Approximately Day

Volcarona Showcase Overview: Historically, Volcarona has been the best Bug-Type Pokémon we ever had and even in a format full of Rock Slide and Charizard-Y, it remains as one of the best Pokémon in the metagame. It works as a setup Pokémon which can control the board by setting up Tailwind, mitigating damage with Struggle Bug or redirect poweful moves with Rage Powder. Alternatively, it can be used as a setup sweeper with Quiver Dance, one of the best setup moves of all time. Support Set 1: Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet Ability: Flame Body EVs: 13 HP / 29 Def / 1 SpA / 23 Spe Timid Nature Level: 50 - Overheat - Struggle Bug - Tailwind - Rage Powder This is the set @riopaser used to win the Frankfurt regionals with (the EVs are recreated by myself). Support Volcarona loves to run Overheat as a powerful STAB option to remove Gholdengo, Rillaboom and Kingambit in one hit. I like Tailwind a lot to enable partner Pokémon to move first. Sometimes Volcarona is paired with Tailwind Salamence, allowing you to run Protect on it instead. Struggle Bug is also a move that can be replaced if you have a good Floette, Gardevoir and Kommo-o matchup (those are the main targets). I enjoy being faster than the 90s (Arcanine-Hisui & Annihilape mainly) but you can also run more speed to outspeed Timid Indeedee and some Timid Charizard. Being faster than Modest Floette and Vivillon is important! The bulk here lets it survive most Rock Slides a lot of the time (Garchomp, Sneasler, Excadrill) which can be combined with Intimidate on Incineroar. Support Set 2: Volcarona @ Charti Berry Ability: Flame Body Level: 50 EVs: 13 HP / 24 Def / 29 Spe Timid Nature - Overheat - Struggle Bug - Rage Powder - Protect As mentioned before, Volcarona is not forced to run Tailwind. Charti Berry is also a very interesting choice that @IlbonaVGC used for deep runs in Nice & Gdansk. This way, Volcarona is not threatend by OHKOs from Rock Slide. I still maintained the physical bulk cause there are many other hits you like to take such as 2x Dire Claw from Sneasler or -1 Brave Bird from Mega Staraptor. I also haven't mentioned yet that Flame Body is a great ability in the current metagame, making some physical attackers useless once it activates. Finally, I also want to mention the Focus Sash set @ChuggleVGC used for a great finish in Gdansk. Partners: Support Volcarona fits on many different teams. Often, it is paired with setup Pokémon such as Nasty Plot Gholdengo or Swords Dance Kingambit. Intimidate is often prefered as well to ensure that Volcarona stays longer on the field. Options here are either Incineroar or Salamence. Rillaboom is another great partner, being able to threaten Water Types with priority Grassy Glide. Megas that were paired with support Volcarona succesfully are Froslass, Garchomp-Z, Raichu-Y or Glimmora. The former two are great choices to deal with (Rock Slide) Sneasler and Dragon Types that Volcarona does not like to see (Dragonite & Garchomp mainly). Meanwhile, Glimmora is a Pokémon that makes use of the Struggle Bug & Rage Powder support to remove Floette or Charizard-Y later on. Teams: Recreation Frankfurt winning Team (by Eric Rios) -pokepast.es/ffbd4c0635abfe39 Recreation Leonardo Bonanomi 17th Place Finish in Gdansk Team (originally by @miraii1__ ) - pokepast.es/917b0cfaff0cc69e Setup Set 1: Volcarona @ Grassy Seed Ability: Flame Body EVs: 32 HP / 11 Def / 5 SpA / 18 Spe Modest Nature Level: 50 - Heat Wave - Giga Drain - Quiver Dance - Protect I was able to win a Victory Road tournament with setup Volcarona thanks to the help of @DidiVGC Setup Volcarona is a very dangerous Pokémon because it can boost its Special Defense while the physical bulk can be empowered by Grassy Seed and Intimidate support, making it a huge threat. While Quiver Dance and Protect are given, the attacking moves can vary. You should run a Fire STAB Move but the choice between Heat Wave, Flamethrower and Fiery Dance is yours. As a secondary attacking move, I recommend running Giga Drain. Having recovery is greatly appreciated. It also gets boosted by the Grassy Terrain Rillaboom sets and it's the main move to deal with Basculegion or Milotic. Bug Buzz can be used to threaten Garchomp or Incineroar more and Struggle Bug is not bad either to win setup wars against Floette and giving you more tools into PsySpam once again. The spread is pretty good. Enough speed to outspeed Adamant Unburden Sneasler after 3x Quiver Dance. Being faster than Mega-Delphox after one Quiver is also quite important. Enough SpAtk to hit the first jump point and the rest goes into bulk. While some players prefer to run less HP and more Defense, I wanted to get the extra recovery from Grassy Terrain and found myself taking on some special hits as well. Setup Set 2: Volcarona @ Leftovers Ability: Flame Body Level: 50 EVs: 17 HP / 25 Def / 5 SpA / 1 SpD / 18 Spe Modest Nature - Heat Wave - Struggle Bug - Quiver Dance - Protect Leftovers on a setup Pokémon? Can't go wrong with that. @Louisvgc achieved great runs with this Volcarona set and I am not surprised. I used it myself to finish Top 8 in a Victory Road tournament and it can be quite menacing. Here, I opted for more physical bulk because of the lack of the Grassy Seed. Being able to take many of the Rock Slides again is helpful. This set also works slightly differently than the other setup set I've shown. You can use this one better in setup wars as well as using it more as a support instead of a sweeper. Partners: Incin + Rilla are the best support you can ask for. Double Fake Out, Intimidate, Grassy Terrain, priority Grassy Glide for waters, etc. I do not think I have to explain this one to you. Raichu-Y is a great partner as well, to deal with opposing Raichu but also have another Fake Out option available. Fast Zap Cannon is also great for some of Volcarona threats such as (White Herb) Sneasler or (non Choice Scarf) Basculegion. Speaking of Basculegion, it fits really well on this core cause it is able to remove annoying Fire Types like Incineroar or opposing Volcarona. If you run Soak, you can also enable more opportunities to setup and make everything a health pack for Giga Drain Volcarona. Two other megas are often seen with setup Volcarona. Those are Garchomp-Z and Floette. You definitely want something that is good into opposing Dragon Types. Those two fit the criteria quite well. Typing synergy is also great cause Volcarona can deal with Steel Types that pressure Floette or Ice Types that are good into Garchomp-Z. Teams: Victory Road Winning Team by Michael Kelsch - pokepast.es/86ae63b224a4c4ab Recreation Louis Markl 18th Place Finish in Nice Team - pokepast.es/97baea2ef3b9e274 Conclusion: Volcarona has been falling off lately with the meta shifting towards regular Garchomp, Basculegion and Mega-Charizard-Y again. I still think it has the potential to win LAIC but the team compositions as of now are unfortunately a little outdated. Personally, I believe that support Volcarona is slightly better now but heck, I just want to see the moth doing well again and get the trophy it deserves. Please let me know what you think of this formatting. Is this too much information? Was I missing something? That way, I can help you out as much as possible. Have a great weekend 💝