MOTW: Roar

Roar, Yea, bet you didn’t see that one comin’ did you? Either as a featured article or a move you’d see in battle, Roar is definitely one of the more rare ones you’ll see out there. I’m curious as to why? It’s a phenomenal move that can seriously throw off your opponent. Over half of all Pokemon can actually learn it, and it’s more effective then you’d think...

So what exactly does Roar do? Well if you remember from Gen I all Roar did was make a wild Pokemon flee in battle. I’m sure some of us learned the hard way as to what Roar did when trying to catch some Pokemon, only to find that they kept running away. I know at least that happened to me... Anyways, if you haven’t been paying any attention since Gen I, Roar has changed, definitely for the better. Now when used in battle Roar will force your opponent’s Pokemon out and make it switch with a random one in his/her party.

“Big Deal.” You say, “I’ll switch back in, only one turn lost, no biggie.” Well that depends on what other strategies you use with Roar. One particular strategy I’ve been mulling over for a while but haven’t put into use yet is a Roar - Stealth Rock combo. This could be potentially devastating to some teams weak to Rock, or could just give you that extra edge when trying to OHKO a member of your opponents team.

Think about it for a second. Let’s say you lead with a serious heavy weight like Tyranitar. A pretty good starter for a team with it’s super high attack stat and relatively high HP. I’d say with a move set like... let’s say, Stealth Rock, Roar, Rest, and Earthquake, you’d be pretty set. First you start with Stealth Rock, so any opponent that switches out and in takes damage, Roar to force them to switch Pokemon, Rest to recover any minor damage that Tyranitar could possibly take, and Earthquake to finish off anybody who’s been injured by Stealth rock enough to faint from a OHKO. I would probably add a leftovers on it just to be safe, and probably EV train it in HP and Attack. That would definitely be a force to be reckoned with. 

Just some thoughts for you. Even a normally thrown away move like Roar, could be your best friend in many situations. I would give it a try and see how it fits. One thing you also can always bring to the table, the element of surprise. I know I would be pretty shocked if somebody used that strategy on me, and I definitely wouldn’t be prepared for it.

-It's Super Effective

-aaronspriggs