Poliwrath [4F]*

Fuzznip · May 18, 2009

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/poliwrath

Status: COMPLETE! (ready for uploading)

Poliwrath is now finished. Here's what I did and what HeYsUp did:

Fuzznip: RestTalk set, Belly Drum set, CroWrath set, Other Options, Opinion, EVs, Counters
HeYsUp: SubPunch set, Bulk Up set, Team Options

Changes:
Added "CroWrath" set, needs to be looked over.
Removed "Choice Band" since it's not as good as it looks.
Removed "Defensive Tadpole" since it's not useful anymore.
Fused "Fuse SubPunch and Bulk Up To Make Pain" into "SubPunch" set.
Renamed "Even More Defensive Tadpole" to "RestTalk".
Added "Team Options".
Rewrote all of the sets.
Rewrote all of the other sections.

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[Overview]

Poliwrath has a very unique and valuable typing, resisting Dark-, Rock-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks, which are all very common types in the UU metagame, not to mention that it’s capable of absorbing Water-type attacks for 25% HP recovery. Poliwrath has no big flaws stat-wise, but this balance is also what kills it as a potential standard. Usually, Pokemon need to hit hard or take hits really well to be very successful, but in this case, Poliwrath is more of a middleman. If you put its EVs where its purposes lie, it will certainly pull its weight for you in a standard team.

[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Waterfall / Ice Punch
move 4: Encore / Bulk Up / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath is one of the bulkiest Fighting-types available and also has the benefit of having a secondary STAB in Water to work with. Basically, the strategy of this set is to send Poliwrath into something that it can force out, such as Registeel or Regirock, and set up a Substitute. Your next move would depend on your opponent's switch-in.

This set has many viable options to go in the last two slots. The choice between Waterfall and Ice Punch is indeed a tough selection; Waterfall grants decent coverage and STAB, while Ice Punch provides much better super effective type coverage against Pokemon like Altaria and Venusaur. However, both can be used if you are not a fan of Encore, Bulk Up, or Hypnosis. Encore is an excellent move for Poliwrath to use, as it gives it an opportunity to Encore a move like Iron Head from Registeel or Wish from Chansey, allowing Poliwrath to score a free Substitute. Bulk Up allows Poliwrath to set up on weaker physical attackers, such as Regirock and Steelix. It also helps Poliwrath make unbreakable Substitutes on the physical side and OHKO a good portion of the metagame with its powerful STAB Focus Punch. Hypnosis, although not mentioned, is great to hit Pokemon like Slowbro or Venusaur who resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves. It's a great way to temporarily take Poliwrath's counters out of the game, although the 60% accuracy may be risky. If these three options seem unappealing, Ice Punch can take their place.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychics, Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Absol and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Registeel works especially well because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks, and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath, while also setting up Stealth Rock.

[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch / Brick Break / Return
move 4: Hypnosis / Encore / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath can be a very dangerous bulky sweeper, setting up on many Pokemon while also being able to render many Pokemon helpless with Hypnosis. With a couple of Bulk Ups under its belt, Poliwrath becomes a formidable physical tank, being able to take hits and dish out hard ones as well.

The choice between STAB and coverage is always a tough choice for Poliwrath. Ice Punch hits Pokemon such as Venusaur and Altaria hard, as they resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, but Brick Break hits any Pokemon who isn't weak to Ice Punch harder. Return is a solid choice as well, as it grants perfect coverage with Waterfall; however, Brick Break and Ice Punch hit many more targets for super effective damage. The last slot is best used as a utility move for Poliwrath, taking advantage of placing a counter to sleep, stopping a potential set-up, or blocking status and critical hits. Hypnosis lets Poliwrath immobilize one of its common switch-ins, such as Slowbro or Uxie, keeping it away from the battle for a decent amount of turns. You can then bring in a counter without taking damage in the process. With Encore, Pokemon like Curse Registeel, Quagsire, or Gastrodon are no longer threats, because Poliwrath can Encore them as they use Curse, forcing them to switch out as Poliwrath uses Bulk Up. Substitute blocks dangerous status, such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic, and Bulk Up can help make physically unbreakable Substitutes.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Poliwrath is unable to sweep with its counters in the way, similar to the SubPunch set. Slowbro and friends come back again, taking little damage from any attack and fighting back with their STAB Psychics. So as they return to the fray, so do Absol and Drapion, who are able to drill these Pokemon with strong Dark-type attacks or trap them with Pursuit. Blaziken and Magmortar also work well with Poliwrath because they can lure and take out Pokemon such as Slowbro with their strong super effective special attacks.

[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Outside of Water Absorb, Poliwrath has no way of restoring a reasonable amount of health by itself, but with the RestTalk set, Poliwrath now has a decently reliable way of gaining its health back. Sporting decent defensive stats, Poliwrath can be a viable user of the Rest and Sleep Talk combo, allowing it to become a tough tank and a great status absorber. Although, as with every RestTalk set, there will always be downsides. In this case, Poliwrath loses its rather decent Attack stat, becoming very weak on the attacking side and therefore turning into perfect set-up bait for Pokemon such as Feraligatr and Mismagius.

The moveset is pretty standard for Poliwrath, since using both of its STAB attacks, Waterfall and Brick Break, provides near perfect coverage, only resisted by Altaria, Slowbro, Venusaur, and Toxicroak in UU (you can use Ice Punch as an alternative option for dealing neutral or super effective damage against some these Pokemon if they cause trouble). Body Slam is another interesting option that may paralyze the opposing Pokemon. As stated before, Poliwrath’s poor Attack stat with the given EVs can be solved by equipping a Life Orb, enabling it to deal slightly more damage than usual. If you want to keep Poliwrath as a bulky tank, Leftovers is the superior option as it allows for more survivability.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

It would be a very good idea to eliminate the opponent’s stat boosting Pokemon, since they can easily switch in on Poliwrath with little to no fear and proceed to set up something nasty. Common examples of these Pokemon are Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Nasty Plot Mismagius, and Swords Dance Drapion. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. It should also be mentioned that physically defensive Pokemon, such as Weezing and Milotic, can easily rub off anything Poliwrath fires out at them, leaving Poliwrath vulnerable to a stall match. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. Venusaur can pose an immediate threat to Milotic, being able to OHKO it with Leaf Storm or put it to sleep with Sleep Powder. Venusaur and Poliwrath also make a great combo, as Venusaur can switch into Electric attacks fired at Poliwrath, while Poliwrath can sponge Fire- and Ice-type attacks thrown at Venusaur.

[SET]
name: Belly Drummer
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Return
item: Salac Berry
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath, as a Belly Drummer, can become an extremely threatening sweeper once it’s been successfully pulled off, capable of sweeping entire teams who aren’t ready for this threat. This set takes Poliwrath to a whole new level as a sweeper, since most of its other sets rely on improving its defensive capabilities and tanking. After pulling off a Substitute and a Belly Drum, Poliwrath’s Attack and Speed stats skyrocket to an incredible Attack stat of 1076 and a great Speed stat of 393, the latter thanks to Salac Berry. Poliwrath now outspeeds everything without a Choice Scarf in the UU metagame aside from the occasional Electrode.

Waterfall and Return are recommended since that combo hits everything for neutral or super effective damage. Waterfall will obviously be the main attack of choice since it receives a valuable STAB boost and has a chance to flinch, which could help Poliwrath greatly in some cases. Return is the best alternative so Poliwrath can deal heavy damage to Pokemon that resist Water-type moves, mainly Slowbro and Milotic.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

The procedure is quite simple, yet difficult to pull off. Switch Poliwrath in on a bulky Pokemon that isn’t able to deal enough damage to break its Substitute, such as Registeel, or if you’re lucky enough, a Choiced Water-type move thanks to Water Absorb. Substitute as they switch, and proceed to use either Belly Drum or attack right away depending on who they switch in. If the switch-in is not that threatening, such as a Pokemon that doesn't have priority moves, set up a Belly Drum and attempt to sweep. If the switch-in does have priority moves or is faster than Poliwrath, it’s a good idea to attack right away instead of wasting a potential Belly Drum sweep.

Before you start any Belly Drum sweep with Poliwrath, you must make sure that there are no priority attackers that can put an end to its sweep, since Poliwrath fails to receive a reasonable priority move. Sucker Punch Absol, Vacuum Wave Blaziken, and Mach Punch Hitmontop are prime examples of Pokemon that use priority moves. Jolly Drapion threatens Absol due to its resistance to Sucker Punch and ability to knock out Absol with X-Scissor; Slowbro can switch into Blaziken’s STAB moves and threaten it with Surf; and, Weezing can switch into Hitmontop and burn it with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness. Entry hazards can make it much harder to score the Belly Drum boost since Poliwrath will keep getting hit by them as it switches out from a Pokemon that stops it from Belly Drumming, meaning that sooner or later, Poliwrath won’t have enough health to set up. Toxic Spikes in particular will ruin Poliwrath since it will only have at most one chance to attack if it ends up receiving a Belly Drum boost behind a Substitute, which is not very useful. Drapion comes to mind again, as it is great at absorbing and setting up its own Toxic Spikes thanks to its overall bulk, while Claydol is capable of Rapid Spinning away any entry hazards and can than proceed to set up Stealth Rock. Poliwrath can be easily revenge-killed by Choice Scarfers with a base Speed stat of 71 or above with a positive nature and max Speed, like Mesprit, Rotom, and Venusaur.

[SET]
name: Boosting RestTalker
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Rest
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Waterfall
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
CroCune has been considered a threatening force in the OU metagame, but now, Poliwrath brings Suicune into the UU metagame by using an identical set. This set allows Poliwrath to become a sturdy tank, a fantastic status absorber, and a threatening sweeper at the same time, being able to destroy most teams that aren't prepared for such a threat.

The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resistant to Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple; maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps it tank on the special side since it is boosting its Defense and not Special Defense

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

With its great overall bulk, Poliwrath has many chances to switch in and start setting up Bulk Up to attempt a sweep. It’s best to switch it in on weaker Pokemon or Pokemon that can’t harm it greatly, such as Registeel, Blaziken, and Weezing. Once Poliwrath receives a couple of Bulk Up boosts, it’s ready to wreak havoc and eliminate Pokemon that can’t take powerful Waterfalls and can’t deal much damage towards it. However, Poliwrath will have difficulties with Pokemon that absorb Water-type moves, including Toxicroak, Lapras, Parasect, and Quagsire.

Although maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps, Poliwrath will still take a lot of damage from high powered super effective special attacks, as well as high powered super effective physical attacks if it hasn’t received a few Bulk Ups under its belt. Leaf Storm from a Timid Venusaur running max Special Attack with a neutral nature will deal 77% - 91%, which is devastating. Registeel is an excellent answer in threatening these Pokemon, since it boasts excellent Special Defense, resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type moves aimed at Poliwrath, and can cripple Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Providing dual screen support for Poliwrath is recommended to help Poliwrath set up. Clefable and Gardevoir are excellent examples of dual screeners with their bulk and massive support movepool (including Wish).

[Team Options]
Poliwrath supplies its team with some physical power and decent utility options. With its ability to force switches with its SubPunch set and tankish nature, Poliwrath will greatly appreciate Toxic Spikes since most of its counters are grounded Psychic- and Water-types, such as Slowbro and Milotic.

Poliwrath also benefits from Pokemon who can eliminate its main counters, namely Slowbro and Uxie. Wall breakers, such as Magmortar, Blaziken, and Nidoking, can lure out Slowbro and KO it with Thunderbolt or a super effective Hidden Power. Absol and Drapion can trap Psychic-types with Pursuit or hit them hard with Night Slash, and Drapion even absorbs Toxic Spikes, which can really hurt Poliwrath.

With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when it's backed with some defensive team support. Registeel resists Psychic-, Flying-, and Grass-type attacks, and doesn't take much damage from Electric-type attacks (since they are predominantly special-based). Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb since they both lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

The best strategy with Poliwrath is to basically know what is coming in and reacting accordingly. Poliwrath is one of those Pokemon who cannot even touch their counters, so switching to a Pokemon who can easily counter Poliwrath's counters right after switching Poliwrath in can be a great tactic. Another tactic is to use Toxic on a Pokemon with similar counters. Pokemon like Arcanine and even Hitmonlee lure Pokemon like Slowbro out, and with Toxic in effect, Poliwrath can beat Slowbro with Substitute or wearing it down with its attacks.

Providing screen support for Poliwrath can make it much easier to set up Bulk Up and Belly Drum, and it makes Poliwrath's Substitutes harder to break when the screens are in play. This allows Poliwrath to get multiple Bulk Ups under its belt so it can proceed to sweep with a reasonable amount of health left. Clefable and Gardevoir are perfect teammates for setting up the screens with their overall bulk and large support movepool, not to mention they have access to Wish, which Poliwrath can greatly benefit from.

[Optional Changes]
Payback can be used to hit bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Uxie and Mismagius, who can cause trouble for Poliwrath in some cases. Body Slam isn’t a bad option as it has a chance to cause paralysis which can help Poliwrath in terms of outspeeding crippled enemies, not to mention that it works well in conjunction with Waterfall because of the flinch rate. Counter can potentially gain a surprise KO on a physical attacker that doesn’t see it coming, while Endeavor is a decent option to surprise your opponent once Poliwrath is at low health.

You may choose to use a Speed IV of 30 in order to move after opposing Poliwrath. That way, you are able to set up a Substitute and fire off Focus Punch safely. However, this is not necessary due to the fact that the only effective move Poliwrath can use against you is Brick Break, which isn't the primary option on most of Poliwrath's sets.

[Counters]
Poliwrath can generally be walled by any bulky Pokemon that resists or takes neutral damage from its attacks.

Bulky Psychic-types are Poliwrath's biggest counters, as they have great physical bulk, resistances to Fighting-type attacks, and access to super effective STAB Psychics that will easily end Poliwrath. Slowbro is Poliwrath's number one counter, boasting a resistance to both of Poliwrath's STAB attacks and takes pathetic damage from its other moves. Cresselia's enormous physical bulk will instantly force Poliwrath to switch out or take a powerful Psychic. Uxie is another great counter, rubbing off almost anything Poliwrath throws at it, and striking back for heavy damage with Psychic or Thunderbolt.

Venusaur, Leafeon, and Tangrowth are Pokemon that can cause Poliwrath a ton of grief. The former resists both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, has access to Sleep Powder, and can destroy Poliwrath with Leaf Storm, while the latter two pack excellent physical bulk and a hard-hitting Leaf Blade and Power Whip, respectively. Jumpluff, although nowhere near as bulky as the aforementioned Grass-types, can switch into either of Poliwrath's STAB or set up moves, such as Waterfall or Substitute, and can Encore it to force Poliwrath to switch out.

Dusclops and Spiritomb can both burn Poliwrath with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness instantly, unless Poliwrath uses Rest. Weezing pulls off the same role as Dusclops and Spiritomb, except it can also hit Poliwrath with a super effective Thunderbolt. Milotic's great physical bulk and access to Recover and a super effective Hidden Power to Poliwrath can end it reasonably fast as well; it also has access to Haze to get rid of Poliwrath's Bulk Ups.

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Thanks.

diinbong · May 18, 2009

Fuzznip said:
so cool

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/poliwrath

[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Waterfall / Ice Punch
move 4: Hypnosis / Bulk Up / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath is one of the more bulky Fighting-types, who also has the benefit of having a secondary STAB to work with. Basically, the strategy of this set is to send Poliwrath in on something it forces out such as Registeel or Regirock, and set up a Substitute. Your next move is dependant on your opponent's switch-in. For example, if your opponent brings in Milotic, use Focus Punch, but if your opponent brings in Venusaur, use Hypnosis (or Ice Punch if you opt for it). (you can get rid of this sentence or at least reword it to sound less elementary)

This set has many viable options to go in the last two slots. The choice between Waterfall and Ice Punch is indeed a tough one; (removed "with") Waterfall grants decent coverage and STAB, while Ice Punch provides much better super effective type coverage against Pokemon like Crobat and Venusaur. However, both can be used if you are not a fan of Hypnosis or Bulk Up.

The last slots have 2 utility options, and one attacking option. (kind of a "behind the scenes how I chose what to put in this slot" sentence. really unnecessary) Hypnosis is great to hit Pokemon like Slowbro or Venusaur who switch in and wall this set (add this in there: (resisting Poliwrath's STAB). You keep reffering to "Pokemon such as Venusaur but never specify what special characteristic puts Venusaur into that group). It's a great way to take Poliwrath's counters out of the game temporarily, although the 60% accuracy may be risky. Bulk Up allows Poliwrath to set up on weaker physical attackers, such as Regirock and Steelix. Bulk Up allows Poliwrath to make an unbreakable Substitute on the physical side and OHKO a good portion of the metagame with its powerful STAB Focus Punch. Ice Punch can be used for better coverage, as mentioned previously.(yeah, it's been mentioned previously, that's why you don't need to say that again. If anything, say something like "If these two options are unapealing, a second attacking move can be used in place.")

It should be noted that with this EV spread you fail to outspeed other Poliwrath (never two Blisseys, always two Blissey), allowing you to get a Substitute up after they attack you. Once you have a Substitute up, you are able to start hitting the foe Poliwrath with Focus Punch, dealing a large amount of damage. (this paragraph is largely uneeded; you've already mentioned how you can "deal large amounts of damage" with Focus Punch and what order of events take place to give you the ability to fire one off. Just add a sentence or two explaining how to set up a Sub versus faster/slower foes if you find it that necessary to explain)

With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks (removed comma) and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychic, Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Honchkrow and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic, and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Crobat can be trouble as well, with Roost eliminating its weakness to Ice Punch. Pokemon like Registeel (ideally a Zap Cannon variant, so it can hit Crobat through Taunt) or Cloyster work well with Poliwrath in this case, both setting up residual damage in Crobat's face. Registeel works especially well, because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks, and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks (removed "that will be") aimed at Poliwrath.

Self-explanitory.......
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(comments in bold!)

Heysup · May 19, 2009

Yea I agree with Diing, good catch.

I basically added that paragraph last minute, because me and Fuzz thought it needed clarification.

So adding a sentance somewhere should be fine Fuzz (im sure you can do it :P).

Fuzznip · May 19, 2009

Thanks diinbong for the check.

I think I'll just mention this EV spread on the EV section and talk about how it is outsped by other Poliwrath there.

franky · May 19, 2009

My 2 cent:

"CroWrath"

The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resistant to Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple, maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and SpD help it to tank on the special side since it has no way of boosting it so it won’t be vulnerable to special attacks.
(space)
Although maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and SpD, Poliwrath will still take a lot of damage from high powered super effective special attacks, as well as high powered super effective physical attacks if it hasn’t received a few Bulk Ups under its belt. Roserade’s Leaf Storm and Shaymin’s Seed Flare running max Special Attack with a neutral nature will deal 89-106% and 66-78% respectively, which is generally quite harmful. In this case, Crobat is an excellent answer in threatening these Pokemon since it resists Grass-type moves by 4x and can proceed to KO them with Brave Bird. Providing screen support for Poliwrath is extremely recommended since it will help Poliwrath set up immensely, not to mention that Poliwrath will no longer fear super effective physical attacks as it prepares to use Bulk Up. Clefable and Gardevoir are excellent examples of dual screeners with their bulk and massive support movepool, including Wish.

Fuzznip · May 24, 2009

Edited. I'd like some more input as I haven't gotten much.

Stellar · Aug 20, 2009

This hasn't been commented on in a while. Although I would like additional comments on the set descriptions and skeletons, if there are no more comments within the next day or so, I'll upload this.

Fuzznip · Aug 20, 2009

There was a crap load of Shaymin and Crobat mentions, so I took out every mention of them. I might've missed some mentions though, so it would be nice if someone would point it out if they find one.

Mountain Dewgong · Aug 20, 2009

I only picked one thing up. Good job on the right up. :)

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath can be a very dangerous bulky sweeper, setting up on many Pokemon while also being able to render many Pokemon helplessly(Shouldn't it be helpless?) with Hypnosis. With a couple of Bulk Ups under its belt, Poliwrath becomes a formidable physical tank, being able to take hits and dish out hard ones as well.

Fuzznip · Aug 20, 2009

Thanks MD, I suppose this is ready for uploading.

:D

Fuzznip · Jan 20, 2010

Bumping my second last UU analysis (can't wait until all of my analyses are done). I took out all Roserade, Crobat, and Honchkrow mentions and replaced them with other Pokemon, like Venusaur and Absol. I also did a final proofread to catch the other mistakes and added a few more sentences.

Proofreads please!

Xia · Jan 21, 2010

Poliwrath is one of the most bulky Fighting-types available, and also has the benefit of having a secondary STAB in Water to work with. Basically, the strategy of this set is to send Poliwrath into something that it can force out, such as Registeel or Regirock, and set up a Substitute. Your next move is dependent on your opponent's switch-in. For example, if your opponent decides to bring in Milotic, Focus Punch is your best bet to harm it, but if your opponent brings in Venusaur, Ice Punch is the best way to go if you opt for it.

With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychic, Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Absol and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Registeel works especially well because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks, and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath, and also sets up Stealth Rock.

The moveset is pretty standard for Poliwrath, since using both of its STAB attacks, Waterfall and Brick Break, provide near perfect coverage, only resisted by Altaria, Slowbro, Venusaur, and Toxicroak in UU (you can use Rock Slide or Ice Punch as an alternative option for dealing neutral or super effective damage towards these Pokemon if they cause trouble). As stated before, Poliwrath’s poor Attack stat with the given EVs can be solved by equipping a Life Orb, doing slightly more damage than usual. If you want to keep Poliwrath as a bulky tank, Leftovers is the superior option as it allows for more survivability.

Poliwrath, as a Belly Drummer, can become an extremely threatening sweeper once it’s been successfully pulled off, capable of sweeping entire teams who aren’t ready for this threat. This set takes Poliwrath to a whole new level as a sweeper, since most of its other sets rely on improving its defensive capabilities and tanking. After pulling off a Substitute and a Belly Drum, Poliwrath’s Attack and Speed stat sky rocket to an incredible Attack stat of 1076 and a great Speed stat of 393, thanks to Salac Berry, outspeeding everything without a Choice Scarf in the UU metagame aside from Electrode.

Last I heard, naming things Cro-anything was frowned upon, since it's technically naming a set after a user. Most people opt for a name like Boosting RestTalker or something, if you're asked to change the name or whatever.
The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resistant to Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple, maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense help it to tank on the special side since it has no way of boosting it.

Although maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps, Poliwrath will still take a lot of damage from high powered super effective special attacks, as well as high powered super effective physical attacks if it hasn’t received a few Bulk Ups under its belt. Venusaur's Leaf Storm running max Special Attack with a neutral nature will deal 76.56% - 90.63%, which is devastating. In this case, Registeel is an excellent answer in threatening these Pokemon, since it boasts excellent Special Defense, resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type moves aimed at Poliwrath, and can cripple Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Providing dual screen support for Poliwrath is extremely recommended, since it will help Poliwrath set up immensely, not to mention that Poliwrath will no longer fear super effective physical attacks as it prepares to use Bulk Up. Clefable and Gardevoir are excellent examples of dual screeners with their bulk and massive support movepool, including Wish.

With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when its backed with some defensive team support. Resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Grass-type attacks, Registeel makes a great parter for Poliwrath. Not to mention Electric-type attacks usually barely tickle Registeel. Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb as both of the previously mentioned Pokemon lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

The best strategy with Poliwrath is to basically know what is coming in and reacting accordingly. Poliwrath is one of those Pokemon who cannot even touch their counters, so switching to a Pokemon who can easily counter Poliwrath's counters right after switching Poliwrath in can be a great tactic. Another tactic is to use Toxic on a Pokemon with similar counters. Pokemon like Arcanine, and even Hitmonlee, lure Pokemon like Slowbro out, and with Toxic in effect, Poliwrath can beat Slowbro with Substitute, or wearing it down with its attacks.

Providing screen support for Poliwrath can make it much easier to set up Bulk Up and Belly Drum, and it makes Poliwrath's Substitutes harder to break when the screens are in play. This allows Poliwrath to get multiple Bulk Ups under its belt so it can proceed to sweep with a reasonable amount of health left. Clefable and Gardevoir are perfect examples for setting up the screens with their overall bulk and large support movepool, not to mention they have access to Wish which Poliwrath can benefit from greatly.

Poliwrath has a very unique and valubale typing, resisting Dark-, Rock-, Ice- and Fire-type attacks, all very common types in the UU metagame. Not to mention that it’s capable of absorbing Water-type attacks for 25% HP recovery. Poliwrath has no big flaws stat-wise, but this balance is also what kills it as a potential standard. Usually, Pokemon need to hit hard or take hits really well to be very successful, but in this case, Poliwrath is more of a middleman. If you put its EVs where its purposes lie, it will certainly pull its weight for you in a standard team.

Poliwrath can generally be walled by any bulky Pokemon that resists or takes neutral damage from its attacks.

Personally, I would mention Cresselia in a separate paragraph in the counters section, since it really doesn't have much to fear from Poliwrath. Keeping it separate will also make it easy to remove should Cresselia be bumped up to BL status after the test.

Colonel M · Jan 21, 2010

Please don't call it CroWrath please. "Cro" is only reserved for CroCune because of the creator, Cromat.

Fuzznip · Jan 22, 2010

Thanks for the edits Xia. I changed CroWrath to Boosting RestTalker. I also greatly expanded upon the Counters section because I thought it was horrible. ^_^

Darkmalice · Jan 22, 2010

You need to put the ability as Water Absorb for all the sets, as Poliwrath has the other (inferior) ability Damp.

Fuzznip · Jan 22, 2010

Woops, I didn't even notice that, lol. Thanks for the catch!

Flora · Jan 23, 2010

Grammar/comments.

Bulk Up said:
The last slot is best used as a utility move for Poliwrath, taking advantage of being able to put a counter to sleep, stopping a potential set-up, or blocking status and critical hits. Hypnosis helps Poliwrath immobilize one of its common switch-ins, such as Slowbro and Uxie, from the battle for a decent amount of time, letting it bring in a counter to them without taking damage in the process. With Encore, Pokemon like Curse Registeel, Quagsire, or Gastrodon are no longer threats, because Poliwrath can Encore them as they use Curse, forcing them to switch out as Poliwrath uses Bulk Up. Substitute blocks status from Pokemon that can be dangerous, such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic, and can help make unbreakable Substitutes on the physical side.

It was originally "being" which I think was a typo here in the second sentence.

RestTalk said:
It would be a very good idea to eliminate the opponent’s stat boosting Pokemon, since they can easily switch in on Poliwrath with little to no fear and proceed to set up something nasty. Common examples of these Pokemon are Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Nasty Plot Mismagius, and Swords Dance Drapion. It should also be mentioned that physically defensive Pokemon, such as Weezing and Milotic, can easily rub off anything Poliwrath fires out at them, leaving Poliwrath vulnerable to a stall match. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. Venusaur can pose an immediate threat to Milotic, being able to OHKO it with Leaf Storm or put it to sleep with Sleep Powder. Venusaur and Poliwrath also make a great combo, as Venusaur can switch into Electric attacks fired at Poliwrath, while Poliwrath can sponge Fire- and Ice-type attacks thrown at Venusaur.

The past sentence that started with "Not to mention" was a run-on sentence and needed to be changed.

Against those stat booster users, could Encore (users) get a mention? Jumpluff could be able to help Poliwrath help greatly with its Encore, as well as maybe Alakazam and Clefable. Quagsire could work out too against Poliwrath's Electric weakness, but I think having both Poliwrath and Quagsire in the same time is redundant (unless that Quagsire is like a Curse user or something else).

Belly Drummer said:
The procedure is quite simple, yet difficult to pull off. Switch Poliwrath in on a bulky Pokemon that isn’t able to deal enough damage to break a Substitute, such as Milotic, Registeel, and Regirock, or if you’re lucky enough, (comma) to switch it in on (remove these) a Choiced Water-type move, thanks to Water Absorb. Substitute as they switch, and proceed to use either Belly Drum or attack right away depending on who they switch in. If the switch-in is not as threatening, such as Pokemon that don’t have priority moves, set up a Belly Drum and attempt to sweep. If the switch-in does have priority moves and is faster than Poliwrath, it’s a good idea to attack right away instead of wasting a potential Belly Drum sweep.

The wording was really awkward here. It's using "if" but it felt like there was no continuation afterward. There just wasn't a good flow with the listing involved with the Pokemon.

Boosting RestTalker said:
With its great overall bulk, Poliwrath has many chances to switch in and start setting up Bulk Up to attempt a sweep. It’s best to switch it in on weaker Pokemon or Pokemon that can’t harm it greatly, such as Milotic, Blaziken, and Weezing. Once Poliwrath receives a couple of Bulk Up boosts, it’s ready to wreak havoc and eliminate Pokemon that can’t take powerful Waterfalls and can’t deal much damage towards it. Although, Poliwrath will have difficulties with Pokemon that absorb Water-type moves, including Toxicroak, Lapras, Parasect, and Quagsire.

"these include" was basically its own sentence and had no place here.

Boosting RestTalker said:
The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resistant to Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple; (semi-colon) maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense help it to (remove this) tank on the special side since it has no way of boosting it.

The comma usage here was poor since there is basically "two" sentences in combination. Semi-colon is the one to use to link them up.

I'd personally remove the "to" since it isn't really needed or necessary, but it's not really wrong either.

Team Options said:
Poliwrath supplies its team with some physical power and decent utility options. With its ability to force switches with its SubPunch set and its tankish nature, Poliwrath will greatly appreciate Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes is a great asset to Poliwrath, especially because most of its counters are grounded Psychic- and Water-types, such as Slowbro and Milotic.

The last sentence contained a typo from its usage of "if" in place of "of".

Team Options said:
Poliwrath greatly benefits from Pokemon who can eliminate its main counters so that it can do its job more effectively. Since bulky Psychic-types, namely Slowbro and Uxie, can switch into basically any of Poliwrath's attacks and force it out, there's no way Poliwrath will be able to come out on top of them without team support. Wall breakers, such as Magmortar, Blaziken, (comma) and Nidoking, can lure out Slowbro, which still takes little damage to physical or unresisted attacks; however, once it is struck by a Thunderbolt or a super effective Hidden Power, Slowbro will be no more. Absol and Drapion can trap Psychic-types with Pursuit, or hit them hard with Night Slash, and Drapion even absorbs Toxic Spikes which can really hurt Poliwrath.

Missing comma.

Team Options said:
With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when it's backed with some defensive team support. Resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Grass-type attacks, Registeel makes a great partner for Poliwrath, not to mention Electric-type attacks barely tickle Registeel. Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb as both of the previously mentioned Pokemon lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

Misuse of "its" was involved in the first sentence. Typo in the second. The "not to mention" part after "partner" starts as a run-on sentence, so combining it with the other sentence before it makes it flow better.

EVs said:
Setting EVs for Poliwrath is actually quite difficult. It needs all the Attack it can get if you plan on making its attacks “hurt”, while also letting it enjoy plenty of investments into its reasonable HP and its decent defensive stats.

The flow was just crooked here. I think the change here will make it sound better than before.

EVs said:
For the SubPunch set, Poliwrath needs all the Attack it can get to deal major damage, while having max HP to make its Substitutes bulkier so it's harder for the opposing Pokemon to break them. It may be helpful in using a Speed IV of 30 in order to move after opposing Poliwrath. That way, you can set up Substitute after they attack, allowing you to fire off Focus Punch safely.

"it needs" just didn't sound good here.

EVs said:
Belly Drum Poliwrath must maximize its Attack and Speed so it achieves a nice Speed stat of 393 which is only outsped by Electrode in UU, and obtain a huge Attack stat of 1076.

No extra "s" at the end of the second "achieve" is needed. But, I think the word needs to be changed to a synonym, such as "obtain", to avoid the dull repetition here.

Opinion said:
Poliwrath has a very unique and valuable typing, resisting Dark-, Rock-, Ice- and Fire-type attacks, all very common types in the UU metagame, not to mention that it’s capable of absorbing Water-type attacks for 25% HP recovery. Poliwrath has no big flaws stat-wise, but this balance is also what kills it as a potential standard. Usually, Pokemon need to hit hard or take hits really well to be very successful, but in this case, Poliwrath is more of a middleman. If you put its EVs where its purposes lie, it will certainly pull its weight for you in a standard team.

Typo. Also, more misuses of the "not to mention" part arises here.

Counters said:
Bulky Psychic-types are Poliwrath's biggest counters, as they have great physical bulk, resistance to Fighting-type attacks, and access to a super effective STAB Psychic that will end Poliwrath easily. Slowbro is Poliwrath's number one counter, boasting a resistance to both of Poliwrath's STAB attacks and takes pathetic damage from its other moves. Cresselia's enormous physical bulk will instantly force Poliwrath to switch out or take a powerful Psychic. Uxie is another great counter, rubbing off almost anything Poliwrath throws at it and Uxie can then proceed to hit it for heavy damage with Psychic or Thunderbolt.

Typo.

"as they are great physical bulk" made no sense.

The addition of "that" improves the first sentence; it just doesn't sound right without it.

Fuzznip · Jan 24, 2010

Awesome, thanks a lot Aroma. Everything's been fixed!

That just goes to show nothing is done when you think it is, hah.

Eo Ut Mortus · Feb 12, 2010

Fuzznip said:
[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Waterfall / Ice Punch
move 4: Encore / Bulk Up / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath is one of the bulkiest Fighting-types available and also has the benefit of having a secondary STAB in Water to work with. Basically, the strategy of this set is to send Poliwrath into something that it can force out, such as Registeel or Regirock, and set up a Substitute. Your next move is dependent on your opponent's switch-in. For example, if your opponent decides to bring in Milotic, Focus Punch is your best bet to harm it, but if your opponent brings in Venusaur, Ice Punch, if you opt to carry it, is the best way to go.

This set has many viable options to go in the last two slots. The choice between Waterfall and Ice Punch is indeed a tough one; Waterfall grants decent coverage and STAB, while Ice Punch provides much better super effective type coverage against Pokemon like Altaria and Venusaur. However, both can be used if you are not a fan of Encore, Bulk Up, or Hypnosis.

Encore is an excellent move for Poliwrath to use, as it gives it an opportunity to Encore a move like Iron Head from Registeel or Wish from Chansey, allowing Poliwrath to score a free Substitute. Bulk Up allows Poliwrath to set up on weaker physical attackers, such as Regirock and Steelix. It also helps Poliwrath make unbreakable Substitutes on the physical side and OHKO a good portion of the metagame with its powerful STAB Focus Punch. Hypnosis, although not mentioned, is great to hit Pokemon like Slowbro or Venusaur who[it's unnecessary to mention that they will switch in] resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves. It's a great way to temporarily take Poliwrath's counters out of the game, although the 60% accuracy may be risky. If these three options seem unappealing, Ice Punch can take their place.

With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychics[plurality agreement], Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Absol and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Registeel works especially well because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath, and it can also set up Stealth Rock.

[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch / Brick Break / Return
move 4: Hypnosis / Encore / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath can be a very dangerous bulky sweeper, setting up on many Pokemon while also being able to render many Pokemon helpless with Hypnosis. With a couple of Bulk Ups under its belt, Poliwrath becomes a formidable physical tank, being able to take hits and dish out hard ones as well.

The choice between STAB and coverage is always a tough choice for Poliwrath. Ice Punch hits Pokemon such as Venusaur and Altaria hard, as they resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, but Brick Break hits any Pokemon who isn't weak to Ice Punch harder.[might want to reword this as for instance, it doesn't hit Ghosts harder] Return is a solid choice as well, as it grants perfect coverage with Waterfall; however, Brick Break and Ice Punch hit many more targets for super effective damage.

The last slot is best used as a utility move for Poliwrath, taking advantage of being able to put a counter to sleep, stopping a potential set-up, or blocking status and critical hits. Hypnosis lets[it doesn't just help] Poliwrath immobilize one of its common switch-ins, such as Slowbro or Uxie, keeping it[can't really "immobilize something from the battle"] from the battle for a decent amount of time. You can then bring in a counter without taking damage in the process. With Encore, Pokemon like Curse Registeel, Quagsire, or Gastrodon are no longer threats, because Poliwrath can Encore them as they use Curse, forcing them to switch out as Poliwrath uses Bulk Up. Substitute blocks dangerous status, such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic, and Bulk Up can help make physically unbreakable Substitutes on the physical side.

Poliwrath is unable to sweep with its counters in the way, similar to the SubPunch set. Slowbro and friends come back again, taking little damage from any attack and fighting back with their STAB Psychics. So as they return to the fray, so do Absol and Drapion, who are able to drill these Pokemon with strong Dark-type attacks or trap them with Pursuit. Blaziken and Magmortar also work well with Poliwrath because they can lure and take out Pokemon such as Slowbro with their strong super effective special attacks.

[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Outside of Water Absorb, Poliwrath has no way of restoring a reasonable amount of health by itself, but with the RestTalk set, Poliwrath now has a decently reliable way of gaining its health back.

Sporting decent defensive stats, Poliwrath can be a viable user of the Rest and Sleep Talk combo, allowing it to become a tough tank and a great status absorber. Although, as with every RestTalk set, there will always be downsides. In this case, Poliwrath loses its rather decent Attack stat, becoming very weak on the attacking side and therefore perfect set-up bait for Pokemon such as Feraligar and Mismagius.

The moveset is pretty standard for Poliwrath, since using both of its STAB attacks, Waterfall and Brick Break, provides[using...provides] near perfect coverage, only resisted by Altaria, Slowbro, Venusaur, and Toxicroak in UU (you can use Rock Slide[is this worth mentioning? It only scratches Slowbro out of the aforementioned Pokemon] or Ice Punch as an alternative option for dealing neutral or super effective damage towards some of these Pokemon if they cause trouble). As stated before, Poliwrath’s poor Attack stat with the given EVs can be solved by equipping a Life Orb, enabling it to deal[Poliwrath, not Life Orb, is not doing the damage] slightly more damage than usual. If you want to keep Poliwrath as a bulky tank, Leftovers is the superior option as it allows for more survivability.

It would be a very good idea to eliminate the opponent’s stat boosting Pokemon, since they can easily switch in on Poliwrath with little to no fear and proceed to set up something nasty. Common examples of these Pokemon are Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Nasty Plot Mismagius, and Swords Dance Drapion. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. It should also be mentioned that physically defensive Pokemon, such as Weezing and Milotic, can easily rub off anything Poliwrath fires out at them, leaving Poliwrath vulnerable to a stall match. Venusaur can pose an immediate threat to Milotic, being able to OHKO it with Leaf Storm or put it to sleep with Sleep Powder. Venusaur and Poliwrath also make a great combo, as Venusaur can switch into Electric attacks fired at Poliwrath, while Poliwrath can sponge Fire- and Ice-type attacks thrown at Venusaur.

[SET]
name: Belly Drummer
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Return
item: Salac Berry
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath, as a Belly Drummer, can become an extremely threatening sweeper once it’s been successfully pulled off, capable of sweeping entire teams who aren’t ready for this threat. This set takes Poliwrath to a whole new level as a sweeper, since most of its other sets rely on improving its defensive capabilities and tanking. After pulling off a Substitute and a Belly Drum, Poliwrath’s Attack and Speed stats skyrocket to an incredible Attack stat of 1076 and a great Speed stat of 393, the latter thanks to Salac Berry. Poliwrath now outspeeds[subject of previous sentence was Attack and Speed stats] everything without a Choice Scarf in the UU metagame aside from Electrode.

The procedure is quite simple, yet difficult to pull off. Switch Poliwrath in on a bulky Pokemon that isn’t able to deal enough damage to break its Substitute, such as Milotic,[it might be of note that Hidden Power will beat Poliwrath, and a decent amount of Milotic run Hidden Power] Registeel, and Regirock, or if you’re lucky enough to switch into a Choiced Water-type move, thanks to Water Absorb. Substitute as they switch, and proceed to use either Belly Drum or attack right away depending on who they switch in. If the switch-in is not that[you have no standard of comparison] threatening, such as a[plurality agreement] Pokemon that doesn’t have priority moves, set up a Belly Drum and attempt to sweep. If the switch-in does have priority moves or is faster than Poliwrath, it’s a good idea to attack right away instead of wasting a potential Belly Drum sweep.

Waterfall and Return are recommended since that combo hits everything for neutral or super effective damage. Waterfall will obviously be the main attack of choice since it receives a valuable STAB boost and has a chance to flinch, which could help Poliwrath greatly in some cases. Return is the best alternative so Poliwrath can KO Pokemon that resist Water-type moves, mainly Slowbro and Milotic.

Before you start any Belly Drum sweep with Poliwrath, you must make sure that there are no priority attackers that can put an end to its sweep, since Poliwrath fails to receive a reasonable priority move. Sucker Punch Absol, Vacuum Wave Blaziken, and Mach Punch Hitmontop are prime examples of Pokemon that use priority moves. Drapion instantly threatens Absol due to its resistance to Sucker Punch and ability to knock out Absol with a powerful Earthquake[Drapion is actually a bad counter as it loses to Absol unless it's faster and has X-Scissor]; Slowbro can switch into Blaziken’s STAB moves and threaten it with Surf; and Weezing can switch into Hitmontop and burn it with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness. Entry hazards can make it much harder to score the Belly Drum boost since Poliwrath will keep getting hit by them as it switches out from a Pokemon that stops it from Belly Drumming, meaning that sooner or later, Poliwrath won’t have enough health to set up. Toxic Spikes in particular will ruin Poliwrath since it will only have at most one chance to attack if it ends up receiving a Belly Drum boost behind a Substitute, which is not very useful. Drapion comes to mind again, as it is great at absorbing and setting up its own Toxic Spikes thanks to its overall bulk, while Claydol is capable of Rapid Spinning away any entry hazards and can than proceed to set up Stealth Rock. Poliwrath can be easily revenge-killed by Choice Scarfers with a base Speed stat of 71 or above, like Mesprit, for example, and run a positive nature with max Speed. It’s a good idea to remove these Pokemon since they too can put an end to Poliwrath’s sweep.

[SET]
name: Boosting RestTalker
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Rest
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Waterfall
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
CroCune has been considered a threatening force in the OU metagame, but now, Poliwrath brings Suicune into the UU metagame by using an identical set. This set allows Poliwrath to become a sturdy tank, a fantastic status absorber, and a threatening sweeper at the same time, being able to destroy any team that isn't prepared for such a threat.

With its great overall bulk, Poliwrath has many chances to switch in and start setting up Bulk Up to attempt a sweep. It’s best to switch it in on weaker Pokemon or Pokemon that can’t harm it greatly, such as Milotic, Blaziken, and Weezing. Once Poliwrath receives a couple of Bulk Up boosts, it’s ready to wreak havoc and eliminate Pokemon that can’t take powerful Waterfalls and can’t deal much damage towards it. However, Poliwrath will have difficulties with Pokemon that absorb Water-type moves, including Toxicroak, Lapras, Parasect, and Quagsire.

The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resistant to Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple; maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps[maximizing...helps] it tank on the special side since it has no way of boosting it.

Although maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps, Poliwrath will still take a lot of damage from high powered super effective special attacks, as well as high powered super effective physical attacks if it hasn’t received a few Bulk Ups under its belt. Leaf Storm from a Timid Venusaur running max Special Attack will deal 76.56% - 90.63%, which is devastating. In this case, Registeel is an excellent answer in threatening these Pokemon, since it boasts excellent Special Defense, resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type moves aimed at Poliwrath, and can cripple Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Providing dual screen support for Poliwrath is extremely recommended, since it will immensely help Poliwrath set up, not to mention that Poliwrath will no longer fear super effective physical attacks as it prepares to use Bulk Up. Clefable and Gardevoir are excellent examples of dual screeners, with their bulk and massive support movepool, including Wish.

[Team Options]
Poliwrath supplies its team with some physical power and decent utility options. With its ability to force switches with its SubPunch set and its tankish nature, Poliwrath will greatly appreciate Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes is a great asset to Poliwrath, especially because most of its counters are grounded Psychic- and Water-types, such as Slowbro and Milotic.

Poliwrath greatly benefits from Pokemon who can eliminate its main counters so that it can do its job more effectively. Since bulky Psychic-types, namely Slowbro and Uxie, can switch into basically any of Poliwrath's attacks and force it out, there's no way Poliwrath will be able to come out on top of them without team support. Wall breakers, such as Magmortar, Blaziken, and Nidoking, can lure out Slowbro, who still takes little damage to physical or unresisted attacks; however, once it is struck by a Thunderbolt or a super effective Hidden Power, Slowbro will be no more. Absol and Drapion can trap Psychic-types with Pursuit or hit them hard with Night Slash, and Drapion even absorbs Toxic Spikes, which can really hurt Poliwrath.

With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when it's backed with some defensive team support. Resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Grass-type attacks, Registeel makes a great partner for Poliwrath. Not to mention Electric-type attacks barely tickle Registeel. Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb as both of the previously mentioned Pokemon lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

The best strategy with Poliwrath is to basically know what is coming in and reacting accordingly. Poliwrath is one of those Pokemon who cannot even touch their counters, so switching to a Pokemon who can easily counter Poliwrath's counters right after switching Poliwrath in can be a great tactic. Another tactic is to use Toxic on a Pokemon with similar counters. Pokemon like Arcanine and even Hitmonlee lure Pokemon like Slowbro out, and with Toxic in effect, Poliwrath can beat Slowbro with Substitute or wearing it down with its attacks.

Providing screen support for Poliwrath can make it much easier to set up Bulk Up and Belly Drum, and it makes Poliwrath's Substitutes harder to break when the screens are in play. This allows Poliwrath to get multiple Bulk Ups under its belt so it can proceed to sweep with a reasonable amount of health left. Clefable and Gardevoir are perfect teammates for setting up the screens with their overall bulk and large support movepool, not to mention they have access to Wish, which Poliwrath can greatly benefit from.

[Other Options]
Payback can be used to hit bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Uxie and Mismagius, who can cause trouble for Poliwrath in some cases. Body Slam isn’t a bad option as it has a chance to cause paralysis, which can help Poliwrath in terms of outspeeding crippled enemies, not to mention that it works well in conjunction with Waterfall because of the flinch rate. Counter can potentially gain a surprise KO on a physical attacker that doesn’t see it coming, while Endeavor is a decent option to surprise your opponent once Poliwrath is at low health.

[EVs]
Setting EVs for Poliwrath is actually quite difficult. It needs all the Attack it can get if you plan on making its attacks “hurt”, while it also enjoys plenty of investments into its reasonable HP and decent defensive stats.

For the SubPunch set, Poliwrath needs all the Attack it can get to deal major damage, while having max HP to make its Substitutes bulkier so it's harder for the opposing Pokemon to break them. It may be helpful in using a Speed IV of 30 in order to move after opposing Poliwrath. That way, you can set up Substitute after they attack, allowing you to fire off Focus Punch safely.[I don't think this is very noteworthy, as the only thing they could be attacking with is Brick Break]

Any set with Bulk Up[plurality agreement] should generally always maximize HP to become as sturdy as possible so it can improve its Substitute's bulk, take hits if the Substitute breaks, and deal decent damage back to the opposing Pokemon.

Belly Drum Poliwrath must maximize its Attack and Speed so it achieves a nice Speed stat of 393,[comma before which in this context] which is only outsped by Electrode in UU, and a huge Attack stat of 1076.

[Opinion]
Poliwrath has a very unique and valuable typing, resisting Dark-, Rock-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks, all very common types in the UU metagame, not to mention that it’s capable of absorbing Water-type attacks for 25% HP recovery. Poliwrath has no big flaws stat-wise, but this balance is also what kills it as a potential standard. Usually, Pokemon need to hit hard or take hits really well to be very successful, but in this case, Poliwrath is more of a middleman. If you put its EVs where its purposes lie, it will certainly pull its weight for you in a standard team.

[Counters]
Poliwrath can generally be walled by any bulky Pokemon that resists or takes neutral damage from its attacks.

Bulky Psychic-types are Poliwrath's biggest counters, as they have great physical bulk, resistances to Fighting-type attacks, and access to super effective STAB Psychics that will easily end Poliwrath. Slowbro is Poliwrath's number one counter, boasting a resistance to both of Poliwrath's STAB attacks and takes pathetic damage from its other moves. Cresselia's enormous physical bulk will instantly force Poliwrath to switch out or take a powerful Psychic. Uxie is another great counter, rubbing off almost anything Poliwrath throws at it, and Uxie can then proceed to hit it for heavy damage with Psychic or Thunderbolt.

Venusaur, Leafeon, and Tangrowth are Pokemon that can cause Poliwrath a ton of grief. The former resists both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, has access to Sleep Powder, and can destroy Poliwrath with Leaf Storm, while the latter two pack excellent physical bulk and a hard-hitting Leaf Blade and Power Whip, respectively. Jumpluff, although nowhere near as bulky as the aforementioned Grass-types, can switch into either of Poliwrath's STAB or set up moves, such as Waterfall or Substitute, with ease and can Encore that move to force Poliwrath to switch out.

Dusclops and Spiritomb can both burn Poliwrath with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness instantly, unless Poliwrath uses Rest. Weezing pulls off the same role as Dusclops and Spiritomb, except it can also hit Poliwrath with a super effective Thunderbolt. Milotic's great physical bulk and access to Recover and a super effective Hidden Power to Poliwrath can end it reasonably fast as well.

Good job; just update this to accommodate to the new analysis format, and this should be ready for upload.

Fuzznip · Feb 12, 2010

Fantastic. Thanks Eo for the proofread. I also updated the analysis to match the new format.

franky · Feb 12, 2010

[Overview]

Poliwrath has a very unique and valuable typing, resisting Dark-, Rock-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks, which are all very common types in the UU metagame, not to mention that it’s capable of absorbing Water-type attacks for 25% HP recovery. Poliwrath has no big flaws stat-wise, but this balance is also what kills it as a potential standard. Usually, Pokemon need to hit hard or take hits really well to be very successful, but in this case, Poliwrath is more of a middleman. If you put its EVs where its purposes lie, it will certainly pull its weight for you in a standard team.

[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Waterfall / Ice Punch
move 4: Encore / Bulk Up / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath is one of the bulkiest Fighting-types available and also has the benefit of having a secondary STAB in Water to work with. Basically, the strategy of this set is to send Poliwrath into something that it can force out, such as Registeel or Regirock, and set up a Substitute. Your next move depends on your opponent's switch-in. For example, if your opponent decides to bring in Milotic, Focus Punch is your best bet to harm it, but if your opponent brings in Venusaur, Ice Punch, if you opt for it, is the best way to go.

This set has many viable options to go in the last two slots. The choice between Waterfall and Ice Punch are indeed tough selections [flow]; Waterfall grants decent coverage and STAB, while Ice Punch provides much better super effective type coverage against Pokemon like Altaria and Venusaur. However, both can be used if you are not a fan of Encore, Bulk Up, or Hypnosis. Encore is an excellent move for Poliwrath to use, as it gives it an opportunity to Encore a move like Iron Head from Registeel or Wish from Chansey, allowing Poliwrath to score a free Substitute. Bulk Up allows Poliwrath to set up on weaker physical attackers, such as Regirock and Steelix. It also helps Poliwrath make unbreakable Substitutes on the physical side and OHKO a good portion of the metagame with its powerful STAB Focus Punch. Hypnosis, although not mentioned, is great to hit Pokemon like Slowbro or Venusaur who resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves. It's a great way to temporarily take Poliwrath's counters out of the game [removed 'temporarily' for redundancy], although the 60% accuracy may be risky. If these three options seem unappealing, Ice Punch can take their place.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychics, Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Absol and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Registeel works especially well because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks, and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath, and it can also set up Stealth Rock.

[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch / Brick Break / Return
move 4: Hypnosis / Encore / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath can be a very dangerous bulky sweeper, setting up on many Pokemon while also being able to render many Pokemon helpless with Hypnosis. With a couple of Bulk Ups under its belt, Poliwrath becomes a formidable physical tank, being able to take hits and dish out hard ones as well.

The choice between STAB and coverage is always a tough choice for Poliwrath. Ice Punch hits Pokemon such as Venusaur and Altaria hard, as they resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, but Brick Break hits any Pokemon who isn't weak to Ice Punch harder. Return is a solid choice as well, as it grants perfect coverage with Waterfall; however, Brick Break and Ice Punch hit many more targets for super effective damage. The last slot is best used as a utility move for Poliwrath, taking advantage of placing a counter to sleep, stopping a potential set-up, or blocking status and critical hits. Hypnosis lets Poliwrath immobilize one of its common switch-ins, such as Slowbro or Uxie, keeping it away from the battle for a decent amount of turns. You can then bring in a counter without taking damage in the process. With Encore, Pokemon like Curse Registeel, Quagsire, or Gastrodon are no longer threats, because Poliwrath can Encore them as they use Curse, forcing them to switch out as Poliwrath uses Bulk Up. Substitute blocks dangerous status, such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic, and Bulk Up can help make physically unbreakable Substitutes.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Poliwrath is unable to sweep with its counters in the way, similar to the SubPunch set. Slowbro and friends come back again, taking little damage from any attack and fighting back with their STAB Psychics. So as they return to the fray, so do Absol and Drapion, who are able to drill these Pokemon with strong Dark-type attacks or trap them with Pursuit. Blaziken and Magmortar also work well with Poliwrath because they can lure and take out Pokemon such as Slowbro with their strong super effective special attacks.

[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Outside of Water Absorb, Poliwrath has no way of restoring a reasonable amount of health by itself, but with the RestTalk set, Poliwrath now has a decently reliable way of gaining its health back. Sporting decent defensive stats, Poliwrath can be a viable user of the Rest and Sleep Talk combo, allowing it to become a tough tank and a great status absorber. Although, as with every RestTalk set, there will always be downsides. In this case, Poliwrath loses its rather decent Attack stat, becoming very weak on the attacking side and therefore turning into a perfect set-up bait for Pokemon such as Feraligar and Mismagius.

The moveset is pretty standard for Poliwrath, since using both of its STAB attacks, Waterfall and Brick Break, provides near perfect coverage, only resisted by Altaria, Slowbro, Venusaur, and Toxicroak in UU (you can use or Ice Punch as an alternative option for dealing neutral or super effective damage towards some these Pokemon if they cause trouble). As stated before, Poliwrath’s poor Attack stat with the given EVs can be solved by equipping a Life Orb, enabling it to deal slightly more damage than usual. If you want to keep Poliwrath as a bulky tank, Leftovers is the superior option as it allows for more survivability.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

It would be a very good idea to eliminate the opponent’s stat boosting Pokemon, since they can easily switch in on Poliwrath with little to no fear and proceed to set up something nasty. Common examples of these Pokemon are Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Nasty Plot Mismagius, and Swords Dance Drapion. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. It should also be mentioned that physically defensive Pokemon, such as Weezing and Milotic, can easily rub off anything Poliwrath fires out at them, leaving Poliwrath vulnerable to a stall match. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. Venusaur can pose an immediate threat to Milotic, being able to OHKO it with Leaf Storm or put it to sleep with Sleep Powder. Venusaur and Poliwrath also make a great combo, as Venusaur can switch into Electric attacks fired at Poliwrath, while Poliwrath can sponge Fire- and Ice-type attacks thrown at Venusaur.

[SET]
name: Belly Drummer
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Return
item: Salac Berry
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath, as a Belly Drummer, can become an extremely threatening sweeper once it’s been successfully pulled off, capable of sweeping entire teams who aren’t ready for this set. This set takes Poliwrath to a whole new level as a sweeper, since most of its other sets rely on improving its defensive capabilities and tanking. After pulling off a Substitute and a Belly Drum, Poliwrath’s Attack and Speed stats skyrocket to an incredible Attack stat of 1076 and a great Speed stat of 393, the latter thanks to Salac Berry. Poliwrath now outspeeds everything without a Choice Scarf in the UU metagame aside from the occasional Electrodes.

Waterfall and Return are recommended since that combo hits everything for neutral or super effective damage. Waterfall will obviously be the main attack of choice since it receives a valuable STAB boost and has a chance to flinch, which could help Poliwrath greatly in some cases. Return is the best alternative so Poliwrath can KO Pokemon that resist Water-type moves, mainly Slowbro and Milotic. [false statement, I knew that Linoone couldn't OHKO Slowbro 100% of the time with Return, and I'm pretty sure it won't to Slowbro. +6 Return - 62.4% - 73.6% on Slowbro, and 77.9% - 91.6% on Milotic. Consider rewording for more accurate info]

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

The procedure is quite simple, yet difficult to pull off. Switch Poliwrath in on a bulky Pokemon that isn’t able to deal enough damage to break its Substitute, such as Registeel, or if you’re lucky enough to switch into a Choiced Water-type move, thanks to Water Absorb. Substitute as they switch, and proceed to use either Belly Drum or attack right away depending on who they switch in. If the switch-in is not that threatening, such as a Pokemon that doesn't have priority moves, set up a Belly Drum and attempt to sweep. If the switch-in does have priority moves or is faster than Poliwrath, it’s a good idea to attack right away instead of wasting a potential Belly Drum sweep.

Before you start any Belly Drum sweep with Poliwrath, you must make sure that there are no priority attackers that can put an end to its sweep, since Poliwrath fails to receive a reasonable priority move. Sucker Punch Absol, Vacuum Wave Blaziken, and Mach Punch Hitmontop are prime examples of Pokemon that use priority moves. Jolly Drapion threatens Absol due to its resistance to Sucker Punch and ability to knock out Absol with X-Scissor; Slowbro can switch into Blaziken’s STAB moves and threaten it with Surf; and Weezing can switch into Hitmontop and burn it with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness. Entry hazards can make it much harder to score the Belly Drum boost since Poliwrath will keep getting hit by them as it switches out from a Pokemon that stops it from Belly Drumming, meaning that sooner or later, Poliwrath won’t have enough health to set up. Toxic Spikes in particular will ruin Poliwrath since it will only have at most one chance to attack if it ends up receiving a Belly Drum boost behind a Substitute, which is not very useful. Drapion comes to mind again, as it is great at absorbing and setting up its own Toxic Spikes thanks to its overall bulk, while Claydol is capable of Rapid Spinning away any entry hazards and can than proceed to set up Stealth Rock. Poliwrath can be easily revenge-killed by Choice Scarfers with a base Speed stat of 71 or above, like Mesprit, for example, and run a positive nature with max Speed. It’s a good idea to remove these Pokemon since they too can put an end to Poliwrath’s sweep.

[SET]
name: Boosting RestTalker
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Rest
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Waterfall
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
CroCune has been considered a threatening force in the OU metagame, but now, Poliwrath brings Suicune into the UU metagame by using an identical set. This set allows Poliwrath to become a sturdy tank, a fantastic status absorber, and a threatening sweeper at the same time, being able to destroy most teams that isn't prepared for such a threat.

The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resistant to Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple; maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps it tank on the special side since it has no way of boosting it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

With its great overall bulk, Poliwrath has many chances to switch in and start setting up Bulk Up to attempt a sweep. It’s best to switch it in on weaker Pokemon or Pokemon that can’t harm it greatly, such as Registeel, Blaziken, and Weezing. Once Poliwrath receives a couple of Bulk Up boosts, it’s ready to wreak havoc and eliminate Pokemon that can’t take powerful Waterfalls and can’t deal much damage towards it. However, Poliwrath will have difficulties with Pokemon that absorb Water-type moves, including Toxicroak, Lapras, Parasect, and Quagsire.

Although maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps, Poliwrath will still take a lot of damage from high powered super effective special attacks, as well as high powered super effective physical attacks if it hasn’t received a few Bulk Ups under its belt. Leaf Storm from a Timid Venusaur running max Special Attack with a neutral nature will deal 77% - 91%, which is devastating. In this case, Registeel is an excellent answer in threatening these Pokemon, since it boasts excellent Special Defense, resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type moves aimed at Poliwrath, and can cripple Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Providing dual screen support for Poliwrath is extremely recommended, since it will immensely help Poliwrath set up, not to mention that Poliwrath will no longer fear super effective physical attacks as it prepares to use Bulk Up. Clefable and Gardevoir are excellent examples of dual screeners, with their bulk and massive support movepool, including Wish.

[Team Options]
Poliwrath supplies its team with some physical power and decent utility options. With its ability to force switches with its SubPunch set and its tankish nature, Poliwrath will greatly appreciate Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes is a great asset to Poliwrath, especially because most of its counters are grounded Psychic- and Water-types, such as Slowbro and Milotic.

Poliwrath greatly benefits from Pokemon who can eliminate its main counters so that it can do its job more effectively. Since bulky Psychic-types, namely Slowbro and Uxie, can switch into basically any of Poliwrath's attacks and force it out, there's no way Poliwrath will be able to come out on top of them without team support. Wall breakers, such as Magmortar, Blaziken, and Nidoking, can lure out Slowbro, who still takes little damage to physical or unresisted attacks; however, once it is struck by a Thunderbolt or a super effective Hidden Power, Slowbro will be no more. Absol and Drapion can trap Psychic-types with Pursuit or hit them hard with Night Slash, and Drapion even absorbs Toxic Spikes, which can really hurt Poliwrath.

With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when it's backed with some defensive team support. Resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Grass-type attacks, Registeel makes a great partner for Poliwrath. Not to mention Electric-type attacks barely tickle Registeel. Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb as both of the previously mentioned Pokemon lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

The best strategy with Poliwrath is to basically know what is coming in and reacting accordingly. Poliwrath is one of those Pokemon who cannot even touch their counters, so switching to a Pokemon who can easily counter Poliwrath's counters right after switching Poliwrath in can be a great tactic. Another tactic is to use Toxic on a Pokemon with similar counters. Pokemon like Arcanine and even Hitmonlee lure Pokemon like Slowbro out, and with Toxic in effect, Poliwrath can beat Slowbro with Substitute or wearing it down with its attacks.

Providing screen support for Poliwrath can make it much easier to set up Bulk Up and Belly Drum, and it makes Poliwrath's Substitutes harder to break when the screens are in play. This allows Poliwrath to get multiple Bulk Ups under its belt so it can proceed to sweep with a reasonable amount of health left. Clefable and Gardevoir are perfect teammates for setting up the screens with their overall bulk and large support movepool, not to mention they have access to Wish, which Poliwrath can greatly benefit from.

[Optional Changes]
Payback can be used to hit bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Uxie and Mismagius, who can cause trouble for Poliwrath in some cases. Body Slam isn’t a bad option as it has a chance to cause paralysis which can help Poliwrath in terms of outspeeding crippled enemies, not to mention that it works well in conjunction with Waterfall because of the flinch rate. Counter can potentially gain a surprise KO on a physical attacker that doesn’t see it coming, while Endeavor is a decent option to surprise your opponent once Poliwrath is at low health.

You may choose to use a Speed IV of 40 in order to move after opposing Poliwrath. That way, you are able to set up a Substitute and fire off Focus Punch safely. However, this is not necessary due to the fact that the only effective move Poliwrath can use against you is Brick Break, which isn't the primary option on most of Poliwrath's sets.

[Counters]
Poliwrath can generally be walled by any bulky Pokemon that resists or takes neutral damage from its attacks.

Bulky Psychic-types are Poliwrath's biggest counters, as they have great physical bulk, resistances to Fighting-type attacks, and access to a super effective STAB Psychics that will easily end Poliwrath. Slowbro is Poliwrath's number one counter, boasting a resistance to both of Poliwrath's STAB attacks and takes pathetic damage from its other moves. Cresselia's enormous physical bulk will instantly force Poliwrath to switch out or take a powerful Psychic. Uxie is another great counter, rubbing off almost anything Poliwrath throws at it, and Uxie can then proceed to hit it for heavy damage with Psychic or Thunderbolt.

Venusaur, Leafeon, and Tangrowth are Pokemon that can cause Poliwrath a ton of grief. The former resists both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, has access to Sleep Powder, and can destroy Poliwrath with Leaf Storm, while the latter two pack excellent physical bulk and a hard-hitting Leaf Blade and Power Whip, respectively. Jumpluff, although nowhere near as bulky as the aforementioned Grass-types, can switch into either of Poliwrath's STAB or set up moves, such as Waterfall or Substitute, with ease and can Encore that move to force Poliwrath to switch out.

Dusclops and Spiritomb can both burn Poliwrath with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness instantly, unless Poliwrath uses Rest. Weezing pulls off the same role as Dusclops and Spiritomb, except it can also hit Poliwrath with a super effective Thunderbolt. Milotic's great physical bulk and access to Recover and a super effective Hidden Power to Poliwrath can end it reasonably fast as well.

---

paying back for grammar edits! gj fuzznip, the only concern was the wrong information (red text).

Fuzznip · Feb 12, 2010

Thanks franky. :)

This is ready now.

Flora · Feb 13, 2010

Checking again before upload.

SubPunch said:
With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychics, Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Absol and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Registeel works especially well because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks, and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath, while also setting up Stealth Rock.

The multiple "ands" bother me here. I think this change here will make the flow better.

RestTalk said:
The moveset is pretty standard for Poliwrath, since using both of its STAB attacks, Waterfall and Brick Break, provides near perfect coverage, only resisted by Altaria, Slowbro, Venusaur, and Toxicroak in UU (you can use what? or Ice Punch as an alternative option for dealing neutral or super effective damage towards some these Pokemon if they cause trouble). As stated before, Poliwrath’s poor Attack stat with the given EVs can be solved by equipping a Life Orb, enabling it to deal slightly more damage than usual. If you want to keep Poliwrath as a bulky tank, Leftovers is the superior option as it allows for more survivability.

Belly Drummer said:
The procedure is quite simple, yet difficult to pull off. Switch Poliwrath in on a bulky Pokemon that isn’t able to deal enough damage to break its Substitute, such as Registeel, or if you’re lucky enough to switch into a Choiced Water-type move, thanks to Water Absorb. Substitute as they switch, and proceed to use either Belly Drum or attack right away depending on who they switch in. If the switch-in is not that threatening, such as a Pokemon that doesn't have priority moves, set up a Belly Drum and attempt to sweep. If the switch-in does have priority moves or is faster than Poliwrath, it’s a good idea to attack right away instead of wasting a potential Belly Drum sweep.

I think I've noticed this before, but failed to make any changes. This part just doesn't sound so good. A possible switch to "or if you're lucky enough, a Choice Water-type move" would be great.

Belly Drummer said:
Before you start any Belly Drum sweep with Poliwrath, you must make sure that there are no priority attackers that can put an end to its sweep, since Poliwrath fails to receive a reasonable priority move. Sucker Punch Absol, Vacuum Wave Blaziken, and Mach Punch Hitmontop are prime examples of Pokemon that use priority moves. Jolly Drapion threatens Absol due to its resistance to Sucker Punch and ability to knock out Absol with X-Scissor; Slowbro can switch into Blaziken’s STAB moves and threaten it with Surf; and, (comma) Weezing can switch into Hitmontop and burn it with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness. Entry hazards can make it much harder to score the Belly Drum boost since Poliwrath will keep getting hit by them as it switches out from a Pokemon that stops it from Belly Drumming, meaning that sooner or later, Poliwrath won’t have enough health to set up. Toxic Spikes in particular will ruin Poliwrath since it will only have at most one chance to attack if it ends up receiving a Belly Drum boost behind a Substitute, which is not very useful. Drapion comes to mind again, as it is great at absorbing and setting up its own Toxic Spikes thanks to its overall bulk, while Claydol is capable of Rapid Spinning away any entry hazards and can than proceed to set up Stealth Rock. Poliwrath can be easily revenge-killed by Choice Scarfers with a base Speed stat of 71 or above, like Mesprit, for example, that run a positive nature with max Speed. It’s a good idea to remove these Pokemon since they too can put an end to Poliwrath’s sweep.

This single comma makes a huge difference for the continuation of the semi-colon here. Without the comma, this is an odd "run-on sentence." The comma gives the halt just like "At the start, (comma)" and "Because of this, (comma)."

"and" didn't really make sense here. It feels like Poliwrath is getting easily revenge-killed by a positive nature with max Speed.

Team Options said:
With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when it's backed with some defensive team support. Resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Grass-type attacks, Registeel makes a great partner for Poliwrath, (comma) not to mention Electric-type attacks barely tickle Registeel. Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb as both of the previously mentioned Pokemon lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

That wasn't a sentence before.

Optional Changes said:
You may choose to use a Speed IV of 40 in order to move after opposing Poliwrath. That way, you are able to set up a Substitute and fire off Focus Punch safely. However, this is not necessary due to the fact that the only effective move Poliwrath can use against you is Brick Break, which isn't the primary option on most of Poliwrath's sets.

lol. I guess you meant 30 here.

Counters said:
Bulky Psychic-types are Poliwrath's biggest counters, as they have great physical bulk, resistances to Fighting-type attacks, and access to a (remove) super effective STAB Psychics that will easily end Poliwrath. Slowbro is Poliwrath's number one counter, boasting a resistance to both of Poliwrath's STAB attacks and takes pathetic damage from its other moves. Cresselia's enormous physical bulk will instantly force Poliwrath to switch out or take a powerful Psychic. Uxie is another great counter, rubbing off almost anything Poliwrath throws at it, and Uxie can then proceed to hit it for heavy damage with Psychic or Thunderbolt.

This is multiple Pokemon.

I also wonder this; I know Body Slam is listed as optional changes, but could it possibly fit into the RestTalk set? All that set does it get set-upped on and sleep and attack without doing anything. At least damaging and paralyzing on the same time would be nice. Over the last slot would do good.

Fuzznip · Feb 13, 2010

Thanks for the edits Aroma.

whistle · Feb 16, 2010

move crowrath up a little maybe because
<Fuzznip> it's supposed to be a defensive resttalker
<Fuzznip> bulk up resttalk is better

[Overview]

Poliwrath has a very unique and valuable typing, resisting Dark-, Rock-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks, which are all very common types in the UU metagame, not to mention that it’s capable of absorbing Water-type attacks for 25% HP recovery. Poliwrath has no big flaws stat-wise, but this balance is also what kills it as a potential standard. Usually, Pokemon need to hit hard or take hits really well to be very successful, but in this case, Poliwrath is more of a middleman. If you put its EVs where its purposes lie, it will certainly pull its weight for you in a standard team.

[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Waterfall / Ice Punch
move 4: Encore / Bulk Up / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath is one of the bulkiest Fighting-types available and also has the benefit of having a secondary STAB in Water to work with. Basically, the strategy of this set is to send Poliwrath into something that it can force out, such as Registeel or Regirock, and set up a Substitute. Your next move would depend on your opponent's switch-in.

This set has many viable options to go in the last two slots. The choice between Waterfall and Ice Punch is indeed a tough selection; Waterfall grants decent coverage and STAB, while Ice Punch provides much better super effective type coverage against Pokemon like Altaria and Venusaur. However, both can be used if you are not a fan of Encore, Bulk Up, or Hypnosis. Encore is an excellent move for Poliwrath to use, as it gives it an opportunity to Encore a move like Iron Head from Registeel or Wish from Chansey, allowing Poliwrath to score a free Substitute. Bulk Up allows Poliwrath to set up on weaker physical attackers, such as Regirock and Steelix. It also helps Poliwrath make unbreakable Substitutes on the physical side and OHKO a good portion of the metagame with its powerful STAB Focus Punch. Hypnosis, although not mentioned, is great to hit Pokemon like Slowbro or Venusaur who resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves. It's a great way to temporarily take Poliwrath's counters out of the game, although the 60% accuracy may be risky. If these three options seem unappealing, Ice Punch can take their place.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

With Pokemon such as Slowbro, Uxie, and other bulky Psychic-types taking very little damage from Poliwrath's STAB attacks and dealing decent damage back to Poliwrath with their STAB Psychics, Poliwrath is going to need help from certain Pokemon to work more effectively. Absol and Drapion are great partners for Poliwrath, both being immune to Psychic and having Pursuit, Crunch, or Night Slash to deal with these Pokemon. Registeel works especially well because it takes minimal damage from Electric-type attacks, and resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath, while also setting up Stealth Rock.

[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch / Brick Break / Return
move 4: Hypnosis / Encore / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath can be a very dangerous bulky sweeper, setting up on many Pokemon while also being able to render many Pokemon helpless with Hypnosis. With a couple of Bulk Ups under its belt, Poliwrath becomes a formidable physical tank, being able to take hits and dish out hard ones as well.

The choice between STAB and coverage is always a tough choice for Poliwrath. Ice Punch hits Pokemon such as Venusaur and Altaria hard, as they resist both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, but Brick Break hits any Pokemon who isn't weak to Ice Punch harder. Return is a solid choice as well, as it grants perfect coverage with Waterfall; however, Brick Break and Ice Punch hit many more targets for super effective damage. The last slot is best used as a utility move for Poliwrath, taking advantage of placing a counter to sleep, stopping a potential set-up, or blocking status and critical hits. Hypnosis lets Poliwrath immobilize one of its common switch-ins, such as Slowbro or Uxie, keeping it away from the battle for a decent amount of turns. You can then bring in a counter without taking damage in the process. With Encore, Pokemon like Curse Registeel, Quagsire, or Gastrodon are no longer threats, because Poliwrath can Encore them as they use Curse, forcing them to switch out as Poliwrath uses Bulk Up. Substitute blocks dangerous status, such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic, and Bulk Up can help make physically unbreakable Substitutes.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Poliwrath is unable to sweep with its counters in the way, similar to the SubPunch set. Slowbro and friends come back again, taking little damage from any attack and fighting back with their STAB Psychics. So as they return to the fray, so do Absol and Drapion, who are able to drill these Pokemon with strong Dark-type attacks or trap them with Pursuit. Blaziken and Magmortar also work well with Poliwrath because they can lure and take out Pokemon such as Slowbro with their strong super effective special attacks.

[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Outside of Water Absorb, Poliwrath has no way of restoring a reasonable amount of health by itself, but with the RestTalk set, Poliwrath now has a decently reliable way of gaining its health back. Sporting decent defensive stats, Poliwrath can be a viable user of the Rest and Sleep Talk combo, allowing it to become a tough tank and a great status absorber. Although, as with every RestTalk set, there will always be downsides. In this case, Poliwrath loses its rather decent Attack stat, becoming very weak on the attacking side and therefore turning into perfect set-up bait for Pokemon such as Feraligatr and Mismagius.

The moveset is pretty standard for Poliwrath, since using both of its STAB attacks, Waterfall and Brick Break, provides near perfect coverage, only resisted by Altaria, Slowbro, Venusaur, and Toxicroak in UU (you can use Ice Punch as an alternative option for dealing neutral or super effective damage against some these Pokemon if they cause trouble). Body Slam is another interesting option that may paralyze the opposing Pokemon. As stated before, Poliwrath’s poor Attack stat with the given EVs can be solved by equipping a Life Orb, enabling it to deal slightly more damage than usual. If you want to keep Poliwrath as a bulky tank, Leftovers is the superior option as it allows for more survivability.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

It would be a very good idea to eliminate the opponent’s stat boosting Pokemon, since they can easily switch in on Poliwrath with little to no fear and proceed to set up something nasty. Common examples of these Pokemon are Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Nasty Plot Mismagius, and Swords Dance Drapion. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. It should also be mentioned that physically defensive Pokemon, such as Weezing and Milotic, can easily rub off anything Poliwrath fires out at them, leaving Poliwrath vulnerable to a stall match. Spiritomb and Weezing are decent answers to stat boosters, being able to switch in on them and threaten them with Will-O-Wisp. Venusaur can pose an immediate threat to Milotic, being able to OHKO it with Leaf Storm or put it to sleep with Sleep Powder. Venusaur and Poliwrath also make a great combo, as Venusaur can switch into Electric attacks fired at Poliwrath, while Poliwrath can sponge Fire- and Ice-type attacks thrown at Venusaur.

[SET]
name: Belly Drummer
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Return
item: Salac Berry
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath, as a Belly Drummer, can become an extremely threatening sweeper once it’s been successfully pulled off, capable of sweeping entire teams who aren’t ready for this threat. This set takes Poliwrath to a whole new level as a sweeper, since most of its other sets rely on improving its defensive capabilities and tanking. After pulling off a Substitute and a Belly Drum, Poliwrath’s Attack and Speed stats skyrocket to an incredible Attack stat of 1076 and a great Speed stat of 393, the latter thanks to Salac Berry. Poliwrath now outspeeds everything without a Choice Scarf in the UU metagame aside from the occasional Electrode.

Waterfall and Return are recommended since that combo hits everything for neutral or super effective damage. Waterfall will obviously be the main attack of choice since it receives a valuable STAB boost and has a chance to flinch, which could help Poliwrath greatly in some cases. Return is the best alternative so Poliwrath can deal heavy damage to Pokemon that resist Water-type moves, mainly Slowbro and Milotic.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

The procedure is quite simple, yet difficult to pull off. Switch Poliwrath in on a bulky Pokemon that isn’t able to deal enough damage to break its Substitute, such as Registeel, or if you’re lucky enough, a Choiced Water-type move thanks to Water Absorb. Substitute as they switch, and proceed to use either Belly Drum or attack right away depending on who they switch in. If the switch-in is not that threatening, such as a Pokemon that doesn't have priority moves, set up a Belly Drum and attempt to sweep. If the switch-in does have priority moves or is faster than Poliwrath, it’s a good idea to attack right away instead of wasting a potential Belly Drum sweep.

Before you start any Belly Drum sweep with Poliwrath, you must make sure that there are no priority attackers that can put an end to its sweep, since Poliwrath fails to receive a reasonable priority move. Sucker Punch Absol, Vacuum Wave Blaziken, and Mach Punch Hitmontop are prime examples of Pokemon that use priority moves. Jolly Drapion threatens Absol due to its resistance to Sucker Punch and ability to knock out Absol with X-Scissor; Slowbro can switch into Blaziken’s STAB moves and threaten it with Surf; and, Weezing can switch into Hitmontop and burn it with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness. Entry hazards can make it much harder to score the Belly Drum boost since Poliwrath will keep getting hit by them as it switches out from a Pokemon that stops it from Belly Drumming, meaning that sooner or later, Poliwrath won’t have enough health to set up. Toxic Spikes in particular will ruin Poliwrath since it will only have at most one chance to attack if it ends up receiving a Belly Drum boost behind a Substitute, which is not very useful. Drapion comes to mind again, as it is great at absorbing and setting up its own Toxic Spikes thanks to its overall bulk, while Claydol is capable of Rapid Spinning away any entry hazards and can than proceed to set up Stealth Rock. Poliwrath can be easily revenge-killed by Choice Scarfers with a base Speed stat of 71 or above with a positive nature and max Speed, like Mesprit, Rotom, and Venusaur.

[SET]
name: Boosting RestTalker
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Rest
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Waterfall
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
CroCune has been considered a threatening force in the OU metagame, but now, Poliwrath brings Suicune into the UU metagame by using an identical set. This set allows Poliwrath to become a sturdy tank, a fantastic status absorber, and a threatening sweeper at the same time, being able to destroy most teams that aren't prepared for such a threat.

The main attacking choice for this set would be Waterfall, as it receives a helpful STAB boost and hits a lot of types for neutral or super effective damage, while only being resisted by Dragon-, Water-, and Grass-types. The EV spread is pretty simple; maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps it tank on the special side since it is boosting its Defense but not Special Defense.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

With its great overall bulk, Poliwrath has many chances to switch in and start setting up Bulk Up to attempt a sweep. It’s best to switch it in on weaker Pokemon or Pokemon that can’t harm it greatly, such as Registeel, Blaziken, and Weezing. Once Poliwrath receives a couple of Bulk Up boosts, it’s ready to wreak havoc and eliminate Pokemon that can’t take powerful Waterfalls and can’t deal much damage towards it. However, Poliwrath will have difficulties with Pokemon that absorb Water-type moves, including Toxicroak, Lapras, Parasect, and Quagsire.

Although maximizing Poliwrath’s HP and Special Defense helps, Poliwrath will still take a lot of damage from high powered super effective special attacks, as well as high powered super effective physical attacks if it hasn’t received a few Bulk Ups under its belt. Leaf Storm from a Timid Venusaur running max Special Attack with a neutral nature will deal 77% - 91%, which is devastating. Registeel is an excellent answer in threatening these Pokemon, since it boasts excellent Special Defense, resists Grass-, Flying-, and Psychic-type moves aimed at Poliwrath, and can cripple Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Providing dual screen support for Poliwrath is recommended to help Poliwrath set up. Clefable and Gardevoir are excellent examples of dual screeners with their bulk and massive support movepool (including Wish).

[Team Options]

Poliwrath supplies its team with some physical power and decent utility options. With its ability to force switches with its SubPunch set and tankish nature, Poliwrath will greatly appreciate Toxic Spikes since most of its counters are grounded Psychic- and Water-types, such as Slowbro and Milotic.

Poliwrath also benefits from Pokemon who can eliminate its main counters, namely bulky Psychic-types like Slowbro and Uxie. Wall breakers, such as Magmortar, Blaziken, and Nidoking, can lure out Slowbro and KO it with Thunderbolt or a super effective Hidden Power. Absol and Drapion can trap Psychic-types with Pursuit or hit them hard with Night Slash, and Drapion even absorbs Toxic Spikes, which can really hurt Poliwrath.

With a fair amount of weaknesses to go with its unique resistances and immunity, Poliwrath is definitely better when it's backed with some defensive team support. Registeel resists Psychic-, Grass-, and Flying-type attacks, and doesn’t take much damage from Electric attacks (since they are predominantly Special). Moltres and Charizard both take Grass-type attacks aimed at Poliwrath with their 4x resistance, while giving Poliwrath a chance to heal HP with Water Absorb since they both lure out Water-type attacks. They also benefit from Poliwrath's resistance to Rock-type attacks.

The best strategy with Poliwrath is to basically know what is coming in and react accordingly. Poliwrath cannot touch its counters, so double-switching to one of its counters’ counters can be a useful tactic. Another tactic is to use Toxic on a Pokemon with similar counters. Pokemon like Arcanine and even Hitmonlee lure Pokemon like Slowbro out, and with Toxic in effect, Poliwrath can beat Slowbro with Substitute or wearing it down with its attacks.

Providing screen support for Poliwrath can make it much easier to set up Bulk Up and Belly Drum, and it makes Poliwrath's Substitutes harder to break when the screens are in play. This allows Poliwrath to get multiple Bulk Ups under its belt so it can proceed to sweep with a reasonable amount of health left. Clefable and Gardevoir are perfect teammates for setting up the screens with their overall bulk and large support movepool, not to mention they have access to Wish, which Poliwrath can greatly benefit from.

[Optional Changes]

Payback can be used to hit bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Uxie and Mismagius, who can cause trouble for Poliwrath in some cases. Body Slam isn’t a bad option as it has a chance to cause paralysis which can help Poliwrath in terms of outspeeding crippled enemies, not to mention that it works well in conjunction with Waterfall because of the flinch rate. Counter can potentially gain a surprise KO on a physical attacker that doesn’t see it coming, while Endeavor is a decent option to surprise your opponent once Poliwrath is at low health.

You may choose to use a Speed IV of 30 in order to move after opposing Poliwrath. That way, you are able to set up a Substitute and fire off Focus Punch safely. However, this is not necessary due to the fact that the only effective move Poliwrath can use against you is Brick Break, which isn't the primary option on most of Poliwrath's sets.

[Counters]
Poliwrath can generally be walled by any bulky Pokemon that resists or takes neutral damage from its attacks.

Bulky Psychic-types are Poliwrath's biggest counters, as they have great physical bulk, resistances to Fighting-type attacks, and access to super effective STAB Psychics that will easily end Poliwrath. Slowbro is Poliwrath's number one counter, boasting a resistance to both of Poliwrath's STAB attacks and takes pathetic damage from its other moves. Cresselia's enormous physical bulk will instantly force Poliwrath to switch out or take a powerful Psychic. Uxie is another great counter, rubbing off almost anything Poliwrath throws at it, and striking back for heavy damage with Psychic or Thunderbolt.

Venusaur, Leafeon, and Tangrowth are Pokemon that can cause Poliwrath a ton of grief. The former resists both of Poliwrath's STAB moves, has access to Sleep Powder, and can destroy Poliwrath with Leaf Storm, while the latter two pack excellent physical bulk and a hard-hitting Leaf Blade and Power Whip, respectively. Jumpluff, although nowhere near as bulky as the aforementioned Grass-types, can switch into either of Poliwrath's STAB or set up moves, such as Waterfall or Substitute, and can Encore it to force Poliwrath to switch out.

Dusclops and Spiritomb can both burn Poliwrath with Will-O-Wisp, draining its effectiveness instantly. Weezing pulls off the same role as Dusclops and Spiritomb, except it can also hit Poliwrath with a super effective Thunderbolt. Milotic's great physical bulk and access to Recover and a super effective Hidden Power to Poliwrath can end it reasonably fast as well; it also has access to Haze to combat ResTalk Poliwrath.

Poliwrath [4F]*

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