Pokémon Lanturn

Status
Not open for further replies.
mrglass

mrglass

lanturn.gif

Lanturn
Pokedex Number - 171
Type(s) -
electric.gif
water.gif

Base Stats - 125 HP / 58 Atk / 58 Def / 76 SAtk / 76 SDef / 67 Spe

Abilities
Illuminate- Increases encounter rate
Volt Absorb- Restores 25% HP if hit by an Electric type move.
Water Absorb (Hidden)- Restores 25% HP if hit by a Water type move
New Moves:
Soak- Changes the opponent's type to water
Eerie Impulse- Lowers the opponent's Sp. Atk stat by 2 stages
Ion Deluge- All Normal type moves used in the turn become electric type moves

Other Notable Moves:
Discharge
Aqua Ring
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Volt Switch
Charge Beam
Thunder Wave
Scald
Dazzling Gleam
Ice Beam
Signal Beam
Toxic
Swagger
Stockpile
Heal Bell


You might think I'm crazy for thinking Lanturn is viable in OU. All of it's stats save HP are poor, and worse, it's seemingly outclassed by Rotom-W. However does happen to have a fantastic typing, great ability, and quire a large movepool. It is the latter two that allow Lanturn to stand out from Rotom-W in certain cases.

So what has changed from last gen? Well, Lanturn finally did learn Soak, making it likely the most viable user of the move, but it is incompatible with Heal Bell, and doesn't seem to do much good in OU. What's more important is that the metagame has shifted in a way that has allowed Electric/Water types like Rotom-W and Lanturn to thrive, so Lanturn's distinct niches can shine more.

Potential Movesets

name: Heal Bell
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Thunder Wave
move 3: Swagger/Confuse Ray/Scald/Ice Beam
move 4: Heal Bell
ability: Volt Absorb
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 4HP/ 252 Def/ 252 SDef

Heal Bell is the main move that allows Lanturn to shine in OU. Unlike Vaporeon, the other common water cleric, Lanturn isn't set up bait and can maintain momentum via Volt Switch. Thunder Wave cripples non Ground or Electric type sweepers, while Swagger and Scald threaten physical attackers. Most notably, the Parafusion combo Lanturn is capable of inflicting allow it to use Volt Switch to safely bring in any other Pokemon. All of this gives Lanturn fantastic opportunities to use Heal Bell to clear team status. Even if you don't paralyze, Lanturn's low speed can be a boon in allowing it to tank a hit before Volt Switching.

Running Volt Absorb grants Lanturn a means of recovery in addition to a key immunity to Electric. When combined with resistances to the other common special attacking types of Fire, Ice, and Water, this gives Lanturn very good special tanking potential.

This set also has the benefit of being a hard counter to its oft overshadowing cousin,Rotom-W. The most damage Rotom-W can do to Lanturn is with Hydro Pump.

252+ SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Lanturn: 80-94 (20.4 - 24%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

Lanturn can clear burns and is immune to Rotom's Volt Switch. Meanwhile it can confuse Rotom and/or safely switch to something else with it's own Volt Switch.

Checks and Counters
Lanturn users should look out for all Ground types, but Garchomp and Landorus (both T and I) are the most concerning, Scald and Ice Beam won't KO them, and the best you can do is confuse them on switch in. In turn they can OHKO with Earthquake or Earth Power. Additionally, due to its lack of reliable recovery, Lanturn absolutely hates Knock Off, and Taunt makes it difficult to do much.

Areas Lanturn stands out
-One of only a handful pokemon that has access to a switching move (U-Turn/Volt Switch) and a healing move (Heal Bell/Aromatherapy). The others worth noting are Celebi and Ampharos. Where Lanturn stands out is in its resistance to Ice in addition to Electric and Water, allowing it shut down several Water types.
-One of only two fully-evolved pokemon with Electric/Water typing. Lanturn stands out with Heal Bell and Volt Absorb
-The only Electric-Immune pokemon that can heal status, and one of only three Electric-Immune pokemon that resist Ice (Others are Seaking and Mamoswine).

Concluding Thoughts
Lanturn has poor stats, no reliable recovery, and is EQ weak, so it's not going to be the King of OU anytime soon. However, because of its fantastic typing and Heal Bell, it can stand out on occasion. Lanturn has always been one of my favorite Pokemon, and I'm glad it gets a chance to shine this gen.
 
Last edited:
I definitely think Lanturn is a viable cleric. Volt Switch is a nice move for a cleric to have, as is confuse ray, and I believe it's the only cleric to know both. Scald also is a great move choice, as it mitigates its biggest flaw in its poor, but not terrible, 125/56 physical bulk. Thunder wave is also great, as it makes it so that it can never be used as setup fodder. It's too bad you can't fit these 5 great moves on one moveset, but I still think Lanturn is viable. It also is able to walk over the most common pokemon used in OU, Rotom-W, as well as very common Talonflame and Greninja.
 
finncent1 said:
That could work as a dedicated special wall, but the problem with that is that Lanturn a) relies on its great non damaging movepool, b) has very mediocre special attack, and c) would have poor/mediocre physical defense. Of course Scald would fix the latter issue, volt switch prevents it from being 100% setup fodder (and can gain momentum), Thunderbolt for STAB, and... Signal Beam for Grass types...?

I personally don't think insane special bulk is worth forfeiting your biggest niche as a cleric that can paralyze pokemon. But that's just me.
Click to expand...
Just put ice beam for the last slot, signal beam won't touch much else other than doing more to celebi.
 
finncent1 said:
That could work as a dedicated special wall, but the problem with that is that Lanturn a) relies on its great non damaging movepool, b) has very mediocre special attack, and c) would have poor/mediocre physical defense. Of course Scald would fix the latter issue, volt switch prevents it from being 100% setup fodder (and can gain momentum), Thunderbolt for STAB, and... Signal Beam for Grass types...?

I personally don't think insane special bulk is worth forfeiting your biggest niche as a cleric that can paralyze pokemon. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

I think an AV set would be better with Scald, Discharge, Ice Beam, and Volt Switch. Because it's Sp. Atk is so low, it should probably use the more status heavy moves. But while it may be very viable in UU (I would make a thread in the UU page as well, but I don't play UU), I don't see it standing out in OU. Goodra shares 3 of it's resists/immunities and has better physical bulk and attacking stats.
 
finncent1 said:
Good point about Ice Beam. I had Celebi in mind, which is why I said Signal Beam.D

You're also right about discharge, as it's a decent mixture between thunderbolt and thunder wave.

Also, don't lose hope in Lanturn/your thread. It's more likely to be locked if you don't think it's viable!
Click to expand...

Oh I definitely think it's viable, but not with an AV. I think it should be reserved for bulky wall/clerical roles. Lanturn's Sp. Atk stat is pretty terrible by OU standards, so there are a lot of ways it can be outclassed in that regard.

I'm sure the set I used in the first post is viable, as I've used it on multiple teams, and it filled roles that nothing else possibly could. It's Defense and Volt Switch give it a niche over Blissey, It's typing, ability, and move pool give it a niche over Vaporeon, and Heal Bell gives it a niche over Rotom-W.

I definitely see the potential for other sets that rely on it's great defensive move pool through. Something with Stockpile, Toxic, Aqua Ring, Discharge, Scald, or Soak could be interesting.
 
Last edited:
Can we stick to conversation about Lanturn's role in OU? I know it has a lot of sets it can use in lower tiers, and that it doesn't have a thread in UU yet, but I don't want this thread to get locked, as I absolutely feel Lanturn is a viable bulky cleric in OU. But I think it's fairly clear that with a base Sp. Atk 76, it's outclassed by several Pokemon in offensive roles.
 
It's also worth mentioning that Lanturn gets healed by electric moves, doesn't use its attack stat, resists fire, and resists ice, which all make it an amazing Mega Manectric counter. If Manectric increases in usage, remember this! Also, it has heal bell and a terrible attack stat, and resists flying, making it able to use Mandibuzz and Skarmory as easy heal bell bait. It also can use Togekiss as Heal Bell bait, as Aura Sphere/Dazzling Gleam aren't going to hurt that bad. Cloyster, while not being Heal Bell bait entirely, is easily forced out of a sweep as +2 rock blast from Cloyster will never OHKO Lanturn with HP or Defense investment. If at +0, it can also use Cloyster as heal bell bait (Who'd keep Cloyster in on a Special Electric type?) Also, it can thunder wave +0 Dragonite, Charizard-X and Gyarados, as EQ will never OHKO, and Thunder wave will stop a potential sweep. Additionally, Thundurus-I and Thundurus-T both give Lanturn 25% recovery whenever they use their STABs, and can never 2HKO Lanturn, no matter physical or special. It's immune to Electric, resists Water, and can take a Psyshock, Bug Buzz Sludge Bomb, and Giga Drain, which all also allow it to walk (temporarily if Giga Drain...) on Starmie, Galvantula, and Tentacruel. Add those Pokemon to the obvious walling of Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Talonflame, you have a semi-offensive cleric that can take advantage of at least 15 OU viable pokemon in order to do its job.
 
I ran a stall team last generation with two semi-clerics, lanturn being one of them. Try this set:

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Scald
- Discharge
- Confuse Ray

This is a strange parafusion with an option to burn. This thing is so incredibly difficult to switch in because of all the hax it dishes out and these statuses are all incredibly useful. There is enough bulk to allow lanturn to take a Landorus-T EQ, as long as there is no LO or band. It hard-stops Rotom-wash and should have enough bulk to take on Talonflame no problem. But seriously, the lack of recovery is so quickly mitigated by confusion making people want to switch out and allowing more status fishing. Has issues with Conkeldurr. Also issues with no recovery moves, and that's a bit disappointing. Otherwise, it's a pretty good status pokemon.
 
finncent1 said:
It's also worth mentioning that Lanturn gets healed by electric moves, doesn't use its attack stat, resists fire, and resists ice, which all make it an amazing Mega Manectric counter. If Manectric increases in usage, remember this! Also, it has heal bell and a terrible attack stat, and resists flying, making it able to use Mandibuzz and Skarmory as easy heal bell bait. It also can use Togekiss as Heal Bell bait, as Aura Sphere/Dazzling Gleam aren't going to hurt that bad. Cloyster, while not being Heal Bell bait entirely, is easily forced out of a sweep as +2 rock blast from Cloyster will never OHKO Lanturn with HP or Defense investment. If at +0, it can also use Cloyster as heal bell bait (Who'd keep Cloyster in on a Special Electric type?) Also, it can thunder wave +0 Dragonite, Charizard-X and Gyarados, as EQ will never OHKO, and Thunder wave will stop a potential sweep. Additionally, Thundurus-I and Thundurus-T both give Lanturn 25% recovery whenever they use their STABs, and can never 2HKO Lanturn, no matter physical or special. It's immune to Electric, resists Water, and can take a Psyshock, Bug Buzz Sludge Bomb, and Giga Drain, which all also allow it to walk (temporarily if Giga Drain...) on Starmie, Galvantula, and Tentacruel. Add those Pokemon to the obvious walling of Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Talonflame, you have a semi-offensive cleric that can take advantage of at least 15 OU viable pokemon in order to do its job.
Click to expand...

Wait? It can take an EQ from Mega Charizard X?

252 Atk Mega Charizard X Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Lanturn: 240-284 (61.2 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Dang that's crazy. I've been switching it out on EQ users this whole time.

Some other things worth noting.

With Swagger, this thing can check Scizor pretty hard, 4X resisting Bullet Punch. Aegislash also hates Swagger+T-Wave. Pairing Lanturn with Mandibuzz is an excellent idea, as they both check each other's weaknesses well, and Foul Play following a Swagger from Lanturn can hurt a lot.
 
It might be worth noting that by using Lanturn over Rotom-W, it allows you to use a different Rotom Form (I think Rotom-Heat is the 2nd most used Form?)
 
I can only think that if Lanturn had some form of reliable recovery, it's viability would increase significantly enough to let it stand out from Rotom-W. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Nonetheless, the Cleric role sounds promising, especially considering there aren't a substantial amount of Clerics in OU.

Confusion is a gimmick for the most part, including Parafusion, and Lanturn's low Spe makes this difficult to successfully pull off. Should probably be voided from any and all sets.
 
Lanturn is a Cleric, and from what it can do, it has a good movepool, but.....

It lacks recovery, has a single use overall, gets smacked around harder than one would think etc....

A niche Cleric, yes, a viable spot in OU, somewhat, little, but somewhat.....

Lanturn just strikes me as very mediocre, I see what it can do, but it seems like a stranger mon for the job.
 
It can run a chesto rest or rest sleep talk set with volt switch and scald/heal bell I've used it a few times in both OU and UU with the rest talk set and it's not bad at all.
 
I just has an idea of a defensive core with this guy and physically defensive Togekiss. They have good type synergy and only really struggle with very powerful rock or poison types. They can gain momentum with Volt switch and Baton pass respectively. Lanturn can be the cleric helping out Togekiss's 4 moveslot syndrome a bit and Togekiss can use Wish to heal Lanturn. Also, Togekiss can take advantage of Lanturn's Thunder Wave. I might be missing something but what do you think of this core?
 
ColtCababa said:
I can only think that if Lanturn had some form of reliable recovery, it's viability would increase significantly enough to let it stand out from Rotom-W. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Nonetheless, the Cleric role sounds promising, especially considering there aren't a substantial amount of Clerics in OU.

Confusion is a gimmick for the most part, including Parafusion, and Lanturn's low Spe makes this difficult to successfully pull off. Should probably be voided from any and all sets.
Click to expand...

Confusion is a gimmick as a means to get reliable damage on a Pokemon. But it's a decent way of forcing your opponent to switch, and with T-wave, parafusion is fantastic for getting safe switches, not necessarily for guaranteeing your opponent is incapacitated for several turns.

With Lanturn's meh non HP bulk and its poor attacking stats, confusion is a pretty decent option simply for threatening pokemon that can't be paralyzed and aiding its role as a cleric and pivot. It's a gimmick because it can end after one turn and the opponent can switch out to remove it, but Lanturn doesn't care about those things.
 
ColtCababa said:
I can only think that if Lanturn had some form of reliable recovery, it's viability would increase significantly enough to let it stand out from Rotom-W. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Nonetheless, the Cleric role sounds promising, especially considering there aren't a substantial amount of Clerics in OU.

Confusion is a gimmick for the most part, including Parafusion, and Lanturn's low Spe makes this difficult to successfully pull off. Should probably be voided from any and all sets.
Click to expand...

Again, Confuse Ray is not being used to make the opponent hurt themselves, it is simply used to phaze/achieve free turns. And given Discharge as a 30% paralysis move, you can trust that you'll be able to outspeed anything you paralyze, giving you a lot of opportunities to get free turns for extra leftovers recovery. It is simply a defensive tactic.
 
losedude said:
I just has an idea of a defensive core with this guy and physically defensive Togekiss. They have good type synergy and only really struggle with very powerful rock or poison types. They can gain momentum with Volt switch and Baton pass respectively. Lanturn can be the cleric helping out Togekiss's 4 moveslot syndrome a bit and Togekiss can use Wish to heal Lanturn. Also, Togekiss can take advantage of Lanturn's Thunder Wave. I might be missing something but what do you think of this core?
Click to expand...
Togekiss already has access to Heal Bell and Thunder Wave, so it'd be somewhat redundant. And while Lanturn has decent bulk, it's not fantastic by any means. Being pressed to WishPass to it might prove fruitless, as Lanturn really isn't hard to wear down.
mrglass said:
Confusion is a gimmick as a means to get reliable damage on a Pokemon. But it's a decent way of forcing your opponent to switch, and with T-wave, parafusion is fantastic for getting safe switches, not necessarily for guaranteeing your opponent is incapacitated for several turns.

With Lanturn's meh non HP bulk and its poor attacking stats, confusion is a pretty decent option simply for threatening pokemon that can't be paralyzed and aiding its role as a cleric and pivot. It's a gimmick because it can end after one turn and the opponent can switch out to remove it, but Lanturn doesn't care about those things.
Click to expand...
First off, Confusion isn't guaranteed to force switches, and it's reliance on luck makes it unreliable to begin with. In the long run, it's anything but guaranteed to gain momentum throughout the entirety, and once your opponent knows that you'll Volt Switch after inducing Confusion, it'll eventually allow your opponent to plan accordingly. In the sense, it's not some bonafide strategy guaranteed to put the course of battle in the palm of your hands, but I don't want this thread to drift off into discussion solely of Parafusion, so I'll leave it at that.
 
So I've been messing around with what is probably my best showdown team yet in which I'm running a Lanturn precisely for it's key niches and a noticed a few more things.

-Lanturn is a rare example of a pokemon that doesn't care at all about Bolt-Beam. Which is noteworthy, as most Electric types are completely walled by it, though it should watch out for Galvantula. This is really where it is able to stand out from the only other pokemon that learns Heal Bell + U-turn, Celebi.
-Mandibuzz and Lanturn are a fantastic defensive pairing, especially with Swagger on Lanturn and Foul Play on Mandibuzz. It's sort of gimmicky, but it's fun and it does work from time to time
-Like ColtCababa said, it can be worn down pretty easily, so the key is to get it on one of the many things it walls, do what it needs to do, and get out. It's not a pokemon that should stick around. If you can do this, Leftovers should last you most of the game.
 
Last edited:
So after reading this thread, I built a team based around a Lanturn+Mandibuzz core. After doing some tinkering, I added Goodra into that defensive core and I've been really digging it. With this, I've been able to quite effectively counter both mega Charizards. There are a lot of great switch ins and I'm constantly surprised at what Lanturn is able to survive. I've just been running mrglass's set with Scald as the last move. I'd tried Swagger for a bit, but given Lanturn's low Def anyway, it seemed like too big of a risk.
 
Ping_Pong_Along said:
So after reading this thread, I built a team based around a Lanturn+Mandibuzz core. After doing some tinkering, I added Goodra into that defensive core and I've been really digging it. With this, I've been able to quite effectively counter both mega Charizards. There are a lot of great switch ins and I'm constantly surprised at what Lanturn is able to survive. I've just been running mrglass's set with Scald as the last move. I'd tried Swagger for a bit, but given Lanturn's low Def anyway, it seemed like too big of a risk.
Click to expand...


Seems like Mega-Mawile would have a field day with that core, hitting Goodra and Mandibuzz super effectively and Lanturn neutrally and between the 3 of them the only real thing they can do back is Fire Blast/Flamethrower from Goodra.
 
Having used the Mandibuzz-Lanturn core, I can confirm. Mawile is one of the hardest pokemon for me to counter. Once it's at +2, my team is basically finished.
 
I have yet to come across Mega Mawile since I started this team, but I can definitely see that being an issue. I am running LO Mamoswine which can OHKO Mega Mawile, can take a Sucker Punch, and wins the speed battle if they decide to use a different move. By no means a perfect fix, but at least I have some contingency plan. +2 Sucker Punch can OHKO, depending on the luck of the draw.
 
After trying both, Scald seems to be superior to Swagger. With Scald, Lanturn is nearly impossible to counter, as Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Excadrill won't appreciate getting a burn or a water type move to the face, and everything else won't like T-Wave or Volt Switch.

However, Swagger is a nice option in basically making it easier to gain momentum, as you can incapacitate opponents before Volt Switching, but I think Scald wins out in most cases.
 
The teams that use a cleric are usually stall teams and they will always opt for better clerics than Lanturn (Chansey and Clefable) who have reliable recovery and will not die after a few hits. A cleric without reliable recovery is not reliable at all.

Because heal bell is clearly the only reason why you would ever use lanturn over Rotom-W, this is a problem. Why would anyone use this thing? It can "stand out" by being the only water-electric type with heal bell but that is a VERY small niche, miles away from being relevant. So unless you are in dire need of a pokemon with heal bell AND a water electric typing AND volt switch... Well then you are better off using something else over our favourite angler fish.

Input on this is welcome. I could be horrible mistaken on this but as I see it now Lanturn is not viable for high level OU play.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top