SM OU Volcarona Team

[unami]

Introduction

I was watching a video made by pokeaimmd and I liked the idea of using a modest lo clefable used together with tapu koko support to lure toxapex for volcarona which lacks psychium z. This is the team he used: https://pokepast.es/ea227934490b38ee and the video is as follows.

While I did like the idea of the team, I didn't like the lack of speed control on that team and also personally felt that the team seemed to lack immediate breaking power outside of clefable. Hence, I decided to make my own team using the idea of lo clefable + tapu koko + volcarona.

The team

The first three members of the team were set and stone.

I wanted a keldeo on this team because it benefits from toxapex removal..

I decided to use landot and ferrothorn to give me a defensive backbone. Lastly, I usually make a habit of jumbling up the order of my team because it can give some of my opponents a harder time figuring out my sets at team preview.

Now, I wanted to fill the sets of my pokemon.

Clefable (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Soft-Boiled

The purpose of this set is to lure toxapex.

However, it also has some extra benefits in destroying celesteela. I've also played games where I ohkoed a zard x user at +1 with tbolt attempting to dragon dance in its regular form which is really funny. It will also do the same to zard y which will not ohko back at +1 but sadly, I haven't been able to do that with the games I've been getting.

Also, it destroys most stall variants.

Here are some relevant calcs:
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Clefable Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 190-226 (62.7 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Clefable Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex in Electric Terrain: 286-338 (94.3 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Clefable Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 156 SpD Celesteela: 113-134 (28.4 - 33.7%) -- 97.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Clefable Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 156 SpD Celesteela: 289-341 (72.7 - 85.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Clefable Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard: 385-455 (129.6 - 153.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- U-turn

I've never been a big fan of tapu koko outside of scarf because I personally feel most of its sets are high risk high reward which can backfire. For example, specs requires a good amount of prediction and using shuca koko is always risky because vs. something like lando t you can trade a hp ice for earthquake but after which you are not sure what kind of player they are so you are not sure if they will switch out or stay in and if you go for the wrong move you either lose a lot of momentum or lose your koko.

I love this set as it usually generates me a lot of momentum to break in my breakers and also serves as an excellent revenge killer, beating scarf kartana which can usually pose as a serious threat to teams like mine in the late game. It also makes facing rain significantly easier. I also run dazzling gleam over hp ice because it is better coverage, ohkoing greninja, kingdra doing massive damage to zygarde as well as netural damage to landot and mega swampert. Hp ice is very easy to punish if you predict wrong.

Volcarona @ Buginium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ground]

The set used in pokeaimmd's video was a defensive set. I personally prefer a full out standard offensive set because this means I can use volcarona to wallbreak if I don't see it sweeping or I see an alternative of way of winning aside from itself. There have been games where I use volcarona as a lead when my opponents least expect it.

Volcarona is very threatening by nature so most of the times when I send it out vs. something it can ko like a chipped zygarde or lando t, my opponents will usually stay in out of fear that I will setup and let me just ko them which can free up tapu koko, allowing it to volt switch freely.

I feel hp ground is a must as I don't have any heatran lures. Clefable can possibly beat some variants of heatran but I don't want to rely on that.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Poison]

Specs keldeo benefits from toxapex removal.

I run hp poison because weakening tapu bulu benefits tapu koko and weakning tapu fini benefits volcarona. However, sometimes I will just stay in and spam scald vs tapu bulu if volcarona can come out after tapu bulu kos keldeo and proceed to setup and win. The conditions have to be right for something like this to happen however,

Lack of icy winds means this keldeo is walled by mega lati@s but I feel that I have ways to beat it via volcarona and clefable if I don't misplay.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Def / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Standard defensive lando t with defog over earthquake. Originally, I ran max hp max def but after a game where I lost to a shift gear magearna because lando t didnt outspeed it and rocks were up so I couldn't check it with volcarona which was weakened..

I have enough speed to outspeed timid max speed magearna. This also means I'm probably faster than most defensive lando so I can hp ice first.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Standard ferrothorn to take hits from ash grenina and tapu lele. Power whip is mainly for greninja and gyro ball is mainly for tapu lele, ohkoing both.

I run my rocks on it.

Replays + Peak(?)

I've played a lot of games with this team so I have a considerable bit of replays. These are some of the more notable ones as well as volcarona sweeps + demolishing stall which is always nice to see.

It's top 30 I think...not sure.

Notable replays

Luring pex - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824669546
Winning against webs which is important as Volcarona usually does not do much vs. teams like these - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824654445
I use volcarona to wallbreak as well as making my opponent stay in with seismitoad which I ohko with z bug buzz, freeing up volcarona - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824318897
Using volcarona to break as it cannot sweep - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824316966
Winning against rain, also important as volcarona usually struggles to put in work vs. these teams - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824419077

Volcarona sweeps

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824314672
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824328053
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824340275
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824402180
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824595223
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824596547
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824648406
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824554563

vs. Stall

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824315569
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824341097
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824612247
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824587445

Addressing weakenesses to the team

Some teams will run thunder wave on stuff like clefable and ferrothorn which volcarona can otherwise freely setup which makes it a lot harder to win.

I feel that cheese playstyles like webs, rain and trick room are all tough matchups but is possible to win if played right.

Other than that, I think it's possible to win against every style I think if played right. I just tend to mess up a lot which makes it harder for myself and also volcarona tends be unreliable sometimes like vs pinsir and mimikyu for example where you can only use it to wallbreak.

I'd love to see all of your feedback on this!

 

[Altaria55ps]

Hi! Just a few things -

1. Why run scarf Koko? It's already fast enough, and I can count on one finger the amount of 'mons that outspeed it without scarf.
2. This team is in serious trouble if your opponent runs CM Tapu Lele. If it gets more than 2 CMs off, you're finished. PsyTerrain Psychic/Psyshock absolutely wrecks everything except the Ferrothorn, and that's easily coverable with Focus Blast, and better yet, HP Fire. Unless your coverage IS the scarfed Koko, then having to switch and swap 'mons out for counters to Koko will wear your team down very quickly.
3. I think this team fits better for Volcarona with a SubSwarm set. I believe Fiery Dance is a better alternative to Fire Blast because (1) It's 50% chance to raise SpA by +1 is a huge advantage when you have at least one Quiver Dance down. It powers up moves very quickly and they become incredibly destructive, even though Fire Blast deals a ton of damage as is.

That's all the feedback I have, and overall, I think this is a great team with a couple of modifications.

 

[TheJ3estPenguin]

Hi! Just a few things -

1. Why run scarf Koko? It's already fast enough, and I can count on one finger the amount of 'mons that outspeed it without scarf.
2. This team is in serious trouble if your opponent runs CM Tapu Lele. If it gets more than 2 CMs off, you're finished. PsyTerrain Psychic/Psyshock absolutely wrecks everything except the Ferrothorn, and that's easily coverable with Focus Blast, and better yet, HP Fire. Unless your coverage IS the scarfed Koko, then having to switch and swap 'mons out for counters to Koko will wear your team down very quickly.
3. I think this team fits better for Volcarona with a SubSwarm set. I believe Fiery Dance is a better alternative to Fire Blast because (1) It's 50% chance to raise SpA by +1 is a huge advantage when you have at least one Quiver Dance down. It powers up moves very quickly and they become incredibly destructive, even though Fire Blast deals a ton of damage as is.

That's all the feedback I have, and overall, I think this is a great team with a couple of modifications.

Ash-Greninja, Lopunny-Mega, and Alakazam-Mega all outspeed and can pack a major punch to koko. Scarf Koko would let it outspeed gren and bunny.
2. Lele can be somewhat be countered by unaware clefable
3. Volc is fine but fierydance.
4. Landorus could benefit from investments into Atk and a little into SpA for hp ice, since that alone won't ohko another lando.

 

[unami]

Hi! Just a few things -

1. Why run scarf Koko? It's already fast enough, and I can count on one finger the amount of 'mons that outspeed it without scarf.
2. This team is in serious trouble if your opponent runs CM Tapu Lele. If it gets more than 2 CMs off, you're finished. PsyTerrain Psychic/Psyshock absolutely wrecks everything except the Ferrothorn, and that's easily coverable with Focus Blast, and better yet, HP Fire. Unless your coverage IS the scarfed Koko, then having to switch and swap 'mons out for counters to Koko will wear your team down very quickly.
3. I think this team fits better for Volcarona with a SubSwarm set. I believe Fiery Dance is a better alternative to Fire Blast because (1) It's 50% chance to raise SpA by +1 is a huge advantage when you have at least one Quiver Dance down. It powers up moves very quickly and they become incredibly destructive, even though Fire Blast deals a ton of damage as is.

That's all the feedback I have, and overall, I think this is a great team with a couple of modifications.

hey man :D

scarf kokos really nice on the ladder it sounds quite stupid on paper but ladder is always filled with ppl using webs/rain and similar cheese it can volt switch in your breakers as well as outspeed threatening stuff under webs like pinsir (also resisting its quick atk) as well as rain sweepers (volt switch for kingdra to put in range of dazzling gleam for example) and scarf kartana. then it outspeeds lop ashgren mega zam too

yea tapu lele is a problem i know i had a feeling my opp would lead it here and i guessed right - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-824669546

can and willing to try subswarm volc yes

 

[StepC]

Yoyo bro, the core with which you started, moreover I appreciate your way of build and your ability to reason adapting in the metagame of the current, I hope that my advice you will like to make the team more solid and playable to the weaknesses that I noticed .

I'll list a few substantial WEAKNESSES:

<=> Char Y is a bad wallbreaker if you do not have Koko in position, plus Keldeo even if specs could never drive a hoko with hp under the sun, unless you have suffered damage from the rocks and at that point you could hit with a certain scald.
As entry Keldeo is not equally a certainty, in fact, its FireBlast can give a 2hoko also on the poni and certainly can not benefit the whole team.

<=> In the same way the Magma Storm of Heatran are more than problematic, not having income that can recover (always relying on Keldeo) you have no strength, I consider Heatran along with Lando-T the two most used teammates in the whole tier ou and for this we can exclude his presence.

<=> Even if the now extinct M-Venusaur is less present in the current goal, we can say that you completely beat it, of course you have Volcarona, but you really risk to make it poisonare losing a set-up of qd and then click the Z? Well at least you have to be lucky to find it in the range.

((

<=> Some have named Lele Z all out + cm, of course it is always hostile to the balanced teams, however, as I recommend, I would entrust a solution on the speed control of a physical attacker that could damage the Tapu even before the setup. ))

Major CHANGES:
___________________________
>>>

---> and I'll explain why.
In addition to staging the CharizardY FireBlast and entering Heatran through the Mixed Attacker with EQ set, you can have an optional extra solution on Gliscor, BandZygarde n SD Garchomp with the entry of Ice Beam as a slot. Psichic is very good for Toxapex to share the reliability of killing it not only on Tapu Koko.
In this way you do not lose power offensive and you have a water resist always decent.You can safely enter on Tapu Bulu avoiding unnecessary damage or forced entry on Ferrothorn.
___________________________

>>>

--->I have decided definitively to include this alternative to the stall, as well as an excellent offensive option keeping its pivot functions.
In addition, physical access to Z can guarantee a 83.7 - 98.5% on Reuniclus, 87.5 - 103% on Clefable, possible hoko avMag and to conclude 74 - 87.3% on Chansey too. Solutions much better than the lock given by the scarf.
U turn will always be the best moves to get momentum and use Koko as a pivot and always return to position.
I prefer Taunt to Roost because of predicting the possible hazard setters and HP Ice is to surprise by surprise the revenue of Lando-T, Gliscor and Zygarde once scouted that the tapu is physical.
___________________________

>>>

--->we all agree that now you need speed control as well as the fact that if you use Lando defogger the best set is the one with the scarf.
The stab Eq is to clean up once the opponents pokemon are exhausted, U-turn fundamental as it is a merely offensive team and Explosion is much better at HP Ice due to the fact that Clefable can check well Zygarde in every set DD / SubCoil.

Minor CHANGES:
___________________________

--->At this point Clefable must play it full def, because of its utility to check also Hawlucha, Mega Lopunny the already named Zygarde.
The set with cm is very good and I find that it is a good choice within the team, but I can not find the ability to erase Thunderbolt even if you can go to Toxapex or Skarmory, the team cope well with these alternatives.
Thunder Wave is the solution I have given thanks to the fact that you can paralyze M-Alakazam,and some fearsome scarfs like Lele, as well as the setup of the volcarona opponents, without having to incur Iron and then resend on ScarfLando.
___________________________

--->Conclude with Volcarona, I think that at this point Hp ground no longer serves because of the fact that Heatran has become manageable.
I would play Bulky with the possibility of Roosting due to the fact that even hostile types such as Kartana band, can also enter a SkarfKartana locked on LeafBlade, better hold the revenue on Scizor and then recover hp once switched.
The instrument that I propose are Leftovers, but also Passho Berry can have better regards on the Water and surprise AshGreninja once busted.
The two stabs are a must have on Volca but I would replace FireBlast with Fiery Dance for two reasons, the first to win the pp war against unaware Clef in the stall, the second to already try a boost in spatk given the adaptation in playing it without investment offensive.

The Team

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind
- Thunder Wave

Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Wild Charge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
- U-turn

Latios @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roost

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 Atk / 68 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Explosion
- Defog

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 160 Def / 108 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Roost
- Fiery Dance

The Team

Hide

New THREATS:

+

<=>Rain teams can be very hostile especially if Ferrothorn is in constant pressure of forced entry, plus they are manageable with Clefable hoping that M-Swampert's Waterfall will not flinch the recovery alternatives.

 

[unami]

hiya, i went to get maybe ~10 games or so with the team, didnt have time for anymore.

im going to be honest with my opinions here & i dont mean to offend u so if i do, sorry it was not my intention.

• so before i even started playing i noticed i was relying on a scarfed defogger which i could get away with if the the team wasnt running something that was 4x weak to sr aka volcarona, so i decided to change taunt on koko to defog. its still been quite tough to defog vs certain types of teams even with 2 defoggers especially with sr heatran.
• i feel like the team lacks the breaking potential to beat certain types of team. also mega latios and koko are 2 types of mons that are really prediction heavy in the sense i lose all momentum if i go for the wrong move. say for example, earthquake on heatran with latios but they go landot, or u defog with koko on garchomp expecting them to switch but they eq you. its really hard to make choices like these especially since i dont know what kind of players im going to get on the ladder.
• lack of hp ground and z move on volcarona has frankly been proving to be quite a pain there are some games where i could have just won if i had. the guy even told me "you need to have hp ground on heatran"... yea i didnt know that smartass jeez
• of course, i could just be a bad player so whatever i say may be irrelevant.

with all that said, heres the replays:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-829378802 - so in this game my volc had a z move i might have been able to do it setting up on magearna if i had a z move to blow zygarde back especially since he didnt have a scarfer even if it didnt clean offensive volc would force him to sack at least half his team and give me massive advantage. also i thought hed scout for z wild charge on magearna if he ran calcs to see if it was physical but he didnt which is why i said i dislike most koko sets since a wrong move saps all momentum
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-829390734 - "you need hp ground on your volcarona" yea like i didnt know that smartass. i can admit i was in a hurry to finish the game and shouldnt have setup on zapdos but something like bulu or clef but yea it really hurt
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-829406189 - i only won this because he didn't think i had hp ground on volcarona

also here's the other replays i won which is a yay i guess:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-829395101
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-829404736
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-829408034

so yea, the team has been inconsistent for me in the sense its like 50/50 win loss for me. could be im just bad though you never know :D and lastly, i think this volcarona set is better if running bulk.

Volcarona (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 200 HP / 180 Def / 128 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Roost
- Fiery Dance

enough speed to outrun scarf fat landot at +1 rest into hp and defence. have my sincere thanks for your time taken to rate it and i wish you a nice day.

 

[StepC]

bro, I would not say anything, but you lost for terrible misplay.

To entrust defog to Koko is wrong because of the fact that it is a possible answer to Toxapex, and the Toxic Spikes could poison it, which without roost would condemn it to a certain end.
the core ScarfDefogger with Volcarona is used in teams that have a valid offensive power,

Return to the games
G1 -> already I do not agree to lead with latios, Clefable is almost always preferable on that mu, doing so could paralyze Tornadus, the T31 was sensational choice of ThunderWave, clicking Moonblast would have brought Zygarde to 2HOKO and to be able to recover at the next turn.
What did you hope? in a Lopunny entrance? Volcarona could no longer swallow and would die by Fake Out.
At T44 and 45 you chocked a W to 100% (indeed 85% avoiding flinch and miss).
G2->T11 Do you have both Koko and Clefable to sacrifice Lando?
T14 will not need to be paralyzed with Volca. You have Clefable 79 hp !!!
Then well Volca wins the war with heatran only with hp ground, Hai Mega Latios just for this :)
G3->If you see a Char why do not you immediately set the rocks?
G4->Good choice to enter with Volcarona, You have noticed that it is crucial in midgame gg
G5->Even here you played well, and RS is the alternative to explosion you decide how you find yourself more comfortable, even if I prefer the latter. btw gg
G6->Suicune is not a problem except crit lol you were unlucky, but you could still manage it as you noticed between Ferrothorn and Koko.

Mine are only advice and I hope you will learn them, plus you are free to accept them or not.
Obviously the team has threats, but I do not see them in the games you've posted to me.
If you like to play with Volcarona with this set

Volcarona @ Buginium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power Ground

you need a more reliable defogger, but you're going to unnaturalise the team I've fixed.



GL for ladder :)