Switch Forretress in on Pokémon it can wall fairly well, such as Weavile, or perhaps even an Outraging Garchomp. Then, set up Spikes or Toxic Spikes with impunity. Rapid Spin enemy Stealth Rock, Spikes, or Toxic Spikes. Use Explosion when you are finished. Shed Shell keeps Forretress from being delivered the coup de grâce by Magnezone, but if you don’t fear it much, Leftovers will do fine. When using Toxic Spikes, you will be putting yourself in serious danger of giving your opponent a free Guts boost, so make sure you have a way to deal with that. Earthquake can catch an incoming Magnezone, and also puts a hurt on the Poison-types trying to absorb the Toxic Spikes.
This set does better against Forretress’ greatest nemesis, Magnezone, and also offers some useful team support in the form of Light Screen. If you set up a Light Screen on the switch, you force Magnezone to have to 3HKO you with Thunderbolt, while you 2HKO with Earthquake in return. Beware of Magnet Rise. The last slot is up to personal preference. Rest can help Forretress last longer with Aromatherapy support, but a well-timed Explosion can help in tight games. Rapid Spin is useful to remove entry hazards as always. Other OptionsAlthough Forretress seems slow enough to use Gyro Ball effectively, 76 Speed isn’t quite slow enough do deal serious damage against anything that isn’t super-fast. However, giving Forretress Macho Brace allows it to hit anything 198 Speed and above with at least a 100 BP attack, and 150 BP to anything above 297 Speed. Without the Macho Brace, it’s only 66 and 100 BP, respectively. This is before STAB is factored in. Note that the Macho Brace can make the difference between OHKOing and not OHKOing Gengar. Stealth Rock can be run over Spikes, but this is not recommended. After all, so many Pokémon can learn Stealth Rock, but fewer good ones can use Spikes effectively. Run it on one of his other slots instead—if you can't give it up. Since Forretress is slow, it’s also a good user of Revenge and Payback—although this begs the question of what you would be using them against. Some things that come to mind include Gengar, to whom Payback might OHKO so long as Forretress moves last, and Tyranitar, who you can hit with Revenge. Revenge also covers Magnet Rise Magnezone somewhat. Zap Cannon allows Forretress to cripple Gengar on the switch, and do some damage to Skarmory—it was not uncommon to see Zap Cannon on a Forretress in Advance. Zap Cannon also allows Forretress to counter Gyarados. EVsAlways start by maxing out HP for the best defensive potential, and then move on to Attack and the defenses. When using Gyro Ball, always remember to use a –Speed nature (preferably Relaxed), no Speed EVs, and a 0 Speed IV. The Attack EVs listed above are intended to give Forretress a little bite, but if your team is better served off by dumping those EVs in Defense instead, by all means do so. OpinionForretress has a nice niche to fill as a non-Choice Banded Heracross and Weavile wall. However, with the innovation of Toxic Spikes and Gyro Ball, Forretress is a somewhat popular OU Pokémon and may very well be the best Toxic Spikes user in the game. A top tier OU Pokémon, Forretress provides excellent team support and gets the job done. CountersIf Forretress doesn't have an Electric attack, Gyarados can switch in, Taunt it, and then set up with Dragon Dance. Explosion hurts even bulky Gyarados badly, but unfortunately the standard Forretress can only hit 79% with it after Intimidate. Gengar is a counter, unless you run Gyro Ball on Forretress. Skarmory can switch in on any of Forretress’ attacks and Taunt it to block Spikes / Toxic Spikes, but note that Forretress can still Rapid Spin. |
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