Volcarona [QC: 2/3] [Needs Write Up]

[Alter]

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Volcarona | #637
[BW2 Smogon | Serebii | Bulbapedia]
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Status: Writing
QC Approvals: [Jukain] | [CyclicCompound] | [ ]
GP Checks: [ ] | [ ]
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Original Skeleton by Trinitrotoluene

Overview
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• Fast, powerful Fire-type w/ access to Quiver Dance, which boosts its three best stats to astronomical levels
• Two good STABs in Bug and Fire
• Defog buffs make life easier for Volcarona
• Typing lets Volc check many pertinent threats
• 4x weak to SR, limiting switch-in opportunities and necessitating Rapid Spin / Defog support
• Vulnerable on the physical side of things; powerful priority moves such as Talonflame's Brave Bird and Azumarill's Aqua Jet do Volcarona in easily
• Base 100 Speed can only go so fast, leaving a slew of revenge killers for Volcarona, even @ +1 Speed

Bulky Quiver Dance
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name: Bulky Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Fiery Dance
move 4: Roost
ability: Flame Body
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe

Moves
========

• Quiver Dance boosts Volcarona's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed
• Bug Buzz is reliable STAB
• Fiery Dance has perfect accuracy and a 50% chance to raise Volcarona's Special Attack even further
• Roost is reliable recovery that gives Volcarona the chance to acquire business even more Quiver Dance boosts
• Rest with Chesto Berry is an alternative recovery method that gets rid of status and fully restores Volcarona's HP once

Set Details
========

• Speed EVs w/ Bold nature give Volc enough speed to outpace positive max speed Greninja after one Quiver Dance, and positive max speed Deoxys-S after 2 Dances
• The rest of the EVs are put into HP and Defense; the HP EVs allow Volcarona to switch into SR twice and live (but it really shouldn't be doing that!)
• Chesto Berry can be used with Rest to fully restore Volcarona's HP and eliminate status once
• Lum Berry can be used over Leftovers to set up on status users, but usually, the passive recovery Leftovers gives is more useful in the long run

Usage Tips
========

• This Volcarona doesn't hit as hard as the offensive variant initially, so use it as a pivot against the likes of Aegislash or Mega Mawile during the early stages of the battle; save the set-up and sweep for when faster revenge killers are gone and walls worn down
• Use Roost to keep HP up before you go for the sweep
• Use Volcarona's bulk to gather multiple boosts before attempting to sweep
• IMPORTANT: Remove Mega Pinsir, Talonflame, and Azumarill before you go for the sweep. If you don't, you will have a bad time, since these threats can revenge kill Volcarona, regardless of how many speed boosts it has collected.
• Bulky steels, opponents choice-locked into moves Volc resists, and / or special sweepers with coverage that Volcarona can tank (see: Scizor, Keldeo, Mega Manectric) make for excellent set-up opportunities; in general, you should try to set up on opponents Volcarona can force out
• Watch out for phazers, since they can end Volc's sweep w/ their phazing move and force Volc to take hazard damage

Team Options
========

• Spinners and / or Defoggers are good partners since Volc doesn't like taking SR damage, even when packing reliable recovery; excellent partners include Excadrill, Zapdos, and the Lati twins
• This Volc appreciates SR support just as much as, if not more than the offensive variant does; setters that can beat Volc's counters, such as Landorus-T, Excadrill, or Hippowdon are the best partners
• Toxic Spikes are useful but not necessary for wearing down Pokemon that wall Volc; Greninja and Tentacruel are excellent Toxic Spikes setters.
• Wallbreakers such as Megazard-Y, Choice Specs Keldeo, Mega Mawile, and Kyurem-B can help Volc get past its counters; watch for SR if using Megazard-Y and / or Kyurem-B
• Flying-type resists that can effectively deal with Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, such as Rotom-W, Tyranitar, Zapdos, or Thundurus, are extremely helpful
• Pursuit trappers, such as Tyranitar, Aegislash, Bisharp, and Scizor, can make short work of Talonflame locked into Brave Bird. Tyranitar is one of Volcarona's best teammates, heavily threatening and trapping both Thundurus and Talonflame, not to mention it also does well vs. most of Volcarona's defensive checks.
• Some offensive Water-type Pokemon make great teammates. As a lure, HP Grass Greninja is great for taking care of Azumarill. Mega Gyarados can also handle most of Volcarona's checks and can add extra pressure to teams with Dragon Dance.
• Sun support is helpful, but not a necessity

Other Options
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• Offensive Quiver Dance [comments will be added later]
• 3 Attacks + Roost
• Substitute is nice if you want to give revenge killers hell, but you have to sacrifice one of recovery (bulky) or coverage (offensive) to use it, making Substitute an inferior option overall.
• Hurricane works if you want to use Volc in rain
• Flamethrower is a compromise between Fiery Dance's accuracy and Fire Blast's power, but more often than not, it's an inferior choice. Flamethrower's base power drop doesn't help matters much.
• Choice Specs / Scarf
• Swarm makes Volcarona's Bug Buzz POWERFUL

Checks & Counters
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• STEALTH ROCK
• Status moves (paralysis and Toxic poison in particular)
• Pokemon that wall Volcarona by virtue of massive special bulk and / or resistance to STABs + coverage (see: Chansey, Blissey, Goodra, Tentacruel, Jellicent, Heatran, Rotom-H, Megazard (both X and Y), Assault Vest Tyranitar, Dragonite, bulky waters)
• Unaware: Clefable can ignore any boosts Volcarona may have gotten, but unless Clefable has Calm Mind or Toxic, it can only stalemate at best
• Revenge killers: Azumarill, Dragonite, Garchomp, Gyarados (regular, not mega), Keldeo, Pinsir (mega, not regular), Talonflame, Terrakion

Notes

so volc was brought up on ps maybe last week and valentine brought up a good point: giga drain is needed for volc to be successful atm. hitting bd and ~75ish av azumarill (cb ohkoes with aqua jet), keldeo, and non-scarf terrakion, as well as just the extra recovery on weakened threats that you can ko with +1 giga and preventing quag from getting of a toxic, is really important and useful. i hadn't used volc this gen and tested out both bulky and offensive lo variants. i found bulky variants really difficult to sweep with, just lacking the +1 power and coverage to do the job. offensive qd has a lot more power to work with (+1 fire blast and even bug buzz are really strong, there's definitely some kos that i can edit in later when i have more time) and the extra coverage to sweep in front of these massive threats. this is what i'm talking about:

Offensive Quiver Dance
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name: Offensive Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Giga Drain
ability: Flame Body
item: Life Orb
evs: 136 HP / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
nature: Modest

evs outrun jolly mega ttar, not really much reason to go any faster unless timid to outrun jolly scarf exca, but you lose a good chunk of power and moreover bulk.

i don't support defensive qd volc atm, it really just has too much trouble sweeping. was a lot better in luc/gene meta. this set is more effective.

Skeleton by Alter

Overview
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• Pretty huge 4x SR weakness which limits its switch-in opportunities.
• Minor case of 4MSS. It cannot run all of the moves that it wishes it could run, meaning that what it misses out on will dictate its counters.
• Volcarona's physical defense isn't particularly good and this weakness is exacerbated by its vulnerability to priority.
• Quiver Dance is pretty tight because who doesn't love +1 SpA, +1 SpD, and +1 Spe all in one move?
• Its Speed stat and unique STAB combination is pretty alright for a sweeper

Offensive Quiver Dance
########
name: Offensive Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Giga Drain
ability: Flame Body
item: Life Orb
evs: 136 HP / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
nature: Modest


Moves
========

• Quiver Dance is used to boost Volcarona's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. It is obviously used prior to attacking in order to ultimately achieve a sweep.
• Fire Blast is Volcarona's strongest STAB move with respectable power behind it. If the power isn't needed, Fiery Dance can be used over it for its chance to score Special Attack boosts.
• Bug Buzz is Volcarona's secondary STAB. It hits Pokemon such as Rotom-W, Tyranitar, and Latias, which Fire Blast cannot KO.
• Giga Drain is used to deal with Water-types such as Azumarill and Keldeo. It also gives Volcarona way to deal with Terrakion and heal its HP when attacking.
• AC moves: Hidden Power Rock or Hidden Power Ground to bypass checks and counters. e.g. Heatran, Dragonite

Set Details
========

• Modest is to get as much power as possible from Volcarona's attacks. AC mention of Timid for extra Speed but it's generally not worth the power drop, but it does let Volca outpace Scarf Exca.
• Enough Speed to beat Jolly Mega Tyranitar is given by the spread
• Life Orb is for a power boost

Usage Tips
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• Remove entry hazards before switching in
• Beat primary checks and counters before attempting a sweep
• Works best in late-game. You should only try setting up Quiver Dance if you're confident that you can sweep or do great damage with Volcarona.

Team Options
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• Hazard removal for its massive weakness to entry hazards.
  • Defog: Latios, Zapdos, Latias, etc.
  • Rapid Spin: Excadrill
• Pokemon that can deal with its defensive counters (think Chansey / Heatran etc)
  • Specs Keldeo, Bisharp, Landorus

Other Options
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• Volcarona can try to run a bulky Quiver Dance set with Roost and a more defensively inclined EV spread, but the lack of coverage options makes this set hard to pull off because it will be walled by a lot of Pokemon.

Checks & Counters
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• Stealth Rock (4x weak)
• Pokemon that wall Volcarona due to their bulk or resistance to its attacks
  • Chansey, Blissey, Heatran, Rotom-H, Mega Charizard X and Y, Dragonite (tank), Assault Vest Tyranitar
• Unaware -> Clefable ignores Quiver Dance boosts and can beat Volcarona if it has Calm Mind or Toxic itself.
• Revenge killers
  • Priority: Azumarill, Pinsir, Talonflame
  • other: Sand Rush Excadrill (or Jolly Scarf), Garchomp, Dragonite (offensive), Gyarados, Keldeo, Terrakion
• Status
  • Paralysis / Toxic from the likes of Chansey (or Thundurus for Twave)

Overview
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words

Offensive Quiver Dance
########
name: Offensive Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Giga Drain
ability: Flame Body
item: Life Orb
evs: 136 HP / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
nature: Modest

Moves
========

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Set Details
========

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Usage Tips
========

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Team Options
========

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Other Options
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Checks & Counters
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[MyNameIsVeryCreative]

You should DEFINITELY mention a defensive Quiver Dance set.

Defensive Quiver Dance
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name: Defensive Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Fiery Dance
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Roost
ability: Flame Body
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
nature: Bold (+Def / -Atk)

 

[Alter]

MyNameIsVeryCreative:

Other Options
########

• Volcarona can try to run a bulky Quiver Dance set with Roost and a more defensively inclined EV spread, but the lack of coverage options makes this set hard to pull off because it will be walled by a lot of Pokemon.

This is a WIP. I haven't included everything that I will write in the actual analysis yet.

 

[Jukain]

Mention Thund TWave in C&C, that's really important. Also sand and Jolly Scarf Exca. Mention that outrunning Scarf Exca is probably the biggest pro of Timid.

Good work, QC 1/3

 

[Alter]

Implemented. Thanks!

 

[Inspirited]

Not QC, but I have some input on the bulky quiver set in OO:

If you ever do decide to make bulky quiver it's own set, or you elaborate on the EVs in OO, then 160 HP / 252 Def / 72 SpA / 20 Spe modest is the best way to go I have found so far. 20 Spe lets you outrun base 115 after a quiver. 72 SpA modest allows you to 2HKO SpD Mew even without a Quiver and the nature helps maximize stat yield in general. 252 Def is to patch up Volcarona's Def of course. The rest is dumped into HP for now and it also gives Volc an odd HP count thankfully. I am still working on the SpA for it to figure out what is optimal, but this is the best I have found thus far.

Hope this helps somewhere

 

[CyclicCompound]

I would mention something in team options about Pokemon that can lure in and/or trap Volcarona's checks/counters. Tyranitar is one of Volcarona's best teammates, heavily threatening and trapping both Thundurus and Talonflame, not to mention it also does well vs. most of Volcarona's defensive checks. HP Grass Greninja is great for taking care of Azumarill.

Mega Gyarados has a pretty easy time against most of Volcarona's checks too, especially the defensive ones and a lot of the offensive ones too. Definitely mention that as a teammate. The double core of speed + attack/special attack boosting pokemon can mess with a lot of offensive teams. Same goes for Mega Tyranitar, though they share a lot of scarfed checks.

Other than that this looks pretty good. At first I thought OO was too small then I realized Volcarona literally has nothing else usable lol.

Sorry for not getting to this sooner!

QC 2/3

 

[Alter]

cheers, implemented the check.

I shall now write this up.

 

[dice]

bulky deserves a set definitely.... I'd like some discussion on this. Unlike in BW where offensive Volc could act as a check to reuniclus / Celebi etc. those pokes are pretty much nonexistent now and Volc can't really check anything of relevance off the top of my head barring sciz/aegi. Offensive Volc just kinda seems like a do nothing sweeper since it has a good amount of checks nowadays. So maybe bulky is the way to go? Or am I missing something?

 

[CyclicCompound]

I've got to go soon so I don't have too much time to elaborate, but the only time I've used Volcarona in XY was sort of as a lure in tandem with Mega Pinsir and Tyranitar back when Talonflame was on literally every single offensive team (i.e. a few months ago). I would set up with one of them, force the opponent into using Talonflame to kill it, trap Talonflame with Tyranitar and eliminate it, and then set up and sweep with whichever one was left. It worked okay but I don't know if it would be as good of a setup right now due to less Talonflame (I haven't laddered with that team for a couple of months now).

The set I used was the bulky set, it worked okay for me but I remember there being a discussion on IRC like a month ago about whether Bulky or Offensive was the set to go. I think offensive won mostly on account of beating Terrakion, Keldeo, and Azumarill (though Volcarona has to be really healthy to safely take on Azumarill b/c Aqua Jet), but I'd be fine with the Bulky set coming back as long as someone proved it works. I could be totally wrong though since again I haven't used (nor really seen) Volcarona in forever.

But yeah, is Volcarona even usable still? Even with Giga Drain it still has problems with stuff like the Mega Charizards and Azumarill if it's anywhere below ~75% health. Also has major problems with Tyranitar if it's unboosted.

Somewhat unrelated, but Volcarona might want to run enough speed to outrun Excadrill as well considering the relative ubiquity of Scarf.

 

[Jukain]

I talked with Valentine earlier, and got a few things. Articulating his points:

1) Giga Drain is mandatory. The coverage on Keldeo, Terrak, Azumarill, etc is just really important.

2) Bug STAB is NOT mandatory. You get a lot of coverage overlapping with the Bug STAB. Probably the biggest thing is Latis, but who is going to switch a Lati into a +1 Volcarona? Tyranitar is nice to smash hard but still, you don't need Bug Buzz.

So, this gives a set of Quiver Dance / Fire STAB / Giga Drain / filler. Filler can be either Roost or coverage, which gives two sets:

1) A bulky set with 248 HP, 120 Spe and Roost.

2) An offensive set with 216 Spe, max SpA Modest and HP Ground or Bug Buzz.

I have personal experience with the second set and am fine with the bulky set given Fire/Grass coverage, which is a step up from Fire/Bug.

Thoughts?

 

[alexwolf]

I agree that Bug Buzz is not a must, as all of Tyranitar, Latios, and Latias don't want to switch into Volcarona, not to mention that Lati@s are easy as fuck to get rid of with Pursuit. The best Hidden Power types for coverage are Ground and Rock, with Ground covering Mega Charizard X and Heatran, and Rock covering Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y (can check a weakened Volcarona), Dragonite (possible OHKO after SR with Modest and no boosting item), and Talonflame (on the switch). I think that all of Bug Buzz, HP Rock, and HP Ground should be slashed on the last slot.

Also, HP Ice should get a Moves mention, as it's Volcarona's only way of covering both Garchomp and Dragonite.

Finally, i agree with making two sets, one with 252 SpA+ / 252 Spe and three attacking moves, and the other with a bulky spread and Roost.

 

[Alter]

Sorry for the lack of response on my behalf. My computer is busted right now (posting this off my brother's) and I will not have much access to Smogon until around the 18th. I'd like to keep working on this analysis after that (if possible) because I'd hate to see it be reassigned again.

I'm ok with making the changes outlined by alex and Jukain, making the set into two separate ones with an offensive and bulky variant with changed movesets. I'd like to inquire as to what thoughts are on the appropriate set ordering (i'm thinking offensive first) and what I should put into OO with bulky being moved up.

 

[dice]

for the record i agree with the sets by alexwolf / jukain

 

[dice]

hey Alter, progress?

i would like offensive first fwiw

 

[aim]

Agreeing with alexwolf that hp rock/ground should get a mention for zards/heatran. Bug stab really isn't mandatory

 

[Jukain]

Alter are you still doing this? It appears you've quit, so if you don't respond I'll just reassign.

btw i prefer the moveset fire blast / giga drain / hp ground / quiver so you can cover waters and tran, no one's switching lati into a +1 volc anyway so it's not like you're missing so much with bug buzz gone, and +1 fire blast already does a lot. i also really like passho so you can easily tank ajet from azu, even if it's cb, take a hit from keldeo, and set up on rotom-w. it can just be a mention but it's pretty cool. lum is also nice for thund.

 

[Alter]

yeah, sorry. i really wanted to get this done, but you should probably reassign it now. sorry for the inconvenience dude :(

 

[bb skarm]

Jukain Could I take this over?

 

[Jukain]

yep Mysteria go for it. make sure to implement the changes discussed here by qc.

locking