Co-writing w/ SBPC & pac
Artwork by ausma, s/o for the cool Red/Green-era Dragonite artwork.
Introduction
One of the most well-known aspects of RBY is how partial trapping—a largely forgotten mechanic only seeing prominent use on Magma Storm Heatran in later generations—is among the most powerful mechanics in the game, working entirely differently from modern moves. In case you didn't know, in later generations, partial trapping is generally minor; a Pokemon is prevented from switching and takes chip damage for a set amount of turns. In RBY, on the other hand, Pokemon can switch out but are immobilized instead while still taking chip damage. This makes oft-forgotten moves like Wrap, Bind, Fire Spin, and Clamp all very important moves in the chromatic generation. Some compare RBY partial trapping to Serene Grace Iron Head Jirachi in newer generations, but with the very low damage and accuracy, as well as the amount of punishment even a single miss can receive, the comparisons are arguably a bit sensational. Speaking of cross-generational difference, did you know Wrap master Dragonite originally looked almost completely different in Red and Green, featuring a more elongated design and a dorsal fin? We did, so we had our resident artist ausma represent that in the artwork for this article!
However, the mechanic is often described as "lame," "degenerate," and "braindead" by onlookers. In fact, it's so controversial that partial trapping has historically been banned in some popular RBY formats due to its arguable brokenness, particularly in the late RBY 2k10 community, which produced its own tiers. These tiers would later be adopted by Pokemon Online, albeit with partial trapping unbanned, and a later vote kept it as such, which is the last we see of any action against the moves. These tiers and the partial trapping ban were never adopted on Smogon, though, so you essentially had two parallel communities competing during the 2010s, creating a minor split in metagame development. RBY 2k10 has since died off, being superseded by Pokemon Perfect, which developed new lower tiers; these didn't take action on partial trapping and were not adopted by Smogon either. This definitively put an end to any kind of partial trapping ban in competitive RBY. Pokemon Online and Pokemon Perfect have also suspended all tiering projects, allowing Smogon's lower tiers to flourish now that they're being optimized and enjoyed.
Contrary to popular belief, partial trapping actually has quite a lot of depth to offer, which is one of many reasons why the Wrap ban of old died off. This guide will aim to demonstrate that. For the purposes of accuracy, rather than refer to a Pokemon as "trapped" like how we describe later generations, we'll say "wrapped," as you really need to be aware that you can switch and distinguish the mechanics more.
The Mechanics
To quote the mechanics guide:
The Situation
Because of these mechanics, when a Pokemon is "wrapped," the following options are available:
If your Pokemon is wrapped while being slower, your main option will be to weave in a faster Pokemon as soon as possible. You're "bleeding" damage the longer your Pokemon stays in, which will build pressure on your end as your Pokemon slowly gets chipped into range of KO moves. By switching in a faster Pokemon, you force the wrapper to end the sequence by switching itself, denying a safe pivot and possibly forcing progress on either end. Remember that the wrapper can always predict the faster switch-in as well. You can also stay in and wait for a miss, though this often results in taking a lot of chip damage. Alternatively, switching between your Pokemon to PP stall can also work, but this takes quite a while, spreads out a ton of chip damage, and reveals your team, so it should not be your primary form of counterplay.
The main disadvantage to partial trapping is accuracy, which leads to high levels of inconsistency. For example, hitting all 32 of Wrap's PP is mathematically improbable, as it has 84.4% accuracy. Even a single miss can be devastating, opening the Wrap user up to being contested with status or heavy damage. For example, Thunder Wave can firmly end most hopes for Wrap spam, giving Wrap a 32.8% chance to effectively fail considering both paralysis and the miss chance, while also making the user slower than any unparalyzed Pokemon. Agility is often required to make any further wrapping worthwhile when paralyzed. There's also the possibility of Toxic or Leech Seed, which causes the Wrap user to take more damage than it deals, though these are used more in lower tiers. All of these consistency problems become much worse when you venture outside of Wrap specifically, with Clamp and Bind having 74.6% accuracy and Fire Spin having a pitiful 69.5% accuracy, which, as you can imagine, becomes brutally inconsistent when paralyzed.
To put wrapping's benefits and risks into perspective, here's a play-by-play:
Role Compendium
Ordered by Speed; tradeback moves are separated by a vertical bar ( | ). Arcanine is just below Ninetales in terms of Speed, being base 95.
Boosting with Partial Trapping
Swords Dance
Users: Pinsir, Tentacruel, Tangela, Victreebel
Since a critical hit wrapping move always deals the same amount of damage for each "tick," you can imagine what Swords Dance can provide Wrap and Bind users. Dealing much higher chip damage per turn, it's possible to run rings around paralyzed teams and build a strong advantage very quickly, arguably making up for the accuracy issues. It's also important to note that Swords Dance can reapply the foe's Speed drop from paralysis, so it can also be a nice safety net should the user also be paralyzed. Finally, with Hyper Beam also being boosted by Swords Dance, with backing from partial trapping, a Pokemon can be taken down very quickly without a chance to fight back.
However, Swords Dance + partial trapping has never been a standard; this is not only because of the users being iffy but also because of the setup required. Partial trapping really appreciates Speed to prop up the user, preventing them from being hit before the wrapping begins, and thus requires paralysis support. Each user barring Tentacruel has some kind of issue with Speed or fragility, so they're even more dependent on this support to function. There's also the problem of having to spend a turn to set up without having guaranteed payoff after; as mentioned before, the accuracy of these moves is problematic and will crop up. Ergo, you can end up with two turns of doing absolutely nothing, which can mean everything for the opponent.
Examples
Victreebel doesn't always use Swords Dance, but it is the only Swords Dance + Wrap user to hit the OU tier. It's not hard to see why this set can be potent, with its high Attack stat letting its +2 Wrap rack up serious damage on most of the tier. Should threats like Alakazam and Starmie get paralyzed, it's very difficult to come back from a set-up Victreebel, which often only loses due to its awful consistency, which has led to it using different sets. Regardless, Victreebel's inconsistency as a whole—not just with Swords Dance—has been its undoing in 2021, with it potentially dropping back to UU soon. It also has issues with fitting Hyper Beam onto its sets, often wanting Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, and Wrap in its moveset at minimum.
Tentacruel is the face of RBY UU, dictating how games progress through its sheer power and fast Wrap. Naturally, it's a strong candidate for a Swords Dance + Wrap set, which has some minor OU history in the mid-2000s as well, though it falls off in modern OU because of an abundance of fast Thunder Wave users. However, Tentacruel being the fastest user of the combination gives the set some strong points in its favor in RBY UU, making it a scary late-game sweeper. This set is also Tentacruel's best bet when it comes to blowing past the bulky Water-types that attempt to revolt against its tyranny, swiftly cutting into their bulk and allowing for a quick finisher if it carries Hyper Beam. However, somewhat like Victreebel, this set is often forgone in favor of Rest sets, guaranteeing mileage from Tentacruel's presence throughout the game rather than relying on a late-game sweep, which Articuno or Persian can provide just fine. It's still very usable, though, and has seen high-level success, so teams that want Tentacruel to blow past bulky Water-types like Vaporeon can benefit heavily from this set.
Pinsir has found a way to be usable in OU, UU, and NU, although never as a top-tier threat. Being the Swords Dance + partial trapping user with the highest Attack stat, Pinsir has the ability to wreak havoc, dealing roughly 9% per Bind tick, quickly putting Pokemon into Hyper Beam or Slash range. With a half decent Speed stat to boot, it's very capable of locking down endgames with just a few Pokemon paralyzed. However, it's also very inconsistent, with Bind and Hyper Beam both often missing before it can claim a game. It's also absolutely destroyed by each tier's resident Ghost-type, which it can't touch outside of Seismic Toss or pivoting out with Bind, a weakness no other wrapper has.
Agility
Users: Dragonite, Rapidash, Moltres. Arcanine gains the combination of Fire Spin + Agility via trading through the Time Capsule in GSC.
When boosting Speed alongside partial trapping, you remove the main form of counterplay to the strategy: switching in faster Pokemon. This gives the wrapper full control over the game, essentially providing you with free chip damage for what can be up to 32 turns. This can be further extended if the opponent accidentally underflows your PP to 63. As one would expect, this strategy is very controversial, as this essentially forces the victim to PP stall the partial trapping move until it's over. Many have argued the combination to be uncompetitive and campaigned for its ban, though nothing has come of this, outside of a suspect test we'll go over later.
Despite its reputation, however, this strategy rarely sees its peaks. While it has the potential to be extremely strong, like with Swords Dance, you have to spend not only a turn setting up, but also handle what's an 84.4% hit rate at best throughout long wrapping sequences. Ergo, the "two turns of nothing" risk comes back to bite the strategy, only this time with much heavier punishment, as committing to Agility + partial trapping strategies has no damage-increasing benefits. Thus, not only is it possible to disrupt your setup on the Agility turn with moves like Thunder Wave, Toxic, or even a strong super effective move, it may not even work when you get to set up. It's a high-risk, inconsistent reward strategy, though it still sees use by teams that can afford the risk, and it remains a strong option that warps lower tiers.
Examples
Dragonite is the face of Agility + partial trapping, becoming so controversial in RBY UU that it was suspect tested in May 2021, the first tiering action the tier had seen since BL's removal in 2011. With its titanic Attack stat, it's very capable of dealing massive damage to an opposing team with AgiliWrap. Since it also happens to have the best partial trapping move accuracy-wise, plus an absolutely incredible movepool that lets it choose its checks, it's definitely the most consistent user of the strategy as well. However, because of the aforementioned issues, the suspect test ended in a No Ban vote, and Dragonite has also begun to diversify.
Moltres has been usable in every RBY tier—even Ubers—thanks to its ridiculous highs. It has a titanic Special stat to bolster its Fire Spin, as well as the strongest unboosted special attack in the game in its Fire Blast. This, combined with respectable bulk and Attack, has enabled it to be an interesting late-game sweeper. These qualities have made it a very strong NU threat as in particular, seeing use on a wide variety of teams, with even Rest sets popping up now and again. However, while it has those highs, it's never been chilling with Mewtwo and Mew because of its awful consistency, which is the worst out of all Agility + partial trapping users. No moves Moltres regularly uses—Fire Blast, Fire Spin, and Hyper Beam—have good accuracy, meaning it can and will miss at least once during a game. That one opening is often more than enough for it to get effectively OHKOed by paralysis, or see its defensive typing get exploited by the rampant Blizzards and Thunderbolts running around Kanto.
Effects: OU
Partial trapping's effects on OU are largely limited by the users themselves. Their Speed is often not that high; this lets Alakazam, Starmie, Jolteon, and even Tauros or Zapdos perform as naturally good checks to the strategy with their Speed and often potential to paralyze wrappers. Additionally, many Pokemon are monumentally bulky, such as Chansey, Snorlax, and Cloyster, allowing them to sit down and absorb the hits until a miss happens. Thus, partial trapping is mostly seen as a fringe strategy, but still a viable one for how high the payoff can be. There have also been periods where partial trapping is very dominant, though—particularly in 2018 to 2019—which we'll go over in a bit.
Cloyster is the most common user of partial trapping in RBY OU, and it's not even close. Its defensive presence and good Speed relative to the OU staples allows it to serve as a decent non-Thunderbolt Tauros check while pivoting against the slower, bulkier presences you see on every team, namely Snorlax and Chansey. Being able to lock down these Pokemon is very important, especially Snorlax, which has the early-game presence to frequently decide where the game's later momentum will swing. Cloyster is most commonly seen alongside Pokemon that profit from being switched in safely but are otherwise flawed; Jolteon specifically is a good deterrent to Starmie, which is the foundation for the famous "JoltCloy" core that Heroic Troller produced and succeeded with during 2019 to 2020.
Victreebel's influence over OU is not something seen nowadays, but the scars of its time in the spotlight during 2018 and 2019 remain. Being faster than your regular figureheads—notably Chansey, Exeggutor, and Snorlax—allowed it to take over games very quickly, decimating the now-antiquated "Big 4" teams pretty much on its own. This was mainly because people would often trade Thunder Wave on Turn 1, something that became much less frequent when Victreebel was able to profit from the typical absorbers losing their Speed, namely Starmie and Alakazam. Victreebel's heavy-handed response to these common metagame trends forced players to adapt, and they begrudgingly did. Sing Chansey is now often switching in on Turn 1 Thunder Waves instead, so it is much more difficult to spread paralysis for Victreebel to take over. It still can and it's by far one of the best non-standard Pokemon out there, but it's nowhere near a staple like it was back then. Regardless, Victreebel single-handedly led to the modern RBY metagame, where sleep leads are in their prime and Exeggutor is seen as droppable. Few Pokemon in the entire franchise, let alone RBY, can claim they turned a 20+ year old metagame on its head.
Dragonite has always been a controversial character in tiering, with posts dating back to 2006 complaining about its antics. It's been OU-tiered a few times because of it on various websites, but it never truly stayed there because of the rampant Blizzards and Thunder Waves in its way, not to mention the bulky metagame staples. However, AgiliWrap isn't all Dragonite can do here, and to say otherwise is a gross misunderstanding. In recent years, Dragonite has seen much diversification with sets like Wrap / Thunder Wave / Blizzard / Hyper Beam, which allows it to form a catch-22 between Wrap and Thunder Wave. The main counterplay to Wrap is to switch in a faster Pokemon, but doing this against Dragonite puts you at risk of being paralyzed. Dragonite is also capable of using Surf to deal with Rhydon more definitively, preventing it from safely absorbing Wrap. Dragonite also saw much use alongside Victreebel during its prime, forming the once-popular "VicNite" core that would sometimes even drop Chansey in favor of going for an all-out offense.
Moltres has seen sporadic usage over the years at top level, including the recent SPL XII. The second its walls—Chansey, Starmie, and Slowbro—are removed, it can often wreak havoc on the opposing team in a similar manner to Articuno. However, it's among the worst viable users of partial trapping for the exact same reasons as Dragonite: horrible defensive typing, getting debilitated by paralysis, and horrific consistency. What really lets it down, though, is accidentally thawing a frozen Chansey or something with its Fire Blast. This can be enough to lose a game in modern RBY, and possessing more weaknesses and a worse movepool can be problematic as well. Regardless, it's one of the scariest low-ranked Pokemon in the tier, brutally tearing teams apart through sheer damage output if all goes to plan, although this doesn't always pan out.
Pinsir is another Pokemon that has seen scarce usage but is considered to be viable in OU for its late-game sweeping potential. Swords Dance + Bind, combined with a Speed stat quite high relative to OU, enables Pinsir to lock down teams once their faster Pokemon are paralysed. Its Hyper Beam is nothing to scoff at, OHKOing Alakazam, Chansey, Jolteon, Jynx, and Victreebel at +2. With a strong Bind to chip other Pokemon into KO range, Pinsir can be seen using one or two Binds put an opposing Pokemon into range right away. However, it's severely lacking in the movepool department—not even having STAB or non-Normal-type coverage to back itself up, making it lose to Gengar and Rock-types outright without Seismic Toss or the unreliable Submission, respectively. It hasn't got any special bulk to write home about either, which is exposed severely by all the fast special attackers in the tier. Ergo, Pinsir is quite rare, but usable. At least it has a use in SPL VII to its name!
Effects: Uber
Because of Mewtwo and Mew's existence and teams demanding Chansey and Snorlax usage, Uber teams often feature many Pokemon with high HP and overall respectable bulk, making partial trapping much more difficult to justify. Both of the Ubers are extremely fast, and Mewtwo is often capable of just OHKOing whatever wrapper is thrown at it. Ergo, regular wrapping is virtually nonexistent, as its users just aren't fast or bulky enough to contest the despots at the top of the tier. With ridiculous Special on every viable Pokemon, AgiliSpin is also out. This leaves AgiliWrap to try and make an impact.
The sole arguably viable wrapper in Ubers is Dragonite, as a result of its immense Attack and the ability to set up on Mew if it only has Earthquake to attack with. These traits can allow Dragonite to attempt AgiliWrap and try to score free damage on the opposing team, which can be helpful. However, you'll often want a Self-Destruct Mewtwo to at least dispatch opposing Mewtwo if you want a shot at pulling this off, as it's Mewtwo is very capable of absorbing the hits, farming Amnesia boosts, or just outright removing Dragonite using Ice Beam.
Effects: UU
Affectionately referred to by RBY UU players as "The Great Dictator" or something similar, Tentacruel utilizes Wrap as a method of creating a hellish grip on the tier, and that's absolutely no secret. It almost single-handedly determines the viability of Pokemon, such as Electabuzz being UU over Raichu due to their Speed tier difference alone. Various others, such as Charizard and Nidoking, are prevented from succeeding in part due to the existence of Tentacruel, while Moltres is relegated to niche use. In fact, Tentacruel played a role in the unbanning of Articuno and Moltres alongside Omastar. Wrap allows Tentacruel to serve as an incredible lead, breaking in games to the user's advantage from the momentum it gives, resulting in many UU games starting with a Tentacruel mirror match. However, Tentacruel can also run a Swords Dance + Wrap set to clean up late-game, allowing it to blow past checks like Vaporeon and Dewgong rather than getting stopped short. But that's just the surface of this incredibly powerful Pokemon, as its Special stat gives it great damage outside of Wrap, and its Poison typing makes it immune to opposing Toxic, a unique trait amongst wrappers. Counterplay to Tentacruel comes in the form of faster Pokemon such as Dugtrio, Electabuzz, and Kadabra, which must be incredibly careful not to get paralyzed earlier in the match in order to preserve their Speed tiers, all while trying to paralyze an opposing Tentacruel to make it slightly less oppressive, slowing it to a crawl and allowing other Pokemon to effectively check it as well. Few Pokemon have had such an effect on a tier, but Tentacruel has been seen as a healthy top tier among enthusiasts for the varied and skill-based interactions it presents.
As its suspect test in 2021 implies, Dragonite is one of the most important Pokemon to immediately check in RBY UU due to how powerful its sets are; they range widely in function, with sets like Wrap / Thunder Wave / Body Slam / Hyper Beam or Blizzard, Agility sweeper sets, Gyarados-like sets, and more all seeing some kind of usage. However, no set is as controversially powerful as its AgiliWrap set. Notorious for its ability to steal games within just a few turns. Dragonite's Wrap is one of the strongest in the entire game alone, and with a boost in Speed, it can completely control the game and be nearly impossible to defensively answer outside of dumb luck. Toxic is one of few ways to completely shut down a sweep, as the passive damage prevents Dragonite from staying in permanently, while offensive answers such as Articuno and Tentacruel can shut it down with their access to Blizzard. Because of the sheer threat level of this set, Pokemon like Persian, Dodrio, Kangaskhan, Dugtrio, and more are almost mandated to run Toxic, lest teams get shut down and chipped into range for a KO by Dragonite's teammates. This set, while incredibly dominant, isn't the only trick Dragonite carries, however. Paralysis spreading with both Thunder Wave and Body Slam makes Dragonite an incredible utility choice while also slowing answers down for its powerful Wrap to whittle down. Overall, Dragonite is a definitive piece of RBY UU; while Tentacruel gives it the moniker of "Wrap tier", Dragonite actualizes the term.
Effects: NU
Unlike UU, where Wrap is the dominant partial trapping move, in NU Fire Spin is the name of the game. The conditions of NU finally allow for most Fire-types to be viable, meaning that a lot of high-power Pokemon are condensed into the tier. This makes Fire Spin incredibly valuable, dealing impressive STAB chip damage. In addition, the blazing Speed of nearly every Fire Spin user effectively gives each viable one the might of the infamous “AgiliWrap” strategy, but without the need for a setup turn. Fire Spin’s inconsistency is the only thing keeping it in check. Charizard’s blazing fast Speed, fantastic coverage, and ability to pivot around the opponent with Fire Spin makes it incredibly hard to breakits momentum, allowing it to escape its checks like Blastoise while also chipping them down for its teammates. It's also mostly thanks to Charizard’s access to Fire Spin and Earthquake that an entirely new playstyle arises in NU, that being the infamous “Fire Spam,” a strategy where multiple speedy Fire-type Pokemon utilize a combination of Fire Spin and Toxic to run through their checks and reduce interactivity as much as possible. This success of Fire Spin makes Toxic a regular part of the metagame, adding an entirely new dimension of strategy to the tier.
Pinsir is most successful in NU, complementing access to Bind with one of the largest offensive presences of the tier thanks to Swords Dance. It largely reprises its role in UU, but with much higher viability in general. +2 Hyper Beam scores OHKOs on Mr. Mime, Dragonair, Blastoise, and Clefable with minor chip damage from Bind. However, Pinsir can struggle in the metagame at times thanks to the newfound viability of Fire-types, and the higher baseline Speed makes Bind less helpful.
Fire Spin Arcanine: The Lost Wrapper
The only Pokemon to get a partial trapping move via the Time Capsule in GSC is Arcanine, which gains Fire Spin. This is a massive boost to its utility, as it also has Agility, letting it use the AgiliSpin combo alongside its very high Attack stat. It doesn't have to just do this, either, as almost any combination of Fire Blast, Fire Spin, Body Slam, Hyper Beam and Agility is viable in some respects. It also gains Headbutt through Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to exploit paralyzed Pokemon more effectively, though this is often inferior to Body Slam and Hyper Beam without dedicated teambuilding.
Arcanine mainly competes with Moltres as an AgiliSpin user in formats Tradebacks are allowed in, which has a higher Special stat, better bulk, and an Earthquake immunity. Arcanine, on the other hand, has access to Body Slam plus higher Speed and Attack stats. Because of this, while Arcanine deals less Fire Spin damage per turn, it's arguably better at closing out interactions against Pokemon with less Defense, such as Alakazam or Chansey. However, to say it replaces Moltres would be a lie, considering the sheer power Moltres has compared to Arcanine overall. Regardless, it's certainly a serviceable option and a much better Pokemon, no longer having to be seen as "that one Fire-type without Fire Spin."
Changes in Pokemon Stadium
Introduced in the Japanese Pokemon Stadium and kept for the Pokemon Stadium game we got internationally, these partial trapping alterations change up the games a bit:
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide has successfully delivered the interesting nuances and history behind RBY partial trapping, as well as how to counter it properly. While a very misunderstood mechanic, it can be very powerful and interactive in the hands of experienced players, and it is something people should explore more. If you're interested in a tier where you can see the mechanics in full form, RBY UU is perhaps the most relevant, considering its resident monarch is the most notorious user of it. Give it a shot!
Artwork by ausma, s/o for the cool Red/Green-era Dragonite artwork.
Introduction
One of the most well-known aspects of RBY is how partial trapping—a largely forgotten mechanic only seeing prominent use on Magma Storm Heatran in later generations—is among the most powerful mechanics in the game, working entirely differently from modern moves. In case you didn't know, in later generations, partial trapping is generally minor; a Pokemon is prevented from switching and takes chip damage for a set amount of turns. In RBY, on the other hand, Pokemon can switch out but are immobilized instead while still taking chip damage. This makes oft-forgotten moves like Wrap, Bind, Fire Spin, and Clamp all very important moves in the chromatic generation. Some compare RBY partial trapping to Serene Grace Iron Head Jirachi in newer generations, but with the very low damage and accuracy, as well as the amount of punishment even a single miss can receive, the comparisons are arguably a bit sensational. Speaking of cross-generational difference, did you know Wrap master Dragonite originally looked almost completely different in Red and Green, featuring a more elongated design and a dorsal fin? We did, so we had our resident artist ausma represent that in the artwork for this article!
However, the mechanic is often described as "lame," "degenerate," and "braindead" by onlookers. In fact, it's so controversial that partial trapping has historically been banned in some popular RBY formats due to its arguable brokenness, particularly in the late RBY 2k10 community, which produced its own tiers. These tiers would later be adopted by Pokemon Online, albeit with partial trapping unbanned, and a later vote kept it as such, which is the last we see of any action against the moves. These tiers and the partial trapping ban were never adopted on Smogon, though, so you essentially had two parallel communities competing during the 2010s, creating a minor split in metagame development. RBY 2k10 has since died off, being superseded by Pokemon Perfect, which developed new lower tiers; these didn't take action on partial trapping and were not adopted by Smogon either. This definitively put an end to any kind of partial trapping ban in competitive RBY. Pokemon Online and Pokemon Perfect have also suspended all tiering projects, allowing Smogon's lower tiers to flourish now that they're being optimized and enjoyed.
Contrary to popular belief, partial trapping actually has quite a lot of depth to offer, which is one of many reasons why the Wrap ban of old died off. This guide will aim to demonstrate that. For the purposes of accuracy, rather than refer to a Pokemon as "trapped" like how we describe later generations, we'll say "wrapped," as you really need to be aware that you can switch and distinguish the mechanics more.
The Mechanics
To quote the mechanics guide:
RBY partial trapping should be treated like a completely separate entity to modern-day partial trapping. Partial trapping moves—Wrap, Bind, Clamp, and Fire Spin—will deal the same amount of damage every turn, similar to multi-hit moves. Additionally, a user will be locked into the move for 2-5 turns, and a target will be completely immobilized during the ordeal, unable to strike back. In the event of a Pokémon with an immunity, such as Ghost-types against Wrap or Bind, they will be immobilized but will not take damage.
If the trapper switches, the trapped Pokémon will not be able to move, making moves like Wrap pseudo-pivot moves. On the flip side, a faster trapped Pokémon will get to punish the switch-in, as it will be freed the following turn. The trapped Pokémon can also switch out, regardless of Speed. Switching out while trapped will force the opposing trapper to "reuse" the move, restarting the 2-5 turn lock and subtracting one PP, giving a form of PP stall counterplay. If the move is forced to be reused through switching at 0 PP though, it will roll over to 63 (this will not occur if the opponent tries to use the move at 0 PP). With these factors considered, there is quite a bit of depth to partial trapping situations.
If a Pokémon has used Hyper Beam and the opposing partial trapping user misses, the recharge turn is skipped. If the partial trapping move is used and misses while the foe is recharging, though, the opposing Hyper Beam user will automatically reuse Hyper Beam. If they have 0 Hyper Beam PP at this point, the move's PP will also roll over to 63. For example, if Tauros uses its last Hyper Beam and fails to KO a normal Speed Dragonite, then Dragonite uses Wrap and misses, Tauros can immediately move again next turn. If Dragonite uses Agility right after the final Hyper Beam and then uses Wrap next turn and misses, however, Tauros will immediately use Hyper Beam and get 63 more uses.
If a partial trapping move is copied by Mirror Move and succeeds, it works as normal. However, if the trapped Pokémon switches out in a Link Battle, due to Mirror Move forcing the move to fail on one side and having the user continue partial trapping on the other, this will cause a desync.
The Situation
Because of these mechanics, when a Pokemon is "wrapped," the following options are available:
- The wrapped Pokemon can switch out.
- This forces the wrapper to reuse their partial trapping move if they stay in, unless the move just completed its last turn.
- The wrapped Pokemon can stay in, scouting for a switch from the wrapper or absorbing damage.
- The wrapper can switch out.
- This leaves the wrapped Pokemon unable to move for the turn if it stays in, acting like a pivot move in later generations.
- The wrapper can "press," continuing the attack.
- To be clear, each time the move is reused, it's a bit of a gamble. There is a 37.5% chance that the wrapper will get 2 or 3 turns each, and a 12.5% chance that the wrapper will get 4 or 5 turns each. The second each wrapping sequence ends, the option to switch out safely is removed for that turn. Continuing the attack is mainly done to put Pokemon in range for a follow-up attack.
If your Pokemon is wrapped while being slower, your main option will be to weave in a faster Pokemon as soon as possible. You're "bleeding" damage the longer your Pokemon stays in, which will build pressure on your end as your Pokemon slowly gets chipped into range of KO moves. By switching in a faster Pokemon, you force the wrapper to end the sequence by switching itself, denying a safe pivot and possibly forcing progress on either end. Remember that the wrapper can always predict the faster switch-in as well. You can also stay in and wait for a miss, though this often results in taking a lot of chip damage. Alternatively, switching between your Pokemon to PP stall can also work, but this takes quite a while, spreads out a ton of chip damage, and reveals your team, so it should not be your primary form of counterplay.
The main disadvantage to partial trapping is accuracy, which leads to high levels of inconsistency. For example, hitting all 32 of Wrap's PP is mathematically improbable, as it has 84.4% accuracy. Even a single miss can be devastating, opening the Wrap user up to being contested with status or heavy damage. For example, Thunder Wave can firmly end most hopes for Wrap spam, giving Wrap a 32.8% chance to effectively fail considering both paralysis and the miss chance, while also making the user slower than any unparalyzed Pokemon. Agility is often required to make any further wrapping worthwhile when paralyzed. There's also the possibility of Toxic or Leech Seed, which causes the Wrap user to take more damage than it deals, though these are used more in lower tiers. All of these consistency problems become much worse when you venture outside of Wrap specifically, with Clamp and Bind having 74.6% accuracy and Fire Spin having a pitiful 69.5% accuracy, which, as you can imagine, becomes brutally inconsistent when paralyzed.
To put wrapping's benefits and risks into perspective, here's a play-by-play:
- Dragonite uses Wrap against an Exeggutor. Exeggutor can't move for the turn, as it's slower.
- Dragonite now has the option of continuing the attack, switching into a Blizzard user to force Exeggutor out, or switching to a faster Pokemon to pre-empt a faster switch-in. Exeggutor has the option of staying in to scout or switching into a faster Pokemon to try and force damage or status onto the opposing team.
- Dragonite switches out to Starmie, a Pokemon capable of heavily threatening Exeggutor with high damage from Blizzard. Exeggutor stayed in, so now it's forced out unless Sleep Clause isn't active and it can use Sleep Powder at the time. However, this situation could have been avoided or changed with the following;
- Dragonite could have stayed in to get bonus damage. However, that would have let Exeggutor switch to gain an advantage.
- Exeggutor could have switched to something like Chansey to pre-empt Starmie and threaten it with Thunder Wave.
- Dragonite could have switched to a Pokemon to deal with Chansey, such as Snorlax, if Chansey was paralyzed or chipped. Alternatively, bringing in a faster sleeper like Victreebel or Exeggutor could have worked.
Role Compendium
Ordered by Speed; tradeback moves are separated by a vertical bar ( | ). Arcanine is just below Ninetales in terms of Speed, being base 95.
- Bind:
- Clamp:
- Fire Spin:
| 
- Wrap:
- Agility + Fire Spin: |
- Agility + Wrap:
- Swords Dance + Bind:
- Swords Dance + Wrap:
Boosting with Partial Trapping
Swords Dance
Users: Pinsir, Tentacruel, Tangela, Victreebel
Since a critical hit wrapping move always deals the same amount of damage for each "tick," you can imagine what Swords Dance can provide Wrap and Bind users. Dealing much higher chip damage per turn, it's possible to run rings around paralyzed teams and build a strong advantage very quickly, arguably making up for the accuracy issues. It's also important to note that Swords Dance can reapply the foe's Speed drop from paralysis, so it can also be a nice safety net should the user also be paralyzed. Finally, with Hyper Beam also being boosted by Swords Dance, with backing from partial trapping, a Pokemon can be taken down very quickly without a chance to fight back.
However, Swords Dance + partial trapping has never been a standard; this is not only because of the users being iffy but also because of the setup required. Partial trapping really appreciates Speed to prop up the user, preventing them from being hit before the wrapping begins, and thus requires paralysis support. Each user barring Tentacruel has some kind of issue with Speed or fragility, so they're even more dependent on this support to function. There's also the problem of having to spend a turn to set up without having guaranteed payoff after; as mentioned before, the accuracy of these moves is problematic and will crop up. Ergo, you can end up with two turns of doing absolutely nothing, which can mean everything for the opponent.
Examples
Victreebel doesn't always use Swords Dance, but it is the only Swords Dance + Wrap user to hit the OU tier. It's not hard to see why this set can be potent, with its high Attack stat letting its +2 Wrap rack up serious damage on most of the tier. Should threats like Alakazam and Starmie get paralyzed, it's very difficult to come back from a set-up Victreebel, which often only loses due to its awful consistency, which has led to it using different sets. Regardless, Victreebel's inconsistency as a whole—not just with Swords Dance—has been its undoing in 2021, with it potentially dropping back to UU soon. It also has issues with fitting Hyper Beam onto its sets, often wanting Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, and Wrap in its moveset at minimum.
Tentacruel is the face of RBY UU, dictating how games progress through its sheer power and fast Wrap. Naturally, it's a strong candidate for a Swords Dance + Wrap set, which has some minor OU history in the mid-2000s as well, though it falls off in modern OU because of an abundance of fast Thunder Wave users. However, Tentacruel being the fastest user of the combination gives the set some strong points in its favor in RBY UU, making it a scary late-game sweeper. This set is also Tentacruel's best bet when it comes to blowing past the bulky Water-types that attempt to revolt against its tyranny, swiftly cutting into their bulk and allowing for a quick finisher if it carries Hyper Beam. However, somewhat like Victreebel, this set is often forgone in favor of Rest sets, guaranteeing mileage from Tentacruel's presence throughout the game rather than relying on a late-game sweep, which Articuno or Persian can provide just fine. It's still very usable, though, and has seen high-level success, so teams that want Tentacruel to blow past bulky Water-types like Vaporeon can benefit heavily from this set.
Pinsir has found a way to be usable in OU, UU, and NU, although never as a top-tier threat. Being the Swords Dance + partial trapping user with the highest Attack stat, Pinsir has the ability to wreak havoc, dealing roughly 9% per Bind tick, quickly putting Pokemon into Hyper Beam or Slash range. With a half decent Speed stat to boot, it's very capable of locking down endgames with just a few Pokemon paralyzed. However, it's also very inconsistent, with Bind and Hyper Beam both often missing before it can claim a game. It's also absolutely destroyed by each tier's resident Ghost-type, which it can't touch outside of Seismic Toss or pivoting out with Bind, a weakness no other wrapper has.
Agility
Users: Dragonite, Rapidash, Moltres. Arcanine gains the combination of Fire Spin + Agility via trading through the Time Capsule in GSC.
When boosting Speed alongside partial trapping, you remove the main form of counterplay to the strategy: switching in faster Pokemon. This gives the wrapper full control over the game, essentially providing you with free chip damage for what can be up to 32 turns. This can be further extended if the opponent accidentally underflows your PP to 63. As one would expect, this strategy is very controversial, as this essentially forces the victim to PP stall the partial trapping move until it's over. Many have argued the combination to be uncompetitive and campaigned for its ban, though nothing has come of this, outside of a suspect test we'll go over later.
Despite its reputation, however, this strategy rarely sees its peaks. While it has the potential to be extremely strong, like with Swords Dance, you have to spend not only a turn setting up, but also handle what's an 84.4% hit rate at best throughout long wrapping sequences. Ergo, the "two turns of nothing" risk comes back to bite the strategy, only this time with much heavier punishment, as committing to Agility + partial trapping strategies has no damage-increasing benefits. Thus, not only is it possible to disrupt your setup on the Agility turn with moves like Thunder Wave, Toxic, or even a strong super effective move, it may not even work when you get to set up. It's a high-risk, inconsistent reward strategy, though it still sees use by teams that can afford the risk, and it remains a strong option that warps lower tiers.
Examples
Dragonite is the face of Agility + partial trapping, becoming so controversial in RBY UU that it was suspect tested in May 2021, the first tiering action the tier had seen since BL's removal in 2011. With its titanic Attack stat, it's very capable of dealing massive damage to an opposing team with AgiliWrap. Since it also happens to have the best partial trapping move accuracy-wise, plus an absolutely incredible movepool that lets it choose its checks, it's definitely the most consistent user of the strategy as well. However, because of the aforementioned issues, the suspect test ended in a No Ban vote, and Dragonite has also begun to diversify.
Moltres has been usable in every RBY tier—even Ubers—thanks to its ridiculous highs. It has a titanic Special stat to bolster its Fire Spin, as well as the strongest unboosted special attack in the game in its Fire Blast. This, combined with respectable bulk and Attack, has enabled it to be an interesting late-game sweeper. These qualities have made it a very strong NU threat as in particular, seeing use on a wide variety of teams, with even Rest sets popping up now and again. However, while it has those highs, it's never been chilling with Mewtwo and Mew because of its awful consistency, which is the worst out of all Agility + partial trapping users. No moves Moltres regularly uses—Fire Blast, Fire Spin, and Hyper Beam—have good accuracy, meaning it can and will miss at least once during a game. That one opening is often more than enough for it to get effectively OHKOed by paralysis, or see its defensive typing get exploited by the rampant Blizzards and Thunderbolts running around Kanto.
Effects: OU
Partial trapping's effects on OU are largely limited by the users themselves. Their Speed is often not that high; this lets Alakazam, Starmie, Jolteon, and even Tauros or Zapdos perform as naturally good checks to the strategy with their Speed and often potential to paralyze wrappers. Additionally, many Pokemon are monumentally bulky, such as Chansey, Snorlax, and Cloyster, allowing them to sit down and absorb the hits until a miss happens. Thus, partial trapping is mostly seen as a fringe strategy, but still a viable one for how high the payoff can be. There have also been periods where partial trapping is very dominant, though—particularly in 2018 to 2019—which we'll go over in a bit.
Cloyster is the most common user of partial trapping in RBY OU, and it's not even close. Its defensive presence and good Speed relative to the OU staples allows it to serve as a decent non-Thunderbolt Tauros check while pivoting against the slower, bulkier presences you see on every team, namely Snorlax and Chansey. Being able to lock down these Pokemon is very important, especially Snorlax, which has the early-game presence to frequently decide where the game's later momentum will swing. Cloyster is most commonly seen alongside Pokemon that profit from being switched in safely but are otherwise flawed; Jolteon specifically is a good deterrent to Starmie, which is the foundation for the famous "JoltCloy" core that Heroic Troller produced and succeeded with during 2019 to 2020.
Victreebel's influence over OU is not something seen nowadays, but the scars of its time in the spotlight during 2018 and 2019 remain. Being faster than your regular figureheads—notably Chansey, Exeggutor, and Snorlax—allowed it to take over games very quickly, decimating the now-antiquated "Big 4" teams pretty much on its own. This was mainly because people would often trade Thunder Wave on Turn 1, something that became much less frequent when Victreebel was able to profit from the typical absorbers losing their Speed, namely Starmie and Alakazam. Victreebel's heavy-handed response to these common metagame trends forced players to adapt, and they begrudgingly did. Sing Chansey is now often switching in on Turn 1 Thunder Waves instead, so it is much more difficult to spread paralysis for Victreebel to take over. It still can and it's by far one of the best non-standard Pokemon out there, but it's nowhere near a staple like it was back then. Regardless, Victreebel single-handedly led to the modern RBY metagame, where sleep leads are in their prime and Exeggutor is seen as droppable. Few Pokemon in the entire franchise, let alone RBY, can claim they turned a 20+ year old metagame on its head.
Dragonite has always been a controversial character in tiering, with posts dating back to 2006 complaining about its antics. It's been OU-tiered a few times because of it on various websites, but it never truly stayed there because of the rampant Blizzards and Thunder Waves in its way, not to mention the bulky metagame staples. However, AgiliWrap isn't all Dragonite can do here, and to say otherwise is a gross misunderstanding. In recent years, Dragonite has seen much diversification with sets like Wrap / Thunder Wave / Blizzard / Hyper Beam, which allows it to form a catch-22 between Wrap and Thunder Wave. The main counterplay to Wrap is to switch in a faster Pokemon, but doing this against Dragonite puts you at risk of being paralyzed. Dragonite is also capable of using Surf to deal with Rhydon more definitively, preventing it from safely absorbing Wrap. Dragonite also saw much use alongside Victreebel during its prime, forming the once-popular "VicNite" core that would sometimes even drop Chansey in favor of going for an all-out offense.
Moltres has seen sporadic usage over the years at top level, including the recent SPL XII. The second its walls—Chansey, Starmie, and Slowbro—are removed, it can often wreak havoc on the opposing team in a similar manner to Articuno. However, it's among the worst viable users of partial trapping for the exact same reasons as Dragonite: horrible defensive typing, getting debilitated by paralysis, and horrific consistency. What really lets it down, though, is accidentally thawing a frozen Chansey or something with its Fire Blast. This can be enough to lose a game in modern RBY, and possessing more weaknesses and a worse movepool can be problematic as well. Regardless, it's one of the scariest low-ranked Pokemon in the tier, brutally tearing teams apart through sheer damage output if all goes to plan, although this doesn't always pan out.
Pinsir is another Pokemon that has seen scarce usage but is considered to be viable in OU for its late-game sweeping potential. Swords Dance + Bind, combined with a Speed stat quite high relative to OU, enables Pinsir to lock down teams once their faster Pokemon are paralysed. Its Hyper Beam is nothing to scoff at, OHKOing Alakazam, Chansey, Jolteon, Jynx, and Victreebel at +2. With a strong Bind to chip other Pokemon into KO range, Pinsir can be seen using one or two Binds put an opposing Pokemon into range right away. However, it's severely lacking in the movepool department—not even having STAB or non-Normal-type coverage to back itself up, making it lose to Gengar and Rock-types outright without Seismic Toss or the unreliable Submission, respectively. It hasn't got any special bulk to write home about either, which is exposed severely by all the fast special attackers in the tier. Ergo, Pinsir is quite rare, but usable. At least it has a use in SPL VII to its name!
Effects: Uber
Because of Mewtwo and Mew's existence and teams demanding Chansey and Snorlax usage, Uber teams often feature many Pokemon with high HP and overall respectable bulk, making partial trapping much more difficult to justify. Both of the Ubers are extremely fast, and Mewtwo is often capable of just OHKOing whatever wrapper is thrown at it. Ergo, regular wrapping is virtually nonexistent, as its users just aren't fast or bulky enough to contest the despots at the top of the tier. With ridiculous Special on every viable Pokemon, AgiliSpin is also out. This leaves AgiliWrap to try and make an impact.
The sole arguably viable wrapper in Ubers is Dragonite, as a result of its immense Attack and the ability to set up on Mew if it only has Earthquake to attack with. These traits can allow Dragonite to attempt AgiliWrap and try to score free damage on the opposing team, which can be helpful. However, you'll often want a Self-Destruct Mewtwo to at least dispatch opposing Mewtwo if you want a shot at pulling this off, as it's Mewtwo is very capable of absorbing the hits, farming Amnesia boosts, or just outright removing Dragonite using Ice Beam.
Effects: UU
Affectionately referred to by RBY UU players as "The Great Dictator" or something similar, Tentacruel utilizes Wrap as a method of creating a hellish grip on the tier, and that's absolutely no secret. It almost single-handedly determines the viability of Pokemon, such as Electabuzz being UU over Raichu due to their Speed tier difference alone. Various others, such as Charizard and Nidoking, are prevented from succeeding in part due to the existence of Tentacruel, while Moltres is relegated to niche use. In fact, Tentacruel played a role in the unbanning of Articuno and Moltres alongside Omastar. Wrap allows Tentacruel to serve as an incredible lead, breaking in games to the user's advantage from the momentum it gives, resulting in many UU games starting with a Tentacruel mirror match. However, Tentacruel can also run a Swords Dance + Wrap set to clean up late-game, allowing it to blow past checks like Vaporeon and Dewgong rather than getting stopped short. But that's just the surface of this incredibly powerful Pokemon, as its Special stat gives it great damage outside of Wrap, and its Poison typing makes it immune to opposing Toxic, a unique trait amongst wrappers. Counterplay to Tentacruel comes in the form of faster Pokemon such as Dugtrio, Electabuzz, and Kadabra, which must be incredibly careful not to get paralyzed earlier in the match in order to preserve their Speed tiers, all while trying to paralyze an opposing Tentacruel to make it slightly less oppressive, slowing it to a crawl and allowing other Pokemon to effectively check it as well. Few Pokemon have had such an effect on a tier, but Tentacruel has been seen as a healthy top tier among enthusiasts for the varied and skill-based interactions it presents.
As its suspect test in 2021 implies, Dragonite is one of the most important Pokemon to immediately check in RBY UU due to how powerful its sets are; they range widely in function, with sets like Wrap / Thunder Wave / Body Slam / Hyper Beam or Blizzard, Agility sweeper sets, Gyarados-like sets, and more all seeing some kind of usage. However, no set is as controversially powerful as its AgiliWrap set. Notorious for its ability to steal games within just a few turns. Dragonite's Wrap is one of the strongest in the entire game alone, and with a boost in Speed, it can completely control the game and be nearly impossible to defensively answer outside of dumb luck. Toxic is one of few ways to completely shut down a sweep, as the passive damage prevents Dragonite from staying in permanently, while offensive answers such as Articuno and Tentacruel can shut it down with their access to Blizzard. Because of the sheer threat level of this set, Pokemon like Persian, Dodrio, Kangaskhan, Dugtrio, and more are almost mandated to run Toxic, lest teams get shut down and chipped into range for a KO by Dragonite's teammates. This set, while incredibly dominant, isn't the only trick Dragonite carries, however. Paralysis spreading with both Thunder Wave and Body Slam makes Dragonite an incredible utility choice while also slowing answers down for its powerful Wrap to whittle down. Overall, Dragonite is a definitive piece of RBY UU; while Tentacruel gives it the moniker of "Wrap tier", Dragonite actualizes the term.
Effects: NU
Unlike UU, where Wrap is the dominant partial trapping move, in NU Fire Spin is the name of the game. The conditions of NU finally allow for most Fire-types to be viable, meaning that a lot of high-power Pokemon are condensed into the tier. This makes Fire Spin incredibly valuable, dealing impressive STAB chip damage. In addition, the blazing Speed of nearly every Fire Spin user effectively gives each viable one the might of the infamous “AgiliWrap” strategy, but without the need for a setup turn. Fire Spin’s inconsistency is the only thing keeping it in check. Charizard’s blazing fast Speed, fantastic coverage, and ability to pivot around the opponent with Fire Spin makes it incredibly hard to breakits momentum, allowing it to escape its checks like Blastoise while also chipping them down for its teammates. It's also mostly thanks to Charizard’s access to Fire Spin and Earthquake that an entirely new playstyle arises in NU, that being the infamous “Fire Spam,” a strategy where multiple speedy Fire-type Pokemon utilize a combination of Fire Spin and Toxic to run through their checks and reduce interactivity as much as possible. This success of Fire Spin makes Toxic a regular part of the metagame, adding an entirely new dimension of strategy to the tier.
Pinsir is most successful in NU, complementing access to Bind with one of the largest offensive presences of the tier thanks to Swords Dance. It largely reprises its role in UU, but with much higher viability in general. +2 Hyper Beam scores OHKOs on Mr. Mime, Dragonair, Blastoise, and Clefable with minor chip damage from Bind. However, Pinsir can struggle in the metagame at times thanks to the newfound viability of Fire-types, and the higher baseline Speed makes Bind less helpful.
Fire Spin Arcanine: The Lost Wrapper
The only Pokemon to get a partial trapping move via the Time Capsule in GSC is Arcanine, which gains Fire Spin. This is a massive boost to its utility, as it also has Agility, letting it use the AgiliSpin combo alongside its very high Attack stat. It doesn't have to just do this, either, as almost any combination of Fire Blast, Fire Spin, Body Slam, Hyper Beam and Agility is viable in some respects. It also gains Headbutt through Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to exploit paralyzed Pokemon more effectively, though this is often inferior to Body Slam and Hyper Beam without dedicated teambuilding.
Arcanine mainly competes with Moltres as an AgiliSpin user in formats Tradebacks are allowed in, which has a higher Special stat, better bulk, and an Earthquake immunity. Arcanine, on the other hand, has access to Body Slam plus higher Speed and Attack stats. Because of this, while Arcanine deals less Fire Spin damage per turn, it's arguably better at closing out interactions against Pokemon with less Defense, such as Alakazam or Chansey. However, to say it replaces Moltres would be a lie, considering the sheer power Moltres has compared to Arcanine overall. Regardless, it's certainly a serviceable option and a much better Pokemon, no longer having to be seen as "that one Fire-type without Fire Spin."
Changes in Pokemon Stadium
Introduced in the Japanese Pokemon Stadium and kept for the Pokemon Stadium game we got internationally, these partial trapping alterations change up the games a bit:
- The 1/256 accuracy bug is fixed, indirectly making the moves more consistent. Thus, Wrap has 85% accuracy, Bind and Clamp have 75% accuracy, and Fire Spin has 70% accuracy.
- Since the Fight menu no longer exists, and pressing Fight will always bring up the move menu, neither player will ever know if wrapping continues until commands are issued.
- If either player switches, the turn automatically ends and the wrapper isn't forced to use the move again. If both players switch, the same happens; neither player is "blocked" from switching or impeded by another move use. Essentially, both players get the pivot effect.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide has successfully delivered the interesting nuances and history behind RBY partial trapping, as well as how to counter it properly. While a very misunderstood mechanic, it can be very powerful and interactive in the hands of experienced players, and it is something people should explore more. If you're interested in a tier where you can see the mechanics in full form, RBY UU is perhaps the most relevant, considering its resident monarch is the most notorious user of it. Give it a shot!
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