[SET]
name: Offensive (Speed)
move 1: Steam Eruption
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 3: Defog / Earth Power
move 4: Sludge Bomb / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots / Choice Scarf
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Timid / Modest
ivs: 0 Atk
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Offensive Volcanion is a powerful and versatile attacker that has the tools to provide team support or circumvent its normal checks. Steam Eruption is a strong Water STAB attack that also has a high burn chance, which discourages foes that may try to take a hit and retaliate such as Rayquaza. Fire Blast hits Steel-type entry hazard setters like Skarmory and Necrozma-DM hard, as well as common Grass-types, namely Tangrowth and Rillaboom. Defog takes advantage of forced switches to clear entry hazards, and only a select few entry hazard setters, namely Seismitoad, can safely force Volcanion out. Earth Power hits Dialga, Heatran, and opposing Volcanion harder and can be used if there's another teammate with entry hazard removal. Sludge Bomb 2HKOes physically defensive Clefable and Tapu Fini, as well as potentially cripples switch-ins, in particular Gastrodon. Toxic is an alternative that pressures Gastrodon more but loses out on Clefable. Heavy-Duty Boots is the preferred item to help Volcanion switch in consistently, especially if it is the team's entry hazard remover. Choice Scarf allows it to pick off weakened threats, and its bulk allows it to take priority attacks such as Rayquaza's Extreme Speed and Yveltal's Sucker Punch. Timid is the preferred nature, especially on Choice Scarf variants, however Modest is an option on Heavy-Duty Boots set to make Volcanion hit harder.
Bulky offense builds benefit from Volcanion's defensive utility, its ability to remove entry hazards reliably, and its key Water immunity to prevent Kyogre from freely using Water Spout. Gods with a high Speed stat like Zamazenta-C and Mewtwo allow Volcanion to force more Pokemon like Tapu Koko out. Offensive wallbreakers that like to switch in multiple times enjoy Volcanion's Defog. For example, Nidoking, Rayquaza, and Victini are often forced out by faster revenge killers after getting a KO, especially the latter two when they get stat drops from using their powerful attacks. Physical threats such as Buzzwole and Kartana struggle against Skarmory and Ho-Oh, which Volcanion can deal with. For Beat Up teams, Volcanion can provide a special attacker without heavily reducing Beat Up's power. If Volcanion is paired with a slow god like Rayquaza, it's forced out by faster Pokemon, of which Zeraora and Zygarde-10% stand out. Tangrowth comfortably stomachs any hit from them and can cripple them with Stun Spore to help Volcanion. It can also deal with bulky Water-types that Volcanion can't do much to, such as Gastrodon and Slowbro. Other Ground- and Electric-type checks like Landorus-T and Rotom-W also make for great partners.
[SET]
name: SubToxic (Speed)
move 1: Steam Eruption
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Toxic
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Timid
ivs: 0 Atk
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
SubToxic Volcanion takes advantage of its common answers that rely on Toxic to beat it, especially Gastrodon and Vaporeon. Steam Eruption heavily damages common Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Heatran, and its high burn chance deters offensive switch-ins such as Rayquaza. Flamethrower targets Grass- and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory and is preferred over Fire Blast thanks to the much higher PP and perfect accuracy. Substitute blocks status moves, in particular Toxic, from various passive walls such as Necrozma-DM, Gastrodon without a Ground-type attack, Heatran, and Vaporeon. Toxic cripples said Gastrodon and Vaporeon and wears them down, eventually forcing them out. Leftovers is the item of choice to maximize the number of times Volcanion can set Substitute, while Heavy-Duty Boots lets Volcanion switch in more freely throughout the game if its team lacks reliable entry hazard control. If Volcanion does not need full Speed investment, slower spreads with 220 HP allow Substitute to take two Clear Smog from Gastrodon or two Magma Storm from defensive Heatran.
SubToxic Volcanion fits best on bulky offense teams that appreciate its ability to wear down Pokemon with shared checks. Tapu Koko and Kyogre like having opposing Gastrodon and Seismitoad weakened to clean up late game. Volcanion's vulnerability to all entry hazards means it needs teammates with strong hazard deterrence if it opts out of Heavy-Duty Boots. Landorus-T has Defog and can also check Ground- and Electric-types like Excadrill and Zeraora. On the other hand, Hatterene can block all entry hazards altogether with Magic Bounce. If run alongside a slow god such as Dialga, checks to faster offensive Pokemon like Rayquaza and Victini are required. Rotom-W can take their STAB attacks and pivot out to Volcanion on common switch-ins like Ferrothorn. Grass-types such as Ferrothorn and Tangrowth check the aforementioned Ground- and Electric-types and thus synergize well with Volcanion; Rillaboom is also a great teammate, as it provides Grassy Terrain support to help keep Volcanion healthy.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Sludge Wave hits slightly harder than Sludge Bomb and allows Volcanion to beat Kommo-O, but Sludge Bomb's high poison chance is preferred. Solar Beam coupled with Power Herb surprises Gastrodon and Seismitoad and can OHKO after some chip damage. Choice Specs is an option to increase Volcanion's damage output, however this is not preferred due to it being unable to deal with common bulky Water- and Dragon-types such as Gastrodon and Giratina.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-type Pokemon**: Bulky Water-types, namely Slowbro and Gastrodon, don't fear much from Volcanion barring a poison and can simply recover lost HP.
**Dragon-type Pokemon**: By virtue of resisting both STAB moves from Volcanion, Dragon-types can hit back hard or PP stall it out. Zekrom and Rayquaza fear a burn, but Volcanion can't beat them one-on-one, while Giratina can deplete Volcanion's low PP pool quickly with Pressure.
**Item Removal**: Volcanion depends on Heavy-Duty Boots as it's vulnerable to all entry hazards, so Trick and Knock Off from Galarian Slowking, Weavile, and Tangrowth limit its switch in opportunities.
**Faster Pokemon**: If Volcanion receives Speed from slow gods like Dialga and Rayquaza, then faster Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Zeraora and Zygarde-10% can revenge kill it.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[longhiep341, 500884]]
- Quality checked by: [[beauts, 484270], [UT, 523866]]
- Grammar checked by: [[UT, 523866]]
name: Offensive (Speed)
move 1: Steam Eruption
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 3: Defog / Earth Power
move 4: Sludge Bomb / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots / Choice Scarf
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Timid / Modest
ivs: 0 Atk
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Offensive Volcanion is a powerful and versatile attacker that has the tools to provide team support or circumvent its normal checks. Steam Eruption is a strong Water STAB attack that also has a high burn chance, which discourages foes that may try to take a hit and retaliate such as Rayquaza. Fire Blast hits Steel-type entry hazard setters like Skarmory and Necrozma-DM hard, as well as common Grass-types, namely Tangrowth and Rillaboom. Defog takes advantage of forced switches to clear entry hazards, and only a select few entry hazard setters, namely Seismitoad, can safely force Volcanion out. Earth Power hits Dialga, Heatran, and opposing Volcanion harder and can be used if there's another teammate with entry hazard removal. Sludge Bomb 2HKOes physically defensive Clefable and Tapu Fini, as well as potentially cripples switch-ins, in particular Gastrodon. Toxic is an alternative that pressures Gastrodon more but loses out on Clefable. Heavy-Duty Boots is the preferred item to help Volcanion switch in consistently, especially if it is the team's entry hazard remover. Choice Scarf allows it to pick off weakened threats, and its bulk allows it to take priority attacks such as Rayquaza's Extreme Speed and Yveltal's Sucker Punch. Timid is the preferred nature, especially on Choice Scarf variants, however Modest is an option on Heavy-Duty Boots set to make Volcanion hit harder.
Bulky offense builds benefit from Volcanion's defensive utility, its ability to remove entry hazards reliably, and its key Water immunity to prevent Kyogre from freely using Water Spout. Gods with a high Speed stat like Zamazenta-C and Mewtwo allow Volcanion to force more Pokemon like Tapu Koko out. Offensive wallbreakers that like to switch in multiple times enjoy Volcanion's Defog. For example, Nidoking, Rayquaza, and Victini are often forced out by faster revenge killers after getting a KO, especially the latter two when they get stat drops from using their powerful attacks. Physical threats such as Buzzwole and Kartana struggle against Skarmory and Ho-Oh, which Volcanion can deal with. For Beat Up teams, Volcanion can provide a special attacker without heavily reducing Beat Up's power. If Volcanion is paired with a slow god like Rayquaza, it's forced out by faster Pokemon, of which Zeraora and Zygarde-10% stand out. Tangrowth comfortably stomachs any hit from them and can cripple them with Stun Spore to help Volcanion. It can also deal with bulky Water-types that Volcanion can't do much to, such as Gastrodon and Slowbro. Other Ground- and Electric-type checks like Landorus-T and Rotom-W also make for great partners.
[SET]
name: SubToxic (Speed)
move 1: Steam Eruption
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Toxic
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Timid
ivs: 0 Atk
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
SubToxic Volcanion takes advantage of its common answers that rely on Toxic to beat it, especially Gastrodon and Vaporeon. Steam Eruption heavily damages common Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Heatran, and its high burn chance deters offensive switch-ins such as Rayquaza. Flamethrower targets Grass- and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory and is preferred over Fire Blast thanks to the much higher PP and perfect accuracy. Substitute blocks status moves, in particular Toxic, from various passive walls such as Necrozma-DM, Gastrodon without a Ground-type attack, Heatran, and Vaporeon. Toxic cripples said Gastrodon and Vaporeon and wears them down, eventually forcing them out. Leftovers is the item of choice to maximize the number of times Volcanion can set Substitute, while Heavy-Duty Boots lets Volcanion switch in more freely throughout the game if its team lacks reliable entry hazard control. If Volcanion does not need full Speed investment, slower spreads with 220 HP allow Substitute to take two Clear Smog from Gastrodon or two Magma Storm from defensive Heatran.
SubToxic Volcanion fits best on bulky offense teams that appreciate its ability to wear down Pokemon with shared checks. Tapu Koko and Kyogre like having opposing Gastrodon and Seismitoad weakened to clean up late game. Volcanion's vulnerability to all entry hazards means it needs teammates with strong hazard deterrence if it opts out of Heavy-Duty Boots. Landorus-T has Defog and can also check Ground- and Electric-types like Excadrill and Zeraora. On the other hand, Hatterene can block all entry hazards altogether with Magic Bounce. If run alongside a slow god such as Dialga, checks to faster offensive Pokemon like Rayquaza and Victini are required. Rotom-W can take their STAB attacks and pivot out to Volcanion on common switch-ins like Ferrothorn. Grass-types such as Ferrothorn and Tangrowth check the aforementioned Ground- and Electric-types and thus synergize well with Volcanion; Rillaboom is also a great teammate, as it provides Grassy Terrain support to help keep Volcanion healthy.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Sludge Wave hits slightly harder than Sludge Bomb and allows Volcanion to beat Kommo-O, but Sludge Bomb's high poison chance is preferred. Solar Beam coupled with Power Herb surprises Gastrodon and Seismitoad and can OHKO after some chip damage. Choice Specs is an option to increase Volcanion's damage output, however this is not preferred due to it being unable to deal with common bulky Water- and Dragon-types such as Gastrodon and Giratina.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-type Pokemon**: Bulky Water-types, namely Slowbro and Gastrodon, don't fear much from Volcanion barring a poison and can simply recover lost HP.
**Dragon-type Pokemon**: By virtue of resisting both STAB moves from Volcanion, Dragon-types can hit back hard or PP stall it out. Zekrom and Rayquaza fear a burn, but Volcanion can't beat them one-on-one, while Giratina can deplete Volcanion's low PP pool quickly with Pressure.
**Item Removal**: Volcanion depends on Heavy-Duty Boots as it's vulnerable to all entry hazards, so Trick and Knock Off from Galarian Slowking, Weavile, and Tangrowth limit its switch in opportunities.
**Faster Pokemon**: If Volcanion receives Speed from slow gods like Dialga and Rayquaza, then faster Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Zeraora and Zygarde-10% can revenge kill it.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[longhiep341, 500884]]
- Quality checked by: [[beauts, 484270], [UT, 523866]]
- Grammar checked by: [[UT, 523866]]
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