While he may seem just like a generic Choice Bander, Weavile functions a great insurance policy against many of the more threatening Pokémon you are likely to face. STAB Pursuit is what really makes this set, taking out powerful sweepers such as Azelf, Alakazam and Gengar in a single hit. Even if they are foolish enough to stay in, CB Pursuit can KO all three of them. Starmie also falls to Pursuit, leaving any spikers on your team free to set up, or allowing your Gyarados or Infernape to rampage through your opponents team, their main counter eliminated. Yes, this set has other attacks besides Pursuit, all of which are equally as useful to Weavile in his role as revenge killer. STAB Ice attacks are always threatening and Weavile's Ice Punch easily KOs any Dragons threatening a sweep. Ice Punch is the more powerful option, although you may favor Ice Shard if Choice Scarf Garchomp or Dragon Dancing Salamence and Dragonite concern you. Ice Shard also has the advantage of hitting one of the few Pokémon able to outrun Weavile—Aerodactyl. Although not a 100% guaranteed KO on the speedy pterosaur, even minimal prior damage or a single hit from Stealth Rock means Aerodactyl's fate is sealed. Should Weavile be leading your team, he can bring down starting Ninjasks with one hit from Ice Shard. Not content with taking out flying dinosaurs, Weavile can KO the earthbound variety too. Dragon Dance Tyranitar fails to outrun Weavile after a single boost, leaving him at the mercy of Brick Break. Brick Break also offers coverage against certain Steel types, notably Lucario and Heatran and also demolishes some of the weaker Dark types you may encounter, Houndoom to name but one. Night Slash in the last slot gives Weavile his most powerful Dark attack. Possible critical hits can really help to make up for the rather low 70 base power. Aerial Ace is a decent alternative here as it fells Heracross in one hit. Ice Punch has a high chance of 2HKOing the brawling bug, but as many favor a Choice Scarf on him it may be preferable to have him out of the way once and for all. Aerial Ace is also his most powerful option against most other Fighting types, such as Infernape, Hariyama and Poliwrath, who also resist Ice. It fails to OHKO either of the bulkier Fighters, but it does have a slim chance of bringing down Infernape with a single blow. Choice Band provides the power Weavile needs to threaten KOs on most of the Pokémon mentioned, but Expert Belt is a reasonable option if you prefer the freedom to switch attacks.
Ninjask aside, Weavile is the fastest Swords Dancer in the game. The combination of pace and power on this set makes it big threat late in the game, when Weavile's counters are sufficiently weakened, or eliminated altogether. Ice Shard is worth considering as it will prevent Ninjask, Yanmega, Aerodactyl and Scarf Garchomp bring you down as it easily OHKOs all three. With a Life Orb and Swords Dance, you can expect Ice Shard to strip off an average of 75% of Choice Scarf Heracross' HP. Focus Sash allows a 100% Weavile to survive at least one hit, which buys it more time. It is recommended to put a Focus Sash Weavile in the lead, as later on Stealth Rock and other indirect damage completely negates it. Expert Belt gives your attacks a little extra kick, although anything that you hit for super effective damage after Swords Dance should die regardless. With this in mind, a Lum Berry may be preferable as status conditions like burns and paralysis will cripple Weavile, rendering him almost useless. Life Orb gives you more power than Expert Belt, especially against targets you can't hit super effectively, but you sacrifice 10% of Weavile's HP with each hit. Given his general frailty and weakness to Stealth Rock this is a risky choice, but can pay off with careful prediction.
Substitute serves three purposes on this set. First of all, it gives Weavile something hide behind in order to Focus Punch the opponent. Secondly, it helps to scout attacks, and finally Weavile can Sub down to a Liechi boost to sweep. Leftovers is a good alternative, as it helps to regain HP lost from Sub and damage from Stealth Rock. Other OptionsPunishment can work against Calm Minders like Slowbro and Jirachi as it will do more damage than Night Slash after a couple of boosts. Screech can cause switches and works with Pursuit. Although he gets Nasty Plot, his Special Attack is terrible so it isn't worth using this or his special attacking options like Dark Pulse and Ice Beam. Assurance gives Weavile a more powerful Dark attack than Night Slash if used with support from Stealth Rock. EVsTake full advantage of his blistering Speed and give him a Jolly nature. Max Speed isn't required, so aim for 373 to outrun Dugtrio, Alakazam and Sceptile. Max Attack, with any leftover EVs in HP. The 40 HP EVs also give Weavile the ability to survive Flamethrowers from Azelf. 349 Special Attack Azelf does 80–94% to Weavile and he even has a slim chance of surviving if Azelf has Expert Belt (96–100%). Weavile with 40 HP EVs also survives a Surf from Modest Choice Specs Starmie. On the other hand, maxing Speed allows you to outspeed or tie with opposing Weaviles, which is important given that one will always OHKO the other with Brick Break. OpinionWith Stealth Rock robbing him of 25% of his HP each time he switches in and his rather poor defenses, Weavile can often have problems switching in repeatedly. This is not helped by the fact that he has several weaknesses to common attacking types like Rock, Fire and a quad weakness to Fighting. The relatively low base power of his STAB attacks—70 and 75 respectively—is also disappointing. So that's the bad news out of the way, onto the good news... His combination of Speed and Attack and his useful STAB moves can be of great benefit to many teams. Is Starmie ruining your fun by spinning away your Spikes? Pursuit it to death. Is Garchomp threatening to sweep your team with Swords Dance? Not with Weavile waiting in the wings. In the early days of DP, the words "You have a Weavile weakness" were common in RMT threads, which illustrates how truly menacing Weavile can be. CountersMost Steel types do well against Weavile. Forretress just laughs off his attacks and can use Weavile's Speed against him by firing off STABed, super effective Gyro Balls. Bronzong works in a similar way, but his neutrality to Dark attacks means the occasional critical hit from Night Slash will hurt. Metagross survives hits easily and can bypass Weavile's Speed advantage by firing off a Bullet Punch, which will OHKO if Metagross is carrying a Life Orb or Choice Band. Scizor has all manner of weapons to kill Weavile, take your pick from X-Scissor, Brick Break or Iron Head. Life Orb Quick Attack can 2HKO and OHKO after a Swords Dance. Intimidate and neutrality to both STAB moves means Gyarados can come in pretty safely and batter Weavile with Stone Edge. Swampert does well against the Choice Bander and can 2HKO with Earthquake or Stone Edge, while Hammer Arm will OHKO. A Swords Danced, Life Orb Ice Punch can 2HKO, so if you want Swampert to take on the Swords Dancer, Hammer Arm is a necessity. Regirock can survive three Brick Breaks, even with boosts from Swords Dance or Choice Band and will KO Weavile with his STAB attack. Beware of random Choice Scarfers, especially Fighters like Heracross. Mach Punch is not Weavile's friend either. Fighters like Breloom and Hitmonchan can both OHKO even without any kind of stat/item boost. Minimum Attack Hitmontop comes close to a OHKO with Mach Punch, and his decent Defense coupled with Intimidate allows him to come in with little risk. |
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