TORKOAL STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

The utilization of weathers is a defining mechanic in Competitive Pokémon , with teams built entirely around it. Some Pokémon like Pelipper find their place in the game thanks only to their weather ability, but today we bring you a strategy for a Pokémon that can be the centerpiece of your team, your sweeper , and your wall .

Torkoal has a wide variety of uses, good moves, and massive damage. Learning how to play it and how to play against it is a must to be able to compete, so we are going to see everything you need to know about this great turtle.

Everybody ready? Well let’s go there.

? TORKOAL STATS

His stats add up to a total of 470 points . Even if it’s below average for Competitive, this can be a very good thing. We explain how:

Health: 70.
Attack: 85.
Defense: 140.
Special Attack: 85.
Special Defense: 70.
Speed: 20.

Defensively, Torkoal is a very tough Pokémon for the physical part with 140 and somewhat weak for its special part, with only 70. Its low Health of 70 makes it necessary for us to train it to maximize it, with which it will be able to endure a lot.

On the offensive side is where Torkoal can be left over, even if it doesn’t seem like it. His 85 Special Attack is nothing extraordinary, but we will see that thanks to his ability his damage can be devastating. Lastly, his Speed might seem like his worst stat, but we can get a lot out of it if we prepare for it. We explain below.

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES

Torkoal is a Fire-Type , which gives it the following weaknesses and resistances:

It is resistant to Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel, and Fairy.
It is weak to Water, Earth and Rock.

Being a Unity Fire type is pretty good defensively. With 6 resistances, our Torkoal is capable of withstanding many blows in changes, its resistance to Steel and Fairy being especially useful. Also, we will see below how his ability allows him to resist one of his weaknesses.

Its 3 weaknesses are somewhat awkward, let’s see some examples of dangerous Pokémon:

Water : We will see that this type can be covered, but they are still uncomfortable for our turtle. Pokémon like Palafin or Greninja are a tremendous danger.
Rock : This is a very good type offensively, with Pokemon like Tyranitar or Glimmora threatening Torkoal a lot.
Earth : There are very dangerous Pokémon in the Earth type, but we highlight Garchomp as a rival to take into account.

TORKOAL’S ABILITIES

We have 3 abilities for Torkoal, let’s see what they do and how to take advantage of them:

WHITE SMOKE

Great ability that will make if our Pokémon suffers Burn, Poisoning or Paralysis it will transmit it to the opponent. Very decisive in Singles, where the presence of status moves like Toxic are widely used.

DROUGHT

Upon entering the field, the Pokémon induces sunny weather for 5 turns. This weather boosts the damage of Fire-type moves by 50% and reduces the damage of Water-type moves by 50% as well. This is the ability that allows Torkoal to hit very hard and mitigate its weakness to Water-types .

SHELL (HIDDEN ABILITY)

This ability prevents our Pokémon from receiving critical hits. It’s not a bad ability, especially against Pokemon like Fluid Urshifu , though Drought is still a better ability.

IVS, EVS AND NATURE

The statistics that we will improve from our Torkoal will depend on its function, so let’s see two options:

When using a wall -style defensive set :
- EV’s : Regarding its EV’s, we will seek to maximize its durability, 252 in Health and 252 in Defense, with the remaining 4 in Special Defense.
- Nature : A Bold (+Defense, –Attack) or Calm (+Special Defense, -Attack) Nature are the best choices. In case we use Trick Room, options like Placid (+Defense, -Speed) or Rude (+Sp Defense, -Speed) are good alternatives.
When using a Trick Room sweeper set (use IV 0 Speed ):
- EV’s : Here we will raise Health and Special Attack, both to 252. 4 remaining for Special Defense.
- Nature : A Meek (+Special Attack, –Speed) or Cautious (+Special Defense, -Attack) Nature. If we want to be more defensive we can use options like Placid (+Defense, -Speed) or Rude (+Exp Defense, -Speed).

BEST MOVES FOR TORKOAL

These are the best moves for Torkoal:

Smoky : STAB Fire, Special, 80 power and 100% accuracy. Has a 30% chance to burn the target. In Doubles it is not a good move as it also hits our partner, but in Singles it is the safest option. It will be very effective damage against Steel, Bug, Ice and Grass. Along with sunny weather it will destroy Pokemon like Meowscarada , Aegislash , or Kingambit .
Quick Spin : Normal, Physical, 50 power and 100% accuracy. This move removes traps from the opponent, Trap Rocks, Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Drains, Harassment, Constriction and Sand Loop. Its usefulness is tremendous in Singles.
Rock Trap : Rock, State. Places rocks that deal damage to the opposing Pokémon when it enters the field. In Singles there are many changes, so this movement is fantastic to damage the opponent. The damage depends on the opponent’s weakness or resistance to the Rock type, so we have this table of equivalences:
- Weakness x4: 50% Health.
- Weakness x2: 25 Health.
- Weakness x1 (neutral): 12.5% Health.
- Stamina x2: 6.25% Health
- Resistance x4: 3.12% Health.
Yawn : Puts the opposing Pokémon to sleep on the first turn and puts it to sleep at the end of the next. We can use this movement repeatedly, forcing several changes in the opponent. It’s a great option against Pokemon that want to stay in play for several turns like Annihilape .
Burst : Fire STAB, Special, 150 power and 100% accuracy. Hit both opponents in Doubles. The power of this move depends on the user’s remaining Health, so the less health we have, the less damage we will do.
Fire Wave : Fire STAB, Special, 95 power and 90% accuracy. Has a 10% chance to burn the opponent. It is the STAB alternative for Doubles when our Health is low.
Living Earth: Earth, 90 power and 100% accuracy. Has a 10% chance to lower the target’s Special Defense. It is our answer to Steel, Electric, Rock, Poison and Fire types. It is very useful to be able to face Pokémon like Coalossal , Garganacl or the aforementioned Tyranitar.
Toxic : Status move with 90% accuracy that severely poisons the target.
Clear Mist : Poison, Special, 50 power and 100% accuracy. Removes changes to the target’s stats, removing the Sword Dance boost for example and Tatsugiri’s boost to Dondozo . It’s very effective damage against Grass and Fairy, a great answer to Pokemon like Fluttermane or Sylveon .
Protection : Normal, Status, high priority. The Pokémon prevents all damage or status moves this turn.

TORKOAL STRATEGIES

We are going to see how to play Torkoal, which has two very different functions. It could be a great wall that supports us or a slow sweeper , tremendous for Trick Room.

TORKOAL WALL THE IRON TURTLE – SINGLES

IVs: Perfect.
EVs: 252 Health, 252 Defense, and 4 Special Defense.
Nature: Serene.
Object: Remains.
Skill: Drought.
Movements:
- smoke.
- Quick turn.
- Trap Rocks.
- Yawning / Toxic.

With this set our Torkoal will be a very difficult defensive wall to weaken. Our goal will be to set up Trap Rock and use Yawn to force switches . If Yawn doesn’t convince you, with Toxic you can also force those changes. With Quick Spin we will remove the opponent’s traps and we will use Smoke to do good damage thanks to the weather.

Thanks to our ability we can take Pokémon that cover Torkoal’s weaknesses and use the weather in their favor, like the great Venusaur with Chlorophyll ability. As long as we are careful not to take a very hard hit from Pokémon like Garchomp for example, our Torkoal will be a real problem.

TORKOAL SWEEPER IN TRICK ROOM – VGC DOUBLES

IVs: Perfect.
EVs: 252 Health, 252 Special Attack and 4 Special Defense.
Nature: Mansa.
Item: Election/Charcoal Glasses.
Skill: Drought.
Movements:
- rash.
- igneous wave.
- Alive earth.
- Clear Fog / Protection.

As we have already seen, Torkoal is one of the slowest Pokémon in the game, so when we set up Trick Room it will be a true destroyer . Thanks to Choice Glasses, sun, and tremendous Eruption damage, few Pokémon will be able to take this hit. In case our Health has gone down, use Igneous Wave.

Living Earth is great coverage, and thanks to Clear Mist we’ll be able to take on Dondozo and stat-boosting Pokemon like Bramaluna or Dragapult .

We recommend using Pokémon like Hatterene or Armarouge to place the Trick Room and if you want to use the Sun, Pokémon like Scovillain or Lilligant are great Pokémon with Chlorophyll, especially the latter that with Give Way and its great Speed can make Torkoal attack first no need for Trick Space.

TORKOAL TERACRYSTALLIZATION

Teracrystallization Plant .

Thanks to the teracrystallization Plant we will resist Torkoal’s 3 weaknesses, also being able to do very effective damage with Teraexplosion. Very useful and it will make it almost impossible to weaken our little turtle.

Teracrystallization Fire .

Sunny weather, improved STAB, and a Fire-type attack is a combination that will take down almost any Pokemon that isn’t resistant to Fire. Give it a try, it does insane damage.

HOW TO DEFEAT TORKOAL AND COUNTERS

If we face Torkoal without an answer, it can destroy the game on its own, both its wall and sweeper versions . Let’s see how we can counteract it:

Finish off Torkoal : Even though it is a very defensive Pokémon, its Special Defense is not the best. Pokemon like Gastrodon or Glimmora are dangers to watch out for.
Weather Change : Especially when we are facing the offensive Torkoal, changing the weather can be devastating for its damage and we can even lock it into a Fire-type Attack. Setting up Rain with Pokemon like Pelipper/Politoed or Sand Storm with Tyranitar or Hippowdon are great options. Snow with Alolan Ninetales or Abomasnow.
Taunt : If we manage to use Taunt on Torkoal he will lose his entire arsenal of status moves for 3 turns and will be a very incapable wall . Additionally, we can use Taunt to prevent Trick Room against the offensive Torkoal.

TORKOAL STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

? TORKOAL STATS

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES