Volcarona

[superbadd]

Volcarona seriously suffers from 4MSS. It can't afford to lose it's stabs and between hidden power and giga drain/roost, it's strapped for options. I'm Wondering If a choice set or a full life orb set is viable now? I've tested choice scarf set but it's horrible at best. Life orb get's revenged easily and doesn't have desirable power. Choice specs is interesting as it can 2hko jellicent and heatran with giga drain and hidden power ground, respectively. It's stabs hit really hard right off the bat getting some handy dandy 2/OHKOs. Specs fire blast can even 2HKO dragonite after SR damage! Specsrona is the sun version of specs keldeo. It can even 2HKO blissey after SR! 252SpAtk Choice Specs Volcarona (Neutral) Fire Blast in Sun vs 252HP/0SpDef Leftovers Blissey (Neutral): 48% - 57% (349 - 412 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 15% chance to 2HKO with Leftovers. Seriously just give volca some stealth rock support and maybe some spikes and watch it rip teams a new asshole.

A good Specs set Would be
Timid 252 SpA 252 Spe 4 Def
Fire Blast
Bug Buzz
Giga Drain
Hidden Power Ground

Keeping the Hp odd allows volca to switch in more often and a little defense boost helps it take on priority.

 

[alphatron]

^Outclassed by solar power charizard. He does more damage, has a better typing (still retains resistances to priority that volcorona has, save for ice shard) and has a better movepool too. Fire blast, focus blast, dragon pulse, and air slash are all he needs. Actually, I'm wrong here. Fire blast from solar power charizard outright ohko's 252/0 dragonite after SR. The other moves are just there to fill up the slots. And focus blast for heatran.

No sun teams play charizard because it's a pain in the ass running a rapid spinner for a Pokemon who just revenge kills and then possibly gets killed himself (after you kill something, your opponent brings in a landorus or any other faster scarfer. Or a Tyranitar so that they can set up rocks). Despite what everyone says, spinning away hazards is not outright worth it for every pokemon. Nobody uses rapid spin against
Stealth rock to protect their walls and wall breakers. They do it so that their sweepers can set up without any issues. Volcorona is considered amazing because it crushes teams after setting up. For that reason it is worth carrying on a team.

A choiced volcorona on the other hand is even worse than a Pokemon in the NU tier.

 

[IcyMan28]

Yeah, choiced Volcarona is never the way to go. The whole point of it is QD. Hell, even Charizard might see less use with a Choice item now that is has Roost.

 

[Sphyxius]

Been using this;

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Bold Nature
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 Spe

Giga Drain
Fiery Dance
Quiver Dance
Roost

With great succes, the only bad thing is the lose of another powerful STAB with great coverage, also Giga Drain is a good move for these reasons:
It gives Volcarona a relaible way to cure itself(very nice with the bulk of this set) and damage Jellicent, Keldeo, and Gastrodon,Tyranitar and additionally Terrakion.

Why would you run Roost and Giga Drain on the same set? Giga Drain isn't really amazing on Volc for coverage IMO but as a momentum tool, to heal and attack in the same turn... It seems silly to run Giga Drain and Roost when you could get rid of one and have the extra coverage and power afforded by Bug Buzz...

 

[AxelLow]

In terms of a rain team, is it worth it to run a bulky Volc with roost or drain? Or continue with a standard special sweeper set? I'm really leaning towards roost for some reason.

 

[preliator]

In terms of a rain team, is it worth it to run a bulky Volc with roost or drain? Or continue with a standard special sweeper set? I'm really leaning towards roost for some reason.

Standart Resto-Chesto Set worked out quiet well for me.
Set up like 1-2 QD - Rest - (QD) or start sweeping. :)

 

[shofly12]

How have you guys found Giga Drain? I know it's been discussed but. Generally, is it more less useful than roost? I used Giga drain for a while, but it just couldn't hit hard enough and enough targets to get its HP back with a LO attached. (Passive damage is not doing volcarona any favors).

 

[Scubasteve23]

How have you guys found Giga Drain? I know it's been discussed but. Generally, is it more less useful than roost? I used Giga drain for a while, but it just couldn't hit hard enough and enough targets to get its HP back with a LO attached. (Passive damage is not doing volcarona any favors).

Exactly this. I can't run Giga on him, I don't find it as effective.

 

[Nysyr]

Volc should never drop its Fire/Bug stabs on a set.

Mandatory is:

QD
Fire move
Bug Buzz
Recovery or Coverage move (Gigadrain, HP Rock/Grnd, Roost, or Morning Sun).

 

[Ithilanor]

Volc should never drop its Fire/Bug stabs on a set.

Mandatory is:

QD
Fire move
Bug Buzz
Recovery or Coverage move (Gigadrain, HP Rock/Grnd, Roost, or Morning Sun).

Never seen the Rain Volcarona set, eh?

 

[ThePhalanx]

Never seen the Rain Volcarona set, eh?

I'm pretty sure Rain Volcarona is:
Quiver Dance/Bug Buzz/Fire STAB/Hurricane

 

[Immoral Wombat]

Why is everyone so determined to run a fire STAB? Rain is absolutely everywhere, and Bug+Flying gives really great coverage by itself already, and you can use the other moveslots for things like Quiver Dance, Roost, Rest, Substitute, etc. You only miss out on Skarmory and Jirachi, for which you can just run Magnezone or Heatran. Things like Ferrothorn die easily to +X Bug Buzz, and can be set up upon with Roost.

 

[Arcticblast]

Because with a Fire STAB you don't miss out on Skarmory and Jirachi anymore.

 

[Pocket]

One of the biggest draw of Rain Volcarona is its Fire / Bug STAB that is still useful to remove Ferrothorn, Jirachi, Celebi, and Latias, etc that wall most Rain threats. Rain Volcarona wants Fire Blast as its Fire STAB of choice, not the weak shit Fiery Dance that wont even OHKO Ferrothorn in Rain.

Fire Blast also allows Rain Volcarona to function effectively even in opponent's weather condition. Without Fire Blast, Volcarona would have to rely on Bug Buzz and an inaccurate Hurricane alone. Even if you lose the weather war against a Sun team, Rain Volcarona with Fire Blast can still win for the team.

 

[Earthduster]

Rain Volc is a huge threat in this meta. QD/FB/Hurricane/GD at +1 is incredibly difficult to stop.

 

[AccidentalGreed]

Essentially:

In raining conditions: Okay, cool, Volcarona's got a pretty powerful Hurricane waiting, and Fire Blast is still a really powerful move despite the rain. It only cancels out the STAB, but you're still shooting things to death with 120 BP. In this case, however, Bug Buzz should be the main attack unless the situation calls for it.

Clear skies: "lol fuck everything." Just spam Fire Blast, ignore Hurricane completely, and watch as every sun abuser bar Heatran and Sawsbuck struggles to do anything substantial to Volcarona. Even then, Politoed can handle Heatran pretty well, while Sawsbuck...yeah.

tl;dr Fire Blast is still a very important move on such a Volcarona.

Other offensive variants of Volcarona, it can drop Bug Buzz in favor of another coverage move, since it seems to offer the most generic coverage. In doing so, Fire Blast is sure to deal a ton of damage to the Psychic and Dark-types Bug Buzz hits (with the exception of Latios/Latias/Tyranitar), while Volcarona is free to run the move of its choice to mow down counters to the Bug Buzz / Fire Blast combination. This includes Heatran, certain Dragon-type Pokemon, Water-type Pokemon, Terrakion, and plenty others.

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to say you should rarely, if not never, run Giga Drain on defensive Volcarona. Giga Drain offers coverage and utility only on offensive sets, if it cannot afford to risk a coverage move in favor of healing, or needs a coverage option for Water-types and Terrakion.

 

[IcyMan28]

Is the STAB on Fire Blast removed, or is the move halved entirely under weather? I've always thought it's the latter.

120 x 1.5 / 1.5 = 120
120 x 1.5 / 2 = 90

 

[Pocket]

Yes, but against a Pokemon weak to Fire, it's 180 in Rain.

 

[shofly12]

Why is everyone so determined to run a fire STAB? Rain is absolutely everywhere, and Bug+Flying gives really great coverage by itself already, and you can use the other moveslots for things like Quiver Dance, Roost, Rest, Substitute, etc. You only miss out on Skarmory and Jirachi, for which you can just run Magnezone or Heatran. Things like Ferrothorn die easily to +X Bug Buzz, and can be set up upon with Roost.

I wouldn't say Bug+Flying gives great coverage. Since notably, steel types still resist the heck out of you, which is why fire blast is important. Also, its nice to turn sun teams on themselves with a boosted Fire Blast.

 

[Immoral Wombat]

I wouldn't say Bug+Flying gives great coverage. Since notably, steel types still resist the heck out of you, which is why fire blast is important. Also, its nice to turn sun teams on themselves with a boosted Fire Blast.

In theory, yes, steel types resist Bug+Flying. In practice, only Skarmory and Heatran do, while Bug+Fire is resisted by Jellicent, Keldeo, Tentacruel, Gyarados, Dragonite, Salamence, Heatran, Infernape and Terrakion.

With Bug+Flying over Bug+Fire(+Grass), Ferrothorn, Forretress, Metagross and Bronzong will still be beaten. You only lose coverage over Skarmory and Jirachi.

Rain is everywhere, so Fire Blast is comparable in power to a unSTABed base 90 move. Leaving two moveslots open for Quiver Dance and Roost/Substitute greatly eases setting up with Volcarona. Concluding; unless you run a sun team yourself, strongly consider Bug+Flying.

 

[Pocket]

Bug + Flying + Fire > Bug + Flying. Hurricane is a staple on Rain Volcarona; Fire Blast doesn't replace it.

 

[Immoral Wombat]

I'd argue that Bug + Flying + Roost/Substitute > Bug + Flying + Fire.
You get much more longetivety, or get to set up against status/hazing, both resulting in easier and more boosts.

What else is Fire Blast good for, other than Jirachi and Skarmory? You get to kill the other steels (except Heatran) faster, but with Roost you can boost easier/more and kill them anyway.

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

If you want to be walled by Skarmory by all means be my guest.

 

[Arcticblast]

Skarmory will Whirlwind you out. Jirachi can take the time to paralyze you and then flinch the hell out of you with Iron Head. Magnezone laughs at your attacks and SubCharges you. If you don't have enough boosts, Ferrothorn either Leech Seeds or paralyzes you. Moving out of strictly OU Pokemon, Empoleon destroys you with Rain-boosted STAB attacks, sometimes wit Swords Dance. Klinklang sets up on you and hits you with Wild Charge or Return. Aggron takes a +1 Bug Buzz and destroys you with Rock STAB.

Non-Steel types: Zapdos, Thundurus-T, Rotom, Rotom-H, Rotom-S, Emolga, Archeops, Magcargo and Aerodactyl resist Bug+Flying.

You give up too much without Fire Blast.

 

[Thorhammer]

Doesn't make much sense to list the Fire- and Rock-types that resist Bug+Flying+Fire as well.