[OVERVIEW]
Fire
========
Torkoal is one of Fire's best utility Pokemon, compressing roles of entry hazard remover, hazard setter, status spreader, and weather setter due to its access to Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, Yawn, and Drought. Drought's harsh sunlight also allows many of Torkoal's teammates to act as powerful wallbreakers with Fire-type STAB attacks while minimizing damage taken from Water-type attacks. Torkoal's amazing Defense allows it to switch into many physical attacks such as Close Combat from Mega Gallade and Shadow Claw from Mimikyu; however, its low Special Defense prevents it from being effective against most special attackers. Its pure Fire typing leaves much to be desired defensively as well, being weak to common coverage types such as Ground, Rock, and Water. Torkoal's mediocre Special Attack stat and lack of coverage mean it has little to no offensive presence, especially against Pokemon that resist Fire. Its very low Speed leaves it outsped by nearly every commonly used Pokemon, including most defensive Pokemon. However, this can also be an advantage, as it allows Torkoal to set sun if it switches in at the same time as other common weather setters such as Pelipper, Alolan Ninetales, and Hippowdon. Its lack of recovery options prevents Torkoal from having any sort of sustainability, which puts pressure on it to stay alive in order to continuously remove hazards from the field while effectively performing its other roles at the same time. This makes it difficult for Torkoal to perform all of the roles it's compressing for the team. Torkoal is in competition with Rotom-H and Volcanion to act as a hazard remover; however, Torkoal's amazing role compression solidifies its spot on Fire.
[SET]
name: Entry Hazard Remover
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Lava Plume
move 4: Yawn
item: Heat Rock / Leftovers
ability: Drought
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Rapid Spin is necessary on Torkoal, as it enables it to remove troublesome entry hazards such as Stealth Rock from the field. Stealth Rock further strengthens its function as a support Pokemon to help whittle down opposing Pokemon as they switch in. Lava Plume is Torkoal's primary offensive attack, which threatens physical attackers with a 30% burn chance. Yawn threatens opposing switch-ins and setup sweepers due to its function of putting a foe to sleep after two turns.
Set Details
========
248 HP and 252 Defense EVs with a Bold nature help enable Torkoal to be as physically defensive as possible while minimizing the damage taken by Stealth Rock. Drought allows Torkoal to set harsh sunlight upon switching in, which boosts all Fire-type attacks and reduces all Water-type attacks' power by 50%. Heat Rock maximizes the number of turns that harsh sunlight remains on the field, prolonging the power boost for its teammates to utilize. Leftovers is an option over Heat Rock to give Torkoal some sustainability, allowing it to switch into entry hazards more frequently to remove them; however, you lose out on the additional harsh sunlight turns.
Usage Tips
========
Keep Torkoal as healthy as possible while an opposing entry hazard setter is still healthy, as it will need to have the ability to remove hazards throughout the battle. In that same notion, switch Torkoal into hazard setters that do not threaten it such as Forretress and Jirachi in order to immediately remove hazards from the field. Keep Torkoal away from special attackers such as Tapu Koko and Latios, as they're able to do large damage to it, threatening to OHKO or 2HKO it. Switch in Torkoal against predicted passive Pokemon such as Toxapex in order to set Stealth Rock, utilize Rapid Spin, or threaten sleep with Yawn. Utilizing U-turn on Torkoal's teammates can be key to get Torkoal onto the field on predicted switches. Try to keep harsh sunlight up on the field as much as possible in order to maximize the damage output of Torkoal's teammates with their Fire-type attacks and to weaken Water-type attacks from foes. Prevent Torkoal from being poisoned, as it is easily whittled down due to its lack of reliable recovery. Utilize Yawn and Stealth Rock together by forcing your opponent to switch out their Pokemon continuously, forcing them to either take entry hazard damage or have one of their Pokemon fall asleep. Be wary of opposing Pokemon that may carry either Taunt or Substitute such as Gyarados, Zapdos, and Mew, as they will be able to prevent Torkoal from successfully utilizing Yawn.
Team Options
========
Torkoal is an amazing Pokemon for Fire-type teams due to its ability to compress roles between entry hazard remover and setter as well as a harsh sunlight setter. Heatran is a great teammate for Torkoal due to its neutrality to Rock-type attacks, which allows it to take on threatening Pokemon such as Nihilego. Torkoal running Stealth Rock also frees up Heatran to run additional coverage or utility moves such as Taunt. Victini greatly appreciates Torkoal's team support and is able to act as an even more powerful wallbreaker under harsh sunlight, allowing it to threaten Pokemon that can typically switch into a V-create from the Choice Scarf set such as Mega Latias after Stealth Rock or from the Choice Band set such as Swampert. Torkoal also acts as a great switch-in following Victini's U-turn to absorb physical attacks or threaten walls with Yawn. In the same vein as Victini, Infernape greatly appreciates Torkoal's support in boosting its Fire-type attacks, whittling down foes with Stealth Rock, and acting as a solid switch-in following U-turn. Mega Charizard X and Volcarona work in conjunction with Torkoal due to its ability to put foes to sleep with Yawn, which gives them ample opportunity to set up Dragon Dance and Quiver Dance. Volcanion provides a great Water immunity for Torkoal, being able to switch in to a plethora of Water-types. While harsh sunlight reduces the power of Volcanion's Steam Eruption, it boosts the power of its Fire Blast, which enables it to be a powerful special wallbreaker. With Drought support, Blacephalon also becomes a very powerful wallbreaker when using Fire-type attacks; it also appreciates the removal of hazards from the field due to its poor bulk. Mega Charizard Y provides a great Ground-type immunity for Torkoal and appreciates Stealth Rock being removed from the field. When combined, they form a great anti-rain and -sand core, being able to prevent opposing weather from staying on the field. This can be crucial against rain Water and sand Ground teams.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toxic can be run over Yawn to help Torkoal whittle down opposing walls that are not threatened by Torkoal otherwise, such as Porygon2 and Mantine.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Special Attackers**: Torkoal's low Special Defense leaves it vulnerable to most special attackers such as Landorus, Tapu Koko, and Kyurem-B, which threaten to OHKO it.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Keldeo, Greninja, and Seismitoad are largely unaffected by Torkoal, as they resist its only attacking option and threaten it with super effective coverage.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types such as Mega Sableye and Jellicent prevent Torkoal's main function by blocking Rapid Spin, leaving the team vulnerable to entry hazards.
**Dragon-types**: Common Dragon-types such as Latios, Kyurem-B, and Hydreigon resist Torkoal's only attack, leaving it only able to fish for burns with Lava Plume or utilize Yawn.
**Heatran**: Heatran is immune to Torkoal's only coverage move and can shut it down with Taunt, preventing it from being able to set Stealth Rock or utilize Yawn, and then set its own Stealth Rock or threaten Torkoal with Earth Power.
**Special Walls**: Special walls such as Zapdos and Chansey are able to recover any damage that Torkoal dishes out while slowly whittling down Torkoal due to its lack of recovery.
**Substitute and Taunt**: Taunt prevents Torkoal from being able to utilize Yawn, allowing common stallbreakers such as Mew to block sleep status and whittle Torkoal down. Common Substitute users such as Zapdos and Gyarados also take advantage of blocking Yawn to whittle down Torkoal or set up and sweep.
Fire
========
Torkoal is one of Fire's best utility Pokemon, compressing roles of entry hazard remover, hazard setter, status spreader, and weather setter due to its access to Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, Yawn, and Drought. Drought's harsh sunlight also allows many of Torkoal's teammates to act as powerful wallbreakers with Fire-type STAB attacks while minimizing damage taken from Water-type attacks. Torkoal's amazing Defense allows it to switch into many physical attacks such as Close Combat from Mega Gallade and Shadow Claw from Mimikyu; however, its low Special Defense prevents it from being effective against most special attackers. Its pure Fire typing leaves much to be desired defensively as well, being weak to common coverage types such as Ground, Rock, and Water. Torkoal's mediocre Special Attack stat and lack of coverage mean it has little to no offensive presence, especially against Pokemon that resist Fire. Its very low Speed leaves it outsped by nearly every commonly used Pokemon, including most defensive Pokemon. However, this can also be an advantage, as it allows Torkoal to set sun if it switches in at the same time as other common weather setters such as Pelipper, Alolan Ninetales, and Hippowdon. Its lack of recovery options prevents Torkoal from having any sort of sustainability, which puts pressure on it to stay alive in order to continuously remove hazards from the field while effectively performing its other roles at the same time. This makes it difficult for Torkoal to perform all of the roles it's compressing for the team. Torkoal is in competition with Rotom-H and Volcanion to act as a hazard remover; however, Torkoal's amazing role compression solidifies its spot on Fire.
[SET]
name: Entry Hazard Remover
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Lava Plume
move 4: Yawn
item: Heat Rock / Leftovers
ability: Drought
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Rapid Spin is necessary on Torkoal, as it enables it to remove troublesome entry hazards such as Stealth Rock from the field. Stealth Rock further strengthens its function as a support Pokemon to help whittle down opposing Pokemon as they switch in. Lava Plume is Torkoal's primary offensive attack, which threatens physical attackers with a 30% burn chance. Yawn threatens opposing switch-ins and setup sweepers due to its function of putting a foe to sleep after two turns.
Set Details
========
248 HP and 252 Defense EVs with a Bold nature help enable Torkoal to be as physically defensive as possible while minimizing the damage taken by Stealth Rock. Drought allows Torkoal to set harsh sunlight upon switching in, which boosts all Fire-type attacks and reduces all Water-type attacks' power by 50%. Heat Rock maximizes the number of turns that harsh sunlight remains on the field, prolonging the power boost for its teammates to utilize. Leftovers is an option over Heat Rock to give Torkoal some sustainability, allowing it to switch into entry hazards more frequently to remove them; however, you lose out on the additional harsh sunlight turns.
Usage Tips
========
Keep Torkoal as healthy as possible while an opposing entry hazard setter is still healthy, as it will need to have the ability to remove hazards throughout the battle. In that same notion, switch Torkoal into hazard setters that do not threaten it such as Forretress and Jirachi in order to immediately remove hazards from the field. Keep Torkoal away from special attackers such as Tapu Koko and Latios, as they're able to do large damage to it, threatening to OHKO or 2HKO it. Switch in Torkoal against predicted passive Pokemon such as Toxapex in order to set Stealth Rock, utilize Rapid Spin, or threaten sleep with Yawn. Utilizing U-turn on Torkoal's teammates can be key to get Torkoal onto the field on predicted switches. Try to keep harsh sunlight up on the field as much as possible in order to maximize the damage output of Torkoal's teammates with their Fire-type attacks and to weaken Water-type attacks from foes. Prevent Torkoal from being poisoned, as it is easily whittled down due to its lack of reliable recovery. Utilize Yawn and Stealth Rock together by forcing your opponent to switch out their Pokemon continuously, forcing them to either take entry hazard damage or have one of their Pokemon fall asleep. Be wary of opposing Pokemon that may carry either Taunt or Substitute such as Gyarados, Zapdos, and Mew, as they will be able to prevent Torkoal from successfully utilizing Yawn.
Team Options
========
Torkoal is an amazing Pokemon for Fire-type teams due to its ability to compress roles between entry hazard remover and setter as well as a harsh sunlight setter. Heatran is a great teammate for Torkoal due to its neutrality to Rock-type attacks, which allows it to take on threatening Pokemon such as Nihilego. Torkoal running Stealth Rock also frees up Heatran to run additional coverage or utility moves such as Taunt. Victini greatly appreciates Torkoal's team support and is able to act as an even more powerful wallbreaker under harsh sunlight, allowing it to threaten Pokemon that can typically switch into a V-create from the Choice Scarf set such as Mega Latias after Stealth Rock or from the Choice Band set such as Swampert. Torkoal also acts as a great switch-in following Victini's U-turn to absorb physical attacks or threaten walls with Yawn. In the same vein as Victini, Infernape greatly appreciates Torkoal's support in boosting its Fire-type attacks, whittling down foes with Stealth Rock, and acting as a solid switch-in following U-turn. Mega Charizard X and Volcarona work in conjunction with Torkoal due to its ability to put foes to sleep with Yawn, which gives them ample opportunity to set up Dragon Dance and Quiver Dance. Volcanion provides a great Water immunity for Torkoal, being able to switch in to a plethora of Water-types. While harsh sunlight reduces the power of Volcanion's Steam Eruption, it boosts the power of its Fire Blast, which enables it to be a powerful special wallbreaker. With Drought support, Blacephalon also becomes a very powerful wallbreaker when using Fire-type attacks; it also appreciates the removal of hazards from the field due to its poor bulk. Mega Charizard Y provides a great Ground-type immunity for Torkoal and appreciates Stealth Rock being removed from the field. When combined, they form a great anti-rain and -sand core, being able to prevent opposing weather from staying on the field. This can be crucial against rain Water and sand Ground teams.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toxic can be run over Yawn to help Torkoal whittle down opposing walls that are not threatened by Torkoal otherwise, such as Porygon2 and Mantine.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Special Attackers**: Torkoal's low Special Defense leaves it vulnerable to most special attackers such as Landorus, Tapu Koko, and Kyurem-B, which threaten to OHKO it.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Keldeo, Greninja, and Seismitoad are largely unaffected by Torkoal, as they resist its only attacking option and threaten it with super effective coverage.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types such as Mega Sableye and Jellicent prevent Torkoal's main function by blocking Rapid Spin, leaving the team vulnerable to entry hazards.
**Dragon-types**: Common Dragon-types such as Latios, Kyurem-B, and Hydreigon resist Torkoal's only attack, leaving it only able to fish for burns with Lava Plume or utilize Yawn.
**Heatran**: Heatran is immune to Torkoal's only coverage move and can shut it down with Taunt, preventing it from being able to set Stealth Rock or utilize Yawn, and then set its own Stealth Rock or threaten Torkoal with Earth Power.
**Special Walls**: Special walls such as Zapdos and Chansey are able to recover any damage that Torkoal dishes out while slowly whittling down Torkoal due to its lack of recovery.
**Substitute and Taunt**: Taunt prevents Torkoal from being able to utilize Yawn, allowing common stallbreakers such as Mew to block sleep status and whittle Torkoal down. Common Substitute users such as Zapdos and Gyarados also take advantage of blocking Yawn to whittle down Torkoal or set up and sweep.
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