(Quality Control) Weavile [QC 2/3]

[Pokemazter]

Weavile

[Overview]

• Great late-game Pokemon capable of sweeping large portions of the Underused metagame.
• Blistering 125 Base speed lets Weavile outspeed a handful of common scarfers and the majority of the unboosted metagame - only Meloetta-P and Crobat are faster.
• Base 120 Attack lets Weavile tear opposing teams in two thanks to its powerful STAB moves.
• Super-thin 70 / 65 / 80 Defenses don't let Weavile take much for abuse.
• Typing leaves it with a crippling Stealth Rock weakness that prevents Weavile from bouncing in and out of a match effectively.
• Recieved nothing new from the BW2 tutors.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Ice Shard / Ice Punch
move 3: Night Slash
move 4: Low Kick
item: Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Arguably the best late-game sweeper available to the Underused metagame, as its unique dual-STAB, amazing Speed, and sheer power make it difficult to beat once set up.
• With the maximum Speed investment, Weavile is capable of outspeeding all unboosted Pokemon, bar Choice Band Crobat, making it one of the fastest Pokemon available to the tier.
• Swords Dance brings Weavile's already potent Attack stat to monstrous levels, allowing it to 2HKO and even OHKO many top defensive threats, such as Cofagrigus, Gligar, and Rhyperior.
• Ice Punch functions as Weavile's strongest Ice-type STAB attack, absolutely demolishing any Ground-, Grass-, Dragon-, or Flying-type it encounters after a Swords Dance.
• Ice Shard, albeit significantly weaker than Ice Punch, is an acceptable option in the second slot, as it allows Weavile to check and OHKO Choice Scarf Flygon, who'd otherwise outspeed and threaten Weavile, while allowing Weavile to pick off weakened opponents.
• Night Slash performs as Weavile's Dark-type STAB move of choice, allowing it to tear opposing Psychic- and Ghost-types apart. Night Slash also has solid neutral coverage in Underused, so it's useful for beating through the opposition mid-sweep.
• Low Kick occupies the fourth slot to flatten opposing Steel- and Rock-types, the former resisting Weavile's dual STAB, as their cumbersome weight means they'll be taking a lot of damage after a Swords Dance, potentially opening up the opposition for a game-clinching sweep. Low Kick is also effective at removing Snorlax, who's supreme bulk stomachs Weavile's STAB attacks with relative ease.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• The given EV spread is extremely straightforward, being designed to maximize Weavile's offensive output and Speed.
• A Jolly nature is a must in order to outspeed positively-natured base 115s, such as Raikou and Azelf.
• A bulkier EV spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe can be used to give Weavile the chance to set up on stray Ice Beams or Shadow Balls, but Weavile can only now tie with opposing Crobat.
• If Life Orb recoil isn't your cup of tea, an Expert Belt may be used instead. However, there will be a noticeable drop on damage done to neutrally-hit opponents.
• Pokemon capable of keeping the field free from Stealth Rocks and other entry hazards make for excellent partners for Weavile, as it simply cannot afford to continuously switch in on them. Xatu, Blatoise, and Hitmontop all make for solid partners, the latter of the two also resiting Fire- and Rock-type attacks aimed at Weavile respectively.
• Chandelure can be used to lure in Choice Banded Pursuit users, such as Snorlax, and give Weavile a free turn to set up a Swords Dance.
• The removal of bulky Water-types also makes Weavile's life easier, making Zapdos and Shaymin useful teammates, as their powerful STAB attacks will make quick work of any opposing Water-type. Powerful attackers that can freely switch in on bulky Water-types, specifically Choice Specs Kingdra, are also capable of heavily damaging them, giving Weavile room too pull off a sweep.

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Pursuit
move 2: Ice Shard
move 3: Low Kick
move 4: Ice Punch / Night Slash
item: Choice Band / Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Thanks to its sky-high Speed and Attack, Weavile performs exceptionally well as a revenge killer thanks to the abundance of Ghost- and Psychic-types in the tier and access to Pursuit.
• Pursuit allows Weavile to put opposing Ghost- and Psychic-types, such as Azelf and Chandelure, into a checkmate situation, preventing them from switching and doing heavy amounts of damage, 2HKOing both without Stealth Rock damage or the bonus damage from switching.
• Ice Shard is STAB, allowing Weavile to bust faster opposing threats, such as Choice Scarf Flygon, or Choice Scarf Zapdos, wide open.
• Low Kick is handy for breaking through opposing Rock-, Ice-, and Steel-type opponents that would otherwise resist Pursuit or Ice Shard, potentially opening holes throughout the opposition's defenses.
• The last slot is more preference based, as both Ice Punch and Night Slash are acceptable options to be had. Ice Punch deals more damage to slower Flying-, Grass-, and Ground-types than Ice Shard does, but Night Slash is capable of providing more damage against opposing Fire-types. Night Slash also guarantees the OHKO on many of the Ghost- and Psychic-types Pursuit is designed to trap, but the opponent may not always switch.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• The EVs are self-explanitory, allowing Weavile to hit as powerfully and quickly as possible.
• However, a bulkier spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe may be used in order to take weaker ineffective attacks better while still maintaining the jump on positively-natured base 115s.
• The choice in item is that of personal preference, with Choice Band allowing Weavile to deal more damage and embrace a revenge killer role, while Life Orb gives Weavile free reign over its moves at the cost of 10% of its HP. Do note that if you chose Choice Band, Rapid spin or Magic Bounce support is mandatory.
• Teammates capable of keeping entry hazards away from Weavile, such as Blastoise, Hitmontop, and Xatu, all make for great partners, as their ability to keep its side of the field free from hazards will keep Weavile alive for longer.
• Depending on your choice of move in the fourth slot, Weavile will require some custom support. If you opted for Ice Punch, teammates capable of removing bulky Water-, and oppsoing Fire-type Pokemon are greatly appreciated. Kingdra, Zapdos, and Rhyperior are all capable of removing at least one of those two types from battle. If Night Slash was chosen, partners capable of removing opposing Fighting-types will be desired. Cofagrigus, Slowbro, and Togekiss are all good candidates for removing Fighting-types. and can help ease Weavile's need to come in and beat the opposition down.

[Other Options]

• Pickpocket can be used in tandem with a Focus Sash, Dark Gem, Lum Berry, or any other viable item capable of being "consumed" by Weavile, as it has a chance to nab their held item upon being struck by a contact move. It is recommended that the bulkier EV spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe is used if you opt for Pickpocket, as the extra bulk may make the difference between living the weaker hit or not.
• Agility can be used in tandem with an Adamant nature on the Swords Dance set over Swords Dance and Jolly nature, making Weavile the fastest thign to step foot in the tier, but it will miss out on many OHKOs that the Swords Dance set brings to the table once set up and requires more support than the Swords Dance set.
• Brick Break can be used to guarantee set damage against all Normal-, Rock-, Steel-, and Ice-types, allowing Weavile to do more dagame against the likes of Abomasnow, Ambipom, and Durant. However, Low Kick still does more damage against heavier foes, specifically Snorlax and Rhyperior, and Weavile's STAb attacks are usually enough to do in Pokemon typically hit harder by Brick Break.

[Checks and Counters]

• Hitmontop
• Bulky Water-types
• Arcanine
• Escavalier
• Bronzong
• Choice Scarf users, specifically Mienshao, Heracross, Darmanitan, Chandelure, and Rotom-H.

[cim]

Is there any reason not to run Pickpocket? I mean, Knock Off is pretty rare but it seems much more useful than Pressure.

[hilarious]

A cool set is counter sash pickpocket lead where guys like Scarfdarm leads and uses U-turn to bulky water like Suicune or maybe Arcanine idk and as they do that you use Counter and kill random shit that you would have otherwise no chance to kill, thus supporting the team. It messed me up once as I was the Darm user and went to Rhyperior (which incidentally walls Weavile surprisingly well for something weak to Ice) to absorb Night Slash / set up SR and instead got Countered to death.

[kokoloko*]

I dunno about a CounterSash set tbh, it just gives up too much mid-late-game utility and seems really situational to begin with.

Anyway Metric, what you have up until now looks good, I'd just make the order on the SD set this:

name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Ice Shard / Ice Punch
move 4: Low Kick

Also, mention how you should always use Pickpocket with items that get used up in general, not just Sash (Berries, Gems, etc)

[RT.]

Metric doesn't have the time to complete this, so I'm reassigning it. If you want to take this over, make a post in the thread and I'll give you the OP.

[Pokemazter]

Alright, complete skeleton is up. I may or may not expand on the checks and counters section. What checks Weavile is pretty basic. Of course, when I write this up you'll see more there.

And Cresselia will be up here no later than the weekend, so keep an eye out for it too.

[kokoloko*]

QC Approved 1/3

[RT.]

Ice Shard should be slashed before Ice Punch on SD Weavile. It ensures that Weavile can't be revenge killed by Flygon, Mienshao, Crobat, and (weakened) Heracross after a Swords Dance, while still netting all the necessary KOes that Ice Punch does. The only downfall to using Ice Shard is that you can't OHKO defensive Togekiss after SR, (-_-) but it's still the superior option. Make sure to mention Chandelure as a teammate, they have good synergy together and Chandelure lures in Pursuiters like Snorlax, which can result in a free Swords Dance for Weavile. Also add Escavalier to C&C, it actually checks Weavile better then Bronzong. (252/252+ Zong takes 54.14 - 63.9% from +2 Night Slash, 248/0 Esca takes 45.18 - 53.06% from +2 Low Kick)

[Pokemazter]

Originally Posted by Fat RT.

Ice Shard should be slashed before Ice Punch on SD Weavile. It ensures that Weavile can't be revenge killed by Flygon, Mienshao, Crobat, and (weakened) Heracross after a Swords Dance, while still netting all the necessary KOes that Ice Punch does. The only downfall to using Ice Shard is that you can't OHKO defensive Togekiss after SR, (-_-) but it's still the superior option. Make sure to mention Chandelure as a teammate, they have good synergy together and Chandelure lures in Pursuiters like Snorlax, which can result in a free Swords Dance for Weavile. Also add Escavalier to C&C, it actually checks Weavile better then Bronzong. (252/252+ Zong takes 54.14 - 63.9% from +2 Night Slash, 248/0 Esca takes 45.18 - 53.06% from +2 Low Kick)

Got that bit in.

[RT.]

Small nitpick:

• With the maximum Speed investment, Weavile is capable of outspeeding all unboosted Pokemon, including Crobat's Stallbreaker set, making it the fastest Pokemon available to the tier.

This isn't really true, since CB Bat runs max speed. Otherwise, this looks good.



QC Approved 2/3

[Pokemazter]

Originally Posted by Fat RT.

Small nitpick:

• With the maximum Speed investment, Weavile is capable of outspeeding all unboosted Pokemon, including Crobat's Stallbreaker set, making it the fastest Pokemon available to the tier.

This isn't really true, since CB Bat runs max speed. Otherwise, this looks good.



QC Approved 2/3

I'll change that up then. Thanks for the QC check.