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Flash Fire
- Grants immunity to Fire-type moves and increases the power of Fire-type moves by 50% when hit by a Fire-type move.
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Flame Body
- 30% chance to burn when struck by a contact move. Halves the number of steps required to hatch Eggs.
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Shadow Tag
- Prevents switching.
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Level 50 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
60
|
- |
135 |
167 |
- |
| Atk |
55
|
67 |
75 |
107 |
117 |
| Def |
90
|
99 |
110 |
142 |
156 |
| SpA |
145
|
148 |
165 |
197 |
216 |
| SpD |
90
|
99 |
110 |
142 |
156 |
| Spe |
80
|
90 |
100 |
132 |
145 |
Overview
Possessing a great Special Attack stat, immunities to Normal-, Fighting-, and Fire-type moves, and a great spread move in Heat Wave, Chandelure is a major threat in the VGC 2012 metagame. With the prevalence of weather and Trick Room teams, Chandelure can either act as a great counter to them, or operate effectively under those conditions. However, Chandelure must constantly be on the lookout for opposing spread attacks, as it is hit super effectively by Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Surf, three of the most common spread moves in the metagame.
Heat Wave is the main attack of this set; coupled with Chandelure's monstrous base 145 Special Attack and STAB, it will do major damage to both of your opponent's Pokemon, potentially KOing them. Shadow Ball allows Chandelure to hit single targets for good damage, while eliminating threats such as opposing Chandelure, Cresselia, and Slowking. Depending on your team, Trick Room can either give bulky Pokemon on your team an advantage over foes which would normally outspeed them, or remove Trick Room that has already been set up. Finally, Protect allows Chandelure to shield itself from the barrage of super effective attacks that are common in this metagame, such as Earthquake, Rock Slide, and more; this also gives your teammate an opportunity to eliminate the threat to Chandelure.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Chandelure's item of choice is Fire Gem, which boosts the power of its Heat Wave once, allowing it to deal massive damage to both of your opponent's Pokemon. Life Orb is a good choice too, giving Chandelure a constant boost in its attacks, though this comes with the drawback of losing 10% of its HP each attack. Focus Sash is another solid item choice, as it gives Chandelure a second wind against super effective attacks, allowing it to hit back hard once more before going down.
252 Special Attack EVs are self-explanatory, allowing Chandelure to hit its opponents the hardest. However, the EV investment gets a bit trickier from this point. If it being used on a Trick Room team, Chandelure can opt to use a Quiet nature with 252 HP EVs and 0 Spe IVs, giving it maximum Speed under Trick Room. The 4 EVs in Special Defense ensure that Porygon-Z does not snag a Special Attack boost from Download. However, if you're not running a Trick Room set, one can invest in Chandelure's HP for bulk, or in Speed. HP investment allows Chandelure to live through attacks such as Rock Slide and Hitmontop's Sucker Punch, and extends its longevity; it also allows Chandelure to run a Modest nature, boosting its Special Attack further. However, a spread of 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe coupled with a Timid nature allows Chandelure to outspeed Adamant Mamoswine, KOing it before it can use Earthquake. All in all, running a bulky Chandelure is much more effective, as it gives Chandelure much needed bulk, while Speed only allows Chandelure to outspeed one threat.
Ferrothorn is an effective teammate to Chandelure, as it draws Fire- and Fighting-type attacks, giving Chandelure an opportunity to switch in safely and also possibly snag a Flash Fire boost. Furthermore, Ferrothorn can eliminate Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types—especially Tyranitar—that threaten Chandelure. Fighting-type teammates such as Hitmontop are very effective as well, eliminating Dark- and Rock-types that plague Chandelure. Hitmontop is an especially effective partner, as it carries priority attacks that can KO foes that are weakened by Chandelure's Heat Wave. It can also utilize Wide Guard, blocking spread attacks such as Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Surf that would normally KO Chandelure. Finally, its ability, Intimidate, weakens the physical attacks of its enemies, allowing Chandelure to survive a physical hit or two. Finally, teammates that can set up Trick Room prior to Chandelure switching in do it a great service. With Trick Room up, Chandelure can immediately start hitting its foes for massive damage.
Choice Scarf Chandelure acts as a strong revenge killer, outspeeding most of the Pokemon in this metagame without a Choice Scarf or a Speed boost from the weather. Heat Wave is its main form of offense, dealing heavy damage to opponents that do not resist it. Shadow Ball acts as its secondary STAB attack, dealing damage to a single opponent. Hidden Power Ice allows Chandelure to hit Dragon-types super effectively, especially Garchomp, that otherwise threaten Chandelure with a super effective Earthquake. Finally, Overheat does massive damage to one single target, potentially KOing it, with the drawback of lowering Chandelure's Special Attack. However, if you desire more coverage, Energy Ball can be used to hit Water-types for super effective damage.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
252 EVs each are invested in Special Attack and Speed, maximizing its Special Attack and Speed; this allows Chandelure to act as an efficient revenge killer and attacker. Timid is used in order to outspeed Pokemon with base 130 Speed, such as Modest Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Timid Choice Scarf Politoed, Aerodactyl, and Crobat. However, if you prefer the extra boost in power, Modest is a suitable alternative.
Chandelure appreciates having a teammate that resists the Ghost-, Dark-, Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type attacks that neutralize it. As stated before, Ferrothorn is an excellent choice, resisting four of the five mentioned, and boasting excellent defenses. Due to the popularity of spread moves, Chandelure appreciates Wide Guard support, something that Hitmontop, Conkeldurr, and Hariyama can reliably provide. A Dusknoir running Imprison or a Whimsicott running Taunt can also be an effective remedy against opponents which set up Trick Room, making them excellent partners for Chandelure should it be faced with the field effect.
Other Options
Imprison allows Chandelure to shut down Trick Room teams; however, it is hard to give up Protect for Imprison, as the former is a crucial move that guarantees Chandelure a degree of survivability in this hostile metagame. Psychic hits Terrakion, Hitmontop, and Toxicroak very hard, although Terrakion will not be KOed by Psychic, taking 79.8% even without sandstorm. Hidden Power Ground is an option if you are especially afraid of Heatran. Hidden Power Fighting does decent damage against Tyranitar, but other Pokemon are more suited in taking it down.
Checks and Counters
Rain teams are the bane of Chandelure's existence, weakening its Heat Wave, while its opponents, such as Ludicolo, Politoed, and Kingdra, all carry super effective Water-type attacks that will OHKO. Tyranitar is also a great counter, as Crunch, Rock Slide, and Earthquake all do super effective damage on Chandelure, dispatching it quickly. Heatran resists Shadow Ball and gets a Flash Fire boost from Heat Wave, making it an efficient counter to Chandelure. Hitmontop and Toxicroak both do major damage to Chandelure with Sucker Punch; however, care must be given that Chandelure has taken damage previously, as their attacks will not faint Chandelure at full health, and Chandelure can deal major damage with Heat Wave.
Unreleased
Chandelure's Dream World ability, Shadow Tag, might be powerful in singles, but is significantly less deadly in the VGC 2012 metagame where switching is noticeably less common. Nevertheless, Shadow Tag is still incredibly useful for punishing the opponent if they land themselves in a bad position when Chandelure is out. However, the choice between Shadow Tag and Flash Fire could be tough sometimes, as Chandelure also very much welcomes the Fire-type immunity as well as the boost granted by it.
