" Once you enter my line of sight, I shall send you strait into oblivion. "
-Armored D.Volcaronna.
Hi guys, girls, space-shattering-moth and anything in-between! Here, I am starting a project. Its basically Smogon-like analysis about insurgence metagames. Not only deltas, but also “official” Pokémon. I know people already done things like this before, but yeah, its before. I never saw something past 1.2.3 and many things has changed since.
Be warned, since there is no competitive usage stats avaliable, I do not have any reliable ways to accurately predict the metagame. This analysis is theoretical and does not entirely reflect a Pokémon’s viability.
Today, we are talking about a big one: Armored D.Volcaronna. Most people says he is S+ tier in Insurgence OU. And they are right. I think it is the most polarizing Pokémon in the metagame as much as Primal Groudon in Ubers. Why? Let’s begin, shall we?
EDIT: Hum… Hey, its future PH74 talking here. Hum, so, after doing this series for longer, I realized how incredibly DUMB I am. Shure, D.Volcarona don’t have many switch-In thanks to its dual STAB in Corrodes and Dark Pulse hitting almost anything neutrally and having a godlike movepool, but I think I was biased from how good I saw its lack of weakness and I haven’t really noticed it don’t have much good resistances. I also highly overestimated its physical bulk, as uninvested 85/85 is not really good.
Typing, Stats, Abilities & Movepool
Dark/Poison
Ability: Levitate
Hp: 85
Atk: 60
Def: 85
SpA: 135
SpD: 137
Spe: 100
When equipped with his armour, he become a beast. With a bulk of 85/85/137, he is a good special wall even uninvested. 100 Speed and 135 SpA isn’t bad either! He gets the jump on key Pokémon such as Landorus-T and speed tie with Mega Gardevoir and the 3 Charizards.
However, his best advantage is its typing and ability. Dark/Poison is good defensively, having only a sole weakness in ground. it also gives him a Toxic Immunity, extremely useful on defensive and supportive sets. But then, he levitates and turn a glaring weakness into immunity. O. EME. GEE. He virtually has no weakness against anything that doesn’t use Gravity or that has Mold Breaker. That also give him immunity to Spikes and the rarer Permafrost and Livewire.
On the defensive and support side, he has what he wants. Toxic, reliable recovery on Roost, Wirlwind, Infestation, Defog, Toxic Spikes, Taunt, Pursuit, U-Turn and Wildfire. These are attributes other Pokémon would kill for. But thats not all! he also have priceless offensives options in Spacial Rend, Aura Sphere, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Sludge Wave, Corrodes, Dark Pulse, Dazzling Gleam, Surf, Earth Power, Lunar Canon, Flash Canon, Signal Beam, Giga Drain, Knock Off, Venonshock, Energy Ball, Psychic, Hyperspace Hole, Blizzard, Explosion and Hurricane. Heh, not too shabby?
Heck! He is also wonderfull in double with access to Tailwind and Protect!
Sets suggestions
Given its previously mentioned attributes, he is both usable offensively and defensively. Here are some set examples. This doesn’t, cover all his potential sets as we would require a whole page to list them all but here are the generals. It is very customizable and can be adjusted in almost any way possible for your team.
DEFOGGER
Delta Volcaronna @ D.Volcaronna Armor
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold/Impish Nature
-Defog
-Knock Off/Corrodes
-Roost
-Taunt/Wildfire/Wirlwind/Toxic
This one is a fully supportive set utilizing Knock Off. Moves are pretty straightforward. The 4th moveslot of a choice if you want him better matchup against Hazards setter and defensive Pokémon, Burn the opponent and further increase bulk, make him a phazer or some good old Toxic.
TOXIC SPIKES SUPPORT
Delta Volcaronna @ D.Volcaronna Armor
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Carefull Nature
-Toxic Spikes
-Knock Off/Earth Power
-Roost
-Toxic
While looking like the Defog Set, it is quite different in usage. Are put in Special Defence to better handle defoggers and hazards control method in Latios, Latias and Zapdos. Earth Power is used to smack Mega Diancie and Heatran that think they are safe.
OFFFENSIVE
Delta Volcaronna @ D.Volcaronna Armor
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Corrodes
-Dark Pulse
-Earth Power
-Toxic Spikes/Roost
This set is by far the most intuitive and the most versatile. Corrodes and Dark Pulse are really good STABs to begin with, The third and fourth moveslot really depends on your team. I chose Earth Power because ic cover a lof of Pokémon that can take D.Volcarona’s attack and Toxic Spikes to get a great matchup against bulkyer teams. Thunderbolt, Spacial Rend, Dazzling Gleam, Surf, Giga Drain, Taunt, Knock Off, Roost, Flash Canon, Psychic and Energy Ball are all viable alternatives. Anything could be mixed together and it won’t only work, it would be GOOD.
STALLBREAKER
Delta Volcaronna @ D.Volcaronna Armor
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp / 186 SpA / 72 Spe
Timid Nature
-Taunt
-Roost
-Toxic
-Dark Pulse / Corrode
This one is more about bypassing defensive check in Chansey and the gang with Toxic, healing their weak attacks and preventing their recovery. 72 Speed allows to outspeed Max Speed Timid Heatran, but more speed can be used to outspeed other defensive treats.
Other options
U-Turn generates momentum on almost any set and is generally good anywhere, but the Four Moveslot Syndrom hinder him a little sometimes. Both Defog and T-Spikes could be run on the same set of role compression is importent for your team. Offensive Defog also works very well. Pursuit, while using its weaker attack, allow to trap Gengar and Ground locked Choice Scarf/Band.
Good teammates
- Amoonguss makes a good teammate as it draw Psychic-Types attacks. As a return, they both form a defensive core almost impossible for Keldeo to break. EDIT: Hum… Hey, its future PH74 talking here. You see, this is one of the thing I’ve got totally wrong. Keldeo has enough power to meld through Delta Volcarona easily with Secret Swords, especially Choice Specs.
- Hazards Weak Pokémon appreciate the Defog support it can provide. Such example includes Mega Typhlosion, Mega Charizard X and Y for Stealth Rocks and Heatran, Ferrothorn for Spikes and Volcaronna for pretty much all of them.
- Sweepers and Walbreakers that appreciate the foe to be poisoned and worn down greatly appreciate defensive Pokémon to be worn down are great teammates for the T-Spikes variants.
- Landorus-T can provide intimidate support, form a Volt-Turn core and revenge kill threats like Mega Gyarados, Mega Metagross and Excadrill outside Sand that can be overwhelming for A.D.Vocaronna.
- Dragonite and Delta Arcanine appreciate Fairy to be checked and defog support to keep his Multiscale intact.
- Since fighting types ofter have higher attack, Psychic types are notable teammates. In return, D.Volcaronna check problematic Dark and Ghost types. Good ones includes Mega Alakazam, Mega Gardevoir, and the Latis Twins.
Checks and Counter
- Mold Breaker users such as Mega Gyarados and Hazorus are amoung the best since they eliminate its ground immunity.
- Physical Wallbreaker that hit hard enough will do the job, Mega Medichamp, Mega Ruingross, Mega Crawdaunt and Swords Dance Garchomp.
- Tyranitar, especially the armoured support variant, has enough special defence and the resistances to almost don’t care about what offensive A.D.Volcaronna can trow at it and paralyse it or slap it with Stone Edge. He does, however, fear Toxic and Wildfire from supportive sets.
- Mega Spidergross Combine the two trait above while also resisting Poison.
- Burns, while not being direct counter, weaken it over time as he has no leftovers.
- Excadrill is A.D.Volcaronna best counter when holding a Choice Scarf and Mold Breaker. Poison Immunity, Mold Breaker and Rapid Spin to prevent T-Spikes. Plus, since Stealth Rock has more PP then Defog, he wins the Hazards War. EDIT: At the time, I haven’t fully realized what Corrode’s secondary effect implicated. So in this case, A.D.Volcarona can check non-scarf Excdrill on most of its sets thanks to corrodes. As such, D.Spidergross is clearly the best counter.
Overall
There is no deny that Reurka probably succeeded when he said he wanted to create a perfect Pokémon. There is only little way A.D.Volcaronna isn’t Top Tier thanks to its typing, ability, stats and moveset unpredictablility. Scouting what set he is using will be a key to handle him, and it will likely be at the cost of a Pokémon or crucial momentum.
So? What about it? Was this analyse too poor? What do you think about Armoured Delta Volcaronna? What Pokémon should I tackle next? Let me know in the comments below!
EDIT: If you want to summarize this first analysed episode, GiaPeNiw made an excellent summary in the comments section: