Doubles Rotom-W

[Laga]

skellie

Overview
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• Fantastic glue Pokemon for many teams.
• Great check to Fire, Ground, and Flying types.
• Amazing typing, both offensive and defensive.
• Great ability that goes perfectly with its typing.
• Middling speed makes it susceptible to powerful moves.
• Unfortunately low HP stat.
• Grass- and Dragon-types resist it's moves tho

Special Tank
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name: Special Tank
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Protect / Electroweb / Light Screen
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 136 SpA / 120 SpD
nature: Calm

Moves
========

• Rotom-Ws most consistent set, doing respectable damage while having the ability to take multiple hits with ease.
• Hydro Pump is the main offensive choice, and can OHKO Landorus-T, offensive Heatran, and Volcarona
• Thunderbolt has great coverage, as it hits Water-types
• Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave are the two options if running Sitrus Berry; WoW for much physical attackers, T-wave for speed control. Volt Switch used on Specs set.
• Protect helps scout moves and play around opposing offensive strategies.
• Electroweb is a great move for Speed control: it is basically Icy Wind with Electric typing.

Set Details
========

• Max HP / Max SpA for optimizing the role of a bulky offensive tank.
• Different spread of 252 HP / 88 SpA / [rest of evs] SpD with a Calm nature will help Rotom-W tank special attacks better. SpA evs are for OHKOing Landorus-T with pump.
• 52 Spe EVs works well with Electroweb: outspeed megazard / megakanga after - Speed.
• Sitrus Berry is the safer option, and allows it to use Protect
• ChestoRest is an option for healing.

Usage Tips
========

• Rotom-W is to be used as an offensive glue - it should be able to switch into its teammates' counters and deal a lot of damage back / burn that fuker
• It is able to put a stop large amount of Pokemon (most Fire-, Water-, and Flying-types) [list some examples of popular mons here (Tran, landog, burd), and mention how it comfortably tanks SlideQuake, a popular coverage option]
• Rotom-W can and should also be used as a status spreader; especially if running WoW, since crippling physical attackers will benefit you throughout the match.

Team Options
========

• Steel-types such as Scizor and Metagross make great partners, as they wall Dragon- and Grass-types.
• Offensive Fire- and Ice-types such as Heatran and Weavile help take out Grass-type Pokemon that bother Rotom-W. Fire-types even take advantage of their presence, as they often can do nothing in return.
• Ground-types synergize well with Rotom-W, as they can freely use Earthquake beside it. Mamoswine special mention, since it takes out Dragon- and Grass-type mons.

Choice Scarf
########
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Trick / Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 52 HP / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
nature: Modest

Moves
========

• Pump is for obvious STAB etc powahful...
• Volt Switch is a secondary STAB move, hits waters, and provides momentum.
• Thunderbolt acts as a more reliable, more powerful STAB Electric move, and Hidden Power Ice hits Dragons (Latios, Hydreigon, Chomp)
• Trick for crippling everything, HP Ice if you decide to run all out attacking.

Set Details
========

• Scarf Rotom-w meant to be as fast and powerful as possible, so max SpA / Spe, but with a 50% boost to Speed, a Modest nature will suffice.
• EVs outspeeds Shaymin-S after the scarf boost. This will miss out on meganectric and crobat i guess
• Will-O-Wisp is an OO for this set to burn fast threats (such as kangas).

Usage Tips
========

• faster, offensive Pokemon weak to its STAB moves, such as Landorus-T, MegaZard Y, and Terrakion are main targets, and can either be genereally checked or surprise OHKOd.
• crippling supportive Pokemon with Trick is a good use of Scarf - works especially well against TR setters.

Team Options
========

• Fire-types are great partners for this Rotom-W. Fire eats grass which shit on rotom, rotom surprise kills the Ground- and Rock-type mons.
• Again, Steel types have amazing defensive synergy with it.
• Ground-types again, especially Landorus-T, since they form a solid VolTurn core.

Other Options
########

• Obvious Choice Specs mention goes here
• Assault Vest is definitely a cool item to try out
• HP Grass for Gastrodon
• Thunder Wave
• Pain Split

Checks and Counters
########

**Offensive Typing Advantage**: Grass-types mostly, and some mention of Dragons resisting and hitting back hard neutrally.

**Speed**: Bad HP stat means it takes a shitton of damage from powerful neutral attacks such as Latios Draco Meteor, Mega Kangaskhan Return, Terrakion Close Combat.

Overview
########

Rotom-W is a great glue Pokemon in the metagame. Its outstanding defensive typing with Levitate leaves it with just a single weakness and several resistances to common attacking types. This allows Rotom-W to be a fantastic check to top-tier threats such as Heatran, Talonflame, and Landorus-T. Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave are great assets, as both can cripple giant portions of the metagame. Unfortunately for Rotom-W, its HP and Speed stats are rather lackluster, and faster wallbreakers, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Latios, can easily break through it. Its offensive coverage is also walled by most Grass- and Dragon-types.

Special Tank
########
name: Special Tank
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave
move 4: Protect
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 136 SpA / 120 SpD
nature: Calm

Moves
========

This is by far Rotom-W's most consistent set, doing an amazing job at checking or countering various Fire-, Flying-, and Water-types. Hydro Pump is a solid STAB move that allows Rotom-W to score OHKOs on Landorus-T, Volcarona, and offensive variants of Heatran. Thunderbolt is mostly used to hit Water-types that resist Hydro Pump as well as threats such as Mega Charizard Y. It is also more reliable than Hydro Pump due to its better accuracy. In the third slot, Will-O-Wisp is a great way to deal with most physical attackers, and Thunder Wave offers excellent speed control. Protect keeps Rotom-W alive, stalls field conditions, and scouts for attacks.

Set Details
========

There are a variety of different spreads Rotom-W can run, usually mixing different HP, Special Defense, and Special Attack investments. The given spread allows it to survive a Solar Beam from Modest Mega Charizard Y while retaining maximum HP and as much Special Attack as possible. Sitrus Berry is by far the most consistent item option for Rotom-W, but ChestoRest is another option for greater healing, though at the risk of not running Protect.

Usage Tips
========

Rotom-W should be played as a bulky offensive glue Pokemon. This means that it should be switching into opposing threats, usually Water-, Flying-, or Ground-types, and either dealing damage or spreading status. Thanks to its amazing typing, it does this fairly reliably. Rotom-W also does a great job of tanking SlideQuake, which is a very popular coverage combination on Ground-types. The only Pokemon you should really fear with Rotom-W out are Grass- and Dragon-types. Threats with Lum Berry, such as Ferrothorn and Garchomp, like to lure Rotom-W and hit really hard. Make sure Rotom-W stays alive if the opponent is holding back Talonflame or Heatran, because they can be really threatening late-game if Rotom-W is taken out.

Team Options
========

Fire-types such as Heatran, Talonflame, and Charizard are arguably the best partners to Rotom-W, as they benefit from having a partner that can sponge threatening Ground- and Rock-type attacks, and they can take out the Grass-types that threaten Rotom-W. Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Mega Lucario, Heatran, and Aegislash complement Rotom-W well defensively, as they resist Dragon- and Grass-type attacks, and Rotom-W resists Fire-type attacks. Ground-types appreciate Rotom-W as a partner, as they can freely use Earthquake beside it. Mamoswine is especially relevant here, as it can snipe Dragon- and Grass-types with ease.

Other Options
########

Rotom-W can run Electroweb alongside Will-O-Wisp to offer both speed control and burn support, and with 56 Speed EVs, it can outspeed -1 Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y. However, outside of that, Thunder Wave is the more consistent option. Light Screen is an option if Rotom-W's team is weaker on the specially defensive side. Assault Vest could work with Electroweb or Volt Switch, but Rotom-W will miss Sitrus Berry's recovery and the utility of its status attacks. Choice Specs Rotom-W can deal surprising damage to some switch-ins. Using a Choice Scarf allows it to outrun threats that would stay in against it, such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Gyarados, as well as standard Choice Scarf Landorus-T if Rotom-W runs a Timid nature. With Choice sets, Rotom-W can also use Trick, which is an outstanding countermeasure against Trick Room teams.

Checks & Counters
########

**Offensive Typing Advantage**: Lum Berry Ferrothorn is a fantastic answer to Rotom-W as it shrugs off every attack Rotom-W offers. Amoonguss is also a major pain because it redirects and tanks everything Rotom-W uses. Other Grass-types, such as Venusaur and Shaymin-S, can outspeed Rotom-W and threaten it with their STAB moves, but they must avoid switching in on Thunder Wave. Dragon-types such as Latios, Kyurem-B, and Hydreigon also beat Rotom-W, but they must be wary of Thunder Wave. Excadrill and Mega Gyarados deserve special mentions because they can bypass Levitate with Mold Breaker and strike Rotom-W with super effective Earthquakes.

**Strong Attackers**: Several Pokemon can strike through Rotom-W's average defenses and deal huge damage with their STAB attacks. Mega Kangaskhan, Deoxys-A, Terrakion, and Mega Heracross can KO it with their STAB attacks after only a little prior damage, but they must find a way to switch in safely. Guts Conkeldurr benefits from status conditions, can tank Rotom-W's attacks, and threatens it with Drain Punch.

**Utility Moves**: Taunt users such as Thundurus and Sableye can stop Rotom-W from supporting its team with status. Substitute users with decent bulk or resistances to its attacks, such as Kyurem-B, make excellent counters as well.

 

[Stratos]

Ok this analysis isnt done yet but it definitely needs some work

1) why the fuck did you combine sitrus and specs into one set lol, split that shit up
2) sitrus doesnt /need/ protect, (though mcmeghan showed me that it's a lot better than I thought it was) it should probably be laid out like so:
Hydro Pump
Thunderbolt
Will-o-Wisp | Protect
Protect | Electroweb | Light Screen | Thunder Wave

willo is obviously preferred but is so damn common that you can bluff willo until youve shown your entire moveset. protect is protect ie good; light screen + will-o-wisp is a fun combo. if you want speed control the choice is between electroweb and thunder wave. i prefer electroweb because the spread chip is good to net koes and it's easier to catch predicted switches since you don't have to predict who's switching and it works on electrics and it's not tauntable or rage powderable (which is nice since otherwise amoonguss 100% cockblocks ya) and it allows for further willowisping and sporing. Thunder Wave has 25% fp chance and permanent slowage and much stronger slowage, though. but yeah twave is definitely not the only speed control option

as for the specs set:
hpump
tbolt
volt switch / hp grass / hp ice
trick / hp grass / hp ice

should be more self explanatory i think

 

[termi]

not qc but I've heard assault vest sets are pretty cool, you might want to add a set like that.

 

[Laga]

This skeleton's body is ready

for QC =]

 

[Lolk]

imo slash electroweb behind wil-o-wisp since it is much more effective at speed control. This is a bulky pivot set, so you don't want to get too stally or Rotom-W will end up dead weight. Thunder Wave can go in oo tho!

I am pretty sure 120 SpDef evs allows Rotom-W to survive Zards SolarBeam so you could add that detail when you expand on ev'ing more bulk.

Mention ChestoRest and Pain Split as options for recovery in the first set. Since it is more of a pivot mon, also mention Volt Switch as an option in these set comments, because Rotom-W pulls it off very well :)

Lando-T is a good partner for both sets since they make it really easy to cripple physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp and Intimidate on the pivot sets and make a cool Volt-Turn scenario for Rotom-W's scarf set. Rotom-W also covers all of Landorus-T's weaknesses :)

Mold Breaker Earthquake Pokemon mainly Excadrill and idk I have seen a few Haxorus around make great checks to Rotom also.

Again I am not qc so use what you want :)

 

[kingofmars]

For a defensive pokemon you really need better evs. Like you can make Rotom survive modest Charizard-y's solarbeam really easily but instead you choose not to for some reason. Make better evs dude

in my opinion will o wisp is a must have on a rotom set, and light screen is a good move option so imo the moves should be Hydro pump, Thunderbolt, Will-o-wisp, Protect/Light Screen/Thunder Wave/Electroweb

Nature should also be calm if you don't want it to suck

"rotom surprise kills the Ground- and Rock-type mons."
Okay I give up, what's surprising about a rotom-w having hydro pump? I mean besides nothing

The best partners for Rotom-w are those that can 1) get rid of gross grass types and 2) benefit from it spamming will o wisp like a mad man. There are so many pokemon that can fall into the latter category just choose whichever ones you want

 

[Magcargo]

The most effective EV Spread I have found for Rotom-W is EVs: 252 HP / 132 SAtk / 124 SDef with a Modest nature as it allowes you to survive Zard's Solar Beam 100% of the time and is more effective than 252 HP / 224 SAtk / 24 SDef with a Calm nature because it gives you 3 more points in SAtk.

 

[Laga]

"rotom surprise kills the Ground- and Rock-type mons."
Okay I give up, what's surprising about a rotom-w having hydro pump? I mean besides nothing

Yeah i messed up with the wording here: i meant to say faster Ground- and Rock-type mons

and I don't think 4 slashes is a good idea, so I'm guessing some QC guys need to choose between Light Screen and Thunder Wave...

The most effective EV Spread I have found for Rotom-W is EVs: 252 HP / 132 SAtk / 124 SDef with a Modest nature as it allowes you to survive Zard's Solar Beam 100% of the time and is more effective than 252 HP / 224 SAtk / 24 SDef with a Calm nature because it gives you 3 more points in SAtk.

thanks for the spread =]

 

[Lolk]

Why would you ever want Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave on the same set?

 

[Stratos]

why did you drop light screen on the first set? if anything you should be dropping thunder wave

with electroweb it's a good idea to run 52 spe so if you catch charizard or kanga on the switch, you can proceed to ko/burn. mention this somewhere. take those out of SpA, stay modest.

not sure why the less SpA set is best with electroweb...? just mention its a more bulky spread lol

mamoswine is a pretty great rotom-w partner imo; the former can use EQ without fear and KO things like Amoonguss that beat rotom-w, while rotom-w can slow down a lot of the things mamo could kill if only it were faster.

actually in general, walling grasses/steels doesnt help rotom-w, killing them does. ice and fire types are much better partners than steel types

dont forget that hp ice hits skymin on the scarf set

scarf rotom-w isn't all just for surprise value; it threatens many fast pokemon, such as zard, landotigre, mence, chomp, skymin, talobird, deoxys-a, terrakion... i'd argue tho that you should slash hp ice with volt switch and make thunderbolt the main elec STAB. last gen i ran enough spe to outrun deo-a, which required timid. i'd probably suggest that again.

amoonguss is in a special tier of countering since it redirects instead of just walls rotoms single target moves

mention skymin in offensive counters

 

[Laga]

Alright, I am fairly certain I included everything from Pwne, lolk, and kom's input. I moved T-Wave to OO btw

 

[Darkmalice]

The Assault Vest AC mention in the first set and OO should be removed, and Assualt Vest merits its own set. It plays differently from the standard set, acting more as a bulky pivot than the first without the burn support, and to adequately describe such a set would require a different EV spread (as it doesn't need EVs to avoid being OHKOed by Zard's Solarbeam), which combined with its different moves, would take up a lot of room in the AC of the first set. You would choose it over the first set when you want a greater focus on special bulk to better check specially based threats such as the aforementioned Zard and rain teams (it's one of the best answers to rain teams), or if you want high special bulk without giving up on SpA EVs.

It's better than the Scarf set, and it deserves 2nd spot in the analysis.

 

[Nollan]

Overview

• Mention its only average at best 50 / 107 / 107 defenses, which while workable with can be a let down fairly often
• 105 SpA can do the job but won't do all that much if you can't hit the opposition super-effectively (bar use of LO or Choice Specs or something)

Special Tank

• Agreeing to remove Assault Vest and Electroweb from this set. Whether or not you want to give it its own set or not is up to you, but at the least give it a big mention in OO. The reason I'm not pushing it is mostly because compared to other bulky Waters like Suicune, Rotom-W isn't always the best Assault Vest user out there with the middling defenses. I've never used it tho so my opinion honestly means little.
• Thunder Wave is probably worth actually slashing after WoW
• The spread for ChestoRest imo should be 252 HP / 76 Def / 88 SpA / 88 SpD / 4 Spe and a Calm Nature. It always lives CB Close Combat from Terrakion and OHKOs Lando w/ Hydro Pump. 4 Spe EVs allow you to move before opposing Rotom-W. Remaining EVs are poured into SpD and will always survive a Timid CharyZard Solarbeam (Modest CharYZard has 19% chance to OHKO). You could also take EVs from SpA and put them into SpD to survive a Modest Solarbeam.
• In partners section, Heatran makes a very good mention as it can eliminate Grass-types not named Torterra, Ludicolo, or Virizion (why anyone would use Torterra I don't know) effortlessly.

Choice Scarf

• Will O' Wisp is worth a slash in slot 4 (probably slot 3 as well since using it in tandem w/ Trick is plausible). While being locked onto Will O' Wisp is not the most preferable situation a speedy Will O' Wisp allows you to cripple things like Breloom and Garchomp (you'd say HP Ice but its legitimately so weak that Breloom and Garchomp with only 4 HP EVs will survive it and strike back). In general Will O' Wisp helps make up for Rotom-W's lack of power with some speedy utility, which is always helpful
• A semi-bulky spread of 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe and Modest Nature is an option. This outspeeds everything up to max speed Scarf Tyranitar. This spread is best used w/ Trick or Will O' Wisp, since it will allow Rotom-W to tank some attacks which is useful in tandem with burn or if Choice Scarf gets Tricked.

Other Options

• I wanna say Substitute, but Rotom-W doesn't really have the bulk to pull it off. Pain Split maybe? Great for bringing Cress's gigantic HP stat down a bit if nothing else.

Checks & Counters

• LO Virizion is also a good speedy check, whether you feel its worth mentioning is up to you
• Taunt is problematic for more supportive Rotoms running WoW, Rest, Light Screen, etc, as it limits them only to their attacks which will sometimes not be invested in very heavily, and even if they are it limits what Rotom-W can do in the field of support immensely.

Looks pretty nice to me.

QC APPROVED 1/3

 

[Laga]

I am not sure how to fit Taunt into Checks and Counters, since it doesn't really warrant its own point and I can't find anything to merge it with for a new point.

I added Will-O-Wisp to Set Details as an OO for the Scarf set after discussing its viability with Pwnemon and Mizuhime.

Otherwise I think I got it all; thanks for the check nollsy :]

 

[Stratos]

if i had to choose something to taunt rotom-w would almost always be last on my list, unless i was really scared of burn; i mean 90% of the time you're not even keeping it from using protect. i think not putting taunt in C&C is fine. i'll check this in depth as soon as i do scizor and write amoonguss, prepare for edits

HERE IT IS

you never changed the writeup on the tank set to match our suggestions lel

move ass vest to OO, rotom is really one of the worst users of ass vest because you'll rarely save yourself more than 25% hp by running it and you can't use wow

in usage tips, mention how rotom-w is not something you keep switching in and out usually; once it's in, it likes to stay in and actually do something if it wants to maximize effectiveness

mention matchups against talonflame, heatran, and landorust in particular imo

what the hell are those EVs on the scarf set for? make the "different spread" the main one

i personally think that grasses have better defensive synergy with rotom-w than steels, they're definitely at least worth a mention

team options: Fire-types can take advantage of the grass-types that try to switch in on rotom-w

put pain split in oo

fix these and qc 2/3

 

[Laga]

fixed em =]

 

[Nollan]

Nature should also be calm if you don't want it to suck

Just to touch on this a bit more, you'll want your nature to boost whichever stat has the highest base value. Because nature is a 10% boost, you'll get more EVs to use if you run a Calm Nature over a Modest Nature. So yeah doing this would be a good idea.

-EDIT-
Yeah just checked. It actually gives you only 1 more point for some reason. Still, rather than the alternative spread you give a spread of 252 HP / 136 SpA / 120 SpD and Calm is a good idea, always lives a Modest Charizard Solarbeam with remaining into SpA.

 

[Laga]

Magcargo already went over this. The optimized spread wants to survive CharY's Solarbeam and then have as much SpA left as possible, and since you have a good deal more EVs left to spend in SpA than in SpD, your SpA is higher compared to the 10% boost. As mentioned by Mac, this gives you the same Specially defensive stats as well as three extra SpA points.

 

[Lasagne]

i really think its worth ev'ing to survive modest zardy's solar beam, so thats either 252 HP / 136 SpA / 120 SpD with Calm, or 252 HP / 24 SpA / 232 SpD with Modest. Ideally the first one, as it gives precisely 3 more spA points oO
so yeah, surviving modest zardy is something i think should definitely be aimed for, not just timid, as its really useful for that big damage on zard w/ tbolt
i feel like i probably missed something in this thread where people determined we should aim to only survive timid, but w/e

not qc, opinion doesnt matter, etc

edit: lol i just checked this has been gone over, but its not in the OP ?_?

 

[Audiosurfer]

Laga you lazy butt >:(

 

[Mizuhime]

Laga you lazy butt >:(

Laga i think you're getting my message after the other threads

 

[Audiosurfer]

ok Laga before i reassign (im callin dibs on this rn if it does get reassigned) i just wanna know if you are going to finish it sometime soon or not

 

[Laga]

oh right I almost wrote this done and then I kinda dozed off in QC guys disagreeing about scarf vs no scarf

unless you all agree, I'm gonna write up without the scarf set

sorry...

 

[Stratos]

ok someone else can write up choice set w/e

 

[Audiosurfer]

Ok I'll do a scarf writeup later I guess, although I'd prefer to have scarf written up. Just get it done please