Overview
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Standard
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name: Standard
move 1: Power Whip
move 2: Gyro Ball / Thunder Wave / Substitute
move 3: Leech Seed
move 4: Protect
ability: Iron Barbs
item: Lum Berry
evs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
IVs: 0 Spe
nature: Brave
Moves
========
-Power Whip is STAB, OHKOs standard Rotom-W and has a beastly 120 base power
-Gyro Ball is alternate STAB, and is also powerful thanks to Ferrothorn's pathetic Speed, but has unimpressive coverage
-Thunder Wave cripples faster sweepers
-Substitute is solid, since its resistances give it opportunities to set one up and it can annoy with SubSeed (even though it's not as good as in Singles)
-Leech Seed saps opposing Pokemon and restores HP, and Ferrothorn can find opportunities to use it
-Protect is Protect
Set Details
========
-Max HP to cover its mediocre 74 base HP
-204 Atk EVs and a Brave nature allow it to OHKO 252 HP / 44 Def neutral Rotom-W with Power Whip
-52 SpDef EVs cover its weaker Special Defense
-0 Speed IV to maximize Gyro Ball's power, and underspeed othr Pokemon in Trick Room
-Iron Barbs to discourage physical attackers, especially Mega Khan
-Lum Berry prevents it from being burned by Rotom-W. It's also useful for taking Smeargle's Dark Void.
-Sitrus Berry and Leftovers provide additional healing
-Could also consider Sassy and a more defensive spread, or Adamant with a 31 Speed IV for more Speed if Gyro Ball isn't used.
Usage Tips
========
-Send it out on one of its many resistances, such as a Choice-locked Draco Meteor
-Throw out Leech Seed first, since Ferrothorn's STABs are easily walled and it lacks recovery. However, if it still has its Lum Berry and the opponent has Rotom-W out, go for the KO instead.
-Try to save it for a "checkmate" situation in the late game, since Ferrothorn's resistances can make it surprisingly hard to get around
Team Options
========
-Ferrothorn appreciates teammates that cover its horrible Fire weakness
-Salamence and Gyarados provide Intimidate and have good defensive synergy
-Dragons such as Garchomp appreciate Ferrothorn's Dragon and Fairy resistances, though Ferrothorn takes neutral damage from Ice attacks
-Talonflame and Ferrothorn cover each other's weaknesses, while Talonflame smites Fighting-types with priority Brave Bird
-Politoed resists Fire and weakens power of Fire attacks with Drizzle, while Ferrothorn resists its weaknesses
-Rotom-W covers Fire weakness and spreads around burns to soften up physical attackers
-Trick Room compensates for low Speed. Flash Fire Chandelure gets a special mention for being immune to both of Ferrothorn's weaknesses.
Other Options
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-Rocky Helmet stacks with Iron Barbs, but Ferrothorn prefers a defensive item
-Iron Head is an alternate Steel STAB with a consistent base power, and can provide flinches with paralysis or Trick Room support. However, Gyro Ball is more powerful unless it's being used on other slow targets.
-Seed Bomb is more accurate than Power Whip, but has a noticeable drop in power
-Payback and Shadow Claw hit certain Ghost-types such as Chandelure, Gourgeist, and Trevenant, but they outpace and OHKO Ferrothorn (Chandelure) or avoid the 2HKO and can burn it twice (others)
-ChestoRest to provide additional recovery and heal off a burn, but space is an issue
Checks & Counters
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-Super-effective moves: Fire-types are the main culprit: Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, Rotom-H, and Chandelure all outspeed and OHKO it. The occasional Fighting-type such as Conkeldurr or Machamp are also problematic, though physical Fighters don't like Iron Barbs.
-Other Steel-types: Ferrothorn can't do a lot to them. Aegislash can set up a Substitute and start throwing Shadow Balls, while Mawile can get a free switch-in and spread Intimidate or use the odd Fire Fang.
-Intimidate: Salamence, Scrafty, and Mega Manectric lower Ferrothorn's Attack and can hit it with a super-effective move
-Burns: Gourgeist and Trevenant are immune to Leech Seed, have high Defense, and can just burn Ferrothorn twice and chip away with Phantom Force
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- Has high defenses
- Great defensive typing, with nine resistances and one immunity
- Hits surprisingly hard for a wall, with Gyro Ball and Power Whip off of 95 base Attack
- Can OHKO the most common wall, Rotom-W, if it avoids a burn
- Doesn't have to worry about some VGC13 Fighters, such as Terrakion, Breloom, and Hitmontop
- Type changes are a mixed bag: it's immune to Sleep Powder/Spore and hits Fairies super-effectively with Gyro Ball, but lost its Ghost and Dark resistances
- Has a horrible Fire weakness. It doesn't help that Charizard Y and Talonflame are everywhere.
- Slow as hell
- Mediocre HP slightly undermines its defenses
- Has competition as a bulky Steel-type from Mega Mawile, and as a bulky Grass-type from Amoonguss and Gourgeist
Standard
########
name: Standard
move 1: Power Whip
move 2: Gyro Ball / Thunder Wave / Substitute
move 3: Leech Seed
move 4: Protect
ability: Iron Barbs
item: Lum Berry
evs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
IVs: 0 Spe
nature: Brave
Moves
========
-Power Whip is STAB, OHKOs standard Rotom-W and has a beastly 120 base power
-Gyro Ball is alternate STAB, and is also powerful thanks to Ferrothorn's pathetic Speed, but has unimpressive coverage
-Thunder Wave cripples faster sweepers
-Substitute is solid, since its resistances give it opportunities to set one up and it can annoy with SubSeed (even though it's not as good as in Singles)
-Leech Seed saps opposing Pokemon and restores HP, and Ferrothorn can find opportunities to use it
-Protect is Protect
Set Details
========
-Max HP to cover its mediocre 74 base HP
-204 Atk EVs and a Brave nature allow it to OHKO 252 HP / 44 Def neutral Rotom-W with Power Whip
-52 SpDef EVs cover its weaker Special Defense
-0 Speed IV to maximize Gyro Ball's power, and underspeed othr Pokemon in Trick Room
-Iron Barbs to discourage physical attackers, especially Mega Khan
-Lum Berry prevents it from being burned by Rotom-W. It's also useful for taking Smeargle's Dark Void.
-Sitrus Berry and Leftovers provide additional healing
-Could also consider Sassy and a more defensive spread, or Adamant with a 31 Speed IV for more Speed if Gyro Ball isn't used.
Usage Tips
========
-Send it out on one of its many resistances, such as a Choice-locked Draco Meteor
-Throw out Leech Seed first, since Ferrothorn's STABs are easily walled and it lacks recovery. However, if it still has its Lum Berry and the opponent has Rotom-W out, go for the KO instead.
-Try to save it for a "checkmate" situation in the late game, since Ferrothorn's resistances can make it surprisingly hard to get around
Team Options
========
-Ferrothorn appreciates teammates that cover its horrible Fire weakness
-Salamence and Gyarados provide Intimidate and have good defensive synergy
-Dragons such as Garchomp appreciate Ferrothorn's Dragon and Fairy resistances, though Ferrothorn takes neutral damage from Ice attacks
-Talonflame and Ferrothorn cover each other's weaknesses, while Talonflame smites Fighting-types with priority Brave Bird
-Politoed resists Fire and weakens power of Fire attacks with Drizzle, while Ferrothorn resists its weaknesses
-Rotom-W covers Fire weakness and spreads around burns to soften up physical attackers
-Trick Room compensates for low Speed. Flash Fire Chandelure gets a special mention for being immune to both of Ferrothorn's weaknesses.
Other Options
########
-Rocky Helmet stacks with Iron Barbs, but Ferrothorn prefers a defensive item
-Iron Head is an alternate Steel STAB with a consistent base power, and can provide flinches with paralysis or Trick Room support. However, Gyro Ball is more powerful unless it's being used on other slow targets.
-Seed Bomb is more accurate than Power Whip, but has a noticeable drop in power
-Payback and Shadow Claw hit certain Ghost-types such as Chandelure, Gourgeist, and Trevenant, but they outpace and OHKO Ferrothorn (Chandelure) or avoid the 2HKO and can burn it twice (others)
-ChestoRest to provide additional recovery and heal off a burn, but space is an issue
Checks & Counters
########
-Super-effective moves: Fire-types are the main culprit: Talonflame, Mega Charizard Y, Rotom-H, and Chandelure all outspeed and OHKO it. The occasional Fighting-type such as Conkeldurr or Machamp are also problematic, though physical Fighters don't like Iron Barbs.
-Other Steel-types: Ferrothorn can't do a lot to them. Aegislash can set up a Substitute and start throwing Shadow Balls, while Mawile can get a free switch-in and spread Intimidate or use the odd Fire Fang.
-Intimidate: Salamence, Scrafty, and Mega Manectric lower Ferrothorn's Attack and can hit it with a super-effective move
-Burns: Gourgeist and Trevenant are immune to Leech Seed, have high Defense, and can just burn Ferrothorn twice and chip away with Phantom Force