Will-O-Wisp (burn)
Effect: Burns target. Halves Attack and chips 1/16 HP per turn.
Accuracy: 85% (annoyingly miss-prone).
Best against: Physical attackers (Garchomp, Kingambit, Iron Hands, Urshifu). Halving Attack is the most impactful status against the modern OU/VGC meta.
Common users: Rotom-Wash, Skeledirge, Sableye, Heatran (Lava Plume secondary), Garganacl.
When to use: First turn against a physical setup sweeper. Will-O-Wisp Garchomp → Garchomp's +1 Earthquake suddenly hits like a +0, often turning a 2HKO into a 4HKO.
Thunder Wave (paralyze)
Effect: Paralyzes target. Halves Speed, 25% chance to skip turn ("full paralysis").
Accuracy: 90%.
Best against: Fast Pokémon you can't outspeed (Dragapult, Iron Valiant, Iron Bundle). Cripples Speed control and gives 25% chance to skip turns entirely.
Common users: Clefable, Ferrothorn, Iron Hands (rarely), Cresselia.
When to use: Vs. a faster threat you can't escape. After Thunder Wave, you outspeed and can set up freely.
Don't use against: Electric-types (immune since Gen 6), Ground-types (immune to T-Wave), guts/quick feet users (paralysis activates their ability).
Toxic (badly poison)
Effect: Badly poisons target. Damage increases each turn (1/16, 2/16, 3/16, etc.). Resets on switch out.
Accuracy: 90%.
Best against: Bulky walls trying to stall (Toxapex, Blissey, Garganacl, Clodsire). Toxic ignores their bulk by stacking damage over turns.
Common users: Gliscor, Toxapex, Blissey, Garganacl (mirror match), Mandibuzz.
When to use: Vs. anything that lacks reliable recovery and can't switch out. 5-turn Toxic = 1+2+3+4+5 = 15/16 ≈ 94% HP gone.
Don't use against: Poison-types (immune), Steel-types (immune), Pokémon with Magic Guard, anything with reliable Recovery (loses the race).
Comparison: which status against which threat
| Threat type | Best status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Physical setup sweeper | Will-O-Wisp | Halves Attack, neutralizes their setup |
| Fast offensive Pokémon | Thunder Wave | Outspeed them after paralysis |
| Bulky wall | Toxic | Stalls them out faster than they can heal |
| Choice-locked attacker | None (just switch) | Trapping is better than statusing |
| Setup wincon | Encore + status | Lock them into Substitute / Setup, then Toxic |
Status-immune Pokémon to know
- Electric-types — immune to paralysis since Gen 6
- Fire-types — immune to burn
- Poison and Steel types — immune to poison / Toxic
- Ice-types — immune to freeze
- Pokémon with Comatose (Komala) — already asleep, can't be statused otherwise
- Pokémon with Misty Surge / Misty Terrain — grounded Pokémon can't be statused
- Pokémon with Magic Guard — immune to indirect damage including status chip
- Gholdengo (Good as Gold) — immune to ALL status moves