Volcarona is one scary Pokemon. It's one of those Pokemon that creates the domino effect if you let it set up, because it's pretty much all downhill from there, similar to Moxie Salamence. Every time I build a team, Volcarona is always something I try to take into account. If my team lacks any kind of Choice Scarfer packing Stone Edge or some kind of resilient phazer like Heatran, then I'm going to have a rough time when I see this thing on the team preview. His great move coverage, insane power, and above average special bulk makes him really hard to take out, especially with Sun Support.
With that said however, Volcarona is a very hard Pokemon to use successfully when playing against a well built team and or good player. His Stealth Rock weakness of course, being his biggest, is pretty much the sole reason why he isn't used on every Sun team and, heck, every other team! Bug and Fire is an amazing offensive and defensive typing, giving Volcarona only a few weaknesses and a ton of coverage. Since OU is full of dangerous Psychic types such as Alakazam, the Lati twins, and Reuniclus, Volcarona is a great check to these bastards, and can actually use them as set up fodder. Another thing that OU lacks is a good Fire type. Infernape is really blah without Sun support, and Heatran is the only really good stand alone Fire type that needs little to no support to function on a team, weather or not. Now Volcarona would be a great addition to that list since the tier lacks both Fire and Bug types, however the amount of support needed to get him to sweep is quite a pain. First off as Tabuu mentioned, is a spinner. Now as you all know, Spinners are hard to come by in OU. Forretress is decent, but he lacks instant recovery, and lacks any sort of useful moves to fight back to prevent itself from being set up fodder. Donphan is shit, even in sun. Tentacruel is by far one of the best spinners in the tier, however it needs Rain to better it's longevity, which ironically, Volcarona likes. With that in mind though, his Fire attacks are heavily nerfed, meaning that Drizzle Moth might have to replace his Fire move for Hurricane instead, limiting his coverage. Starmie is the best way to go since they both cover each others weaknesses quite well. Still, you pretty much HAVE to give up a slot for a spinner, which is kind of a let down. Forcing Volcarona to run a healing move in order to negate Stealth Rocks sucks for the moth because it loses a coveraging move, and on top of that requires a free turn of healing, plus another turn of set up.
Now although Volcarona can function on Rain teams, it's Fire STAB is lost, meaning it's pretty much just a Bug type with access to Hurricane. Fair enough, but what if you don't want to use him on a Run team? That forces you to cope with the hardships that Volcarona will face when going up against Rain teams, unless of course you have Drought, Sand, or Hail support to negate Rain. Since Rain is so common, more likely then not, you're going to have a hard time setting up on Rain teams, since even a Volcarona at +1 Special Defense barely survives a Choice Specs Hydro Pump from Politoad at full health. Modest Politoad however, OHKOs. Volcarona needs that extra STAB to sweep efficiently, because with all the bulky walls like Jirachi and other Steel types, Volcarona can't depend on Bug Buzz to deal with them, especially under the Rain. This leads me to my next point.
Volcarona absolutely NEEDS a free turn to be effective, and is by far one of the most predictable Pokemon in OU. I can't tell you how many times players have tried forcing a switch with Volcarona in order to get a free turn of set up. It's so predictable, because they don't want to risk going for a coverage move and miss predict the Landorus or Salamence switch in. Even at +1 however, he is still susceptible to common Scarfers such as Terrakion, Salamence, Landorus and Garchomp, all who either pack Stone Edge or a powerful physical move. This forces Volcarona to either wait for these Scarfers to be taken out by it's teammates, or pray for two free turns of set up. Since smart players will keep their scarfer alive as long as possible in order to prevent this from happening, Volc will have a hard time coming in.
All in all, Volcarona is the definition of Risk and Reward, similar to Auromoth in CAP. If given the chance to set up and with the right support, it's easily one of the most dangerous Pokemon in OU. With that said, Volcarona relies way too much on it's teammates to succeed, and is hindered by one of the most common playstyles. Volcarona forces your team to not only pack a spinner but also possibly an answer to Drizzle, easily revenged killed by common scarfers, requires at least one to two turns of set up before it can sweep, and has a case of fourth move slot syndrome since it can't hit certain parts of the meta game without a certain Hidden Power or Giga Drain. These reasons alone, keep Volcarona from going A-Tier. OU is harsh to the moth, and even with all these factors Volcarona is still a huge threat.
In my opinion, it's a perfect B-Tier Pokemon.
With that said however, Volcarona is a very hard Pokemon to use successfully when playing against a well built team and or good player. His Stealth Rock weakness of course, being his biggest, is pretty much the sole reason why he isn't used on every Sun team and, heck, every other team! Bug and Fire is an amazing offensive and defensive typing, giving Volcarona only a few weaknesses and a ton of coverage. Since OU is full of dangerous Psychic types such as Alakazam, the Lati twins, and Reuniclus, Volcarona is a great check to these bastards, and can actually use them as set up fodder. Another thing that OU lacks is a good Fire type. Infernape is really blah without Sun support, and Heatran is the only really good stand alone Fire type that needs little to no support to function on a team, weather or not. Now Volcarona would be a great addition to that list since the tier lacks both Fire and Bug types, however the amount of support needed to get him to sweep is quite a pain. First off as Tabuu mentioned, is a spinner. Now as you all know, Spinners are hard to come by in OU. Forretress is decent, but he lacks instant recovery, and lacks any sort of useful moves to fight back to prevent itself from being set up fodder. Donphan is shit, even in sun. Tentacruel is by far one of the best spinners in the tier, however it needs Rain to better it's longevity, which ironically, Volcarona likes. With that in mind though, his Fire attacks are heavily nerfed, meaning that Drizzle Moth might have to replace his Fire move for Hurricane instead, limiting his coverage. Starmie is the best way to go since they both cover each others weaknesses quite well. Still, you pretty much HAVE to give up a slot for a spinner, which is kind of a let down. Forcing Volcarona to run a healing move in order to negate Stealth Rocks sucks for the moth because it loses a coveraging move, and on top of that requires a free turn of healing, plus another turn of set up.
Now although Volcarona can function on Rain teams, it's Fire STAB is lost, meaning it's pretty much just a Bug type with access to Hurricane. Fair enough, but what if you don't want to use him on a Run team? That forces you to cope with the hardships that Volcarona will face when going up against Rain teams, unless of course you have Drought, Sand, or Hail support to negate Rain. Since Rain is so common, more likely then not, you're going to have a hard time setting up on Rain teams, since even a Volcarona at +1 Special Defense barely survives a Choice Specs Hydro Pump from Politoad at full health. Modest Politoad however, OHKOs. Volcarona needs that extra STAB to sweep efficiently, because with all the bulky walls like Jirachi and other Steel types, Volcarona can't depend on Bug Buzz to deal with them, especially under the Rain. This leads me to my next point.
Volcarona absolutely NEEDS a free turn to be effective, and is by far one of the most predictable Pokemon in OU. I can't tell you how many times players have tried forcing a switch with Volcarona in order to get a free turn of set up. It's so predictable, because they don't want to risk going for a coverage move and miss predict the Landorus or Salamence switch in. Even at +1 however, he is still susceptible to common Scarfers such as Terrakion, Salamence, Landorus and Garchomp, all who either pack Stone Edge or a powerful physical move. This forces Volcarona to either wait for these Scarfers to be taken out by it's teammates, or pray for two free turns of set up. Since smart players will keep their scarfer alive as long as possible in order to prevent this from happening, Volc will have a hard time coming in.
All in all, Volcarona is the definition of Risk and Reward, similar to Auromoth in CAP. If given the chance to set up and with the right support, it's easily one of the most dangerous Pokemon in OU. With that said, Volcarona relies way too much on it's teammates to succeed, and is hindered by one of the most common playstyles. Volcarona forces your team to not only pack a spinner but also possibly an answer to Drizzle, easily revenged killed by common scarfers, requires at least one to two turns of set up before it can sweep, and has a case of fourth move slot syndrome since it can't hit certain parts of the meta game without a certain Hidden Power or Giga Drain. These reasons alone, keep Volcarona from going A-Tier. OU is harsh to the moth, and even with all these factors Volcarona is still a huge threat.
In my opinion, it's a perfect B-Tier Pokemon.
