Forretress Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Gyro Ball is Forretress's most consistent attacking move, and when coupled with its very low Speed, it will often have a high Base Power. Spikes is a useful support move that is able to punish switches. Volt Switch allows Forretress to pivot into another teammate and helps Forretress avoid being too passive and letting Pokemon set up on it. Rapid Spin lets Forretress act as entry hazard removal to support Pokemon like Yanmega and Houndoom. However, it usually isn't a very successful spinner due to the number of Ghost-types that are able to spinblock it, such as Mismagius, Palossand, and Alolan Marowak. Toxic lets it pressure more defensive hazard removers and spinblockers, such as Mandibuzz and Palossand. Set Details The given EV spread lets Forretress maximize its physical bulk, allowing it to easily switch into threats such as Flygon and set Spikes or spin on them. Leftovers is the preferred item due to the passive recovery it grants. Overcoat allows Forretress to not be whittled down by hail from Mega Abomasnow and Vanilluxe and lets Forretress counter non-Hidden Power Fire Roserade and Venusaur, although both variants are rare. Sturdy can be used if these Pokemon are not a threat to live any hit from full. Forretress can alternatively invest in Special Defense to check some specific special attackers better, such as Mega Abomasnow and Choice Specs Gardevoir, although this means it would be less effective as a physical blanket check, and its Special Defensive is still mediocre when invested in. Usage Tips Use Forretress as a sponge against physical attackers like Zygarde-10% and Escavalier, and use Spikes or Rapid Spin when given free turns by them. Do not attempt to utilize it as a wall over extended periods of time, as Forretress is prone to being whittled down and won't be able to effectively pivot into the threats it's supposed to check. Instead, it performs excellently as a defensive pivot, switching into attacks and pivoting out to safety, bringing another teammate in with Volt Switch. Use Volt Switch against sweepers that can use Forretress as setup fodder to prevent them from cleaning your team. When an opposing Ghost-type is on the field, try and predict if it will attempt to switch into Forretress to spinblock it, and switch into an appropriate countermeasure or use Toxic on them. While it cannot switch into powerful special attacks, Forretress's wonderful defensive typing does allow it to come into certain resisted attacks such as Blizzard from Mega Abomasnow and Moonblast from Choice Scarf Gardevoir. Try and spread Toxic poison as much as possible to cripple walls such as Cresselia and Mandibuzz. Team Options Forretress appreciates support from clerics like Florges, which grant it far more longevity with Wish. Similarly, Healing Wish users such as Gardevoir and Shaymin pair well with Forretress. Due to its crippling Fire weakness, a solid Fire-resistant Pokemon such as Milotic, Rhyperior, Snorlax, or Noivern is necessary so your team is not as vulnerable to powerful Fire-types like Arcanine, Ninetales, and Salazzle. Forretress pairs well with wallbreakers and sweepers like Pangoro, Roserade, and Zygarde-10% that appreciate a slow and safe Volt Switch. A Pokemon with Pursuit like Drapion, Sneasel, or Aerodactyl is able to eliminate Ghost-types that may try to spinblock Forretress, allowing you to control entry hazards far more reliably. Pokemon like Ghost-types, Taunt users, and Passimian are able to deter the hazards Forretress sets up from being removed.

Moves Stealth Rock is a great entry hazard that damages all types of Pokemon. Explosion allows Forretress to get off a lot of damage on foes as well as prevent slower Pokemon from using Rapid Spin or Defog that turn, and it works well in conjunction with Custap Berry. Spikes is another amazing entry hazard that damages grounded foes and works great for wearing down walls, as it doesn't account for typing, unlike Stealth Rock. Toxic Spikes can also be used to wear down walls, as they don't appreciate being poisoned upon switching in. Rapid Spin allows Forretress to remove entry hazards for its teammates. On the other hand, Gyro Ball allows Forretress to beat quicker suicide leads, such as Froslass and Aerodactyl. Set Details Maximum Attack EVs allow Forretress to hit as hard as possible with Explosion and Gyro Ball, while maximum Speed EVs allow Hasty Forretress to outspeed everything up to uninvested Blastoise and everything up to uninvested base 65 Speed Pokemon with a Lonely nature. While a Hasty nature does allow Forretress to hit a more significant Speed benchmark, a Lonely nature allows Forretress to hit harder with Explosion and Gyro Ball. Both natures are used with minimum HP, Defense, and Special Defense IVs to ensure Forretress gets knocked down to Sturdy or Custap Berry range as easily as possible. Custap Berry is used as the item to allow Forretress to outspeed foes using moves in the same priority bracket and either hit them with a powerful Explosion or Gyro Ball, set an entry hazard, or use Rapid Spin to remove opposing entry hazards for its teammates before Forretress is KOed. Usage Tips This set should be used as a suicide lead on offensive teams most of the time, as it is able to set entry hazards, prevent their removal, and explode to bring it in its teammates safely. Should a potential Rapid Spin or Defog user attempt to remove entry hazards against Forretress, keep setting entry hazards until Forretress is knocked into the range of Custap Berry and proceed to use Explosion to ensure the preservation of any hazards Forretress has previously set. Team Options Offensive Pokemon, such as Lucario, Infernape, and Entei, capitalize on Forretress's ability to successfully set up entry hazards which weaken their checks and counters, making them good teammates. Mega Aerodactyl is a particularly good teammate to Forretress, as it is able to threaten every Defog user in the tier. Ghost-types, such as Doublade and Sableye, also make for good teammates, as they are immune to Rapid Spin. Sableye is a particularly good teammate, as it can also Taunt opposing Defoggers to prevent them from removing Forretress's entry hazards.

Moves First and foremost, Forretress's job is to use Rapid Spin and keep entry hazards off your side of the field. The choice of entry hazard is team-dependent; if another Pokemon has Stealth Rock, you should run Spikes and set up dual entry hazards. Volt Switch turns Forretress into a defensive pivot by retaining momentum against switch-ins. The choice between Gyro Ball and Toxic is a matter of preference; Gyro Ball lets Forretress take on fast Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl, Mienshao, Crobat, and Whimsicott, while Toxic cripples most of Forretress's common switch-ins, including Swampert and Alomomola. Heavy Slam is an option over Gyro Ball as well that allows Forretress to heavily damage or outright OHKO slower Fairy-type Pokemon such as Sylveon and Florges, which can use their recovery moves to stall out Gyro Ball. Set Details Leftovers ensures longevity and passive recovery. Maximum HP and Defense investment allows Forretress to maximize its defensive bulk. An alternate spread of 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD allows Forretress to switch in more easily against special attackers such as Sylveon, Kyurem, and Celebi and makes entry hazard stacking or spinning a little easier, while still maintaining an impressive Defense stat. A Relaxed nature with 0 Speed IVs should be used if one opts for Gyro Ball, and it also ensures that Forretress is slower than most opposing Pokemon when using Volt Switch to bring in a teammate safely. Sturdy guarantees that Forretress will be able to use Rapid Spin or Volt Switch or set up entry hazards, assuming it is at full HP. Alternatively, Overcoat allows Forretress to work around threats such as Roserade and avoid damage from hail. Usage Tips Try to avoid using Forretress as a lead. Instead, use it to take hits from a variety of strong physical attackers such as Choice Scarf Mienshao. As a defensive pivot, it benefits from Wish support to help utilize its "sponge and switch" tactics. While Forretress cannot effectively wall many Pokemon over the long term, it is very effective at pivoting into attacks and Volt Switching out to safely bring in a teammate. Once you've done your job with Forretress, it is okay to use it as death fodder. Team Options This set works extremely well with bulky Water-types such as Alomomola or Suicune, and it appreciates additional utility support from pivots such as Gligar or Crobat. Slow Volt Switch works well with wallbreakers and stallbreakers, such as Mienshao, Darmanitan, and Hydreigon. Cleric support from the likes of Sylveon and Florges is especially helpful, as Forretress is prone to being worn down and vulnerable to Scald burns. Forretress works well with fast Taunt users that can help prevent opposing Pokemon from setting up entry hazards Defogging away its own hazards. It also appreciates Pursuit support from Pokemon such as Krookodile that can take care of spinblockers.

Moves Forretress sets Spikes and spins entry hazards away, which no other Pokemon can do, and it can do so multiple times per game due to its physical bulk. Gyro Ball is used to land a strong neutral hit against most attackers, notably being able to KO Terrakion and Mamoswine, as well as making Forretress a great check to Kyurem-B and Terrakion, allowing many entry points to set Spikes for Pokemon such as Latios to take advantage of or clear hazards for walls such as Celebi and Blissey. Earthquake allows Forretress to potentially 2HKO Excadrill and Tentacruel, protecting its Spikes against the two most common Rapid Spin users on balance teams. Earthquake also provides good coverage against Heatran and Magnezone without Air Balloon, as well as providing good damage against Jirachi and Tyranitar. However, Hidden Power Ice makes Forretress a great lure to Dragonite lacking Fire Punch and can do good damage to Landorus-T and Swords Dance Gliscor, which prevents them from coming in freely and setting up Stealth Rock, or setting up multiple boosts to overwhelm Forretress. Set Details Maximum Defense and HP allow Forretress to stomach strong hits from Choice Band Terrakion, Excadrill, Life Orb Breloom, and Choice Band Kyurem-B. A Relaxed nature is recommended, as it doesn't reduce the damage output of Hidden Power Ice, and also makes Gyro Ball stronger against Latios and Tyranitar. 0 Speed IVs, or 2 IVs if running Hidden Power Ice, are used to maximize Gyro Ball's damage. Sturdy is used to allow Forretress to be a backup check to an out-of-control Dragonite or Volcarona in a pinch. However, Overcoat can prove to be helpful if running Abomasnow or simply if a team wants a better matchup into Abomasnow, as it can freely use its Leftovers recovery to stand strong versus physical attackers. Team Options Forretress finds itself right at home on defensive sand teams and hail teams that want to compress a Spiker and a spinner into one slot, so they can run Water-resistant Pokemon like Celebi and Rotom-W, or special walls like Jirachi and Blissey. Blissey is especially nice, as it can use Wish to give Forretress more health to play with, which lets it repeatedly wall Swords Dance Gliscor and Choice Scarf Landorus-T over the course of a game, as well as absorbing status from the likes of Rotom-Wash, Jellicent, and Tentacruel. Tyranitar sets sand, and can Pursuit trap Reuniclus and Alakazam, which can use Forretress as setup fodder or freely KO it with Hidden Power Fire. Jellicent can stop spinners like Tentacruel and Excadrill from removing entry hazards, further pushing the residual damage on the opposing team and allowing Forretress to run Hidden Power Ice to check Landorus-T and Gliscor more effectively. Xatu is also a nice option on these teams, as it can bounce hazards back at Ferrothorn, forming an incredibly reliable anti-hazard core. Chansey and Blissey are fantastic partners for Forretress, as they tank special moves with ease, and check Magnezone and Volcarona, while Forretress checks Terrakion and Kyurem-B for Blissey and Chansey. Gliscor sets Stealth Rock, provides an Earthquake immunity, and can deny hazards with Taunt, or offer a long-term win condition with Swords Dance. Reuniclus also pairs well with Forretress, as the Spikes that it puts down can help enable a Reuniclus sweep late-game. Forretress can also fit on certain sun teams that want to compress a Spikes and Rapid Spin user as well as having a solid matchup against strong Rock- and Ground-type Pokemon like Landorus-T and Terrakion.

Moves Forretress can leverage its naturally high Defense stat to fully invest in Special Defense. This notably gives it several advantages: Forretress can survive strong special attacks such as Latias and Dragonite's Draco Meteor as well as Gengar's Focus Blast while still retaining enough physical bulk to switch into and set up on threats whose attacks it resists, such as Metagross, Scizor, and Jirachi without Fire Punch. It also survives Timid Magnezone's Hidden Power Fire with certainty while Thunderbolt is an unlikely 2HKO. This mixed bulk affords it to set up entry hazards or use Rapid Spin. Forretress often needs to pick between setting up Spikes or Toxic Spikes—Spikes are often more valuable due to hitting more Pokemon, but Toxic Spikes are uniquely useful for wearing down Tyranitar, Blissey, Hippowdon, and other common defensive Pokemon. Rapid Spin is of critical importance to Forretress, as it is one of few viable users of the move. Forretress's typing, bulk, and ability to set up entry hazards often provides opportunities to use Rapid Spin. Payback is Forretress's primary offensive option and facilitates it using Rapid Spin. One huge advantage to special bulk is it allows Forretress to use Rapid Spin against defensive Rotom-A, as it only scores a 4HKO with Thunderbolt in sand. Payback allows Forretress to pressure Rotom-A and Gengar, making it more difficult to block Rapid Spin. Forretress must beware of Hidden Power Fire and Overheat while additionally does not enjoy being burnt by Will-O-Wisp without cleric support, however. With Pursuit support, Forretress can also drop Payback for the more generally threatening Toxic. Toxic allows Forretress to fight back against set up threats that can't mitigate status well, such as Dragon Dance Gyarados. It can still pressure offensive Rotom-A with Toxic. Protect allows Forretress to recover through Iron Head Jirachi with Leftovers while also scouting attacks. It also helps Forretress to more easily passively recover health if it is phazed in unexpectedly. However, with cleric support, Rest is another option to both fully heal Forretress and remove status. Forretress can drop Protect or Rest for a variety of other moves, such as Explosion, Stealth Rock, running both Toxic Spikes and Spikes, Gyro Ball, and Earthquake. However, Forretress often sorely misses recovery due to being grounded and tasked with removing entry hazards. Set Details To get the benefits of a specially defensive spread, Forretress should run maximum HP and Special Defense EVs with a Careful nature. Forretress can run an Impish nature with maximum special bulk to try to better take on physical threats, but this often leaves Forretress struggling to take on weaker special attackers such as Rotom-A and not bulky enough to repeatedly set-up on Skarmory with Brave Bird and Swampert. Forretress can run Shed Shell, but it typically can survive one Magnezone attack anyway and sorely misses Leftovers recovery. Usage Tips Forretress must be played carefully, as it is a grounded Rapid Spinner without reliable recovery and setup fodder for a lot of the offensive threats of the tier. Forretress should generally prioritize getting at least one layer of Spikes or Toxic Spikes down to facilitate wearing the foe down unless the team desperately needs it to Rapid Spin. Forretress struggles to switch in repeatedly to remove entry hazards and should be used cautiously. Switching in on Spikes and Stealth alone can result in Forretress losing up to 50% of its health over the course of a few turns, which is not easily recovered back with Leftovers alone. Leverage the threat of Rapid Spin to set up entry hazards; Forretress is at its best when the threat of it Rapid Spinning away entry hazards is too great not to reflexively switch to a spinblocker. Keep Forretress away from Knock Off especially if it does not have Rest, as it will get worn down very easily from entry hazards and weak attacks. Forretress should use Rest sparingly against more offensive teams, as it becomes even more of a sitting duck when it is asleep. Protect can similarly be taken advantage of. Team Options Forretress should be used in the context of a stall team, as it provides entry hazards effectively and needs good defensive partners to take on the threats it lets in. Some of Forretress's best teammates are strong defensive Flying-types such as RestTalk Gyarados and physically defensive Zapdos. Both are fantastic walls, but are held back by their Stealth Rock weakness. Gyarados is especially helpful in taking on hyper offensive teams, as once Forretress gets rid of Stealth Rock, it can just phaze out threats such as Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragon Dance Tyranitar lacking Stone Edge with its bulk and Intimidate. Forretress also appreciates sand to help wear down Ghost-types. Both Hippowdon and Choice Scarf Tyranitar are effective, sometimes even both on the same team. Hippowdon appreciates Rapid Spin, sets up Stealth Rock, and is very bulky. Choice Scarf Tyranitar traps Ghost-types and Starmie, provides speed control, and can also set up Stealth Rock. Forretress appreciates strong special walls: Clefable is the standard, as it has Encore to help stop special set-up sweepers, can spread Knock Off to wear foes down, and answers many threats well. It also can provide Heal Bell support to facilitate Rest. Blissey similarly can help wall special threats, but isn't immune to entry hazards like Clefable is. Latias has fantastic type synergy with Forretress as they resists each others weakness and Latias can use Roar to prevent set-up from Substitute special attackers such as Suicune and Jirachi. Latias can even go on the offensive with a Calm Mind + Hidden Power Fire set. Calm Mind + RestTalk Suicune also appreciates Rapid Spin support, provides a strong answer to Water- and Fire-types, and is a strong win condition. Celebi also performs similarly as a strong wall that likes Rapid Spin support. Forretress also appreciates defensive redundancy, as it doesn't enjoy being the only switch-in to Dragon-types on the team. Defensive Jirachi is an excellent choice, as it also provides Wish support and sponges both physical and special Dragon-type attacks. Cresselia absorbs mixed Flygon especially well and can even use Lunar Dance to heal Forretress back up. Swampert also can withstand Dragon-type attacks and set up Stealth Rock. Forretress also appreciates Heatran's type synergy and facilitates its defensive and Torment sets with entry hazards. Heatran also helps to prevent opposing Forretress and Skarmory from setting up Spikes. Rotom-A can block Rapid Spin from Starmie and opposing Forretress while also helping Forretress out against physical Substitute users such as Breloom, Machamp, and Jirachi.

Moves Physically defensive Forretress takes advantage of the more common specially defensive set to surprise the opponent. This Forretress is much more difficult to wear down by repeatedly bashing it with physical moves. Once Forretress switches in something it can set up on such as Hippowdon, physical Swampert, Metagross, Bronzong, or Skarmory, they might just attack Forretress to wear it down. These weak attacks do much less damage and Forretress can come back in later in the game to more easily set up entry hazards and use Rapid Spin. Spikes and Rapid Spin make up the core of this set, although Forretress can also use Toxic Spikes if they are more needed. Beware that DPP OU is much more resilient to Toxic Spikes than Spikes, however. Forretress can more easily afford to use offensive moves with this set, as it abandons trying to survive strong special hits and uses Forretress's good movepool to take advantage of the opponent. Payback again features to hit Ghost-types on the switch as Forretress is no longer bulky enough to take their attacks effectively, but another option is Gyro Ball. Forretress is very slow, and pressures faster threats such as Gengar with a 2HKO. However, another advantage is to unsuspectingly hit Dragon Dance sweepers hard, as Tyranitar and Dragonite do not enjoy it and Forretress is bulky enough to beat Gyarados trying to set up on it after Stealth Rock. Earthquake hits Magnezone and Heatran very hard, OHKOing bulkless sets after Stealth Rock. It also helps to pressure Infernape, Metagross, Lucario, and Calm Mind Jirachi trying to set up Forretress. However, another option is Explosion. Explosion makes Forretress much more threatening and denies set up opportunities altogether to foes who do not resist it. It also surprises defensive Pokemon who normally set up on Forretress easily, such as Calm Mind Suicune, Clefable, and Latias. Forretress can also drop an attacking move to run both entry hazards or even Stealth Rock to get entry hazards up quickly. Set Details Forretress needs maximum HP and an Impish nature to take on physical attacks well. Forretress should use a Relaxed nature and 0 Speed IVs if it uses Gyro Ball. Should it use Earthquake, it needs 112 EVs to OHKO bulkless Heatran and Magnezone after Stealth Rock. The rest can be put into Defense. Forretress can run a fully physically defensive spread if these benchmarks aren't needed. Forretress can use spare some EVs into its Special Defense, as the stat is quite low, but needs full investment before it can take special hits reliably. Forretress generally should be using Leftovers to help mitigate residual damage, as it typically will not have Protect or Rest with this set. However, since it has no Magnezone protection outside of hitting it on the switch with Earthquake, Shed Shell is an option to escape. Usage Tips While it has more options to defend itself, Forretress should still be played carefully, as most strong special attacks will at least 2HKO it. Keep Forretress away from Ghost-types once they come in even with Payback. Forretress should generally come in early into the game to set up entry hazards and then only sparingly to Rapid Spin afterwards due to easily getting worn down and its relative passivity. Hitting threats on the switch is especially important with this Forretress, as Earthquake is often unexpected and can surprise Magnezone and Heatran. Leverage Forretress's increased physical bulk to come into threats that can't hurt it effectively, like Metagross, Choiced Tyranitar, and Skarmory to set up entry hazards and Rapid Spin away the opponent's entry hazards. Especially against offensive teams that can't get rid of Forretress's entry hazards, Forretress is more free to sacrifice itself to stop an opposing sweep with Explosion or pull off a crucial Rapid Spin. Team Options While Forretress appreciates defensive teammates, physically defensive Forretress can find itself on more offensive teams due to providing strong Rapid Spin support and still posing a threat with its coverage and Explosion. Physically defensive Forretress can be used over the specially defensive set on teams with very strong defensive cores that only need Forretress to Rapid Spin and set up entry hazards. Physically defensive Hippowdon, physical defensive Zapdos, and defensive Jirachi are excellent teammates that appreciate Rapid Spin and are difficult to break for offensive teams. Jirachi can even provide Wish support. Calm Mind + RestTalk Suicune is also a great choice as a wall that can sweep with Rapid Spin support and provides an excellent Heatran and Fire Punch Jirachi check. Clefable also provides Knock Off and Encore to help prevent special set up threats as well as provides a switch into mixed Flygon. On these types of teams, the only defensive responsibilities Forretress has it to absorb Trick from Metagross, Rotom-A, and Latias. On offensive teams, Forretress helps to mitigate Skarmory's impact, provide a check to dangerous attackers with Explosion, and sets up Spikes. Forretress enjoys a crippled Skarmory so it can no longer repeatedly phaze it away after Skarmory sets up entry hazards. Trick Metagross is an excellent partner, as Skarmory very commonly switches in on it. Choice Scarf and Iron Ball permanently cripple Skarmory and allow Forretress to blunt its impact more easily. Forretress also appreciates Pursuit support to remove Rotom-A and Gengar, as both easily 2HKO it. Gyarados, especially Taunt sets, appreciate Forretress spreading entry hazards and removing Rapid Spin. Spinblockers such as Gengar and Choice Scarf Rotom-A are effective in preventing the opponent from Rapid Spinning. Rotom-A also helps to revenge kill threats Forretress does not like taking on, such as Dragon Dance Dragonite, Swords Dance Lucario, and Agility Empoleon.

Set Description Forretress sets Spikes up against a wide variety of Pokemon and can often do so multiple times a game due to its bulk. With maximum special bulk and Leftovers, Forretress shields itself as much as possible against Magneton and greatly increases the amount of Pokemon it can use Spikes on, like Milotic and Zapdos. In addition, this allows Forretress to better combat defensive Starmie trying to remove Spikes. Almost all Forretress run Rapid Spin due to Spikes's prominence in the metagame. Beware of teams likely to have defensive Gengar, as opponents will often liberally bring it in on Forretress with their Spikes laid to prevent losing them as well as to force Forretress out. After Spikes and Rapid Spin, Forretress's options open up quite a bit, letting it defeat some of its counters or be a general threat with Explosion. Hidden Power Bug helps against Claydol and Starmie as well as Celebi and Tyranitar. It is a guaranteed 3HKO at least on both Claydol and Starmie—this discourages them from performing their duty of removing Spikes. It also 2HKOes all variants of Celebi, which is useful due to Forretress teams frequently being weak to Celebi passing Calm Mind or Swords Dance. If Gengar tries to block Rapid Spin, Hidden Power Bug can remove it after sand if it was hit by Pursuit upon switching out, easing Forretress's ability to keep Spikes off the field. Earthquake Forretress OHKOes most Magneton and damages Metagross, Tyranitar, and Jirachi. If you suspect Magneton is on the opposing team, aggressively using Earthquake as it comes in can be a game-winning play. Earthquake's utility against Metagross can be very important to stop it, especially Choice Band sets, from accumulating chances for Meteor Mash boosts and potentially steamrolling Forretress's team, especially since the best common option to phaze Metagross is a Roar Swampert that lacks its own Earthquake. Earthquake also gives Forretress an option to combat Dragon Dance Tyranitar and Substitute non-Fire Punch Jirachi in desperate situations. Forretress can additionally use Explosion, which notably prevents setup from Pokemon such as Curse Snorlax, Dragon Dance Gyarados, and Dragon Dance Salamence. It can additionally eliminate threats coming in, such as Moltres and Charizard. Smart uses of Explosion include against incoming Claydol and Starmie to keep Spikes up, on paralyzed threats to end turns—since Explosion prevents action by slower threats in ADV—or even against Rock-resistant Pokemon or walls to set up an Aerodactyl or mixed Salamence sweep. Be careful of Gengar switching in, however. Picking two of Hidden Power Bug, Earthquake, and Explosion is up to personal preference outside of teams with specific needs. Team Options Forretress needs specific support from its teammates in order to be most effective: Pursuit support for removing Gengar, special walls for the strong threats like Moltres it often attracts, good physical answers for the threats that try to set up on it, like Salamence and Snorlax, and Pokemon that take advantage of the extra residual damage Spikes provides. Tyranitar is by far the best partner for Forretress. It not only sets up the sand that helps make Spikes damage stick, but it also Pursuit traps Gengar, acts as a solid answer to Moltres as well as some Snorlax, and takes advantage of Spikes with Roar or a well-timed Focus Punch. With smart play, Pursuit Tyranitar can remove Claydol and Starmie to prevent Rapid Spin, but be careful of their Earthquake and Surf, which will typically 2HKO Tyranitar. However, Forretress's Pursuit trapper does not have to be Tyranitar—Umbreon and Houndoom are other options that can also free up Tyranitar to run a physical set, such as Choice Band, Dragon Dance, or bulky physical attacker, that benefits more from Spikes. Forretress can also be run without a Pursuit Pokemon if it has additional assistance from another Rapid Spin user such as Claydol, though this pairing is relatively niche. Gengar is another good Forretress teammate because it not only greatly appreciates Spikes, but it also helps keep Spikes up against Claydol, Starmie, opposing Forretress, and even the rare Donphan. A Forretress, Gengar, and Tyranitar core is commonly used to take advantage of Spikes and keep them up against spinners while also finding opportunities to trap and remove them. As for special walls, the standard on many Forretress teams is Blissey, often with Wish to help Forretress deal with residual damage. It also commonly runs Counter, sometimes with Wish as well, due to Forretress teams generally being weak to mixed sweepers such as Salamence and Tyranitar. This point is especially true when the team does not have strong physical walls. However, the special wall can easily be Jirachi, which has an easier time fitting Wish, works well with Pursuit trappers to prevent Gengar from burning it, and shores the team up against physical threats such as Metagross, Fighting-type Pokemon, Aerodactyl, and Tyranitar. Wish support in general from not only Blissey and Jirachi but also Salamence and Umbreon can be helpful to keep Forretress and its teammates healthy, especially if Spikes can't be removed as easily. Celebi can fill the specially defensive role, as it is stronger against defensive Water-types such as Rest Suicune and switches into Leech Seed from opposing Celebi and Venusaur. Beware of offensive Water-types such as fast Calm Mind Suicune and Starmie hitting hard or freezing with potentially boosted Ice Beam, however. Specially defensive Roar + Rest Zapdos is a good choice on these teams, as it provides additional support against Calm Mind Pokemon like Celebi, Jirachi, and Suicune and mixed Salamence, which often tries to take advantage of Forretress. It also is great as additional support against offensive Water-types, such as the aforementioned Suicune and Starmie, which love to spam Hydro Pump against Forretress and its common teammates. Furthermore, it stops Gyarados from taking advantage of Forretress's passivity. Zapdos can even use Light Screen to give Forretress a better chance against Magneton. For physical walls, Forretress appreciates Pokemon like Swampert and Flygon to help the team handle physical threats such as Tyranitar and Salamence. Defensive Metagross, Milotic, and bulky Roar Suicune can also work on some Forretress teams, as they check the Rock-type threats and Metagross that can break apart Forretress teams. Milotic is especially nice here, as it also is a fantastic counter to Fire-types such as Moltres and Charizard as well as mixed Salamence, which prey on Forretress and its common teammates. Dugtrio can also be helpful on some Forretress teams because it can trap threats such as Calm Mind Celebi, Calm Mind Jirachi, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Heracross—dangerous Pokemon that are typically difficult to handle for many Forretress teams. Forretress really appreciates Pokemon that can take advantage of Spikes. Roar is a good option to repeatedly force Spikes damage on foes, and it can easily be fit on essential teammates, such as Pursuit Tyranitar, Swampert, Suicune, and even mixed Salamence. Outside of Roar users, Zapdos, physical Tyranitar, Gengar, Salamence, Aerodactyl, Venusaur, and Moltres work well. Aerodactyl is especially strong, as it not only benefits from a good Skarmory answer and Pursuit support, but it also cleans effectively with Spikes and helps against Calm Mind and Swords Dance Baton Pass Celebi with Hidden Power Bug. Moltres is a nice middle-ground switch-in against Gengar, as it is immune to Gengar's Will-O-Wisp and takes a pittance from Grass-type coverage and Focus Punch meant for catching Pursuit Tyranitar. Moltres, Salamence, and Gengar also provide a switch-in to Heracross—a dangerous threat that takes advantage of the lack of Drill Peck Skarmory on these types of teams. Very aggressive Forretress teams can also run their own Fighting-type Pokemon such as Medicham, Breloom, or Hariyama, as its role compression of Spiker and spinner allows TSS teams to fit a variety of Pokemon.

Set Description Spikes plays an incredibly critical role in GSC, limiting the opponent's ability to switch freely and creating countless potential plays and win conditions where they would otherwise simply not exist. Rapid Spin removes Spikes on Forretress's side of the field to prevent the same situation from happening to it. Toxic wears down most Pokemon that come in on it and is good against Pokemon like Cloyster, Tyranitar, Rhydon, and Snorlax. Although Forretress is slow, Explosion lets it be an emergency check to Belly Drum Snorlax thanks to its slightly higher Speed while also checking Vaporeon and Machamp and allowing it to possibly KO Zapdos and Raikou. Hidden Power Fire threatens to 2HKO opposing Forretress, potentially a game-winning advantage, and does decent damage to Skarmory and Steelix. Hidden Power Ghost prevents Forretress from being completely defenseless against Gengar and is a solid alternative to Toxic against Misdreavus. Giga Drain is an alternative that has a chance to 3HKO Cloyster, giving Forretress a chance of beating it one-on-one and creating mind games as to whether Forretress will use Giga Drain again or Rapid Spin, and it has a chance to 2HKO Golem. Team Options Forretress wants to keep Spikes set up against the enemy as much as possible, so Ghost-types such as Gengar and Misdreavus make for good partners by blocking enemy Rapid Spin users. Forretress hates Ghost-types itself, however, so Pursuit trappers such as Tyranitar, Umbreon, and Houndoom can take care of them to prevent the opponent from spinblocking. Forretress also appreciates Tyranitar's ability to take on Snorlax that have Fire-type moves and Umbreon's ability to better trap Starmie. Due to Forretress's 4x weakness to Fire, Pokemon that can take on Belly Drum Charizard and RestTalk Moltres, such as Suicune, are very valuable teammates. Forretress's passivity also means that it allows many scary special attackers, setup sweepers, and general threats such as Zapdos, Vaporeon, Tentacruel, Gengar, and Perish Trap Misdreavus to switch in, so Raikou often makes a good partner with its reliable ability to beat these threats at least once.