Welcome to Pokemon of the Week! This week we'll be discussing one of the most influential Pokemon that was introduced with generation 5. This week, we'll be discussing Ferrothorn.

Ferrothorn... when many people found Ferroseed in Black/White, it was immediately overlooked. Low attacking stats, a mediocre offensive typing, and a kind of... meh offensive movepool made Ferrothorn a bit of a non-option for in-game where your best Pokemon are the ones that can dispose of enemies quickly and efficiently. However, when people such as myself looked at Ferrothorn competitively, we knew immediately what it would bring to the table...

Where to begin... Ferrothorn was, at one point, the #1 most used Pokemon in the OU tier. Grass/Steel grants it with 10 resistances, one important immunity to Poison (immune to Toxic and Toxic Spikes), and only two weaknesses, albeit common ones, to Fire and Fighting. Key resistances to Water, Dragon, and Rock really help make Ferrothorn even more of a defensive threat. With base 74/131/116 defenses, Ferrothorn is truly one of the best defensive Pokemon in existence. It even has base 94 Attack and base 20 Speed, allowing it to make use of Gyro Ball and Power Whip. Add in Leech Seed, Stealth Rock, Spikes and Thunder Wave, and Ferrothorn has many support options as well. Finally, Iron Barbs punishes any Dragons foolish enough to go into an Outrage while Ferrothorn is still alive, while also providing nice 12% chip damage to any opponent that makes contact.

However, like every Pokemon, Ferrothorn has it's problems. Magnezone is the biggest one, trapping and killing it with Magnet Pull and Hidden Power Fire. Speaking of Hidden Power Fire, it's used on many, many special attackers just to deal with Ferrothorn, which makes life a lot harder for our spikey friend. The boost in power of Fighting types in this generation also hinders Ferrothorn's walling ability, and can sometimes turn it into setup bait, especially for Pokemon like Conkeldurr with Guts and Bulk Up. If used to it's strengths, Ferrothorn will be an invaluable defensive Pokemon on your team, but if used haphazardly, it can be roasted before it has the chance to do anything at all.

Ferrothorn@ Leftovers / Shed Shell Iron Barbs Relaxed nature (+Defense, -Speed) / Impish nature (+Defense, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 HP / 48 Defense / 208 Sp. Defense Stealth Rock / Spikes Leech Seed / Stealth Rock Power Whip / Protect Gyro Ball / Thunder Wave

When putting Ferrothorn on your team, you first have to decide what role it will play. Stealth Rock is arguably the most important move in OU, but it's also widespread, so using it on Ferrothorn can be argued that it's a waste of a slot. However, if nothing else on your team can fit Stealth Rock, do not hesitate to put it on Ferrothorn, since it's the more important of the two entry hazards. Spikes is your secondary hazard, and when stacked with Stealth Rock, you can chip even more damage off the opposing team, which can be crucial in dealing with defensive teams especially, but helps against most any opposing team, turning some 2HKOs into OHKOs with enough entry damage. Leech Seed is a wonderful move that deters opposing Pokemon from setting up, heals Ferrothorn, and aids teammates if Ferrothorn is immediately forced out. Stealth Rock is an option here, though, if you want to use both entry hazards on one Pokemon.

Power Whip is a great offensive STAB attack that helps deal with the common Water types that are present in Rain teams, while also having pretty good neutral coverage. Protect is an option here if you want to scout the foe's move, which is very useful in seeing if the opposing Pokemon has a Fire type attack, or what a Choice item Pokemon will lock itself into. It can also help PP stall out things like Choiced Terrakion's Close Combat, as well as give you more healing from Leech Seed. In the last slot, Gyro Ball provides a wonderful STAB attack to deal with Pokemon that resist Grass, such as Gengar, nearly every Dragon, Toxicroak (though in rain it will just Sub stall you out of HP, so it's only really helpful as a hit as it switches in), etc. Thunder Wave is an option to use instead of Gyro Ball, useful for crippling many common switch-ins to Ferrothorn like Ninetales, Dragonite, Infernape, etc.

The choice of item comes down to personal preference. Leftovers is a wonderful item for Ferrothorn, returning 6% health per turn, which can really add up when stacked with Leech Seed. Shed Shell's main use is to escape Magnezone, which otherwise switches in with relative impunity and either kills you straight away, or sets a Substitute and agonizingly begins Charge Beaming up to +6 while you attack with Not Very Effective moves. One final thing to note that is rather important is that Ferrothorn can be EV'd a whole slew of different ways, depending on what you want it to do. More special defense is perfectly viable and useful for certain situations. My own personal Ferrothorn set runs Careful nature, 252 HP/88 Defense/168 Sp. Defense, so customize Ferrothorn's EVs if you feel that the listed spread isn't the most efficient for your team's needs.

Ferrothorn@ Choice Band Iron Barbs Brave nature (+Attack, -Speed) EVs: 248 HP / 252 Attack / 8 Sp. Defense IVs: 0 Speed Gyro Ball Power Whip Bulldoze Spikes / Explosion

Yes, Ferrothorn is fully capable of running a Choice Band set to great effect. See, the reason this is possible is because no one sees it coming, but when you remember Ferrothorn's base 94 Attack, it's actually very viable. Gyro Ball is your best STAB attack, hitting extremely hard with your low Speed, STAB, and Choice Band boost. Power Whip hits Pokemon that resist Gyro Ball, especially Water types, much harder. Bulldoze will certainly surprise any Magnezone that switches into Ferrothorn, instantly OHKOing it (provided it's not holding an Air Balloon). The last slot must seem crazy, but Ferrothorn doesn't have many viable options. Spikes isn't ideal to be locked into, but there are some times when it's the best move you can make (for example, if the opponent has Skarmory and you know they're going to switch it into you, having figured out that you're Banded, Spikes is a better play than any of the other moves you have). Explosion is an okay move that can be used as a last-ditch effort to bring down an opponent, but it also comes with the knowledge that you've just lost a Pokemon of your own, and it's not always a wonderful trade. Now, here are some calculations from Smogon:

Gyro Ball vs. 0/0 Salamence: 117.2% - 138.1%
Gyro Ball vs 4/0 Garchomp: 94.1% - 110.9%
Gyro Ball vs. 4/0 Thundurus-T: 72% - 84.7%
Gyro Ball vs. 252/0 Celebi: 79.7% - 94.3%
Gyro Ball vs. 252/184+ Gliscor: 58.8% - 69.5%
Power Whip vs. 252/0 Conkeldurr: 65.2% - 76.8%
Power Whip vs. 192/64 Reuniclus: 73.6% - 86.8%
Power Whip vs.' 252/236+ Tentacruel: 67.6% - 79.9%
Power Whip vs. 252/252+ Reuniclus: 52.6% - 62.3%
Power Whip vs. 252/252+ Suicune: 83.7% - 98.5%
Power Whip vs. 252/252+ Hippowdon: 79% - 93.3%
Bulldoze vs. 248/0 Heatran: 85.2% - 100.8%
Bulldoze vs. 172/0 Magnezone: 95.1% - 112.3%
Explosion vs. 192/64 Zapdos: 103% - 121.4%

As you can see, this is more than just a gimmick set, able to deal devastating amounts of damage to many common Pokemon in OU with the right move. Like any Choice set, you have to be careful of what move you use and when, and this one requires a lot of prediction to be used effectively, especially if the opponent has Magnzeone in their team. Locking yourself into Bulldoze, even if they switch Magnezone into it, isn't the most ideal spot to be in, as it invites things like Dragon Dance Dragonite to begin setting up on you with no consequences.

One final thing to note about this set is that you are consciously giving up much of Ferrothorn's support and walling ability for surprise factor. Surprise factor that, once revealed, is much easier to work around if you've got even a single Pokemon that walls this set, such as Skarmory, and opposing defensive Ferrothorn. It has the most utility on heavy offense teams that like having a defensive Pokemon that can blast out heavy firepower under the guise of the entry hazard setter of the team.

As I mentioned previously, Ferrothorn is kind of an awkward Pokemon to raise in-game. It's slower than literally everything you'll encounter, even if you're many levels higher than it is, it has a shallow offensive movepool, it's got 2 common weaknesses, and no instant recovery for a defensive Pokemon. However, it can prove to be a wonderful Pokemon to just wall the hell out of things that your team has problems with. Have an Emboar and sick of Water and Psychic types ruining your fun? Problem fixed. Annoyed with Dragon moves? He's got your back. Tired of most things hitting you for any kind of neutral damage at all? He doesn't... he doesn't even care about most types.

Finding Ferroseed isn't hard either. Chargestone Cave is the place to go if you want a Ferroseed, and they come around level 25, with a 20% encounter rate. Here's what I'd recommend using for your in-game Ferrothorn:

Ferrothorn Power Whip Gyro Ball Bulldoze / Leech Seed Curse / Stealth Rock / Hone Claws

It's so unfortunate that most of Ferrothorn's good moves are Egg Moves. Anyway, Power Whip and Gyro Ball form your STAB core, and they've got pretty good coverage. Bulldoze allows you to hit Steel types, as well as Fire types, though I don't recommend actually staying in on any Fire types if it's not necessary, because they'll often OHKO you before you can move. Leech Seed would be the best move in this slot, but it's an Egg move, so it's listed as a secondary option. In the last slot, Curse is multi-functional, boosting both Attack and Defense, while lowering Speed and making Gyro Ball even more powerful . Stealth Rock is a tutor move, but a very useful team support option. Hone Claws gives you a boost in power and accuracy, perfect for ensuring those Power Whips hit every time.

When generation 5 was announced, I was sort of... not paying too much attention to new Pokemon, on account of Blaziken getting Speed Boost, but as soon as I did see Ferrothorn, I knew immediately. It went without saying, I put one on my competitive battling team immediately, recognizing it's defensive talents. It's a staple of nearly all of my competitive battling teams, and I have grown quite attached to it. I still have some teams saved that predate B/W's arrival in America that have Ferrothorn's translation name, Nattorei, in them. That's how long I've been utilizing this wonderful Pokemon. With X/Y coming and removing two of it's resistances (Ghost and Dark, for those unaware, will be neutral against Steel in X/Y), Ferrothorn will take a little bit of a hit, but it will also have STAB Gyro Ball to smash Fairy types, as well as a resistance to Fairy, which will help it out a lot. I recommend every single competitive battler to use a Ferrothorn at some point. It's not the most cuddly Pokemon out there, but that cold Steel will serve you well.

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