda of buff in the mainline game❤

[@Astar24653]

the highlight for me was "bocchi the rock bl" the cloyster

[@StylishGaz]

The motion graphics/editing are really nice on this video. Do you do everything yourself or do you use an editor?

[@plutoanderis]

i dont know about smogon tiers but i just had a full shell smash torterra sweep in random battles and idk but it made me happy

[@sickdewd5694]

ayy man I like the background music. Found that guy on Instagram as well I'm guessing?

[@thegreataggron]

Im just glad my boy finally gets to have its time to be talked about

[@anintendolover8416]

I dont know if ive seen a video from you with a sponsor before, so congratulations!

[@q6969]

I think it is going to be on the OU viability rankings, even if it isn't OU proper

[@ramseslopez9521]

Hmm yeah, considering which mons are on it in ss ou is not that speciap

[@Jacob-df5hr]

Grats on the sponsor man

[@UserName-ei7dk]

My dude got sponsored, LETS GO!

[@franbh94]

May I ask for the playlist of music in the background?

[@CoffeeFlavoredMilk]

I wonder if you'll make a video about Roost Empoleon and Flip Turn Alomomola.

[@dunk5011]

On my way to play doubles with Torterra to make it's weaknesses a lot easier to manage

[@cristhianmlr]

Give my boy Solid Rock. Makes sense with the minerals Turtwig had on it's shell.

[@lukerennie4457]

Its worth noting that tortera shares the vast majority of its checks with iron valient, which might give a niche in ou once kinggambit is banned

[@lory3771]

I love how Torterra’s Tera hat goes on its tree :)

[@Ttarler]

I think the buff is primarily for players who really like Torterra (it’s one of their favorites) and want something that can be viable. Purely from a competitive frame you’re correct Freezai, but I’d be curious to see if someone looking hard enough finds a niche in a higher tier that works out.

[@theimprovedbore550]

it may not make it viable in OU by any means, but it does help Torterra out a ton.

[@DarthCinnabon]

I miss just absolutely rolling low ladder with shell smash cloyster back in the day. Good memories

[@jonwoods4590]

idk much about torterra in singles but he’s super underrated in doubles. i use one on my showdown regulation f team with a moveset of shell smash, earthquake, seed bomb and fire tera blast. i actually then recommend giving it a white herb which can ignore intimidates, reset icy wind to keep the full x2 speed boost, or even change it to a free fillet away otherwise. pair it with either a priority hitter to break focus sashes, a tailwind setter for even more speed, or a friend guard + follow me user like clefairy for free setup and extra bulk. terastallize for that powerful STAB fire/grass/ground core and sweep😌

[@videakias3000]

Please do a video about galarian weezing. It seems as if it is going to be more relevant in gen 9 than gen 8.

[@Mustache99]

for me giga drain could also be good you gain back health and it can also use his sp attack, now give I hope infernape will get drain punch

[@aubfan0986]

Infernape does get Drain Punch now!

[@plhbuschannel]

it does get drain punch

[@SJrad]

for the white herb set, why not swap out wood hammer for seed bomb if you don't want to worry about recoil damage?

[@Cayden.1]

Its going to jump from pu to uu, saying it wasnt fixed competitively is an overstatement, it vastly improved competitively undoubtedly

[@ihsaningersoll9232]

Holy damn love this editing style

[@beelaxquay]

What’s the song that starts at around 6:38? Feel like I’ve heard it before but I’m not sure what it’s even from

[@torterrad5429]

Im glad its usable now, can see it being pretty solid in uu or ru with it being usable in ou, my boi made it

[@thaisennj9781]

I’ve been using it with Iron moth, ninetails alolan, hisu zora, and it’s been ight

[@thaisennj9781]

Gotta use the loaded dice rockblast bullet seed set

[@risingumbreon]

i was so not ready for the warthunder vtuber dakimakura jumpscare at the end holy shit

[@kefkapalazzo1]

I love that carmine theme so much

[@geeksgambit]

On the VGC side...the rise of Farigiraf might help you get around the priority move problem ?? Might be fun to test out. But definitely feels like there's better options especially with iron bundle and A9 running around with freeze-dry/blizzard.

[@ChompDude]

It may not be the best Pokemon even outside of competitive but it's still my favorite Sinnoh starter.

[@paulomalley3211]

This would be a great point against torterra’s viability if it weren’t for the fact that one could pair it with their own kind gambit and after the hole torterra would punch in a team after a shell smash means that an iron valiant, kinggambit, dragonnite, weavile or other imminent sweeper how has immensely easy cleanup. Torterra is so good within its context that I think it’s worth the ou slot because unlike poltergeist it’s not hyper reliant on indeedee support on top of that the ground typing gives it a resistance to rocks meaning it can pretty easily switch out and in again

[@nishantdayama4558]

Now we need a follow-up video on Empoleon

[@diamsword6273]

Hey what happened to the no restrictions format and tournament you host ?

[@rrteppo]

Tortera seems like a great UU mon. Which is amazing considering what UU looks like now.

[@calebcook6372]

I love this deep dive on a buffed Pokémon

[@KamiChrisy]

Freezai crushed my dreams with that title

[@tristandahn2284]

Personally I think that rock blast helps him about as much as shell smash. Covers all of his weaknesses with loaded die. I don't think Torterra is OU viable, but I could see it being somewhat decent as a win condition in the tier, and I personally think that RU will be perfect for it.

[@td4613]

where do you get your bacground music from

[@brightpowder_cena]

0:30 For anyone wondering, Mega Blastoise is banned from Gen 9 Nat Dex OU

[@memetan_24]

I feel like torterra might have some case scenario in monotype as you're more limited there

[@jmcbango]

I feel like this whole vid is a bit of a moot point: no one actually expects torterra to be good in OU, but this buff is a huge deal as it will likely be a threat in RU/UU after spending several generations untiered

[@judetreanor7113]

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@myguy9320]

i gotta watch blunder use it. then i’ll know it’s a great mon with many opportunities to sac

[@stain255]

2:28 what is the song playing here

[@Quix0tic707]

Yeah I don’t think many people thought this would take Torterra to OU. But I can see this making it a very strong threat in NU/RU, and considering it was Untiered in Gen 7 (despite still being really good in PU) that’s a big improvement.

[@vasxus]

You guys keep forgetting about trick room torterra loaded dice

[@TheLast1Zen]

the editing is amazing especially as someone who doesnt actually play competitive

[@enoyna1001]

He does play competetive - what are you talking about?

[@TheLast1Zen]

@@enoyna1001 I don't tho

[@Hrishi52xis]

Freezai finally got a sponsor.

[@GAMERO-PHOBIA]

One things for sure Atleast it won't drop to untier this gen 😢

[@samuelkernohan267]

Dang it this is a singles video

[@IloveHildasfeet]

Giving a slow bulky mon shell smash is just the same as giving a psychic nuke cosmic power. It makes sense but doesn’t work

[@dinoman6481]

It is like making bulky ice types.

[@SnoFitzroy]

@@dinoman6481 you mean SLOW bulky ice types. What we need is a bulky ice type that doesn't have ass speed. Like regice literally has enough BST to do that but nooooooooooooo they just have to punish every ice type for existing :( I do appreciate that Chien-Pao is just Better Weavile tho, never really liked weavile all that much

[@goGothitaLOL]

@@SnoFitzroyMamoswine (80 Spe) and Baxcalibur (87 Spe) are right there The latter was even banned

[@kekmandu6118]

they said bulky ice types mamo and bax arent bulky walls@@goGothitaLOL

[@kekmandu6118]

they meant a bulky ice type with some speed@@goGothitaLOL

[@bradyanderson1229]

Ahaha not the tera hat on top of his tree 😂

[@r1c3m4n4]

love the xenoblade music! what happened to world cup of randbats?

[@tanushkalantri5096]

Since Shell Smash gives a +2 Sp. Atk., wouldn't running Giga Drain also be viable against Great Tusk and Dondozo?

[@TheOtherNeutrino]

You'd need quite a bit of investment to 2HKO Dozo with Giga Drain. Honestly, Grass Knot and Leaf Storm are better choices for taking those two out. The other two Unaware mons would be destroyed by Soft Sand Headlong Rush without Tera and even Clefable is 2HKOd with a bit of chip.

[@awpandamia]

4:50 the items are swapped i think

[@MrArtless1]

You missed the chance to say “Torterrible would be an accurate way to describe Torterra”

[@goGothitaLOL]

Now it’s Tortolerable

[@infernacraft5269]

All I want is for these buffs to Torterra make it at least UU viable so we can have all of the Sinnoh starters be UU staples like Infernape and Empoleon have been

[@jueymiah1810]

I have swept so many ppl wth loaded dice torterra

[@krumplin8992]

Mega blastiose was banned from Nat dex OU so yeah it was broken

[@elijahgriffin5435]

"Pokemon like memento" lol

[@9Destra]

I think Torterra will still be viable in OU while not being OU itself. Torterra just needs a specific team to be its best. I highly recommend AV Samurott with Sacred Sword and an Iron Valiant counter as partners

[@kekmandu6118]

gambit works as a counter as half the valiants dont have a fighting move but you dont wanna hope that it dont got cc or blast

[@Triattack007]

Is that RJ pasin I hear Freezai??

[@danielmee3938]

Torterra getting Shell Smash will be the flavour of the month and then quickly fade into obscurity. Shell Smash is not good enough to cover Torterra's biggest issues. Gives me big Maushold vibes.

[@austinb2177]

Maushold is UU, though. That’s not exactly bad.

[@danielmee3938]

@@austinb2177 First few weeks of S/V Maushold was in a lot of people's top 5 new mons that weren't Paradox/Legendary alongside Gholdengo, Annihilape, Palafin and Houndstone. Now it's viewed as pretty average in comparison.

[@B463L]

IMO people will be surprised by how effective Torterra is. The fact that it's a one-turn setup with really strong grass, ground, and rock coverage, a strong movepool, and a high speed tier altogether means that it will be able to put a lot of pressure on the other team. Especially teams that aren't packing Corv

[@swagfun9054]

this dude loves carmines theme and the torna battle theme lmao (not complaining but funny)

[@sonam9881]

Don't care, outspeeding dragapult after one smash and headlong rushing it go brrrrrr

[@kheireddineattala1281]

Game freak getting a page outa radical red book

[@goGothitaLOL]

Empoleon and Shiftry too

[@victorlinares4137]

Im waiting for it to hit ru and go ham with it

[@asepsisaficionado7376]

9:04 In spite of what you said, both UU teams here would be destroyed by shell smash torterra. Ground STAB is extremely potent when just 1 turn of setup doubles your speed and attack.

[@ramseslopez9521]

One has lokix, another has rillaboom, but yeah there are two fodders on each team that torterra could use in his favor

[@ramseslopez9521]

Also galar zapdos is there who commonly uses scarf and I think it resists any hit '-'

[@Torterra890]

I don't even care if Torterra's not top tier, this is still one of the moments of all time.

[@nolanstone4723]

I didnt know Torterra got its Tera crown on top of its tree. Thats fun af!

[@JumbaJumby]

Ay bruh I gotta get me those dakimakuras

[@davidunderwood1773]

I feel RUBL most likely personally. It has a chance in UU, but not OU. I just think in a tier like RU it would be broken though. However, this is a huge improvement from past gens.

[@felipefroehnerteixeira4777]

Can you do this Kind od video on vgc

[@nickbitle2983]

Torterra Smash!!!

[@rene9175]

Ok, but hear me out; Mixed Shell Smash Torterra. Don't like Wood Hammer's recoil? Use Giga Drain instead.

[@SnoFitzroy]

that's genius. Don't like recoil? Heal yourself, fivehead!

[@Xeamless]

And spread your investment while not getting any coverage, recoil isn't even that bad.

[@paulmann8570]

We can, in fact, imagine Mega Smashstoise. It's called National Dex and it was banned.

[@Bwear04]

Was just about to talk about Torterra on Reddit, it's definitely viable now which i am so happy for, but too many mons in OU wall it, along with Torterra's rather mediocre movepool and poor speed it just doesn't have enough support and firepower, i definitely can see it in UU because of the slew of ground types that are in it and the much lower level of powerhouses in said tier

[@laterferaligatr2947]

I use mixed Shell Smash tho. I dont like its physical grass STABS (due to recoil or weak base power ) and choose to Giga Drain instead

[@goGothitaLOL]

There’s also Power Whip which instead of recoil it has 85% Acc. And it doesn’t get that, it has Leaf Blade in LLA but couldn’t keep that either

[@Heartache2491]

Our son finally got blessed

[@misfortune5091]

3:55 white herb should be pronouced "white erb" (the H is silent)

[@bigdumber7242]

Didn't shell smash Cloyster get kings rock banned in gen 8?