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Community POTW #079

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Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
Staff member
Admin
Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and this week we go back to Galar

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It's time for Coalossal

 

BillyBobJoe

Well-Known Member
I remember that one person used a Special Coalossal in an official tournament. Don’t remember the full set, but it involved Meteor Beam
 

Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Ever since Magcargo was introduced, people have been saying that Rock Fire is the worst type combo in the game. Two crippling 4x to common Ground and Water moves, as well as weaknesses to Rock and Fighting moves on top of vulnerability to all entry hazards. Coalossal has turned that on its head. Steam Engine, an ability unique to Coalossal enables it to instantly gain a +6 in speed when hit by a water or fire move. Even at Base 30, +6 in Speed is nuts. How nuts you may ask? Neutral Natured Coalossal only needs 168 in Speed to outspeed Timid Regieleki after a Steam Engine boost. Factor in Weakness Policy and you have one of the most imposing setup sweepers of the generation... in Doubles. In Singles... Steam Engine is too unreliable to activate. At least Coalossal bucks another trend and actually has decent Special Defense for an early game Rock type (that we don't need to trade for once!).

Runaway Train
Coalossal
Ability: Steam Engine
Item: Weakness Policy
-Protect
-Meteor Beam
-Heat Wave
-Solar Beam/Earth Power
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SATK / 168 SPE
Modest (+SATK, -ATK)

Setup sweeper in doubles. Have an ally use a weak Aqua Jet to trigger Steam Engine, and then run roughshod over the opposing team with the mother of all Shell Smashes. Meteor Beam ratchets Coalossal's SATK even higher and makes for a devastating special Max Rockfall. Heat Wave is a STAB spread move. Coverage is up to preference. Solar Beam rocks Ground and Water types that otherwise give Coalossal trouble, but requires Sun Support or Dynamax, while Earth Power wrecks Heatran.
 

Prince Amrod

Dragon Tamer
A small note based looely on tournament I watched, partnering Coalossal with a defensive Marill is possibly the least damaging way to activate weakness policy and steam engine. Bulky enough with eviolite that it can also help the team in other ways.
 

XaelOstigian

Competitive...kinda
Poor, poor, Coalossal. Despite possessing an excellent defensive stat spread of 110, 120, 90, it is cursed to having absolutely terrible defensive typing that leaves it with two 4x weaknesses. Honestly, Coalossal is best compared to Old King Coal from Banjo Tooie both in terms of physical appearance and role. Looks strong, sturdy, and intimidating, but is actually quite easy to take down if you know what you are doing.
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Had it been a pure Rock or FIre type it likely would have seen more use, but that's not to say this mobile volcano is entirely useless as it does possess a few nifty tools that many competitive Pokemon wished they had such as access to such as Rapid Spin and two of the four entry hazards, and the ability to run both its Dynamax and Gigantamax forms in competitive formats with the former being able to set up Sandstorm thus boosting its special defense, or the latter that chips away 1/6 of your opponent's health per turn. While not exactly a top tier threat by any means, Coalossal still makes due with it was given and can be viable when played correctly. Just stay away from grenade and ice eggs, or rather Ground and Water types.

Spins and Stones may break my Bones, by Coalossal will never hurt Me
Ability: Flame Body
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish (+Def -Sp.Att)
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (Sp.Def 4)

Moves:
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
Heat Crash
Body Press/Stone Edge/Spikes

Set Details:
A lead entry hazard setter that can remove your opponent's hazards in the process. Lay down Stealth Rocks so the rest of your team can reap the benefits of your opponent's constant swapping, and Rapid Spin boosts speed while helping to clear the field of your entry hazards your opponent may be trying to set up on their end. Heat Crash is your most reliable STAB option thanks to how freaking heavy this fire mountain is. Body Press takes advantage of your high defense stats and has good coverage alongside your Fire STAB, but Stone Edge is also a fairly reliable secondary STAB option that gives coverage to targets resistant to to Heat Crash. But if you really want to go all out with your entry hazards then you can opt to put on Spikes instead and really screw with your opponent's bad habit of switching. Invest in your defensive stats as much as you can so you stay in the fight long enough to lay down your entry hazards, and Leftovers helps improve your survivability. As for your ability, Flame Body is your best option since it can deter direct attackers and reward you with a burn when you are lucky, thus whittling away your opponent's health and nerfing their physical attack.

Volcanic Train
Ability: Flame Body/Steam Engine
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy
Nature: Jolly (+Speed -Sp.Att)
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Rock Polish
Heat Crash
Stone Edge
Earthquake/Body Press

Set Details:
A surprise physical sweeper for those not expecting Coalossal to go fast. Rock Polish shores up your speed to a more reliable tier, Heat Crash and Stone Edge form the crux of your offensive STAB combo, and Earthquake or Body Press helps fills the gaps in coverage with the former having a wider type coverage and the latter being able to take advantage of your high defense stat for better damage. Life Orb is your offensive tool to help give Coalossal that extra attack buff it needs, but Weakness Policy is also an option since the poor typing may present a unique opportunity to set up provided you survive the attack. Invest everything into speed and attack, then hope for the best. And you may also want to consider Steam Engine as your ability since if you come in on a Fire or Water attack (Preferably the former over the latter) you can instantly boost to +6 speed and proceed to flatten your opponent with the surprise agility.

Olympus (Poke)Mons
Ability: Flame Body/Steam Engine
Item: Power Herb
Nature: Timid (+Speed -Att)
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp.Att 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Rock Polish
Meteor Beam
Fire Blast
Scald/Earth Power

Set Details:
A special attack variant of the physical sweeper set. Boost your speed with Rock Polish again, but this time you'll be using Meteor Beam as your follow-up move. With the Power Herb as its held item, Meteor Beam will boost your special attack and then immediately fire off a powerful special attack with no time to waste. Keep in mind however that Meteor Beam cannot be used repeatedly without the one turn charge, so either plan accordingly, or use your Dyna/Gigantamax form to reliably fire off your Rock STAB (Which one is up to you since the special defense boost from setting up Sand or the 1/6 residual damage are both hard to pass up). Fire Blast now becomes your secondary STAB and carries more consistent power than the physical Heat Crash, and your new coverage options go to either Scald which can surprise Ground types and offer a chance at burn or you can go with Earth Power for wider all around coverage. Once again, put everything into speed and offense, and it is up to you whether you want to run Flame Body to deter physical attackers or gamble with Steam Engine if you anticipate a Fire or Water attack on the switch. Also, side note. Why in Arceus's name does Coalossal not learn Lava Plume!? It's a freaking volcano!

So overall, be sure to give Coalossal a fighting chance despite the poor typing. Failing that, it is still useful to have around for competitive players since its ability is Flame Body which helps cut your egg hatching time while breeding:
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Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Volcanic Train
Ability: Flame Body/Steam Engine
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy
Nature: Jolly (+Speed -Sp.Att)
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Rock Polish
Heat Crash
Stone Edge
Earthquake/Body Press
I am not sure if Rock Polish is worth it on Coalossal. When setting up with Agility/Rock Polish, generally you would want to outspeed everything short of Regieleki. However, Coalossal is still outsped by + Natured Base 108 Speed pokémon and Neutral Natured Base 130 Speed pokémon. I will admit that is still a good chunk of the game, but being able to outsped by most Choice Scarfers (Neutral Natured Base 66 and up) along with a plethoral of naturally fast Pokémon makes me think the effort is not worth it.

Coalossal is bulky enough that even uninvested it can still survive even Super Effective Priority is a plus however:

252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Coalossal: 276-328 (76.2 - 90.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Coalossal: 194-230 (53.5 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Toxicroak Vacuum Wave vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Coalossal: 283-335 (78.1 - 92.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

On an unrelated noted, I love the Old King Coal comparison and wish I noticed that first
 
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