Competitive Information for Cacturne [X/Y]
Grass / Dark
Abilities:
If Sandstorm is active, this Pokemon's evasiveness is 1.25x; immunity to Sandstorm.
This Pokemon heals 1/4 of its max HP when hit by Water moves; Water immunity.
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Note: Pokemon with the Water Absorb ability are immune to Water attacks.
Movesets for Singles
Looking for a competitive moveset for Cacturne? These builds are optimized for X/Y Single Battles. The movesets and EVs are designed to maximize damage against common opponents and threats in the X/Y metagame. Check out the expert movesets below to boost your battle performance and dominate your opponents!
Meet Cacturne, the first-rate Pokémon of Grass and Dark types! Cacturne is a common Pokémon to see in the XY metagame. It is weak to Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison-typed attacks. Uncover the best movesets for Cacturne below and optimize your gameplay!
Item: Focus Sash / Tanga Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Foul Play / Sucker Punch
- Superpower / Drain Punch
- Poison Jab / Thunder Punch
- Seed Bomb / Needle Arm
Taking on single battles? Cacturne is a dazzling Physical Sweeper. This build is crafted to take down the opponent's team with overwhelming physical power. Focus Sash helps protect Cacturne from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Water Absorb, Cacturne heals 1/4 of its max hp when hit by water moves; water immunity. Poison Jab or Thunder Punch are added to provide additional threat coverage. With a Tanga Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective bug-type attack then the Tanga Berry gets consumed.
◆ Sucker Punch is a physical STAB-boosted priority-increased 80-base power Dark-type move (usually goes first. Fails if target is not attacking).
◆ Superpower is a physical 120-base power Fighting-type move (lowers your Cacturne's attack and defense by 1 stage).
◆ Drain Punch is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (Cacturne recovers 50% of the damage dealt).
◆ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
◆ Thunder Punch is a physical 75-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Seed Bomb is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Grass-type move that deals a hefty amount of damage.
◆ Needle Arm is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Grass-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/iaa14c
Item: Focus Sash / Tanga Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Foul Play / Dark Pulse
- Energy Ball / Giga Drain
- Hyper Beam / Round
- Venoshock / Acid
Ready for single battles? Cacturne is a remarkable Special Sweeper. It tries to take down the opponent's team with heavy-hitting special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Cacturne from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Water Absorb, Cacturne heals 1/4 of its max hp when hit by water moves; water immunity. With a Tanga Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective bug-type attack then the Tanga Berry gets consumed.
◆ Dark Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Dark-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Energy Ball is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Giga Drain is a special STAB-boosted 75-base power Grass-type move (Cacturne recovers 50% of the damage dealt).
◆ Hyper Beam is a special 150-base power Normal-type move (Cacturne cannot move next turn).
◆ Round is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (power doubles if others used round this turn).
◆ Venoshock is a special 65-base power Poison-type move (power doubles if the target is poisoned).
◆ Acid is a special 40-base power Poison-type move (10% chance to lower the foes special defense by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/iba14c
Item: Red Card
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 231 Hp / 231 SpA / 48 Spe
Moveset:
- Nasty Plot
- Energy Ball
- Focus Blast
- Dark Pulse
Cacturne thrives as a distinguished Special Tank perfect for single battles. This moveset is formulated to absorb special attacks and counter with decent force. With Water Absorb, Cacturne heals 1/4 of its max hp when hit by water moves; water immunity. With a Red Card equipped to it, if Cacturne survives a hit, attacker is forced to switch to a random ally then the Red Card gets consumed.
◆ Energy Ball is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Focus Blast is a special 120-base power Fighting-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Dark Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Dark-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/ica14c
Movesets for Doubles
Need a strong doubles moveset for Cacturne? These builds are perfect for VGC (Pokémon Video Game Championship) and other competitive X/Y Double Battles. The VGC is the ultimate test of strategy and skill, and these movesets and EVs are designed to excel against multiple opponents at once while providing essential support to your team. Dominate the X/Y metagame with these expert-crafted setups!
Item: Focus Sash / Tanga Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Foul Play / Sucker Punch
- Superpower / Drain Punch
- Poison Jab / Thunder Punch
- Seed Bomb / Needle Arm
Cacturne is a spectacular Physical Sweeper to use for double battles. It's meant to take down the opponent's team with devastating physical attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Cacturne from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Water Absorb, Cacturne heals 1/4 of its max hp when hit by water moves; water immunity. Poison Jab or Thunder Punch are added to provide additional threat coverage. With a Tanga Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective bug-type attack then the Tanga Berry gets consumed.
◆ Sucker Punch is a physical STAB-boosted priority-increased 80-base power Dark-type move (usually goes first. Fails if target is not attacking).
◆ Superpower is a physical 120-base power Fighting-type move (lowers your Cacturne's attack and defense by 1 stage).
◆ Drain Punch is a physical 75-base power Fighting-type move (Cacturne recovers 50% of the damage dealt).
◆ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
◆ Thunder Punch is a physical 75-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Seed Bomb is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Grass-type move that deals a decent amount of damage.
◆ Needle Arm is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Grass-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/jaa14c
Item: Focus Sash / Tanga Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Foul Play / Dark Pulse
- Energy Ball / Giga Drain
- Acid / Venoshock
- Hyper Beam / Round
In double battles, Cacturne's Special Sweeper role is a distinguished. It is meant to overwhelm foes with powerful special power. Focus Sash helps protect Cacturne from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Water Absorb, Cacturne heals 1/4 of its max hp when hit by water moves; water immunity. With a Tanga Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective bug-type attack then the Tanga Berry gets consumed.
◆ Dark Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Dark-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Energy Ball is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Giga Drain is a special STAB-boosted 75-base power Grass-type move (Cacturne recovers 50% of the damage dealt).
◆ Acid is a special 40-base power Poison-type move (10% chance to lower the foes special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Venoshock is a special 65-base power Poison-type move (power doubles if the target is poisoned).
◆ Hyper Beam is a special 150-base power Normal-type move (Cacturne cannot move next turn).
◆ Round is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (power doubles if others used round this turn).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/jba14c
Movepool
Want to know what moves Cacturne can learn? Check out the full list of moves available in the Pokemon X/Y generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by type, category, accuracy, and power. Moves in bold get the same-type attack bonus (STAB) when used by Cacturne.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Cacturne can perform in X/Y. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive XY Move and Ability Combos for Cacturne
- Moves: Sunny day + Solar beam
- Moves: Sunny day + Growth
- Moves: Swagger + Foul play
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Substitute + Drain punch
- Moves: Substitute + Leech seed
- Moves: Ingrain + Leech seed
- Moves: Toxic + Leech seed
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Dynamic Punch
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Spiky Shield, Sucker Punch
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break
- Moves that inflict status: Toxic
Moves that boost Cacturne's stats
- Fell Stinger
- Growth
- Nasty Plot
- Power-Up Punch
- Swords Dance
Most notable and possible best moves for Cacturne
- Destiny Bond
- Protect
- Rest
- Toxic
Common Effort Values for Cacturne in X and Y
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Jolly Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Timid Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Bold Nature ( 252/0/252/0/0/4 )
- Calm Nature ( 252/0/0/0/252/4 )
- Relaxed Nature ( 252/0/88/0/168/0 )
- Sassy Nature ( 252/0/4/0/252/0 )
- Optimize Cacturne's Defensive EV-spread for Pokemon X and Y
Usage Data
Explore the latest analytical usage data for this Pokémon from various VGC and online competitions. We use this data to develop our strategies and movesets. The data is categorized by competition and skill level: top-ranking trainers, mid-level players, and entry-level players.
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Here are the best movesets for Cacturne. Top rated Cacturne X/Y movesets. You can find Cacturne builds X/Y. Cacturne movesets X/Y are listed here. VGC Cacturne Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Cacturne in X/Y along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution