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ADD | REMOVE | COMMENTS/SPELLING OR MINOR GRAMMATICAL CHANGES
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Rotom-H
[Overview]
<p>Although Rotom-H didn't get any gained no improvements in BW2, the metagame became much friendlier to more friendly towards it. Some big names were introduced to the OU scene and Rotom-H is capable of checking most of them, particularly Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T, by virtue of its typing. In addition, Rotom-H can serve as a roadblock against many Pokemon commonly found in sun teams, such as Ninetales, Venusaur, and Volcarona, further increasing its usefulness as a more defensive Pokemon. Rotom-H also has Volt Switch, Thunder Wave, and Will-O-Wisp in its arsenal, which, coupled with its eight immunities and resistances, makes it a great pivot and status spreader spreader of status. Rotom-H can go on the offensive too with a Choice Specs set and sun support, as it has great dual STABs, with Volt Switch to keep momentum, and great resistances to work with, shielding temporarily aiding sun teams from otherwise with potentially problematic Pokemon such as Tornadus-T.</p>
<p>However, this is where the heat cools down for Rotom-H. The Its Stealth Rock weakness is potentially its biggest downfall, greatly limiting its viability as a defensive and a hit and run or hit-and-run (hyphenated) Pokemon. The prevalence (sp) of rain teams is another thorn on in Rotom-H's side, as Water-type attacks will be flying everywhere and Rotom-H's main STAB move will have its power halved, leaving it unable to properly damage fully many Pokemon that it checks. Finally, the lack of a reliable recovery move and the its mediocre Speed stat make its both defensive and offensive duties respectively much harder to fulfill.</p>
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Overheat
move 3: Thunder Wave / Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Pain Split
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With this set, Rotom-H is able to check many prominent threats (sp), the most important of them which being Scizor, Tornadus-T, Venusaur, Thundurus-T, and Sheer Force Landorus. It is also a very good weapon to have against sun teams, which can struggle to do any meaningful damage against it. Volt Switch is the primary move here, dealing solid damage and giving the switch advantage; it also helps mitigate the Special Attack drops that Overheat causes. Overheat is Rotom-H's nuke, and is the move that usually OHKOes the Pokemon that Rotom-H checks or walls, such as Venusaur, Scizor, and slightly weakened Landorus. Being able to use it only one time and then once before having to switch out sucks though is a major drawback, so use it wisely. Thunder Wave cripples most special attackers that Rotom-H can check, and in general is annoying for offensive Pokemon, while Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers that Rotom-H wouldn't be able to hurt otherwise, such as Garchomp, Tyranitar, and Hippowdon. Pain Split rounds off the set, providing Rotom-H with a way, although unreliable, to stay healthyalbeit rather unreliable.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs go to HP and Special Defense because due to Rotom-H's main role is being as a pivot against certain special attackers. Thunderbolt or Thunder(on a rain team), the latter with rain support, can be used over the status move in order to to have provide an Electric-type STAB move that doesn't force you out. Toxic can also be used to screw over some of Rotom-H's biggest counters, namely Latias, Gastrodon, and specially defensive Hippowdon. Hidden Power Ice gives Rotom-H important coverage against Ground-types such as Garchomp, Dragonite, Gliscor, and Landorus; it is advised to use 96 SpA EVs with it so that Rotom-H can OHKO Landorus after Stealth Rock. It should also be noted that specially defensive Rotom-H can be used on is a viable option for rain teams, despite having its strongest move (sp) halved in power, as it greatly helps against sun teams and checks some other problematic threats for rain teams such as Thundurus-T, Tornadus-T, Jolteon, and Celebi. If used on a rain team, Hidden Power Ice can be used instead of Overheat, but though Overheat is can still be very useful against Scizor, Forretress, and Ferrothorn; the latter is really being more important as it is a roadblock for many rain teams.</p>
<p>Rapid Spin support is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about teammates or support and rightfully so, as it is absolutely vital to Rotom-H's success, as - with SR up, it fails to check a lot of few Pokemon it should otherwise, such as Tornadus-T and Venusaur. Starmie, Tentacruel, and Forretress are all good choices due to good decentdefensive synergy when teamed with it, but though Starmie really stands out as the best spinner to pair Rotom-H with, as it is the most durable (outside of rain), and can beat Gengar, and possibly Jellicent too if used on a rain team with Thunder in some cases. As for counters, Rotom-H has the following a good few in OU:; Gastrodon, specially defensive Hippowdon, Chansey, and Blissey. Garchomp, Gliscor, and Landorus-T are all decent checks as long as they avoid the relatively common Hidden Power Ice or Will-O-Wisp. Ferrothorn is a perfect partner as it resists Rotom-H's weaknesses, walling many Pokemon that trouble Rotom-H it, and sets-up entry hazards which work fantastic well with Rotom-H's Volt Switch and the momentum it gives. Jirachi is another fine partner; it has great defensive synergy with it Rotom-H and providescan provide Wish support for Rotom-H it, allowing it to heal more reliably presenting a more reliable recovery method and even giving you the option to forgo Pain Split if it Rotom-H is desperately in need of the extra attacking move that extra moveslot. Celebi, Breloom, and Amoonguss can all scare out away the majority of Ground-types that can switch into Rotom-H easily, and can then proceed to put something to sleep, spread paralysis (sp), set-up set up Stealth Rocks or a stat-boosting move,, set-up with a boosting move, or straight-up (hyphenated) pound the switch-in with powerful attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Overheat
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Trick / Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Specs
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Rotom-H can also choose to forgo all its defensive ideals, and instead become a powerful lure and wallbreaker. Unfortunately, Rotom-H's selection of moves movepool and middling speed, not to mention its weakness to Stealth Rock, mean that it is not going to sweep anytime soon, not to mention its extreme weakness to Stealth Rock. Still, this set should not be underestimated, as even Chansey loses can lose around half of her health if she dares switching-in on a sun-boosted Specs Overheat. While this set initially appears to be outclassed by Heatran, the latter lacks a way to maintain momentum and a realistically usable secondary STAB, has problems dealing with bulky Water-types, and is threatened by Dugtrio. Rotom-H doesn't have these problems, which should be sufficient to separate him from Heatran the magma titan ("magma titan" sucks, but using Heatran's name again sounded a little repetitive that soon after using it for the first time - to me, anyway).</p>
<p>Volt Switch is a useful scouting tool that is also extremely decently powerful against bulky Water-types. Overheat, when boosted by Choice Specs, STAB and Sun, is exceedingly powerful, and destroys mostly anything that doesn't resist it (and plus some things that do) and is not named Chansey or Blissey. Thanks to Volt Switch and Thunderbolt, bulky Water-types, especially Politoed, must think twice about coming in to absorb an Overheat or face large amounts of damage as a consequence. Speaking of Thunderbolt, it is the other main option that is can be used over Volt Switch when you don't want wish to switch out. Rotom-H generally doesn't need more coverage than its STABs offer, require much coverage outside its STABs thanks to Overheat's godly power under sun being able to put a sizable dent into most things. Thunderbolt also allows Rotom-H to 2HKO offensive Heatran after Stealth Rock damage, meaning that Rotom-H isn't completely walled by it. Trick is the an option on in the last slot; even though the pink blobs take a lot of damage from Overheat, it is still not sufficient to 2HKO them, so Trick is can be used to surprise and cripple both for the rest of match. Hidden Power Ice can be used instead, as it OHKOes Garchomp, Dragonite without Multiscale, and pressures Latias more effectively than Overheat, since Roost stalling will be very difficult against a reasonably powerful Ice-type move.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Rotom-H absolutely hates Stealth Rock, especially considering that its main STABs force him to switch a lot, so Rapid Spin or Magic Bounce support is a must. Xatu stands out as a decent partner due to its ability to Toxic (capitalisation) stall Chansey and Blissey, two Pokémon that are still constantly headaches for Rotom-H to deal with. Xatu also has access to U-Turn, which forms a Volt-Turn combo with Rotom-H. Ninetales is also an essential partner, as it's the eternal sun that makes Overheat so powerful and hard to switch into. If you aren't using a sun team, you are probably better off with Rotom-W, or even Rotom-C, as neither of them are weak to Stealth Rock, and the former has a much more reliable STAB than Overheat, and even arguably a better typing.</p>
<p>Due to Overheat being extremely powerful on its own, there aren't much many other viable options that Rotom-H can run use. Other types of Hidden Power can be considered, but remember that a neutral sun-boosted Overheat out damages even does more damage than a 4x super-effective Hidden Power, and most of the time even if the target resists Overheat, that move is sufficient enough to do the job anyway. Hidden Power Fighting can be considered as an option against Tyranitar. It 2HKOes all positively-natured 252 HP/192 SpD versions variants, and others versions are 2HKOed regardless. However, it has little use outside that, though. In the same vein, Hidden Power Ground can be used against Heatran. Thunderbolt only 2HKOes versions that don't invest on Special Defense, while Hidden Power Ground 2HKOes can even the most specially bulky of Heatran sets. But again, it has no little-to-no use outside that, and you are better off using a partnered Dugtrio. Hidden Power Grass is a nasty surprise against Gastrodon, but other Water/Ground-type Pokémon like such as Swampert and Quagsire are 2HKOed by sun-boosted Overheat anyway.</p>
<p>Dugtrio and Terrakion stand out as great partners to Rotom-H. The former traps three things Pokemon that are can be headaches for him: Tyranitar, Heatran, and opposing Terrakion. A Rotom-H with Trick can even remove Shed Shell, Choice Scarf, or Shuca Berry from those threats, all items that prevent Dugtrio from effectively trapping and taking care of them. With Dugtrio removing the aforementioned Pokémon, Rotom-H can freely spam Overheat. Terrakion cannot trap things, but it is much more powerful, can defeat Chansey and Blissey convincingly, and can open holes on the opponent's team that Rotom-H can later take advantage of.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Rotom-H can use the Rest + Chesto Berry combination to have a one-time reliable recovery, but results in an almost wasted moveslot afterwards. Hidden Power Ground is an option on the specially defensive set to 2HKO offensive Heatran, but has no use outside of this situation. A Choice Scarf can be used with the same moves with the Choice Specs set, so that Rotom-H can be both fast and strong under sun, but then Rotom-H loses a lot if its wallbreaking power, while being a mediocre revenge killer due to the Stealth Rock weakness and its low Speed. Hidden Power Rock is an option to consider if your team has huge trouble with Volcarona, but Volcarona though it would more often than not win anyway because of the Special Defense boosts and Roost, not to mention that Thunder Wave deals with it much better anyway, provided Rotom-H has a strong physical attacker as a teammate, that can OHKO it after Rotom-H paralyzes it take advantage of the paralysis. An all-out attacker with Life Orb and Pain Split has some merit, as Rotom-H will still be quite powerful under sun, while being able to switch moves and keep itself somewhat healthy. However, you will find out that due to the hit-and-run (hyphenated) nature of Rotom-H, Stealth Rock damage in addition to Life Orb damage will be become too much for it to handle. Finally, Rotom-H is the only Fire-Type, except from bar Victini, that can use the Trick + Flame Orb combination. The cool thing here is that unlike Pokemon such as Reuniclus and Sigilyph, Rotom-H can hold the Flame Orb and the opponent cannot see it after the first turn, which means that Rotom-H can easily bluff a Choice set and then Trick it onto unsuspecting counters, namely Blissey, Chansey, and Tyranitar. However, considering that Rotom-H already has Will-O-Wisp which can be used many times, and only takes a moveslot, unlike Trick + Flame Orb, which needs one item slot and one moveslot in addition to being only a one use move, the only real use of this combination is to permanently cripple Chansey and Blissey.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Gastrodon, Chansey, and Blissey are the only surefire counters to Rotom-H, but they must be aware of Trick, and in Gastrodon's case, Toxic. Tyranitar, Garchomp, Hippowdon, specially defensive Heatran, Landorus-T, and Gliscor all handle the defensive set easily as long as they avoid the Will-O-Wisp or Hidden Power Ice, except from Heatran obviously, which completely walls it and can slowly kill it with Toxic. Almost any Dragon-type in general, or physical attacker with Rock-type moves will be able to force Rotom-H out easily, provided they can get in safely on a predicted Fire or Electrictype move, acting as decent checks. Such Pokemon include Terrakion, Dragonite, Haxorus, Kyurem-B, Latios, Latias, Landorus-T, and physical Landorus. They must, however, beware of sun-boosted Overheat, which will OHKO most of them after Stealth Rock. Every offensive Pokemon with a strong Water or Rocktype move, such as Keldeo, Starmie, Landorus-T, and Terrakion can easily net a revenge kill Rotom-H. Rain will also hinder put a damper on Rotom-H's performance a bit, unless if it the set in use was designed to play under it, cutting its most powerful move in half, but - however, Politoed cannot switch into Rotom-H at all due to the threat of Volt Switch or any other hard-hitting Electric-type move. Finally, Stealth Rock and a reliable spinblocker such as Sableye or Jellicent can severely limit Rotom-H's utility.</p>
THE SPECS SET WAS WRITTEN BY DFA SO CREDIT TO HIM