|
-
Oblivious
- Grants immunity to infatuation and Captivate.
-
Anticipation
Alerts the wielder to certain dangerous moves. -
Hydration
- Heals status effects in rain.
|
Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
110
|
- |
361 |
424 |
- |
| Atk |
78
|
172 |
192 |
255 |
280 |
| Def |
73
|
163 |
182 |
245 |
269 |
| SpA |
76
|
169 |
188 |
251 |
276 |
| SpD |
71
|
160 |
178 |
241 |
265 |
| Spe |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
Overview
Whiscash has to be the coolest fish in the tier; Stunfisk doesn't even stand a chance. Of course, coolness doesn't correlate with battle-prowess, so for the most part Whiscash is rarely seen in the metagame over its counterpart Seismitoad. However, the recent tier changes provide Whiscash with its chance to shine; with Slowking and Lanturn being gone, the number of bulky Water-types is ever shrinking. Furthermore, Whiscash now has access to Hydration, letting defensive sets run Rain Dance + Rest for semi-reliable recovery and finally giving Whiscash some use as a defensive Pokemon. Meanwhile, Whiscash is still an effective user of Dragon Dance, which alongside its good bulk and excellent neutral coverage, allows Whiscash to be an effective late-game cleaner or revenge killer. Whiscash is a severely underrated Pokemon in this metagame, both offensively and defensively, and has the potential to excel in both roles given the right support.
Unlike most Water-types, Whiscash has access to Dragon Dance, letting it become a deadly physical sweeper after a boost by combining the offensive capabilities of Lapras with the excellent defensive typing and physical STAB of Seismitoad. With full offensive investment, Whiscash reaches an Attack stat of 383 and a Speed stat of 360 after a boost; although these stats are not amazing, they still allow Whiscash to outspeed and decimate offensive Pokemon effectively enough, as almost nothing in the tier outspeeds it after a boost. Due to Whiscash's good bulk and excellent typing, if the opponent lacks a Grass-type response, it can probably accrue more than one boost, letting it fare much better against defensive walls. Furthermore, if your team can provide it with rain support, Whiscash can be extremely difficult to kill due to Hydration + Rest letting it fully restore itself instantly. While Whiscash does not function as well as a straight-up sweeper due to its mediocre offenses and lack of super-effective coverage, it is at its best as a late-game sweeper, cleaning up beaten up threats and being generally unkillable once the opponent's Grass-types are gone.
Earthquake is the primary STAB move since it hits Fire- and Rock-types harder than Waterfall, whilst Stone Edge provides the infamous EdgeQuake combo that hits almost every Pokemon in the game neutrally. Waterfall is still used as a secondary STAB move as it hits Pokemon with Levitate harder than Stone Edge in most cases, and the flinch chance can be useful in tense situations. Under rain, Waterfall is more powerful than Earthquake and becomes the primary STAB move, but Earthquake remains for its use against bulky Water-types. Stone Edge is the most expendable move in this case, and can be replaced by Rest to provide Whiscash with the instant recovery that makes it so hard to take down through residual damage.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The primary item choice is a Life Orb because Whiscash severely lacks power without it, thanks to its mediocre Attack stat and lack of super effective coverage. Furthermore, the recoil is less of a concern with rain support due to the recovery that Hydration + Rest provides. Although its uses are limited, Anticipation is the primary ability because the uses of Oblivious and Hydration (without team support) are none. It lets you see if the opponent's Pokemon are running surprise Grass-type moves, such as Grass Knot; this scouting could potentially save Whiscash's life. Unfortunately, Hidden Power Grass doesn't trigger Anticipation, since Hidden Power is technically a Normal-type move. On the other hand, if you have rain support on your team, Hydration obviously gets the nod for removing sleep, poison, burn, and the rare paralysis, as well as enabling Rest to provide instant recovery. In this case, Waterfall becomes the dominant STAB move. An Adamant nature can be used to provide Whiscash with more of the power it needs to sweep effectively, but this forces it to Speed tie with neutral natured fully invested base 100s, which may not be worth it depending on your team. In terms of offensive options, Bounce can be used over Waterfall or Earthquake for its super effective coverage on Grass-types, but lacks enough power to be too effective. Return is also an option, and can be used to maximize neutral coverage at the expense of super-effective coverage. Ice Beam can be useful for OHKOing offensive Torterra and 2HKOing Tangela, but it forces Whiscash to use a Naive nature and sees no use otherwise.
Whiscash really appreciates support from its team to work effectively as an offensive Pokemon. While it doesn't require Rapid Spin support as much as with other Pokemon due to its resistance to Stealth Rock, it very much appreciates entry hazard support from its teammates, which help to finish off the Pokemon that Whiscash can't quite kill. Glalie is useful in this respect, as not only does it provide Spikes support for the team, but it can also deal with the Grass-type Pokemon that are the bane of Whiscash's existence. If your team is using another Spiker, make sure to pack a specific counter to these Grass-types so that you can eliminate them easily before Whiscash attempts to sweep. Magmar is excellent in this regard, as it shrugs off Sleep Powders and Grass-type attacks with ease while hitting opposing Grass-type Pokemon for ridiculous damage with Fire Blast. Skuntank is also useful; it can threaten Grass-type Pokemon with STAB Poison Jab or hit them on the way out with a powerful Pursuit. If you're attempting to use Hydration + Rest on Whiscash, then running rain support Pokemon on your team is mandatory to take advantage of this.
While Whiscash has the potential to sweep teams quickly with an all-out offensive set, it also has the option of taking a slower route to sweeping by using a bulky Dragon Dance set, just like Altaria and Shelgon. Whiscash's excellent defensive typing is often criticized for its 4x weakness to Grass-type attacks, but it provides Whiscash with a plethora of resistances and an immunity to Electric-type attacks as well, both of which it can make use of thanks to its large HP stat and decent defenses. Additionally, Whiscash can make 101 HP Substitutes, which cannot be destroyed in a single hit by Seismic Toss, letting it set up on Pokemon such as Miltank, Lickilicky, and Hypno. Due to its good bulk, Whiscash's Substitutes will often also survive neutral Hidden Powers, uninvested Scalds, and other weak attacks. In addition, phazing moves such as Lickilicky's Dragon Tail and Throh's Circle Throw, in addition to Clear Smog, will not affect Whiscash while it's behind a Substitute, letting Whiscash hit them with two boosted Earthquakes before being forced out, which will either deal heavy damage or KO them outright. By using Substitute tactically against less offensive opponents, Whiscash is able to set up multiple Dragon Dances more easily, and thus has a greater chance of sweeping teams that cannot immediately threaten it. Once opposing Grass-type Pokemon are removed, stall teams will find it much harder to deal with this variant of Whiscash than the standard, as Substitute blocks both Toxic and phazing moves, their next best options at removing it from play.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EV spread for this set is more complicated than that of the standard, but justifiably so. 180 HP EVs give Whiscash an HP stat of 406, which not only allows it to produce 101 HP Substitutes, but also enables it to set up five Substitutes in a row from full health, taking Leftovers recovery into account. Meanwhile, 224 Speed EVs allow +1 Whiscash to outpace Haunter and OHKO it before it can break its Substitute. The remainder are invested in Attack; combined with the use of an Adamant nature, this helps to ensure that Whiscash is not simply setup bait for other sweepers. If you do not think this is necessary, investing these EVs in Defense will further complement Whiscash's bulk and defensive typing, and will help to ensure that weak U-turns will not break its Substitutes. Speed EVs can also be shifted into Defense or Special Defense as desired, but this will make Whiscash easier to revenge kill, and will not let it use Substitute as successfully before boosting.
Whiscash needs to run two attacks to have effective coverage within the tier, as unlike Altaria and Shelgon, both of its STAB attacks can be blocked with immunities and resistances. While Earthquake and Waterfall are the default options for their reliability and power, Stone Edge is also useful for taking down opponents such as Altaria while still maintaining good neutral coverage. Bounce is also an option in the last slot for hitting Grass- and Bug-types super effectively, but the charging turn is undesirable, and it lacks the power to break through bulky opponents such as Tangela. Anticipation is the best ability for this set, as it allows Whiscash to switch into opponents such as Charizard and Eelektross, determine whether they are using Hidden Power Ice or Hidden Power Grass (Grass Knot/Giga Drain in the case of Eelektross), and use Substitute or switch, respectively; the ability to eliminate the need for prediction in these situations is highly desirable. Furthermore, Substitute already blocks status effects, so the support provided by Hydration is not required as long as you don't switch Whiscash directly into Toxic or into faster users of the move. It's also inadvisable to use the Hydration + Rest combination with this set, as Whiscash does not have the coverage or power to sweep with a single STAB move, unlike its Dragon-type counterparts.
Unfortunately, this set in particular requires a lot of team support to increase its chances of sweeping, and to prevent it from just being an annoyance. Firstly, Grass-type Pokemon absolutely must be removed before attempting a sweep, as they will take almost nothing from Whiscash's STAB attacks, especially as it lacks a Life Orb. Opponents such as Tangela and Leafeon can set up with Substitute and Swords Dance respectively, provide cleric or Wish support, or just go straight for the KO with their powerful STAB attacks. Magmar and Swellow are highly appreciated for their ability to switch into Sleep Powder and OHKO any Grass-type Pokemon in their way; Vileplume is also useful in this respect as it can simultaneously absorb Toxic Spikes and prevent them from crippling Whiscash. Finally, Whiscash appreciates the benefits of all entry hazards, with Stealth Rock and Spikes making it easier to score direct KOs, and Toxic Spikes making it easier to deal with bulky opponents. Cacturne can set up Spikes and synergizes well with Whiscash, while Torterra can do the same while providing Stealth Rock support instead.
Whiscash's access to Hydration finally allows it to compete with Seismitoad as a physically bulky Water-type. Whiscash can heal itself of status, such as Toxic, by using Rain Dance, and fully restore itself with Rest, giving it more longevity when rain is up. Whiscash can make the most of its marginally lower Special Attack and the boost that Rain Dance provides to hit opponents hard with Hydro Pump and Earth Power. For reference, Hydro Pump manages to 2HKO Regice under the rain, and thus everything else it hits neutrally in the tier. Since most targets of Water- and Ground-type moves in this tier are physically defensive, Whiscash can make use of its special STABs more effectively than it can its physical options. While this set faces competition from Lapras, access to STAB Earth Power and far better physically defensive typing give Whiscash unique qualities that make it worth considering. However, bear in mind that because this set must use a turn to set up Rain Dance before it can tank effectively, Grass-types should be eliminated before you attempt to set up rain, as they can switch in with little risk. If your team already provides Whiscash with rain support, then Ice Beam can be used over Rain Dance to hit those Grass types hard on the switch-in; Ice Beam also has the added bonus of being able to OHKO Altaria.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EVs provide Whiscash enough power to abuse STAB Hydro Pump in the rain, while letting it outspeed defensive Flareon. The rest of the EVs are pumped into Defense to help Whiscash take physical attacks better, which is more efficient than investing in HP due to Whiscash's already-high HP stat and its ability to tank the special attacks it needs to regardless of investment. A fully defensive EV spread can also be run with Leftovers and Scald. With full physical bulk, Whiscash takes unboosted physical hits much better than Seismitoad, can hit most physically inclined pokemon harder, and has much better recovery if it can set up a Rain Dance. The burn chance is also useful for annoying switch-ins that attempt to wall Whiscash. EVs can also be put into Special Defense, and are more effective than before as Slowking and Lanturn are no longer NU. For instance, with 112 EVs in Special Defense, Life Orb Charizard cannot 2HKO Whiscash with Air Slash even if both attacks hit. Damp Rock can also be a good item choice, letting Whiscash provide better team support rather than attacking power. It works particularly well as a substitute for Leftovers on the fully-defensive spread.
As this set has access to reliable recovery, the ability to heal status, and the ability to provide rain support for the team, it's very self-sustainable and doesn't require much team support at all to be an effective tank. Obviously, having a teammate to deal with Grass types is useful, but since Whiscash will be functioning in rain a lot of the time, Fire-types are not as useful in this respect. Bug-types, such as Pinsir, and Poison-types, such as Weezing, are more reliable in this case, as their STAB attacks remain unhindered by the weather. Although many Pokemon might try to set up on a defensive Whiscash, STAB Hydro Pump in the rain deals with most of them effectively, killing them before they have a chance to respond. However, Pokemon with the Water Absorb ability, such as Cacturne and Lapras, aren't affected by this, and should thus be covered by the rest of your team to prevent them from setting up with impunity.
Other Options
A RestTalk set can be used but it's pretty much directly outclassed by Rain Dance + Rest, as you have little reason to use any ability other than Hydration. An all-out special attacking set can be run with Hydro Pump / Earth Power / Ice Beam / Surf and maximum Special Attack investment. However, this set isn't terribly effective against offensive teams as their sweepers will outspeed and wear Whiscash down fairly, and Life Orb recoil stacks up too. Hidden Power can't really hit anything in the tier harder than Whiscash's other options, so it's not worth considering. Substitute can be useful for blocking status and Grass-type attacks, but it drains Whiscash's HP quickly in tandem with Life Orb, and Rain Dance + Hydration is generally a better defense against status. Toxic can also be used to annoy other bulky Water-types.
Checks and Counters
By virtue of its typing, almost any Grass-type can counter Whiscash so long as it can survive a +1 Stone Edge. Torterra completely walls any set that lacks Ice Beam due to its defensive typing, and can promptly OHKO Whiscash with Seed Bomb or any other Grass-type move it carries. Tangela and Exeggutor can also come in on Whiscash easily and set up as it switches. Cacturne switches in comfortably on Water-type attacks, as well as unboosted Earthquakes and Stone Edges, and can proceed to set up Spikes or a Substitute as it forces Whiscash out. Bulky Water-types, such as Alomomola, also deal with well Whiscash since they take little from Whiscash's neutral attacks, and can threaten a burn or KO with repeated neutral Scalds, possibly boosted by Whiscash's rain support. In terms of other offensive checks, Whiscash can be surprisingly difficult to stop if it has rain support, and thus, it's often best to stall out the rain before attempting to go for a direct KO.
