What is a good moveset for Porygon2?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Porygon2, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. For its evolution, see the Porygon-Z moveset question.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some explanation, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Porygon2 Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download / Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Trick Room / Tri Attack / Hyper Beam / Psychic / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power [Ground]

Ice Beam + Thunderbolt: BoltBeam combo

Recover: Die already!

Trick Room / Tri Attack / Hyper Beam / Psychic / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power [Ground]: Trick Room team / STAB / unreliable but powerful STAB / Cover weakness / Cover Ghosts and Psychics / cover the only Pokemon that resist BoltBeam: Magnezone and Lanturn

Comments

CONFUSING!!!

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yes, very confusing, but I eventually got it.

Answer 2

My Porygon2 set

Hmm, I love walling people with this guy.
This is what I've always had.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Toxic
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Toxic for wearing down walls, Recover in place of Protect, and the last two moves for BoltBeam coverage.

Answer 3

Gen 8 Monotype / Gen 9 National Dex Monotype (Normal)

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download / Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute / Hidden Power [Fire]
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Recover

This is a physically defensive set Porygon2 can use in Gen 8 Monotype / National Dex Monotype. Substitute may seem like a weird choice, but it allows Porygon2 to take advantage of slower Pokemon such as Celesteela and Corviknight. Discharge alongside Ice Beam provides super effective damage against all Flying-types in the Monotype meta, which is really useful if you use this set in Gen 8 Monotype. Recover is used to give Porygon2 some HP reovery. Hidden Power Fire can be used for Pokemon such as Ferrothorn if you use this set in NatDex Monotype. Eviolite is used to give Porygon2 bulk. Download lets Porygon2 threaten Flying teams (in Gen 8 Monotype), while Trace lets Porygon2 gain a useful Ability.

252 HP EVs are used to give Porygon2 bulk. 96 Speed EVs allow Porygon2 to outspeed Corviknight. The rest of the EVs are used in Defense with a Bold nature to let Porygon2 tank physical hits more comfortably. The EV spread is made mostly for Gen 8 Monotype, so an EV spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD with Bold Nature works for National Dex Monotype.

Answer 4

Gen 8 BDSP PU Choice Specs

Porygon2 @ Choice Specs
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball

(Please note that BDSP is a challenge only format) Porygon2 is a phenomenal Choice Specs user in BDSP PU. Porygon2's good base 105 Special Attack boosted by Choice Specs and a Special Attack Boost from Download when you get one can be quite threatening.

Tri Attack is used as your STAB move, and it's 20% chance to burn, freeze or paralyze could come in handy. Thunderbolt alongside Ice Beam forms the BoltBeam combo, which provides a wide range of coverage against Pokemon such as Golem, Pelipper, Gabite, Floatzel, etc. Shadow Ball is used for coverage against Pokemon such as Grumpig, Misdreavus, and Banette. Modest Nature is used to give you as much firepower as possible.

Answer 5

Porygon2 is pretty damn good; even though Porygon-Z has higher Special Attack, Porygon2's higher defenses make it a good Eviolite Pokemon.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpD / 248 HP / 8 SpA
Modest / Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Pain Split
- Tri Attack
- Psychic
- Recover

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For the IVs, 0 Speed is optional if you want to have the Analytic Ability.
For the Ability, Download is ok, but I prefer Analytic since its Speed isn't too good and Download has a risk of boosting the Attack stat. Trace is ok, but as I said before, I think Analytic is a little better.

Pain Split: Gain HP while doing damage
Tri Attack: STAB, and one of the few godforsaken special Normal type moves that don't alternate type, not counting type-changing abilities like Pixilate or aren't exclusive moves to certain Pokemon lol]
Psychic: Deals with Fighting types, and also neutrally covers Ghost types
Recover: Just for HP recovery in case Pain Split isn't usable at that moment

Thankfully Porygon2 is a Normal type, so I can just use one move for weakness coverage. The only problem is dealing with Steel types, but Pain Split can help a little with that. The good part is that Psychic is an awesome move in general and it deals with its only weakness. Hopefully this is a decent moveset -- it's helped me out of plenty of situations in battle.

Answer 6

Porygon2 @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 SpA / 200 Spe / 58 Def
Modest Nature
- Tri Attack
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Sooo... a BoltBeam combo, reliable healing, weak to 1 type, ridiculously overpowered STAB, crazy Special Attack, nice design... the list goes on and on. This thing is unbeatable!

Answer 7

[Gen 8] Monotype - Normal

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
- Toxic

This is the set I use in Gen 8 Monotype. Porygon2 is one of the better defensive Pokemon for Normal teams, and I use Eviolite plus max HP and Defense to make it a solid physical wall.

This set differs a bit from other Porygon2 because it takes a slightly more offensive approach -- with a Modest Nature, Ice Beam, and 4 Special Attack EVs, Porygon2 can always OHKO Landorus-Therian after a Download boost. It has the benefit of also hitting Pokemon like Rillaboom and Garchomp, which Normal teams can struggle with otherwise.

The rest of the set is fairly standard. Thunder Wave hinders setup sweepers, fast Pokemon like Weavile, and Steel types; Toxic is preferred to whittle down bulkier Pokemon. Recover promotes Porygon2's longevity and allows it to stay in for longer.

This set does sacrifice a bit of bulk in favour of being able to remove Lando-T from the field. It would need to sacrifice even more in order to always kill Landorus without the Download boost, but relying on Download generally gets the job done.

Answer 8

Gen 9 NU Specially Defensive

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Tera Type: Fairy / Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball / Foul Play
- Ice Beam / Tri Attack
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

Porygon2 has been getting used in NU lately thanks to its bulk with Eviolite as well as having a lot of mileage with Trace. Shadow Ball allows Porygon2 to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Chandelure, Basculegion, Munkidori, Brambleghast, Decidueye, Bronzong, and Scream Tail super effectivlely. Ice Beam is useful to OHKO Flygon and 2HKO Gligar should they try to switch in predicting a Thunder Wave. Foul Play is an option to discourage physical sweepers from setting up in front of Porygon2. Tri Attack can be used for the STAB move that can let Porygon2 spread status to cripple opposing Pokemon. Thunder Wave slowing down opposing Pokemon makes Porygon2 more of a nuisance since not a lot of Pokemon in the NU metagame can both break past the duck and not get crippled by Thunder Wave. Recover gives Porygon2 reliable recovery to allow it to last longer to tank special attacks. Tera Fairy allows Porygon2 to resist Fighting moves as well hard wall Flygon once it traces Levitate. Tera Ghost is an option to become immune to Fighting moves and can be useful to make Shadow Ball a STAB move.

The attacking moves can be mixed and matched into other combinations such as Tri Attack + Shadow Ball, Tri Attack + Ice Beam, Tri Attack + Foul Play, and Ice Beam + Foul Play.

Physically defensive Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Galarian Slowbro pair well with Porygon2, as they can switch into the Fighting moves that target Porygon2, and these two examples can serve as a Knock Off absorber since Porygon2 likes to have its Eviolite. Steel-types such as Bronzong and Copperajah can be used to serve as a Munkidori check should you not want to risk Porygon2 being poisoned.

Trace is really useful in the current NU meta. With Trace, Porygon2 can wall Pokemon such as Flygon, Vaporeon, and Chandelure (just be mindful of Trick) by copying their abilities that grant them immunities. Porygon2 can also copy useful Abilities such as Intimidate, Regenerator to get some HP recovery when it switches out, and potentially Toxic Chain if you don't get Tricked or poisoned.

Answer 9

I love Porygon2. It takes down the dragons in OU and takes their attacks like a boss.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download / Analytic
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Bold / Relaxed Nature
- Tri Attack
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Recover

Tri Attack: stab and hack of the gods.
Ice beam: to take down those Garchomps (in one hit)
Toxic: to stall what you can't kill
Recover: to last as annoyance forever!

Use the Bold Nature with Download and Relaxed with Analytic.

Answer 10

(OP)ORYGON

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 120 SpD / 16 SpA
Serious Nature
- Recover
- Trick Room
- Charge Beam
- Psychic / Ice Beam / Tri Attack

It's no secret that Porygon2 with Evoilite is the way to go. His defenses skyrocket and he has good HP that benefits from EVs a lot. It's very well rounded, but it has horrible speed. I have solved this problem by making a Bulky Trick Room Porygon of Doom. It benefits from prolonged battles. Recover for when somebody does finally put a scratch on P2. Trick Room, although Porygon2's not the slowest, puts the lack of speed to good use. Charge Beam + Download is why you can afford to dump your EVs into HP and Defense, and slightly put some into his naturally good Special Attack. The final move is your choice; I usually lean towards Psychic depending on who else I'm using in the Trick Room setup. With his good health and near uber defenses, getting 1-3 Charge Beams in during doubles is easy. In singles, proper use of Download: Porygon2 can survive multiple swaps, and you have Recover. In case someone lands a strong crit. Focus Blast from Mega Charizard Y did a stunning 50 damage to Porygon2 the other day. There is no OHKOing this guy.

Answer 11

This guy is sick when you use him well

Poly gone (Porygon2) @ Leftovers
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpD / 152 Def / 104 HP
Bold nature
- Conversion 2
- Recover
- Protect
- Tri Attack

This guy is just so bulky. Conversion 2 just straight up stops anyone trying to spam Drain Punch or Power-Up Punch. Protect gives free lefties heal. Recover annoys the hell out of them and Tri Attack is to get para/freeze hacks or cripple physical attackers and deal with Taunt users. The EVs just strengthen his natural bulk and since he's so slow, Analytic nearly always takes effect.

Answer 12

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 HP / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Tri Attack
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Psychic

Tri Attack (STAB, chance to freeze, paralyse or burn)
Thunderbolt (Chance to paralyse, type coverage, decent damage)
Recover
Psychic (Decent amount of damage, type coverage, chance to lower target's Special Defense)

Answer 13

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
- Toxic
- Recover
- Protect
- Tri Attack / Psychic

Basically, start off with Toxic, then spam Recover and Protect, using Tri Attack or Psychic if necessary.
Tri Attack is good against Poison and Steel types since you can inflict a status condition on them. Psychic covers its weakness to Fighting.

Answer 14

Although outclassed by Chansey and Blissey for a Normal-type tank, it has a pretty good niche as a Trick Room setter with its easily outclassed speed, however can outspeed some other Pokemon.

Porygon2
Role: Trick Room setter
252 HP, 252 DEF/SP.DEF
Ability: Analytic
Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Ghost/Steel
Sassy/Relaxed nature

Recover (Good recovery if you want to stall.)
Trick Room
Tri Attack (pairs well with Analytic, STAB)
Thunder Wave/ Toxic (Thunder Wave cripples opponents, Toxic for stall.)

Another more offensive set:

Porygon2
Role: Bulky Special Sweeper
Item: Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
Tera Type: Ghost
Modest/Quiet nature

Tri Attack (great STAB, allows for extra status on opponents)
Ice Beam (makes for great coverage)
Psychic/Psyshock (coverage for those pesky Fighting types, Psyshock hits Chansey and Blissey better)
Recover (great healing)

Tera Steel is a great defensive typing, although keeping its Fighting weakness while sacrificing STAB for a better typing.
Tera Ghost removes its Fighting weakness, but sacrifices its STAB, again.

Answer 15

Is this better that its evo? I mean, they do different things, but maybe.

Cyberduck (Porygon2) @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Quiet Nature
- Charge Beam
- Toxic
- Recover
- Tri Attack

I decided to do a sort of setup stall Porygon2. Quiet Nature so Analytic gives the power boost. Toxic and Recover are great moves on this thing overall. Charge Beam can raise your SpA so your Analytic STAB Tri Attack does a bunch of damage. If you're playing a Nat Dex format, the tera type can be Ghost or Fairy.