sforz
[22:14] sforz: i love memes
[OVERVIEW]
Porygon2 is a solid Trick Room supporter because its incredible bulk, lack of many weaknesses, and access to Recover make it very difficult to brute force down for the KO. It takes little damage from most attackers, avoiding 2HKOs from even the heaviest hitters in the metagame such as Mega Charizard Y, and it is able to Recover its HP against weaker attackers. Notably, Porygon2 is one of the rare Trick Room setters without a weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type attacks, letting it set up Trick Room in the face of Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Aegislash, which otherwise trouble Trick Room setters.
However, Porygon2 is reliant on Eviolite for its bulk, meaning it is weak to Knock Off and cannot use any other items such as Safety Goggles. As a result, Taunt and Spore completely nullify Porygon2's presence and deny its attempts at setting up Trick Room. Porygon2 also lacks relevant resistances and needs to stay at high HP to be effective, so it needs to use Recover more often than not. This, combined with its mediocre offenses, turns Porygon2 to a huge momentum sink and in turn opens up the opponent to simply ignore Porygon2 and set up or gang up on its partner.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Recover
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Foul Play
item: Eviolite
ability: Trace / Download
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 20 SpA / 76 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room lets your slower Pokemon attack first. Recover augments Porygon2's great bulk, lets Porygon stick around to set up Trick Room multiple times over the course of the match, and takes advantage of opposing Protect, a move commonly used to stall out Trick Room turns. Ice Beam is useful against many common Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Thundurus, and Amoonguss. Foul Play is another offensive option that punishes Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan and Aegislash and generally deals high damage to the likes of Hoopa-U and Mega Metagross.
Set Details
========
252 HP EVs maximize Porygon2's bulk, 160 Defense EVs allow it to survive Life Orb Terrakion's Close Combat from full health, and 76 Special Defense EVs with a Sassy nature let Porygon2 survive a Heat Wave followed by Overheat from Mega Charizard Y with good probability. Finally, 20 Special Attack EVs guarantee the OHKO on Landorus-T and Salamence with Ice Beam. Eviolite is necessary for the additional bulk. Trace can copy helpful abilities such as Intimidate and Magic Bounce, but it is equally likely to copy a useless ability. Download's Special Attack boost lets Porygon2 take out Substitutes from common users such as Kyurem-B.
Usage Tips
========
Setting up Trick Room should be Porygon2's priority whenever it would be advantageous. Be wary of common checks to Trick Room such as Amoonguss and Thundurus: against obvious Spore or Taunt it is generally better to switch out or attack. Porygon2's biggest perk as a Trick Room supporter is that it can reliably set up Trick Room multiple times in a match. Therefore, it is important to use Recover liberally to get its HP back from setup turns so that it has a chance to come in at a later time. However, if it is still at high HP, it is a good idea to switch out to a more favorable attacker that better takes advantage of the Trick Room turns.
Generally, Porygon2 is too weak to be used for attacking, so try to not waste turns by using attacking moves. Still, using super effective moves to pick off weakened foes is often worth it. Because only a few Pokemon can deal meaningful damage to Porygon2, it can function as a wincon in the late-game, and if you aim for it to do so, try to keep it as healthy as possible and avoid switching it into a position where it can be knocked out by hard hitters before getting to do anything. For instance, a combination of hard-hitting attacks or super effective moves, such as Mega Kangaskhan's Return and Keldeo's Secret Sword, will take it out before it has a chance to do anything.
Team Options
========
Fake Out support from Scrafty and Mega Kangaskhan lets Porygon2 overcome opposing Taunt or Spore and gives it some freedom to set up. In addition, Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Scrafty soften up physical hits with Intimidate so that Porygon2 is even harder to take down. It is important to make sure your team has enough slow attackers to take advantage of Trick Room. For instance, Heatran, Mega Camerupt, and Mega Abomasnow are good attackers in Trick Room. They also handle Amoonguss and Thundurus, and the former two can take out problematic Steel-types. It is wise to cover Porygon2's weakness to Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Terrakion with Pokemon such as Sylveon and Amoonguss.
Due to Porygon2's weakness to classic Trick Room solutions such as Taunt, sleep, and Fake Out, it is necessary to have a backup plan to tackle fast attackers without relying on Porygon2 setting up Trick Room. This is typically done by carrying a secondary Trick Room setter or by having your team be functional outside of it. As for secondary Trick Room setters, Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Reuniclus provide some offensive presence as well as Trick Room support, while Jellicent or Cresselia provides another sturdy Trick Room supporter that beats opposing Fighting-types. Finally, Talonflame provides strong priority as a contingency plan outside of Trick Room, threatens Amoonguss, and beats Fighting-types such as Blaziken and Keldeo.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Thunder Wave instead of Trick Room is another option for speed control. However, Porygon2 is generally outclassed by other Thunder Wave users, such as Thundurus and Ferrothorn. Magic Coat denies Taunt, while Protect takes advantage of double targeting, but losing coverage leaves Porygon2 even more of a sitting duck, while losing Recover makes Porygon2 too easy to take down with repeated attacks. Blizzard can be an option over Ice Beam with Mega Abomasnow as a teammate, but note that Porygon2 needs a Quiet nature with 16 Special Attack EVs to guarantee the OHKO on Landorus-T and Salamence. Hidden Power Ground hits most Steel-types hard and particularly punishes Heatran. Alternatively, Thunderbolt has good coverage alongside Ice Beam, notably hitting Keldeo and Azumarill. Finally, Tri Attack is Porygon2's best STAB move that hits most Pokemon equally hard. Unfortunately, this means that Porygon2 is hitting everything for equally little damage.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-type Pokemon:** Fighting-type moves from the likes of Keldeo, Terrakion, Conkeldurr, and Scrafty can threaten Porygon2 with massive damage, forcing it to switch out. Scrafty and Conkeldurr are notable for functioning well in the Trick Room that Porygon2 can set up, while Keldeo and Terrakion are commonly seen with Taunt, which stops it from using Trick Room.
**Strong Attackers:** Bulky hard hitters that aren't weak to any of Porygon2's moves, such as Mega Kangaskhan, Kyurem-B, Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon, can mostly ignore Porygon2's damage. In particular, having Pokemon that can do more damage than Porygon2 can Recover off with a single attack, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Overheat Mega Charizard Y, is an efficient way of taking it down.
**Taunt**: Common Taunt users such as Thundurus, Gengar, and Keldeo stop Porygon2 from using Trick Room and Recover altogether, leaving it with little to do.
**Spore**: Spore users such as Amoonguss and Breloom will put Porygon2 to sleep before it can set up Trick Room.
**Fake Out**: Mega Kangaskhan, Scrafty, and Weavile are commonly seen with Fake Out, and they can delay Porygon2 from using Trick Room.
**Knock Off**: Scrafty, Weavile, and Bisharp can Knock Off Porygon2's Eviolite and make it much easier to take down. Without its Eviolite, Porygon2 is easily taken down by most offensive Pokemon.
**Residual Damage**: Residual damage via Leech Seed from Ferrothorn, Will-O-Wisp from Rotom-W and Gengar, or Scald burns from Suicune and Politoed can add up very quickly, forcing Porygon2 to waste more turns using Recover.
**Setup Sweepers**: Bulky setup Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan, Calm Mind Cresselia, and Belly Drum Azumarill can ignore Porygon2 for the most part and start setting up. However, physical setup Pokemon such as Power-Up Punch Mega Kangaskhan need to watch out for Foul Play, as it will do a lot of damage to them.
Porygon2 is a solid Trick Room supporter because its incredible bulk, lack of many weaknesses, and access to Recover make it very difficult to brute force down for the KO. It takes little damage from most attackers, avoiding 2HKOs from even the heaviest hitters in the metagame such as Mega Charizard Y, and it is able to Recover its HP against weaker attackers. Notably, Porygon2 is one of the rare Trick Room setters without a weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type attacks, letting it set up Trick Room in the face of Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Aegislash, which otherwise trouble Trick Room setters.
However, Porygon2 is reliant on Eviolite for its bulk, meaning it is weak to Knock Off and cannot use any other items such as Safety Goggles. As a result, Taunt and Spore completely nullify Porygon2's presence and deny its attempts at setting up Trick Room. Porygon2 also lacks relevant resistances and needs to stay at high HP to be effective, so it needs to use Recover more often than not. This, combined with its mediocre offenses, turns Porygon2 to a huge momentum sink and in turn opens up the opponent to simply ignore Porygon2 and set up or gang up on its partner.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Recover
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Foul Play
item: Eviolite
ability: Trace / Download
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 20 SpA / 76 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room lets your slower Pokemon attack first. Recover augments Porygon2's great bulk, lets Porygon stick around to set up Trick Room multiple times over the course of the match, and takes advantage of opposing Protect, a move commonly used to stall out Trick Room turns. Ice Beam is useful against many common Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Thundurus, and Amoonguss. Foul Play is another offensive option that punishes Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan and Aegislash and generally deals high damage to the likes of Hoopa-U and Mega Metagross.
Set Details
========
252 HP EVs maximize Porygon2's bulk, 160 Defense EVs allow it to survive Life Orb Terrakion's Close Combat from full health, and 76 Special Defense EVs with a Sassy nature let Porygon2 survive a Heat Wave followed by Overheat from Mega Charizard Y with good probability. Finally, 20 Special Attack EVs guarantee the OHKO on Landorus-T and Salamence with Ice Beam. Eviolite is necessary for the additional bulk. Trace can copy helpful abilities such as Intimidate and Magic Bounce, but it is equally likely to copy a useless ability. Download's Special Attack boost lets Porygon2 take out Substitutes from common users such as Kyurem-B.
Usage Tips
========
Setting up Trick Room should be Porygon2's priority whenever it would be advantageous. Be wary of common checks to Trick Room such as Amoonguss and Thundurus: against obvious Spore or Taunt it is generally better to switch out or attack. Porygon2's biggest perk as a Trick Room supporter is that it can reliably set up Trick Room multiple times in a match. Therefore, it is important to use Recover liberally to get its HP back from setup turns so that it has a chance to come in at a later time. However, if it is still at high HP, it is a good idea to switch out to a more favorable attacker that better takes advantage of the Trick Room turns.
Generally, Porygon2 is too weak to be used for attacking, so try to not waste turns by using attacking moves. Still, using super effective moves to pick off weakened foes is often worth it. Because only a few Pokemon can deal meaningful damage to Porygon2, it can function as a wincon in the late-game, and if you aim for it to do so, try to keep it as healthy as possible and avoid switching it into a position where it can be knocked out by hard hitters before getting to do anything. For instance, a combination of hard-hitting attacks or super effective moves, such as Mega Kangaskhan's Return and Keldeo's Secret Sword, will take it out before it has a chance to do anything.
Team Options
========
Fake Out support from Scrafty and Mega Kangaskhan lets Porygon2 overcome opposing Taunt or Spore and gives it some freedom to set up. In addition, Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Scrafty soften up physical hits with Intimidate so that Porygon2 is even harder to take down. It is important to make sure your team has enough slow attackers to take advantage of Trick Room. For instance, Heatran, Mega Camerupt, and Mega Abomasnow are good attackers in Trick Room. They also handle Amoonguss and Thundurus, and the former two can take out problematic Steel-types. It is wise to cover Porygon2's weakness to Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Terrakion with Pokemon such as Sylveon and Amoonguss.
Due to Porygon2's weakness to classic Trick Room solutions such as Taunt, sleep, and Fake Out, it is necessary to have a backup plan to tackle fast attackers without relying on Porygon2 setting up Trick Room. This is typically done by carrying a secondary Trick Room setter or by having your team be functional outside of it. As for secondary Trick Room setters, Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Reuniclus provide some offensive presence as well as Trick Room support, while Jellicent or Cresselia provides another sturdy Trick Room supporter that beats opposing Fighting-types. Finally, Talonflame provides strong priority as a contingency plan outside of Trick Room, threatens Amoonguss, and beats Fighting-types such as Blaziken and Keldeo.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Thunder Wave instead of Trick Room is another option for speed control. However, Porygon2 is generally outclassed by other Thunder Wave users, such as Thundurus and Ferrothorn. Magic Coat denies Taunt, while Protect takes advantage of double targeting, but losing coverage leaves Porygon2 even more of a sitting duck, while losing Recover makes Porygon2 too easy to take down with repeated attacks. Blizzard can be an option over Ice Beam with Mega Abomasnow as a teammate, but note that Porygon2 needs a Quiet nature with 16 Special Attack EVs to guarantee the OHKO on Landorus-T and Salamence. Hidden Power Ground hits most Steel-types hard and particularly punishes Heatran. Alternatively, Thunderbolt has good coverage alongside Ice Beam, notably hitting Keldeo and Azumarill. Finally, Tri Attack is Porygon2's best STAB move that hits most Pokemon equally hard. Unfortunately, this means that Porygon2 is hitting everything for equally little damage.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-type Pokemon:** Fighting-type moves from the likes of Keldeo, Terrakion, Conkeldurr, and Scrafty can threaten Porygon2 with massive damage, forcing it to switch out. Scrafty and Conkeldurr are notable for functioning well in the Trick Room that Porygon2 can set up, while Keldeo and Terrakion are commonly seen with Taunt, which stops it from using Trick Room.
**Strong Attackers:** Bulky hard hitters that aren't weak to any of Porygon2's moves, such as Mega Kangaskhan, Kyurem-B, Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon, can mostly ignore Porygon2's damage. In particular, having Pokemon that can do more damage than Porygon2 can Recover off with a single attack, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Overheat Mega Charizard Y, is an efficient way of taking it down.
**Taunt**: Common Taunt users such as Thundurus, Gengar, and Keldeo stop Porygon2 from using Trick Room and Recover altogether, leaving it with little to do.
**Spore**: Spore users such as Amoonguss and Breloom will put Porygon2 to sleep before it can set up Trick Room.
**Fake Out**: Mega Kangaskhan, Scrafty, and Weavile are commonly seen with Fake Out, and they can delay Porygon2 from using Trick Room.
**Knock Off**: Scrafty, Weavile, and Bisharp can Knock Off Porygon2's Eviolite and make it much easier to take down. Without its Eviolite, Porygon2 is easily taken down by most offensive Pokemon.
**Residual Damage**: Residual damage via Leech Seed from Ferrothorn, Will-O-Wisp from Rotom-W and Gengar, or Scald burns from Suicune and Politoed can add up very quickly, forcing Porygon2 to waste more turns using Recover.
**Setup Sweepers**: Bulky setup Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan, Calm Mind Cresselia, and Belly Drum Azumarill can ignore Porygon2 for the most part and start setting up. However, physical setup Pokemon such as Power-Up Punch Mega Kangaskhan need to watch out for Foul Play, as it will do a lot of damage to them.
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