Community POTW #24 - Special #1

[Chocolatepie2]

It looks like every set features STAB exclusive move, HP, Thunder/bolt, and filler.

That's because that's why rotom is so good. But not every set runs that, look at the SubCharge set, or the ring target set.

 

[CloudVII]

I quoted the ring set saying it was worth mentioning. But still, I was just stating that aside from a few, every set is essentially the same.

 

[Zachmac]

For heat, mow, and frost rotom, HP secondary STAB is noteworthy due to better accuracy/no recoil.

Just saying that's an option.

 

[PMSandStormSBBZ]

For heat, mow, and frost rotom, HP secondary STAB is noteworthy due to better accuracy/no recoil.

Just saying that's an option.

True, but there are so many other good choices with Hidden Power. Like [Ice] for Mow / Heat Rotom to hit those pesky Dragons who love switching into their STABs. Besides, Rotom-H and Rotom-C are normally hit-and-run attackers. As for Rotom-F... it wasn't called a hail team staple for NOTHING, you know.

 

[redlongmagnet]

Tr0ll:

Rotom-F
Trait:Levitate
Item:Air Balloon
Evs:128 HP, 252 SPatk, 128 Spe
Moves:
~Discharge
~Air Slash
~T-Wave/WoW
~HP Ice/ Ground

I made his ability and typing more useless by adding a balloon!
I have totally used this before and it works, it just doesn't get Lefties recovery.
Also you could run pain split or toxic.

 

[Kraleck]

We've seen a bunch of offensive sets, but let's analyze a Status option...

Title: Rotom 'Status Form'
Form: Ghost
Item: Flame Orb or Toxic Orb
Moves: Trick, Toxic/Will-o-Wisp, Discharge, Shadow Ball (Singles) or Hex (Doubles/Triples/Rotation).

Basically you'll be using non-appliance Rotom for annoyance. Trick away an opponent's key item while giving them something nasty. For Moves and Items, Toxic with Flame Orb and Will-o-Wisp with Toxic Orb.

Hex VS Shadow Ball Debate
Yes, you could get 160 Base Power with 2 uses of Shadow Ball, but you could also run into a Normal Type on a Switch or get a Me First-Shadow Ball in the face without a Status on yourself. Taking a Base 50 Hex or a Base 80 Shadow Ball from Me First? I'll take the former, thank you very much. That's part of why Hex is so popular on Rotom.

However, Synchronize Ability screws you over with your own Status Effect usage, Pressure limits Hex to 5 uses, and Shadow Ball is more reliable on Power and PP within 2 Turns, with or without Status Effects. Shadow Ball is that much more useful because of that.

Over time, Hex goes to 200 over 3 uses and 300 over 4 uses. Shadow Ball gets 240 after 3 uses and 320 over 4 uses. By those numbers, you'll need to use Hex 6 times to get more Power-Over-Time than Shadow Ball. It doesn't account for Accumulated, Trap, Burn, or Poison Damage, but it still shows Hex's "Acceleration VS Speed" in Damage terms.

On the Hex side of things, Double and Triple Battles allow you to get a Base 100 Hex with a single turn. That and Levitate give Rotom quite a standing in Doubles/Triples. Shadow Ball can stay with Sweepers there.

 

[PMSandStormSBBZ]

We've seen a bunch of offensive sets, but let's analyze a Status option...

Title: Rotom 'Status Form'
Form: Ghost
Item: Flame Orb or Toxic Orb
Moves: Trick, Toxic/Will-o-Wisp, Discharge, Shadow Ball (Singles) or Hex (Doubles/Triples/Rotation).

Basically you'll be using non-appliance Rotom for annoyance. Trick away an opponent's key item while giving them something nasty. For Moves and Items, Toxic with Flame Orb and Will-o-Wisp with Toxic Orb.

Hex VS Shadow Ball Debate
Yes, you could get 160 Base Power with 2 uses of Shadow Ball, but you could also run into a Normal Type on a Switch or get a Me First-Shadow Ball in the face without a Status on yourself. Taking a Base 50 Hex or a Base 80 Shadow Ball from Me First? I'll take the former, thank you very much. That's part of why Hex is so popular on Rotom.

However, Synchronize Ability screws you over with your own Status Effect usage, Pressure limits Hex to 5 uses, and Shadow Ball is more reliable on Power and PP within 2 Turns, with or without Status Effects. Shadow Ball is that much more useful because of that.

Over time, Hex goes to 200 over 3 uses and 300 over 4 uses. Shadow Ball gets 240 after 3 uses and 320 over 4 uses. By those numbers, you'll need to use Hex 6 times to get more Power-Over-Time than Shadow Ball. It doesn't account for Accumulated, Trap, Burn, or Poison Damage, but it still shows Hex's "Acceleration VS Speed" in Damage terms.

On the Hex side of things, Double and Triple Battles allow you to get a Base 100 Hex with a single turn. That and Levitate give Rotom quite a standing in Doubles/Triples. Shadow Ball can stay with Sweepers there.

Hmm... Me First? That's almost never used in competitive battles. And besides, Rotom-A does a great job of spreading paralysis, so Hex could still work.

Other than that, I'm sure I'll see Shadow Ball on sweeper sets and Hex on status spreader sets.

 

[Zachmac]

Hm..."status form" sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure if I like your set.

Rotom Wash
Timid or Bold/252HP/252sp.def, Sp.attack, or speed.
-Thunder Wave
-Will-o-Wisp
-Toxic/Confuse Ray/Pain Split
-Volt Change

The trick is to cripple a pokemon that would otherwise but a dent in your team. You could stick with maximum speed to spread it quickly, or maximum defense to take some hits and cripple more pokemon. Thunderwave minimizes the enemy's speed, so I'd stick with defense, though speed is still an option. Will-o-Wisp will split the enemy's attack in half, which a Chansy or some other special wall would love. Toxic does more damage every turn, but seeing as most stallers have it already, confuse ray could work for some parafusion. Pain split will help it recover from damage taken before. Volt Change is to do damage while swapping at at the same time.

It's form was chosen for the best defensive typing it gets.

 

[Kindrindra]

I've found the following two to be great.


Rotom Spin w/ Lefties
Bold Nature, 252HP, 158Def, 100SpDef
Thunder Wave
Confuse Ray
Air Slash
Hex/Discharge/Volt Switch/Pain Split

This set is great fun to use. Typically you want to lead off with T-Wave, then use Confuse Ray, as dropping their speed with Paralysis will almost always allow you to get off Confuse Ray before they can attack again. Air Slash is for Parafusion Flinching, obviously. Hex is an interesting option for hitting opponents hard after you've statused them. Discharge has note for being alterior STAB, and for the ability to paralyze Magic Bounce/Coat users. Volt Switch can be used if you want to take advantage of your target's addled status to have something scary stat up on them, or just to scout. Pain Split is recovery, duh.



The other is this one which incorporates a strategy that once surprised me in Random Matchup.

Rotom Heat
Timid/Modest nature, 252 Speed, 252 SpAtk, 6 Def
Overheat
Volt Switch
Thunderbolt
HP Ice/Will-o-Wisp/T-Wave/Pain Split/YAYFILLER

Overheat deals massive damage, yet lowers your SpAtk by two stages. You can rectify this by switching out with Volt Switch. Those two moves are the Crux of the set. T-Bolt is for when you want to go on the offensive with electric, as it's a huge 25pwr stronger than Volt Switch, doesn't force you to switch, and is more reliable than Overheat. The last move... Well, HP Ice gives you stupidly good coverage, nabbing dragons and Rocky Grounds that would otherwise laugh in your face. Will-o-Wisp and T-Wave have surprisingly good value, as you could cripple a pokemon your opponent brought in after Overheat, hoping to be able to set up or some such as they take a weak -2 Volt Switch. Pain Split is recovery, if you want it.

The second one could also be used on Mow forme, with Leaf Storm instead of Overheat.

 

[WeatherEffectRain]

*Walks in*

I hadn't noticed a week had passed. Well, I'll just post a set then. Hopefully with OK results. I've never used a Rotom, so I've got no clue.

Dual Screens?
Form: Mow Rotom
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP, 132 SDef, 124 Def
-Leaf Storm
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Volt Switch

Might be able to pull it off. I chose Mow Rotom for no reason except he has the psychotic look on his face, so you could do this with Wash Rotom or Heat Rotom probably equally or better. Now, to the set; Lefties heal, Bold raises Defence, EVs for defences, Reflect and Light Screen for Defending, Leaf Storm and Volt Switch for Offence and getaway. Just whatever now.

 

[Kraleck]

Hmm... Me First? That's almost never used in competitive battles. And besides, Rotom-A does a great job of spreading paralysis, so Hex could still work.

Other than that, I'm sure I'll see Shadow Ball on sweeper sets and Hex on status spreader sets.

Very true about Me First, but it does have a few users behind it (like Mienshao or Xatu) that can cause an upset (or two) due to Speed and a usable Sp.Atk. Can be very hectic for Ghost Types if you aren't careful and/or your opponent is unorthodox to the point of confusion on your part.

I agree with the Rotom-A statement, but I wanted to do something with more status support than offense and still have both STABs. Plus, you still have to deal with Limber Pokemon (like Hitmonlee) and fast(-ish) Ground Types (like Mold Breaker Excadrill) without the aid of Electric Moves' Paralysis.

 

[PMSandStormSBBZ]

Very true about Me First, but it does have a few users behind it (like Mienshao or Xatu) that can cause an upset (or two) due to Speed and a usable Sp.Atk. Can be very hectic for Ghost Types if you aren't careful and/or your opponent is unorthodox to the point of confusion on your part.

I agree with the Rotom-A statement, but I wanted to do something with more status support than offense and still have both STABs. Plus, you still have to deal with Limber Pokemon (like Hitmonlee) and fast(-ish) Ground Types (like Mold Breaker Excadrill) without the aid of Electric Moves' Paralysis.

Whoops, I forgot to say that Rotom-A is also very good at spreading burns. So a set of Discharge / Will-o' wisp / Filler / Filler with Modest with 252 SAtk / 168 Def / 88 SDef could try to play as a tank... to an extent.

 

[PMSandStormSBBZ]

*Walks in*

I hadn't noticed a week had passed. Well, I'll just post a set then. Hopefully with OK results. I've never used a Rotom, so I've got no clue.

Dual Screens?
Form: Mow Rotom
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP, 132 SDef, 124 Def
-Leaf Storm
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Volt Switch

Might be able to pull it off. I chose Mow Rotom for no reason except he has the psychotic look on his face, so you could do this with Wash Rotom or Heat Rotom probably equally or better. Now, to the set; Lefties heal, Bold raises Defence, EVs for defences, Reflect and Light Screen for Defending, Leaf Storm and Volt Switch for Offence and getaway. Just whatever now.

I'm sure that when it comes to dual screening, there is no Rotom-A form that is better than Rotom-W when it all comes down to dual screening. With only one weakness to Grass (2x compared to Swampert's 4x weakness to Grass) that's easily to play around with by slapping Choice Band Scizor on your team. And besides; Magnezone may have more resistances, but Rotom-W has a Ground immunity and a lone weakness to Grass, it has it's perks over other Rotom-A and Magnezone.

 

[JolteonisUber]

Even with HP [ice], Rotom-W can't do much to Haxorus as he outspeeds it to earthquake it to a OHKO, thanks to his Mold Breaker. The same applies to Rotom-H. Oh and I think Jolteon can also counter Rotom-W, especially those with Rain Dance since it can Thunder for a 2HKO. He is also immune to Electric so it can't just Volt Switch. Just watch out for Hydro Pump. Another one for Rotom-H, Lanturn. He can faint it through surfs and resists everything except ghost and HP.

Basically, the counter for the rotoms is to resist it's STABS and hit back hard.

Paralyze abuser@Wise Glasses
252 SpA, 252 Speed
Timid (+Speed, -Atk), Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Electro Ball
Thunder Wave
Hex
HP [Grass]

Thunder Wave to cripple opponents and lower it's speed.
Electro Ball to hit for increased power since your lowering the opponents speed with Thunder Wave.
Hex to hit for 150 base power counting STAB after you paralyzed your opponent.
I put HP [Grass] to hit ground types and Lanturn since they are immune to Thunder Wave, but feel free to put HP [Ice] instead.

 

[WeatherEffectRain]

Well I did say I just chose Mowtom because he looks like a psycho.

Also, I run Me First on my Mewtwo in Ubers, Palkia doesn't like Spacial Rend coming to him. *Example*

And, uh... I said nothing about Magnezone. Was it an example? I didn't catch it if it was...

 

[PMSandStormSBBZ]

Well I did say I just chose Mowtom because he looks like a psycho.

Also, I run Me First on my Mewtwo in Ubers, Palkia doesn't like Spacial Rend coming to him. *Example*

And, uh... I said nothing about Magnezone. Was it an example? I didn't catch it if it was...

Oh, I'm sorry, Magnezone was actually a guy who could replace Rotom-A from the dual screens slot. Forgot to mention that.

On a completely unrelated note, Garchomp is now banned from OU again (according to Smogon), so I guess Rotom-A will never fear a swift Outrage or Stone Edge from Garchomp. On the other hand, Latios is not banned from OU (again, from Smogon)... yet. A Timid Latios's +1 Life Orb Dragon Pulse can 2HKO max HP / max SDef Rotom-A, so Latios has to be included as a check to Rotom-A (not as a direct counter, as 246 SAtk (0 SAtk EVs with a 31 IV) Rotom-F can OHKO Life Orb Latios with no investment in defenses).