Fire/Water
Base Stats
HP: 80
Attack: 110
Defense: 120
Sp. Attack: 130
Sp. Defense: 90
Speed: 70
Abilities
Water Absorb: Restores HP if hit by a Water-type move.
DISCLAIMER- ALL OF THIS IS SPECULATION. ALL INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Compared to Diancie and Hoopa, Volcanion is a lot more straightforward in operation, but equally weird. The love-child of two types that have not been seen together until now, the Steam Pokémon is certain to make waves when it gets its official release, and I don't think it's any secret why. Water and Fire are both good in their own right, but combined they make one of the best offensive and defensive typings out there. The combination of STABs can hit almost the entire metagame for neutral damage, leaving room for setup, coverage, or even support moves. Defensively, Volcanion is only hit super-effectively by three types and while, yes, they are common types (Rock, Ground and Electric), the steam machine also carries many key resistances. It gets a resistance to Bug and Fairy, a quadruple resistance to Fire, Ice, and Steel, and complete immunity to Water thanks to its great ability Water Absorb.
On top of all that, Volcanion has a movepool to die for and the stats it needs to back it up, including a new signature move called Steam Eruption. Steam Eruption is a special Water type move with the power of Hydro Pump, the effect of Scald, and 95% Accuracy rating. Pair that with an equally powerful STAB Fire Blast and you can hit almost any Pokémon you want for massive damage. Keep in mind, both of these are coming off a great 130 Sp. Attack.
Obviously, though, Volcanion is not perfect. While it has some great stats, its Speed and Special Defense aren't great (though neither are awful) and its Fire typing grants it a not-so-lovely weakness to Stealth Rock, knocking off a quarter of its HP every time it switches in. Additionally, while its STABs compliment each other nicely, bulky Water and Dragon types will still give Volcanion a run for its money. However, just based on what we've seen from information that's been released, I believe the steam-powered Pokémon will be a top tier threat. Let's take a look:
Steamroller
Volcanion
Hold Item: Lum Berry/Life Orb/Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 Special Attack, 4 HP
Flame Charge
Steam Eruption
Fire Blast
Hidden Power Ice
Volcanion's sub-par Speed can be rectified with the move Flame Charge. With max investment in Speed and a boost or two, Volcanion can be a scary Pokémon to deal with. Once you have Charged, you can proceed to attempt a sweep using its high-powered STABs. Steam Eruption will be the move of choice in most cases as it not only has the same base power and PP as Fire Blast, but it actually has a higher chance to burn and higher accuracy (note that Volcanion also gets Hydro Pump but, once again, Steam Eruption has higher accuracy and a burn effect). That said, Fire Blast does give great coverage, as it hits Grass types that Steam Cannon can't, as well as hitting Steel, Bug, and Ice types for super effective damage. Hidden Power Ice is for all the Dragons that have a x4 Weaknesses to Ice and resist its STABs, such as Garchomp, Dragonite, and (depending on how high Volcanion goes) Rayquaza.
I have three items listed, all of which have different uses, but work on this set. Lum Berry is to allow you to set up on a Pokémon that might poison or paralyze you, allowing you to get the jump on them; plus, it allows you to laugh in the face of Pokémon who plan on stopping your sweep with status. Leftovers is to allow more turns to set up and so you can survive more hits after, prolonging your sweep. While the other two items make setting up easier, Life Orb gives Volcanion what it needs to net those additional OHKOs. The choice is yours, and there’s no bad one.
The biggest problem this set will face is bulky Water types. This set simply does not have a way around them. Although many of them reside in lower tiers, one of the best counters to this set is a specially-defensive Jellicent with Water Absorb, who can switch into any of these attacks and cripple with Toxic, effectively forcing Volcanion out and stopping the sweep. Another Pokémon that can stop Volcanion is Slowking, who can use Regenerator, Slack Off, and its high HP and Special Defense stats to tank any hit that Volcanion can throw at it.
Physically Defensive
Volcanion
Hold Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defense, 4 Special Attack
Scald
Roar
Protect
Toxic/Will-o-Wisp
With a stellar 120 base Defense, a good typing and access to numerous moves that cause burns, Volcanion can pull off a physically defensive set. While Steam Eruption is a great STAB move on offensive sets, on a defensive set (while it is still viable) it is far inferior to Scald because of Scald’s higher PP. Roar is for shuffling and phasing setup sweepers who might try and setup on a defensive Pokémon like Volcanion, Protect is for scouting Choice item users, and Toxic is for wearing down all non-Steel-type opposing defensive Pokémon.
This set is especially effective against Pokémon like Azumarill, as it is immune to its Water-type attacks, resists Play Rough, and can threaten it with a burn. Volcanion’s Ability plays well here, giving it a great immunity and recovery source.
While maybe slightly less effective, Volcanion can pull off a good specially defensive set, a la Heatran, that looks like this:
Specially Defensive
Volcanion
Hold Item: Leftovers
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def, 4 Sp. Attack
Scald
Roar
Protect
Toxic/Will-o-Wisp
You'll notice it uses the same moveset listed above for the physically defensive set. This is because the max investment in Special Defense allows the Steam Pokémon to absorb special hits well, while using its naturally high Defense and Scald’s burn effect to ward off physical Pokémon. This lets it be a very effective mixed defender that focuses on taking special hits. This set is mostly viable because, while it does have a higher Defense stat, most of the moves that it resists are special. Ultimately, I suspect, both sets will be effective.
Mixed Weather Wonder
Volcanion
Hold Item: Life Orb
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Steam Eruption
Fire Blast
Solarbeam
Hidden Power Ice
Of all the sets listed here, this one might be the biggest stretch. In order to run this set, you need team support from both Groudon and Kyogre, making this set exclusive to Ubers (I suppose you could run it in Overused too, but the Drought and Drizzle-setters are far less sturdy and reliable than the two prehistoric legendaries). Typically, sun and rain can’t run on the same team because their effects counteract each other and there are not many Pokémon that benefit from both. However, this set might change that. Rain boosts Steam Eruption, sun boosts Fire Blast and allows for a one-turn Solarbeam. With access to both on the same team, this allows for some tricky mind games with your opponent. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea how effective this set will be, but I might try it when Volcanion gets officially released.
Choice Specs
Volcanion
Hold Item: Choice Specs
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Steam Eruption
Overheat/Fire Blast
Sludge Wave
Hidden Power Ice
The main goal of this set is to capitalize on Volcanion's impressive base 130 Special Attack to make any Pokémon regret switching into its attacks. I won't go into Steam Eruption again - its power and utility speak for itself. Sludge Wave is for hitting Fairies for super-effective damage and generally has good coverage alongside the STABs. The choice between Overheat and Fire Blast depends on how you plan on using the Steam Pokémon. If you plan on using it as a hit-and-run attacker, Overheat is the better option, whereas Fire Blast is more consistent. Overheat is probably the better option due to that set working as a revenge killer.
Do note that with both sets, Stealth Rock will wear it down and should be kept off the field.
Volcanion has a 110 base attack, so a mixed attacking set with a Naive nature and a moveset consisting of Steam Eruption, Flare Blitz/Fire Blast, Earthquake and Hidden Power Ice would be worth considering. However, Ground-type coverage does not help Volcanion do much but get around Tentacruel, who is not a very common Pokémon. If, for some reason, Volcanion was able to get Wild Charge, the Electric-type coverage would be good for getting around many Pokémon, but that's not really an option at this point. However, on almost any set, you can run Earthquake to dissuade Electric types from switching in. Theoretically, Hidden Power Grass could be used instead of Ice to hit Water types, but without the x4 weakness it doesn't hit hard enough to be of any consequence.
Because of Volcanion's versatility, it is really hard to guess which Pokémon are hard counters to it or dangerous to it all the time. Specially defensive Jellicent with Water Absorb is about as close as they come. It is immune to its main STAB and resists the second STAB plus the best Hidden Power type. The only concern is switching into Toxic on a defensive set, which then leads to a stalemate. Gastrodon can tank any move that isn't the rare HP Grass and can Toxic it. Other bulky Water types such as Slowking, Suicune, and Milotic can all take the offensive sets well. In the Ubers game, Kyogre and Palkia can switch into any of Volcanion's moves and can scare out the Steam Pokémon with Thunder. Fast, frail Electric types like Jolteon or Mega Manectric won't enjoy switching into any of Volcanion's moves, but can revenge kill with their special Electric-type moves.
I suspect that Volcanion will become an Overused threat in no time and may make the jump to Ubers because of its great stats, fantastic movepool, and overall amazing versatility. Let me know what you think in the forums
Signing off for now,
-Alltheginjoints
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