[Overview]
<p>Walrein can function as a decent tank thanks to its awesome bulk. While it is usually seen using its ability Ice Body alongside hail in the higher tiers, such a set unfortunately cannot be used in NU as hail is banned, limiting its viability in the tier. Even though Regice hits harder, which along with its better defenses makes it a better choice as an Ice-type tank most of the time, Walrein's niche over Regice is that it can handle Charizard better thanks to its Fire resistance granted by Thick Fat. Roar is another move Walrein has over its competitors, and its good Special Attack means it can still hit decently hard. A Water typing helps Walrein to take on Water- and Steel-types better than Regice, allowing Walrein to function as a decent tank that is difficult to OHKO. Walrein's lack of recovery, however, limits its effectiveness as a tank.</p>
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Roar / Encore
move 4: Surf / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Thick Fat
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Thick Fat gives Walrein helpful resistances to Fire- and Ice-type moves, which combined with its great bulk allows it to easily take Water-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks from the likes of Samurott, Simipour, and Charizard, respectively. Toxic is an essential move for Walrein, as it wears down the opponent over the course of the match. Ice Beam is its STAB move of choice and lets it hit Flying-, Grass-, and Ground-type opponents for super effective damage. Surf is Walrein's method of disposing of Charizard immediately, and is its only way of doing any real damage to Steel-types that shrug off an Ice Beam with ease and are immune to Toxic. Surf also helps with other Fire-types, such as Torkoal and Camerupt, and does more damage to the likes of Armaldo. Roar and Encore are both options for disrupting setup sweepers; while Roar is the safer move, allowing Walrein to phaze and rack up hazard damage, Encore can lock the opponent into disadvantageous moves, such as a stat-boosting move or Substitute, and thus lets a teammate set up on said threat. Walrein is hampered by its lack of access to reliable recovery and the lack of permanent hail in Neverused, which is a letdown considering its great bulk. Protect somewhat mitigates this by letting Walrein get extra Leftovers recovery and rack up Toxic damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A specially defensive spread allows Walrein to take on Charizard and special Samurott. However, you can opt to use a physically defensive set, which boasts the ability to take on Swords Dance Samurott and most Ground-types with ease. Super Fang is a viable move which can halve the opponent's health and cripples the Pokemon that can normally handle this set, such as Regice and Metang. However, since Walrein can actually deal decent damage thanks to its base 95 Special Attack, it is usually not necessary. </p>
<p>Entry hazard support is great to take advantage of Walrein's stalling ability and to use in conjunction with Roar. Great teammates for Walrein include those that can set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, such as Roselia and Garbodor. In addition, they resist the Grass- and Fighting-type attacks that Walrein dislikes and can set up entry hazards against them. Meanwhile, Walrein can deal with the Ground- and Rock-types that these entry hazard setters loathe by forcing them out due to the threat of Surf. Rapid Spin support is nice to have for Walrein, as Walrein's weakness to Stealth Rock hurts its ability to take on various Pokemon, such as Charizard. Pokemon such as Sawk, Torterra, and Serperior are great partners and can also easily prevent Stealth Rock. Torkoal is the best Rapid Spin user for Walrein's team to use, as not only can it set up Stealth Rock, but it also takes Grass-type attacks for Walrein. Additionally, Torkoal can act as a physically defensive tank while Walrein acts as a specially defensive tank, making the combination of these two Pokemon a solid core. Ground-types such as Golem pair well with Walrein, as they are immune to Electric and can take Rock-type attacks for Walrein, while Walrein can take Water- and Ice-type attacks for them. Exeggutor is also a great teammate for Walrein; it can take the Fighting- and Grass-type attacks aimed at Walrein, while Walrein can check pesky Fire- and Flying-types for Exeggutor.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A Life Orb or Choice Specs set is possible, as Walrein's Special Attack and type coverage is pretty decent. A physical Curse set can be used to take advantage of Walrein's great bulk, but Walrein's weaknesses to common types such as Fighting and Grass make it unable to set up safely. Finally, manual hail can be used to utilize the unbreakable Stallrein strategy, but five turns isn't nearly enough to properly execute said strategy.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Walrein is worn down easily by entry hazards—Stealth Rock takes out a chunk of its health, and it gets worn down by Spikes very quickly as well. Due to its multiple common weaknesses, it is easy to force Walrein out, thus racking up the hazard damage that Walrein takes. Grass-types can only check Walrein because they don't want to switch directly into Ice Beam, but they can easily 2HKO Walrein, meaning that they almost always win against it one-on-one. Most Electric- and Fighting-types with decent offensive presence, such as Electabuzz, Ampharos, Sawk and Gurdurr, can easily force Walrein out as well. Ludicolo is especially threatening to Walrein, since it's only hit neutrally by Ice Beam, can heal itself back with Giga Drain, and only really fears Toxic. Clerics, including, but not limited to, Audino and Musharna, and RestTalk users, can easily cleanse themselves of Toxic poison and stall Walrein out. Steel-types are in a similar vein, with opponents such as Metang being immune to Toxic and resisting Ice Beam, while retaliating with a painful Meteor Mash. Finally, Taunt users, particularly Mandibuzz and Misdreavus, can temporarily halt Walrein's usage of support moves and can also cripple Walrein with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, respectively.</p>
<p>Walrein can function as a decent tank thanks to its awesome bulk. While it is usually seen using its ability Ice Body alongside hail in the higher tiers, such a set unfortunately cannot be used in NU as hail is banned, limiting its viability in the tier. Even though Regice hits harder, which along with its better defenses makes it a better choice as an Ice-type tank most of the time, Walrein's niche over Regice is that it can handle Charizard better thanks to its Fire resistance granted by Thick Fat. Roar is another move Walrein has over its competitors, and its good Special Attack means it can still hit decently hard. A Water typing helps Walrein to take on Water- and Steel-types better than Regice, allowing Walrein to function as a decent tank that is difficult to OHKO. Walrein's lack of recovery, however, limits its effectiveness as a tank.</p>
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Roar / Encore
move 4: Surf / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Thick Fat
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Thick Fat gives Walrein helpful resistances to Fire- and Ice-type moves, which combined with its great bulk allows it to easily take Water-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks from the likes of Samurott, Simipour, and Charizard, respectively. Toxic is an essential move for Walrein, as it wears down the opponent over the course of the match. Ice Beam is its STAB move of choice and lets it hit Flying-, Grass-, and Ground-type opponents for super effective damage. Surf is Walrein's method of disposing of Charizard immediately, and is its only way of doing any real damage to Steel-types that shrug off an Ice Beam with ease and are immune to Toxic. Surf also helps with other Fire-types, such as Torkoal and Camerupt, and does more damage to the likes of Armaldo. Roar and Encore are both options for disrupting setup sweepers; while Roar is the safer move, allowing Walrein to phaze and rack up hazard damage, Encore can lock the opponent into disadvantageous moves, such as a stat-boosting move or Substitute, and thus lets a teammate set up on said threat. Walrein is hampered by its lack of access to reliable recovery and the lack of permanent hail in Neverused, which is a letdown considering its great bulk. Protect somewhat mitigates this by letting Walrein get extra Leftovers recovery and rack up Toxic damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A specially defensive spread allows Walrein to take on Charizard and special Samurott. However, you can opt to use a physically defensive set, which boasts the ability to take on Swords Dance Samurott and most Ground-types with ease. Super Fang is a viable move which can halve the opponent's health and cripples the Pokemon that can normally handle this set, such as Regice and Metang. However, since Walrein can actually deal decent damage thanks to its base 95 Special Attack, it is usually not necessary. </p>
<p>Entry hazard support is great to take advantage of Walrein's stalling ability and to use in conjunction with Roar. Great teammates for Walrein include those that can set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, such as Roselia and Garbodor. In addition, they resist the Grass- and Fighting-type attacks that Walrein dislikes and can set up entry hazards against them. Meanwhile, Walrein can deal with the Ground- and Rock-types that these entry hazard setters loathe by forcing them out due to the threat of Surf. Rapid Spin support is nice to have for Walrein, as Walrein's weakness to Stealth Rock hurts its ability to take on various Pokemon, such as Charizard. Pokemon such as Sawk, Torterra, and Serperior are great partners and can also easily prevent Stealth Rock. Torkoal is the best Rapid Spin user for Walrein's team to use, as not only can it set up Stealth Rock, but it also takes Grass-type attacks for Walrein. Additionally, Torkoal can act as a physically defensive tank while Walrein acts as a specially defensive tank, making the combination of these two Pokemon a solid core. Ground-types such as Golem pair well with Walrein, as they are immune to Electric and can take Rock-type attacks for Walrein, while Walrein can take Water- and Ice-type attacks for them. Exeggutor is also a great teammate for Walrein; it can take the Fighting- and Grass-type attacks aimed at Walrein, while Walrein can check pesky Fire- and Flying-types for Exeggutor.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A Life Orb or Choice Specs set is possible, as Walrein's Special Attack and type coverage is pretty decent. A physical Curse set can be used to take advantage of Walrein's great bulk, but Walrein's weaknesses to common types such as Fighting and Grass make it unable to set up safely. Finally, manual hail can be used to utilize the unbreakable Stallrein strategy, but five turns isn't nearly enough to properly execute said strategy.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Walrein is worn down easily by entry hazards—Stealth Rock takes out a chunk of its health, and it gets worn down by Spikes very quickly as well. Due to its multiple common weaknesses, it is easy to force Walrein out, thus racking up the hazard damage that Walrein takes. Grass-types can only check Walrein because they don't want to switch directly into Ice Beam, but they can easily 2HKO Walrein, meaning that they almost always win against it one-on-one. Most Electric- and Fighting-types with decent offensive presence, such as Electabuzz, Ampharos, Sawk and Gurdurr, can easily force Walrein out as well. Ludicolo is especially threatening to Walrein, since it's only hit neutrally by Ice Beam, can heal itself back with Giga Drain, and only really fears Toxic. Clerics, including, but not limited to, Audino and Musharna, and RestTalk users, can easily cleanse themselves of Toxic poison and stall Walrein out. Steel-types are in a similar vein, with opponents such as Metang being immune to Toxic and resisting Ice Beam, while retaliating with a painful Meteor Mash. Finally, Taunt users, particularly Mandibuzz and Misdreavus, can temporarily halt Walrein's usage of support moves and can also cripple Walrein with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, respectively.</p>
Last edited by a moderator:
