Aaronboyer
Something Worth Fighting For
[OVERVIEW]
Voltorb carves a niche for itself by being the absolute fastest Pokemon in the tier with its blazing base 100 Speed, and a plethora of utility options such as Rain Dance, Light Screen, Taunt, and Explosion differentiate it from other fast Electric-types such as Pikachu and Plusle. However, because rain hyper offense is an uncommon team archetype, the utility Voltorb brings to the table generally isn't worth it. Voltorb suffers from being outclassed by the aforementioned Electric-types due to its extreme frailty and relative lack of power.
[SET]
name: Suicide Rain Lead
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Thunder
move 3: Light Screen / Taunt
move 4: Explosion
item: Silk Scarf
ability: Static
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Rain Dance provides utility for full rain teams by setting up their chosen weather. Thunder is Voltorb's strongest STAB attack and makes use of Rain Dance to ensure its perfect accuracy and nails opposing Water- and Flying-types such as Dewgong and Pidgeot. Light Screen is yet another utility move in Voltorb's arsenal that improves the matchup against certain opposing leads such as Glalie and Magby. Taunt stops common opposing leads such as Glalie and Venomoth from using Spikes and Sleep Powder, respectively. Explosion allows Voltorb to conserve precious turns of rain so a Swift Swim teammate such as Huntail can attempt to sweep.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
Maximum Speed EVs allow Voltorb to outspeed the entire metagame, while maximum Attack EVs enable the strongest Explosion possible. Because Voltorb also has Thunder and acts as a suicide lead, running a Naive nature is more optimal than running a Jolly one. Static is fairly situational, but it is infinitely more useful than Soundproof and can potentially paralyze an opposing lead to potentially generate free turns once a Swift Swim user such as Huntail comes in. Silk Scarf increases the power of Voltorb's Explosion, severely denting opposing leads such as Glalie and Hitmonchan. Offensive Pokemon that have access to Swift Swim such as Huntail, Relicanth, and Seaking are mandatory teammates for Voltorb, as they need rain being up to function and sweep. While opposing Sunny Day users such as Bellossom and Tangela are extremely threatening for rain teams and can easily survive Voltorb's Explosion, Voltorb can use Taunt to prevent them from setting up Sunny Day and countersweeping the turn it uses Explosion.
[Other Options]
Leftovers promotes Voltorb's longevity, but longevity isn't necessary for a suicide lead such as Voltorb, and Silk Scarf is important to boost its Explosion. Magnet is another, more offensive item option that boosts Voltorb's Thunder. Again, though, Voltorb's primary purpose is setting up Rain Dance and getting off the field, and it would miss the power boost to Explosion greatly. Hidden Power Water makes use of the rain. Hidden Power Grass nails Whiscash but doesn't really hit much else. Lead Whiscash is also extremely uncommon, and even if Whiscash tries to switch into Voltorb, Voltorb can just use Explosion the following turn. Thunderbolt has a more reliable accuracy than Thunder outside of rain, but because Voltorb's primary function is to set up rain, Thunder is more often than not a better option. Thunder Wave is another utility option that generates free turns for Voltorb's teammates similarly to its Static ability. However, Voltorb usually doesn't have room in its moveslot to use it.
[Checks and Counters]
Because Voltorb is faster than every other Pokemon and is bulky enough to take the strongest priority move in the metagame, an Adamant Choice Band-boosted STAB Mach Punch from Hitmonchan, it is absolutely guaranteed to set up Rain Dance when used in the lead position and by extension has no true counters. However, Voltorb communicates strongly that the opponent is facing full rain offense, which in itself is a weakness to using Voltorb, as the element of surprise is completely lost. Ghost-types such as Haunter and Sableye can even immediately switch into Voltorb turn 2 to absorb its Explosion. Furthermore, several Pokemon can check the team archetype of full rain. Opposing Huntail may win the Speed tie and countersweep Voltorb's team, RestTalk Dewgong checks Huntail and Seaking, Bellossom can eat an Ice Beam in a pinch and countersweep with Sunny Day, and Tangela sets up on Relicanth and similarly countersweeps with Sunny Day.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [Aaronboyer, 239454]
- Quality checked by: [[Oglemi, 40358], [Hogg, 228003]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [FireFlame479, 231476]]
Voltorb carves a niche for itself by being the absolute fastest Pokemon in the tier with its blazing base 100 Speed, and a plethora of utility options such as Rain Dance, Light Screen, Taunt, and Explosion differentiate it from other fast Electric-types such as Pikachu and Plusle. However, because rain hyper offense is an uncommon team archetype, the utility Voltorb brings to the table generally isn't worth it. Voltorb suffers from being outclassed by the aforementioned Electric-types due to its extreme frailty and relative lack of power.
[SET]
name: Suicide Rain Lead
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Thunder
move 3: Light Screen / Taunt
move 4: Explosion
item: Silk Scarf
ability: Static
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Rain Dance provides utility for full rain teams by setting up their chosen weather. Thunder is Voltorb's strongest STAB attack and makes use of Rain Dance to ensure its perfect accuracy and nails opposing Water- and Flying-types such as Dewgong and Pidgeot. Light Screen is yet another utility move in Voltorb's arsenal that improves the matchup against certain opposing leads such as Glalie and Magby. Taunt stops common opposing leads such as Glalie and Venomoth from using Spikes and Sleep Powder, respectively. Explosion allows Voltorb to conserve precious turns of rain so a Swift Swim teammate such as Huntail can attempt to sweep.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
Maximum Speed EVs allow Voltorb to outspeed the entire metagame, while maximum Attack EVs enable the strongest Explosion possible. Because Voltorb also has Thunder and acts as a suicide lead, running a Naive nature is more optimal than running a Jolly one. Static is fairly situational, but it is infinitely more useful than Soundproof and can potentially paralyze an opposing lead to potentially generate free turns once a Swift Swim user such as Huntail comes in. Silk Scarf increases the power of Voltorb's Explosion, severely denting opposing leads such as Glalie and Hitmonchan. Offensive Pokemon that have access to Swift Swim such as Huntail, Relicanth, and Seaking are mandatory teammates for Voltorb, as they need rain being up to function and sweep. While opposing Sunny Day users such as Bellossom and Tangela are extremely threatening for rain teams and can easily survive Voltorb's Explosion, Voltorb can use Taunt to prevent them from setting up Sunny Day and countersweeping the turn it uses Explosion.
[Other Options]
Leftovers promotes Voltorb's longevity, but longevity isn't necessary for a suicide lead such as Voltorb, and Silk Scarf is important to boost its Explosion. Magnet is another, more offensive item option that boosts Voltorb's Thunder. Again, though, Voltorb's primary purpose is setting up Rain Dance and getting off the field, and it would miss the power boost to Explosion greatly. Hidden Power Water makes use of the rain. Hidden Power Grass nails Whiscash but doesn't really hit much else. Lead Whiscash is also extremely uncommon, and even if Whiscash tries to switch into Voltorb, Voltorb can just use Explosion the following turn. Thunderbolt has a more reliable accuracy than Thunder outside of rain, but because Voltorb's primary function is to set up rain, Thunder is more often than not a better option. Thunder Wave is another utility option that generates free turns for Voltorb's teammates similarly to its Static ability. However, Voltorb usually doesn't have room in its moveslot to use it.
[Checks and Counters]
Because Voltorb is faster than every other Pokemon and is bulky enough to take the strongest priority move in the metagame, an Adamant Choice Band-boosted STAB Mach Punch from Hitmonchan, it is absolutely guaranteed to set up Rain Dance when used in the lead position and by extension has no true counters. However, Voltorb communicates strongly that the opponent is facing full rain offense, which in itself is a weakness to using Voltorb, as the element of surprise is completely lost. Ghost-types such as Haunter and Sableye can even immediately switch into Voltorb turn 2 to absorb its Explosion. Furthermore, several Pokemon can check the team archetype of full rain. Opposing Huntail may win the Speed tie and countersweep Voltorb's team, RestTalk Dewgong checks Huntail and Seaking, Bellossom can eat an Ice Beam in a pinch and countersweep with Sunny Day, and Tangela sets up on Relicanth and similarly countersweeps with Sunny Day.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [Aaronboyer, 239454]
- Quality checked by: [[Oglemi, 40358], [Hogg, 228003]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [FireFlame479, 231476]]
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