Welcome to the ASB Pokemon Compendium. There...isn't much to see yet, but you can sure do something about it!
The role of this Thread is to give all players a good idea of how every pokemon works in ASB. While the first aim is to boost Gyms, this extends to all parts of ASB, or at least all parts that involve battling.
This will work like the Pokemon Analysis from the main site. The Analysis are to be structured as follows:
We want this to be a community effort, as one person can't hope to write well about all mons (or can manage to write about all mons before 2099). But we should have high standards, so, to submit a mon, I must ask that you have used it extensively. You don't have to own the mon, but you have to have used it well several times with a movepool good enough to showcase its potential (so, for example, if you ref a lot of Subway, you may write about Garbodor).
If you want to reserve a mon, PM me saying which mon you want to reserve. I will check if you have used the mon and if yes I will respond confirming the reserve and I will edit it here. When you finish the analysis, PM me it and I will either include it on this post or return to you with feedback or post here for feedback. Later on, other people may join me in this evaluation process.
When we have enough analysis going on, we will clean this thread and separate the drawing board and the compendium itself, so its cleaner.
Also, if you want to contribute to how the process itself, post on this thread or PM me and we will make the proper changes. The skeleton is just a suggestion, so it can be improved, for certain.
If you have one mon you see as you signature mon and you have used it a lot, then contribute to this! If more people contribute, more people will be more eager to battle and more battles equal a better ASB. And I believe we all want that, right?
I would like to see analysis about the most used mons, based on the last census. The list with respective reservations is below. It has all mons owned by at least 4 badged battlers and it should be good for starters. If you want to do another pokemon, feel free to.
Reservations:
Aerodactyl Leethoof
Aggron
Aromatisse Its_A_Random
Aurumoth
Blaziken Geodude6
Castform GemoftheDay
Camerupt
Carracosta
Chandelure zarator
Cincinno - Maxim
Colossoil
Cyclohm
Dragonite
Dusknoir Rickheg
Eelektross
Fidgit
Froslass
Gallade
Gardevoir Gerard
Gengar
Hydreigon
Kingdra - AOPSUser
Kitsunoh - Complications
Ludicolo - S0l1d G0ld
Mawile
Medicham - avnomke
Metagross
Milotic
Mollux
Necturna - Frosty
Porygon-Z
Pyroak
Revenankh
Roserade
Rotom - Birkal
Sableye
Scizor - Rediamond
Slowking
Starmie
Stratagem
Syclant
Togekiss starwarsfan
Tomohawk
Vaporeon SubwayJ
Volbeat
100 HP / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 85 - +11% Accuracy w/ +Spe
Power Lens: 100 HP / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 85 [42] - +11% Accuracy w/ +Spe; Doubles (2×) stage boost value of Special Attack boosters.
Everstone: 100 HP / 3 / 2 / 2 / 5 / 85 - +11% Accuracy w/ +Spe; +2 Bug BAP
Size Class: 1
Weight Class: 2 [3 Power Lens]
Base Rank Total: 16
Abilities: Illuminate / Swarm / Prankster (H)
Accessibility: 4 CC (Starter), 7 CC (Non-Starter)
Overview: Volbeat at a first glance seems like a throwaway Bug-type with hopelessly mediocre stats, okay abilities and not much else about him. Looking closer at Volbeat however, lies a trinity that gives him a unique combination no other Pokémon possesses: Prankster, Power Lens, and Tail Glow. Volbeat's main claim to fame in ASB centers around this trinity; A priority +6 Special Attack boost that can be used in many different ways from straight out attacking to copying to passing. While this is a powerful tool, it also leaves him vulnerable to stat boost removal, phazing, Encore (on setup), Pokémon with Unaware, and the majority of Rock-, Fire-, and Flying-types that get super effective STAB coverage on Volbeat. Without his boost, Volbeat is also pretty weak. Nevertheless, access to a priority +6 Special Attack boost should not be underestimated in any format as with proper setup, Volbeat can prove to be a dangerous attacker/utility Pokémon.
Stats and Natures: Volbeat's stat build leans towards a physical attacker with a decent Sp. Defense stat to boot. Volbeat is also rather fast with base 85 Speed and a decent Accuracy boost with a +Speed nature but other than that, Volbeat's stats are mediocre outside of 100 HP.
Volbeat should generally run a Special Attack-boosting nature as it allows his Special Attacks to reach somewhat competent levels, even with the Tail Glow strategy. Quiet is the optimum nature as it preserves Volbeat's bulk and physical Attack for when it is needed but it makes enabling Illuminate a bit less viable, because it makes opponent's attacks 20% more accurate. Quiet also has the issue of leaving Volbeat with 36 Speed with a Power Lens equipped although he has ways of getting around having such a speed stat. Other options include running Rash to sacrifice Volbeat's special bulk to preserve speed, Modest if Volbeat's physical attacking prowess is not important, and Mild if you want to boost the power of Volbeat's Counter attack although it makes Volbeat's physical bulk actrocious. An Attack-boosting nature can be considered if you wish to focus more on Volbeat's physical attacking prowess but there are many other Bug-type Pokémon that can do this better and hence, Volbeat should generally stick to Tail Glow strategies.
Abilities, Moves, Movepool and Combinations: Volbeat comes with three abilities. Illuminate is useful to make your attacks more accurate but it can also work against Volbeat, especially if he is running a Speed-reducing nature. Swarm is a good pinch ability that makes Volbeat's Bug-type attacks even stronger when his health is in a critical range. Prankster is integral to Volbeat's success in ASB as it allows him to worry less about the side effects of Power Lens and give very useful priority support moves.
Tail Glow is the main reason to use Volbeat. It is the one move that is important to getting the most out of Volbeat and if you are not going to use it, you might as well be using something else instead. With a Power Lens on, Volbeat should use Tail Glow at the first ideal opportunity. What is done after that is up to you. You can use the +6 Special Attack boost to make the most out of Volbeat's special coverage which consists of Bug-, Flying-, Electric-, Fairy-, Grass-, Ground-, Ghost-, Normal-, and Water-type coverage (alongside Hidden Power). You also can use Baton Pass to pass the boost off to another Pokémon to make the most of. You could also just be annoying with Volbeat and use moves like Trick, Encore, and Thunder Wave.
Power Lens and disruptive moves aside, Volbeat comes with a competent support movepool with the aforementioned Tail Glow, Light Screen, Helping Hand, Tailwind, Sunny Day, and Rain Dance. Volbeat can also sustain himself with Roost, Moonlight, Protect, Substitute, and Endure. Volbeat also has competent physical coverage with Bug-, Flying-, Normal-, Fighting-, Dark-, Ice-, Electric-, and Psychic-type moves for when he has to use them (like in the Battle Hall). Finally Volbeat can punish physical attackers with Counter, switch out or erase Taunts in Switch = KO matches with U-turn, and even pull off some creative roleplay shenanigans when you want to with the infamous String Shot.
When using Power Lens, it is generally advised that combinations should not be used as every action is critical after using Tail Glow. By using combinations after using Tail Glow, you will struggle to get the most out of the stat boost while it is still there as you will deal less extra damage in the long run. Furthermore Volbeat cannot afford to be a sitting duck for an action, especially given his structure.
Items: Power Lens was made as if it were designed specifically for Volbeat to abuse and hence, should be the main item. What it does apart from the weight increase and the halved speed (which does not hinder Volbeat that much) is double the boost of all Special Attack boosting moves. Volbeat's access to Tail Glow allows him to hit +6 Special Attack in one action, which is integral to his success in the world of ASB.
Outside of Power Lens, his signature item—Everstone—boosts his Special Defense by two ranks, as well as giving his Bug-type attacks a kick, although this is generally overshadowed by Power Lens, combined with the fact that it boosts only one of the two Defence stats. This makes it too situational to use that effectively and generally leaves the BAP boost outclassed by things like Bug Gem and Silver Powder.
As far as other items go, Bug Gem, Flying Gem, Coba Berry, Charti Berry, and Occa Berry all do well and provide cheap options to boost the power of a move or take less damage from a usually super effective attack, allowing Acrobatics to hit full power in the process. Silver Powder makes his STAB moves more powerful and Life Orb makes his attacks even stronger at the cost of recoil. Expert Belt is also a good generic item to use but outside of super effective attacks, the power output is very lacking. All of these are okay items to use and have a reason to be used over Power Lens, though the lack of power in the resist berries will be very noticeable. Everything else is either bad or outclassed.
Roles and Strategies: As mentioned before, Volbeat's main mission in ASB is to boost his Special Attack to +6 in one action with the assistance of Power Lens before doing something with the boost. This is Volbeat's niche in ASB and this is the one thing that Volbeat can do that no other Pokémon in ASB can replicate. To put things into perspective, Volbeat is not a standalone, destroy all Pokémon; Volbeat is the engine that keeps the team's car running. Volbeat can generate a +6 Special Attack boost in one action which can be copied or transferred. Volbeat should use Tail Glow to achieve this at the first ideal opportunity. From there, Volbeat can do several things with the boost. Volbeat can go on the offensive and deal lots of damage with the boost through his special coverage. Volbeat can use Baton Pass to pass off the Special Attack boost to another Pokémon. These two are generally the best strategies that the Volbeat user can do. Though there are other strategies the Volbeat user can do (like using other priority non-damaging moves), these other strategies are generally reactive and depend on the turn order or opponent. If in a serious match this is not what you end up doing with Volbeat, then you should have considered another Pokémon; other Pokémon tend to do what Volbeat can do a lot better outside of Tail Glow + Prankster.
As far as when to use him in a serious match, Volbeat can generally be used at any time of the match though he is best used as a lead (provided the opponent cannot take full advantage of it). Volbeat is best used when ordering second as using him when ordering first is generally going to be a rough time for Volbeat, especially when the opponent has sent out an Encore user or any of the common anti stat-boosting strategies. Of course this can be patched up in Doubles or higher with good partners like Aromatisse but in Singles, Volbeat will struggle. If Volbeat is attempting to make the most out of Tail Glow by attacking, it is generally not a good idea to switch out other than using Baton Pass. If Volbeat's Sp. Attack decays enough, using Tail Glow again is not a bad idea. Ultimately you need to be careful when using Volbeat, but he can come with a big payoff if used correctly.
As far as roleplays and serious matches go, Volbeat is not a particularly great choice in Gym Matches and Tournaments (though he can function well if used correctly) but he is a bit of a niche pick when it comes to the Grass-, Psychic- and Dark-type gym, due to his niche. Volbeat is not as great of a choice in other gyms as there are generally choices that can do better. This makes Volbeat more of a solid choice for casual play where the stakes are generally lower. Despite his major niche revolving around Tail Glow, Volbeat is also capable of going deep into the Battle Hall. This is primarily due to his competent mixed attacking movepool and his status as a Rank 2 Pokémon, which means he will be generally fighting NFE Pokémon with shallow movepools. Volbeat is a very niche option in the Battle Subway and Battle Arcade due to his synergy and the partners it can have in multiple formats. There is no current raid that suits Volbeat and while Tail Glow passing or copying can be a somewhat effective strategy to use in raids, it is generally inefficient compared to each raid's recommended strategies. Volbeat should never be considered on a TLR run as the marathon structure of the roleplay makes Tail Glow strategies too impractical, especially when the setup has to be started again at the start of each encounter. The fact that Volbeat has little offensive presence otherwise makes Volbeat even less practical for the roleplay.
Partners and Counters: In multiples formats, any specially-based Pokémon with Psych Up will enjoy being alongside Power Lens Volbeat as they will be able to copy the Special Attack boost for themselves. This will allow the two to begin pummelling the opposition with brute force, more than compensating for the action spent to set up the combination. Aromatisse stands out as the best of these as its Aroma Veil ability makes the setup far less susceptible to disruptive strategies such as Taunt and Encore which would normally throw such an attempt on the back foot. The two also have a couple of spread moves to be able to fully exploit the boosts. Slowbro and Slowking can also work in this regard, since their Taunt immunity through Oblivious makes the set-up harder to stop, although the strategy is still vulnerable to Encore.
In Singles, Volbeat can employ Baton Pass in Switch = OK matches to pass its Special Attack boosts to recipients that can exploit the boost far better than Volbeat could. Of these, specially-based Pokémon will enjoy the boost, especially if they have access to a specially-based HP-draining move (like Giga Drain). Of these, Aromatisse makes an good recipient, being able to use the boost offensively and abuse Draining Kiss as a reliable form of recovery, especially with a Big Root equipped. Cradily makes an even better recipient in this regard not just because of access to Giga Drain but its Suction Cups ability prevents the opponent from removing it with moves like Roar or Dragon Tail. Octillery also works in this regard as well because of its Suction Cups ability alongside its highly competent special attacking prowess.
Volbeat, primarily relying on stat-boosting moves to be competitive, suffers from the usual answers to stat-boosting move users in general. Taunt (with Prankster) shuts down his Tail Glow set-up, Encore discourages using Tail Glow, while the boost can be removed through phazing moves like Roar, Clear Smog and Haze. Pokémon with Unaware do not care about Volbeat either, as they completely allow the opponent to ignore Tail Glow in its entirety, rendering it set-up fodder to a degree (though Volbeat can use Encore). Swoobat in particular loves Volbeat, as it can simply set up on Volbeat and then destroy it outside of Encore. Stealing the boost (with Snatch or Heart Swap) or copying it with Psych Up can also make like hard for Volbeat. Outside of that, a powerful Rock-, Fire-, or Flying-type attack will generally give Volbeat problems (though physically-based attackers have to watch out for Counter).
IAR EDIT: I approved this in case anyone is wondering.
The role of this Thread is to give all players a good idea of how every pokemon works in ASB. While the first aim is to boost Gyms, this extends to all parts of ASB, or at least all parts that involve battling.
This will work like the Pokemon Analysis from the main site. The Analysis are to be structured as follows:
Overview: Gives an overview about the mons, its strengths and weaknesses and how to play it. Feel free to include some flavor (just here though).
Stats and Natures: Explain the mons stats, the natures that can be used on it and which roles they allow the pokemon to perform. Emphasis on the natures. Feel free to include examples like "XXX likes to use Timid Moltres for the extra acc" or "if you want to check a more defensive nature for Moltres, check the battles of YYY, (s)he uses a bold type". One of the main perks of ASB is that we have thousands of battles at are disposal if we need examples and ideas.
Abilities, Moves, Movepool and Combos: Mention the main moves the mon get and how to use them. How to combine (not in Combos per se, but one attack and then other) moves of the mons movepool. How the moves work with the abilities and how to use one to boost the other. Say the amount of moves this mon needs to have a working movepool, provided the player gets all the moves mentioned here. Mention examples of Combos this pokemon can perform effectively. NOTE: When mentioning specific combos, include at least 2 instances where this combo was accepted (except for generally accepted combos such as Double Edge + Giga Impact, or Focus Punch + Elemental Punch or Same move combos in general). We don't want this list to be a poor precedent, but for it to list the combos that were tried and accepted before.
Items: Which items go well with said mon, which items may seem to go well but actually don't (aka leftovers on 99% of the mons <_<). Signature items and respective stats. Mixing items with natures. Items for specific occasions (mainly type resistant berries and the like).
Roles and Strategies: The main part. Use all that was written above to explain ways to use the pokemon you have chosen. Its strengths and weaknesses. How to use and how not to use it. Examples examples examples. Mention the battle and explain it ("against the XXX Gym, YYY used Moltres in a ZZZ manner to cause most damage" or "notice that Ferrothorn managed to wall Ice Gym as they don't have moves to face it"). Our primary goal is Gyms and Tourney battles, so use them as examples when you can. Don't be afraid of using your own battles, but just don't go overboard on them.
Partners and Counters: Partners mostly for doubles+ (but can be for singles if there is an AWESOME partner, since, for the most part, there isn't that much interation between mons in ASB). Counters (check is a hard concept to find in ASB) for the mon go here too. Mention them, mention why they counter and say how to face them (either use X move or switch to X mon etc).
Stats and Natures: Explain the mons stats, the natures that can be used on it and which roles they allow the pokemon to perform. Emphasis on the natures. Feel free to include examples like "XXX likes to use Timid Moltres for the extra acc" or "if you want to check a more defensive nature for Moltres, check the battles of YYY, (s)he uses a bold type". One of the main perks of ASB is that we have thousands of battles at are disposal if we need examples and ideas.
Abilities, Moves, Movepool and Combos: Mention the main moves the mon get and how to use them. How to combine (not in Combos per se, but one attack and then other) moves of the mons movepool. How the moves work with the abilities and how to use one to boost the other. Say the amount of moves this mon needs to have a working movepool, provided the player gets all the moves mentioned here. Mention examples of Combos this pokemon can perform effectively. NOTE: When mentioning specific combos, include at least 2 instances where this combo was accepted (except for generally accepted combos such as Double Edge + Giga Impact, or Focus Punch + Elemental Punch or Same move combos in general). We don't want this list to be a poor precedent, but for it to list the combos that were tried and accepted before.
Items: Which items go well with said mon, which items may seem to go well but actually don't (aka leftovers on 99% of the mons <_<). Signature items and respective stats. Mixing items with natures. Items for specific occasions (mainly type resistant berries and the like).
Roles and Strategies: The main part. Use all that was written above to explain ways to use the pokemon you have chosen. Its strengths and weaknesses. How to use and how not to use it. Examples examples examples. Mention the battle and explain it ("against the XXX Gym, YYY used Moltres in a ZZZ manner to cause most damage" or "notice that Ferrothorn managed to wall Ice Gym as they don't have moves to face it"). Our primary goal is Gyms and Tourney battles, so use them as examples when you can. Don't be afraid of using your own battles, but just don't go overboard on them.
Partners and Counters: Partners mostly for doubles+ (but can be for singles if there is an AWESOME partner, since, for the most part, there isn't that much interation between mons in ASB). Counters (check is a hard concept to find in ASB) for the mon go here too. Mention them, mention why they counter and say how to face them (either use X move or switch to X mon etc).
We want this to be a community effort, as one person can't hope to write well about all mons (or can manage to write about all mons before 2099). But we should have high standards, so, to submit a mon, I must ask that you have used it extensively. You don't have to own the mon, but you have to have used it well several times with a movepool good enough to showcase its potential (so, for example, if you ref a lot of Subway, you may write about Garbodor).
If you want to reserve a mon, PM me saying which mon you want to reserve. I will check if you have used the mon and if yes I will respond confirming the reserve and I will edit it here. When you finish the analysis, PM me it and I will either include it on this post or return to you with feedback or post here for feedback. Later on, other people may join me in this evaluation process.
When we have enough analysis going on, we will clean this thread and separate the drawing board and the compendium itself, so its cleaner.
Also, if you want to contribute to how the process itself, post on this thread or PM me and we will make the proper changes. The skeleton is just a suggestion, so it can be improved, for certain.
If you have one mon you see as you signature mon and you have used it a lot, then contribute to this! If more people contribute, more people will be more eager to battle and more battles equal a better ASB. And I believe we all want that, right?
I would like to see analysis about the most used mons, based on the last census. The list with respective reservations is below. It has all mons owned by at least 4 badged battlers and it should be good for starters. If you want to do another pokemon, feel free to.
Reservations:
Aggron
Aurumoth
Camerupt
Carracosta
Colossoil
Cyclohm
Dragonite
Eelektross
Fidgit
Froslass
Gallade
Gengar
Hydreigon
Mawile
Metagross
Milotic
Mollux
Porygon-Z
Pyroak
Revenankh
Roserade
Sableye
Slowking
Snorlax
Stats: 130/4/3/3/4/30 WC:9 SC: 4
Abilities: Thick Fat, Immunity, Gluttony
Signature Item: Full Incense (No Guard to the bearer, always moves last, 15hp recovery on Rest)
Availability: Evolve from Munchlax (4CC)
Overview: After the downfall of GSC, the great Snorlax finally found another to call "home": the realm of ASB. Combining Excellent HP, a huge movepool, strong attacks and decent stats overall, Snorlax is a tank through and through. Whether it is with its STAB Double-Edge, Giga Impact or through the abuse of great coverage and utility from moves such as Focus Blast, Dynamic Punch, Blizzard, Thunder and Zap Cannon, Snorlax can easily deal massive damage to most of the mons around... while the opposite sure can't be said. More often than not, Snorlax will emerge victorious in a 1 vs 1 combat, something very few pokemon can say.
However Mr. Fatso here isn't invincible. While his strengths are many, his weaknesses go deep. Fighting pokemon in general, especially users of Low Kick, and Bulky Ghosts like Dusknoir will almost always defeat Snorlax. If you are on a tough spot with Snorlax, you will lose, no questions asked.
All-in-all Snorlax is a very good mon, with strong options, a simple and stable playstyle and a vast movepool. Be careful when pairing pokemons and you should be fine.
Stats and Natures: As you can see above, Snorlax is a very slow pokemon, which means that investing on Speed is not recommended at all. Most, if not all, natures, useable on Snorlax, are (-)speed ones. So while you may be in doubt of which stat to boost, don't think twice before reducing its speed. You won't notice the difference most of the time.
Assuming you have a (-) Speed Nature (and you should), now it is just a matter of choosing which stat to boost.
Quiet is the best and most common nature overall, as it reaches a respectable rank 4 SpA and since Snorlax is a normal type from Gen 1, his movepool is as humongous as the fatso himself. More than half of the moves Snorlax will use to attack are special and its physical attacks already deal enough damage without a boosting nature, so you better off expanding your possibilities. Trust me on this. Snorlax's mixed abilities are very good.
The other nature hold some merit, but not as much as Quiet. Relaxed helps boosting Snorlax's abilty to tank stuff and the lack of Special Attack may be bearable depending on your opponent. Brave can also be used against opponents that you won't hit Super-Effectively with Special Attacks and it boosts Snorlax's main weapons: Weight-Based moves; but again it is only better if you know your opponent doesn't have many exploitable typing weaknesses. Finally, Sassy is only viable if you are sure that your opponent will use solely special attackers, which isn't something you can control more often than not.
In the end, any (-) Speed nature other than Quiet is only to be considered on Raids, TLRs or Gyms, where you know your opponent's team and wants to prepare accordingly. If you are not sure of who you will face or if you want a nature to stick with forever, then go with Quiet.
Abilities, Moves, Movepool and Combos: Snorlax's abilities compliment its defensive side nicely, while its moves are the main source of its offensive prowess.
Thick Fat reduces the strength of Fire and Ice-type moves and while, more often than not, Snorlax won't be hit with said moves, it is still a nice thing to have. This is extra useful if you intend to challenge a specific raid (Like Wildfire Plateau) or Gym (Hint: there is no Ice/Fighting mon, and only Weavile knows Low Kick, and you can sure handle it, right?).
Immunity is usually the go-to ability in 1-ability matches or RPs. Toxic is a very popular move thanks to ASB enabling more than one status on the same mon, and most popular poison moves (Sludge Bomb, Gunk Shot and Poison Jab) have high poison rates, which means that getting poisoned is quite common actually. Removing it from the equation is a significant advantage, specially if you are challenging the Poison Gym or the Battle Pike.
Finally, Gluttony is only worth noticing if you are using Leftovers. Which you won't more often than not. HP triggered berries have a very questionable use outside of raids (and inside too) and usually (read: pretty much always) Gluttony won't make much of a difference regardless. More on that when we talk about Leftovers.
As for the moves, Snorlax sports a 120+ movepool filled with goodies. If you look closely, you will notice that there are several offensive moves, but not many support moves. Aside from Reflect and the Weather Moves, there aren't many support moves worth noticing: most non-offensive moves enhance Snorlax's own capacities (like Belly Drum, Refresh and Odor Sleuth).
But on the other hand, it gets pretty much every attacking move under the sun. To give you an idea, it has coverage on the following types: Physical: Dark (Crunch), Dragon (Outrage), Electric (Wild Charge), Fighting (Focus Punch, Brick Break), Fire (Fire Punch), Grass (Seed Bomb), Ground (Earthquake), Ice (Ice Punch), Poison (Gunk Shot), Psychic (Zen Headbutt), Rock (Rock Slide), Steel (Iron Head); Special: Electric (Thunderbolt), Fighting (Focus blast), Fire (Flamethrower), Ghost (Shadow Ball), Grass (Solar Beam), Ice (Ice Beam), Poison (Belch, but it is pretty rare), Psychic (Psychic), Water (Surf). If you are counting, that means that only Fairy, Flying and Bug don't have good options. 15 out of 18 isn't bad at all.
The attacking moves you will see and use the most are only three though: Body Slam (11BAP), Double-Edge (16BAP) and Giga Impact (18BAP). Body Slam is used when you don't want recoil and when you want paralysis, Double-Edge for middle-game and Giga Impact for finishing off an opponent. These should win you most damage races, and the ones they don't, the coverage handles nicely.
Also, Snorlax gets the handy Counter to patch up that nasty weakness and is your best bet against a distracted Low Kick user.
Finally, as far as combos goes, feel free to go wild. Hyper Beam goes well with beam moves and most special moves and is great to KO through a weakness. Giga Impact can be combo'd with most physical moves, now that it is passive; but it is best when comboed with itself or with Double-Edge for great damage. Focus Punch is also a good option to KO through a weakness on the physical side and can combined with itself to crush most fighting-weak mons (like the Weavile I mentioned earlier). Finally, Self-Destruct + Self-Destruct is a lovely good-bye kiss on your opponent.
Items: Expert Belt is probably your best bet for an offensive item, now that Full Incense was nerfed. You don't need extra power when having 16-BAP moves, but you sure do when said moves aren't enough to get a KO, mostly in virtue of your opponent's typing. Expert Belt puts your opponent is a tough "damned if you don't, damned if you do" position, as Snorlax will get enough power to do really well on damage races vs most mons that resist normal, and its normal attacks are, by default, strong enough for mons that resist other typings but don't resist normal. If you are in doubt, go with Expert Belt: you will be right more often than not.
Silk Scarf is the complete opposite. It boosts Snorlax's main weapon greatly, making it much more dangerous against pokemons that don't resist normal. You will sure hit harder in general, but more pokemon will be able to counter Snorlax thanks to typing, so use Silk Scarf only when you are sure that the pokemon Snorlax will face doesn't resist Normal or can't make it a bad option (with Ion Deluge, for example).
Full Incense gives you two important advantages: access to high BAP moves such as Blizzard, Focus Blast, Thunder and Dynamic Punch with perfect accuracy to complement your coverage nicely; and the strategic advantage of not having to sub for Evasive Moves or prepare yourself in case of a miss. But the price for said advantages is quite big. With Full Incense Snorlax becomes vulnerable to low accuracy moves, mostly Dynamic Punch or Cross Chop and Zap Cannon to a lesser extent, and it can't patch up its bad speed with Trick Room. Most of the time you will get the same BAP boost for coverage with Expert Belt. But, if you know that Snorlax won't face an user of Dynamic Punch and you don't intend to use Trick Room, then by all means go with Full Incense, as the No Guard effects makes ordering a hell lot easier.
Finally, Leftovers. Thanks to Gluttony, Snorlax is one of the few good users of Leftovers, so it is an option here. But what I said about defensive natures applies here: Snorlax's high HP already goes leaps and bounds on the bulk business, so you don't need to enhance it further. You will usually get a better return investing on the offensive side (mainly considering that ASB is a very offensive game), mostly on the special side. But, if you know that you can play stall well and you intend to do so or if you need a reliable tank, Leftovers is a nice, stable option to consider.
Other items to be considered are Chople Berry and Rocky Helmet for the same reason: Low Kick. Since Snorlax is easily countered, it is recomended to use said items when initiating a switch phase to avoid a nasty counterswitch to a low-kick mon. Or if you are stuck with snorlax as last pokemon facing a Low Kick user. Those are situational uses, but it is always good to have that card up your sleeve.
Roles and Strategies: As said above, Snorlax is best used in an offensive position as a damage dealer. The high HP allows you to take some risks, so do that. Don't waste actions with support moves or set up unless really necessary and pick the moves that allow you to deal the most damage right off the bat. A Heavy Offensive approach, more often than not, forces your opponent to also go for the damage race, and lose to Snorlax in the process.
Before sending Snorlax out, if you are to send out first, take a good look at your opponent's team and be certain that there aren't any pokemon that can defeat Snorlax (more on that below). If there is, then don't send Snorlax out. I repeat: don't send Snorlax out expecting to defeat a would-be counter with turn-order advantage, as it won't work. Save your Snorlax for when the most dangerous mons of your opponent's team are weakened or fainted or when you can be sure that he can't switch in said mons (when you send out last or when you send out after a KO). Pay attention to U-Turn and Volt Switch too: they may bring your nemesis, and you won't like that.
In the other hand, don't save your Snorlax for too long. The opponent may also be saving its counter and you will end up in a bad match-up. Let Snorlax loose as soon as you have a safe opportunity and call it back as soon as danger approaches. Do that and you should carve some nicely holes in your opponent's team.
Let me give you some examples of what I mean.
- SimonSays vs Yarnus of Bethany - Snorlax was sent out against a Low Kick user, who managed to deal a good 27.75hp damage on one action, without STAB or a boosting item (but with Slaking). Needless to say, Snorlax wasn't really useful here.
- Maxim vs Engineer - Snorlax was sent out first while the opponent had a Gallade just waiting for it. Needless to say, Snorlax didn't do much and turn-order advantage wasn't much of an advantage after all.
- Maxim vs Smashlloyd20 - A good example of what I said about saving Snorlax. Smashlloyd had 2 fighting types on his team of 3. Maxim smartly used his other two pokemon to dispatch the fighting mons and only sent Snorlax out when Low Kick-less Kitsunoh was the only mon left.
- Frosty vs TheWolfe - An example of what you should not do to preserve your Snorlax. Frosty switched Snorlax in without much care and TheWolfe counterswitched his Low Kick Swampert and proceeded to destroy Snorlax, while still ordering first.
Partners and Counters: Regardless of the format, Snorlax is easy prey to most fighting mons and most Low Kick users, since both with win any damage races against Mr. Fatso (go go 15BAP Super Effective Low Kick). Bulky Ghosts like Eviolite Dusclops or Dusknoir (see here) also work wonders, since Snorlax's best option against them is Crunch or Shadow Ball or the rare Odor Sleuth and they aren't efficient enough. Dynamic Punch users also work well against a Full Incense Snorlax.
Against them your best bet is running, I am afraid. Bide and Counter may work against the less aware player and Reflect may ease the pain a bit, but Snorlax still loses. Also, Bide and Counter don't work against ghosts, so you really should keep some distance to them.
Snorlax should be paired to mons that can defeat those, so it can do its job more easily. Psychic and Fairy mons in general are good options and MegaGengar can be used for Shadow Tag goodness as well.
On Doubles or Triples, Snorlax works great with Helping Hand Support, thanks to the high BAP of his moves. Pair him with Dusknoir or Gallade and you should be ready to lay down the hurt (see here, it was pre-Helping Hand nerf, but it is still a good example).
Stats: 130/4/3/3/4/30 WC:9 SC: 4
Abilities: Thick Fat, Immunity, Gluttony
Signature Item: Full Incense (No Guard to the bearer, always moves last, 15hp recovery on Rest)
Availability: Evolve from Munchlax (4CC)
Overview: After the downfall of GSC, the great Snorlax finally found another to call "home": the realm of ASB. Combining Excellent HP, a huge movepool, strong attacks and decent stats overall, Snorlax is a tank through and through. Whether it is with its STAB Double-Edge, Giga Impact or through the abuse of great coverage and utility from moves such as Focus Blast, Dynamic Punch, Blizzard, Thunder and Zap Cannon, Snorlax can easily deal massive damage to most of the mons around... while the opposite sure can't be said. More often than not, Snorlax will emerge victorious in a 1 vs 1 combat, something very few pokemon can say.
However Mr. Fatso here isn't invincible. While his strengths are many, his weaknesses go deep. Fighting pokemon in general, especially users of Low Kick, and Bulky Ghosts like Dusknoir will almost always defeat Snorlax. If you are on a tough spot with Snorlax, you will lose, no questions asked.
All-in-all Snorlax is a very good mon, with strong options, a simple and stable playstyle and a vast movepool. Be careful when pairing pokemons and you should be fine.
Stats and Natures: As you can see above, Snorlax is a very slow pokemon, which means that investing on Speed is not recommended at all. Most, if not all, natures, useable on Snorlax, are (-)speed ones. So while you may be in doubt of which stat to boost, don't think twice before reducing its speed. You won't notice the difference most of the time.
Assuming you have a (-) Speed Nature (and you should), now it is just a matter of choosing which stat to boost.
Quiet is the best and most common nature overall, as it reaches a respectable rank 4 SpA and since Snorlax is a normal type from Gen 1, his movepool is as humongous as the fatso himself. More than half of the moves Snorlax will use to attack are special and its physical attacks already deal enough damage without a boosting nature, so you better off expanding your possibilities. Trust me on this. Snorlax's mixed abilities are very good.
The other nature hold some merit, but not as much as Quiet. Relaxed helps boosting Snorlax's abilty to tank stuff and the lack of Special Attack may be bearable depending on your opponent. Brave can also be used against opponents that you won't hit Super-Effectively with Special Attacks and it boosts Snorlax's main weapons: Weight-Based moves; but again it is only better if you know your opponent doesn't have many exploitable typing weaknesses. Finally, Sassy is only viable if you are sure that your opponent will use solely special attackers, which isn't something you can control more often than not.
In the end, any (-) Speed nature other than Quiet is only to be considered on Raids, TLRs or Gyms, where you know your opponent's team and wants to prepare accordingly. If you are not sure of who you will face or if you want a nature to stick with forever, then go with Quiet.
Abilities, Moves, Movepool and Combos: Snorlax's abilities compliment its defensive side nicely, while its moves are the main source of its offensive prowess.
Thick Fat reduces the strength of Fire and Ice-type moves and while, more often than not, Snorlax won't be hit with said moves, it is still a nice thing to have. This is extra useful if you intend to challenge a specific raid (Like Wildfire Plateau) or Gym (Hint: there is no Ice/Fighting mon, and only Weavile knows Low Kick, and you can sure handle it, right?).
Immunity is usually the go-to ability in 1-ability matches or RPs. Toxic is a very popular move thanks to ASB enabling more than one status on the same mon, and most popular poison moves (Sludge Bomb, Gunk Shot and Poison Jab) have high poison rates, which means that getting poisoned is quite common actually. Removing it from the equation is a significant advantage, specially if you are challenging the Poison Gym or the Battle Pike.
Finally, Gluttony is only worth noticing if you are using Leftovers. Which you won't more often than not. HP triggered berries have a very questionable use outside of raids (and inside too) and usually (read: pretty much always) Gluttony won't make much of a difference regardless. More on that when we talk about Leftovers.
As for the moves, Snorlax sports a 120+ movepool filled with goodies. If you look closely, you will notice that there are several offensive moves, but not many support moves. Aside from Reflect and the Weather Moves, there aren't many support moves worth noticing: most non-offensive moves enhance Snorlax's own capacities (like Belly Drum, Refresh and Odor Sleuth).
But on the other hand, it gets pretty much every attacking move under the sun. To give you an idea, it has coverage on the following types: Physical: Dark (Crunch), Dragon (Outrage), Electric (Wild Charge), Fighting (Focus Punch, Brick Break), Fire (Fire Punch), Grass (Seed Bomb), Ground (Earthquake), Ice (Ice Punch), Poison (Gunk Shot), Psychic (Zen Headbutt), Rock (Rock Slide), Steel (Iron Head); Special: Electric (Thunderbolt), Fighting (Focus blast), Fire (Flamethrower), Ghost (Shadow Ball), Grass (Solar Beam), Ice (Ice Beam), Poison (Belch, but it is pretty rare), Psychic (Psychic), Water (Surf). If you are counting, that means that only Fairy, Flying and Bug don't have good options. 15 out of 18 isn't bad at all.
The attacking moves you will see and use the most are only three though: Body Slam (11BAP), Double-Edge (16BAP) and Giga Impact (18BAP). Body Slam is used when you don't want recoil and when you want paralysis, Double-Edge for middle-game and Giga Impact for finishing off an opponent. These should win you most damage races, and the ones they don't, the coverage handles nicely.
Also, Snorlax gets the handy Counter to patch up that nasty weakness and is your best bet against a distracted Low Kick user.
Finally, as far as combos goes, feel free to go wild. Hyper Beam goes well with beam moves and most special moves and is great to KO through a weakness. Giga Impact can be combo'd with most physical moves, now that it is passive; but it is best when comboed with itself or with Double-Edge for great damage. Focus Punch is also a good option to KO through a weakness on the physical side and can combined with itself to crush most fighting-weak mons (like the Weavile I mentioned earlier). Finally, Self-Destruct + Self-Destruct is a lovely good-bye kiss on your opponent.
Items: Expert Belt is probably your best bet for an offensive item, now that Full Incense was nerfed. You don't need extra power when having 16-BAP moves, but you sure do when said moves aren't enough to get a KO, mostly in virtue of your opponent's typing. Expert Belt puts your opponent is a tough "damned if you don't, damned if you do" position, as Snorlax will get enough power to do really well on damage races vs most mons that resist normal, and its normal attacks are, by default, strong enough for mons that resist other typings but don't resist normal. If you are in doubt, go with Expert Belt: you will be right more often than not.
Silk Scarf is the complete opposite. It boosts Snorlax's main weapon greatly, making it much more dangerous against pokemons that don't resist normal. You will sure hit harder in general, but more pokemon will be able to counter Snorlax thanks to typing, so use Silk Scarf only when you are sure that the pokemon Snorlax will face doesn't resist Normal or can't make it a bad option (with Ion Deluge, for example).
Full Incense gives you two important advantages: access to high BAP moves such as Blizzard, Focus Blast, Thunder and Dynamic Punch with perfect accuracy to complement your coverage nicely; and the strategic advantage of not having to sub for Evasive Moves or prepare yourself in case of a miss. But the price for said advantages is quite big. With Full Incense Snorlax becomes vulnerable to low accuracy moves, mostly Dynamic Punch or Cross Chop and Zap Cannon to a lesser extent, and it can't patch up its bad speed with Trick Room. Most of the time you will get the same BAP boost for coverage with Expert Belt. But, if you know that Snorlax won't face an user of Dynamic Punch and you don't intend to use Trick Room, then by all means go with Full Incense, as the No Guard effects makes ordering a hell lot easier.
Finally, Leftovers. Thanks to Gluttony, Snorlax is one of the few good users of Leftovers, so it is an option here. But what I said about defensive natures applies here: Snorlax's high HP already goes leaps and bounds on the bulk business, so you don't need to enhance it further. You will usually get a better return investing on the offensive side (mainly considering that ASB is a very offensive game), mostly on the special side. But, if you know that you can play stall well and you intend to do so or if you need a reliable tank, Leftovers is a nice, stable option to consider.
Other items to be considered are Chople Berry and Rocky Helmet for the same reason: Low Kick. Since Snorlax is easily countered, it is recomended to use said items when initiating a switch phase to avoid a nasty counterswitch to a low-kick mon. Or if you are stuck with snorlax as last pokemon facing a Low Kick user. Those are situational uses, but it is always good to have that card up your sleeve.
Roles and Strategies: As said above, Snorlax is best used in an offensive position as a damage dealer. The high HP allows you to take some risks, so do that. Don't waste actions with support moves or set up unless really necessary and pick the moves that allow you to deal the most damage right off the bat. A Heavy Offensive approach, more often than not, forces your opponent to also go for the damage race, and lose to Snorlax in the process.
Before sending Snorlax out, if you are to send out first, take a good look at your opponent's team and be certain that there aren't any pokemon that can defeat Snorlax (more on that below). If there is, then don't send Snorlax out. I repeat: don't send Snorlax out expecting to defeat a would-be counter with turn-order advantage, as it won't work. Save your Snorlax for when the most dangerous mons of your opponent's team are weakened or fainted or when you can be sure that he can't switch in said mons (when you send out last or when you send out after a KO). Pay attention to U-Turn and Volt Switch too: they may bring your nemesis, and you won't like that.
In the other hand, don't save your Snorlax for too long. The opponent may also be saving its counter and you will end up in a bad match-up. Let Snorlax loose as soon as you have a safe opportunity and call it back as soon as danger approaches. Do that and you should carve some nicely holes in your opponent's team.
Let me give you some examples of what I mean.
- SimonSays vs Yarnus of Bethany - Snorlax was sent out against a Low Kick user, who managed to deal a good 27.75hp damage on one action, without STAB or a boosting item (but with Slaking). Needless to say, Snorlax wasn't really useful here.
- Maxim vs Engineer - Snorlax was sent out first while the opponent had a Gallade just waiting for it. Needless to say, Snorlax didn't do much and turn-order advantage wasn't much of an advantage after all.
- Maxim vs Smashlloyd20 - A good example of what I said about saving Snorlax. Smashlloyd had 2 fighting types on his team of 3. Maxim smartly used his other two pokemon to dispatch the fighting mons and only sent Snorlax out when Low Kick-less Kitsunoh was the only mon left.
- Frosty vs TheWolfe - An example of what you should not do to preserve your Snorlax. Frosty switched Snorlax in without much care and TheWolfe counterswitched his Low Kick Swampert and proceeded to destroy Snorlax, while still ordering first.
Partners and Counters: Regardless of the format, Snorlax is easy prey to most fighting mons and most Low Kick users, since both with win any damage races against Mr. Fatso (go go 15BAP Super Effective Low Kick). Bulky Ghosts like Eviolite Dusclops or Dusknoir (see here) also work wonders, since Snorlax's best option against them is Crunch or Shadow Ball or the rare Odor Sleuth and they aren't efficient enough. Dynamic Punch users also work well against a Full Incense Snorlax.
Against them your best bet is running, I am afraid. Bide and Counter may work against the less aware player and Reflect may ease the pain a bit, but Snorlax still loses. Also, Bide and Counter don't work against ghosts, so you really should keep some distance to them.
Snorlax should be paired to mons that can defeat those, so it can do its job more easily. Psychic and Fairy mons in general are good options and MegaGengar can be used for Shadow Tag goodness as well.
On Doubles or Triples, Snorlax works great with Helping Hand Support, thanks to the high BAP of his moves. Pair him with Dusknoir or Gallade and you should be ready to lay down the hurt (see here, it was pre-Helping Hand nerf, but it is still a good example).
Starmie
Stratagem
Syclant
Tomohawk
Volbeat
100 HP / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 85 - +11% Accuracy w/ +Spe
Power Lens: 100 HP / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 85 [42] - +11% Accuracy w/ +Spe; Doubles (2×) stage boost value of Special Attack boosters.
Everstone: 100 HP / 3 / 2 / 2 / 5 / 85 - +11% Accuracy w/ +Spe; +2 Bug BAP
Size Class: 1
Weight Class: 2 [3 Power Lens]
Base Rank Total: 16
Abilities: Illuminate / Swarm / Prankster (H)
Accessibility: 4 CC (Starter), 7 CC (Non-Starter)
Overview: Volbeat at a first glance seems like a throwaway Bug-type with hopelessly mediocre stats, okay abilities and not much else about him. Looking closer at Volbeat however, lies a trinity that gives him a unique combination no other Pokémon possesses: Prankster, Power Lens, and Tail Glow. Volbeat's main claim to fame in ASB centers around this trinity; A priority +6 Special Attack boost that can be used in many different ways from straight out attacking to copying to passing. While this is a powerful tool, it also leaves him vulnerable to stat boost removal, phazing, Encore (on setup), Pokémon with Unaware, and the majority of Rock-, Fire-, and Flying-types that get super effective STAB coverage on Volbeat. Without his boost, Volbeat is also pretty weak. Nevertheless, access to a priority +6 Special Attack boost should not be underestimated in any format as with proper setup, Volbeat can prove to be a dangerous attacker/utility Pokémon.
Stats and Natures: Volbeat's stat build leans towards a physical attacker with a decent Sp. Defense stat to boot. Volbeat is also rather fast with base 85 Speed and a decent Accuracy boost with a +Speed nature but other than that, Volbeat's stats are mediocre outside of 100 HP.
Volbeat should generally run a Special Attack-boosting nature as it allows his Special Attacks to reach somewhat competent levels, even with the Tail Glow strategy. Quiet is the optimum nature as it preserves Volbeat's bulk and physical Attack for when it is needed but it makes enabling Illuminate a bit less viable, because it makes opponent's attacks 20% more accurate. Quiet also has the issue of leaving Volbeat with 36 Speed with a Power Lens equipped although he has ways of getting around having such a speed stat. Other options include running Rash to sacrifice Volbeat's special bulk to preserve speed, Modest if Volbeat's physical attacking prowess is not important, and Mild if you want to boost the power of Volbeat's Counter attack although it makes Volbeat's physical bulk actrocious. An Attack-boosting nature can be considered if you wish to focus more on Volbeat's physical attacking prowess but there are many other Bug-type Pokémon that can do this better and hence, Volbeat should generally stick to Tail Glow strategies.
Abilities, Moves, Movepool and Combinations: Volbeat comes with three abilities. Illuminate is useful to make your attacks more accurate but it can also work against Volbeat, especially if he is running a Speed-reducing nature. Swarm is a good pinch ability that makes Volbeat's Bug-type attacks even stronger when his health is in a critical range. Prankster is integral to Volbeat's success in ASB as it allows him to worry less about the side effects of Power Lens and give very useful priority support moves.
Tail Glow is the main reason to use Volbeat. It is the one move that is important to getting the most out of Volbeat and if you are not going to use it, you might as well be using something else instead. With a Power Lens on, Volbeat should use Tail Glow at the first ideal opportunity. What is done after that is up to you. You can use the +6 Special Attack boost to make the most out of Volbeat's special coverage which consists of Bug-, Flying-, Electric-, Fairy-, Grass-, Ground-, Ghost-, Normal-, and Water-type coverage (alongside Hidden Power). You also can use Baton Pass to pass the boost off to another Pokémon to make the most of. You could also just be annoying with Volbeat and use moves like Trick, Encore, and Thunder Wave.
Power Lens and disruptive moves aside, Volbeat comes with a competent support movepool with the aforementioned Tail Glow, Light Screen, Helping Hand, Tailwind, Sunny Day, and Rain Dance. Volbeat can also sustain himself with Roost, Moonlight, Protect, Substitute, and Endure. Volbeat also has competent physical coverage with Bug-, Flying-, Normal-, Fighting-, Dark-, Ice-, Electric-, and Psychic-type moves for when he has to use them (like in the Battle Hall). Finally Volbeat can punish physical attackers with Counter, switch out or erase Taunts in Switch = KO matches with U-turn, and even pull off some creative roleplay shenanigans when you want to with the infamous String Shot.
When using Power Lens, it is generally advised that combinations should not be used as every action is critical after using Tail Glow. By using combinations after using Tail Glow, you will struggle to get the most out of the stat boost while it is still there as you will deal less extra damage in the long run. Furthermore Volbeat cannot afford to be a sitting duck for an action, especially given his structure.
Items: Power Lens was made as if it were designed specifically for Volbeat to abuse and hence, should be the main item. What it does apart from the weight increase and the halved speed (which does not hinder Volbeat that much) is double the boost of all Special Attack boosting moves. Volbeat's access to Tail Glow allows him to hit +6 Special Attack in one action, which is integral to his success in the world of ASB.
Outside of Power Lens, his signature item—Everstone—boosts his Special Defense by two ranks, as well as giving his Bug-type attacks a kick, although this is generally overshadowed by Power Lens, combined with the fact that it boosts only one of the two Defence stats. This makes it too situational to use that effectively and generally leaves the BAP boost outclassed by things like Bug Gem and Silver Powder.
As far as other items go, Bug Gem, Flying Gem, Coba Berry, Charti Berry, and Occa Berry all do well and provide cheap options to boost the power of a move or take less damage from a usually super effective attack, allowing Acrobatics to hit full power in the process. Silver Powder makes his STAB moves more powerful and Life Orb makes his attacks even stronger at the cost of recoil. Expert Belt is also a good generic item to use but outside of super effective attacks, the power output is very lacking. All of these are okay items to use and have a reason to be used over Power Lens, though the lack of power in the resist berries will be very noticeable. Everything else is either bad or outclassed.
Roles and Strategies: As mentioned before, Volbeat's main mission in ASB is to boost his Special Attack to +6 in one action with the assistance of Power Lens before doing something with the boost. This is Volbeat's niche in ASB and this is the one thing that Volbeat can do that no other Pokémon in ASB can replicate. To put things into perspective, Volbeat is not a standalone, destroy all Pokémon; Volbeat is the engine that keeps the team's car running. Volbeat can generate a +6 Special Attack boost in one action which can be copied or transferred. Volbeat should use Tail Glow to achieve this at the first ideal opportunity. From there, Volbeat can do several things with the boost. Volbeat can go on the offensive and deal lots of damage with the boost through his special coverage. Volbeat can use Baton Pass to pass off the Special Attack boost to another Pokémon. These two are generally the best strategies that the Volbeat user can do. Though there are other strategies the Volbeat user can do (like using other priority non-damaging moves), these other strategies are generally reactive and depend on the turn order or opponent. If in a serious match this is not what you end up doing with Volbeat, then you should have considered another Pokémon; other Pokémon tend to do what Volbeat can do a lot better outside of Tail Glow + Prankster.
As far as when to use him in a serious match, Volbeat can generally be used at any time of the match though he is best used as a lead (provided the opponent cannot take full advantage of it). Volbeat is best used when ordering second as using him when ordering first is generally going to be a rough time for Volbeat, especially when the opponent has sent out an Encore user or any of the common anti stat-boosting strategies. Of course this can be patched up in Doubles or higher with good partners like Aromatisse but in Singles, Volbeat will struggle. If Volbeat is attempting to make the most out of Tail Glow by attacking, it is generally not a good idea to switch out other than using Baton Pass. If Volbeat's Sp. Attack decays enough, using Tail Glow again is not a bad idea. Ultimately you need to be careful when using Volbeat, but he can come with a big payoff if used correctly.
As far as roleplays and serious matches go, Volbeat is not a particularly great choice in Gym Matches and Tournaments (though he can function well if used correctly) but he is a bit of a niche pick when it comes to the Grass-, Psychic- and Dark-type gym, due to his niche. Volbeat is not as great of a choice in other gyms as there are generally choices that can do better. This makes Volbeat more of a solid choice for casual play where the stakes are generally lower. Despite his major niche revolving around Tail Glow, Volbeat is also capable of going deep into the Battle Hall. This is primarily due to his competent mixed attacking movepool and his status as a Rank 2 Pokémon, which means he will be generally fighting NFE Pokémon with shallow movepools. Volbeat is a very niche option in the Battle Subway and Battle Arcade due to his synergy and the partners it can have in multiple formats. There is no current raid that suits Volbeat and while Tail Glow passing or copying can be a somewhat effective strategy to use in raids, it is generally inefficient compared to each raid's recommended strategies. Volbeat should never be considered on a TLR run as the marathon structure of the roleplay makes Tail Glow strategies too impractical, especially when the setup has to be started again at the start of each encounter. The fact that Volbeat has little offensive presence otherwise makes Volbeat even less practical for the roleplay.
Partners and Counters: In multiples formats, any specially-based Pokémon with Psych Up will enjoy being alongside Power Lens Volbeat as they will be able to copy the Special Attack boost for themselves. This will allow the two to begin pummelling the opposition with brute force, more than compensating for the action spent to set up the combination. Aromatisse stands out as the best of these as its Aroma Veil ability makes the setup far less susceptible to disruptive strategies such as Taunt and Encore which would normally throw such an attempt on the back foot. The two also have a couple of spread moves to be able to fully exploit the boosts. Slowbro and Slowking can also work in this regard, since their Taunt immunity through Oblivious makes the set-up harder to stop, although the strategy is still vulnerable to Encore.
In Singles, Volbeat can employ Baton Pass in Switch = OK matches to pass its Special Attack boosts to recipients that can exploit the boost far better than Volbeat could. Of these, specially-based Pokémon will enjoy the boost, especially if they have access to a specially-based HP-draining move (like Giga Drain). Of these, Aromatisse makes an good recipient, being able to use the boost offensively and abuse Draining Kiss as a reliable form of recovery, especially with a Big Root equipped. Cradily makes an even better recipient in this regard not just because of access to Giga Drain but its Suction Cups ability prevents the opponent from removing it with moves like Roar or Dragon Tail. Octillery also works in this regard as well because of its Suction Cups ability alongside its highly competent special attacking prowess.
Volbeat, primarily relying on stat-boosting moves to be competitive, suffers from the usual answers to stat-boosting move users in general. Taunt (with Prankster) shuts down his Tail Glow set-up, Encore discourages using Tail Glow, while the boost can be removed through phazing moves like Roar, Clear Smog and Haze. Pokémon with Unaware do not care about Volbeat either, as they completely allow the opponent to ignore Tail Glow in its entirety, rendering it set-up fodder to a degree (though Volbeat can use Encore). Swoobat in particular loves Volbeat, as it can simply set up on Volbeat and then destroy it outside of Encore. Stealing the boost (with Snatch or Heart Swap) or copying it with Psych Up can also make like hard for Volbeat. Outside of that, a powerful Rock-, Fire-, or Flying-type attack will generally give Volbeat problems (though physically-based attackers have to watch out for Counter).
IAR EDIT: I approved this in case anyone is wondering.
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