VGC 2017 Pokemon Spotlight #5 - Porygon2

Welcome back to another Pokemon Spotlight, where the goal is to shine a light about a Pokemon that's doing well in the VGC 2017 format. Today, we'll be taking a look at Porygon2. Porygon2 is a very strong Pokemon, appearing on a lot of teams in the format. Its a very strong Pokemon that you should expect to see a lot of teams in the VGC 2017 format. Hope you enjoy and let's begin.

Base Stats


Because Porygon2 still has the potential to evolve, it can use the Eviolite item. This means that it gets 1.5x boosts to its defensive stats, turning its 85/90/95 defensive stats, which are only pretty average, into a very bulky Pokemon on the likes of Cresselia's bulk, which makes it very bulky. 80/105 attacking stats are pretty decent as with 80 attack, you won't most likely be using its 105 Sp. Attack stat, meaning that you'll have access to really strong special based moves. Its 60 speed stat is very slow, but as you'll later see, it can use various moves to turn this into an advantage.

Notable Moves - Here are some moves that you might see on Porygon2

1. Recover - Useful to gain HP when your starting to get worn down
2. Discharge - Strong electric type spread move to bypass Lightning Rod users
3. Tri Attack - Strong special attacking Normal type move
4. Toxic - Useful for slowly weakening Pokemon that can be troublesome
5. Ice Beam - Good Ice type move for Pokemon like Garchomp and Salamence
6. Protect - Useful for blocking attacks and weakening the power of Z-Moves
7. Frustration - If you get the Download attack boost, you can have a strong physical move
8. Thunderbolt - Strong electric type moves for water types
9. Shadow Ball - Useful for hitting Pokemon like Alolan Marowak 
10. Thunder Wave - Permanently slows down a Pokemon to help the rest of Porygon2's team
11. Trick Room - Reverses speed for the next 4 turns so that your team can potentially sweep

Now I wanna go into some sample sets that I recommend on Porygon2. There's only 1 set that I can really recommend as unlike many Pokemon, Porygon2 can only really be played in 1 way.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite

Ability: Download

EVs: 244 HP / 92 Def / 28 SpA / 140 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe

- Thunderbolt/Tri Attack

- Ice Beam/Shadow Ball

- Recover

- Trick Room

This is a pretty simple, most effective set for a Porygon2 in the 2017 format, which is set Trick Room, use Recover to heal up its HP, and cause damage when it needs to. The move choice is ultimately dependent on the team. Ice Beam/Tri Attack is what I enjoy to use as you have Ice Beam for Pokemon like Garchomp and Mudsdale with Tri Attack for STAB. The classic BoltBeam combo of Ice Beam and Thunderbolt is great neutral coverage against the entire meta. Shadow Ball is great for Alolan Marowak. Download is the preferred ability for many Porygon2 as it gives you either the Attack or Sp. Attack boost that will abuse the target's lower defense stat (i.e. Attack for lower Defense stat or Sp. Attack for lower Sp. Defense stat.) The 28 SpA allows it to KO Garchomp if it gets the Sp. Attack Download boost. The 244 HP / 140 SpD allows Porygon2 to survive a base 252+ 185 powered Hydro Vortex from a Golduck in the rain, comboed with 252+ SpA Pelipper's Scald in the rain, assuming they aren't maxed damage rolls. It also allows it to survive 252+ Tapu Lele's Psychic in its Psychic Terrain. The 244 HP minimizes damage from weather like hail and sand, as well as Leech Seed. The reason this set is the best idea for using Porygon2 is that Porygon2 is this format's bulky Trick Room user, so it essentially needs to be able to take multiple, strong hits in 1 turn, which it's able to do with Recover. It has access to the right moves it needs to for a team with enough access to the right moves with Ice, Electric, Normal, and Ghost coverage to help out its team in the ways it needs to.

Items to use on Porygon2

1. Eviolite - Gives it a 1.5x boost to its defensive stats since it still has the potential to evolve

(This is Porygon2's best item as without the Eviolite, its bulk and what role it plays in the format is essentially gone and it's weakened and easier to deal with.)

Partners - Here's some Pokemon that enjoy Porygon2's company

• Hariyama - Provides Fake Out pressure to help set up Trick Room to try and sweep the game
• Garchomp - Garchomp can Earthquake safely next to Porygon2 while it uses Recover to heal back up to full HP
• Salamence - Provides Intimidate to help set-up Trick Room
• Alolan Marowak- It's naturally slow so under Trick Room, it'll be ready to start sweeping the game
• Torkoal - It's naturally slow so under Trick Room, it can start using Eruption

How to beat Porygon2

• Buzzwole - It can use Hammer Arm to heavily damage Porygon2
• Pheromosa - It can carry High Jump Kick to potentially KO Porygon2
• Hariyama - A Guts boosted Close Combat can easily KO Porygon2
• Z-Moves - Z-Moves boosted off of a very powerful move can do a massive amount of damage to Porygon2
• Taunt - Since Porygon2 isn't seen with the Mental Herb, Taunt means Porygon2 can't use its status moves like Recover and Trick Room
• Status - Status conditions, mainly Poison from Toxic are an issue because Porygon2 won't enjoy being able to have to switch between deciding to either support the team or use Recover to keep its HP up.

I hope you enjoyed this. Overall, Porygon2 is a fantastic support Pokemon because of its ability to support its team and be able to take a multitude of hits, which can help it out. It's damage output is amazing for a support Pokemon. Check out the older articles and I'll see you guys next time. Bye!