Volcarona
Stats: 85 HP / 60 Atk / 65 Def / 135 SpAtk / 105 SpDef / 100 Speed
Abilities: Flame Body / Swarm
Notable Moves:
Quiver Dance
Flamethrower
Bug Buzz
Psychic
Giga Drain
Tera Blast
Fiery Dance
Fire Blast
Morning Sun
Substitute
Air Cutter, Air Slash, Body Slam, Poison Jab, Pounce, Rain Dance, Tera Blast, Trailblaze
Aerial Ace, Attract, Confide, Defog, Double Team, Dual Wingbeat, Incinerate, Magnet Rise, Mystical Fire, Poison Jab, Roost, Round, Safeguard, Skitter Smack, Snore, Swagger, Toxic
Absorb, Acrobatics, Air Cutter, Air Slash, Amnesia, Body Slam, Bug Bite, Bug Buzz, Calm Mind, Double-Edge, Ember, Endure, Facade, Fiery Dance, Fire Blast, Fire Spin, Flame Charge, Flame Wheel, Flamethrower, Flare Blitz, Fly, Giga Drain, Giga Impact, Gust, Harden, Heat Wave, Hurricane, Hyper Beam, Leech Life, Light Screen, Morning Sun, Overheat, Poison Jab, Pounce, Protect, Psychic, Quiver Dance, Rage Powder, Rain Dance, Rest, Screech, Sleep Talk, Solar Beam, String Shot, Struggle Bug, Substitute, Sunny Day, Tailwind, Take Down, Tera Blast, Thrash, Trailblaze, U-turn, Whirlwind, Wild Charge, Will-O-Wisp, Zen Headbutt
Pros
- One of the best set up sweepers thanks to Quiver Dance.
- Amazing coverage which gets even better with the addition of Tera Blast.
- In addition to the last point, it also benefits from tera defensively.
- Resists common moves in the tier such as Gholdengo's Make It Rain, Iron Bundle's Ice Beam and Freeze Dry, and both of Iron Valiant's, Breloom's and Scizor's stabs.
- Coverage for SpDef walls such as Clodsire and Gastrodon.
Cons
- Blissey and Chansey still exist and are used thanks to them being able to check Iron Bundle.
- Kartana and Rillaboom being gone makes it's decent defensive profile from Gen 8 somewhat worse.
- Priority such as Palafin's Jet Punch, Dragonite's Extreme Speed and KingGambit's, Dragapult's and Chien-Pao's Sucker Punch make it a bit easier to check specially if it decides to not use use or doesn't have the right tera form.
Terastal Potential:
- Grass is one of if not it's best tera type. As pointed out by Finch here, tera grass allows Volcarona to turn the tables on Palafin's Jet Punch and Iron Bundle's Hydro Pump, while also giving it stab on Giga Drain for it to hit them even harder. Finally, the grass type lets it resist ground moves such as Garchomp's Earthquake and Great Tusk's Headlong Rush.
- Ice Tera comes to mind as a more offensive oriented option, as with Tera Blast it allows it to directly threaten the Dragons mainly Dragonite, Garchomp and Dragapult.
Potential Sets:
Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body / Swarm
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
Ability: Flame Body / Swarm
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
This is the typical offensive set. Giga Drain and Tera Grass are explained above. Other options for the fire stab are Flamethrower and Fiery Dance. Psychic is another option to hit Toxapex, while also hitting Clodsire and Annihilape a bit stronger. Heavy-Duty Boots are even more important now with games filling both sides with hazards and Gholdengo making it hard (if not impossible) to get rid of them.
Overview:
Despite Volcarona being overlooked (in part due to the many new strong pokemon), it still manages to be a strong presence in the meta. It's proof of how even offensive mons can use Tera in defensive ways. Despite it losing some setup fodder such as Choice Band Kartana, Rillaboom and Weavile, it can now be partnered with Cyclizar for a "free" chance to set up.
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