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Poliwrath
- Thread starter Forte.EXE
- Start date
BurningMan
fueled by beer
You could use Waterfall and Brick Break
I really think that the Belly Drum set would be the best, I mean, +6 Waterfall in the rain litterally 2HKOs every single thing in the metagame with Waterfall, the only problem it has is jellicent, but that is OHKOd by earthquake, jeebus, I have no clue why Poliwrath wasn't #1 when Drizzle+SwSw was banned, but sadly it is.
u mean careful nature
I think letting Poliwrath be walled by Jellicent is a necessary evil. For one, it helps provide insurance against Ditto, since you can just have a Jellicent running alongside it with supporting moves and stuff. So long as you have something like CM Virizion which can set up on Jellicent as much as he likes then you should be fine running something like Ice Punch in the fourth slot, to deal with Dragonite and co, who are much more threatening.
Toxic is actually a really good option on Poliwrath as well as Azumarill because they are both brilliant lures for Jellicent, and thus are excellent at neutering its walling ability.
This is especially true in the case of Poliwrath, as Jellicent can't actually do much to you in return while you have a Sub up.
This is especially true in the case of Poliwrath, as Jellicent can't actually do much to you in return while you have a Sub up.
I've always like Poliwrath, and even though I can use it in pretty much every tier (which is fun) I've always felt sorry for him. He used to outclass Politoed (IMO) but now that Politoed is in the big leagues messing with the forces of weather, Poliwrath was left behind. Somebody should win some huge tournament with Poliwrath so he gets some attention :D.
What about Mind Reader? You could use that and then use DynamicPunch-it's kinda like Articuno with Mind Reader and Sheer Cold. To a lesser extent, at least.
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The girls have the square root of pi and the boys still have a crudely drawn picture of a duck. Clearly, it's anyone's game!
Phineas & Ferb, "Got Game?"
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The girls have the square root of pi and the boys still have a crudely drawn picture of a duck. Clearly, it's anyone's game!
Phineas & Ferb, "Got Game?"
That means you'll land one DynamicPunch every 2 turns. Which is roughly what you'd get if you just spammed DynamicPunch in the first place.
On the note of teammates: Skarmory appears nice. It can take Grass, Flying and Psychic attacks aimed at Poliwrath while he can take fire type moves. Poliwrath can also phaze; racking up more damage with spikes. Obviously there is a huge electirc weakness but considering there are only 2 main electic types in the OU metagame this weakness can be rectified with a ground type; preferably one who can set up Rocks too add more damage from phazing. The core also has some special defense problems but there are some great special walls that fit well with the team. Such as specially bulky Dusclops/Dusknoir who can take advantage of psychic ghostand dark resistances in Skarmory as well as spinblock
I say it time and time again but no one ever listens. Bulk Up SubPunch Poliwrath is, imo, the best Poliwrath. I've been using him for over a year and I just love it. People never pay attention but then when I play them on the ladder they're like "wow, you found a way to make Poliwrath work" As long as you pack enough Spe EV's to outspeed other Waters and their Toxic's you should be good. He has SEVEN resistances, and great balanced stats. Take advantage of them.
Not that I'm bitter. I kind of like that no one else has managed to unlock Poliwrath's awesomeness.
Not that I'm bitter. I kind of like that no one else has managed to unlock Poliwrath's awesomeness.
What about encore? you could use encore to lock a pokemon into a move that cant damage poliwrath and get up a free sub or focus punch.
Salac Berry, as well as Custap, Liechi and Petaya, are all currently unreleased, thus making them illegal in standard play. Moreover, the most time-tested method of abusing such berries, Sub-Boosting sets, mean that Poliwrath will be limited to only two attacks, meaning he inevitably walled by the corresponding poke indefinitely (Fighting Move+Water Move=Jellicent/Dnite/Slowbro, Fighting Move+Ice Punch=Jellicent/Slowbro, etc.). Thus, once it's released it might get a mention, but more often than not I feel like Lefties deserves the slot.
As far as the OU metagame is concerned, I agree with Meow in that the most noteworthy set Poliwrath can offer is a Belly Drum set, being the only SS poke with access to Belly Drum. Perhaps something along the lines of:
Poliwrath (M) @ Leftovers/Lum Berry
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Waterfall/Ice Punch
- Belly Drum
- Rock Slide/Ice Punch/Encore
Encore seems somewhat odd, especially after mentioning his limits as far as coverage is concerned, but should you be able to clear out these threats Poli can pretty effectively sweep late-game with only two attacks. Moreover, an Encore off a 450 speed poke could allow you the turn you need to set up your Belly Drum, as your opponent would either have to switch out or continue setting up.
He does indeed have some cool options defensively, having adequate bulk on both ends of the spectrum, backed by some neat resists, but i feel like there are simply some better options when it comes to bulky waters :/ He does have Bulk Up and Circle Throw, but Scrafty, and to a lesser extent Throh, also have the capacity to Bulk Up and phaze, each having aspects that better insure their longevity.
I've never seen the merit of Encore on Poliwrath. It's just too slow to utilise it fully. Most of the time I get a sub up is by coming in on Vaporeon/Jellicent/Milotic/Politoed's Water attacks and subbing before they go for the Toxic. That's why I stressed the need for enough Spe EV's.
Using those same evs you can lock a bulky water into their water move, and force them out, using a poliwrath right now with 124 spe evs to outspeed suicune.
