|
-
White Smoke
- The wielder's stats cannot be lowered. Decreases wild encounter rate.
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Shell Armor
- Prevents critical hits.
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Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
70
|
- |
281 |
344 |
- |
| Atk |
85
|
185 |
206 |
269 |
295 |
| Def |
140
|
284 |
316 |
379 |
416 |
| SpA |
85
|
185 |
206 |
269 |
295 |
| SpD |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| Spe |
20
|
68 |
76 |
139 |
152 |
Overview
Torkoal is a very unique Pokemon—Fire-types are nearly always offensively based, so one so defensive is somewhat of an oddity. However, Torkoal has just the right combination of support moves and bulk to make a decent support Pokemon. Torkoal has excellent physical bulk, allowing him to come in on many physical attackers, including Leafeon and Gurdurr. In addition, Torkoal has some great moves in his arsenal, including the holy grail of support moves: Rapid Spin. This automatically gives Torkoal a massive niche due to the lack of effective spinners in the NU tier, in stark contrast to the large number of both Stealth Rock users and Pokemon with a weakness to Stealth Rock. Unfortunately, Torkoal's typing isn't just odd for a defensive Pokemon; it is downright bad. Torkoal's typing provides him with a weakness to the very rocks that he is coming in to spin away, and also gives him weaknesses to common Water- and Ground-type attacks. On top of this, Torkoal has pitiful special bulk, making him easily brushed aside by many of the strong special attackers in the NU tier, such as Gorebyss. Being the second slowest Pokemon in NU doesn't do him any favors either. Torkoal also lacks reliable recovery aside from Rest, meaning that he can easily be worn down. Despite all this, Torkoal is still an excellent support Pokemon who is definitely worth considering for a spot on your team.
Move over, Raphael, there is a new turtle in the sewers of Manhattan. With Cryogonal leaving the land of Neverused, Torkoal stands as one of the few remaining viable users of the coveted Rapid Spin in NU. Turned down and pushed aside due to its Stealth Rock weakness, a timorous Torkoal can finally come out of its shell and show the world what it has always been capable of. With Shell Smash and its good 70/140/70 defenses, it can set up and threaten all of the terrifying Ghost-type Pokemon that reside in NU such as Golurk, Haunter, Misdreavus, and Drifblim. While not all too important to Torkoal's role, Shell Armor allows Torkoal to set up and sweep more reliably as it doesn't have to fear critical hits. After a boost, Torkoal is capable of outpacing every Ghost-type Pokemon in the tier barring Haunter, who cannot switch into Torkoal's Fire Blast. With a Modest nature Torkoal hits an impressive 590 Special Attack and a good 278 Speed stat, which allow it to deal massive damage to anything outside of dedicated special walls that attempt to come in while outpacing a big portion of the metagame. However, it should be noted that it misses out on key base 80 and above Speed Pokemon such as Braviary, Sawk, and Rotom-A. Torkoal has two choices for its coverage move in Earth Power and Hidden Power Grass which allow it to hit specific types and targets. Earth Power hits Fire-type Pokemon, such as Camerupt, Rapidash, and Flareon, while Hidden Power Grass hits Water-type Pokemon, such as Samurott, Gorebyss, Seismitoad. Earth Power gets the nod over Hidden Power Grass as preventing Camerupt from stopping your sweep is very important, and Earth Power still hits Water-type Pokemon neutrally and already gets excellent damage on Hidden Power Grass's targets.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Even though Torkoal still has fantastic 70/140 defenses, this set cannot be played the same way as the defensive Torkoal sets. Without any investment, powerful attackers, such as Choice Band Braviary and Sawk, can break through Torkoal without much residual damage needed. White Herb is the item of choice as it prevents Torkoal's defenses from being decreased once, allowing it to take powerful priority moves such as Cacturne's Sucker Punch considerably better than with any other item. While Torkoal's base 20 Speed stat is nothing to write home about, a Timid nature is actually very beneficial for Torkoal, as it lets it outspeed many key Pokemon that Modest does not, such as the key base 80 Speed Pokemon mentioned above. Timid Torkoal is still capable of OHKOing the most common Ghost-type Pokemon in the tier and makes up for the loss in power with the the ability to outspeed important Pokemon in the metagame. While Misdreavus can survive a +2 Fire Blast from Torkoal, thanks to its White Herb item and Misdreavus's lack of Special Attack investment, Torkoal is capable of getting off a second Shell Smash which allows it to cleanly OHKO standard Misdreavus with even a Timid nature. Without a boost Torkoal is capable of outpacing the standard Golem, Regirock, and Vileplume sets and hitting them with the appropriate move before they can retaliate. At +4, Modest Torkoal is almost guaranteed a sweep with Choice Scarf Pokemon out of the way as it outspeeds even Timid Electrode by a single point and can OHKO Lickilicky with Stealth Rock up. With a Timid nature, Torkoal even outspeeds Timid Scarf Rotom-A and still has enough power to trample through almost any Pokemon that stands in its way. Of course without Modest, Lickilicky, Hypno, and Grumpig can tank a single hit and either Thunder Wave Torkoal or hit it with Psychic against its -1 Special Defense stat. However, out of the Pokemon mentioned above only Lickilicky is common, and at +4 Torkoal is more than likely to sweep regardless.
White Smoke could be used over Shell Armor so that stat dropping effects from attacks, such as Crunch and Psychic, don't waste Torkoal's White Herb. While uncommon, this is a possible scenario and a reason to use White Smoke over Shell Armor. Torkoal could use other items, such as a Life Orb or Flame Plate, to increase its damage output; however, preventing the drops in Defense and Special Defense is generally more important. The increase in power from these items don't help it OHKO Misdreavus at +2 either, so it's usually not worth it. Torkoal is a great partner for Pokemon in need of Rapid Spin support such as Articuno, Altaria, Rotom-A, Braviary, Swellow, Charizard, and Butterfree. While it does compound a team's Rock-type weakness, Torkoal still gets the job done and further supports the above Pokemon by clearing the path of things that beat them, such as of Probopass, in Articuno and Altaria's case and Rock-type Pokemon, such as Golem and Regirock, in Charizard and Swellow's case.
Rapid Spin is definitely Torkoal's best way to support his team, particularly due to the scarcity of Pokemon with access to this move in NU. Lava Plume is Torkoal's best option to prevent him from becoming Taunt fodder, as it carries a lovely 30% burn chance and a decent Base Power. Stealth Rock is sometimes hailed as the best move in the game, and Torkoal makes a great user, letting him take advantage of any free turns he receives by forcing out one of the Pokemon he walls to either set up Stealth Rock or use Rapid Spin to get rid of hazards. Lastly, Yawn works well as a way of causing switches, and is also great to hit incoming Ghost-type Pokemon looking to stop Torkoal from using Rapid Spin. Your opponent is then faced with a dilemma: let their Ghost-type fall asleep, which due to BW's mechanics is more crippling than ever, or switch out and let Rapid Spin occur. Yawn also means that Pokemon such as Samurott and even Gorebyss cannot freely set up on Torkoal; without Yawn he does face the problem of being setup fodder.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EVs give Torkoal as much physical bulk as possible, allowing him to take advantage of his great base 140 Defense stat. Only 248 EVs are invested into HP as this grants Torkoal the ability to switch into Stealth Rock four times instead of three. The last 8 EVs are put into Special Defense to give Torkoal some additional bulk on the special side; however, these can easily be put into Speed to outspeed other Torkoal. Torkoal can also run a spread of 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD with a Calm nature to allow him to have a better shot at tanking special hits from the likes of Charizard, but he faces strong competition from other Fire-types such as Flareon in this role, and his special bulk is still fairly lackluster. Lava Plume can easily be exchanged for stronger Fire-type attacks such as Flamethrower or Fire Blast, but Torkoal appreciates Lave Plume's 30% chance to burn more than extra power due to his defensive nature. Other moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp can be used over Yawn; Toxic allows Torkoal to cripple Pokemon switching into him to block his Rapid Spin, such as Misdreavus, or bulky Water-types, such as Alomomola. Will-O-Wisp gives him a way to reliably burn physical attackers, although Lava Plume already carries a usable burn chance and Torkoal walls most physical attackers without a need for burn in the first place; however, Will-O-Wisp is useful for those that he is unable to wall such as Golem or Gigalith. On a more defensive note, Rest can be used in the last slot to provide Torkoal with much-needed instant recovery, but this should only be used alongside cleric support from the likes of Lickilicky or Vileplume; in addition, a Chesto Berry is also a viable option for a one-time full recovery move. Finally, Earthquake can be used in the last slot to hit Fire-types such as Camerupt and Rapidash, in addition to Rock-types such as Golem and Regirock. If you choose to use this, Torkoal should use a Relaxed nature as he is now using both offensive stats.
As far as teammates go, those that aid Torkoal in getting off a successful Rapid Spin are probably the best. Skuntank and Sneasel do an excellent job of this, switching in on Ghost-types looking to keep the opponent's hazards on the field. These Dark-types easily trap them with their super effective STAB Pursuit, eliminating the opposing Ghost-type from the game and leaving Torkoal free to use Rapid Spin. As has been mentioned several times already, Torkoal has pretty bad special bulk, so good teammates include those that can tank special hits very well, such as Lickilicky. Torkoal also has trouble with Water-types, particularly strong special attackers such as Gorebyss and Simipour. As such, Pokemon that can switch into these Water-types with ease, such as Lapras, make good teammates. Pokemon that can revenge kill these Water-types, such as Choice Scarf Rotom-S and Electabuzz, are also useful. Given that Torkoal has no recovery outside of Leftovers and Rest, Wish support is very valuable to him; the likes of Lickilicky and Gardevoir are good candidates for this. Cleric support is still just as helpful to Torkoal if he isn't using Rest, as he is crippled rather heavily by Toxic. As stated, Lickilicky and Vileplume do this well. Although Torkoal is capable of tanking even super effective physical hits, there are still a few physical Pokemon that can scare him with their attacks, especially Golem and Gigalith. For this reason, Alomomola also makes a good teammate, easily taking on such Pokemon and passing Torkoal large Wishes from her gigantic base 165 HP stat.
Other Options
Sadly for Torkoal, there are not too many viable options he can run other than the above set. A rare offensive move that Torkoal has access to is Eruption. While on most Pokemon the ability to use a STAB move with 150 Base Power is a fantastic asset, Torkoal is unfortunately too slow to use the move effectively, as his awful Speed means that he will nearly always have to tank a move first, meaning that Eruption's Base Power will be reduced. However, Eruption is interesting options on a Trick Room team. Overheat can also be used for its high Base Power; however, its negative secondary effect means that Torkoal will likely be forced to switch out immediately afterwards. Earth Power can be used to hit Rock-types such as Regirock and Golem harder than Earthquake would, but Earthquake hits Camerupt significantly harder, meaning that it really comes down to which Pokemon trouble your team more. A Curse set is also an option, utilizing physical moves such as Gyro Ball, Earthquake, and Stone Edge, but unfortunately Torkoal lacks any physical STAB moves whatsoever outside of the weak Flame Charge, meaning that a Curse set is really not very viable. Clear Smog can be used to cancel out any stat boosts the opponent may have gained but most Pokemon can easily dispose of Torkoal after a boost before he even gets a chance to Clear Smog. Torkoal can also use Amnesia to fix his problems with special attacks; however, this is fairly gimmicky and there are still many Pokemon that can force Torkoal out even after a boost. Lastly, Torkoal can make a decent Sunny Day user, although he doesn't provide any additional synergy for common Sunny Day sweepers such as Rapidash. What Torkoal does provide, however, is much-needed Rapid Spin support for the sun team. Sun is also nice for making Torkoal's Fire Blast do more damage, most notably to spinblockers such as Misdreavus, and making Torkoal's SolarBeam actually useful.
Checks and Counters
Countering Torkoal is pretty simple: one must prey on his lackluster Speed and Special Defense, along with his relatively poor defensive typing. As mentioned earlier, Torkoal's biggest foes are specially based Water-types such as Gorebyss and Simipour, who can easily KO Torkoal with their STAB attacks or potentially set up after forcing him out. Gorebyss packing Substitute can easily set up on Torkoal without fearing Yawn. In fact, most special attackers can easily threaten Torkoal with their neutral STAB attacks. Exeggutor and Gardevoir can OHKO Torkoal after Stealth Rock with help from a boosting item. Altaria counters Torkoal with ease, possessing a resistance to Torkoal's Fire-type STAB attacks along with Natural Cure to shrug off any status he may attempt to throw at it and hitting him with either special Dragon-type STAB attacks or a super effective Earthquake. Camerupt also counters Torkoal, being able to easily take anything aside from Yawn and set up Stealth Rock, meaning Torkoal has to waste a turn using Rapid Spin, or hit Torkoal hard with a STAB super effective Earth Power. Rock-types such as Gigalith and Golem also pose a huge threat to Torkoal, although they must be wary of being burned by Lava Plume or Will-O-Wisp. Misdreavus also walks all over Torkoal, blocking its Rapid Spin, using Taunt to prevent Yawn, and hitting his weaker Special Defense with Shadow Ball. Although rare, Misdreavus carrying both Substitute and Nasty Plot or Calm Mind sets up all over Torkoal. The only thing Misdreavus has to fear from Torkoal is Yawn on a predicted switch-in.
