Fulguris, Pokémon ROSA, Strat – Millenium

Thundurus Guide – Pokémon #642

Find our guide for Fulguris, Pokemon #642 5th generation (5G) in VGC. Movesets, stats, weaknesses, resistancesdiscover all the useful information and our advice for Pokémon ROSA.

	Fulguris – n° 642
	Kind : Electric / Flight			Base stats
	Talent: joker			PV	79
	Hidden talent: Relentless (Unavailable VGC’15)			ATK	115
	Weight : 61 kg, or 134.5 pounds			DEF	70
	Size : 1.5 m, or 4.11 feet			ATK. SP	125
	Egg group: Not reproducible			DEF SP.	80
	Not before hatching: 30,720			LIVE.	111

The year 2015 marks the return of many legendary Pokémon in VGC thanks to Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Already omnipresent in 2011, 2012 and 2013 since it reached the VGC finals during these editions, Fulgurus is making its return to the forefront in 2015.

A balanced typing, good Speed ​​and the favorite Ability of supports, namely Prankster: this is the recipe for a Pokémon that can fit into any team, which makes it one of the 10 most played Pokémon in the format.

Fulguris’ movepool gives him access to a wide range of roles, the most common (and most effective) being support. Fulguris will help Pokémon that require speed control to express themselves, such as Scalprey, Mega Charizard-Y, or Sylveon. He will also be extremely useful against many teams to break the opponent’s game thanks to his priority Taunt.

Fulguris Guide with Bean

While bulk isn’t Fulgurus’ strong point, it’s the set that’s most prolific. With Taunt, say goodbye to Distortion setters, give your Pokémon’s Low Blows a free hand, paralyze faster opponents…

The possibilities are enormous, Fulguris is not there to do KOs but to allow your team to get by against many threats.

Options:

STAB Electric is a must-have, Thunder is an obvious choice, but you can opt for Coud’Jus if your team benefits from Lightning Rod or even Absorb Volt, the 30% Paralysis is not to be overlooked.

Taunt and Thunderbolt are two excellent support moves, thanks to them Thundurus is the king of speed control: it blocks Distortion setters (Cresselia at the top of the list), but be careful of the Mental Grass that is spread on these Pokémon. Thunderbolt will greatly slow down threats like Mega Kangaroo, Mega Metagross and Mega Salam, which is essential if you don’t have an absolute counter to these Pokémon in your team.

The last slot is more flexible, with Fulguris having access to a lot of offensive moves, so you are free to choose what suits you best. I recommend Hidden Power Ice by default, because Electric/Ice coverage is known to be devastating. Grass Knot is a more situational choice, and will mainly help you get rid of threats like Mega-Laggron or Tritosor.

With the Sitrus Berry, Thundurus is unstoppable despite its modest defensive stats. The only other options are the Brute Helmet to punish Mega Kangaroo and the Nanone Berry to hold any Ice attack, but the Calm nature already allows you to hold a good number of threats.

In terms of EV distribution, the first distribution allows Thundurus to survive a Stone Edge from Landorus-T, a Damocles from Mega Rigid Kangaroo (thanks to the Sitrus Berry) and a Draco Meteor from Hydreigon Modest Life Orb. This is the most popular distribution and it is no coincidence, because it takes full advantage of the Sitrus Berry since the HP is a multiple of 3 (which makes the HP restoration profitable thanks to rounding) and very few Pokémon can send Thundurus back into its Poké Ball in a single hit.

More physical-oriented variations are emerging, the second distribution is that of Eddie Fernandez during the New York Regional. This distribution is made to completely counter Mega-Drattak.

Partners:

All Pokémon that need speed control are perfect partners for Fulguris: Bisharp, Sylveon, Heatran, the bulky Mega Charizard-Y that are becoming more popular. All of these Pokémon can KO one or two in a single turn if they attack before the opponents.

Physical sweepers that fear Burn like Mega Kangaroo or Garchomp can be protected from priority Will-o’-the-Wisp with Taunt.

The Mega-Kangourex+Fulguris Support lead is often considered impassive thanks to the combination of Quarrelsome Bluff and Provoc which prevents almost all attempts to place Distortion, Requiem, Will-o’-the-Wisp…

Counters and Checks:

With only two weaknesses, Fulguris is still susceptible to two extremely common offensive types, Rock and Ice. Although rare, the Life Orb versions of Terrakion will knock out Fulguris without any worries, remember that the Prine Berry is played more than 50% of the time on Terrakion compared to less than 10% for the Life Orb.

Bétochef does not fear Fulguris’ moves (except Hidden Power Flying), with Sabotage+Ice Punch only Fulguris focused on Physical Defense will be able to withstand these two attacks from Bétochef.

Fulguris’ worst nightmare is a cotton ball named Farfaduvet, he is the fastest Prankster in the metagame (and even in the game), he can distribute Taunts and Encores that will perfectly counter Fulguris’ work. Don’t forget that Fulguris is Farfaduvet’s favorite target, use this information wisely to waste your opponent’s time.

Calculations:

252+ Atk Landorus-T Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Thundurus: 156-184 (83.8 – 98.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 68+ SpD Thundurus: 156-185 (83.8 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

+1,252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Thundurus: 199-234 (106.9 – 125.8%) — guaranteed OHKO

44 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 128-152 (74.8 – 88.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO

This set mainly seeks to address your team’s shortcomings. Is Cresselia giving you trouble? Opt for Provoc. Are you lacking speed control? Lightning Cage is for you. Are Rain Teams ruining your life? Grass Knot takes care of Swampert. Fulguris’ very large movepool will often help you, you can abuse it to make a difference.

Options:

As mentioned before, Thundurus’ movepool is so wide that you can play a lot of different sets. Aside from the attacks mentioned above, Hidden Power Flying, Darkvibe, Cradovague, Knock Off, and Scorch are all possible moves to address specific threats.

Cage-Eclair and Provoc are still useful and deserve to take the place of an offensive slot, again it depends on your team.

Shelter is dispensable, but since Fulguris is fragile without defensive investment, it is better to be able to protect yourself. Cloning is an interesting and surprising choice that can prove crucial if Fulguris finds himself in a 1v1 at the end of the fight.

The second EV distribution may seem obscure, but it will be particularly useful against Mega Swamperts in Rain Team. This investment gives Thundurus enough bulk to hold a Mega Swampert Icefist and to KO him in return with Grass Knot without being KO’d by the Life Orb’s damage. In this case, you will not be able to OHKO Toad with Thunder.

Partners:

This offensive version of Fulguris has great synergy with many Pokémon.

The classic DisQuake combination (Coud’Jus+Séisme) remains quite playable, however Tonnerre will be preferable to Coud’Jus given the Damage Reduce of area damage. This is why Démétéros-T and Garchacrok pair very well with Fulguris, as do Tritosor and Gardevoir (thanks to the Talent Telepath).

Nymphali and Heatran will always be just as good with Fulguris whatever his role as long as they keep Cage-Eclair.

The Fulguris+Mega-Kangourex duo also remains excellent, in this case Provoc will be of great help to you.

Counters and Checks:

If you are interested in offensive Fulguris, remember that its lack of bulk can play tricks on you.

Any Rock Blade will take down Fulguris, whether it’s from Terrakion, Landorus-T, or even Blighter without a Life Orb.

Mega-Metalgross doesn’t care much about Fulguris and can potentially OHKO it with Psykoud’Boul, those less invested in Attack will be able to 2HKO it without problem.

Rotom-Four resists all of Fulguris’ common moves and is not affected by Thunderbolt, plus with a Life Orb the chances of Overheating KOing Fulguris are very high.

Calculations:

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 203-239 (110.9 – 130.6%) — guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Politoed: 198-234 (100.5 – 118.7%) — guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 12 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 174-205 (113.7 – 133.9%) — guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-T: 208-250 (106.1 – 127.5%) — guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 190-224 (113.7 – 134.1%) — guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Thundurus: 126-150 (81.8 – 97.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Mega Swampert Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 140 Def Thundurus: 116-138 (75.3 – 89.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Rotom-H Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Thundurus: 148-175 (96.1 – 113.6%) — 75% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Thundurus: 142-168 (92.2 – 109%) — 56.3% chance to OHKO

In competition

Fulguris has always been one of the most played Pokémon since its existence: three years of competition synonymous with three finals at the World Championships. This year many players have already distinguished themselves with Fulguris: Conan Thompson (Oregon Regional Winner), Zach Droegkamp (Missouri Regional Finalist) or Andrew Burley (Top 3 Missouri Regional).

Thundurus is (almost) always accompanied by Terrakion. Mega Metagross is common at high levels accompanied by Thundurus and seems to be in vogue at the expense of Mega Kangaroo. Moreover, at the Missouri Regional in February 2015, Zach Droegkamp and Andrew Burley’s teams were exactly the same except for one Pokémon: Mega Metagross, Hydreigon, Thundurus, Terrakion and Landorus-T.