Great Tusk is a behemoth of role compression. It provides an imposing offensive presence, access to entry hazards and hazard removal, and a defensive profile that enables it to check certain physical attackers such as Kingambit and Mega Tyranitar all in one slot. Rapid Spin enables the removal of hazards in the face of nearly every hazard setter in the tier such as Heatran, Garchomp, and Ting-Lu, which is specially given the difficulty of spinblocking Great Tusk, which is able to threaten massive damage on Gholdengo and Pecharunt. Additionally, Ice Spinner is necessary for threatening Flying-types such as Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Zapdos. Great Tusk is a good Stealth Rock setter given its ability to force switches against foes such as Galarian Slowking and Gholdengo and to threaten removal options such as Landorus-T and opposing Great Tusk if carrying Icium Z. Close Combat can be run to deny Ogerpon-W a safe switch in and better pressure Skarmory, Corviknight, and Rotom-Wash. Alternatively, Knock Off is an option for making progress against Great Tusk's checks, such as through removing Heavy-Duty Boots from Alomomola, Moltres, and Zapdos, as well as hitting Air Balloon Gholdengo for more damage. Stone Edge OHKOes Moltres and Volcarona, as well as 2HKOes Zapdos without making contact. Heavy-Duty Boots protects Great Tusk from Spikes and particularly Toxic Spikes, which is important given its role as hazard removal. Leftovers is another source of longevity, providing passive recovery for longer matchups in exchange for increased vulnerability to offensive hazard pressure. Booster Energy makes Great Tusk nigh unwallable, enabling it to threaten 2HKOs on standard Alomomola, Corviknight, and Rotom-Wash with its STAB options. Booster Energy sets should always carry Close Combat to maximize wallbreaking potential. Subzero Slammer lets Great Tusk OHKO Tornadus-T and Zapdos, as well as Landorus-T even after Intimidate, while weakening the effect of Knock Off from the likes of Kingambit and Mega Tyranitar. Finally, Rocky Helmet provides a source of chip damage against the physical attackers Great Tusk switches into, including punishing U-turn from pivots such as Landorus-T and Mega Scizor.

Great Tusk's ability to perform a plethora of roles leads it to fit best on offense and bulky offense due to its lack of longevity. However, it is also effective on balance teams, especially with the right teammates such as Alomomola, as its traits are highly coveted nonetheless. Great Tusk is often forced out by special attackers, such as Tapu Lele and Mega Charizard Y, meaning teammates such as Melmetal and Toxapex are strong teammates. Great Tusk is also not a blanket check to physical attackers, as its somewhat double-edged defensive typing leaves it with common weaknesses to attacks from Ogerpon-W, Weavile, and Kartana. As a result, defensive Pokemon with complementary typings such as Ferrothorn and Alomomola are effective partners. In particular, the latter can also provide Great Tusk with Wish support to mitigate its lack of longevity. With regards to its offensive profile, Great Tusk appreciates the ability of powerful special wallbreakers such as Raging Bolt and Tapu Lele to break through its checks such as Alomomola and Skarmory. In return, Great Tusk can exploit their checks such as Ting-Lu, Ferrothorn, and Melmetal as opportunities to set up Stealth Rock or remove entry hazards with ease. On offense teams, Great Tusk can pair well with other physical attackers such as Kingambit and Swords Dance Iron Valiant, being able to overwhelm or threaten common switch-ins such as Landorus-T and Moltres. Finally, Great Tusk forms a powerful core with Mega Charizard Y, providing premium hazard removal to address its crippling Stealth Rock weakness, the ability to switch into powerful physical attackers such as Mega Tyranitar, and threatening Mega Charizard Y's checks such as Dragonite, Toxapex, and Raging Bolt. In exchange, Mega Charizard Y's Drought provides Great Tusk with a Protosynthesis boost at no cost to the item slot while using Great Tusk's switch-ins such as Alomomola and Slowbro as wallbreaking opportunities.