Pokémon Porygon2

[GRs Cousin]

Porygon2

Type:

Abilities: Trace / Download / Analytic (Hidden ability)
Base stats: 85 / 80 / 90 / 105 / 95 / 60

Notable Moves:
Recover
Discharge
Tri Attack
Magic Coat
Psyshock
Toxic
Hidden Power
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Psychic
Shadow Ball
Thunder Wave
Trick Room

Analysis:
Porygon2 has always been one of those Pokemon that seem to stay under the radar in every generation, from being an under-appreciated Curse user in Gen II to being an under-used Eviolite tank in Gen V. Come Gen VI, where not much has changed for Porygon2 itself. The change in some mechanics and the addition of new Pokemon, however, has resulted in some very positive changes for Porygon2. Ghost-type now hits Steel-types neutrally, allowing Porygon2 to run Tri Attack / Shadow Ball for complete neutral coverage bar Tyranitar and Bisharp. The addition of Sticky Web allows Porygon2 to actually outrun any uninvested Base 100 Speed Pokemon, which can be particularly helpful against most other bulky Pokemon. New Pokemon, particularly threats like Greninja and Scolipede or Mega Evolutions like Kangaskhan and Banette, give Porygon2 access to a lot of good abilities that it can take advantage of. Not all is good for Porygon2, however, as Knock Off's buff this generation makes it all the more common and easier than ever to lose Eviolite for the rest of the match. Additionally, Porygon2 suffers some of the worst 4MSS of any Pokemon, as Recover is its only method of reliable recovery, leaving only 3 move-slots left to either attack or status moves. If played with good prediction and team support, however, Porygon2 is an excellent utility tank that can be extremely annoying for the opponent in some matches.

List of things that make Trace awesome on Porygon2:
Bold means this is a really nice ability on Porygon2.
Red means this ability is now notable in OU this generation.

Aerilate - 2HKOs Mega-Pinsir with Tri Attack.
Arena Trap - Dugtrio cannot trap Porygon2.
Download - Can boost special attack and out-damage Genesect.
Dry Skin - Checks rain teams if packing Thunderbolt.
Flash Fire - Heatran is checked, hard-countered if it lacks attacking moves outside of Lava Plume.
Gooey - Physical variants of Goodra become outsped.
Intimidate - Various boosters like Salamence and Gyarados are hard-countered, crippled with Thunder Wave, and OHKO'd with BoltBeam.
Magic Guard - Cannot be killed with Toxic, the only status Porygon2 truly dislikes.
Magnet Pull - Can trap Magnezone and lower its special defense with Shadow Ball or possibly inflict burn/freeze with Tri Attack.
Multiscale - Hard-counters Dragonite in the middle of Outrage by crippling with Thunder Wave, reactivating with Recover, and 2HKOing with Ice Beam.
Natural Cure - Pokemon like Celebi and Blissey cannot reliably kill Porygon2 with Toxic.
Parental Bond - 1.5x damage boost that breaks subs and doubles secondary effect chances. Becomes a good revenge switch-in to unboosted Mega-Kangaskhan with a 2/5 chance to shut Mega-Kangaskhan down. This only applies in Ubers, however.
Prankster - Prankster Recover/Thunder Wave/Toxic.
Protean - Gives Porygon2 STAB BoltBeam or STAB Shadow Ball/Hidden Power Fighting.
Rough Skin - Garchomp gets hurt when using Dragon-type moves/Fire Fang.
Rain Dish - Checks Tentacruel lacking Toxic.
Serene Grace - Tri Attack turns into 40% chance of inflicting status, or 13.34% to burn, freeze, or paralyze. Discharge has a whopping 60% chance to paralyze while Shadow Ball will lower special defense every 2 times out of 5.
Shadow Tag - Allows Porygon2 to Toxic on Wobbuffet and switch out. Can safely Shadow Ball or Thunder Wave Mega-Gengar in Ubers.
Sheer Force - Most of Porygon2's attacking moves get a solid boost.
Speed Boost - Hard-counters Scolipede, cripples it with Thunder Wave, makes Porygon2 very hard to take down with speedy Recover and solid defenses on top of usable special attack.
Storm Drain - Can switch into Gastrodon and proceed to hit hard with Tri Attack.
Technician - Hidden Power Fighting becomes boosted to 90 BP. A set running Hidden Power Fire can OHKO most Scizor.
Thick Fat - Can switch into Mamoswine's Icicle Crash/Ice Shard and Recover off Earthquakes.
Volt Absorb - Hard-counters Jolteon and checks Thundurus-T.
Water Absorb - Regenerates health from switching into Vaporeon and checks Water Absorb Jellicent.
Wonder Guard - GG.

Possible sets:
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Tri Attack
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Recover

Defensive Porygon2 is quite the tank. With the combination of Tri Attack and Shadow Ball, the only Pokemon in the game to resist Porygon2 are Tyranitar and Bisharp. This leaves another slot for Recover, Porygon2's main source of healing, and a status move. Thunder Wave is the preferred option, being able to survive most hits and stall out with Recover until they switch or lose a turn with paralysis. Toxic is otherwise an option to kill off any walls that don't carry Toxic themselves. Here are some calculations to show just how bulky Porygon2 is:

252+ Atk Choice Band Multiscale Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Trace Porygon2:
89-105 (23.8% - 28.07%) 22.34% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2:
145-172 (38.77% - 45.99%) 3HKO
252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2:
234-276 (62.57% - 73.8%) 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2:
144-171 (38.5% - 45.72%) 3HKO
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega-Mawile Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2:
267-315 (71.39% - 84.22%) 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2:
172-204 (45.99% - 54.55%) 31.64% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2:
260-306 (69.52% - 81.82%) 2HKO

Being able to take a super-effective boosted Sacred Sword from Aegislash is no joke at all. Porygon2 has extremely high survivability and functions perfectly for crippling sweepers that rely on speed. Even with the power-creep to come from Gen VI, Porygon2 still keeps up with the meta-game.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 200 Def / 252 SpA / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Tri Attack / Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Recover

Offensive Porygon2 trades off some of its excess bulk in exchange for more power. Tri Attack and Shadow Ball have unresisted coverage except to Tyranitar and Bisharp. BoltBeam is an additionally classic option for Porygon2, though Discharge can be used over Thunderbolt for its higher paralysis chance, and is only resisted by Magnezone and Rotom-H. Thankfully, Hidden Power Fighting rounds off coverage to hitting Tyranitar, Bisharp, and Magnezone, the former two having a double weakness to Fighting while the latter gets trapped by its own Magnet Pull. As usual, Recover completes the set by giving you a reliable source of healing.

Checks and Counters:
Trick and Knock Off take away Eviolite, which Porygon2 needs to function in OU. Toxic really takes away Porygon2's longevity. Fighting-types, particularly Breloom and Conkeldurr who have Toxic Heal and Guts to make life hard for spreading status, hit harder than Porygon2 would find comfortable. Tyranitar and Bisharp if lacking Hidden Power Fighting, especially Tyranitar. Blissey, Celebi, and Reuniclus wall Porygon2 and care very little for Toxic or Thunder Wave. Ground-types like Hippowdon and Electric-types like Rotom-W and -H are immune to Thunder Wave and wall variants without Ice Beam or Toxic. Ghost-types give problems to BoltBeam variants. Gliscor checks Porygon2 variants without Ice Beam. Gengar can be annoying if it gets a substitute and disables Shadow Ball. Jellicent completely walls you if Cursed Body prevents use of Shadow Ball or Thunderbolt. Finally, Mega-Lucario is one of the few things that can actually OHKO Porygon2 with a +2 Adaptability Close Combat, meaning it will often mean sacrificing Porygon2 or switching into something else.

Personal Opinion:
Porygon2 is very fun to use. It's just one of those anti-meta Pokemon that screw over a lot opponents simply because it's almost always underestimated. Nothing has happened yet to make Porygon2 one of the dedicated titans of OU, but I feel like Porygon2 always gets better every generation. Give it a try, seriously. The amount of times opponents will underestimate this digital duck before finding themselves stripped of their momentum will makes it worth using, almost every time.​

Movesets:

Defensive Duck:

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EV's: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Def
Nature: Calm
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Tri Attack / Ice Beam
- Toxic / Thunder Wave / Ice Beam / Trick Room
- Recover

Between Trace and Porygon2's excellent natural bulk, we makes a great pivot in a wide variety of situations. Tracing Dragonite's Multiscale, Jolteon's Volt Absorb, and Chansey's Natural Cure are just a few examples of how to turn the odds in your favor. For his move set, Recover and an electric type attack are an absolute must for coverage and survivability. Discharge can be used over Thunderbolt simply for the 30% paralysis chance, but users should be wary to not let it interfere with other status moves on their team. Ice Beam, though very popular in Gen V OU, is not quite as necessary this gen. Dragon type, while still a powerful force, has been somewhat diluted due to the onset of Fairies. For those of you who like more reliable STAB damage and a 20% chance for one the the three main status effects, Tri Attack can easily be pitched as the better option. That said, Lati@s is still somewhat common in OU, so his Defense investment ensures surviving Psyshock.
​

Porygon2 also works well with a physically defensive build using a Bold nature, depending on what your team needs.

I've been able to use Porygon2 with a lot of success, despite the prevalence of Knock Off this generation. So what do you all think? Does the virtual duck still have a place in the OU tier in Gen VI?

 

[All-ice]

Just something you can add to Technician.

I ran Mono Normal last gen and I had HP Fire with 0 Sp Atk investment. If Hidden Power was Base 60 I would have OHKO all Scizors because of Technician.

Also both of your Porygon's ev spread are missing 4 evs :P

Edit: I don't see Porygon 2 being that good this gen like it was last gen. He's basically set up fodder for Mega Khan/Lucario/Pinsir/Mawile, if you don't get a Status from Tri Attack(Which I don't use).

 

[November Blue]

Those calcs are insane...

I'm a big fan of this little duck. Used it a lot in previous gens, and being able to switch in, tank a hit, and cripple with Thunderwave is great on its own, but all of the cool stuff you can do with Trace just adds a whole other layer of fun and usefulness to it. Porygon2 is definitely OU viable, I'm just not sure it'll see enough usage to make the cut.

Does it get anything new this gen?

 

[ShadowMarioGalaxy64]

Those calcs are insane...

I'm a big fan of this little duck. Used it a lot in previous gens, and being able to switch in, tank a hit, and cripple with Thunderwave is great on its own, but all of the cool stuff you can do with Trace just adds a whole other layer of fun and usefulness to it. Porygon2 is definitely OU viable, I'm just not sure it'll see enough usage to make the cut.

Does it get anything new this gen?

We won't know until Pokebank. Hope it does--Porygon2 is one of my favorite bulky Pokemon ^_^

 

[Wizarus]

Porygon2 received some indirect boosts this generation. Obviously more abilities and pokemon to Trace. Weather Nerf means it's not taking weather boosted attacks indefinitely. SR isn't as prevalent as it was the previous 2 generations. The Special move nerf allows it to actually avoid some 2HKOs from previous generations. I really like it but I don't see it being OU unfortunately(or fortunately, time will tell).

 

[GRs Cousin]

Just something you can add to Technician.

I ran Mono Normal last gen and I had HP Fire with 0 Sp Atk investment. If Hidden Power was Base 60 I would have OHKO all Scizors because of Technician.

Also both of your Porygon's ev spread are missing 4 evs :P

Edit: I don't see Porygon 2 being that good this gen like it was last gen. He's basically set up fodder for Mega Khan/Lucario/Pinsir/Mawile, if you don't get a Status from Tri Attack(Which I don't use).

Updated the OP to reflect your suggestions.

I've yet to face a single M-Pinsir that has survived a super-effective Tri Attack or likewise OHKO Porygon2. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam should do just as well at killing it, so Porygon2 is a definite counter to M-Pinsir.

M-Mawile and M-Khan, while a little more shaky than M-Pinsir, still don't take well to being paralyzed or hax from Tri Attack. The calcs show that Porygon2 can still switch in after a Swords Dance from M-Mawile and survive long enough to use Thunder Wave and Recover. M-Khan can't OHKO without getting Fake Out + Return on Porygon2 or having +2 from Power-up Punch beforehand, leaving Porygon2 as an at least decent switch-in after one of your Pokes are killed. Porygon2 potentially checks both of them, in other words, though it can't switch into one of their moves to fully function.

M-Lucario is a different story, on the other hand. +2 Adaptability Close Combat pretty much OHKOs anything super effective. I don't think that's necessarily a fault, though. A lot of walls like Ferrothorn and Mega-Aggron can't handle Mega-Lucario either. It's the nature of M-Lucario being really friggin' powerful more so than Porygon2 not doing its job. Like I said before, Porygon2 is one of the few Pokemon to survive a super effective Sacred Sword from Aegislash. It's still very decent in all standards this generation.

 

[SansNickel]

Always loved porygon2. Used it for trick room, gravity, any non-meta team, you name it.
It also loves tracing poison heal from gliscor, since it now will always beat it (can't be toxic stalled) and can OHKO with ice beam.

 

[Dilasc]

Are you sure Aerialate Tri Attack OHKOs Pinsir? I ran a calc:

252 SpA Aerilate Porygon2 Tri Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Pinsir: 214-252 (78.6 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[All-ice]

Are you sure Aerialate Tri Attack OHKOs Pinsir? I ran a calc:

252 SpA Aerilate Porygon2 Tri Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Pinsir: 214-252 (78.6 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes you are. Most sets don't run 252 Special Attack, so that may be a 3hko instead of a 2hko.

 

[Mario With Lasers]

4 SpA Aerilate Porygon2 Tri Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir: 170-202 (62.5 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

That's against a 90 Base Sp. Def Pinsir.

 

[GRs Cousin]

Are you sure Aerialate Tri Attack OHKOs Pinsir? I ran a calc:

252 SpA Aerilate Porygon2 Tri Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Pinsir: 214-252 (78.6 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes you are. Most sets don't run 252 Special Attack, so that may be a 3hko instead of a 2hko.

Is my memory being fuzzy today? I've used Porygon2 first-hand on Showdown and have fought at least 3 separate Mega-Pinsir. Never used Stealth Rock, either. Regardless, running my own calcs of Porygon2 holding Life Orb while using Air Slash (5 less BP) against Dustox (which has the same SpD stat and 5 points smaller HP), which is the near exact same effect of a Tri being 30% boosted thanks to Aerilate being used against Mega-Pinsir, we get:

0 SpA Aerilate Porygon2 Tri Attack vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega-Pinsir
161-190 (61.69% - 72.8%) 2HKO
0 SpA Porygon2 Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega-Pinsir
155-183 (59.39% - 70.11%) 2HKO

Slaking's base 160 Atk w/ +2 Double Edge substituting for M-Pinsir base 155 Atk w/ +2 Mega Horn...

+2 252+ Atk Mega-Pinsir Mega Horn vs 252 HP / 200+ Def Porygon2
271-319 (72.46% - 85.29%) 2HKO

It can't switch into that kind of attack, but it can proceed to paralyze, Recover, and 2-hit kill. I suppose that makes Porygon2 more or less a check to Pinsir than a full counter, if that's the case. Either way, the results are still desirable if you don't use Porygon2 recklessly.

 

[acestriker19]

I'm kinda depressed that this thread has ignored Porygon2's niche as IMO the best Trick Room setter in the meta. Its typing is great for a trick room setter because basically all the other trick room setters in the meta are psychic and ghost who are both weak to dark type moves, but are immune or resist Porygon2's only weakness. Its ability allows it to switch in on a lot of Pokemon it normally could not to set up trick room. (Not to mention the funniest trace of all: tracing poison heal off a toxic stall gliscor and getting free recovery then OHKOing it with ice beam).
This is the set I've had the most success with
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (The best pokemon are always Sassy (also it gives Genesect the attack boost so he will most likely u-turn out))
IVs: 0 Spd
- Thunderbolt / Tri-Attack / Coverage
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Recover
Trick Room teams hate to stall because once Trick Room is up you only have 4 turns to take advantage of it therefore moves like toxic are not as useful.
The only thing that can really frighten this tank out of setting up Trick Room is a physical fighting type. Which is why I recommend pairing him with a bulky ghost (Dusclops, Cofagrigus and Gourdgeist all work well but each have their weaknesses) or even a bulky psychic. Together these Pokemon can form an excellent defensive core to any Trick Room team.

 

[Meleotta3]

I'm kinda depressed that this thread has ignored Porygon2's niche as IMO the best Trick Room setter in the meta. Its typing is great for a trick room setter because basically all the other trick room setters in the meta are psychic and ghost who are both weak to dark type moves, but are immune or resist Porygon2's only weakness. Its ability allows it to switch in on a lot of Pokemon it normally could not to set up trick room. (Not to mention the funniest trace of all: tracing poison heal off a toxic stall gliscor and getting free recovery then OHKOing it with ice beam).
This is the set I've had the most success with
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (The best pokemon are always Sassy (also it gives Genesect the attack boost so he will most likely u-turn out))
IVs: 0 Spd
- Thunderbolt / Tri-Attack / Coverage
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Recover
Trick Room teams hate to stall because once Trick Room is up you only have 4 turns to take advantage of it therefore moves like toxic are not as useful.
The only thing that can really frighten this tank out of setting up Trick Room is a physical fighting type. Which is why I recommend pairing him with a bulky ghost (Dusclops, Cofagrigus and Gourdgeist all work well but each have their weaknesses) or even a bulky psychic. Together these Pokemon can form an excellent defensive core to any Trick Room team.

One flaw of this is that Shift gear genesects see this as a blessing as they are able to sweep with +2 attack and +2 speed and DESTROY YOU.

 

[acestriker19]

One flaw of this is that Shift gear genesects see this as a blessing as they are able to sweep with +2 attack and +2 speed and DESTROY YOU.

There is no such thing as a sweep against trick room if genesects shifts gears he gives p2 a free trick room set up and then even if pory dies trick rooms up so any trick room sweeper with a fire move will easily revenge.

On an unrelated note the Evs I posted are crap. p2 should be running max hp max spdef because it is way easier to set up multiple times on special sweepers especially if your using one of the physically defensive ghosts and even with no def investment pory takes most non SE physical hits well.

 

[Jaroda]

252 SpA Porygon 2 Aerialate Tri-Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Pinsir: 220-260 (80.88 - 95.58%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

STABless Aerialate Tri-Attack is 107 BP rounded up. With no other modifiers you can't OHKO from full health. If there wasn't Stealth Rock then the only other option is the Mega Pinsir used Close Combat prior and you killed it after the Defense drop.

252 SpA Aerialate Tri-Attack vs. -1 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Pinsir: 328-388 (120.58 - 142.64%) -- guaranteed OHKO

That, or Tracing Aerialte is glitched on the server somehow.

On the Honkalculator just go to custom and change the BP of the move and their stats and typing manually, rather than use approximations of other pokes.

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

You absolutely need boltbeam on the defensive set, they hit so many things for super effective damage it makes up for the lack of sp attack investment. Tri Attack and Shadow Ball have great neutral coverage, but emphasis on neutral. You arent really going to kill much with these. The offensive set needs to be a trick room set and have hp investment. Porygon2 is the best trick room setter for such teams, even if they arent very consistent, it can still work with the right teammates. Mega Gengar and Mega Kangaskhan are banned, so no need to mention in the op. Tyranitar is absolutely not, in any way, a check or counter for porygon2. Against defensive variants you just need to toxic and stall them with recover. Against choice variants you just use recover. If they hit you with superpower then you keep doing it to weaken their attack and eventually get an opportunity to toxic. If they use anything else use toxic and spam recover since everything else is just 3hkoing at best. Dragon dance variants lack immediate power, so you can toxic them and keep wearing them down with boltbeam+recovering damage.

 

[Meleotta3]

There is no such thing as a sweep against trick room if genesects shifts gears he gives p2 a free trick room set up and then even if pory dies trick rooms up so any trick room sweeper with a fire move will easily revenge.

On an unrelated note the Evs I posted are crap. p2 should be running max hp max spdef because it is way easier to set up multiple times on special sweepers especially if your using one of the physically defensive ghosts and even with no def investment pory takes most non SE physical hits well.

Oh trickroom i get it.

 

[GRs Cousin]

On the Honkalculator just go to custom and change the BP of the move and their stats and typing manually, rather than use approximations of other pokes.

I didn't know about this calculator. Much obliged, I'll be more accurate from here on.

You absolutely need boltbeam on the defensive set, they hit so many things for super effective damage it makes up for the lack of sp attack investment. Tri Attack and Shadow Ball have great neutral coverage, but emphasis on neutral. You arent really going to kill much with these. The offensive set needs to be a trick room set and have hp investment. Porygon2 is the best trick room setter for such teams, even if they arent very consistent, it can still work with the right teammates. Mega Gengar and Mega Kangaskhan are banned, so no need to mention in the op. Tyranitar is absolutely not, in any way, a check or counter for porygon2. Against defensive variants you just need to toxic and stall them with recover. Against choice variants you just use recover. If they hit you with superpower then you keep doing it to weaken their attack and eventually get an opportunity to toxic. If they use anything else use toxic and spam recover since everything else is just 3hkoing at best. Dragon dance variants lack immediate power, so you can toxic them and keep wearing them down with boltbeam+recovering damage.

Except the defensive variant is exactly that. Defensive. Being able to score super-effective hits does not necessarily make it a straight improvement, especially when you take into account that a neutral Tri Attack will do more damage than a neutral BoltBeam. BoltBeam only hits Water, Flying, Ground, Grass, and Dragon-types super-effectively, meaning that you're still much more likely to get into neutral matchups than super-effective ones. Many of what you hit hard with BoltBeam otherwise still takes quite a bit of damage from Tri Attack and Shadow Ball. Gyarados, Landorus/-T, Gliscor, Salamence, Dragonite, and Garchomp all take considerable damage from Tri Attack and otherwise can't outdamage Porygon2 as it Thunder Waves, tanks, and Recovers off whatever they throw at it. BoltBeam obviously have their uses and immediately kill the above listed Pokemon much faster, but it is not outright superior to TriBall by any means.

As for Tyranitar not being a check, that is completely false. If you have Toxic, then yes, Porygon2 can easily outlast it and Tyranitar is checked by Porygon2 instead. If you lack Toxic, however, then nothing short of Hidden Power Fighting will ever result in Porygon2 taking down a Tyranitar in the sandstorm. This one move difference makes Tyranitar a check by every sense of the definition when you consider that Toxic isn't found on every single Porygon2 set.

 

[silenced]

I didn't know about this calculator. Much obliged, I'll be more accurate from here on.

Except the defensive variant is exactly that. Defensive. Being able to score super-effective hits does not necessarily make it a straight improvement, especially when you take into account that a neutral Tri Attack will do more damage than a neutral BoltBeam. BoltBeam only hits Water, Flying, Ground, Grass, and Dragon-types super-effectively, meaning that you're still much more likely to get into neutral matchups than super-effective ones. Many of what you hit hard with BoltBeam otherwise still takes quite a bit of damage from Tri Attack and Shadow Ball. Gyarados, Landorus/-T, Gliscor, Salamence, Dragonite, and Garchomp all take considerable damage from Tri Attack and otherwise can't outdamage Porygon2 as it Thunder Waves, tanks, and Recovers off whatever they throw at it. BoltBeam obviously have their uses and immediately kill the above listed Pokemon much faster, but it is not outright superior to TriBall by any means.

As for Tyranitar not being a check, that is completely false. If you have Toxic, then yes, Porygon2 can easily outlast it and Tyranitar is checked by Porygon2 instead. If you lack Toxic, however, then nothing short of Hidden Power Fighting will ever result in Porygon2 taking down a Tyranitar in the sandstorm. This one move difference makes Tyranitar a check by every sense of the definition when you consider that Toxic isn't found on every single Porygon2 set.

What?

Scoring super-effective hits on those pokemon is nothing but important. Most of what you listed are dangerous set-up sweepers that need to be nailed by a super-effective hit ASAP unless you want to lose and lose badly. Tanking means stuff all if the opposing pokemon can just boost back up and eventually run over you and for a good portion of that list I would certainly be wanting Ice beam minimum, with thunderbolt/discharge for gyarados. The only pokemon you listed I would deem acceptable to take on with Tri-Attack would be gliscor, simply because uninvested EQ will do stuff all to P2 since toxic will backfire in gliscor's face due to trace, and even then I might still want Ice-beam in case it was some kind of baton pass variant (I don't know why gliscor would be, but its possible due to its movepool)

Bolt-Beam would also be more preferable for thunderus (though this depends on whether the therian forme has focus blast or not. Incarnate I think should not be keen on taking P2 on as it doesn't mind paralysis as much) and negligible for heatran who hates P2 unless it has toxic handy (It can roar out, but that really doesn't do much since P2 can take advantage of that and recover first)

I'm not much of an OU player myself, but based on what I see, I seriously cannot see a reason to use TriBall over Boltbeam on P2. Even for TR sets I'd still like bolt beam as you have the defensive capability to set up TR in the face of dangerous mons and KO them with the appropriate move, and with any luck be fast enough under TR to recover so as to do it all again.

...Actually maybe aegislash and magnezone for using shadow ball, but that would be about it.

 

[Wizarus]

Just wanted to point out Porygon2 is doing nothing to SPD Heatran, and Heatran actually has the upperhand since Pory2 is eventually going to be forced out.

 

[acestriker19]

Just wanted to point out Porygon2 is doing nothing to SPD Heatran, and Heatran actually has the upperhand since Pory2 is eventually going to be forced out.

No heatran doesn't its more that they both wall each other. Pory2 comes in and Traces flash fire and gets a free switch in on Heatran then is able to nail a free hit heatran which is really only significant on air balloon heatrans because roar always goes last. Then heatrans forces pory out... most of the time this is not very significant but if you have an EQer who can outspeed heatran on your team then Porygon2 is significant because of his ability to break Heatrans balloon for very little cost and if your a Trick Room set if Heatran doesn't force you out for some reason you get a basically free turn to set up Trick Room.

 

[TKGriffiths]

Doesn't defensive Heatran run Toxic though? That's the last move Porygon2 wants to take.

 

[Kabu]

Tracing Parental Bond should be removed from the OP since Mega Kanga got the boot to Ubers.

 

[EternalZ]

I think it should be mentioned that Porygon2 isn't like most defensive mons as it is actually pretty hard to fit him on a team or form a defensive core around him. Most of the time Pory2 is used as a "glue" pokemon that comes last and fits the team well, so I wouldn't recommend making a team around him. He'll fit in the team when he sees fit.

 

[Always!]

I know this probably isn't the best option, but how about Magic Coat? With Magic Coat, you can really screw up some pokemon that try to Toxic you or try to use roar or something, Heatran, Skarm, etc, are completely stumped by this, and with some hazards, you can rack up some passive damage. I know Porygon2 kinda has 4MSS, so idk how it would fit in, but I feel it is a gimmicky, but viable (if those two can work together lol) move.