Honus
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[Genny Approved]
While U-Turn teams were popular before, many of the Pokemon that used U-Turn shared common counters and were almost exclusively physical. With the advent of the 5th Generation, Rotom-W had become an Electric/Water type and an Electric Type variant of the move U-Turn, known as Volt Switch was created. Scizor and Rotom-W cover each other's weaknesses exceptionally well and one handles special walls while the other handles most physical walls. This combination has seemingly been a staple on most 5th Generation offensive teams, given the usage stats of the 2 Pokemon and the amount of teams on ladder that carry this ferocious combo. The pure offensive synergy between the two Pokemon makes Volt Turning chains almost unstoppable and forces your opponent to play extremely smart in order to stop it, either that or run a certain strategy that can beat both Scizor and Rotom-W completely. In addition to that, many other Pokemon, such as Mienshao, Landorus, Hydreigon and even Celebi are also found on these teams to add even more offensive synergy to the Volt Turn chains.
So, how do you defeat this fearsome combo?
A few discussion questions about Volt Turning Offense in today's metagame:
- What are your thoughts on this type of offense, have you ever used it, do you mind playing against it?
- Is it healthy for the metagame? If so, why, if not, why not?
- Do you have any other ways to beat it, other than the ones listed in the OP, and how much do you consider this core when building a team [as both an option for your own team and a threat that must be accounted for]?
- How commonly do you find these types of teams on the ladder?
- When making an offensive team that utilizes this strategy, what Pokemon do you add to your U-Turn Chains, anything unique that you've found to be effective?
- How much of a necessity is it to clear the field of entry hazards when running one of these teams? Is victory still possible with the majority of the chain's members taking 12.5% of their HP from Stealth Rock and possibly more from Spikes?