[Overview]
<p>Volcarona is a potent special sweeper and is one of the two Pokémon in the Unova region that learn Rage Powder, the Follow Me equivalent of BW. Volcarona is definitely a threat to be reckoned with because Fire-type moves got a buff in the new metagame.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Protect
move 4: Rage Powder
item: Focus Sash
ability: Flame Body
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Heat Wave hits both opponents and thus eases prediction which is why it is a must-have on every Volcarona set. Bug Buzz is your second STAB and OHKOes the slower Hydreigon as well as being a threat to Psychic types such as Reuniclus and Musharna. Protect gives your partner time to kill that Rock Slide Pokémon that threatens your Volcarona. It is also needed to waste a turn of Fake Out, should you want to use Rage Powder and a set-up Pokémon of your choice. Rage Powder is the new Follow Me. Note that Volcarona is slower than Mienshao and needs to Protect first turn to waste the Fake Out because Fake Out is now in the same priority bracket as Rage Powder. Focus Sash is used because Volcarona has trouble with the frequency of Water and Rock type moves, it also has good synergy with Flame Body and Rage Powder, since it allows you to take a hit and still live for another turn. If you choose to draw in Fake Out, do not forget that Fake Out is in the same priority bracket as Rage Powder so take care when choosing it.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Volcarona always needs 252 EVs in Speed to be faster than every Pokémon with less than 100 base Speed, most notably Hydreigon which gets OHKOed by Bug Buzz and Haxorus which gets OHKOed by a +1 Bug Buzz after the Quiver Dance boost is activated (does 71-83% to 4/0 Haxorus without the boost). Of course 252 Special Attack is also needed to take full advantage of Volcarona's Base 135 Special Attack, also allowing it to OHKO 252/0 Whimsicott with a 3/4 powered Heat Wave. It is frail on the defensive side but can take hits from the special defensive side of the spectrum thanks to 80/105 defense, unfortunately it cannot really shine with these defenses due to the mediocre defensive typing. The reality of its defensive weaknesses and the omnipresence of Rock Slide make Focus Sash clearly the best item. Life Orb or Charti Berry can also be used but Life Orb doesn't grant any notable surefire OHKOes or 2HKOes other than on Musharna (252/0) and Charti Berry doesn't make that much of a difference with those 85/65 physical defenses.</p>
Volcarona is a strong stand-alone-Pokémon but still greatly enjoys and supports any kind of setup, the most noteworthy being Sunny Day which powers up its already beefy fire moves. But Tailwind is also a really good choice to support Volcarona allowing it to get the jump on all the Pokémon faster than it. It can even work in some kind of Trick Room team despite sitting at 100 base Speed because it has Rage Powder and is still slower than all the 101-110 Base Speed Pokémon. Outside Trick Room it is faster than Amoonguss, who is the only other Pokémon capable of learning Rage Powder, dealing a hefty 73-86% damage to 252/0 Amoonguss with a 3/4 powered Heat Wave (60% chance of OHKOing with Life Orb, Flamethrower is a certain OHKO). A partner using Wide Guard remedies its quadruple Rock Slide weakness and gives turns for Volcarona to set up or attack. Jellicent also makes for a good partner because it keeps the opponent from using their own Water Spout on you mindlessly, while Volcarona can direct away attacks aimed at Jellicent so that your own Jellicent can fire off full-powered Water Spouts. Inner Focus Mienshao stands out as one of the best partners to Volcarona with a set of Fake Out / Feint / Wide Guard / Fighting move because it aids Volcarona in setting up and sweeping.
[Other options]
<p>Sunny Day and Quiver Dance can be used if you utilize a Wide Guard partner to protect yoursekf from Rock Slide.
Flamethrower is an option if you want a powerful Fire type single target move. Chandelure can be a nuisance to Heat Wave Volcarona. Fiery Dance's 80 base damage is lower than Flamethrower's 95, but Fiery Dance can grab you a Special Attack boost 50 percent of the time.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Rock type attacks hit Volcarona hard but that can be played around by using Wide Guard which blocks the most used Rock type attack, Rock Slide. Wide Guard also stops Water Spout from opposing Jellicent. Its flying weakness can be targeted by Acrobatics and Brave Bird users, however, they have to fear getting burned by Flame Body on contact.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Swarm is a cool Dream World ability, but it's nothing spectacular. It'll be really useful once Volcarona's Focus Sash activates, but at the same time, burning an opponent that makes contact moves is also pretty good. Swarm is generally the better choice, but it's still not amazing and won't be super clutch when released.
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so this is my Volcarona analysis that I also wrote for the other site, hope I did a decent job of reformatting it, if anything is out of place here or needs prosa correction, just tell me here.