Porygon2 Analysis + 2 Movesets
Dec 3, 2016, 05:11 AM
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Rogue's face after knowing how good Porygon2 is in VGC17
![[Image: Danger-icon.png]](http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/iconsmind/outline/32/Danger-icon.png){kind=icon}
WARNING: This is not a normal duck, it's dangerous First of all you should give a look at the most recent Top 50 Showdown's teams usage stats for VGC17 - if you haven't done it yet - to notice that Porygon2 holds a solid 2nd place in that list. WHY? I mean.. look at this:
![[Image: 233.png]](http://pldh.net/media/dreamworld/233.png)
Type:
Base stats: HP 85 / Attack 80 / Defence 90 / Sp. Attack 105 / Sp. Defence 95/ Speed 60
Weaknesses:
x2Immunities:
Abilities: Trace, Download, Analytic
At first glance it seems like an average Normal-type pokemon, it's slow, it has decent bulk and SpAtk stat but no where near the BST of many other top pokemon in this format such as Tapus, Garchomp and so on.. and you would be right if you were playing Porygon2 without Ability, Item and without giving it any move LOL
Let's go in order:
ABILITY
Porygon2 has 3 abilities in Trace, Download and Analytic. The latter is unreliable, and while Trace is without doubts a good ability (being able to copy Intimidate or Lightning Rod would be really good for example) i think the one who is more of a game changer is Download for sure. The ability to get a +1 SpAtk boost when Porygon2 enters the field opens up to a completely different way to approach the match from the very beginning, being able to threaten most of the format with supereffective moves thanks to its movepool (but we'll talk about it later).
ITEM
Eviolite. Yes, Porygon2 can hold an Eviolite since it's the middle evolution (even if PorygonZ is just an "upgrade" and it has the same BST, it is classified as an evolution lol). A x1.5 boost to its already good Defence and Special Defence and the fact that its only weakness is Fighting-type.. what does it mean? You know the answer.
MOVEPOOL
I don't even know where to start. Porygon2 has access to so many moves that you can adapt its moveset to be based on what your team needs in terms of coverage. There are for sure some moves that in this moment of the metagame are clearly more efficient than other, and i'm gonna list these moves:
Discharge: there are many reason to run Discharge instead of Thunderbolt. The first is the threat of A-Marowak which is able to eat your potential Thunderbolt into (for ex.) your opponent's Gyarados, however with Discharge being a spread move it will still hit it without problems. Another reason would be to use Discharge when your partner on the field is a Ground-type such as Garchomp or A-Marowak itself, so you can afford to use an Electric type move even if there is a Lightning Rod user on your side of the field. The last reason is its incredible 30% chance to paralyze the targets, compared to Thunderbolt's 10% chance, which can make a huge difference against fast threats.
Ice Beam: The one and only Ice Beam, capable of getting a clean OHKO on Garchomp and Salamence even without a SpAtk boost. You are gonna hit for supereffective damage a lot of other things such as Tapu Bulu, Drampa, Krokodile, Mudsale and so on. In tandem with Discharge, the Ice+Electric type coverage is also famous for hitting at least for neutral damage almost everything.
Shadow Ball: This is a move i thought it was good on paper but not in practice. I was wrong.. i'm loving Shadow Ball right now, it is a great coverage move to hit A-Marowak, Tapu Lele, Metagross and in general other Ghost types such as Mimikyu and Gengar for supereffective damage, which can put them in KO range for your partner or for the following turn. Shadow Ball is also another neutral attack on anything that's not Dark-type or Normal-type, so at +1 SpAtk is a reliable damage output.
Tri Attack: Its primary STAB. It's a cool and strong move, especially at +1 SpAtk it will deal massive damage to anything that doesn't resist it. The 20% chance to burn, freeze or paralyze the target is also interesting, although it may be useless or counter-productive in certain situations. The combination of Shadow Ball and Tri Attack is only negated by a Dark/Ghost type (such as Sableye) if i'm not wrong, so it's a solid option to have neutral coverage.
Recover: Porygon2 with Eviolite has enough bulk the stay on the field on its own for a while already AND it gets access to Recover too, OMG! Recover Porygon2 is one of those annoying thing you can't do anything about it unless you have Taunt, and if your opponent starts supporting the duck with Intimidate and Snarl for example, you are never going to KO Porygon2 anymore and it will be able to do what it wants unless you switch momentum in your favor in some way.
Toxic: Useful move and it actually counters an opposing Porygon2 lol, but i'd say it was way better in VGC15 against threats such as Calm Mind Cresselia and Maranga Berry Milotic, but it may find some more space if the meta slows down a bit.
Trick Room: Finally, another staple move on Porygon2 is definitely Trick Room. Thanks to its bulk it can setup TR in any moment of the game to make full use of its low base speed to start threatening faster targets with supereffective moves. Occasionally you may also use your own TR to reverse an opposing heavy-TR based team (really important against those Torkoal / Drampa teams). Trick Room at the moment is the strongest form of speed control.
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Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Discharge
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
This is a offensive but effective set. Max HP and Max SpAtk to maximize its bulk and damage output. A Quiet nature lets Porygon2 be as slow as possible under Trick Room, so your opponent may think twice before setting up its own TR. This set benefits the most from a +1SpAtk boost, because at +1 these 3 moves are capable of threatening a OHKO on almost anything you can hit for supereffective damage. Recover helps it to stay around for more time to do as much more damage as possible.
Potential partners: a Ground-type and/or A-Marowak to make full use of Discharge, while an Intimidate user would be also highly suggested as this would compensate for not investing in its bulk and make some 2HKO into a 3HKO, really important.
Best Synergy: Tapu Lele is a great partner for Porygon2 because it can switch into an Fighting type move (which is x1/4 on Lele) while Porygon2 can switch into Ghost type moves, being immune to those.
Offensive calcs:
Defensive calcs:
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 116 SpA / 68 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Tri Attack [ Shadow Ball / Discharge - based on the rest of your team]
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Recover / Toxic
A slightly bulkier set, whose primary goal is to setup Trick Room most of the times. It still has a lot of offensive potential, since it can still OHKO Garchomp and Salamence with ease, and even without a SpAtk boost it can also 2HKO a 252HP Tapu Bulu after Grassy Terrain Recover and 2HKO Tapu Koko with Tri Attack, which is always useful. I'd run Toxic if you don't want Porygon2 to stay around for too long so you can switch into your TR sweepers to win the game.
Potential partners: Fake Out support is a good way to make sure you are gonna setup Trick Room, but it's not really necessary, especially because of the presence of Tapu Lele's Terrain which negates priority moves. Depending on the type coverage you give it, you may adjust the rest of the team accordingly. For example, Tri Attack + Ice Beam can't hit Steel types so i would add a Fire-type such as Arcanine if i still need an Intimidate or A-Marowak if i need a Fire-type but i'd like to run Discharge instead of Tri Attack.
Best Synergy: since you are gonna use TR, i think a Tapu Bulu + Arcanine/A-Marowak + Porygon2 core is really strong since you have bulky but hard hitters which all have good type synergy for safe switches between them.
Offensive calcs:
Defensive calcs: Similar to the previous build, but EVd to survive Z-Moves from Tapus
Hope you guys give Porygon2 a try! It's worth it!
