Base Stats: 50/65/107/105/107/86
Abilities: Levitate
Relevant Moves: Discharge, Hydro Pump, Nasty Plot, Protect, Thunderbolt, Trick, Volt Switch, Will-O-Wisp
Pros:
-Pretty decent STAB combo that makes its Volt Switch hard to block as Gastrodon, Water Absorb Quagsire and Toedscruel are the only Electric immunities that don't mind Hydro Pump too much.
-Defining Speed tier that gatekeeps slower offensive pokemon like Gyarados, Slither Wing, Gallade and more as Rotom-Wash can threaten many of those pokemon with a crippling burn or a super effective move.
-Phenomal resistances and weaknesses thanks to its typing and ability. Rotom-Wash resists relevant types in Flying and Water while being immune to Ground and only having one weakness in Grass.
-Has multiple ways to force progress between options like Nasty Plot, Will-O-Wisp and Trick.
Cons:
-While they can't block its Volt Switches, letting setup threats like Hydreigon and Rotom-Mow switch in can be quite dangerous as many teams can be threatened pretty heavily by them. Rotom is also hard-walled by Gastrodon which can just start stacking hazards once it hits the field for free.
-Despite its great resistance profile, Rotom's low HP and lack of reliable recovery means it can't check much long term and can't fit on slow-paced teams very well.
Tera Types:
Rotom-Wash only truly has one commonly used Tera type as it doesn't care much about improving its offensive presence and it has one clearly superior type to help with its defensive profile.
-Steel is by far the best tera type for Rotom-Wash, giving it many resistances and it pairs very well with Levitate. You can usually use your tera type to take moves like Staraptor's Double-Edge and land a crippling burn. It can also help Nasty Plot Rotom set up similarly to Hydreigon to start breaking.
-Other potentially viable Tera types include Electric, Water and Fairy.
Viable Sets:
Defensive Pivot (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Nasty Plot / Protect / Discharge
Rotom-Wash's defensive pivot set is its most common and splashable set, especially for bulky offense builds. Its goal is pretty simple: switch-in on resisted or weak attacks, threaten a burn and pivot out to another attacker. Its utility and offensive potential can also be as useful as its Volt Switch as Will-O-Wisp can afford your attackers more switch in and setup opportunities while Nasty Plot can act as a surprising wallbreaking option. Some bulkier teams may enjoy using Protect to increase Rotom's longevity and check for Choice locks or Discharge to fish for rewarding paralysis. 216 Speed with a Timid nature allows Rotom to outspeed Jolly Gyarados and Slither Wing which can completely flip the matchup on its head, especially in Slither Wing's case.
Scarf (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp / Nasty Plot
- Trick
The Scarf set generally functions as a Speed Control option with the ability to still check pokemon like Talonflame that can barely hit it. As such, it can usually fit on bulkier teams than the Defensive Pivot set since it's not used for its defensive utility as much and can rely on a balance core to support it while acting as an emergency check to threats such as Gyarados or Staraptor. Its ability to make progress is usually more on display with this set as it can use Trick and Will-O-Wisp to cripple an opponent and can even use Nasty Plot once it's tricked its Scarf away.
Other Options:
Rotom-Wash has a lot of options to mix up its basic sets whether it is with more bulk or offensive investment. It has some pretty relevant changes it can make to its basic non-scarfed set.
-A more offensive variant of the pivot set that uses Will-O-Wisp to get setup opportunities with Nasty Plot can make for a pretty versatile set.
-Rest and Chesto Berry can be used to try to give Rotom more longevity and make it fit on bulkier teams, though the Chesto Berry can only be used once and it doesn't quite have the moveslots for Sleep Talk.
Example Teams:
This is a Bulky Offense team which uses Rotom's defensive pivot set with Tsareena to switch into attackers and set up opportunities for the team's attackers with their pivot moves, hazard removal and burns. With Iron Jugulis, Slither Wing and Grafaiai also having pivoting moves and some amount of defensive utility, so the team can generally keep momentum and adapt to more defensive or offensive matchups. Pretty simple team overall, just pivot and get your attackers in for damage.
Here are two teams with the similar goal to support specially defensive Hippowdon with burn spreading. In both teams, Scarf Rotom-Wash is used as a way to handle annoying Flying types, especially Staraptor and the burn-immune Talonflame while also spreading burns. Both teams are Balance, but may be difficult to use properly in some matchups.
Conclusion:
Rotom-Wash is a highly splashable pokemon thanks to its good set variety and excellent type. If you're looking for a pivot or a Choice Scarf user, it should probably be one of the first options you should look too. It can help act as a short-term answer to popular Water or Flying types to help patch up your team's holes while still being a very active pokemon that can generate advantage and momentum. It has few flaws, though they shouldn't be overlooked as overestimating Rotom can make it go down pretty quickly and the rest of your team may fall apart alongside it.