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Hello, I would just like to ask what would be the best option between Iron Head and Gyro Ball for my Ferrothorn. I am playing a Pokemon White Nuzlocke.

I have seen multiple people say that Gyro Ball is better for Ferro. However, when I test which is better in-game, Iron Head has dealt more damage every time, even after a Curse.

I would like to know why Gyro Ball is supposedly better as well as why I am getting more damage from Gyro Ball. Thanks in advance :)

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I think Iron Head is better due to the higher PP total.
wait, how does pp effect damage? how could I not know this lol thank you
It doesn't. The point being made is you'll burn through a 5 PP move very regularly, which will be annoying for you to deal with.
It's possible that your Ferrothorn's level is much higher than your opponent's level, which makes your Ferrothorn have higher speed and do less damage with gyro ball.
PP affects damage only when using trump card.

1 Answer

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Best answer

Iron Head

This isn't even a close call for in-game usage.

  • Iron Head has way more PP
  • Opponents in game usually have poor IVs and no EV training, so the opposing Pokemon speeds are much lower than you'd come to expect from competitive play, which makes Gyro Ball less viable.
  • For a Nuzlocke, it's much better to deal consistent, reliable damage than to rely on a variable power move like Gyro Ball which changes from opponent to opponent.
  • The way Gyro Ball's base power is decided is 25*(Opponent_Speed/Ferrothorn_Speed) which means that for it to be as powerful as Iron Head, the opposing Pokemon has to be at least 3.2x faster than your Ferrothorn. So if your speed is 40, opponent speed must be 128 or more for Gyro Ball to do more damage than Iron Head, which is not very common in the game.

I'm almost positive that the overwhelming majority of people who advocate for Gyro Ball Ferrothorn are talking about its usage in competitive online battling, where most of the Pokemon that you face in the OverUsed tier are much, much faster due to having perfect IVs and EVs than the game. Also, in competitive battling, PP isn't a huge issue because you don't have to heal after every battle. Whereas in a playthrough of White, you'll have to face multiple opponents before you can heal at a Pokecenter. This is even more challenging for a Nuzlocke where you can't afford to let Ferrothorn faint, and your PP usage will affect the next battle as well.

I would like to know why Gyro Ball is supposedly better as well as why I am getting more damage from Gyro Ball.

It is only true in OU (where Ferrothorn is usually used) where the majority of opponents (fully evolved, offensively based Pokemon with max IVs, all at level 100) are much, much faster than the Pokemon you face in White. As for why the extra damage, then it's because of how the base power of the move is calculated, and the Pokemon in game are usually much slower than the required threshold.

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I think there are a few Nuzlockes on Youtube where the player flew back to a Pokemon center after every battle.