Torkoal

White Smoke
Prevents the enemy from lowering this Pokémon's stats and decreases wild encounter rate.
Type Tier
Fire NU
Statistics
Min- Min Max Max+
HP
70
- 281 344 -
Atk
85
185 206 269 295
Def
140
284 316 379 416
SpA
85
185 206 269 295
SpD
70
158 176 239 262
Spe
20
68 76 139 152
Name Item Nature

Curser

Leftovers Relaxed
Moveset EVs
~ Curse
~ Fire Blast / Overheat
~ Rock Slide / Return / Hidden Power Fighting
~ Explosion
252 HP / 184 Atk / 72 SpD

This is probably the best set Torkoal has to offer. Torkoal is already slower than Snorlax and Dusclops, so don't worry about Curse lowering its speed. Its movepool isn't the greatest, but at least it gets Explosion to nearly guarantee a knock out.

Name Item Nature

Yawn

Leftovers Relaxed
Moveset EVs
~ Yawn
~ Explosion
~ Fire Blast / Overheat
~ Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
252 HP / 184 SpA / 72 SpD

This set is usable in either OU or UU. In OU, use this in conjunction with Spikes to force switches. You then have the Hidden Powers to take on either Swampert or Salamence. In UU, this set is good all around for tanking while dishing out the damage that you can.

Name Item Nature

Choice Bander

Choice Band Brave
Moveset EVs
~ Explosion
~ Overheat
~ Rock Slide
~ Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Bug
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA

Torkoal is too slow to pull this off, but it could be surprising for incoming Gligar and Solrock. If you're playing NU or have a theme team, this Torkoal can do a lot more damage with Paralysis support.

Name Item Nature

Staller

Leftovers Bold
Moveset EVs
~ Iron Defense / Fire Blast / Flamethrower
~ Amnesia
~ Toxic
~ Rest
252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD

It's a stalling tank set with Toxic. With its high defense, which it can boost, it boosts up its Special Defense while Resting to stay alive.

Name Item Nature

Resttalker

Leftovers Bold
Moveset EVs
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk
~ Fire Blast
~ Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice
252 HP / 120 SpA / 136 SpD

Torkoal's movepool is so limited that it really doesn't mind the loss of two moveslots to Rest and Sleep Talk. Torkoal tries to use its high base Defense to its advantage so it can stick around longer. This can switch into stuff like Choice Band Megahorn and Meteor Mash all day long.

Other Options

Torkoal can use Sludge Bomb for the 30% chance to Poison, but since the only type it hits super effective is Grass, and Torkoal already has that covered with STAB Fire, it's not going to get much use. Other than that, not much, as Torkoal's movepool is really limited.

EVs

For any set that isn't the Choice Band set, it's ideal to always max out it's HP to give it the most defensive power. From there, you'll want to invest a bit in whatever attacking stat you're using, and put the rest into your defenses.

Opinion

Torkoal has excellent Defense, but its lack of Speed and very limited movepool are what makes it where it's at now: very rarely, if ever, used. A bonus you might overlook in OU is that Torkoal's ability is White Smoke, so if anyone thinks Salamence / Gyarados is a counter, Intimidate won't lower Torkoal's Attack, so it can still fire off Rock Slides at them (too bad Torkoal's Attack is less than stellar, so they won't really mind the hits all that much), and Explosion won't be weakened.

Counters

In OU, just about any Water-type walls it. In UU, you'd want to be careful for Solrock, Lunatone, Gligar and the bulky Water-types, such as Blastoise, Quagsire, and Walrein.