Rotom-Frost

[asa]

he dropped on discord -zard

[OVERVIEW]

• Rotom-F's high Special Attack in combination with its near-unresisted dual STAB combo and high-powered STAB moves in Blizzard and Thunderbolt make it a potent offensive threat.
• Its decent Speed allows for it to outspeed some of PU's most common offensive threats such as Magmortar, Passimian, and Skuntank.
• Due to the combination of Substitute and Pain Split, Rotom-F can serve as annoyance to some specially defensive Pokemon such as Audino.
• However, while decent, its Speed isn't the best, and it is outsped and revenge killed by Pokemon such as Archeops and Primeape as a result of this.
• Defensively, its typing isn't too solid, leaving it weak to common offensive typings in Fighting and Fire, and to Stealth Rock as well. A lack of reliable recovery outside of Pain Split, which isn't very reliable, only makes matters worse.
• Blizzard, Rotom-F's only Ice-type move, has low accuracy, which prevents it from being a reliable attack.
• Finally, it faces some competition from Abomasnow and Aurorus, who both boast a 100% accurate Blizzard due to Snow Warning and have an easier time dealing with specially defensive Pokemon that Rotom-F cannot deal with such as Lanturn.

[SET]
name: SubSplit
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Blizzard
move 4: Thunderbolt
item: Icium Z
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Substitute allows for Rotom-F to capitalize on the switches in tends to force, guards it from status and weaker attacks, and allows for it play around Sucker Punch from Pokemon such as Absol, Shiftry, and Skuntank.
• Pain Split, although not the most reliable, gives Rotom-F a form of recovery that annoys bulky Pokemon with high HP stats, and allows for it to stay healthy throughout the match.
• Blizzard is Rotom-F's only Ice-type STAB move. Despite its lower accuracy, it is fairly powerful, allowing it to threaten Pokemon that are immune to or resist its Electric-type moves such as Palossand and Eelektross.
• Thunderbolt is a reliable, fairly strong STAB move that hits a lot of what resists Blizzard for either neutral or super effective damage.

Set Details
========

• Maximum investment in both Special Attack and Speed maximize Rotom-F's offensive capabilities, with a Timid nature allowing it to outspeed as much as it can.
• Levitate, Rotom-F's only ability, gives it a useful immunity to Ground-type attacks, allowing it to pivot into them if need be.
• Icium Z turns Blizzard into Subzero Slammer, giving Rotom-F access to a reliable, but one-time, Ice-type move that's really powerful.
• Life Orb is an option to power up all of Rotom-F's attacks if your team already has a Z-Move user, but keep in mind that this comes with the drawback of recoil with every attack.

Usage Tips
========

• Rotom-F should avoid switching in on stronger, neutral attacks due to its bulk only being average, especially if Stealth Rock is up. The ideal ways of getting Rotom-F in are with U-turn, or after one of its teammates is KOed. However, it can switch in on predicted Ground-type attacks if necessary due to Levitate.
• The main move Rotom-F should be using is Substitute, as this shields it from weaker attacks and status and lets it capitalize on the switches it can force.
• Use Pain Split once Rotom-F begins taking noticeable damage so that it can remain healthy and switch with lesser problems.
• Use Subzero Slammer when you cannot run the risk of missing Blizzard, or to finish off weakened Pokemon such as Ferroseed.

Team Options
========

• Strong physical wallbreakers such as Passimian and Stoutland are good partners since they can tear through specially defensive Pokemon like Clefairy and Lanturn for Rotom-F, and they appreciate Rotom-F dealing with physically defensive Pokemon such as Palossand and Weezing for them. Passimian can even bring Rotom-F in safely with U-turn while also offering Knock Off support to cripple specially defensive Pokemon.
• Entry hazard support is appreciated since it chips away at Rotom-F's switch-ins, so Pokemon such as Mesprit, Ferroseed, and Weezing are good partners. Mesprit and Weezing can both check Fighting-types, while Mesprit also provides a slow U-turn and Healing Wish support.
• While it is not necessary because of Pain Split, entry hazard removal is also appreciated, so Pokemon such as Hitmonchan, Skuntank, and Swanna make for good teammates. Hitmonchan comes with the advantage of not removing any potential entry hazards set by Rotom-F's team.
• Pivots such as Mesprit and Silvally-Fairy are good partners since they get Rotom-F in safely against Pokemon it otherwise would not be able to switch in on.
• Abomasnow and Aurorus, while not offering much defensive synergy, can make for interesting partners due to Snow Warning increasing Blizzard's accuracy and making it more spammable. The two also wear down Ice-resists from Rotom-F, giving it an easier time cleaning up.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• A Choice Scarf set with Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, and Trick can be used to turn Rotom-F into more of a revenge killer, although it much prefers being able to switch moves since both of its STABs are relatively easy to exploit when locked into.
• Leftovers can be used to give Rotom-F a form of passive recovery if the team its on already has a Z-Crystal in use and doesn't want to deal with Life Orb recoil, but it is weaker without either.
• Substitute + Will-O-Wisp can be used to cripple physical attackers that attempt to break Rotom-F's Substitute and passive Pokemon, but it has trouble dropping a move for Will-O-Wisp.
• Thunder Wave provides teams with a form of Speed control, but it also has trouble dropping a move for it.
• Hidden Power Ground can hit Probopass and Togedemaru for 4x effective damage, as well as chip away at Lanturn, but its other moves are more important.
• Rotom-F can make for a decent offensive user of Defog since it has a positive matchup against common entry hazard setters such as Golurk and Palossand, but the lack of reliable recovery coupled with its weakness to Stealth Rock hampers the viability of such a set.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Specially bulky Pokemon such as Audino, Clefairy, Eelektross, Hitmonchan, Lanturn, and Type: Null are all capable of taking at least one attack from Rotom-F and either recovering off the damage or KOing it. Lanturn in particular is annoying for Rotom-F to deal with since it's immune to Thunderbolt and Volt Switch, resists Blizzard, and can stall Rotom-F out with Toxic. Subzero Slammer does put a dent in most of them besides Lanturn and Type: Null, however.

**Revenge Killers**: Rotom-F's only decent Speed tier leaves it outsped and taken care of by common offensive Pokemon such as Archeops, Primeape, Pyroar, and Alolan Raichu. Priority from the likes of Gurdurr, Hitmonchan, Lycanroc, and Shiftry can also pick Rotom-F off if it has taken enough damage beforehand, although it can potentially play around Sucker Punch.

**Residual Damage**: Rotom-F's weakness to Stealth Rock, lack of reliable recovery outside of Pain Split, vulnerability to Toxic, usage of Substitute, and potential Life Orb recoil all wear it down rather quickly, meaning that it can have trouble with remaining around.