So, I just reached a decent level so I'm gonna talk a little about my experience et cetera.
First, I've been playing Chandelure, in a Hail (I'm really such a awfully bad Hail player), and here is the ranking at the moment :
I'll probably try to improve it later, depending on the free time I can spend.
Homework :
How useful is Chandelure in OU?
More useful than you could believe at the first glance.
I chose Chandelure because I think that its typing is amazing, and grants to Chandelure many advantages.
So basically, it gives a spinblock ability (mostly against Forretress, let's not lie). But, even Starmie etc.. why ? Because your opponent won't act the same if they know that you can spinblock.. they'll rather try to hit you on the switch. This pressure Chandelure (like Gengar) can apply on your opponent is always great.
In terms of offensive power, Chandelure is a real beast. First Ghost is an amazing offensive typing, when you pair it with Fire.. the combinaison is resisted by few pokemons like Heatran.
What sets can Chandelure run effectively?
The issue lies probably here. I think a Scarf set is probably the only one, although I could definitely see a SubSplit work in some particular cases.
I used a Scarf set with a Modest nature since Timid wasn't hitting any interesting to me. It means that Chandelure will still hit like a truck and outspeed anything that isn't scarfed (bar some useless stuff like Jolteon).
What gives Chandelure trouble?
As I said Heatran, was annoying for my set. Any scarf that is faster is also annoying. Tyranitar is a threat, especially if you get locked because you need to hit him on the switch with HP Fight. Stuff like Rotom-W are hard to break, but usually Hail teams don't have issues with those pokemons.
What advantages does Chandelure have over other Pokemon?
Well, as I said, the typing, the raw power.
What niche can this Pokemon fill in teams?
An offensive spin blocker with a rare Fire typing in OU. Especially with Hail teams in my opinion since they need a Fire pokemon most of the time. And if you don't want to be weaker to Fight.. Chandelure is your man.
Surprisingly, Chandelure walls many pokemons effectively. Afraid of Volcarona ? Here is your man. Want to tank U-turns ? Want to come on Lucario and revenge kill it peacefully (don't get Crunched though..) ? Breloom is a bitch ? Sun teams are some annoying match-up based teams ?
It is one of the few scarfers that are really useful against stall teams. Given the raw power of Chandelure, you can bait easily a pink blob and give it a Scarf. Then, you usually roll over the Stall team.
So, in one sentence, Chandelure fills the niche of a wall breaking Scarfer able to spin block in a pinch and providing his team with a rare Fire typing in our metagame.
Are they worth the team slot on your team or is it outclassed?
Definitely
NOT OUTCLASSED by any mean given the few but rare advantages that Chandelure got.
About the team I used :
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Abomasnow mixed attacker
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Chandelure Scarf
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Skarmory
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Nidoqueen (it was Double Dance Landorus-T before, but Nidoqueen filled an interesting niche in my team)
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Kyurem (the issue when I was considering Hail was.. why would I even play this crap ? I mean, no abuser ? Well, here is your abuser, laugh as the Rain teams players leave after running out of Gyro Ball PP on their Ferrothorn)
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Starmie
So it's almost a Stall.. but not really. I cash on hazards a lot, but the team still manage to have an offensive power. My Starmie, my Nidoqueen and obviously my Kyurem are not defensively oriented in their build, I use their typing as defense, and provide them with the offensive build they love.
It may lack some speed to match-up with some HO, but my defensive backbone usually stands their assaults.
So, I'll try to improve it, I found it really interesting, to be honest I always wanted to play Chandelure, and to play Hail ;D