Is Rest a good move for Ferrothorn?

Question

My Ferrothorn strategy is for it to hold Rocky Helmet, not Leftovers. The only difficulty in using Ferrothorn with Rest that I can foresee is special attack / no contact moves.

Comments

I don't really know much about Ferrothorn, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be sent in on physical attackers only and switch out if the opponent sends out a special attacker. That way, it should be able to eliminate all physical attackers (or at least those without fire attacks) on the opponent's team before it faints.

Answer 1

Ferrothorn already has semi-reliable recovery in Leech Seed, so Rest is not needed. Also, Ferrothorn doesn't have room for Rest in its moveset between Leech Seed, Protect, some type of entry hazard and an offensive move.

For the record, Rest is generally not a viable move in higher Smogon tiers (UU and above). This is because there is so much offense that defensive Pokemon cannot afford to take many subsequent hits. It is more viable in lower tiers which are less offensively oriented.