Richard's Reasoning - Lanturn

Welcome to the fifth installment of Richard's Reasoning. This time we'll be discussing the evolution of a popular Pokemon in the community. Let's talk about Lanturn.

Base Stats: 125 HP / 58 Attack / 58 Defense / 76 Sp. Attack / 76 Sp. Defense / 67 Speed

Lanturn's high HP stat and respectable Sp. Defense stat make it a surprisingly good special wall. While it lacks recovery to perform the role repeatedly, its unique typing and access to Heal Bell has carved a niche for it in the metagame as both a cleric and sponge to soak up some special hits. Lanturn's unique typing also allows it to threaten many other Water types as well, which are plentiful in the metagame.

Lanturn is physically frail, however, and physical attackers have gotten much stronger in recent patches. We now see the likes of Heracross, Gyarados, Miltank and more running around frequently in tournament, all of which threaten Lanturn with powerful hits. Meanwhile, Lanturn's base Sp. Attack is pretty mediocre - it only OHKOs Gyarados with Thunderbolt 60% of the time at full health, despite Gyarados's quad weakness to Electricity. Lanturn is not going to be the showstopper of the team, it's not going to be sweeping teams. Playing Lanturn to its strengths means utilizing its support movepool, bringing teammates that help with problem matchups, and knowing when to bring Lanturn in.

-The Deep-Sea Star-

Lanturn@ Leftovers
Surf
Thunderbolt / Thunder
Heal Bell / Ice Beam / Thunder Wave / Toxic
Protect / Ice Beam / Toxic / Thunder Wave

Lanturn serves as one of the metagame's best clerics and special walls, and it can't be understated how important that role is in the modern metagame. Healing off Paralysis and Burns on your team is incredibly valuable with how frequently we see these status effects.

Surf and Thunderbolt form the core of the offensive moveset, providing Lanturn with respectable damage output in two very important directions. Water + Electric STABs are difficult for many Pokemon to switch into, and it allows you to pressure Pokemon like Steelix, Rhydon, Slowbro, Vaporeon, and more. It's also important for Lanturn to have these moves to mount some form of pressure against the powerful special attackers it frequently switches into, such as Alakazam, Gengar, and Slowbro. You can choose to run Thunder, which does improve your odds of KOing Gyarados (59% chance to OHKO with Thunderbolt vs. 70% chance to hit with Thunder), but it makes Lanturn much less consistent. Remember, Lanturn is a defensive Pokemon, so it won't be dealing out massive damage to most things regardless, so I'd still recommend opting for the more reliable choice here. Thunder's 30% Paralysis chance can be very helpful though, so if you're feeling bold with Lanturn it is an option.

Heal Bell is one of Lanturn's biggest selling points. As mentioned, removing status effects from the entire team is seriously invaluable, and the role compression that Lanturn provides by being both a special wall and cleric means that it can serve different functions depending on matchup and scenario, increasing its relevance in any given match. It is important to note that you don't always want to Heal Bell right away any time anything gets a status effect. As an example, Lanturn may not want to switch directly into Weezing to use Heal Bell, since there's a good chance that it'll switch into a powerful Sludge Bomb, then take a second one while healing the teammate's status condition. Finding the right time to maneuver Lanturn into battle to make use of Heal Bell is of great importance. However, if you don't feel the need to have a cleric or already have a different cleric on the team, there are other options.

Ice Beam pairs well with Lanturn's STAB attacks, giving it a way to hit Grass types which resist its STABs. It's not very powerful, however, and you'd likely be better off having a teammate to support Lanturn against Grass types, as they're still very likely to outright beat Lanturn anyway. Thunder Wave cripples fast attackers, and can really give Lanturn an edge against many powerful threats that it has to face, as well as providing team support. Toxic makes Lanturn very threatening because it plays the game for Lanturn, meaning that it doesn't have to focus on attacking and can instead switch in and out more freely without as much risk of giving up momentum in a match, which is a nebulous term but essentially means that your opponent has less of an opportunity to put the game in their favor because they're being worn down and need to make every move count since they're on a timer with Toxic.

In the last slot, I recommend Protect. This gives Lanturn a turn of Leftovers healing, which really assists in it being able to stave off the special attackers it's meant to wall. You have to be careful, though, as opponents can utilize that turn to either setup on you or switch to a counter. Reading your opponent's intentions is key, but at the very least ensuring that extra bit of healing can be vital in many cases. As an example of how helpful it is, Alakazam's Psychic cannot even 3HKO Lanturn if Lanturn uses Protect a single time against it after the initial Psychic (assuming none of them crit or drop Sp. Defense). Lanturn's ability to wall the premier special attacker in the tier is incredibly valuable.

I've explained the other options for this slot already if you don't value Protect, but I'd like to discuss the potential of running both Toxic and Thunder Wave. It may seem redundant to do so, and while I believe Lanturn has better things to be doing most of the time, running both Toxic and Thunder Wave actually isn't a bad idea at all. Being able to cripple fast attackers as well as break down sturdy walls gives Lanturn a level of flexibility that can continue to push its matchup dependent use case. Being able to retain value regardless of wat kind of threat you're up against is key in a 3v3 battle.

Some things to consider when using Lanturn: It can usually beat a Gyarados at full health if you need it to, but it takes upwards of 63% from Earthquake. Even switching Lanturn in on an Aeroblast deals a maximum of 23% without a Critical Hit, so despite the type advantage, it's not the most reliable counter. It is a wonderful check, however, with the difference in terminology meaning that if Lanturn is already in against Gyarados it'll probably come out on top, but it doesn't enjoy switching into it very much. Preserve Lanturn for beating special attackers if possible, it's much more valuable there.

Lanturn has a few other option, but they can be hard to find space for, with how effective the current listed options are. Confuse Ray pairs well with Thunder Wave and can give Lanturn more turns of free Leftovers recovery, as well as helping maintain pressure on the opponent passively. Swagger is slightly less accurate, but can be a nuisance for the special attackers you're likely to be fighting. The problem with these options is that they make Lanturn even more vulnerable to Substitute users, especially Alakazam. Light Screen can help even more against special attackers, and provides nice team support. Haze can wipe stat conditions away, which can be helpful. I do think that other Pokemon are better suited to doing these things, but Lanturn isn't a bad user of either of them at all.

-My Thoughts-

I love Lanturn. Chinchou is adorable and Lanturn is downright loveable. It's cute, it's got great typing, and especially in our metagame it's a shining example that power isn't always everything and that being flexible in battle is a valuable trait to have. In my opinion it is one of Johto's best introductions and I hope it sees much more use in our tournaments.