Amaranth
UPL Champion
[OVERVIEW]
Poliwrath's ugly typing and unremarkable stats give it a lot of trouble in RBY OU, but access to the rare Amnesia gives it a real niche as a wallbreaker. Unlike Amnesia users such as Slowbro and Snorlax, Poliwrath lacks the stats and typing to become unbreakable, but its Speed gives it a niche over them. Poliwrath outspeeds Exeggutor and can nail it with Blizzard after some chip damage, rather than having to fear Sleep Powder and Explosion like the other Amnesia users in the tier. It also possesses immediate threats against Chansey in the form of Hypnosis and Submission, which OHKOes with a critical hit.
However, while Poliwrath possesses these advantages over Slowbro, it suffers from all of Slowbro's flaws and more. It needs a lot of setup to break past Starmie and Chansey, which often threaten it with Thunderbolt, and it is vulnerable to Psychic, making Pokemon like Alakazam and Jynx much more problematic than they are for Slowbro. Like Slowbro, even after setting up, Poliwrath needs to watch for enemy Explosions that can stop the party before it even starts. Perhaps most importantly of all, Slowbro is able to heal itself throughout the game and provide utility thanks to superior defensive stats paired with Thunder Wave, while Poliwrath does not possess the bulk nor the movepool to be anything other than a one-time breaker.
Nevertheless, Poliwrath's Hydro Pumps deal incredible damage after only a few turns of Amnesia, which it can often find against paralyzed or sleeping foes, and it is capable of taking down multiple Pokemon in a single game if its primary checks, usually Starmie and Chansey, are either KOed by teammates or statused and weakened enough to be handled by Poliwrath itself. While inconsistent, Poliwrath is a Pokemon that can lead to good results if you build towards its strengths.
[SET]
name: Amnesia
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Blizzard / Hypnosis
move 4: Hypnosis / Submission / Surf
[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath's viability in OU revolves around the combination of Amnesia and Hydro Pump. All would-be checks fall to it if they allow enough free turns: Starmie has great odds to be 2HKOed at +4, Alakazam is 2HKOed at +2 and OHKOed at +6, and even Chansey cannot survive two +6 Hydro Pumps. Other Pokemon that may attempt to finish off a weakened or crippled Poliwrath are also significantly easier to take down with Hydro Pump than with Surf: Snorlax is OHKOed by +6 Hydro Pump but always stomachs a +6 Surf, while +4 is enough to drop Tauros. While the prospects of Hydro Pump's accuracy and PP will understandably scare players off, the favorable ranges this move reaches are simply too important.
In the third slot, a tool against Exeggutor is highly recommended: Blizzard will hit for over half its HP after a single Amnesia, but if the team has no plans to put any other foes to sleep, then Hypnosis is also a valid way of threatening it, while also doubling as a way for Poliwrath to give itself free turns. For the last slot, many options are viable: Submission provides an immediate critical hit OHKO threat on Chansey, though the accuracy and recoil make it fairly inconsistent, while Surf's accuracy can be appreciated in specific scenarios where the extra damage from Hydro Pump is not required. Other options such as Body Slam, Counter, Psychic, and Rest can also have merits in very specific scenarios but are strongly discouraged, as they do not contribute to Poliwrath's primary purpose as a wallbreaker.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Amaranth, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[May, 236353], [shiloh, 211471]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Sabelette, 583793], [autumn, 384270]]
Poliwrath's ugly typing and unremarkable stats give it a lot of trouble in RBY OU, but access to the rare Amnesia gives it a real niche as a wallbreaker. Unlike Amnesia users such as Slowbro and Snorlax, Poliwrath lacks the stats and typing to become unbreakable, but its Speed gives it a niche over them. Poliwrath outspeeds Exeggutor and can nail it with Blizzard after some chip damage, rather than having to fear Sleep Powder and Explosion like the other Amnesia users in the tier. It also possesses immediate threats against Chansey in the form of Hypnosis and Submission, which OHKOes with a critical hit.
However, while Poliwrath possesses these advantages over Slowbro, it suffers from all of Slowbro's flaws and more. It needs a lot of setup to break past Starmie and Chansey, which often threaten it with Thunderbolt, and it is vulnerable to Psychic, making Pokemon like Alakazam and Jynx much more problematic than they are for Slowbro. Like Slowbro, even after setting up, Poliwrath needs to watch for enemy Explosions that can stop the party before it even starts. Perhaps most importantly of all, Slowbro is able to heal itself throughout the game and provide utility thanks to superior defensive stats paired with Thunder Wave, while Poliwrath does not possess the bulk nor the movepool to be anything other than a one-time breaker.
Nevertheless, Poliwrath's Hydro Pumps deal incredible damage after only a few turns of Amnesia, which it can often find against paralyzed or sleeping foes, and it is capable of taking down multiple Pokemon in a single game if its primary checks, usually Starmie and Chansey, are either KOed by teammates or statused and weakened enough to be handled by Poliwrath itself. While inconsistent, Poliwrath is a Pokemon that can lead to good results if you build towards its strengths.
[SET]
name: Amnesia
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Blizzard / Hypnosis
move 4: Hypnosis / Submission / Surf
[SET COMMENTS]
Poliwrath's viability in OU revolves around the combination of Amnesia and Hydro Pump. All would-be checks fall to it if they allow enough free turns: Starmie has great odds to be 2HKOed at +4, Alakazam is 2HKOed at +2 and OHKOed at +6, and even Chansey cannot survive two +6 Hydro Pumps. Other Pokemon that may attempt to finish off a weakened or crippled Poliwrath are also significantly easier to take down with Hydro Pump than with Surf: Snorlax is OHKOed by +6 Hydro Pump but always stomachs a +6 Surf, while +4 is enough to drop Tauros. While the prospects of Hydro Pump's accuracy and PP will understandably scare players off, the favorable ranges this move reaches are simply too important.
In the third slot, a tool against Exeggutor is highly recommended: Blizzard will hit for over half its HP after a single Amnesia, but if the team has no plans to put any other foes to sleep, then Hypnosis is also a valid way of threatening it, while also doubling as a way for Poliwrath to give itself free turns. For the last slot, many options are viable: Submission provides an immediate critical hit OHKO threat on Chansey, though the accuracy and recoil make it fairly inconsistent, while Surf's accuracy can be appreciated in specific scenarios where the extra damage from Hydro Pump is not required. Other options such as Body Slam, Counter, Psychic, and Rest can also have merits in very specific scenarios but are strongly discouraged, as they do not contribute to Poliwrath's primary purpose as a wallbreaker.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Amaranth, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[May, 236353], [shiloh, 211471]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Sabelette, 583793], [autumn, 384270]]
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