Walrein (OU Analysis)

franky · Jan 16, 2010

www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/walrein

Partial edit, added a lot of new material including Team Options. Removed every other set and placed them in other options. The statistics shows that the other sets were near non-existent in the month of December. (4.9)
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[[OVERVIEW]

As usual, the Ice-type is very much a mixed blessing. Ice-type attacks are always useful on a team, but the STAB boost on them comes with an unfortunate list of weaknesses. Stealth Rock hinders Walrein's ability to tank attacks, as taking 25% damage each time it comes in will wear it down fast. Even with these drawbacks considered, Walrein is a fine tank in OU play with handy resistances to Ice- and Water-type attacks and respectable offensive stats for a predominantly defensive Pokemon.

Back in ADV, the sight of Walrein in OU matches was rare, to say the least. However, with its cool new Ice Body ability, it can be a very useful—often integral—part of a hail-based team with support from Abomasnow. Walrein's stalling abilities with hail support are impressive and with Toxic or Toxic Spikes, it can be surprisingly difficult to take down. Overall, Walrein got some very useful boosts in the transition from ADV to DPP, making it suitable for use in the OU environment.

[SET]
name: Stallrein (Toxic Stall)
move 1: Protect
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Toxic / Roar / Super Fang
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
item: Leftovers
ability: Ice Body
nature: Bold
evs: 220 HP / 252 Def / 36 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This set is based around taking advantage of Walrein's Ice Body ability and using it to stall turns.This set needs to be partnered with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can alternate between Substitute and Protect, without losing any health, forcing the opponent to suffer up to 32 turns of hail and other residual damage.

Poisoning the opponent is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has afflicted an opponent with Toxic, the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute (there is no net change in your health), healing yourself and intensifying the poison damage each turn, draining your opponent of its HP. This is the direct approach.There is another way to do this, however, but it requires some additional support. Adding a Toxic Spikes user such as Forretress or Tentacruel into the mix can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making stalling the opponent out a slightly slower process.

With Toxic Spikes support, Walrein can afford to drop Toxic from its moveset. However, if you keep it, Walrein will be able to poison Flying-type Pokemon and Pokemon with Levitate. Other than Toxic, you have a couple of options to use in its place. Roar works if your team is in need of a phazer and also has applications more specific to this set. First of all, you can shuffle opponents around to let Toxic Spikes take effect. Secondly, you can prevent Swampert from Roaring your Substitute away by Roaring it out first. Having Roar also means that Gyarados cannot simply Dragon Dance in Walrein's face and forces it to take even more residual damage upon re-entry. Earthquake is a great choice to hit Poison-types like Tentacruel that like to ruin your set-up by coming in to absorb Toxic Spikes. It also helps to wear down Steel-types, which are immune to poison. Super Fang can also be used to slice the opponent’s HP in half. This ultimately makes the stalling process much faster with Toxic Spikes down. Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather is a real pain. (add space) Surf also hits Steel-types for neutral damage and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and access to Rapid Spin can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't be quite so vulnerable to Taunt. Blizzard is still a worthy option, however, as it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-, Grass-, and Poison-types many of whom are immune to Toxic Spikes or the poison status altogether.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

As previously mentioned, Abomasnow is absolutely required in order to take full advantage of Walrein's ability. Since Walrein is normally used with hail, Abomasnow could support the entire team as a whole. Toxic Spikes will allow Walrein to more effectively stall out the opponent, so partnering Walrein with a user of them is a good strategy. Tentacruel and Forretress can reliably place down Toxic Spikes while also providing Rapid Spin support. Rapid Spin removes Stealth Rock from the field, allowing Walrein to come in without taking a quarter of its HP in damage.

220 HP EVs allow Walrein's HP stat to be divisible by 16, which guarantees that all of the damage it takes from using Substitute is restored in two turns. Speed EVs can be used on Walrein in order to foil some common phazers such as Skarmory and Vaporeon. However, this might reduce Walrein's overall physical tanking abilities, albeit not by too much.

Tyranitar gives Walrein a world of trouble by removing hail and packing high-powered Rock-type attacks. Swampert can keep Tyranitar at bay, and can also set up Stealth Rock for added residual damage. (add space) Choice Band Dugtrio is another option since it can trap and OHKO Tyranitar with Earthquake. Walrein's typing gives it an undesirable weakness to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types who are immune to poison, such RestTalk Machamp, can beat Walrein with their STAB attacks. Gyarados can also be a problem with Taunt, an immunity to Toxic Spikes, and the ability to then set up on Walrein. Having a Rotom-A on your team will compensate for these issues extremely well. Rotom-A can check and beat Gyarados, take the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Walrein, and also block Rapid Spin attempts from Pokemon like Forretress.

[Team Options]

Abomasnow is required with Walrein to provide hail, which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability, Ice Body. Toxic Spikes should be considered next as they allow Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for setting up Toxic Spikes, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they also have Rapid Spin to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular adds a sweet Fighting-type resistance, along with having the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes just by switching in.

There is a special place in Walrein's private hell reserved for Tyranitar. Having a teammate that can beat Tyranitar is absolutely necessary, as otherwise Sand Stream will wreak havoc on Walrein. Swampert is a good Tyranitar switch-in that can also set up Stealth Rock for Walrein to abuse with Roar. Rotom-A can lure out Tyranitar earlier in the match and burn it with Will-O-Wisp, effectively neutering its offensive presence and putting it on a timer. Rotom-A also checks Gyarados, which can come into Walrein and set up if carrying Taunt. Durable Fighting-type Pokemon of your own, such as RestTalk Machamp, can also switch in and support Walrein with their massive offensive presence.

[Optional Changes]

Walrein has a few options worth noting from its respectably diverse movepool. Stockpile is available if you wish to boost both of Walrein's defenses, although Walrein has better things to be doing. Hidden Power Electric works okay alongside Blizzard, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. Walrein can run a RestTalk set with Thick Fat, but its poor defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock make the set's viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its decent Attack and Defense, but Snorlax and Swampert do this job better. The only distinct advantage Walrein has over the former two is that nothing is immune to Avalanche. Lastly, Encore can be used to force switches and set up on the opponent's Pokemon. Roar is probably the better option, though, since it has more PP and can bring out something Walrein fares well against. Thick Fat can replace Ice Body pretty much anywhere, but then you're better off using other bulky Water-type Pokemon such as Vaporeon or Suicune. Brine is also a nice attacking move in tandem with Super Fang.

[Counters]

Since Walrein relies on poison to deal damage, most Steel-types will cause problems. Jirachi and Metagross have the defenses to take a few hits even from Earthquake and strike back with powerful attacks of their own. Empoleon can beat it down with Grass Knot and also resists Water-type attacks, making switching in a little easier. Empoleon can also Roar away Walrein's Substitute, but rarely has enough Speed EVs to ensure it will phaze Walrein before being phazed itself. If they come in before Walrein sets up a Substitute, Lucario and Machamp can scare away Walrein with their high-powered STAB moves.

Tyranitar screws up Walrein's Leftovers recovery and replaces hail with sandstorm, making Ice Body useless. Gyarados can sponge hits from Ice- and Water-type attacks and set up with Dragon Dance before KOing Walrein with Stone Edge. Like Tyranitar, Gyarados also has access to Taunt. Suicune is faster than Walrein, can easily Roar it out, and takes minimal damage from any of the Walrein's attacks. Clefable is immune to the effects of hail and poison and can Encore Walrein's attacks, making it particularly problematic despite being rare in OU. Breloom is another issue if you don't have Blizzard, since it, like Clefable, is still able to recover HP during hail and can't be worn down by poison, thanks to its Poison Heal ability.

Bologo · Jan 16, 2010

If you want a CB set then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Ice Fang and Waterfall are available for physical attacks.

Avalanche is way better than Ice Fang for Walrein, considering Walrein is already pretty slow, and a possible 120 BP STAB move with Choice Band is pretty deadly. Also, you mentioned it in the EV section already, so there's no reason to not mention it here.

Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stat, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier including Swampert and Snorlax.

I'd mention the big benefits to using Curse Walrein as opposed to Swampert or Snorlax, since he's not completely inferior to them. This benefit is that nothing is immune to Ice at all, and Avalanche, when coupled with STAB is pretty deadly. This means that he can go Rest/Sleep Talk/Avalanche/Curse, and be fine with a mono-attacking set. Also, if Walrein has Hail support from Abomasnow, this set is a lot more durable than Curselax or Cursepert due to 12% recovery per turn instead of 6%.

DJXO9 · Jan 16, 2010

j. franky said:
[SET]
name: Stallrein
move 1: Protect
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Roar / Toxic / Earthquake
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
item: Leftovers
ability: Ice Body
nature: Bold
evs: 220 HP / 240 Def / 48 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set is centered around making use of Walrein's Ice Body ability, so you will need to pair it up with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of Hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can use Protect to score some free healing.

Poisoning opponents is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has infected an opponent with Toxic the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute, healing each turn while the poison damage intensifies, draining your opponent of its HP. This is the more direct approach. Although it requires some additional support, throwing a Toxic Spiker - Forretress and Tentacruel are both fine choices - into the mix can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making draining opponents a slightly slower process.

With Toxic Spikes support, Walrein can afford to drop Toxic from its moveset. However, you may still want to hold onto it to enable Walrein to poison Flying and Levitating enemies, specifically Gyarados. If you decide to dispense with Toxic, you have a couple of useful options to use in its place. Roar works if your team is in need of a phazer, and it also has applications more specific to this set. First of all, you can shuffle another opponent in to let Toxic Spikes take hold. Secondly, you can prevent Skarmory from Whirlwinding your Substitute away by Roaring it out first. Roar will also mean that Gyarados cannot simply Dragon Dance in Walrein's face, and will force it to take even more residual damage upon re-entry. Earthquake is a great choice to hit Poison-types like Tentacruel by coming in to absorb Toxic Spikes, thus ruining your set up. It also helps to wear down Steel-types, who are also immune to poison and can generally make nuisances of themselves. You could space in Super Fang on the final slot in order to slice the opponent’s HP in half. This ultimately makes the stalling process much faster with Toxic Spikes down.

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem the more tempting as you can take advantage of the 100% accuracy it has during Hail, but Surf is generally the superior choice. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather and powerful Rock attacks are a huge problem, not only to Walrein, but to many Hail teams in general. Unlike Blizzard, it hits Steel-types for neutral damage, and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and ability to spin away Toxic Spikes can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't become quite so vulnerable to Taunt. However, Blizzard is still a worthy option, especially if you choose Earthquake in the third slot, as it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-types and Grass/Poison-types who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and in the latter case, the poison status altogether. (It sounds better this way. The way you had it made me think Blizzard was poisoning them.) 

As previously mentioned, Abomasnow is absolutely required in order to take full advantage of Walrein ability. Since Walrein is normally used with hail, Abomasnow could support the entire team as a whole. Toxic Spikes will allow Walrein to successfully stall out the opponent, so make sure to pack a reliable Toxic Spikes user. Tentacruel and Forretress could reliably place down Toxic Spikes, while providing Rapid Spin support as an added bonus. Rapid Spin removes Stealth Rock from the field, and it allows Walrein to come in on physical hits without taking a quarter of its HP.

Tyranitar can give Walrein some trouble since it can remove hail from the field, while dishing out high-powered Stone Edges. Make sure to bring Swampert to keep Tyranitar at bay, since it could be problematic the entire match. In addition to this, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock in order to help Walrein shuffle through the opponent’s team. If Tyranitar proves to be a nuisance in the entire match, Choice Band Dugtrio could trap and OHKO Tyranitar with Earthquake.

Walrein’s typing gives it an undesirable weakness to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types such as Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could effectively counter Walrein since they are immune to poison damage (This past phrase needs rewording as well. Right now, you seem to be saying that Fighting-types are immune to poison. Lucario is immune because of its Steel-typing, while Machamp is not immune, but can only rid itself of the status with Rest.)while they can scare away Walrein if it’s not behind a Substitute yet. Bringing Gliscor or Rotom-A can deal with the aforementioned threats. Gliscor could provide Stealth Rock as an added bonus, while Rotom-A can prevent the opponent from using removing your entry hazards on the field. Taunt Gyarados could be problematic itself since it could prevent Walrein from alternating between Protect and Substitute. Rotom-A could check Gyarados nicely since it can usually check bulky variants effectively.

[Team Options]

Support is absolutely required for the main set to function,(comma) otherwise you’re not taking full advantage of Walrein’s potential. For starters, Abomasnow is a staple with Walrein since it can provide hail which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability Ice Body. Toxic Spikes is probably the second-most important support required because it allows Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for Toxic Spike users, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they have Rapid Spin under their belt to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular can add a sweet Fighting-type resist, along with having the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes for Walrein.

Outside of support, there are several threats Walrein can’t handle – particularly Tyranitar since it can remove hail play. You can approach Tyranitar two ways: remove it beforehand or check it the entire match. If you plan to remove it beforehand, Choice Band Dugtrio can reliably remove Tyranitar from the match with Earthquake. However, if you plan to choose the latter option, Swampert makes an excellent counter to Tyranitar since it is immune to Stone Edge(Swampert is not immune. It only resists it.). As an added bonus, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock to help Walrein shuffle better. Outside of hail, Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could handle Walrein since they are immune to Poison damage while they can dish out damage with their high-powered STAB moves. (Again Machamp isn't immune. It only can rid itself of the poison.)Gliscor and Rotom-A could effectively check the aforementioned threats. Other than checking Lucario and Machamp, Gliscor can also provide Stealth Rock support. Rotom-A on the other hand makes a fine example of someone who works great with Walrein. With its unique typing, it can take hits from Walrein while effectively blocking any attempts from the opponent from removing your entry hazards. Furthermore, Rotom-A could also check Taunt Gyarados to a good extent,(comma) who troubles Walrein since it can sponge Blizzard and Surf, while using Taunt and Dragon Dance to deal with Walrein.

[Other Options]

Charm comes via Spheal in XD (Should probably be expanded to the full name, or at least more than just XD.)and can be used to annoy physical attackers. Stockpile is available over Curse if you wish to boost both defenses. Hidden Power Electric works okay alongside Ice Beam, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. A Choice Band is plausible but isn't really where Walrein's strengths lie. If you want a CB set,(comma) then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Ice Fang,(comma) and Waterfall are available for physical attacks. Walrein could also run a Rest / Sleep Talk set, but its terrible defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes the set's viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stat, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier including Swampert and Snorlax. Lastly, Encore can be spaced in on the main set in order to force switch outs on the opponent. However, Roar is probably the better option since it has more PP. Ice Body can replace Thick Fat on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow you're usually better off going with Stallrein.

[EVs]

For Stallrein, 220 HP EVs puts its stat at 416, which is divisible by 16. This is of great importance as with its max HP of 424, Walrein's Substitutes would require 106 HP to make, but over the two turns it spends stalling with Substitute and Protect it would only recover back 104 HP. A HP stat that is divisible by 16 is necessary to allow Walrein to stall indefinitely (or at least until its PP runs out). The 48 Speed EVs give Walrein the jump on neutral natured base 70s, most notably Skarmory and Metagross. This allows Walrein to use Roar against Skarmory before it can Whirlwind Walrein out, and also means that Skarmory can't Roost before you Blizzard. However, this 176 Speed - 180 Speed area is heavily contested as many Pokémon, such as Choice Band Tyranitar and Choice Band Machamp, run just enough speed to outrun these neutral base 70s, and so a little more speed can be added to the set as one feels fit.

Maxing out both HP and Defense is fine for most other sets. Although not really required, some investment can be made in Attack to boost Earthquake and Avalanche, as Walrein's Attack stat is average at best. For the Curse set, you may want to focus more on Special Defense and use a Careful nature. Relaxed nature if you're using both attacking stats, Impish for purely physical sets or Bold if you're only using special attacks.

[Opinion]

As usual, the Ice-type is very much a mixed blessing. Ice attacks are always useful on a team, but the trade off for gaining a STAB boost on them is an unfortunate list of defensive weaknesses. Stealth Rock can hinder its ability to function as a tank somewhat, as taking 25% each time he comes in will wear him down a little faster than is preferable. Even with those drawbacks considered, Walrein is a fine tank in OU play, sporting handy resists to Ice and Water, and while its offensive stats are nothing special, they are more than adequate for a predominantly defensive Pokémon. Connect the last two "paragraphs".

Back in ADV, the sight of Walrein in OU matches was rare to say the least. However, with its cool new Ice Body ability,(comma) it can be a very useful - often integral - part of a Hail based team when he receives support from Abomasnow. Its stalling abilities with Hail support is impressive and with Toxic and/or Toxic Spikes flying around, he can be surprisingly difficult to take down.

Overall, Walrein got some very useful boosts in the transition from ADV to DP. Whether it is tanking in OU or stalling on Hail teams, the sturdy walrus can prove to be a difficult opponent to beat.

[Counters]

Since Walrein relies on Toxic to deal damage, most Steel-types can cause problems. Earthquake can dent them, but the likes of Metagross and Jirachi have the defenses to handle a few hits. Metagross can fire off Meteor Mash or ThunderPunch, while Jirachi can smack Walrein around with Thunderbolt or Grass Knot. Empoleon can beat it down with Grass Knot and also resists Water, making switching in a little easier. Empoleon can also Roar away a Substitute, but rarely has enough Speed EVs to ensure it will phaze Walrein before being phazed itself. Before setting up Substitute, Lucario and Machamp can scare away Walrein with their high-powered STAB moves.

Tyranitar screws up its Leftovers recovery and also removes Hail, making Ice Body useless. Repeated hits from Surf hurt, but Tyranitar will likely come out on top by firing off powerful Stone Edges and can also Taunt Walrein, effectively shutting it down. Gyarados can sponge hits from Ice- and Water-type attacks and set up with Dragon Dance, before KOing Walrein with Stone Edge. Like Tyranitar, Gyarados also has access to Taunt. Suicune is faster than Walrein and can easily Roar it out, taking minimal damage from any of the Walrein's attacks. Clefable was already mentioned, but it makes an even better counter to Stallrein than it does for the other sets. It is immune to the effects of Hail and poison and can Encore Walrein's attacks, before setting up Calm Mind or simply hitting back with Thunderbolt. Breloom can be a problem if you don't have Blizzard, as like Clefable it is still able to recover HP during Hail and can't be worn down by poison.

Black: General Edits
Blue: Omit
Red: Personal Comments

Well, the way you have it written now, Toxic should definitely be the first option. Your initial set comments say to use Toxic, and then later you mention Roar as an option over Toxic.

elite4 · Jan 20, 2010

super fang+brine is completely missing even in other options:(

Lightsabre · Jan 20, 2010

I would think that, assuming you had TS support and were able to drop toxic, Super fang would be a good option in its place. Super fang halfing the opponent HP would help bring the Toxic death along a lot quicker, and potentialy allow for stalling more pokemon.

Colonel M · Jan 20, 2010

I do have to agree somewhat with the consideration of Super Fang in OO at least. Brine can likely stay out I guess unless people really like Super Fang + Brine in OU.

Dragontamer · Jan 21, 2010

You guys are probably way ahead of me at this point. (I haven't actually used a Stallrein in a long time). Nonetheless...

One additional "counter" (more of a check really) is Scizor. He's immune to Toxic Spikes, neutral to Stealth Rocks, not OHKOed by Surf. If Scizor is faster than Walrein, it is unsafe to set up a stall on him now due to Superpower. If Scizor is slower than Walrein, it Scizor can "reset" Walrein's stall by doing a super-slow U-Turn on the Substitute. Then, a faster pokemon who threatens an OHKO can be brought in on a sub-less Walrein. The Stallrein user can Roar to roll the dice with your opponent's pokemon, or you can surf to damage the Scizor.

Without slow U-Turn, Walrein can stall him out to death with hail alone if he's set up. Watch for the baton-pass, especially if he manages to baton-pass into a faster Taunt user. Its safer to just Phaze. A Faster U-Turn will not work: Walrein will "re-substitute" on that turn anyway.

Slower pokemon in general can also sacrifice themselves to break the sub, but you need to time the suicide with a substitute instead of a Protect. For example, Bronzong can explode during a "Substitute" to have a guarenteed way to take out the Sub. Switch in a faster pokemon that threatens a kill (remember that Walrein will gain 12% HP with a protect however). If your slower opponent will die on the "substitute" part of the cycle (due to hail residual damage or to toxic damage), you can "double protect" to attempt to stay in 50% of the time.

Also:

Ice Body can replace Thick Fat on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow you're usually better off going with Stallrein

You probably can erase that from the analysis.

Xia · Jan 21, 2010

This set is centered around making use of Walrein's Ice Body ability, so you will need to pair it up with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can use Protect to score some free healing.

Poisoning opponents is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has infected an opponent with Toxic the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute, healing each turn while the poison damage intensifies, and draining your opponent of its HP. This is the more direct approach. Although it requires some additional support, throwing a Toxic Spiker—Forretress and Tentacruel are both fine choices—into the mix can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making draining opponents a slightly slower process.

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem the more tempting as you can take advantage of the 100% accuracy it has during hail, but Surf is generally the superior choice. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather and powerful Rock attacks are a huge problem, not only to Walrein, but to many Hail teams in general. Unlike Blizzard, it hits Steel-types for neutral damage, and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and ability to Spin away Toxic Spikes can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't become quite so vulnerable to Taunt. However, Blizzard is still a worthy option, especially if you choose Earthquake in the third slot, as it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-types and Grass/Poison-types who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and in the latter case, the poison status altogether.

Walrein’s typing gives it an undesirable weakness to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types who are immune to poison such as Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could effectively counter Walrein thanks to Lucario's Steel-typing and Machamp's ability to heal off poison. Gliscor or Rotom-A can deal with the aforementioned threats. Gliscor could provide Stealth Rock as an added bonus, while Rotom-A can prevent the opponent from removing your entry hazards on the field. Taunt Gyarados could be problematic since it could prevent Walrein from alternating between Protect and Substitute. Rotom-A could check Gyarados nicely since it can usually check bulky variants effectively.

Support is absolutely required for the main set to function, otherwise you’re not taking full advantage of Walrein’s potential. For starters, Abomasnow is a staple with Walrein since it can provide hail which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability, Ice Body. Toxic Spikes is probably the second-most important support required because it allows Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for Toxic Spike users, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they have Rapid Spin under their belt to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular can add a sweet Fighting-type resistance, along with having the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes for Walrein.

Outside of support, there are several threats Walrein can’t handle—particularly Tyranitar since it can remove hail. You can approach Tyranitar two ways: remove it beforehand or check it the entire match. If you plan to remove it beforehand, Choice Band Dugtrio can reliably remove Tyranitar from the match with Earthquake. However, if you plan to choose the latter option, Swampert makes an excellent counter to Tyranitar since it resists Stone Edge. As an added bonus, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock to help Walrein shuffle better. Outside of hail, Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could handle Walrein since Lucario is immune while Machamp can easily cleanse its status with Rest. Gliscor and Rotom-A could effectively check the aforementioned threats. Other than checking Lucario and Machamp, Gliscor can also provide Stealth Rock support. Rotom-A on the other hand makes a fine example of someone who works great with Walrein. With its unique typing, it can take hits from Walrein while effectively blocking any attempts from the opponent from removing your entry hazards. Furthermore, Rotom-A could also check Taunt Gyarados to a good extent,who troubles Walrein since it can sponge Blizzard and Surf, while using Taunt and Dragon Dance to deal with Walrein.

Charm comes via Spheal in XD and can be used to annoy physical attackers. Stockpile is available over Curse if you wish to boost both defenses. Hidden Power Electric works okay alongside Ice Beam, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. A Choice Band is plausible but isn't really where Walrein's strengths lie. If you want a Choice Band set, then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Avalanche and Waterfall are available for physical attacks. Walrein could also run a Rest / Sleep Talk set, but its terrible defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes the sets viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stat, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier including Swampert and Snorlax. The only distinct advantage Walrein has over the former two is that nothing is immune to Avalanche. Lastly, Encore can be spaced in on the main set in order to force switch outs on the opponent. However, Roar is probably the better option since it has more PP. Ice Body can replace Thick Fat on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow you're usually better off going with Stallrein.

For Stallrein, 220 HP EVs puts its stat at 416, which is divisible by 16. This is of great importance as with its max HP of 424, Walrein's Substitutes would require 106 HP to make, but over the two turns it spends stalling with Substitute and Protect it would only recover back 104 HP. A HP stat that is divisible by 16 is necessary to allow Walrein to stall indefinitely (or at least until its PP runs out). The 48 Speed EVs give Walrein the jump on neutral natured base 70s, most notably Skarmory and Metagross. This allows Walrein to use Roar against Skarmory before it can Whirlwind Walrein out, and also means that Skarmory can't Roost before you Blizzard. However, this 176 Speed - 180 Speed area is heavily contested as many Pokémon, such as Choice Band Tyranitar and Choice Band Machamp, run just enough Speed to outrun these neutral base 70s, and so a little more Speed can be added to the set as one feels fit.

As usual, the Ice-type is very much a mixed blessing. Ice attacks are always useful on a team, but the trade off for gaining a STAB boost on them is an unfortunate list of defensive weaknesses. Stealth Rock can hinder its ability to function as a tank somewhat, as taking 25% each time Walrein comes in will wear it down a little faster than is preferable. Even with those drawbacks considered, Walrein is a fine tank in OU play, sporting handy resistances to Ice and Water, and while its offensive stats are nothing special, they are more than adequate for a predominantly defensive Pokémon.

Back in ADV, the sight of Walrein in OU matches was rare to say the least. However, with its cool new Ice Body ability, it can be a very useful—often integral—part of a Hail-based team when it receives support from Abomasnow. Its stalling abilities with hail support is impressive and with Toxic and/or Toxic Spikes flying around, it can be surprisingly difficult to take down. Overall, Walrein got some very useful boosts in the transition from ADV to DPP. Whether it is tanking in OU or stalling on Hail teams, the sturdy walrus can prove to be a difficult opponent to beat.

Tyranitar screws up its Leftovers recovery and also removes hail, making Ice Body useless. Repeated hits from Surf hurt, but Tyranitar will likely come out on top by firing off powerful Stone Edges and can also Taunt Walrein, effectively shutting it down. Gyarados can sponge hits from Ice- and Water-type attacks and set up with Dragon Dance, before KOing Walrein with Stone Edge. Like Tyranitar, Gyarados also has access to Taunt. Suicune is faster than Walrein and can easily Roar it out, taking minimal damage from any of the Walrein's attacks. Clefable was already mentioned, but it makes an even better counter to Stallrein than it does for the other sets. It is immune to the effects of hail and poison and can Encore Walrein's attacks before setting up Calm Mind or simply hitting back with Thunderbolt. Breloom can be a problem if you don't have Blizzard, as like Clefable it is still able to recover HP during hail and can't be worn down by poison.

Dragontamer · Jan 21, 2010

I know that when I fail to poison the enemy, simply using Substitute / protect each turn to deal hail damage can work. With max PP, Stallrein can take out two non-leftovers Pokemon with Hail alone, more with Stealth Rocks support. This can be devastating in the late game if you've taken out their leftovers users.

Also, it is never mentioned to alternate between Protect and Substitute. So I threw that into the first paragraph.

I also have a few minor edits based on Xia's edits above.

Xia said:
This set is centered around making use of Walrein's Ice Body ability, so you will need to pair it up with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can use Protect to score some free healing. Walrein can use Substitute to lose 25% HP. It will gain 12.5% back that turn, and another 12.5% when it uses Protect. By alternating between Substitute and Protect, Walrein can stall for as long as he has PP and hail, always hiding behind his substitute or protect. 

Poisoning opponents is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has infected an opponent with Toxic the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute, healing each turn while the poison damage intensifies, and draining your opponent of its HP. This is the more direct approach. Although it requires some additional support, throwing a Toxic Spiker—Forretress and Tentacruel are both fine choices—into the mix can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making draining opponents a slightly slower process. If neither Toxic nor Toxic Spikes are avaliable, Stallrein can attempt to kill using the hail alone. Just wait 16 turns and any non-leftovers user will succum to the hail. With 32 PP in Substitute and Protect combined, you can do this against two of your opponent's Pokemon if they don't have a method of recovery. 

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem the more tempting as you can take advantage of the 100% accuracy it has during hail, but Surf is generally the superior choice. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather and powerful Rock attacks are a huge problem, not only to Walrein, but to many Hail teams in general. Unlike Blizzard, it hits Steel-types for neutral damage, and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and ability to Spin away Toxic Spikes can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't become quite so vulnerable to Taunt. However, Blizzard is still a worthy option, especially if you choose Earthquake in the third slot, as it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-types and Grass/Poison-types who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and in the latter case, the poison status altogether.

Walrein’s typing gives it an undesirable weakness to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types who are immune to poison such as Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could effectively counter Walrein thanks to Lucario's Steel-typing and Machamp's ability to heal off poison. Gliscor or Rotom-A can deal with the aforementioned threats. Gliscor could provide Stealth Rock as an added bonus, while Rotom-A can prevent the opponent from removing your entry hazards on the field. Taunt Gyarados could be problematic since it could prevent Walrein from alternating between Protect and Substitute. Rotom-A could check Gyarados nicely since it can usually check bulky variants effectively.

Support is absolutely required for the main set to function, otherwise you’re not taking full advantage of Walrein’s potential. For starters, Abomasnow is a staple with Walrein since it can provide hail which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability, Ice Body. Toxic Spikes is probably the second-most important support required because it allows Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for Toxic Spike users, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they have Rapid Spin under their belt to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular can add a sweet Fighting-type resistance, along with having the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes for Walrein.

Outside of support, there are several threats Walrein can’t handle—particularly Tyranitar since it can remove hail. You can approach Tyranitar two ways: remove it beforehand or check it the entire match. If you plan to remove it beforehand, Choice Band Dugtrio can reliably remove Tyranitar from the match with Earthquake. However, if you plan to choose the latter option, Swampert makes an excellent counter to Tyranitar since it resists Stone Edge. As an added bonus, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock to help Walrein shuffle better. Outside of hail, Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could handle Walrein since Lucario is immune while Machamp can easily cleanse its status with Rest. Gliscor and Rotom-A could effectively check the aforementioned threats. Other than checking Lucario and Machamp, Gliscor can also provide Stealth Rock support. Rotom-A on the other hand makes a fine example of someone who works great with Walrein. With its unique typing, it can take hits from Walrein while effectively blocking any attempts from the opponent from removing your entry hazards. Furthermore, Rotom-A could also check Taunt Gyarados to a good extent,who troubles Walrein since it can sponge Blizzard and Surf, while using Taunt and Dragon Dance to deal with Walrein.

Charm comes via Spheal in XD and can be used to annoy physical attackers. Stockpile is available over Curse if you wish to boost both defenses. Hidden Power Electric works okay alongside Ice Beam, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. A Choice Band is plausible but isn't really where Walrein's strengths lie. If you want a Choice Band set, then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Avalanche and Waterfall are available for physical attacks. Walrein could also run a Rest / Sleep Talk set, but its terrible defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes the sets viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stat, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier including Swampert and Snorlax. The only distinct advantage Walrein has over the former two is that nothing is immune to Avalanche. Lastly, Encore can be spaced in on the main set in order to force switch outs on the opponent. However, Roar is probably the better option since it has more PP. Ice Body can replace Thick Fat on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow you're usually better off going with Stallrein.

For Stallrein, 220 HP EVs puts its stat at 416, which is divisible by 16. This is of great importance as with its max HP of 424, Walrein's Substitutes would require 106 HP to make, but over the two turns it spends stalling with Substitute and Protect it would only recover back 104 HP. A HP stat that is divisible by 16 is necessary to allow Walrein to stall indefinitely (or at least until its PP runs out). The 48 Speed EVs give Walrein the jump on neutral natured base 70s, most notably Skarmory and Metagross. This allows Walrein to use Roar against Skarmory before it can Whirlwind Walrein out, and also means that Skarmory can't Roost before you Blizzard. However, this 176 Speed - 180 Speed area is heavily contested as many Pokémon, such as Choice Band Tyranitar and Choice Band Machamp, run just enough Speed to outrun these neutral base 70s, and so a little more Speed can be added to the set as one feels fit.

As usual, the Ice-type is very much a mixed blessing. Ice attacks are always useful on a team, but the trade off for gaining a STAB boost on them is an unfortunate list of defensive weaknesses. Stealth Rock can hinder its ability to function as a tank somewhat, as taking 25% each time Walrein comes in will wear it down a little faster than is preferable. Even with those drawbacks considered, Walrein is a fine tank in OU play, sporting handy resistances to Ice and Water, and while its offensive stats are nothing special, they are more than adequate for a predominantly defensive Pokémon.

Back in ADV, the sight of Walrein in OU matches was rare to say the least. However, with its cool new Ice Body ability, it can be a very useful—often integral—part of a Hail-based team when it receives support from Abomasnow. Its stalling abilities with hail support is impressive and with Toxic and/or Toxic Spikes flying around, it can be surprisingly difficult to take down. Overall, Walrein got some very useful boosts in the transition from ADV to DPP. Whether it is tanking in OU or stalling on Hail teams, the sturdy walrus can prove to be a difficult opponent to beat.

Tyranitar screws up its Leftovers recovery and also removes hail, making Ice Body useless. Repeated hits from Surf hurt, but Tyranitar will likely come out on top by firing off powerful Stone Edges and can also Taunt Walrein, effectively shutting it down. Gyarados can sponge hits from Ice- and Water-type attacks and set up with Dragon Dance, before KOing Walrein with Stone Edge. Like Tyranitar, Gyarados also has access to Taunt. Suicune is faster than Walrein and can easily Roar it out, taking minimal damage from any of the Walrein's attacks. Clefable was already mentioned, but it makes an even better counter to Stallrein than it does for the other sets. It is immune to the effects of hail and poison and can Encore Walrein's attacks before setting up Calm Mind or simply hitting back with Thunderbolt. Breloom can be a problem if you don't have Blizzard, as like Clefable it is still able to recover HP during hail and can't be worn down by poison.

---------------

Slower Pokemon who can break the sub also threaten Stallrein. If the opponent breaks the sub, the next turn will be Walrein's "Protect". If they switch out, predicting the protect, then Stallrein will not have a substitute up. If Stallrein has enough HP, he can simply substitute two turns in a row, predicting the switch.

I can't really think of a concise way of fitting it into the article.

Snorlaxe · Feb 21, 2010

[SET]
name: Stallrein
move 1: Protect
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Toxic / Roar / Earthquake
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
item: Leftovers
ability: Ice Body
nature: Bold
evs: 220 HP / 240 Def / 48 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set is centered around making use of Walrein's Ice Body ability, so you will need to pair it up with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of Hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can use Protect to score some free healing.

Poisoning opponents is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has inflicted an opponent with Toxic the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute, healing each turn while the poison damage intensifies and draining your opponent of their HP. This is the more direct approach. Although it requires some additional support, throwing a Toxic Spiker (Forretress and Tentacruel are both fine choices) into the mix can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making draining opponents a slightly slower process.

With Toxic Spikes support, Walrein can afford to drop Toxic from its moveset. However, you may still want to hold onto it to enable Walrein to poison Flying-type and Levitating enemies, specifically Gyarados. If you decide to not use Toxic, you have a couple of useful options to use in its place. Roar works if your team is in need of a phazer, and it also has applications more specific to this set. First of all, you can shuffle another opponent in to let Toxic Spikes take its toll. Secondly, you can prevent Skarmory from using Whirlwind to force Walrein out away by Roaring it out first. Roar will also mean that Gyarados cannot simply Dragon Dance in Walrein's face, and will force it to take even more residual damage upon re-entry. Earthquake is a great choice to hit Poison-types like Tentacruel that are coming in to absorb Toxic Spikes, thus ruining your set up. It also helps to wear down Steel-types, who are also immune to poison and can generally make nuisances of themselves. You could use Super Fand in Super Fang on the final slot in order to slice the opponent’s HP in half. This ultimately makes the stalling process much faster with Toxic Spikes down.

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem the more tempting as you can take advantage of the 100% accuracy it has during Hail, but Surf is generally the superior choice. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather and powerful Rock-type attacks are a huge problem not only to Walrein but to many Hail teams in general. Unlike Blizzard, it hits Steel-types for neutral damage and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and ability to use Rapid Spin to clear away Toxic Spikes can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't become quite so vulnerable to Taunt users. However, Blizzard is still a worthy option, especially if you choose Earthquake in the third slot; it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-, Grass-, and Poison-types who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and in the latter case, the poison status altogether.

As previously mentioned, Abomasnow is absolutely required in order to take full advantage of Walrein's ability. Since Walrein is normally used with hail, Abomasnow can support the entire team as a whole. Toxic Spikes will allow Walrein to successfully stall out the opponent, so be sure to pack a reliable Toxic Spikes user. Tentacruel and Forretress can reliably place down Toxic Spikes, while providing Rapid Spin support as an added bonus. Rapid Spin removes Stealth Rock from the field, and it allows Walrein to come in on physical hits without taking a quarter of its HP.

Tyranitar can give Walrein some trouble since it can remove hail from the field, while dishing out high powered Stone Edges. Make sure to bring Use Swampert to keep Tyranitar at bay, since it could be problematic the entire match. In addition to this, Swampert can also set up Stealth Rock in order to help Walrein shuffle through the opponent’s team. If Tyranitar proves to be a nuisance in the entire match, Choice Band Dugtrio could trap and OHKO Tyranitar with Earthquake.

Walrein’s typing gives it an undesirable weaknesses to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types who are immune to poison such as Lucario and RestTalk Machamp can effectively counter Walrein thanks to Lucario's Steel-typing and Machamp's ability to heal off poison. Gliscor or Rotom-A can deal with the aforementioned threats. Gliscor can provide Stealth Rock as an added bonus, while Rotom-A can prevent the opponent from removing your entry hazards on the field. Taunt Gyarados can be problematic since it can prevent Walrein from alternating between Protect and Substitute. Rotom-A can check Gyarados nicely since it can usually check bulky variants effectively.

[Team Options]

Support is absolutely required for StallRein to function, otherwise you’re not taking full advantage of Walrein’s potential. For starters, Abomasnow is a staple with Walrein since it can provide permanent hail which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability, Ice Body. Toxic Spikes is probably the second most important support required because it allows Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for Toxic Spikes users, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they have Rapid Spin under their belt to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular can add a good Fighting-type resist, along with having the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes for Walrein.

Outside of support, there are several threats Walrein can’t handle; particularly Tyranitar since it can remove hail. You can approach Tyranitar two ways: remove it beforehand or check it the entire match. If you plan to remove it beforehand, Choice Band Dugtrio can reliably remove Tyranitar from the match with Earthquake. However, if you plan to choose the latter option, Swampert makes an excellent counter to Tyranitar since it resists to Stone Edge. As an added bonus, Swampert can also set up Stealth Rock to help Walrein shuffle better. Outside of hail, Lucario and RestTalk Machamp can handle Walrein since Lucario is immune to Toxic Spikes while Machamp can easily cleanse its status with Rest. Gliscor and Rotom-A can effectively check the aforementioned threats. Other than checking Lucario and Machamp, Gliscor can also provide Stealth Rock support. Rotom-A on the other hand works very well with Walrein. With its unique typing, it can take hits from Walrein while effectively blocking any attempts from the opponent at removing your entry hazards. Furthermore, Rotom-A can also check Taunt Gyarados to an extent, who troubles Walrein since it can sponge Blizzard and Surf, while using Taunt and Dragon Dance to deal with Walrein.

[Other Options]

Charm can be used to annoy physical attackers. Stockpile is available over Curse if you wish to boost both defenses. Hidden Power Electric works decently alongside Ice Beam, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. A Choice Band is plausible but isn't really where Walrein's strengths lie. If you want a Choice Band set, then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Avalanche and Waterfall are available for physical attacks. Walrein could also run a Rest / Sleep Talk set, but its terrible defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes the set's viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stats, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier including Swampert and Snorlax. The only distinct advantage Walrein has over the former two is that nothing is immune to Avalanche. Lastly, Encore can be spaced in on the main set in order to force switch outs on the opponent. However, Roar is probably the better option since it has more PP. Ice Body can replace Thick Fat on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow you're usually better off going with Stallrein. [don't you mean Thick Fat can replace Ice Body?]

Changes in blue
Removals in red
Comments in green

May check the rest later, good job so far :)

diinbong · Feb 22, 2010

For Stallrein, 220 HP EVs puts its stat at 416, which is divisible by 16. This is of great importance as with its max HP of 424, Walrein's Substitutes would require 106 HP to make, but over the two turns it spends stalling with Substitute and Protect it would only recover back 104 HP. An HP stat that is divisible by 16 is necessary to allow Walrein to stall indefinitely (or at least until its PP runs out). The 48 Speed EVs give Walrein the jump on neutral natured base 70s, most notably Skarmory and Metagross. This allows Walrein to use Roar against Skarmory before it can Whirlwind Walrein out, and also means that Skarmory can't Roost before you Blizzard. However, this 176 Speed - 180 Speed area is heavily contested as many Pokémon, such as Choice Band Tyranitar and Choice Band Machamp, run just enough speed to outrun these neutral base 70s, and so a little more speed can be added to the set as one feels fit.

Fuzznip · Feb 25, 2010

j. franky said:
[SET]
name: Stallrein
move 1: Protect
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Toxic / Roar / Earthquake
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
item: Leftovers
ability: Ice Body
nature: Bold
evs: 220 HP / 240 Def / 48 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set is centered around making use of Walrein's Ice Body ability, so you will need to pair it up with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can use Protect to score some free healing [Maybe it would be good to say how much healing each turn].

Poisoning opponents is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has infected an opponent with Toxic, the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute, healing yourself and intensifying the poison damage each turn, draining your opponent of its HP. This is the more direct approach. Although, it requires some additional support. Using a Toxic Spiker - Forretress and Tentacruel are both fine choices - into the mix can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making poison stalling opponents a slightly slower process.

With Toxic Spikes support, Walrein can afford to drop Toxic from its moveset. However, you may still want to hold onto it to enable Walrein to poison Flying and Levitating enemies, specifically Gyarados. If you decide to dispense with Toxic, you have a couple of useful options to use in its place. Roar works if your team is in need of a phazer, and it also has applications more specific to this set. First of all, you can shuffle another opponent in to let Toxic Spikes take hold. Secondly, you can prevent Skarmory from Whirlwinding your Substitute away by Roaring it out first. Roar will also mean that Gyarados cannot simply Dragon Dance in Walrein's face, and will force it to take even more residual damage upon re-entry. Earthquake is a great choice to hit Poison-types like Tentacruel by coming in to absorb Toxic Spikes, thus ruining your set up. It also helps to wear down Steel-types, who are also immune to poison and can generally make nuisances of themselves. You could space in Super Fang on the final slot in order to slice the opponent’s HP in half. This ultimately makes the stalling process much faster with Toxic Spikes down.

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem the more tempting choice as you can take advantage of the 100% accuracy it has during hail, but Surf is generally the superior choice. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather and powerful Rock attacks are a huge problem. Not only does Tyranitar affect Walrein, but it affects many hail teams in general. Unlike Blizzard, it hits Steel-types for neutral damage, and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and ability to Spin away Toxic Spikes can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't become quite so vulnerable to Taunt. However, Blizzard is still a worthy option, especially if you choose Earthquake in the third slot, as it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-types and Grass/Poison-types who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and in the latter case, the poison status altogether.

Mention that if you choose Surf > Blizzard you have issues with Salamence and Latias.

As previously mentioned, Abomasnow is absolutely required in order to take full advantage of Walrein's ability. Since Walrein is normally used with hail, Abomasnow could support the entire team as a whole. Toxic Spikes will allow Walrein to successfully stall out the opponent, so make sure to pack a reliable Toxic Spikes user. Tentacruel and Forretress could reliably place down Toxic Spikes, while providing Rapid Spin support as an added bonus. Rapid Spin removes Stealth Rock from the field, and it allows Walrein to come in on physical hits without taking a quarter of its HP.

You already said to use either Forretress or Tentacruel as Toxic Spikers.

Tyranitar can give Walrein some trouble since it can remove hail from the field, while dishing out high-powered Stone Edges. Make sure to bring Swampert to keep Tyranitar at bay, since it could be problematic the entire match. In addition to this, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock in order to help Walrein shuffle through the opponent’s team. If Tyranitar proves to be a nuisance in the entire match, Choice Band Dugtrio could trap and OHKO Tyranitar with Earthquake.

You said this earlier too. Either remove this paragraph and add the excess info where you mentioned Tyranitar, or delete that whole Tyranitar mention earlier and keep it here.

Walrein’s typing gives it an undesirable weakness to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types who are immune to poison, such as Lucario and RestTalk Machamp, could effectively counter Walrein thanks to Lucario's Steel-typing and Machamp's ability to heal off status. Gliscor or Rotom-A can deal with the aforementioned threats. Gliscor could provide Stealth Rock as an added bonus, while Rotom-A can prevent the opponent from removing your entry hazards on the field. Taunt Gyarados could be problematic since it could prevent Walrein from alternating between Protect and Substitute. Rotom-A could check Gyarados nicely since it can usually check bulky variants effectively.

Why not just say Rotom-F as it gets to use Blizzard?

[Team Options]

Support is absolutely required for the main set to function, otherwise you’re not taking full advantage of Walrein’s potential. For starters, Abomasnow is a staple with Walrein since it can provide hail which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability, Ice Body. Toxic Spikes is probably the second-most important support required because it allows Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for Toxic Spike users, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they have Rapid Spin under their belt to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular can add a sweet Fighting-type resist, along with having the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes for Walrein.

Outside of support, there are several threats Walrein can’t handle, particularly Tyranitar since it can remove hail. You can approach Tyranitar two ways: remove it beforehand or check it the entire match. If you plan to remove it beforehand, Choice Band Dugtrio can reliably remove Tyranitar from the match with Earthquake. However, if you plan to choose the latter option, Swampert makes an excellent counter to Tyranitar since it resists Stone Edge. As an added bonus, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock to help Walrein shuffle better [Stealth Rock doesn't help Walrein phaze better, it just adds more residual damage]. Outside of hail, Lucario and RestTalk Machamp could handle Walrein since Lucario is immune to poison status while Machamp can easily cleanse its status with Rest. Gliscor and Rotom-A could effectively check the aforementioned threats. Other than checking Lucario and Machamp, Gliscor can also provide Stealth Rock support. Rotom-A on the other hand makes a fine example of someone who works great with Walrein. With its unique typing, it can take hits from Walrein while effectively blocking any attempts from the opponent from removing your entry hazards. Furthermore, Rotom-A could also check Taunt Gyarados to a good extent, who troubles Walrein since it can sponge Blizzard and Surf, while using Taunt and Dragon Dance to deal with Walrein.

[Other Options]

Charm can be used to annoy physical attackers. Stockpile is available if you wish to boost both of Walrein's defenses. Hidden Power Electric works okay alongside Blizzard, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. A Choice Band set is plausible but isn't really where Walrein's strengths lie. If you want a Choice Band set, then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Avalanche and Waterfall are available for physical attacks. Walrein could also run a RestTalk set, but its terrible defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes the sets viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stat, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier including Swampert and Snorlax. The only distinct advantage Walrein has over the former two is that no one is immune to Avalanche. Lastly, Encore can be spaced in on the main set in order to force switch outs on the opponent. However, Roar is probably the better option since it has more PP. Thick Fat can replace Ice Body on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow, you're usually better off going with Stallrein.

[EVs]

For Stallrein, 220 HP EVs puts its stat at 416, which is divisible by 16. This is of great importance as with its max HP of 424, Walrein's Substitutes would require 106 HP to make, but over the two turns it spends stalling with Substitute and Protect it would only recover back 104 HP. A HP stat that is divisible by 16 is necessary to allow Walrein to stall indefinitely (or at least until its PP runs out). The 48 Speed EVs give Walrein the jump on neutral natured base 70s, most notably Skarmory and Metagross. This allows Walrein to use Roar against Skarmory before it can Whirlwind Walrein out, and also means that Skarmory can't Roost before you Blizzard. However, this 176 Speed - 180 Speed area is heavily contested as many Pokémon, such as Choice Band Tyranitar and Choice Band Machamp, run just enough speed to outrun these neutral base 70s, and so a little more speed can be added to the set as one feels fit.

Maxing out both HP and Defense is fine for most other sets. Although not really required, some investment can be made in Attack to boost Earthquake and Avalanche, as Walrein's Attack stat is average at best.

I'll ignore this section due to it possibly being removed (new format changes).

[Opinion]

As usual, the Ice-type is very much a mixed blessing. Ice attacks are always useful on a team, but the trade off for gaining a STAB boost on them is an unfortunate list of defensive weaknesses. Stealth Rock can hinder Walrein's ability to function as a tank somewhat, as taking 25% each time it comes in will wear it down a little faster than is preferable. Even with those drawbacks considered, Walrein is a fine tank in OU play, sporting handy resists to Ice and Water, and while its offensive stats are nothing special, they are more than adequate for a predominantly defensive Pokémon.

Back in ADV, the sight of Walrein in OU matches was rare to say the least. However, with its cool new Ice Body ability, it can be a very useful - often integral - part of a hail-based team when it receives support from Abomasnow. Its stalling abilities with hail support are impressive and with Toxic and/or Toxic Spikes, he can be surprisingly difficult to take down. Overall, Walrein got some very useful boosts in the transition from ADV to DP. Whether it is tanking in OU or stalling on hail teams, the sturdy walrus can prove to be a difficult opponent to beat.

[Counters]

Since Walrein relies on Toxic to deal damage, most Steel-types can cause problems. Earthquake can dent them, but the likes of Metagross and Jirachi have the defenses to handle a few hits. Metagross can fire off Meteor Mash or ThunderPunch, while Jirachi can smack Walrein around with Thunderbolt or Grass Knot. Empoleon can beat it down with Grass Knot and also resists Water, making switching in a little easier. Empoleon can also Roar away Walrein's Substitute, but rarely has enough Speed EVs to ensure it will phaze Walrein before being phazed itself. Before setting up Substitute, Lucario and Machamp can scare away Walrein with their high-powered STAB moves.

Tyranitar screws up its Leftovers recovery and also removes hail for a sandstorm, making Ice Body useless. Repeated hits from Surf hurt, but Tyranitar will likely come out on top by firing off powerful Stone Edges and can also Taunt Walrein, effectively shutting it down. Gyarados can sponge hits from Ice- and Water-type attacks and set up with Dragon Dance before KOing Walrein with Stone Edge. Like Tyranitar, Gyarados also has access to Taunt. Suicune is faster than Walrein and can easily Roar it out, taking minimal damage from any of the Walrein's attacks. Clefable was already mentioned, but it makes an even better counter to Stallrein than it does for the other sets. It is immune to the effects of hail and poison and can Encore Walrein's attacks, before setting up Calm Mind or simply hitting back with Thunderbolt. Breloom can be a problem if you don't have Blizzard, as like Clefable, it is still able to recover HP during hail from its Poison Heal ability and can't be worn down by poison.

Nice job. You just gotta change this to the new format.

The only thing I gotta say is that you make no mention of Rotom-F, you only mention Rotom-A. I'd assume Rotom-F is a prime Rotom Appliance forme due to it having a perfectly accurate Blizzard. Also, I'm kind of iffy on the mention of Earthquake. An unSTABed Earthquake coming off of 176 Attack is ridiculously weak and won't have enough power to significantly damage Metagross and Jirachi (it can't even reach 25% damage vs 252 HP Adamant Metagross), two targets of choice. Tentacruel is also the only predominant Poison-type in OU, so Earthquake will only be good for that. But even then, Tentacruel can't do much back aside from Spinning away hazards and setting up its own Toxic Spikes. That's why you mentioned Forretress or Tentacruel as teammates though, since they can remove those hazards and set up them again.

Philip7086 · Jul 8, 2010

Requesting GP.

jc104 · Jul 8, 2010

The EVs on site for this set have been changed since this thread was made, after I posted an explanation in the small subjective changes thread. Unfortunately this was deleted before it was sent to the archive, so I cannot retrieve the post to put it here (if a mod is able to do this this would be hugely helpful). It entailed a change to 0 speed, largely because Walrein wants to be slower than Scizor.

If this change is made (or formally rejected) I would be happy to GP this.

Edit @ Ete - thanks, but that's the wrong post! That is merely a result of a quick proof-read after the change had already been made. There is still one deleted post of mine in the subjective changes thread archive, so that might be it.

Since it appears the post will likely not be retrieved, I will do my best to repeat my analysis:

There are not many ways to stop a Walrein stall once it's in motion. Although a number of pokemon can survive, only a select few can force Walrein out or KO. Here is a list of the ways to do so that are independent of speed:

-Taunt
-Perish Song
-Sandstorm and other weather effects.

This is not a long list, implying that speed is a key factor when it comes to beating a Walrein.

These methods rely on being faster:

-Roar/Whirlwind
-Negative priority i.e Focus Punch/Revenge that can break Walrein's Sub.

These rely on being slower:

-U Turn that can break the sub
-Normal Priority that does more than 25% damage
-Breaking the sub as you die (including explosion)
-Switching to something fast on Walrein's protect.

Those carried out by things that must be faster can only be carried out by a select few opponents. Breloom is the notable one in terms of negative priority, but is almost always faster than Walrein and gains health in hail and through toxic spikes. The faster Phazers include Skarmory, Suicune and Gyarados, all of whom tend to recover effectively, meaning that they can stall you out. Skarm is the only one you have a chance of outrunning, and even he runs more speed than a 48 speed Walrein usually. He also regularly carries taunt, beating Walrein regardless. The rare 0 speed Roar Vaporeon is an argument for speed Evs, however.

When it comes to stuff you want to be slower than, the list is far more extensive. Anything that can break your sub and is slower can force you out when paired with decent prediction and a faster, powerful teammate. The most notable opponent who can beat you through these methods is Scizor. A standard CB scizor can simply U-turn against Walrein, breaking the sub and switching to something faster while you are exposed. A slow SD scizor can also break your sub with Brick Break while SDing on the protects, and can then hit Walrein with a boosted bullet punch before it can get another sub up.

Stuff you can be slower than by running 0 speed include Vaporeon, Scizor, Metagross, some Empoleon, (leads and defensive sets) and some Magnezone. Note that anything you become faster than by adding speed can beat you by this method rather than the one they may have used otherwise.

So the best spread for OU Stallrein is 220HP 252def 36spdef. Speed has a negative impact on Walrein's performance, allowing it to be countered by the most common pokemon in the game when it doesn't need to be.

eric the espeon · Jul 8, 2010

have gone through and undeleted the rest of the archived posts. Here is your post.

Snorlaxe · Jul 22, 2010

Guys this has been here for over half a year, so some GP kids should probably come check this analysis out.

pink is grammar edits/comments
blue is prose/content edits

[OVERVIEW]

As usual, the Ice-type is very much a mixed blessing. Ice attacks are always useful on a team, but the trade off for gaining a STAB boost on them is an unfortunate amount of defensive weaknesses. Stealth Rock can hinder Walrein's ability to function as a tank somewhat, as taking 25% each time it comes in will wear it down a little faster than is preferable. Even with those drawbacks considered, Walrein is a fine tank in OU play, sporting handy resistances to Ice and Water, and while its offensive stats are nothing special, they are more than adequate for a predominantly defensive Pokémon.

Back in ADV, the sight of Walrein in OU matches was rare to say the least. However, with its newly-obtained Ice Body ability, it can be a very useful, and often integral, part of a hail-based team when it receives support from Abomasnow. Its stalling abilities with hail support are impressive and with Toxic and/or Toxic Spikes, he can be surprisingly difficult to take down. Overall, Walrein got some very useful boosts in the transition from ADV to DP. Whether it is tanking in OU or stalling on hail teams, the sturdy walrus can prove to be a difficult opponent to beat.

[SET]
name: Stallrein
move 1: Protect
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Toxic / Roar / Super Fang
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
item: Leftovers
ability: Ice Body
nature: Bold
evs: 220 HP / 240 Def / 48 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set is centered around making use of Walrein's Ice Body ability, so you will need to pair it up with Abomasnow to get a constant stream of hail going. With Ice Body activated and Leftovers equipped, Walrein can use Protect to score some free healing.

Poisoning opponents is key to this set's success. Once Walrein has poisoned an opponent with Toxic, the stalling can commence. Simply alternate between Protect and Substitute, healing yourself and intensifying the poison damage each turn, draining your opponent's Pokemon of their HP. This is the more direct approach; however, it requires some additional support. Using a Toxic Spiker - Forretress and Tentacruel are both fine choices - can really add to this set's effectiveness. Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making poison stalling more difficult.

With Toxic Spikes support, Walrein can afford to drop Toxic from its moveset. However, you may still want to hold onto it to enable Walrein to poison Flying-type and Levitating enemies, specifically Gyarados. If you decide to dispense with Toxic, you have a couple of useful options to use in its place. Roar works if your team is in need of a phazer, and it also has applications more specific to this set. First of all, you can shuffle another opponent in to let Toxic Spikes take effect. Secondly, you can prevent Skarmory from Whirlwinding your Substitute away by Roaring it out first. Roar will also mean that Gyarados cannot simply Dragon Dance in Walrein's face, and will force it to take even more residual damage upon re-entry. Earthquake is a great choice to hit Poison-types like Tentacruel who switch in to absorb Toxic Spikes, thus ruining your set-up. It also helps to wear down Steel-types, who are also immune to poison and are generally nuisances for this set to take on. You could space in Super Fang on the final slot in order to slice the opponent's HP in half. This ultimately makes the stalling process much faster with Toxic Spikes down.

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem to be the more tempting choice as you can take advantage of the 100% accuracy it has during hail, but Surf is generally the superior choice. Surf helps to wear down Tyranitar, whose ability to change the weather and access to powerful Rock attacks are a huge problem. Not only does Tyranitar affect Walrein, but it affects many hail teams in general. Unlike Blizzard, Surf hits Steel-types for neutral damage, and has the potential to 2HKO Forretress, whose immunity to Toxic and ability to spin away Toxic Spikes can ruin Walrein's strategy. It also has a lot more PP than Blizzard, meaning that Walrein won't become quite so vulnerable to Taunt users. However, Blizzard is still a worthy option, as it provides Walrein with good attacking coverage and smacks around most Flying-types and Grass/Poison-types who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and in the latter case, the poison status altogether.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

As previously mentioned, Abomasnow is absolutely required in order to take full advantage of Walrein's ability. Since Walrein is normally used with hail, Abomasnow could support the entire team as a whole. Toxic Spikes will allow Walrein to successfully stall out the opponent, so make sure to pack a reliable Toxic Spikes user. Tentacruel and Forretress can reliably set-up Toxic Spikes, while providing Rapid Spin support as an added bonus. Rapid Spin removes Stealth Rock from the field, allowing Walrein to come in on physical hits without having a quarter of its health stripped by Stealth Rock.

Tyranitar can give Walrein some trouble since it can remove hail from the field while dishing out high-powered Stone Edges. Make sure to bring Swampert to keep Tyranitar at bay, since it could be problematic the entire match. In addition to this, Swampert could also set up Stealth Rock in order to help Walrein shuffle through the opponent's team. Choice Band Dugtrio is another option as well since it can trap and OHKO Tyranitar with Earthquake.

Walrein’s typing gives it undesirable weaknesses to a number of commonly used attacks. Fighting-types who are immune to poison, such as Lucario and RestTalk Machamp, could effectively counter Walrein thanks to Lucario's Steel-typing and Machamp's ability to heal off status. Gliscor or Rotom-A can deal with the aforementioned threats. Gliscor can provide Stealth Rock as an added bonus, while Rotom-A can prevent the opponent from spinning away your entry hazards on the field. Taunt Gyarados could be problematic since it could prevent Walrein from alternating between Protect and Substitute. Rotom-A could check Gyarados nicely with its considerable bulk and access to STAB Thunderbolt.

[Team Options]

Support is absolutely required for the main set to function; otherwise, you're not taking full advantage of Walrein’s potential. For starters, Abomasnow is a staple with Walrein since it can provide hail, which activates Walrein's near-exclusive ability, Ice Body. Toxic Spikes is probably the second-most important support required because it allows Walrein to stall out the opponent. There are a number of candidates for Toxic Spikes users, but Tentacruel and Forretress are the best users with Walrein since they have Rapid Spin under their belt to remove entry hazards. Tentacruel in particular boasts a useful Fighting-type resist, along with the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes for Walrein.

Outside of support, there are several threats Walrein can't handle, particularly Tyranitar, who can remove hail. You can approach Tyranitar two ways: remove it beforehand or check it the entire match. If you plan to remove it beforehand, Choice Band Dugtrio can reliably trap and remove Tyranitar from the match with Earthquake. However, if you plan to choose the latter option, Swampert makes an excellent counter to Tyranitar since it resists Stone Edge. As an added bonus, Swampert can also set up Stealth Rock to help Walrein stack more residual damage while it phazes with Roar. Outside of hail, Lucario and RestTalk Machamp can handle Walrein since Lucario is immune to poison status while Machamp can easily cleanse its status with Rest. Gliscor and Rotom-A can effectively check the aforementioned threats. Other than checking Lucario and Machamp, Gliscor can also provide Stealth Rock support. Rotom-A on the other hand makes a fine example of someone who works great with Walrein. With its unique typing, it can take hits from Walrein while effectively blocking any attempts from the opponent from removing your entry hazards. Furthermore, Rotom-A can also check Taunt Gyarados to a good extent, who troubles Walrein since it can sponge Blizzard and Surf while using Taunt and Dragon Dance to deal with Walrein.

[Optional Changes]

Charm can be used to temporarily cripple physical attackers. Stockpile is available if you wish to boost both of Walrein's defenses. Hidden Power Electric works decently alongside Blizzard, hitting Water-types for reasonable damage, especially Gyarados. A Choice Band set is plausible, but isn't really where Walrein's strengths lie. If you want to use a Choice Band set, then Crunch, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Avalanche, and Waterfall are available for physical attacks. Walrein could also run a RestTalk set, but its terrible defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes the sets viability questionable. Walrein can also run a Curse set to further boost its high Defense and Attack stats, but there are far better options for Curse users in the OU tier, most notably Swampert and Snorlax. The only distinct advantage Walrein has over the former two is that nobody is immune to Avalanche. Lastly, Encore can be spaced in on the main set in order to force the opponent to switch. However, Roar is probably the better option since it has more PP. Thick Fat can replace Ice Body on any of the sets listed, but with support from Abomasnow, you're usually better off going with Stallrein.

[Counters]

Since Walrein relies on Toxic to deal damage, most Steel-types can cause problems. Earthquake can dent them, but the likes of Metagross and Jirachi have the defenses to handle a few hits. Metagross can fire off Meteor Mash or ThunderPunch, while Jirachi can smack Walrein around with Thunderbolt or Grass Knot. Empoleon can beat it down with Grass Knot and also resists Water, making switching in a little easier. Empoleon can also Roar away Walrein's Substitute, but rarely has enough Speed EVs to ensure it will phaze Walrein before being phazed itself. Before setting up Substitute, Lucario and Machamp can scare away Walrein with their high-powered STAB moves.

Tyranitar screws up Walrein's Leftovers recovery and also removes hail for a sandstorm, making Ice Body useless. Repeated hits from Surf hurt, but Tyranitar will likely come out on top by firing off powerful Stone Edges and can also Taunt Walrein, effectively shutting it down. Gyarados can sponge Walrein's Ice- and Water-type attacks and set up with Dragon Dance before KOing Walrein with Stone Edge. Like Tyranitar, Gyarados also has access to Taunt. Suicune is faster than Walrein and can easily Roar it out, taking minimal damage from any of Walrein's attacks. Clefable was already mentioned, but it makes an even better counter to Stallrein than it does for the other sets. It is immune to the effects of hail and poison, and can Encore Walrein's attacks before setting up Calm Mind or simply hitting back with Thunderbolt. Breloom can be a problem if you don't have Blizzard, as like Clefable, it is still able to recover HP during hail from its Poison Heal ability and can't be worn down by poison.

Nice job. A few notes:

-I didnt fix any of the male and female pronouns, and there were loads and I really dont agree with the rule in the first place. I think you should be fine with the fact that "it" is the only pronoun you ever refer to Walrein with; as long as its consistent, I think its okay. However, I would check with like ibo or someone just to be sure.
-Some of your tenses are really odd. Like for example, you'll have one sentence where Gliscor "could" check Lucario, and in the next paragraph or whatever, Gliscor "can" check Lucario. It's just something to look out for; I corrected what I saw of it, but I probably missed stuff, so I just want you to be on the lookout for it 9.9
-some of your apostrophes were fucked up, probably from C+Ping the analysis from Microsoft Word. I fixed what I saw of it, but yeah I probably missed some as its like 7:40 in the morning right now <.< just something else to look out for!

Good work, though, and I really want some more GP people to look at this, as this analysis has mainly just sat here gathering dust for like over half of a year 9.9

Rising_Dusk · Jul 22, 2010

For the record, this never went through QC, which means that (as the previous posts confirm), there is a lot of questionable set content here. I honestly think that this should be run through QC first before GP, but given Phil's post above I'm not sure that will happen. I will talk to him about it.

mtr · Jul 23, 2010

Don't think this needs QC, since it's not exactly a novel set. StallRein has been around since 2007.

Rising_Dusk · Jul 23, 2010

Yeah, but the EVs and slashes seem like they need some refinement. There's a lot of wanting Super Fang, for instance, and without QC input it can't really be called one way or the other.

Setsuna · Aug 31, 2010

I have reviewed the information that's in the OP of this thread, and while I consider that it shouldn't be moved to QC, I would like to request the following: the use of the 48 Speed EVs should be removed, as this is a perfect example of what speed creep is. However, it's perfectly fine to mention in AC that when using Roar, it's viable to invest some EVs into Speed in order to outrun the likes of Skarmory and Metagross. Furthermore, it'd be nice to see an explanation of why 220 HP / 240 Def EVs should be used (i.e: 252 HP makes Walrein's HP stat divisible by 16, etc.).

Once this is implemented, the GP team will be able to start to work.

franky · Aug 31, 2010

jc104 · Aug 31, 2010

You need to have 220 HP evs to avoid continuously losing health as you use sub + protect. The spread should be 220 hp 252def 36spdef. Also, I disagree with Setsuna in that it can be a good idea to add a few speed EVs. Speed has a largely negative impact on Walrein's performance, as I outlined in my above post.

Setsuna · Aug 31, 2010

I conversed with jc104 about Walrein, who seems to have a lot of experience with this set in question, so here's the conclusion: 220 HP / 252 Def / 36 SpD as the spread to use. Where 220 HP makes Walrein's HP stat divisible by 16 and prevents it from losing health in the sub + protect cycle. 252 Def allows Walrein to take physical attacks better, and the remaining EVs are dumped into Special Defense to give Walrein added overall durability.

On the subject of the Speed EVs, franky, just say that one could add a certain amount of EVs in order to outspeed the likes of Skarmory, Vaporeon, and Metagross, though emphasize that doing that can cause a major malfunction in Walrein's overall performance as a wall, since subtracting EVs from HP or Def just to put in the Speed minimizes the survivability of the Pokemon.

Forte.EXE · Aug 31, 2010

franky said:
Bear in mind that if you are unable to get both layers of Toxic Spikes in play, you will be inflicting the weaker variety of poison, making poison stalling

Finally, you have your choice of STAB move so Walrein's respectable Special Attack doesn't go to waste. Blizzard may seem the more tempting opponents a slightly slower process.

Your sentence for stalling is cut off, and the rest of it is in the middle of your STAB choice section.

franky · Aug 31, 2010

i will change the primary ev spread.

however, i am inclined to disagree on how walrein loses major physical walling prowess by adding speed. while statistically speaking, walrein does lose some overall physical defense, walrein is still one hell of a sturdy tank even with speed evs and it can certainly take most neutral hits and survive them despite his shortcomings with his typing. speed is the most important ev in the game and if we are focusing on this set's objective, speed is probably important and the last thing i want is being foiled by roar skarmory, vaporeon, etc. idk, this is speaking from personal experience with walrein. for the time being, i am going to go with qc's spread here.

Walrein (OU Analysis)

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