Roggenrola Movesets & Competitive Sets

Roggenrola can make an excellent lead, as Sturdy grants it an automatic Focus Sash, which allows it to run Oran Berry for healing. This set focuses on laying down Stealth Rock and eliminating the opposing lead, granting you the early advantage. Stealth Rock allows Roggenrola to support its team, as it makes it harder for the opponent to switch and also breaks Focus Sashes and Sturdy. STAB Stone Edge coming from Roggenrola's high base 75 Attack hits a lot of Pokemon very hard, but Rock Blast can also be used to hit through Substitute and Focus Sashes. There are three options for the third moveslot. Earthquake gets excellent coverage along with Roggenrola's STAB Rock-type attacks, forming the infamous EdgeQuake combination; while Protect blocks Fake Out, preventing it from ruining Sturdy. Explosion is an excellent option in the fourth moveslot, allowing Roggenrola to go out with a bang when it is at low health. By virtue of its Rock typing, Roggenrola has problems dealing with Fighting-, Ground-, and Grass-type leads, and needs team support to help it deal with the mentioned Pokemon. Phanpy is taken care of by Water-types such as Mantyke and, once again, Slowpoke. In addition, Deerling and Snover can check Cottonee, a common Grass-type lead. Sweepers such as Pawniard and Mantyke also appreciate Stealth Rock support, making them great teammates for Roggenrola.

Roggenrola can also function as a bulky tank. Substitute is a great move to have, as it lets Roggenrola hit faster Choice Scarf users and priority users such as Tirtouga without getting wiped out. Stone Edge and Earthquake provide excellent neutral coverage, while also allowing Roggenrola to hit a wide range of Pokemon for super effective damage. Explosion is Explosion, KOing Roggenrola while allowing it to severely hurt the opponent, but behind a Substitute, Stone Edge or Earthquake will usually be a better choice. Life Orb is the preferred item as Substitute breaks Sturdy anyway, but Oran Berry allows Roggenrola to last longer, which could be crucial. As a defensive Pokemon, Roggenrola appreciates sandstorm support even more, boosting its abysmal Special Defense to more acceptable levels. Slowpoke and Mantyke are also good teammates, having great defensive synergy with Roggenrola. Cottonee resists Water- and Grass-type attacks, and can help Roggenrola set up by providing Encore and Leech Seed support.

With maximum investment and a Jolly nature, Roggenrola manages to reach 17 Attack, which allows it to hit many threats for big damage with Stone Edge. Stone Edge is Roggenrola's most powerful STAB attack, while Rock Blast can hit through the opponent's Substitute. Earthquake hits a lot of Pokemon which resist Stone Edge for at least neutral damage, with the notable exception of Pokemon such as Bronzor. Explosion is a last-ditch measure to be used when Roggenrola is at low health. The role of the Oran Berry is to allow Roggenrola to stay in the game for longer. On the other hand, Life Orb can give Roggenrola more firepower so it can hit harder. Hippopotas automatically sets up sandstorm, giving Roggenrola an additional boost to its Special Defense and Rock- and Ground-type attacks. In addition, sandstorm will be able to break Focus Sashes. Good teammates to this set include Mantyke and Slowpoke because they resist Fighting-, Water-, and Steel-type attacks, and Roggenrola can take Electric-type attacks with a sandstorm boost. Grass-types such as Cottonee also make good partners because they can take Water-, Ground-, and Grass-type attacks, while Roggenrola resists Fire-, Poison-, and Flying-type attacks. Wynaut takes Fighting-type attacks and checkmates Choice Scarf users that can outspeed Roggenrola after a Autotomize boost.

Roggenrola can reach a minimum speed of 4, allowing it to outrun almost everything under Trick Room. Stone Edge is a good move to have since it has not only a high Base Power but also a high critical hit ratio. Earthquake is a very useful move since it is able to hit a lot of Pokemon for neutral damage. Explosion is a good way to finish off a Trick Room sweep, potentially allowing Roggenrola to take something down with it. This should only be used if Roggenrola has low HP. Return hits several Pokemon and provides a slightly stronger alternative to Earthquake. Life Orb is important because Roggenrola prefers having all the power it can get, even though it compromises Sturdy. Slowpoke is a good Pokemon to have on your team since it resists Water-, Fighting-, and Steel-type attacks, along with being able to set up Trick Room. Thanks to fantastic natural bulk, Eviolite, Regenerator, and Slack Off, it can set up Trick Room multiple times. Ghost-types are immune to Fighting-type moves, can set up Trick Room, and can burn physical attackers, so they are good teammates for Roggenrola.