Obviously bubble is a must for defense, and I am aware Poliwrath recently got nerfed a little. However, I am on the fence on which Poliwrath I want to invest in ( I have one of each; Hydro, submission, ice punch). I'm not much on hydropump for defense, as it takes a while to charge, and is easy to dodge, but I'm open to suggestions. Submission gets stab at 17.86, and ice punch gets 1.25x damage for grass types etc. which would be 14.63 (11.71x1.25) is this correct? If so, what would be the benefit of having ice punch, and what Poliwrath should I invest in? Thanks in advance.
Submission also has better cool down than IP. IP helps against the counters, while submission does not do well against the likes of Exeggutors, alakazam, etc. That being said IP and sub still comes very close even taking stab and super effective into account.
I ended up choosing ice punch just for the fact that this far into the game many players use dragonites right out of the gate and IP is superior in that fight.
I would go for IP as it is effective against grass and dragon types. Poliwrath has not much use in the gym game atm but I also keep my 100% treasure maxed out just because I like the mon.
Submisson is good too and as you mentioned, hydropump is not of much use on defence. Just take the one with better IV/less sd cost
A surprisingly strong defender at the bottom is the best defense for the gym as a whole. Ideally it sits in rung 3 or 4. The attacker will have to go through it multiple times, each time loosing so many HP in the early attacks that he has problems clearing the gym. Quite often attackers will leave after the first round upon realizing how long they would need to tear down the gym.
