[OVERVIEW]
Ferrothorn’s great mixed bulk, diverse support movepool, and unique Grass / Steel typing make it a valuable asset to both offensive and defensive teams alike. There seems to be an endless list of Pokemon Ferrothorn can check, most notably Mega Kangaskhan, Landorus-T, Breloom, Sylveon, and virtually every Water-type in the metagame. Thanks to Iron Barbs, it can also act as a deterrent to physical attackers in general. For example, when Ferrothorn is still alive, Talonflame and Mega Charizard X will have to be careful about using Brave Bird or Flare Blitz. A few of Ferrothorn’s most notable drawbacks include poor Speed, average offensive presence, vulnerability to burns, and a weakness to the common Fighting- and Fire-type attacks. Ferrothorn will have to occasionally think twice before attempting to fight a Pokemon it is supposed to check, as the foe might unexpectedly carry a move of one of those types.
[SET]
name: Wall-Nut
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Power Whip / Gyro Ball
move 3: Gyro Ball / Knock Off / Thunder Wave
move 4: Protect / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Iron Barbs
nature: Relaxed / Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Leech Seed grants Ferrothorn a steady recovery option and wears down foe, particularly bulkier ones such as Cresselia, Porygon2, and Suicune. Power Whip is a strong STAB attack that is useful for heavily damaging Water- and Ground-type Pokemon such as Rotom-W, Hippowdon, and Excadrill. Gyro Ball takes advantage of Ferrothorn’s extremely low Speed and strikes many offensive threats at 150 Base Power. Some notable Pokemon it covers include Breloom and Gengar, and it also hits Kangaskhan, Garchomp, Blaziken, and both Mega Charizards much harder than Power Whip. Knock Off provides a utility in removing items and also threatens Aegislash, which is faster than Ferrothorn and risks being struck in its Blade forme. Thunder Wave cripples unsuspecting sweepers such as Mega Charizard X and Volcarona, but it weakens Gyro Ball.
Protect synergizes with Leech Seed and Leftovers to make Ferrothorn a long-lasting wall, allowing it to accumulate more residual damage. Stealth Rock provides team-wide support by rendering Focus Sash almost ineffective and can add a valuable amount of residual damage to help Ferrothorn's teammates sweep. It also deals heavy damage to Charizard, Volcarona, and Talonflame. Iron Head can be used over Gyro Ball for better synergy with Thunder Wave, as Thunder Wave significantly reduces Gyro Ball's damage. Toxic is another status move that can take advantage of Ferrothorn's stalling capabilities and threaten certain high-sustain Pokemon such as Zapdos and Talonflame.
Set Details
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Maximum HP and Defense investment optimizes Ferrothorn's performance against the heavy number of physical threats in the metagame. It ensures that Adamant Mega Salamence cannot OHKO it with Double-Edge after a single Dragon Dance boost and that Talonflame cannot 2HKO it with Choice Band-boosted Brave Bird. A specially defensive spread is viable, taking advantage of Ferrothorn's slightly lower but still respectable Special Defense stat. It allows it to take on Greninja, Raikou, and Choice Specs Rotom-W and Sylveon more easily.
Leftovers is preferred to make use of Ferrothorn’s stalling abilities and to patch up its lack of reliable recovery. Rocky Helmet can further deter physical attackers, as it can deal a combined 29% damage with Iron Barbs against a single contact attack. Against Mega Kangaskhan's contact attacks, this combination can wipe out a staggering 58% of her HP!
If running Iron Head, use an Impish nature and 12 Speed EVs to outrun paralyzed, positive-natured base 100 Speed Pokemon. Running 84 Speed EVs grants Ferrothorn enough Speed to outrun paralyzed Mega Gengar, but it does put a strain on Ferrothorn's overall bulk.
Usage Tips
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Make use of Ferrothorn’s huge list of Pokemon it checks, but in some matchups, try to scout for potential anti-Ferrothorn measures before staying in. For example, if you want to use Ferrothorn to check Sylveon, you should try to scout for Hidden Power Fire. This can be accomplished through the use of Protect and/or double switching. Another example is Azumarill; avoid Superpower if you can. Double switch if necessary, and make use of Ferrothorn’s strong pivoting quality provided to it by its resistances, bulk, and Iron Barbs.
Evaluate whether to Leech Seed, Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, or attack as you see fit.
Leech Seed is the safest move to throw out, as it is effective against all Pokemon bar Grass-types. Use Stealth Rock if you anticipate a longer battle or are in need of that residual damage on key targets. For example, your Mega Salamence will have a much easier time dealing with Thundurus and Zapdos with Stealth Rock on the field. It may also be in your interest to immediately set Stealth Rock up if you anticipate that your opponent will bring Charizard, Talonflame, or Volcarona. However, using Stealth Rock also means a one-time free switch in for many threats, so do not set it up without thinking about it. Thunder Wave is an excellent way to cripple sweepers that love switching into Ferrothorn, such as Blaziken, Lucario, and Mega Charizard X.
Use an attack to immediately threaten the foe and to combat Substitute users. However, Ferrothorn is not a wallbreaker; you probably won’t get a lot of opportunities to predict a switch-in and punish it with a direct attack.
Team Options
========
Mega Salamence, Dragonite, Latias, Latios, Gyarados, Talonflame, Azumarill, Mega Charizard Y, Slowbro, and Mega Altaria are all viable options to cover Ferrothorn's weaknesses to Fire and Fighting. Ferrothorn also covers most of their weaknesses and its Stealth Rock support can be invaluable for them as well.
Ferrothorn is a solid partner for Blaziken, as it covers a number of Blaziken's checks, such as Hippowdon, Cresselia, and Suicune. Adding in Zapdos to the mix covers Talonflame, Mega Salamence, and Azumarill. Together, these three form a balanced trio that can blanket check most Pokemon in the metagame.
Landorus-T, Ferrothorn, and a Pokemon that resists Fire also act as a strong core. Rotom-W and Rotom-H are the most notable options as they also resist Flying, making it difficult for Talonflame and Mega Salamence to break the core.
Politoed can provide Ferrothorn with rain support to reduce its Fire weakness, while Ferrothorn resists both Electric and Grass. Ferrothorn's long list of resistances is always helpful for a rain team.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Band set with Power Whip, Gyro Ball, Knock Off, and a filler move is the most notable alternative set Ferrothorn can run, utilizing its high-Base Power attack to really leave a mark. To give an example of its power, a Choice Band-boosted Gyro Ball is strong enough to OHKO Garchomp. Some choices for the filler move include Bulldoze, Bullet Seed, and Explosion. Bulldoze can severely damage Heatran, Lucario, and Blaziken reduce their Speed. Bullet Seed can break Focus Sash from the likes of Mamoswine and Terrakion, and can damage Glalie after breaking its Substitute. Explosion simply deals a large amount of damage to most foes that don't resist it and can OHKO Mega Charizard X.
Focus Sash is an alternative item that can be used to really surprise some of its most common checks. For example, if Ferrothorn can bait the opponent's Mega Charizard X or Mega Charizard Y to fight it one-on-one, it can survive any Fire-type attack with Focus Sash, paralyze it, and set up Stealth Rock. Ferrothorn will most likely faint after setting up Stealth Rock, but in return, it has essentially neutered the Charizard and granted your team an entry hazard advantage. Occa Berry can be used to survive a Fire-type attack in a similar fashion, although Ferrothorn will probably not survive most STABed Fire-type attacks in the game. Sitrus Berry is an option as well due to the constraints of Item Clause.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-type Pokemon and Fire-type attacks**: There is no better way to get rid of Ferrothorn than to hit it with a 4x super effective move. Furthermore, some of the metagame's most powerful threats are Fire-types, such as Blaziken, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Charizard X, Heatran, and Talonflame, and giving them an opportunity to switch in can be disastrous to not only Ferrothorn, but also to the the rest of its teammates. Non-Fire-type Pokemon such as Zapdos, Mega Salamence, Mega Kangaskhan, Slowbro, and even Greninja may carry a Fire-type attack (Hidden Power Fire in Greninja's case). Grass-type Pokemon with Hidden Power Fire such as Mega Venusaur and Serperior gets a special mention due to being immune to Leech Seed.
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Lucario and Blaziken can OHKO Ferrothorn with their Fighting-type STAB attacks. Blaziken can additionally threaten Ferrothorn with its Fire-type STAB moves. Both Pokemon can switch into Ferrothorn's attacks easily, but fear Thunder Wave. Conkeldurr can absorb Thunder Wave, receive an attack boost from Guts, and punish Ferrothorn with Drain Punch.
**Burn Inducers**: Ferrothorn lacks reliable recovery and uses physical attacks. Therefore, a burn from the likes of Rotom-W and Mega Gengar using Will-O-Wisp or some Water-type Pokemon such as Suicune and Slowbro using Scald, can really shorten Ferrothorn's time on the field. Mega Gengar can force this status ailment onto Ferrothorn thanks to Shadow Tag.
**Mega Sableye**: Magic Bounce renders Leech Seed, Stealth Rock, and Thunder Wave useless. Mega Sableye's high physical bulk ensures that Ferrothorn can't deal much damage, and it can burn Ferrothorn with Will-O-Wisp.
**Mega Mawile**: Mega Mawile resists Power Whip and takes very little damage from Gyro Ball due to its low Speed. It is, however, still faster than Ferrothorn and can quickly destroy it with Fire Fang. Alternatively, it can set up Swords Dance on it. Regardless, due to the menacing power Mega Mawile holds, the team with Ferrothorn must be very careful to limit this Pokemon's opportunities to switch in.
**Magic Guard**: Being Ferrothorn's indirect damage is always helpful. Clefable and Reuniclus can threaten to set up on Ferrothorn thanks to said immunity and beat it up with a super effective move; Flamethrower or Fire Blast in Clefable's case, and Focus Blast in Reuniclus's case.
**Trick and Switcheroo Users**: Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Latios are able to Trick their Choice items onto Ferrothorn, drastically reducing its walling and stalling ability.
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