Poliwrath (Protect and RestTalk Revamp) [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

[Oglemi]

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

I'm going to be writing up a bunch of Nails's sets that should be on the Dex. Starting with this simple one.

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Protect / Rest
move 2: Toxic / Sleep Talk
move 3: Scald
move 4: Circle Throw
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Poliwrath is able to function as a physical wall in RU due to its unique typing, 90 / 95 / 90 defenses, and ability, Water Absorb. These qualities, along with Circle Throw, allow Poliwrath to counter and phaze many prominent threats, including Entei, Emboar, Escavalier, Crawdaunt, Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Aggron, and most variants of Durant. Protect can be used for scouting the opponent's movesets, as some may be packing moves specifically for dealing with Poliwrath and/or Qwilfish, a major example being Thunder Fang Durant. It also scouts your opponent's plays with Choice item users, allows for extra Leftovers recovery, and stalls for turns to build up Toxic damage. Carrying two status moves in Toxic and Scald allows Poliwrath to better take on both stall and offense teams, at the cost of some longevity. However, by replacing Protect and Toxic with RestTalk, Poliwrath is able to accomplish a couple of things that it otherwise could not. First, it can absorb status for the team and heal itself with Rest, a form of semi-reliable recovery. Second, Poliwrath is no longer completely useless while asleep, as Sleep Talk can choose Circle Throw, which will force out Poliwrath's counters.</p>

<p>Despite having a low Base Power, Circle Throw hits relatively hard thanks to STAB. For example, it 2HKOes Clefable and Cryogonal, both of which take minimal damage from Scald. Speaking of which, Scald is a great move on this set, as it has a chance to burn troublesome opponents, such as Qwilfish and Ferroseed, which would otherwise wall this set, and is Poliwrath's best weapon against Emboar and other Fire-types. While Waterfall might seem appealing, Scald is superior for a couple of reasons, the most prominent being the burn chance, and also because it deals more damage to Pokemon like Aggron and Klinklang, breaking the latter's Substitutes in one hit.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EV spread maximizes Poliwrath's physical bulk, as it will primarily be used to take on physical attackers. If using Toxic and Protect, Poliwrath fits better on balanced teams, as it's more tailored to take on and cripple a larger variety of Pokemon while providing a defensive backbone. With RestTalk, Poliwrath becomes an immovable wall more suited to stall teams that don't care as much if Poliwrath has to rely on Sleep Talk to accomplish its job. Heal Bell support is nice for both sets, preventing Poliwrath from suffering from Toxic or burn if it carries Protect, and waking it up quicker if it carries RestTalk. Clefable is a good fit to provide cleric support for stall teams, whereas Gardevoir might be a better fit for balanced teams.</p>

<p>Poliwrath loves entry hazard support, as it can phaze opponents with Circle Throw and rack up damage. The combination of Toxic, Scald, Circle Throw, and entry hazards all culminating around a single Pokemon is truly a brutal sight to behold. Thus, Roselia makes for a great partner, as it can lay Spikes or Toxic Spikes and has good type synergy with Poliwrath. Drapion is another good option to lay Toxic Spikes and beats a lot of the Pokemon that give Poliwrath trouble, particularly Lilligant and SubCM Uxie. Steelix and Golurk are great options to provide Stealth Rock, as they have pretty good type synergy with Poliwrath, and the former can continue the phazing chain with Roar. Poliwrath is weak to the ever-present Grass- and Psychic-type moves, so Pokemon that can switch in on the likes of Sceptile, Tangrowth, Rotom-C, Sigilyph, and Slowking make great teammates. Mandibuzz in particular comes to mind, as it resists Grass and is immune to Psychic; furthermore, it can also take advantage of the team's entry hazards with Whirlwind. Bouffalant is another great option, as it can garner a free Attack boost with Sap Sipper by switching into a Grass-type attack, and with entry hazard support, its attacks are fierce to say the least. Fire-types, such as Entei and Moltres, are great switch-ins to the aforementioned Grass-types and can eliminate them with ease.</p>

 

[EonX]

Roselia is a fabulous Spikes user with this thing. She dgaf about status and shits on Momo and most Grass-types that want to switch in on Poliwrath (Sceptile, Rotom-C, Tangrowth, etc.) Scald burns can also let Rosey take physical hits. (which it normally can't) Wish Support from Gallade, Clefable, etc. is nice so you don't have to rely on Protect as much to get Lefties recovery

QC Approved 1/3

 

[complete legitimacy]

Yeah I think this set would really enjoy Toxic Spikes support as well. This is probably one of the few times I'd ever consider Drapion because it beats a lot of the things that Poliwrath doesn't like such as Lilligant, SubCM Uxie, etc. Steelix would also be cool cause of rocks + Roar.

QC APPROVED 2/3

 

[Hot N Cold]

Personally I find both the same set, the RestTalker one and this in my opinion would be in the same, just with slash and called something like "Defensive".
Why?
Because is exactly the same, only you're using a more utility moves like is Toxic stall over Longevity with a classy RestTalker, being the same wall, the same utility etc This happens to a lot of walls like in NU with Mantine Toxic + Protect over Rest + Sleep Talk or Protect + Stealth Rock / Spikes etc like Bronzong or Qwilfish respectively.

Something like this would be the main and only set:

~ Scald
~ Protect / Rest -> longevity move
~ Circle Throw
~ Toxic / Sleep Talk -> utility move and required move in case that you're using Rest

 

[Oglemi]

OK what I did was I combined the current writing of the RestTalk set onsite with the inclusion of the Protect/Toxic set.

Ready for QC 3 IMO

 

[Swamp-Rocket]

Circle Throw and Scald should probably be the first 2 moves, given that they are what Poliwrath is doing rather than how it is protecting itself from dying.

Heal Bell support is helpful for Poliwrath to let it recover from Sleep if its using RestTalk or getting Toxic poisoned with Protect (Poliwrath generally does not switch out, which can cause a problem, and it nullifies any use of Protect). Options are pretty limited but Clefable can use it and is a good general physical SPECIAL wall - Poliwrath can beat stuff that can set up on it like Kabutops, too.

QC Approved 3/3

edit @ below: ok that makes sense

 

[Oglemi]

It's easier to describe the playstyle first with the set and is arguably the most important aspect of using Poliwrath, I kinda want to leave them listed first, even though it looks weird to have the first two slots being slashed.

Anyway, ready for GP

 

[P2X7]

Amateur check.

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Amateur check

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Protect / Rest
move 2: Toxic / Sleep Talk
move 3: Scald
move 4: Circle Throw
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Poliwrath is able to function as a physical wall in RU due to its unique typing, 90 / 95 / 90 defenses, and ability, Water Absorb. These qualities, along with Circle Throw, allow Poliwrath to counter and phaze many of the most prominent threats, including Entei, Emboar, Escavalier, Crawdaunt, Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Aggron, and most Durant. Protect can be used for scouting the opponent's movesets, as some may be packing a move specifically for dealing with Poliwrath and/or Qwilfish, a major example being Thunder Fang Durant. It also scouts your opponent's plays with Choice item users. In the meantime, Protect allows for extra Leftovers recovery, and also stalls for turns to build up Toxic damage. Carrying two status moves in Toxic and Scald allows Poliwrath to better take on both stall and offense teams, at the cost of losing greater possessing less longevity. However, with a RestTalk set and by replacing Protect and Toxic with RestTalk, Poliwrath is able to accomplish a couple of things that it otherwise could not. First, it can absorb status for the team and heal itself with Rest, which is a form of semi-reliable recovery. Second, Poliwrath is now not completely useless when while asleep, as Sleep Talk can choose Circle Throw, which will force out Poliwrath's counters.</p>

<p>Despite having a low Base Power, Circle Throw gets STAB, which allows it to hits relatively hard thanks to STAB. For example, it 2HKOes Clefable and Cryogonal, both of which take minimal damage from Scald. (I'm not sure how to do this in the best possible way, but maybe reword this part of the analysis so that "Scald" isn't mentioned two times in a row with only a period separating them?) Scald is a great move on this set, as it has a chance to burn troublesome opponents, such as Qwilfish and Ferroseed, which would otherwise wall this set, and is Poliwrath's best weapon against Emboar and other Fire-types. Scald is chosen over While Waterfall might seem appealing, Scald is superior (Because you made no mention of Waterfall, I figured that I might as well. As a result, this part isn't exactly necessary)for a couple of reasons, the most prominent being the burn chance, but also because it deals more damage to Pokemon like Aggron and Klinklang, breaking the latter's Substitutes with one hit.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EV spread maximizes Poliwrath's physical bulk, (AC) as it will be primarily used to take on physical attackers. With If using Toxic and Protect, Poliwrath fits better on balanced teams, as it's more tailored to take on a larger variety of Pokemon and cripple as many Pokemon as possible while providing a defensive backbone. With If using RestTalk, Poliwrath becomes an immovable wall more suited to stall teams that don't care as much if Poliwrath has to rely on Sleep Talk to accomplish its job. For either set, Heal Bell support is nice to protect it Poliwrath from suffering from Toxic or burn for the if it carries Protect version, and to wake it up quicker for the if it carries RestTalk set. Clefable is a good fit to provide the cleric support for stall teams, and Gardevoir may be a better fit for balanced teams.</p>

<p>Poliwrath loves entry hazard support, as it can phaze opponents with Circle Throw and rack up damage. The combination of Toxic, Scald, Circle Throw, and entry hazards all culminating around a single Pokemon is truly a brutal sight to behold. Thus, Roselia makes for a great partner, as she it can lay Spikes or Toxic Spikes and she has good type synergy with Poliwrath. Drapion is another good option to lay Toxic Spikes and it beats a lot of the Pokemon that give Poliwrath trouble, particularly Lilligant and SubCM Uxie. Steelix and Golurk are great options to provide Stealth Rock, (AC) as they have pretty good type synergy, (AC) and the former continues the phazing chain with Roar. Poliwrath is weak to the ever-present Grass- and Psychic-type moves, so Pokemon that can switch in on the likes of Sceptile, Tangrowth, Rotom-C, Sigilyph, and Slowking make great teammates. Mandibuzz in particular comes to mind, as it resists Grass and is immune to Psychic; it can also take advantage of the team's entry hazards with Whirlwind. Bouffalant is another great option, as it can garner a free Attack boost with Sap Sipper by switching into a Grass-type attack, and with entry hazards support, its attacks are fierce to say the least. Fire-types, such as Entei and Moltres, are great switch-ins to the aforementioned Grass-types and can eliminate them with ease.</p>

 

[Oglemi]

That was a really good check, stamp for you :>

GP Approved 1/2

 

[blitzlefan]

Hide

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Protect / Rest
move 2: Toxic / Sleep Talk
move 3: Scald
move 4: Circle Throw
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Poliwrath is able to function as a physical wall in RU due to its unique typing, 90 / 95 / 90 defensive stats, and ability, Water Absorb. These qualities, along with Circle Throw, allow Poliwrath to counter and phaze many prominent threats, including Entei, Emboar, Escavalier, Crawdaunt, Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Aggron, and most variants of Durant. Protect can be used for scouting the opponent's movesets, as some may be packing moves specifically for dealing with Poliwrath and/or Qwilfish, a major example being Thunder Fang Durant. It also scouts your opponent's plays with Choice item users, allows for extra Leftovers recovery, and stalls for turns to build up Toxic damage. Carrying two status moves in Toxic and Scald allows Poliwrath to better take on both stall and offense teams at the cost of some longevity. However, by replacing Protect and Toxic with Rest and Sleep Talk, Poliwrath is able to accomplish a couple of things that it otherwise could not. First, it can absorb status for the team and heal itself with Rest, a form of semi-reliable recovery. Second, Poliwrath is no longer completely useless while asleep, as Sleep Talk can choose Circle Throw, which will force out Poliwrath's counters.</p>

<p>Despite having a low Base Power, Circle Throw hits relatively hard thanks to STAB. For example, it 2HKOes Clefable and Cryogonal, both of which take minimal damage from Scald. Speaking of which, Scald is a great move on this set, as it has a chance to burn troublesome opponents such as Qwilfish and Ferroseed, which would otherwise wall this set, and is Poliwrath's best weapon against Emboar and other Fire-types. While Waterfall might seem appealing, Scald is superior due to its burn chance and because it deals more damage to Pokemon like Aggron and Klinklang, breaking the latter's Substitutes in one hit.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EV spread maximizes Poliwrath's physical bulk, as it will primarily be used to take on physical attackers. If using Toxic and Protect, Poliwrath fits better on balanced teams, as it's more tailored to take on and cripple a larger variety of Pokemon while providing a defensive backbone. With RestTalk, Poliwrath becomes an immovable wall more suited to stall teams that don't care as much if Poliwrath has to rely on Sleep Talk to accomplish its job. Heal Bell support is nice for both sets, preventing Poliwrath from suffering from Toxic or burn damage if it carries Protect, and waking it up more quickly if it carries RestTalk. Clefable is a good fit to provide cleric support for stall teams, whereas Gardevoir might be a better fit for balanced teams.</p>

<p>Poliwrath loves entry hazard support, as it can phaze opponents with Circle Throw and rack up damage. The combination of Toxic, Scald, Circle Throw, and entry hazards all culminating around a single Pokemon is truly a brutal sight to behold. Thus, Roselia makes for a great partner, as it can lay Spikes or Toxic Spikes and has good type synergy with Poliwrath. Drapion is another good option to lay Toxic Spikes and beats a lot of the Pokemon that give Poliwrath trouble, particularly Lilligant and SubCM Uxie. Steelix and Golurk are great options to provide Stealth Rock, as they have pretty good type synergy with Poliwrath, and the former can continue the phazing chain with Roar. Poliwrath is weak to the ever-present Grass- and Psychic-type moves, so Pokemon that can switch in on the likes of Sceptile, Tangrowth, Rotom-C, Sigilyph, and Slowking make great teammates. Mandibuzz in particular comes to mind, as it resists Grass and is immune to Psychic; furthermore, it can also take advantage of the team's entry hazards with Whirlwind. Bouffalant is another great option, as it can garner a free Attack boost with Sap Sipper by switching into a Grass-type attack, and with entry hazard support, its attacks are fierce, to say the least. Fire-types, such as Entei and Moltres, are great switch-ins to the aforementioned Grass-types and can eliminate them with ease.</p>

CHANGES

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Protect / Rest
move 2: Toxic / Sleep Talk
move 3: Scald
move 4: Circle Throw
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Poliwrath is able to function as a physical wall in RU due to its unique typing, 90 / 95 / 90 defensive stats, and ability, Water Absorb. These qualities, along with Circle Throw, allow Poliwrath to counter and phaze many of the most prominent threats, including Entei, Emboar, Escavalier, Crawdaunt, Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Aggron, and most variants of Durant. Protect can be used for scouting the opponent's movesets, as some may be packing a moves specifically for dealing with Poliwrath and/or Qwilfish, a major example being Thunder Fang Durant. It also scouts your opponent's plays with Choice item users. In the meantime, Protect allows for extra Leftovers recovery, and also stalls for turns to build up Toxic damage. Carrying two status moves in Toxic and Scald allows Poliwrath to better take on both stall and offense teams, at the cost of possessing lesssome longevity. However, by replacing Protect and Toxic with Rest and Sleep Talk, Poliwrath is able to accomplish a couple of things that it otherwise could not. First, it can absorb status for the team and heal itself with Rest, which is a form of semi-reliable recovery. Second, Poliwrath is now not longer completely useless while asleep, as Sleep Talk can choose Circle Throw, which will force out Poliwrath's counters.</p>

<p>Despite having a low Base Power, Circle Throw hits relatively hard thanks to STAB. For example, it 2HKOes Clefable and Cryogonal, both of which take minimal damage from Scald. Speaking of which, Scald is a great move on this set, as it has a chance to burn troublesome opponents, such as Qwilfish and Ferroseed, which would otherwise wall this set, and is Poliwrath's best weapon against Emboar and other Fire-types. While Waterfall might seem appealing, Scald is superior for a couple of reasons, the most prominent being thedue to its burn chance, but alsond because it deals more damage to Pokemon like Aggron and Klinklang, breaking the latter's Substitutes within one hit.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EV spread maximizes Poliwrath's physical bulk, as it will be primarily be used to take on physical attackers. If using Toxic and Protect, Poliwrath fits better on balanced teams, as it's more tailored to take on and cripple a larger variety of Pokemon and cripple as many Pokemon as possible while providing a defensive backbone. With RestTalk, Poliwrath becomes an immovable wall more suited to stall teams that don't care as much if Poliwrath has to rely on Sleep Talk to accomplish its job. For either set, Heal Bell support is nice tofor both sets, protecteventing Poliwrath from suffering from Toxic or burn damage if it carries Protect, and to wakeing it up more quickerly if it carries RestTalk. Clefable is a good fit to provide cleric support for stall teams, andwhereas Gardevoir mayight be a better fit for balanced teams.</p>

<p>Poliwrath loves entry hazard support, as it can phaze opponents with Circle Throw and rack up damage. The combination of Toxic, Scald, Circle Throw, and entry hazards all culminating around a single Pokemon is truly a brutal sight to behold. Thus, Roselia makes for a great partner, as it can lay Spikes or Toxic Spikes and has good type synergy with Poliwrath. Drapion is another good option to lay Toxic Spikes and it beats a lot of the Pokemon that give Poliwrath trouble, particularly Lilligant and SubCM Uxie. Steelix and Golurk are great options to provide Stealth Rock, as they have pretty good type synergy with Poliwrath, and the former can continues the phazing chain with Roar. Poliwrath is weak to the ever-present Grass- and Psychic-type moves, so Pokemon that can switch in on the likes of Sceptile, Tangrowth, Rotom-C, Sigilyph, and Slowking make great teammates. Mandibuzz in particular comes to mind, as it resists Grass and is immune to Psychic; furthermore, it can also take advantage of the team's entry hazards with Whirlwind. Bouffalant is another great option, as it can garner a free Attack boost with Sap Sipper by switching into a Grass-type attack, and with entry hazard support, its attacks are fierce, to say the least. Fire-types, such as Entei and Moltres, are great switch-ins to the aforementioned Grass-types and can eliminate them with ease.</p>

GP 2/2

 

[Oglemi]

thanks blitz :>

 

[Oglemi]

uploaded