[OVERVIEW]
Volcarona makes its return from XY, more powerful than ever. Benefiting from a unique offensive typing and Quiver Dance for setup, Volcarona is a force to be reckoned with in the current metagame, capable of defeating common walls such as Cresselia and Celesteela. While this typing grants powerful STAB, it does add a crippling weakness to common offensive typings including Flying, Water, and a 4x weakness to rock. While powerful initially, Volcarona does require setup to fully perform, and has a rather awkward movepool which forces it to chose what it can and can't beat with coverage options.
Below is a sample set. This set is likely to be the standard, but it will be expanded upon and updated as the metagame progresses.
[SET] Special Sweeper
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower / Fiery Dance
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Ice
item: Focus Sash / Lum Berry / Firium-Z / Buginium-Z
ability: Flame Body
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Quiver Dance is the focus of this set, allowing Volcarona to sweep.
* Fire Blast is the primary STAB option, hitting much harder than Flamethrower but at the cost of accuracy. Flamethrower does miss out on some OHKO opportunities which Fire Blast however can have, such as Celesteela (68.8%) and Mega-Metagross (Guaranteed OHKO). Fiery Dance can be used over Flamethrower for an increased snowball effect.
* Bug Buzz is a STAB option which can hit through common Pokemon which abuse Substitute such as Mega-Gyarados and Suicine, while also providing a way of taking on Dragon-Types if you use Hidden Power Ground.
* Giga drain provides a minor form of recovery and hits both Tapu Fini and Azumarill which would otherwise wall Volcarona. Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, Alolan-Marowak and Blaziken which would usually wall Volcarona, while Hidden Power Ice hits Garchomp, Landorus and Mega-Salamence as well as Ground-types in general if you don't carry Giga Drain.
* Focus Sash ensures that Volcarona can setup at least one Quiver Dance, Lum Berry prevents Toxic from putting a timer on Volcarona and gives a free turn of setup, while also preventing Paralysis which is a huge momentum drainer for Volcarona. Firium-Z helps break bulky Pokemon such as Porygon2 while Buginium-Z at +1 can OHKO both Suicune and Rotom-W, while also providing utility vs Dragon-types.
* The EV spread suggested is optimal for a special sweeper. Timid is suggested granting maximum speed and the ability to outspeed Choice Scarf TApu Lele at +1. However, Modest can be used with Flamethrower for a more accurate and still powerful STAB option, although this does make you slower than Timid Porygon-z and Timid Landorus-T.
* While sporting some good resistances, poor physical bulk means that Volcarona appreciates a partner which can easily sponge up hits. Alternatively. A weakness to Flying and Rock suggests that a Landorus-T, Tyranitar and Mega-Salamence check or counter is needed. Volcarona is also completely walled by Rotom-H, and needs a teammate which can deal with it. Tapu Lele can also be used as a nice partner as Psychic Terrain makes Volcarona immune to pokemon carrying priority options such as Aqua Jet Azumarill and Quick Attack Mega-Pinsir.
* Flame Body is the preferred ability due to its potential ability to punish Pokemon using contact moves, however swarm can be used nicely with Focus Sash, being able to OHKO Tapu Lele and Garchomp at +1 with Bug Buzz when at 1/3 HP or less.
[SET] Choice Special Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast / Overheat
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Fiery Dance / Overheat / Giga Drain
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Flame Body
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
* Choice Scarf makes Volcarona an excellent revenge killer, able to outspeed prominent threats such as Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, +2 Adamant Shell Smash Adamant Cloyster, Tapu Koko and Mega-Metagross.
* Choice Specs turn Volcarona into a powerful special wallbreaker capable of breaking bulky threats such as Porygon2 and Cresselia.
* Fire Blast is the primary STAB option of choice, however overheat can be used for a higher initial damage output.
* Bug Buzz assists in getting through common substitute pokemon such as Suicune, while also able to break Cresselia and hit Dragon-types if using Hidden Power ground.
* Fiery Dance can be used in order to entice a snowball effect which can be difficult to stop, whilst Giga Drain is a source of recovery while preventing Volcarona getting walled by the likes of Tapu Fini and Azumarill.
* Hidden Power Ice is used to notably slam Landorus-T, Garchomp and Mega-Salamence while Hidden Power Ground can lure in and deal damage to common Flash Fire Pokemon such as Heatran and Chandelure.
* A Timid nature ensures that Choice Scarf Volcarona can outspeed Timid Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, however a Modest nature should be used with Choice Specs to maximise wallbreaking capacity. This does however place Volcarona slower than maximum speed Mega-Kangaskhan, Mimikyu, and Landorus-T.
* The EV spread given is optimal for a Choice set.
* Complete lack of physical bulk means that Volcarona needs a bulky partner to sponge physical hits. A fast revenge killer would also be appreciated to pick off threats which Volcarona has weakened.
Volcarona makes its return from XY, more powerful than ever. Benefiting from a unique offensive typing and Quiver Dance for setup, Volcarona is a force to be reckoned with in the current metagame, capable of defeating common walls such as Cresselia and Celesteela. While this typing grants powerful STAB, it does add a crippling weakness to common offensive typings including Flying, Water, and a 4x weakness to rock. While powerful initially, Volcarona does require setup to fully perform, and has a rather awkward movepool which forces it to chose what it can and can't beat with coverage options.
Below is a sample set. This set is likely to be the standard, but it will be expanded upon and updated as the metagame progresses.
[SET] Special Sweeper
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Fire Blast / Flamethrower / Fiery Dance
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Ice
item: Focus Sash / Lum Berry / Firium-Z / Buginium-Z
ability: Flame Body
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Quiver Dance is the focus of this set, allowing Volcarona to sweep.
* Fire Blast is the primary STAB option, hitting much harder than Flamethrower but at the cost of accuracy. Flamethrower does miss out on some OHKO opportunities which Fire Blast however can have, such as Celesteela (68.8%) and Mega-Metagross (Guaranteed OHKO). Fiery Dance can be used over Flamethrower for an increased snowball effect.
* Bug Buzz is a STAB option which can hit through common Pokemon which abuse Substitute such as Mega-Gyarados and Suicine, while also providing a way of taking on Dragon-Types if you use Hidden Power Ground.
* Giga drain provides a minor form of recovery and hits both Tapu Fini and Azumarill which would otherwise wall Volcarona. Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, Alolan-Marowak and Blaziken which would usually wall Volcarona, while Hidden Power Ice hits Garchomp, Landorus and Mega-Salamence as well as Ground-types in general if you don't carry Giga Drain.
* Focus Sash ensures that Volcarona can setup at least one Quiver Dance, Lum Berry prevents Toxic from putting a timer on Volcarona and gives a free turn of setup, while also preventing Paralysis which is a huge momentum drainer for Volcarona. Firium-Z helps break bulky Pokemon such as Porygon2 while Buginium-Z at +1 can OHKO both Suicune and Rotom-W, while also providing utility vs Dragon-types.
* The EV spread suggested is optimal for a special sweeper. Timid is suggested granting maximum speed and the ability to outspeed Choice Scarf TApu Lele at +1. However, Modest can be used with Flamethrower for a more accurate and still powerful STAB option, although this does make you slower than Timid Porygon-z and Timid Landorus-T.
* While sporting some good resistances, poor physical bulk means that Volcarona appreciates a partner which can easily sponge up hits. Alternatively. A weakness to Flying and Rock suggests that a Landorus-T, Tyranitar and Mega-Salamence check or counter is needed. Volcarona is also completely walled by Rotom-H, and needs a teammate which can deal with it. Tapu Lele can also be used as a nice partner as Psychic Terrain makes Volcarona immune to pokemon carrying priority options such as Aqua Jet Azumarill and Quick Attack Mega-Pinsir.
* Flame Body is the preferred ability due to its potential ability to punish Pokemon using contact moves, however swarm can be used nicely with Focus Sash, being able to OHKO Tapu Lele and Garchomp at +1 with Bug Buzz when at 1/3 HP or less.
[SET] Choice Special Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast / Overheat
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Fiery Dance / Overheat / Giga Drain
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Flame Body
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
* Choice Scarf makes Volcarona an excellent revenge killer, able to outspeed prominent threats such as Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, +2 Adamant Shell Smash Adamant Cloyster, Tapu Koko and Mega-Metagross.
* Choice Specs turn Volcarona into a powerful special wallbreaker capable of breaking bulky threats such as Porygon2 and Cresselia.
* Fire Blast is the primary STAB option of choice, however overheat can be used for a higher initial damage output.
* Bug Buzz assists in getting through common substitute pokemon such as Suicune, while also able to break Cresselia and hit Dragon-types if using Hidden Power ground.
* Fiery Dance can be used in order to entice a snowball effect which can be difficult to stop, whilst Giga Drain is a source of recovery while preventing Volcarona getting walled by the likes of Tapu Fini and Azumarill.
* Hidden Power Ice is used to notably slam Landorus-T, Garchomp and Mega-Salamence while Hidden Power Ground can lure in and deal damage to common Flash Fire Pokemon such as Heatran and Chandelure.
* A Timid nature ensures that Choice Scarf Volcarona can outspeed Timid Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, however a Modest nature should be used with Choice Specs to maximise wallbreaking capacity. This does however place Volcarona slower than maximum speed Mega-Kangaskhan, Mimikyu, and Landorus-T.
* The EV spread given is optimal for a Choice set.
* Complete lack of physical bulk means that Volcarona needs a bulky partner to sponge physical hits. A fast revenge killer would also be appreciated to pick off threats which Volcarona has weakened.
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