



  1. Rajaion


    Nov 1, 2011
    In my personal Black 2 playthrough I can't give much real insight because I traded in four level ones (Mienfoo, Gollett, Axew, and Vanillite) after I beat Cheren, abandoned my starter immediately afterwards and only found one other permanent team member (N's Zorua) in the rest of the game. Though I think I can add some helpful information...

    Golurk: - Low/Mid Tier (probably low)
    Availability: Incredibly Late (Victory Road), around level 50.
    Stats: Not bad, though it will be missing the missing the EVs your other team members have it can tank reasonably well and hit hard on the physical end, but will almost never hit first.
    Typing: Ground/Ghost gives interesting immunities and fairly useful Stabs especially for the endgame, but the Ghost and Dark weaknesses will be problematic.
    Movepool: It's downright bizarre. When you capture Golurk it will know Curse and learn Earthquake within two levels (unless it already has it). Rock Slide, Fly, Brick Break, and Shadow punch are other usable options before resorting to tutors. From Tutors the options include Elemental Punches, Drain Punch, Superpower, and Zen Headbutt but you probably have much better trained pokemon to use your shards on.
    Major Battles: Hugh - if it's been leveled a little and has been taught the right attacks it can perform pretty well againts his Unfezant, Bouffalant, and maybe even Emboar.
    Shauntal - If it knows Shadow Punch you can hit all of her pokemon pretty hard, but you don't want to take a hit and only her Cofagrigus and possibly Golurk will be slower than you.
    Grimsley - No
    Caitlin - Same deal as Shauntal, but Golurk does make a decent switch in if you need one.
    Marshal - Throh will destroy Golurk and Sawk is risky as well, though if you have Fly Mienshao could be defeated very easily and Conkeldurr should not provide much resistance either. Still, you're probably best off using Golurk as an emergency switch in
    Iris - Aggron should present no trouble at all, and a Golurk could feasibly Challenge Archeops, Druddigon, and if you're feeling lucky, Haxorus. But the best use for one is an emergency switch in.
    Additional Comments: Golurk isn't that bad at all, it just comes very late when you have much better options or trained Pokemon and its performance in major battles is underwhelming. But if you have a spare slot in your team, a member with horrendous endgame, or member that has no use outside of being an HM slave Golurk certainly should be considered. Golurk also pairs very well with Zoroark, just because of Illusion and their typings.

    Zorua: - High/Top Tier (the odd playstyle to use it probably means high)
    Availability: You get one for free in Driftviel (Midgame)
    Stats: It's pretty frail, but that speed and special attack are just great. Physical attack, while overlooked, is no slouch either so it's very easy and effective to go mixed.
    Typing: Dark Type is very good endgame, between STAB and psychic immunity it's quite useful. Mid game coverage is also quite good, even though it's mostly neutral. Just watch out for Fighting types.
    Movepool: Small but precise. Teach it Snarl, Zoroark's special attack makes up for the low base power and the special attack drops are very helpful to teammates. Foul Play, Night Daze, Dig, U-Turn, Flamethrower, and possibly a boosting move are just about the only other moves worth using, but you rarely need more with Zoroark.
    Major Battles: Zoroark is an interesting case, other than Skylla's Swoobat, Marlon's Jellicent, Colress's Beheeyem, Ghetsis's Cofagrigus, Shauntal, and Caitlin Zoroark isn't an obvious choice, but through smart use of Illusion a Zoroark can easily win battles where it would be expected to struggle. U-turn, special attack drops from snarl, and Psychic Immunity only add to the utility illusion gives. It should be noted that Zoroark is not a sweeper, and should usually U-turn out once Illusion is broken (but that can take longer than one might might expect depending on how Illusion is used).
    It's fairly easy to beat the Pokemon League (other than Iris) using only a Zoroark and a Fighting Type.
    Additional Comments: Being owned originally by N, Zorua will gain experience much more quickly than other pokemon, further adding to its usefullness. And I can't express just how essential Illusion abuse is to using a Zoroark. You'll definitely want a fighting type when using a Zoroark (But fighting types are so useful, you have one anyway) and ghost types generally work well for illusion.

    I'd like to see somebody review Mienfoo, I can't really give a good evaluation but it has an amazing endgame. Axew is also one to look into, it's found in Mistralton cave and Is pretty good throughout the game.
  2. JacobNinja


    Aug 5, 2012
    Am I the only who kept his magneton? Eviolite magneton took hits incredibly well, I would highly reccomend it over magnezone.
  3. rocky505


    Dec 13, 2006
    Plus it's faster.
  4. ahuei123456


    Mar 27, 2011
    Lapras - Low Tier
    Availability -
    Village Bridge (Between 6th and 7th gyms) with a 5% chance in Rippling water.
    Stats - Not bad. Standard slow water tank. 130/80/95 defenses are good enough for tanking most of the endgame battles and 85/85 offenses are... decent.
    Typing - Now this is where Lapras fails. While it gets Ice STAB (an advantage over other waters), it also gains a weakness to Rock and Fighting which screws it over for most of the E4, leaving it unable to tank Marshall and parts of Iris' team.
    Movepool - It learns Ice Beam around or right after it's caught and will probably run the standard combination of Surf/Ice Beam for most water types. Can also learn Thunder(bolt), Psychic, Dragon Pulse and Signal Beam for coverage. Add in Drill Run for cheese (I did this bc no other pokemon could learn ground moves on my team)
    Major Battles -
    Drayden - Beats Druddigon (not in challenge mode when it has Rock Slide), Flygon (if it can survive a Rock Slide) and tramples over Haxorus.
    Marlon - Can't do much unless it has Thunder. Can stall a fight if it has Water Absorb.
    Colress - Even with Drill Run, Lapras doesn't really do anything in this fight.
    Ghetsis - Not sure how useful he would be, seeing as mine fell to a Rock Slide from Hydreigon instantly.
    Shauntal - Tanks her team and just Surfs them to death. Golurk dies despite having Brick Break because it's slower.
    Grimsley - Dies too easily to Krookodile and Scrafty.
    Caitlin - Doesn't do so well, Thunderbolt/Focus Blast from Reuniclus and Gothitelle can kill it too quickly.
    Marshal - Nope.
    Iris - Kills Hydreigon and dies to everything else.
    Additional Comments - Lapras plays out alot like Vaporeon in being a bulky water. While it is pretty decent and has well balanced stats, the Ice typing just screws it over too much to be really useful after the point that you can get it. Even though it is more physically defensive than Vaporeon, it doesn't matter much when it takes 2x from Fighting and Rock, the most prominent physical types in the endgame. Overall it's a decent pick, but Vaporeon is better overall as a bulky water and you shouldn't even be picking Lapras if you want a water sweeper (Starmie).
  5. SgtWoodsy


    Mar 14, 2007
    I'm pretty confident the Azurill line needs to be ranked higher than Mid Tier as it cannot be understated how strong it is. It's one of the few good Water-type Pokémon in the game, too, even if it doesn't start out as one.
  6. Nubbins


    Aug 13, 2010
    I would like to add that N's zorua has 30 for every single IV.
  7. Raikaria


    May 20, 2009
    Both are viable in-game and it's based on personal preference and the other 5 members of your team. If you need raw power to fry Water/Flying types, then Magnezone is a good option. If you need something a little more sturdy [Or your Magneton doesn't *have* Sturdy], Evolite Magneton works.

    Bear in mind Magnezone does not lose effectiveness for holding the Lucky Egg, Magneton does.
  8. BdB4445


    Oct 16, 2012
    Magneton also doesn't get leftovers.

    I can't say Magnezone is the better option though, I've never tried Magneton w/eviolite. I thought it would be interesting to try Electabuzz or Magmar though.
  9. TM13IceBeam


    Oct 22, 2010
    imo magnezone > magneton because the speed loss from magnezone is completely inconsequential (assuming enemy Pokemon has 0 IVs, which IIRC they do except for certain trainer classes such as Champion, Gym Leader and Ace Trainer), magneton outruns very few things that magnezone can't (iirc it's stuff like braviary, mandibuzz, and then maybe some things that magneton/zone shouldn't even be facing like krokorok), and the added bulk from eviolite is generally unnecessary (unless you cannot evolve via the means of a single game i.e. Gurdurr, or the added bulk turns you into some kind of extreme earlygame tanking monster i.e. Scraggy), while the added power from Magnezone could potentially turn 3HKOs into 2HKOs and 2HKOs into OHKOs.

    also magnezone is bulky enough already, 70/115/90 bulk is already pretty decent for ingame standards, especially factoring in his gargantuan list of resistances.
  10. Alice in Strings

    Alice in Strings

    Oct 12, 2012
    lol sturdy

    Put your Eviolite on something that can't survive a single hit no matter what.
  11. Sprocket


    Jul 10, 2010
    Sturdy Magnezone > Eviolite Magneton.
  12. Lork


    Dec 22, 2010
    suprised no one's used grimer. muk's pretty sweet.
  13. Raikaria


    May 20, 2009
    Why use Grimer when you get Koffing earlier and he can make far better use of Venoshock?
  14. Alice in Strings

    Alice in Strings

    Oct 12, 2012
    Grimer has no moves other than Pound until Level 43. That's the big thing here.
  15. Magicxgame


    Sep 29, 2010
    I could post my opinions on various Pokemon here, but my In-Game Tier List at GameFAQs (which is called "Pokemon FAQ", lol) is finally up in the Black/White 2 section. I wish I read this thread earlier for advice, but hindsight is 20-20. :\ Any questions/suggestions are welcome!

    EDIT: Glad to see someone else thought of Eviolite Magneton. And I didn't know N's Zorua had 30 in every IV, it should definitely be High at worst. :\
  16. Rajaion


    Nov 1, 2011
    That special attack stat is pretty bad, but since TMs are infinite use now you can get some decent attacks. Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Dig, Return, Frustration, and Thief are all options and if you have the shards the Elemental Punches are there too. Of course there are a lot of Pokemon that can use the same attacks more effectively and as a poison type you are largely outclassed by Koffing which is found earlier, evolves earlier, has better abilities, can actually use its special attacks, and has stats that better compliment its resistances.
    While Grimer is far from high tier it certainly won't be going anywhere past low tier at its worst
  17. Alice in Strings

    Alice in Strings

    Oct 12, 2012
    I'll try it out later, after I finish my W2 Nuzlocke, I guess. I'm not crossing my fingers, though. I just don't see what it can do that I could use, say...Weezing or Garbodor for.

    Speaking of the exploding trash bag, I caught one in my Nuzlocke. Want me to try it out?
  18. R_N

    is a Forum Moderator Alumnus

    Feb 21, 2010
    Well, and I haven't used either so I'm going solely based on stats here, Grimer has a lot more Attack & slightly more bulk to work with compared to Trubbish.
    When both evolve Muk is better than Garbodor in everything but speed

    And Grimer/Muk at least can use the punches and dig and rock slide and blah blah blah while Garbodor...gets drain punch?

    Yeesh, Garbodor you have so little going for you.

    Also I know shards in high demand in this since you only get 10 no-effort shards but I guess it might be worth mentioning that you get can Gunk Shot for 8 Reds. 120 base poison attack at that point might be novel, I guess, if you're willing to pass up the punches
  19. jamashawalker


    Mar 31, 2008
    I'll speak about some that i finished the game with that havent been mentioned much or just a little:

    [​IMG]Jolteon: Mid/high Tier

    Availability: Early, Right when you get to Nimbasa

    Typing/stats: Jolteon being so fast you never have to worry about being outsped which goes great for last ditch efforts if you ever need to paralyze someone or just clean up after another poke. SpAtk is amazing, 110 does tons of damage. And the 95 base SpDef allows it to take strong special attacks which is nice. IIts ability allows it to take on every electric type and be an electric counter.

    Movepool: Kind of shallow. It starts off with thunderfang as its earliest STAB option, which isnt "that bad" early. Because there is not much difference between Atk and SpAtk split. Once it learns volt switch it's in business. Unfortunately Volt Switch isnt good in terms of leveling up. Once you reach Driftviel though jolteon gets a saving grace of signal beam from the move tutor. It learns Discharge around mid-game which makes it a deadly weapon. 30% chance of paralysis for team support. And then once you get shadowball jolteon is set for the rest of the game. Signal Beam, Volt Switch, Discharge, Shadowball. Great Coverage for the entire game. Even discharge is able to 2HKO Dreyden's Haxorus. Discharge/thunderwave is also great for catching pokemon including the three musketeers. If wanted to out of desperation then you can substitute discharge for thunder.

    Major Battles: Making alot of the gym battles look free and providing great support to teammates for the E4. Aginst Elesa its kind of a stalemate of whoever does the most damage with coverage moves. Clay makes jolteon a benchwarmer. Skyla was so free that i fought her again to test my other pokemon out to make it a challenge. Aganist Drayden it surprising did really well. Being able to 2HKO haxorus was a real shocker(thats coming from a mild nature though). Marlon was the exact same way as skyla, so easy i wanted to fight him again. Against Corless it allowed jolteon to gain more life back, so that was pretty free as well. Vs. Iris it can save you from certain situations with paralyiss which goes a long way.

    Additional Comments: Being able to have 3/4 set done by midgame is really great. With only shadowball missing. It has great speed with paralysis support to help you in critical situations. Negative parts about it is that it has a horrible match up against ground types. So its always best to pair it with something that can take on ground types, thankfully there are not that many in-game. Discharge is a great move in single battles but in double battle its a huge double edge sword.

    [​IMG]Skorupi/Drapion: Low Tier

    Availability: Late Game

    Typing/Stats: Pretty good typing especially for the elite four. Having only ground weakness and the decrease in ground types late game really allow this pokemon to shine best when it evolves into drapion. Against the E4 it proved more useful then it did before them. However its 95 Atk always was never enough. If it hit with a super effective Atk then it was great but neutral damage was a huge let down. Speed was good, which only allowed him to outspeed most things with the exception of pokes that were meant to be fast.

    Movepool: This is also a let down. Without heartscales or if you want to grind through training to Lvl 49 with crunch, which is very difficult. dig/rockslide didnt do that much damage either. Since it comes late its not worth grinding so hard for it especially since you'll most have a full team already.

    Additional Comments: It was "fun" to play with, but it wasnt worth it. I played with Drapion purely out of fandom, but it was too much effor with little gain. The Attack power always left me needing more. Being able to shut down Shauntal and Caitlin was nice though, made those battles free.

    Going to be also talking more in depth about Growlithe/Arcanine and getting vibrava late game instead of getting tranpinch early game.
  20. Its_A_Random

    Its_A_Random The imitated
    is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor

    Mar 19, 2010
    Suppose I should have a shot at one of these...
    Axew: - Mid/High Tier
    Availability: Mistralton Cave (Requires Surf), 20% Encounter Rate. Mid-Game after the 5th Badge.
    Stats: Axew is basically designed to be an offensive physical sweeper, taking advantage of its whopping Base 147 Attack (As a Haxorus) & Base 97 Speed at that point.
    Typing: Being a Pure Dragon leaves it with only 2 weaknesses & several resistances, but it does give it a broad neutral STAB coverage, where it can utilise Dragon Claw as a Haxorus to OHKO or 2HKO most neutral targets.
    Movepool: Its movepool for the run is fairly broad, learning key moves like Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, as well as some coverage moves, such as Dig, X-Scissor, Bulldoze, Shadow Claw, & Aerial Ace, but all you pretty much need when using it is Dragon Dance/Dragon Claw, & two Coverage moves. Haxorus can also do a bit of HM Slaving, learning Cut, Strength, and Surf.
    Major Battles:
    -Skyla: It generally does okay, but you would only have an Axew/Fraxure by then. Its problem is that Skarmory kinda walls it, though.
    -Rival: It is not too hard to set up Dragon Dance on his Unfezant before readying a sweep.
    -Zinzolin (All): Haxorus does not enjoy taking on Zinzolin, but if it is fast enough, you can potentially OHKO his Cryogonal with Dragon Claw. Other than that, do not expect much vs. Sneasel/Weavile.
    -Drayden: If you take the time to evolve it into a Haxorus, it would be worth the trouble. After a Dragon Dance, Haxorus has no problems train-wrecking Drayden.
    -Marlon: Setting up Dragon Dance is not too hard, just that it is generally a waste of time on Carracosta, since Shell Smash & Sturdy.
    -Colress: You will be relying on coverage moves here, & you can still easily set up Dragon Dance, but Magneton & Magnezone can annoy you with Paralysis & possible Explosions.
    -Ghetsis: Send out against Cofagrigus, Dragon Dance twice, once you are fully set, sweep with Dragon Claw - It OHKOes Ghetsis' entire team at +2.
    -Rival before E4: Unfezant is not to difficult to set up a Dragon Dance sweep on. Watch out for Swagger!
    -Shauntal: As with Ghetsis, just set up two Dragon Dances on Cofagrigus, before sweeping her team.
    -Grimsley: Liepard can be annoying, especially with Night Slash, but if you show some patience with Dragon Dance, you can blitz through his team. Be wary of Night Slash crits.
    -Caitilin: Musharna can be really irritating with Reflect & Yawn, but it cannot do that much to stop you from Dragon Dance sweeping, especially if you use Full Heals the moment Haxorus falls asleep.
    -Marshal: You are not going to sweep Marshal with Dragon Dance - His Pokemon hit just too hard. You can certainly take out a Pokemon one on one, but just do not expect it to sweep or reliably solo his team.
    -Iris: Again, the chances of you sweeping Iris is very little, given she starts out with a murderous Hydreigon, which can OHKO with Dragon Pulse, though you can also OHKO with Dragon Claw, it comes down to who is faster. Druddigon is an easy OHKO, likewise Archeops. Aggron means you have to rely on coverage moves, which cannot OHKO, whilst Lapras can take out Haxorus without too much problems, due to its bulk. With her Haxorus, you better have a Dragon Dance or two under your belt, since it has Focus Sash, & is likely to use Dragon Dance, or even OHKO with Dual Chop. But with a little luck, you can take out her Haxorus, depending on whether she goes for the Full Restores or not.
    Additional Comments: Basically, the entire point of using Haxorus ingame is to take out stuff quickly. It learns Dragon Dance when/soon after you catch it, and will already have Dragon Claw. Some issues include it being a pain to raise, & not evolving until Lv38, then Lv48, but once you get there, it is typically worth the wait. Dual Chop can be used over Dragon Claw, but Dragon Claw is preferred for reliability. Rivalry's fluctuating strength is annoying, so Mould Breaker is typically better, ultimately, it is the first Dragon you can get in the game, & its crazy attack alongside Dragon Dance is its major selling point. It was definitely an MVP on my ingame team when I did my run through Black 2, it was just too strong for most of its opposition, & saved me from a lot of jams.

    So yeah, my first time doing one of these, so sue me.
  21. Progeusz


    Nov 17, 2009
    They have Magnemite in Mid-tier, I doubt they played the game. Even if they did, they're terrible at it. Magnemite is one of the best Pokemon in BW2, one would need Adamant with 0 IVs in HP, Def, SpA, SpD and Spd to even think of Mid tier for it.

    Petilil for top. She was MVP of my Magnezone-Genesect-Lucario-Starmie-Lilligant team and that says A LOT.
    Proper analysis later.
  22. TM13IceBeam


    Oct 22, 2010
    Garbodor gets Toxic Spikes too, but honestly if you're really desperate for a TSpikes user Roserade is miles better (comes almost at the same time, gets Grass STAB, gets actual stats, gets useful abilities)

    @IAR: axew can 3hko skarm with dragon rage, although chances are you probably won't bother relearning a move that will get obsolete by the next gym.
  23. DHR-107

    DHR-107 Robot from the Future
    is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Pokemon Researcher

    Dec 26, 2008
    Okay, I just beat Iris in my game. Ended up with Lv 57~61. Dunsparce/Solrock/Sunflora/Azumarill/Crobat/Emboar. Solrock came from the Dream World, so I had it a lot earlier than what is stated in the dex posted in the first post, I also had access to Zen Headbutt. I'll go through in the order they currently are in my team. Some theorymonning against some of the Gym leaders as I didn't use certain things. *Big post incoming*

    Name: Dunsparce - Tier: Bottom/Low
    Availability: As soon as Audino's are available. I got mine in Floccesy Ranch at like Level 5.
    Stats: Not all that great. Decent HP, that is about it. (100/70/70/65/65/45)
    Typing: Normal.
    Movepool: Shallow. Mine ended up with Return/Drill Run/Glare/Coil but all it ended up doing late game was paralyzing things, hitting them once with Return and then dying. I guess with Serene Grace you could try a special set with Charge beam?
    Major Battles:
    Cheren: Didn't have.
    Roxie: Didn't use.
    Burgh: Didn't use.
    Elesa: Didn't use.
    Clay: Had to use against Excadrill in a match I thought I was going to loose. Dig saved me here.
    Skyla: Didn't use.
    Drayden: Actually packed a fairly good punch in this Gym with Stab Return. That's about it.
    Marlon: Didn't use.

    Elite 4 ~

    Iris: Actually used it to paralyse Hydreigon right at the start of the match. One return took it to just under half HP, then it died to a crit Dragon Pulse. After that I left it dead.

    Additional Comments: It's not bad in normal matches. Getting Return nice and early is a big plus, and it has decent HP. Against the majority of the Gyms, STAB Return hits reasonably against everything. Just, you're slow and your defences are not the best. Oh, mine had Run Away, which was really useful ingame for just getting away from random pokemon you didn't want to bother battling.

    Name: Solrock - Tier: Middle (Probably low without Zen Headbutt)
    Availability: Route 13/22 and Giant Chasm. I had mine a lot earlier because I got it from the DW.
    Stats: 70/95/85/55/65/70
    Typing: Rock/Psychic - Gives you a nice resistance to normal moves. I don't think I ever had Levitate activate *at all*.
    Movepool: Bad. I mean really. I got mine from the DW so I had Zen Headbutt to start with. That made it infinitely better. Rock Slide/ZH was basically all I used the whole game. Stone Edge at 41 is nice too.
    Major Battles:
    Cheren: Would probably wall him pretty well due to Rock typing
    Roxie: Beat her hands down with Zen Headbutt
    Burgh: Rock Throw/Rock Slide make quick work of his whole team
    Elesa: Really useful with Rock Slide against the Emolga/Flaaffy. Takes a hit from Volt Switch but pretty much OHKO's.
    Clay: Doesn't really work here at all. Immune to ground, but gets hit by Dark/Steel moves from Krok and Exca.
    Skyla: Rock Slide again comes in handy here. Rock genuinely seems an excellent type to have 5th gen.
    Drayden: Did reasonably. Zen headbutt is decent, got some flinch hax going on too. Fraxure is ridiculously slow.
    Marlon: Don't bother, you'll be toast.

    Elite 4 ~
    Shauntel: Shadow Ball really hurts with your lower SPcl Def.
    Grimsley: Dark moves hurt a lot.
    Marshall: Does okay here. Again, Zen headbutt is good. U Turn from Mienshao can really screw you over though. It hits really hard.
    Caitlin: Fine against Musharna (and if you want can set up on it really easily). But everything else has either Shadow Ball or Energy Ball. So be careful.

    Iris: Beat Druddigon fair and square in normal mode. Would likely do OK against Archeops too, but the rest of the team kinda nails you.

    Additional Comments: Don't bother with the fire moves, waste of time. Mine ended up with Zen headbutt/Rock Slide/Stone Edge/Cosmic power. I think Rock polish would of been better to keep though, and drop Stone Edge altogether. Psychic/Rock is pretty decent coverage.

    Show Hide

    Name: - Tier:
    Major Battles:

    Elite 4 ~


    Additional Comments:

    I'll edit in the rest when I have time... this took way too long!
  24. TM13IceBeam


    Oct 22, 2010
    I'm pretty sure DW pokemon can't be used to tier, so no early zen headbutt for solrock :/

    that said though i guess i can do this one

    Volcarona - Mid
    Availability: After completing the plot-based PWT, which comes after the 5th gym.
    Stats: High SpA, SpD and good Speed, but bad defense and mediocre HP
    Typing: Bug/Fire Suffers from a x4 Rock weakness, as well as weaknesses to water and flying. Otherwise, decent enough.
    Movepool: It can learn Signal Beam immediately to cover up for a terrible initial movepool, as well as perform as a decent Fly slave. Will-o-wisp is available just before the 6th gym for some form of support. Later in the game, you get the Fire Blast TM, a powerful STAB move for Volcarona, Psychic, a decent coverage move, as well as access to Giga Drain (or roost if not enough shards) tutor which Volcarona can use as reliable healing. A decent endgame movepool is something like Signal Beam/Flamethrower or Fire Blast/Psychic/Giga Drain or Roost.
    Major Battles:
    Show Hide
    Skyla - Don't waste your time here. Volcarona can't do anything aside from randomly burning stuff.
    Zinzolin 1 - A good battle to test out your newly acquired Fire Blast TM, especially with his fire-weak team. If you want to you can even murder Sneasel with Signal Beam! Hugh helping out doesn't help Z's cause either, and can help you murder that annoying Cryogonal. Watch out for Golbat though.
    Drayden - Signal Beam kind of works here, but Volcarona's defense issues may get in the way. If you're lucky though Flame Body or Will-o-wisp may save the day for you.
    Zinzolin 2 - Again, abuse of signal beam and fire blast. Nothing much here. Cryogonal may be a bitch to kill though. Basically a battle of attrition. Watch out for FB's low PP.
    Marlon - Volcarona can be used as fodder to heal your pokemon? Either way, stay away from Marlon.
    Zinzolin 3 - Slightly easier than Z2 since like Z1 Hugh is helping you out here. Still, Volcarona may have issues passing through Cryogonal.
    Zinzolin 4 - Like Z2, also a battle of attrition. Try not to overuse FB's 5 PP though.
    Colress - Volcarona's field day, although you may want some hazards so that the Mags are slightly less annoying.
    Kyurem - signal beam abuse works since it can't do much to you
    Ghetsis - You only really need to watch out for Seismitoad and Eelektross. Aside from that, not very difficult.
    Hugh - Try not to bring out Volca against him. The monkeys have Rock Slide, Unfezant is an obvious no-no, and Bouffalant is bulky enough to tank a hit and retaliate with Head Charge. He does mince Emboar and Serperior though with Psychic and Fire Blast.
    Shauntal: Okayish performance, Drifblim might be annoying and Golurk is troublesome without Giga Drain. Volcarona can stall for a bit against Chandelure if you need to heal your Pokemon.
    Marshall: Can be somewhat tough, either you power through him with Fire Blasts, or get kicked by Rock Slide. Depending on how good Volcarona's SpA is, this can go either way.
    Grimsley: Aside from Scrafty, Volcarona has a field day here. Scrafty may survive a hit and retaliate back, so be careful.
    Caitlin: Clean sweep.
    Iris: Volcarona may have problems here, but if it is strong enough it may QDsweep her.

    AC: Volcarona's major issues involve it's 4x Rock weakness, which is exploited by most important battles. However, despite that Volcarona is relatively fast for BW2 and has one of the strongest moves of the game in Fire Blast as well as eventually learning his eleventh hour superpower powerful boosting move, Quiver Dance (sorry i browse tvtropes too much) The initial movepool stinks but Signal Beam destroys almost everything you will possibly see early on anyway. Volcarona's endgame effectiveness though depends on if it's able to get Giga Drain, where it is good with it since it can go up to Water, Rock and Ground types. Volcarona's ability to effectively kill mooks is pretty decent, if not for the fact that most mooks are easy to kill anyway...
  25. inanimate blob

    inanimate blob

    May 31, 2011
    Name: Pidove - Tier: High
    Availability: Very Early (before the first gym)
    Stats: Decent Attack, High Speed, Low other stats
    Typing: Normal gets amazing early STAB, Flying is helpful against a multitude of Pokémon.
    Movepool: Limited, but has Roost as an early level up move, and Frustration/Return and Fly are early enough to warrant use. Doesn't rely on Shards.
    Major Battles:
    Cheren: Can be decent if Frustration is used.
    Roxie: Struggles against her Koffing (and Grimer), holds its own against Whirlipede.
    Burgh: Wrecks his team, save for Dwebble. Should be a Tranquil by now.
    Elesa: Is a good revenge killer due to high Speed and powerful Return.
    Clay: Can come in if a Pokémon uses Dig and counter with a powerful Return/Fly.
    Skyla: Can hold its own if its at around the same level of her Pokémon.
    Drayden: Wrecks through Flygon and Haxorus if it s Return is max power, is fast enough to outspeed.
    Marlon: Destroys Wailord (and Mantine), struggles with Jellicent, can't touch Carracosta.

    Elite 4 ~
    Shauntel: Has an advantage as her STABs don't work, but there are better choices.
    Grimsley: Some of his Pokémon (Liepard, Scrafty, etc.) can be taken out easily.
    Marshall: Destroys the majority of his team, but watch out for Rock Slide/Stone Edge.
    Caitlin: Can be used against her low Defense Pokémon, but low Special Defense makes it struggle.
    Iris: Able to take down one or two of her Dragons with lower Defense, like Haxorus.

    Additional Comments: I used mine for my Black 2 run, and I used it enough that even my Magnemite had trouble keeping up level-wise. Return/Quick Attack/Fly is a godsend, and the last move can be used as Detect or Roost, both are helpful. There's only a few areas where Pidove/Tranquill/Unfezant struggled against wild, but that's only against the Rock and Steel types. His Attack is high enough that Audino grinding is very easy, but he took up a lot of my experience.

    Name: Mareep - Tier: Mid
    Availability: Very Early (before the first gym)
    Stats: High Special Attack and decent Special Defense. Slow Speed can be a major hinderance.
    Typing: Electric gives few resistances, but also few weaknesses. It can be offensively good at some points in the game, but struggle at other parts.
    Movepool: Limited. Gets only weak Electric and Normal moves at first, but eventually Thundershock becomes Discharge and Tackle becomes Take Down. Not much beyond Normal and Electric for most of the game, however. Power Gem is fairly handy, though.
    Major Battles:
    Cheren: Its usually able to paralyze something. Pidove is taken out easily in Challenge Mode.
    Roxie: Can destroy Koffing with Special Attacks, but struggles against Whirlipede and Grimer.
    Burgh: Mixed bag. Is able to take hits and give them back, but its STAB isn't supereffective.
    Elesa: Can be a good counter against her own Flaaffy, and can paralyze the Zebstrika if it has Static.
    Clay: Useless.
    Skyla: Very helpful, able to take down all of her Pokémon with ease.
    Drayden: Eh. Try to get paralysis off, but beyond that Electric attacks don't go that far.
    Marlon: Helpful against all of his Pokémon. Ampharos should have Discharge, and is able to take out all of his Pokémon. Only issue is Wailord's Earthquake in Challenge Mode.

    Elite 4 ~
    Shauntel: Mixed bag, can take out some Ghosts with lower Special Defense, useless against Golurk.
    Grimsley: Can take out a few Pokémon, mainly spreads paralysis.
    Marshall: Low Defense screws him over for this battle.
    Caitlin: Highish Special Defense helps a bit, but most of her Pokémon are fairly bulky specially too.
    Iris: Tends to follow the same pattern as Drayden, really only useful for spreading paralysis.

    Additional Comments: I liked using Mareep, as it evolves into Flaaffy early and Ampharos early, too. The low Speed can screw it over occasionally, and so does the limited movepool. It's also disappointing that Elesa gives out Volt Switch, which while a good Electric move, is annoying to use in-game. Tackle/Take Down are also basically never used, and Power Gem doesn't help all that much.

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