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White Smoke
- Prevents the enemy from lowering this Pokémon's stats and decreases wild encounter rate.
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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 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.