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Learn how to use Volcarona in the Pokemon VGC format based on James Baek’s 2025 Pokemon World Championship build.
Volcarona has been a dreaded menace in Singles for a long time. However, it has a significant presence in the VGC format as well. James Baek, a player known for his innovative strategies, managed to give Volcarona its highest placed rank at the 2025 Pokemon World Championships. With James having reached the Top 16 with the Unovan bug, it’s worth dissecting his Volcarona’s build. Hopefully, after reading this, you will be able to use Volcarona in Pokemon VGC as well.
What Is the Build of James Baek’s Volcarona?
James gave his Volcarona a Leftovers to hold so that it could recover some HP each turn. As Volcarona’s Fire/Bug typing has plenty of weaknesses, he included the option to change it to a Water-type through Terastallization. Finally, he went with the ability Flame Body to punish opponents with burns if they made contact.
Moves Used by James Baek’s Volcarona
Here’s where we see James’ more interesting choices. Instead of going for a more defensive redirection route with Rage Powder, he decided to use his Volcarona as a setup sweeper. Volcarona has stellar Special Attack (135), useful Special Defense, and Speed (both 100). However, against powerful Restricted Legendaries, these stats can fall a bit short. However, the move Quiver Dance, which boosts all of those aforementioned stats by one stage, fixes this issue. As for damaging moves, James went with Volcarona’s (and Iron Moth’s signature) Fire-type move Fiery Dance.
The reason to use this over something like Flamethrower or Heat Wave, which are both stronger, is that it has a 50% chance to raise Volcarona’s Special Attack by one stage. Forgoing Bug STAB, James went with Giga Drain instead. Not only is it useful for Grass-type coverage, but it also heals Volcarona by half the HP lost by the target. As for the final move, he went with Protect to stall as well as get some more Leftovers recovery.
Which Pokemon Is Volcarona Good Against?
After a Quiver Dance boost, Volcarona hits Calyrex Ice Rider and Zamazenta Crowned for massive damage with Fiery Dance. It can also hit Water-types like Kyogre and Urshifu Rapid Strike that would usually trouble it with Giga Drain.
Common Partners for Volcarona
- Zamazenta Crowned: Zamazenta Crowned can handle Pokemon like Ogerpon Cornerstone, which is a great danger to Volcarona, thanks to its 4x Rock STAB.
- Grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl provides useful dual-screen support, especially Reflect to protect Volcarona from physical attacks.
- Fake Out users: Pokemon like Rillaboom and Iron Hands can flinch one of the opponent’s Pokemon with Fake Out, making it easier for Volcarona to set up.
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