This set's purpose is primarily to be an "all sweeper buffer", something that can save a very frail (yet fast) team from being swept by the standard offensive threats like Swords Dance Scizor, DD Gyarados, or DD Salamence. However, it isn't merely a centralized sponge; it can effectively counter physical Fighters such as Lucario, Heracross, and Breloom, and it actually beats most Gyarados one on one. Thunderbolt hits Gyarados; HP Ice hits physical Salamence and any Flygon; and Flamethrower hits Heracross, Lucario, Metagross, Skarmory, Forretress, Abomasnow, Scizor, and Roserade for super effective damage, while Fire Blast can guarantee a OHKO on Abomasnow and a 2HKO on Roserade. Pain Split versus Explosion is simply personal preference. If scraping by and surviving as long as possible is the style of play, then by all means choose Pain Split. However, note that Explosion can help deal massive damage to late game stat boosters and allow a no risk switch in to the appropriate counter, since Explosion faints Weezing. 80 Special Attack EVs are given to 2HKO standard Skarmory with Flamethrower and 2HKO standard Yache Berry Garchomp on average with Hidden Power Ice, as Weezing will do 33.5% the first time and 67% the second time to Garchomp.
A slight change on the previous set, with more focus on support and defense. The Fire attacks take out Heracross and Lucario, and you have Thunderbolt for zapping Gyarados. Will-O-Wisp is great for crippling physical attackers, particularly those that Weezing cannot hurt directly, like Tyranitar and Choice Band Flygon. Haze is good for hindering Baton Pass teams, or physical attackers trying to set up.
Pain Split is not the most reliable recovery move, anyone who ever used it while their opponent switched to a Pokémon on low health will know that. Rest isn't the best either, but coupled with Sleep Talk it gives Weezing about the same durability. And then there's the surprise value: Weezing uses Rest, your opponent switches to Gyarados to set-up and/or Taunt, and then Sleep Talk selects Thunder or Will-O-Wisp to cripple Gyarados. If Sleep Talk selects Rest you will waste a turn, but it's better than not being able to do anything when asleep at all. Weezing makes a very good switch into Grassers like Breloom and Venusaur with this. Other OptionsThe most notable option is Sludge Bomb. Despite getting STAB on it, it isn't much use to Weezing as it offers poor type coverage and most Grass-types can be taken care of with the more useful Fire attacks, Flamethrower and Fire Blast. Hidden Power Ground is a surprise for Heatran (most Specs and Scarf versions are easily 2HKOed). HP Fighting hurts Tyranitar a little, but you're better off simply burning it. Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse hit Gengar and Azelf. Destiny Bond and Memento are alternate suicide moves for Weezing. Destiny Bond isn't very suitable with Weezing's low Speed, but Memento can work if you really need a crippled opponent to set up your next Pokémon, for example a Belly Drummer. Taunt is interesting to stop slower things from recovering or inflicting status. Cursing would be good if Weezing had any good physical moves remaining, but as it is its only assets with Curse are Payback and Gyro Ball. Further, his Special Defense is pretty crappy. Black Sludge is an alternative to Leftovers in an Item Clause situation, but shouldn't be used otherwise. It may sound appetizing to punish Pokemon using Trick, but that merely gives the Tricker another weapon to use against other Pokemon. EVsWeezing should stick to (nearly) max HP and Defense. Many physical threats hit quite hard, so you'll want to reduce the damage as much as possible. If you're using HP Ice, use 80 Special Attack EVs to give Weezing a decent shot at KOing 4 HP / 0 SpD Salamence after Stealth Rock damage. OpinionWeezing is your best friend against Heracross and other Fighters. With resistance to dangerous moves like Close Combat, Focus Punch and Megahorn and that great Earthquake immunity, he's not going down very soon. Sadly, the change from ADV to DP was not too kind to Weezing. He got no real improvements, and with the exception of Explosion, he no longer has any moves to use with his decent physical Attack. The fact that Salamence, Gyarados, Medicham and Heracross all got moves to hit him harder with doesn't help either. In spite of those drawbacks, Weezing is still good at what he does, but it's hard to shrug off these problems. CountersHeatran is the best Weezing counter ever. It's as if Gamefreak thought Weezing was doing a little too well and felt like adding something that completely makes it useless. This robotic, walking volcano gets boosted by Will-O-Wisp and other Fire moves, is immune to Sludge Bomb, resists Explosion and royally screws Weezing over with STAB Fire moves. Close behind Heatran is any other Fire-type, especially those with Flash Fire. The good news for Weezing is that Houndoom no longer hurts him as much as Pursuit is now physical. The bad news is that Sludge Bomb does less damage to him, as well as Ninetales if you ever see it. Other threatening Fire-types are Infernape (who is pretty common) and Camerupt (who resists Sludge Bomb). Any decent special attacking Psychic type with Psychic OHKOs Weezing. Think Azelf, Alakazam, Cresselia, Gardevoir, Slowbro...the former two are a little more fragile, but beware Alakazam and Gardevoir bouncing back Will-O-Wisp with Synchronize. Blissey functions well as a special wall as ever, she doesn't even care about Will-O-Wisp. Pain Split is horribly annoying though. In general, if you're a special attacker packing something neutral and decently powered, chances are Weezing does not want to meet you. |
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