Ursaring

[Ashenlock]

Many Normal-type Pokemon have a hard time finding a niche in the Singles metagame because it's so difficult to switch them in safely (short of them being absurdly bulky, like Blissey). Double Battles are different because a Pokemon can Protect and be almost perfectly safe for one turn while something happens in its favor at the same time, due to the existence of partners. This is how Ursaring finds its niche in this metagame, one filled with so many special environments.

Ordinarily, too, Ursaring would run into trouble because straight Normal-typing doesn't offer much coverage. It takes care of that by not only possessing Dark- and Fighting-type moves--almost perfect coverage right away--but, with a monstrous Atk stat, a great ability, and the move Facade, it blows through things without even having to hit supereffectively.

There are a number of different ways to take advantage of Ursaring's might.

Ursaring #217

HP: 90
Atk: 130
Def: 75
SpA: 75
SpD: 75
Spe: 55
​

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Level-Up Moves
 
--Covet
--Scratch
--Leer
--Fake Tears
Lv8 Fury Swipes
Lv15 Faint Attack
Lv22 Sweet Scent
Lv29 Slash
Lv38 Scary Face
Lv47 Rest
Lv49 Snore
Lv58 Thrash
Lv67 Hammer Arm
 
Machine Moves
 
TM01 Hone Claws
TM05 Roar
TM06 Toxic
TM08 Bulk Up
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM12 Taunt
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance
TM21 Frustration
TM23 Smack Down
TM26 Earthquake
TM27 Return
TM28 Dig
TM31 Brick Break
TM32 Double Team
TM39 Rock Tomb
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM41 Torment
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM45 Attract
TM46 Thief
TM48 Round
TM52 Focus Blast
TM56 Fling
TM65 Shadow Claw
TM66 Payback
TM67 Retaliate
TM68 Giga Impact
TM71 Stone Edge
TM75 Swords Dance
TM78 Bulldoze
TM80 Rock Slide
TM83 Work Up
TM87 Swagger
TM90 Substitute
TM94 Rock Smash
HM01 Cut
HM04 Strength
 
Egg Moves
 
Belly Drum
Chip Away
Close Combat
Counter
Cross Chop
Crunch
Double-Edge
Fake Tears
Metal Claw
Night Slash
Seismic Toss
Sleep Talk
Take Down
Yawn
 
Pre-evolution Moves
 
Charm
 
Gen IV Tutor Moves
 
(Pt/HG/SS) Fire Punch
(Pt/HG/SS) Fury Cutter
(Pt/HG/SS) Gunk Shot
(Pt/HG/SS) Ice Punch
(Pt/HG/SS) Last Resort
(Pt/HG/SS) Mud-Slap
(Pt/HG/SS) Rollout
(Pt/HG/SS) Seed Bomb
(Pt/HG/SS) Snore
(Pt/HG/SS) Superpower
(Pt/HG/SS) Swift
(Pt/HG/SS) ThunderPunch
(Pt/HG/SS) Uproar
(HG/SS) Headbutt
(HG/SS) Low Kick

Ursaring -> Double Battles​

->Standard Guts<-



Ursaring @ Flame Orb / Toxic Orb
ADAMANT
+Guts+
6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Facade
-Close Combat / Earthquake
-Crunch
-Protect

This is the main set for Ursaring-abusing-Guts. With Guts activation, he reaches a staggering 300 Atk at level 50, and while BRN'd or PSN'd, STAB Facade becomes a 210 attack power move. Close Combat takes care of Rock- and Steel-types, while Crunch OHKOs about any Ghost-type besides Dusclops and Dusknoir.

There are three main ways to get past Ursaring's speed limitations. They are 1) Thunder Wave-ing the foe's team, 2) Icy Wind-ing the foe's team, and 3) Tailwind-ing your own team. Thunder Wave has viable partners in Murkrow, Thundurus, Jolteon, and many others; the less accessible (mostly 4th Gen only) Icy Wind can be used well by Cresselia, Suicune, Latias, and lots more; Tailwind of course sees good use with the Prankster duo of Tornadus and Whimsicott (and, hell, let's throw Murkrow in there again too).

It may seem like it's as simple as Protecting, letting the other member do his stuff, then bulldozing over the opposition, but a number of things can get in the way. You can only safely Protect once, but that may not be enough to paralyze both foes with Thunder Wave, and the one that wasn't hit with it may be fast enough to KO Ursaring. Also, Ursaring is slow enough that many Pokemon will still outspeed it after losing one stage of Spe. Tailwind can be stopped with priority Thunder Wave (although Ursaring will be safely BRN'd at that point, Thunder Wave can still wreck that battle style) and 2/3 of its turns stalled out safely with Protect. And that's not to mention what could happen to your partner on the first turn while Ursaring is safe.

Flame Orb and Toxic Orb are situational. The former keeps going at 2/16 HP's damage at the end of every turn, while the latter goes 1/16, then 2/16, then 3/16, then 4/16, etc., forever. If you plan to only be in for 2 turns at a time, Toxic is a tiny bit better; 3 turns, they're identical; after that, it only favors Flame Orb.

->Trick Room<-

Ursaring @ Flame Orb / Toxic Orb
BRAVE
+Guts+
252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def
-Facade
-Hammer Arm / Close Combat / Earthquake
-Crunch
-Protect

This can be seen as the "4th-method-in-spirit" of dealing with Ursaring's low speed, or, in this case, of taking advantage of it. Not only does Ursaring get to invest in some bulk, but, if your foe isn't running a TR team too, Ursa should be faster than anything he can throw at you, regardless of him firing Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, or Bulldoze. Hammer Arm lets you become "faster" progressively, but has lower power and accuracy than Close Combat.

This set runs into more problems than before, because Trick Room is harder to set up and usually requires a helpful partner (Not one who just sits his ass behind a Protect). It's often very predictable and can be stopped one way or the other, so your best bet is a disguised TR user like Chandelure or Jellicent, who can both run speedy sets as well as TR.

 

[tofucocoa]

merge the two sets, they're pretty much the same thing except with different nature/slashed in hammer arm

 

[Virizion]

merge the two sets, they're pretty much the same thing except with different nature/slashed in hammer arm

No, they're not. One is for Trick Room, which requires different EV's, nature, set description, and IV's (0 Spe).

 

[Unreality]

There are three main ways to get past Ursaring's speed limitations. They are 1) Thunder Wave-ing the foe's team, 2) Icy Wind-ing the foe's team, and 3) Tailwind-ing your own team. Thunder Wave has viable partners in Murkrow, Thundurus, Jolteon, and many others; the less accessible (mostly 4th Gen only) Icy Wind can be used well by Cresselia, Suicune, Latias, and lots more; Tailwind of course sees good use with the Prankster duo of Tornadus and Whimsicott (and, hell, let's throw Murkrow in there again too).

Take out the second set, add in TR as the fourth option.

 

[Superpokemon67]

Is fling viable in TR? It seems like a good way to cripple physical attackers.

 

[muffinhead]

I think Earthquake should be the main option over Close Combat. It still hits a lot of things that EQ does, but gets the coverage on Metagross for 30 more bp. Brave 0 Speed should be the only doubles set, because Trick Room is easier to get up than Thunder Waving everything. And because Ursaring is meant to be in Trick Room, it is meant to survive for 4 turns. Therefore, Flame Orb is the better item because it deals less total damage after 3 turns than Toxic Orb.

 

[Ashenlock]

I think Earthquake should be *an* option, and it's my mistake not putting it in there, but I don't think Earthquake should ever be a main option unless it's integral to a Pokemon's role (Like Garchomp). When it's just there to provide coverage, it should be second to other moves because moves like Close Combat are combatible with every partner as far as safety goes, whereas Earthquake is dependent on the ally in tandem with Ursaring. It certainly deserves a position, and I'll edit it in with the move lists.

 

[muffinhead]

cosmicexplorer is a suck\

earthquake is better than close combat because or ursaring's teammates: if ursaring is used with a trick room pokemon, then cresselia and musharna are both immune to earthquake (and can boost it with helping hand). if reuniclus or jellicent is used, then focus blast / water spout will do enough damage to the targeted pokemon.

on top of this, the best fighting move is low kick, no defense drops.

 

[DreamTalon]

I'd recommend mentioning Quick Feet, as they make Ursaring capable of being used in a faster paced tram.