SmogonWorkHorse
Banned deucer.
This has already been under the quality control process, myself and Nas both approving it.
Overview
<p>Lanturn's role in BW2 UU remains much the same as in BW, thanks to its unique-for-the-metagame Water/Electric typing coupled with Volt Absorb, which allow it to be a good check to several special attackers such as Zapdos or Rotom-H. Its high base-125 HP stat also means it can take some physical hits well, despite its low base defenses. Lanturn also has access to good support moves such as Thunder Wave and Heal Bell, which give it a defined role on a metagame as bulky as UU. Lanturn can also go offensive with Choice Specs, scaring away Electric immunities such as Rhyperior with the threat of Hydro Pump. However, its weaknesses to Grass- and Ground-type moves (common coverage options on many Pokemon) and its lack of reliable recovery mean that it can be worn down pretty easily. Lanturn also has poor offensive presence when uninvested, which means threats like Substitute + Calm Mind Raikou can set up on it. Overall, its best roles are as a Cleric for defensive and balanced teams or as a slow Volt Switch user for more offensive teams, thanks to its Thunder Wave immunity and good dual STAB moves.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Tank
move 1: Scald
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Heal Bell / Toxic
move 4: Thunder Wave / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Calm
evs: 204 HP / 96 Def / 208 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set capitalizes on Lanturn's great Special Defense stat. Pair this with its great defensive typing and ability in Volt Absorb and you find yourself a stellar tank. Scald starts off the moveset, potentially crippling incoming counters such as Abomasnow and Virizion. What makes Volt Switch such a great move on Lanturn is the fact that it has poor base Speed, meaning that it almost always will move last giving a safe switch-in opportunity to a team mate. The third slot is a toss up between Heal Bell and Toxic. The former move allows Lanturn to play more a team support role such as providing multiple chances for wall breakers to run havoc on the enemy party. Toxic is a great asset to have on board when dealing with opposing Lanturn, bulky water-types such as Suicune and Raikou. However one must be ware of Substitute Calm Mind variants who will find it easy to set up and start Calm Minding up on a failed Toxic attempt. Thunder Wave cripples the majority of the Underused metagame pretty hard, most of which sport rather decent Speed. This allows for slower teammates such as Rhyperior and Scrafty to avoid being as prone to being revenge killed by more agile threats. Most of these threats hits from the special side, meaning that Lanturn's great Special Defense will allow it to get the job done.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The combination of HP and SpD evs allow Lanturn to avoid ever being 2hkoed by Choice Specs Zapdos' Hidden Power Grass. This spread has its drawbacks such as being unable to live a Leaf Blade from Life Orb Virizion (referenced below) however it generally isn't a good idea to stay in and the majority of the time there will be some chip damage on Lanturn. There is little use of investing in its Special Attack, so the remainder is thrown into its Def stat to help take hits from the likes of Choice Scarf Heracross and co. slightly better. Protect is a decent alternative to either Thunder Wave or Heal Bell to get the drop on Mienshao and scout choiced users in general.</p>
<p>
252 Atk Life Orb Virizion Leaf Blade vs. 204 HP / 96 Def Lanturn: 398-471 (90 - 106.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Virizion Leaf Blade vs. 52 HP / 252 Def Lanturn: 330-390 (81.6 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery</p>
<p>Pokemon that lack many relevant resistances appreciate the slow Volt Switch that Lanturn provides, examples being Rhyperior and Weavile. As Lanturn typically lures in Grass-types such as Roserade, Shaymin and Virizion, Fire types (especially those that sport a pivot move ie. U-Turn) and Crobat make good partners as they have great synergy with Lanturn both offensively and defensively, being able to force out its counters after luring them with Volt Switch. One can take advantage of this turn and further gain momentum by U-turning out on a predicted switch. Entry hazards are very beneficial when using Lanturn as its impressive bulk can force quite alot of switches; Roserade and Bronzong spring to mind, both having great synergy with Lanturn and able to set up hazards.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Thunder / Heal Bell
move 4: Hydro Pump / Surf
item: Damp Rock
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SAtk / 104 SpD / 152 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Lanturn's ability to summon rain with Rain Dance and fend off stray Electric-type attacks with Volt Absorb allows it to fit onto Rain teams with ease. Lanturn often finds it easy to set up Rain Dance on Fire-, Water-, and Electric-types, and its naturally good special bulk and typing grant it the ability to reliably bring in the rain and set it up repeatedly if need be. Its relatively extensive movepool allows it to directly abuse the rain and further support the team, making Lanturn rather invaluable to rain teams. Lanturn's low base Speed in combination with Volt Switch allows Lanturn to act as a fantastic pivot that also provides rain support, enabling it to provide a safe switch-in to rain sweeper. The third moveslot is a matter of utility. Thunder is a powerful STAB move to abuse under the storm, frying opposing bulky Water-types that try to wall your rain sweepers, while Heal Bell grants the team cleric support, cleansing your team of annoying status. Raw power vs. perfect accuracy is what the final moveslot is all about. Hydro Pump is Lanturn's strongest move that will be sure to leave a dent on almost anything that it hits in the rain. Surf is another alternative that also receives a power boost from rain but has lower Base Power in exchange for perfectaccuracy.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EV spread is pretty straight forward. 152 Speed EVs enables Lanturn to outpace minimum Speed Gligar and Suicune which is pretty vital considering that the former, if given the chance, can prevent Lanturn from setting up Rain by either Taunting it or potentially putting Lanturn out ofcommission via Earthquake.
<p>0 Atk Gligar Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lanturn: 264-312 (67.51 - 79.79%) -- guaranteed 2HKO</p>
<p>A Modest nature and 252 Special Attack EVs allow Lanturn to abuse the Rain itself and hit hard with its STAB attacks whilst the remaining EVs are dedicated to its Special Defensive. The item of choice is Damp Rock to maximize the amount of turns that Rain can be up. This might seem inferior to Leftovers at a glance, however in practice the three extra turns will prove much more valuable to your Rain sweepers and will often mean the difference between a win or a loss.</p>
<p>Water-type rain sweepers such as Omastar, Kabutops and Kingdra are great teammates for Lanturn. Lanturn can switch in freely on Electric-type attacks aimed at the three powerhouses and replenish its HP with Volt Absorb, which is vital in ensuring its longevity as it lacks Leftovers. Ludicolo is another strong choice, due to the fact that it resists the Ground-type attacks Lanturn is weak to, meaning that Ludicolo can be manually switched in instead of via Volt Switch to sponge a Ground-type attack. Despite Lanturn's ability to set up Rain potentially several times during the battle, it is important to have a secondaryweather inducer on board as this removes some pressure from Lanturn. Great partners include both Bronzong and Zapdos, both whom have excellent synergy with Lanturn as they are immune to Ground-type attacks and resist Grass-types attacks. Tornadus also has amazing synergy with Lanturn and can abuse the rain with its 100% accurate Hurricane besides being able to set up a Prankster-prioritized rain.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Thunderbolt / Scald
item: Choice Specs
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 104 SpD / 152 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Lanturn's middling Special Attack might make this seem like an odd choice, Lanturn is a perfectly viable candidate for a Choice Specs special attacker. Its bulk and typing allow it to come in on a number of special threats, Moltres and Suicune in particular, and proceed to fire off reasonably powerful attacks. Its ability also allows it a form of recovery by switching into Raikou and Zapdos, which is useful to keep Lanturn healthy. Even though Lanturn's power can still be a bit lacking, it is bulky enough to use its moves multiple times. Lanturn's main advantage over Slowking in this role is its Electric typing, which grants it a good STAB to use against opposing bulky Water-types.</p>
<p>Hydro Pump is very unexpected on a Pokemon known for its defensive prowess and thus can usually get the element of surprise. It gets the guaranteed OHKO on defensive Nidoqueen in addition to OHKOin offensive Zapdos after it takes residual damage from Stealth Rock, something that Scald and Surf cannot accomplish 100% of the time respectively. Volt Switch is the most notable move in Lanturn's arsenal thanks to its below average Speed stat, allowing it to switch out to other teammates while grabbing momentum. Ice Beam is the only way which Lanturn can deal with Grass-types that roam the tier in addition to demolishing Druddigon, having a slight chance to OHKO the Choice band set after residual damage from Stealth Rock. Thunderbolt serves as a powerful and reliable option to hit Water-types and doesn't force Lanturn to switch out of a favourable position.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Speed EVs allow Lanturn to outpace Gligar and defensive Togekiss which is always nice as due to the lack of EVs in its Defense stats, it is much harder for Lanturn to ward of a barrage of Air Slashes that can potentially flinch it to death. Surf can be used instead of Scald however you forgo the chance to bluff a defensive set in addition to get some timely burns on any of Lanturn's most despised switch-ins. Discharge works in a similar fashion and can be used instead of Thunderbolt however the drop in power is noticeable.</p>
<p>Poison-types in general such as Roserade, Nidoqueen and Nidoking have great synergy with Lanturn, can get rid of the much dreaded Toxic Spikes and can the former 2 can lay down hazards to aid with Lanturn's path of destruction. Special tanks Umbreon and Snorlax are trouble for Lanturn, therefore utilizing Fighting-types such as Scarfty and Heracross are much appreciated. More subtle ways to bait and remove those two tanks are possible, such as using one or two hard hitting mixed attackers or set up sweepers such as Raikou and Cofagirus to severally weaken them, thereby paving the way for Lanturn. Togekiss can switch into Ground-type attacks aimed at Lanturn while in return Lanturn can absorb any Electric-type attacks thrown at Togekiss from Raikou and Zapdos.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>There isn't much else Lanturn can run with great effectiveness. A Resttalk set can be utilized; with RestTalk, Lanturn can absorb status, launch an attack, and heal itself quite easily. While asleep, Lanturn can proceed with Sleep Talk to dish out decent damage whilst having the potential to burn incoming switch-ins. While Suicune and Milotic might seem to outclass it as a RestTalker, Lanturn's unique typing and ability allows it to stand strong in the face of virtually all special attackers, including Zapdos. A combination of Substitute and Charge Beam is another option however sadly will rarely work due to Lanturn's mediocre Special Attack stat and low Speed. Lanturn can run a parafusion set with Water Pulse and Thunder Wave, but this is less effective in BW since switching is seen more commonly in a tier full of Choice users, such as DPP UU. However, parafusion would complement paraflinch variants of Togekiss very nicely, forming a solid paralysis-spreading core to aid slower sweepers.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>When one thinks of counters to Lanturn, Grass-types immediately spring to mind. Roserade and Shaymin are the best counters due to their ability Natural Cure, allowing them to switch in without any fear. Abomasnow and Virizion come a close second, with the former having the additional advantage of nullifying Lanturn's much treasured Leftovers recovery. Virizion poses much more of an immediate threat, being able to end Lanturn swiftly with STAB Leaf Blade.</p>
<p>Hitting Lanturn with physical attacks is generally the way to go. Heracross can take hits relatively well from Lanturn and deal hefty damage with either of its STAB attacks while possibly possessing Guts as its ability, meaning that Lanturn has to be wary of possibly inflicting it with a status condition. Gligar and Flygon both outpace and can scare Lanturn with a Super effective Earthquake however cannot reliably take a hit in return.</p>
<p>Whilst Lanturn does have Heal Bell to ward of status, it has limited pp and limited opportunities to safely used it in the high paced metagame of BW UU. Thus, status can put alot of pressure on it and is ideally the best way for stall based to teams to remove it from the battle. In a similar vein, due to the lack of a recovery move on Lanturn, bulky walls such as Chansey, Umbreon and Clefable can take anything in Lanturn's arsenal and stall it out with ease.</p>
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