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| Hi. Name's Bubba. S'up? |
There's no Pokemon in Pokemon GO that leaves me feeling more bubbly than Poliwrath. It's just so adorabubble! What with its bubbly fists and its bubbly swirls. Did I mention it gets Bubble? Bubble is fantastic. Seriously, Bubble is like... the best quick attack in the game for defenders. It's a full 10 base power stronger than the next strongest quick attack, but Poliwrath is the only fully-evolved Pokemon with access to Bubble's amazing damage output. Like... have you ever faced a Poliwrath with Bubble? That thing'll mess you up.
Recommended movesets
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| Poliwrath smash! Dodging is for sissies and non-Bubblers! |
Bubble + Hydro Pump
Given Poliwrath's other quick attack option is Mud Shot, Bubble is really the only way to go. Poliwrath's other options come nowhere close to approaching Hydro Pump in DPS, and honestly, Bubble has better DPS than Ice Punch, and similar DPS to Submission. So Bubble + Hydro Pump is the natural conclusion for best attacking moveset. However, Bubble's incredibly slow cooldown makes Poliwrath a sub-par attacker relative to say... Vaporeon or Blastoise, as dodging attacks becomes extremely difficult.
Defending
Bubble + Hydro Pump or Ice Punch
Defending is a whole different story for Ice Punch though. While Hydro Pump is still fantastic because it allows Poliwrath to continue using Bubble until it's charged something actually worthwhile, Ice Punch has solid utility for a defensive set. The reason? Exeggutor is one of Poliwrath's main intuitive counters, and Dragonite makes for a strong attacker against any Water Pokemon. Ice Punch hits both of these Pokemon hard, charges quickly, and has appreciable base damage to make it worth using over Hydro Pump against Poliwrath's most likely attackers.
Base stats and typing
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| Poli...wrath? Yeah... the eyes are far too angry to be Poliwhirl. Feel free to apply this ID strategy to any Pokemon. |
Attack: 180
Defence: 202
Stamina: 180
Poliwrath's base stats are very solid, and its Defence is quite high improving its capacity as a defender. At base 180 Stamina, it has enough HP to be difficult to take down, while its base 180 Attack can take chunks out of opposing Pokemon. All around, it's got great stats, and its Water typing gives it a number of useful resistances with only a couple weaknesses. The Fighting typing is a bit of a let-down though, as Poliwrath picks up very little in return for being weak to Psychic moves. Yes... it can resist Rock-type attacks, but... it picked up a weakness to Psychic. Such a shame, but Bubble is just so strong that it makes up for it.
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Eggy: Master, I beat the Poliwrath!
Master: Good job Eggy, I knew
you were the perfect type-counter.
Morgan Freeman: Eggy was not the
perfect type-counter.
|
While Poliwrath is a solid attacker, its true strength lies in defence. While Exeggutor makes complete sense as an answer to Poliwrath, in practice, a same-CP Exeggutor takes a beating from Bubble despite resisting it. Sure, Exeggutor will win, but not without taking far more than half its HP. Indeed, Poliwrath's Bubble has a cooldown of 2.30 seconds. The gym AI system attacks every ~2 seconds. So Poliwrath on defence is about as strong as Poliwrath when controlled by a player, except it gets double the HP. Even if they resist Bubble, it's still effectively a base 25 power attack because STAB cancels out the resistance.
What I'm saying is... Poliwrath gets Bubble. That means it can defend against most anything, and as such is a great Pokemon to sit in gyms. If Poliwrath sits behind a Dragonite, you get to resist opposing Lapras and fire back with Bubble. Whenever you get to Bubble, that's all you really want in life. Plus, you may have Ice Punch which will hit Exeggutor for those extra bits of damage. Dragonite? Have fun son, double weakness to Ice Punch and in the meantime it's taking Bubble.
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| Wait... you want me to face something using Bubble? That's suicide-bro |
Fwoo... Slowbro? Slowbro's biggest advantage over something like Exeggutor is that it resists anything that Poliwrath can throw at it, and really appreciates it when Poliwrath has Ice Punch. Exeggutor is fine for non-Ice Punch variants, but its weak Defence lets it down and makes it more of a check than a counter. Like... if you as a trainer have the choice of the best Pokemon to take down the defender, and you still take more than half HP, the defender is doing its job. Dragonite of course also works well, but you again have to watch out for Ice Punch. Venusaur does a good job as something that resists both the Water moves and potential Submission, but because Ice Punch exists, it too ends up being more of a check than a counter.
Seriously though, have you faced a Bubble + Ice Punch Poliwrath with Exeggutor? Exeggutor gets shrek'd! It's embarrassing that Exeggutor takes as much damage as it does when it's supposed to be the ideal counter-Pokemon.
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| Psh, please! Bring me a real challenger. |
To put it lightly, Poliwrath is probably one of the best defending Pokemon in the game (after the obvious big 3). Bubble is so absurdly strong as a defending move, it's insane. Like... Water Pulse is enough to make Vaporeon a good defender, and Bubble is only 10 base damage lower except it's a quick move! And when Poliwrath does charge a big move, it's something like Hydro Pump or ice Punch!
If you are lucky enough to evolve a good Bubble + Hydro Pump Poliwrath, then go crazy. Power that sucker up. If it's got Ice Punch, I think it's justifiable too. Poliwrath is the kind of Pokemon that defends a gym's prestige with the best of them. It also makes for a great Pokemon to slot in-between Dragonites and/or Lapras', as it resists the common counter-Pokemon to these Pokemon; Lapras and Arcanine respectively. Not to mention that an Ice Punch Poliwrath will tango with opposing Dragonite just fine, and Dragonite is the Pokemon of choice for taking out Snorlax.
So seriously... Poliwrath is an amazing defender with incredible synergy with the big 3, and the strongest quick attack in the game. Have I fan-boy'd enough yet? Go get yourself a Poliwrath!
Cheers,
Let's GO!
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