Week 1--Ferrothorn: You'll Want to Hug it Anyway

Ferrothorn
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Vulpix says:

I discovered Ferroseed on my own. No professional analyses, no Smogon, no battling against one in PvP. I was in Chargestone cave, saw the thing, and threw its ass into a pokeball. I catch everything I see as a rule. Having caught it, my second thought was “what the heck was THAT thing?” How lame did it look? A metallic ball with eyes and pokeys. Steel and grass. Obviously.

Love me, for I am soft and fluffy! *sad puppy eyes*

Then I realized that it only had ONE glaring weakness (because meh fighting), and a generally underused one at that. I’ve always been partial to grass-type despite its general frailty in its stat allotment, and I figured what the hey. My grass starter was beginning to fail me—as it so often does—and so, I replaced it with Ferroseed. When it evolved, I looked at its evolution with wary reticence. Still not very impressive looking, kind of lame. It needed to prove itself.

And OH, did it!

I already had a rocky helmet and was using it with the sublime naivete of an underappreciated item. When the first physical attack threatened my Pokey (for that was her name), I had the brilliant idea of throwing a helmet over that jagged exterior. Rocky Helmet + Iron Barbs = very dead computer trainers. I took the entire Dragon gym by standing there and being Dragon Rush’d. Ingrain. Leech Seed. Thunder Wave. Iron Head. Rinse and repeat.

I’m fairly certain I was in love, and many competitive battlers will agree. Ferrothorn is a beastly wall to throw oneself against. Due to the pokey barb-majigs, Ferrothorn’s only real weakness is fire, and a good Ferrothorn user will prepare for it. It quickly became a favorite entry hazard setter, but also became a booby trap, support player, and occasional hesitant attacker.

My Build

“Pokey”

Nature: Sassy (Up SpDef, Down Speed)

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 SpDef, 252 HP, 4 Def

Item: Rocky Helmet

Moveset:

Gyro Ball

Protect

Stealth Rock

Toxic

Explanation: I like Entry Hazard Ferrothorn. Raikou pwns my build all over the place up and down, though… I can’t touch that thing. He has mastered how to avoid his Ferrothorn being knocked out. I just kind of like to have fun with it. Set up that Stealth Rock. Be prepared for the fire pokemon that will cause you trouble. That’s what Protect is for. Toxic every pokemon you can to put a time limit on your opponent, and Gyro Ball til the cows come home. Handy in singles (you can switch out if need be) or doubles, where your ally can cover your weakness.

Err... don't talk about its weakness in front of it, though.
Just saying the word 'fire' can be enough to make it faint!

Raikou says:

The pokémon of the week this week is Ferrothorn, and this section is written by yours truly, Raikou. 

Now for me this poké happens to be one of my personal favorite, competitive pokémon. The reason for this is because he fits into a few different roles on teams, which can vary even more based on the type of team you are going to use. Why wouldn't you love a pokémon like that? 

Firstly, lets just talk about his base stats and abilities. 

Stats:

HP 70

Atk 94

Def 131

Sp Def 116

Spd 20

(I left out Sp Atk because on him it is useless) 

Abilities: Iron Barbs, Anticipation.

With these base stats he has a decent Atk, mediocre HP, but sky rocketed defenses. His speed makes him a solid Trick Room team pokemon, or even just a counter to one.  

His abilities both have their uses in competitive play, but with proper knowledge and predictions, Iron Barbs, in my opinion, is always the better choice. It's great residual damage against any physical hitter, and paired with Rocky Helmet, he can cause some real terror.

So let us get down to a couple ways he can be used.

You will love me.

Trapsetter/Stall Wall

This is probably the most popular way, to have him be a set-up/stall wall. A lot of people like to run him with Stealth Rocks to get that instant sash break, as well as to make most any player not want to switch in and out to prevent that damage. The spread most common for this set is generally Max IVs (31) In HP, Atk, Def, Sp Def, and 0 IV in speed. EVs for the stall set is normally 252 in HP and 126 in each def and the last 4 in Atk. This set makes him incredibly bulky, able to take most any hit as long as it isn't fire or fighting. Paired with Leech Seed, Protect, and Power Whip/Gyro Ball, he can whittle most any opponent down.

Nature: (varies)

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 126 SpDef, 252 HP, 126 Def, 4 Atk

Item: Rocky Helmet or Leftovers

Moveset:

Leech Seed

Protect

Power Whip

Stealth Rock

Touch me and DIE!

Speedbane/Fairykiller

On my VGC team, he played a much more physical role. I used his as a counter to any fairy that dared set foot on the field as well as deal huge damage to any pokemon that was fast in the meta game. The moves I used were Leech Seed, Protect, Power Whip, and Gyro Ball. Also had him hold the item lum berry in case anyone was trying to W-o-W(Will-o-Wisp)him to get residual damage or weaken him. His EV Spread was 252 in HP, 204 in Atk, and 52 in Sp Def. This spread let me wreak loads of havoc and survive hits well enough that it can get a leech seed off and stall kill things if need be. I gave him the brave nature to make him even slower and raise his Atk just to make it even more powerful.

Nature: Brave (Up Atk, Down Speed)

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 HP, 204 Atk, 52 SpDef

Item: Lum Berry

Moveset:

Leech Seed

Power Whip

Gyro Ball

Protect

These are just a few of the things that I can say about this pokémon whom sits upon my list of favorites in competitive play. If ever you want to discuss more about him/her and possibly discuss different spreads and uses, talk to me. :)

I just KNEW you'd choose me, Trainer! 

Giratina says:

The Survivalist

The goal of this build is to outlast your opponent. Prepare for your weaknesses by boosting Ferrothorn’s special defense via its Sassy nature and EV distribution. Its EV spread will prepare Ferrothorn to withstand nearly any attack (even fire!), and its nature will decrease its speed to both power up Gyro Ball and make Ferrothorn a killer in a Trick Room.

With Leftovers, Ingrain, and Leech Seed feeding Ferrothorn and constantly healing, all you’ll need to do is let Toxic do the work and smack your opponent with a Gyro Ball. Alternatively, you can substitute Rest in for Gyro Ball for a quick pick-me-up. With the devastating effect of Toxic and your constant supply of life, it should be pretty easy to survive long enough to wake up and let your poison do the work for you. Iron Defense can also be used instead to make Ferrothorn even more difficult to take down.

My Build:

Sassy (Up SpDef, Down Speed)

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 HP, 128 Def, 128 SpDef

Item: Leftovers

Moveset:

Leech Seed

Toxic

Gyro Ball/Iron Defense/Rest

Ingrain

Dialga says:
I found out about Ferrothorn when I battled against my friend. It was very hard to defeat as it was always using Leech Seed and throwing other hazards my way. I asked my friend if he could breed me one. That's how I got this spiky seed who soon became a strong part of my Pokemon team. It soon became my favorite grass type!

Battle after battle, Ferrothorn has been stalling my opponents. Ferrothorn is great on my rain team because of the fire weakness. In the rain, fire moves are 50% weaker. Usually grass and steel type Ferrothorn won't fare well against the likes of Talonflame and Charizard. My favorite ability on Ferrothorn is Iron Barbs because it does damage to physical attackers such as Machoke, Lucario, and Weavile.

After a while, I decided to try the infamous Rocky Helmet/Iron Barbs combo. It really weakened Pokemon such as Haxorus, Salamence, and Feraligatr.

My Build:

Sassy (Up SpDef, Down Speed)

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 SpDef, 196 Def, 56 HP, 4 Atk

Item: Rocky Helmet

Moveset:

Leech Seed

Spikes

Gyro Ball

Power Whip

Explanation: I like this set because I use this as an attacking wall. It clearly could destroy Talonflame in the rain. One Gyro Ball does okay damage. Plus, it will heal by using Leech Seed and could throw Spikes around to troll my opponents. My Ferrothorn could withstand strong attacks from Sweepers.

It is great in both singles and doubles.