Gen 8 OU (Beta) Galarian Corsola (Eviolite Stall)

[Kris]

It's very easy to see that Pokemon Sun & Moon introduced us many rather lacking additions, but one that stood out was Alolan Forms, and while these forms were exclusive to Kanto Pokemon, they offered up interesting ideas. Generation 8, Sword & Shield, has followed suit with Galarian Forms. And in my opinion, none hold as much potential as Galarian Corsola. No longer held back by it's 4x weakness to Grass, G-Corsola is a pure Ghost type. The biggest addition to Corsola however, is it's ability to evolve into Cursola. While Cursola definitely is intriguing, today we're taking a look at Corsola and how it currently stacks in the Gen 8 OU Meta. For this I'll be going off of Smogon's Beta OU Singles format, information is subject to change be wary.

Comparison & BST

Corsola 

 

HP - 65

Attack - 55

Defense - 95

Sp. Atk - 65

Sp. Def - 95

Speed - 35


Corsola-Galar


HP - 60
Attack - 55
Defense - 100
Sp. Atk - 65
Sp. Def - 100
Speed - 30

So, immediately we can see that Galarian Corsola got a slight increase to it's Defenses. Now, while it might seem like a little bit, don't forget, Corsola can now effectively use the violite item, making it far more viable than it used to be. While it did recieve a nerf to it's HP, it's Speed, in my opinion, got a nice buff because depending on the set you can run a Trick Room Corsola to set up on Pokemon you don't need to fear. Additionally, it's new type of Ghost helps it enter matchups regular Corsola just cant, and in a meta which will have the likes of Rillaboom, Appletun, Flapple anf a few other Grass types, as well as returning threats like Mudsdale, no longer being held back by Rock and Water is a huge help. Thats all there is to the main concept behind Corsola in Gen 8, lets look at the set I use at the moment.
 

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Corsola-Galar @ Eviolite  
Ability: Cursed Body  
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD  
Calm / Bold Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Will-O-Wisp  
- Protect / Strength Sap 
- Stealth Rock  
- Whirlpool

 

 

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Stats, Item & Ability

Corsola's main role lies in being a stall Pokemon as noted by it's moves. It's HP is of course lowered in this new form, so we can't afford to not have that be max EVs, and I've gone for a split on the Defense EVs. You can interchange the Nature from Bold to Calm depending on the matchup, just as long as the nature you have makes it have low attack in case of confusion, and of course 0 IVs on the Attack. Cursed Body is a new tool Corsola gets access to in Gen 8, and I think it might be the best Cursed Body holder yet. CB gives a 30% chance for Pokemon to have their move disabled when used on Corsola. And this can be HUGE for Pokemon who are choiced, or in the case of Galarian Darmanitan, have Gorrila Tactics, as it can force a switch or ruin their set up entirely. And of course, we can now utilize the Eviolite item to increase Corsola's Defenses even further.

Moves

Now, heres where it gets really good for Corsola, it's new moves are really REALLY useful tools, but the one in particular you'll always want to run is Will-o-Wisp. Will-o-Wisp cuts the Pokemon's attack stat in half, and there are a large number of physical attacks in this current meta, from Rillaboom to Hawlucha, and the especially scary Galarian Darmanitan, however with this tool you can slow down those normally heavy hitters and seamlessly flow into your other moves. Whirpool is going to be Corsola's trapping move, and your main target will be Wisped opponents or other stall Pokemon which you can try to gimp with Cursed Body. Whirlpool will of course stack damage on over time, and this, like Will-o-Wisp will help you to set up better. Corsola is able to use Stealth Rock in this gen, and much like any other gen, Rocks will always be an effective setup tool. The key thing here however, unlike other rocks users, Corsola is a Ghost type so it can be affected by Rapid Spin and thus it makes that move entirely useless, which is where there trapping comes into play. Protect is the go to stall move, and not much can be said about it that we don't already know, but do keep in mind you can protect against Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokemon's attacks and you will still take some damage. Unfortunately, Corsola doesn't keep Recover so a work around had to be made, and Strength Sap is the way to go, for the same reason we have Will-o-Wisp. Getting hit by Strength Sap drops the opponent's attack and restores Corsola's HP, just increasing it's longevity even further. You can interchange this with Protect depending on the matchup. 

Damage Calcs

Now, the best case scenario is you have the opponent Burned, maybe -2 in the attack and trapped as well as Disabled their main attack, all that combined makes Corsola surprisingly versatile and dangerous in Gen 8, but you need to crawl before you walk so lets see how Corsola's survivability is. (Pokemon are level 100, and Choice Band Darmanitan is in place of Gorrila Tactics for now)
252+ Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 130-154 (40.1 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(130, 132, 133, 135, 136, 138, 139, 141, 142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 150, 151, 154)

252+ Atk Choice Band burned Darmanitan-Galar Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 65-77 (20 - 23.7%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
(65, 66, 66, 67, 68, 69, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72, 73, 74, 75, 75, 77)

252+ Atk Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 164-194 (50.6 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(164, 164, 168, 170, 170, 174, 176, 176, 180, 182, 182, 186, 188, 188, 192, 194)

252+ Atk Life Orb Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 213-252 (65.7 - 77.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(213, 213, 218, 221, 221, 226, 229, 229, 234, 237, 237, 242, 244, 244, 250, 252)

252+ Atk Life Orb burned Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 107-126 (33 - 38.8%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO
(107, 107, 109, 110, 110, 113, 114, 114, 117, 118, 118, 121, 122, 122, 125, 126)

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 169-199 (52.1 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(169, 171, 172, 175, 177, 178, 181, 183, 184, 187, 189, 190, 193, 195, 196, 199)

252+ Atk Choice Band Overgrow Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 253-298 (78 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(253, 256, 259, 262, 265, 268, 271, 274, 277, 280, 283, 286, 289, 292, 295, 298)

252+ Atk Life Orb Hawlucha Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 107-127 (33 - 39.1%) -- 99.8% chance to 3HKO
(107, 109, 109, 112, 112, 114, 114, 117, 117, 120, 120, 122, 122, 125, 125, 127)

252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 128+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 240-284 (74 - 87.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(240, 242, 246, 248, 252, 254, 258, 260, 264, 266, 270, 272, 276, 278, 282, 284)

Threats

Gengar is the main threat to Corsola as it's special attack can easily floor non Calm variants, and possibly OHKO Calm variants anyway using Shadow Ball. Additionally, other stall Pokemon like Toxapex can poison Corsola and don't mind the Burn in return due to their sets, and other Special Attack oriented Pokemon like Special Dragapult can be a tough challenge for Corsola, as they too, won't mind getting Burned. 

Team Sets

Corsola can actually work well on many teams excluding Hail and Sand as the weather will chip away at it's HP, which cannot be so easily restored. The best team mates you can put in my opinion are;

- Gengar to counter Dragapult and other Gengar directly using it's G-Max form, and also can OHKO Toxapex and other Corsola.

- Rillaboom can setup Grassy Terrain using either a Grass Type Dynamax move or straight up Grassy Surge, and this will help Corsola out a lot.

- Any Pokemon capable of setting up Spikes to wear opponents down while Corsola adds on with Whirlpool. Note, I leave Toxic Spikes out to ensure Corsola still has access to Will-o-Wisp, and not hinder it's overall performance.

- Umbreon and / or Vaporeon as they still keep access to Wish and are key healers for Corsola.

[Hojunhu]

This is huge. I tried calcing for Specs Hydreigon and even that beast 2HKOs this Corsola set.

[Kris]

Oh wow, Corsola has enough of being left out of the battles

[RetroTyphlosion]

@Kris 

Probably late to this discussion, but its worth noting Night Shade. Though Corsola can't attack with standard attack moves all that well, Night Shade does allow it to gain some offensive presence, probably more so than Whirlpool tbh. In my opinion, put Night Shade over Whirlpool and Strength Sap over Protect. Then.... stall with Will-o-Wisp and Night Shade.

-Retro