Blaziken (QC 1/3)

[-Tsunami-]

ME > INFERNAPE! SPEED BOOOOOST

[Overview]

-Great coverage
-Speed Boost lets it outrun most of the tier after a Protect
-Not bulky (relatively bulky for a sweeper)
-Strong
-Weakened by rain
-Loses to Trick Room
-Like Darmanitan (both fast since Darm runs Choice Scarf, strong, and frail)

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Superpower / Hi Jump Kick
move 3: Stone Edge / Brave Bird
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Fire Gem
ability: Speed Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

-Fire / Fighting coverage can hit most of the tier hard
-Superpower gives Blaziken a strong Fighting-type STAB move
-Hi Jump Kick can be used over Superpower since the latter drops Blaziken's attacking stats and is weaker, but the prevalence of Protect is an annoyance
-Stone Edge hits Chandelure, which otherwise walls this set, and can give Blaziken a way to hit Pokemon such as Thundurus without taking massive recoil damage
-Brave Bird nails Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr and Hitmontop (also hits Pokemon such as Latios, Latias, and Chandelure for solid damage)
-Protect lets Blaziken stall for a turn and boost its Speed, and is always useful in Doubles

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

-Life Orb gives it as much power as possible
-Fire Gem boosts first Flare Blitz
-Fighting Gem can be used but is not as useful
-EVs maximize its sweeping capabilities (252 Speed Adamant is enough to Speed tie with Shaymin-S after a Speed Boost)
-Jolly isn't really necessary due to Speed boost
-Appreciates weather control, as Drizzle can really mess up Blaziken, weakening Flare Blitz and allowing Swift Swim Pokemon such as Kingdra to outrun it, even at +2
-Blaziken using Protect can be very predictable, so appreciates partners such as Hitmontop that can Fake Out the opposition and stop Blaziken from having to rely on Protect as much
-Ninetales is a great partner since it sets up Sunny Day (Sableye and Cresselia are also good partners since they can set up Sunny Day)
-Sableye gets Feint + Fake Out, which can help
-Cresselia can reverse Trick Room and learns Helping Hand
-Appreciates Pokemon that can prevent others from using moves such as Trick Room and Tailwind, as Blaziken really relies on its Speed
-Pokemon such as Thundurus can be good for this
-Wide Guard support can be nice to stop Earthquake (Hitmontop)

[Other Options]

-Lum Berry for status
-Choice Band for power (cannot use Protect though)
to Attack Blaziken, but it compounds with Life Orb and Flare Blitz Recoil
-the same is true for Swords Dance
-Hidden Power Ice KOs Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Garchomp (also useful after Intimidate) (use a Naughty nature if using this)
-Special set with Heat Wave, Focus Blast, HP Ice, and Protect (Overheat is an option, as are Flamethrower and Fire Blast)
-Sky Uppercut is an alternate Fighting-type move
-Acrobatics
-Earthquake is a spread move and can hit Pokemon such as Chandelure
-Rock Slide is another spread move option
-Sunny Day is an option and can be useful if the opposition predicts Protect
-Blaze Kick is an alternative to Flare Blitz with no recoil in exchange for a lot of power
-Cannot use Feint or Baton Pass due to illegalities with Speed Boost
-Lum Berry + Swagger (on partner)

[Checks and Counters]

-Blaziken is pretty easy to deal with for the first couple of turns, but after 3 turns, it can be a major force
-Feint users can spell major trouble for Blaziken, so Pokemon such as Hitmontop can be a solid way to beat it
-Intimidate can neuter Blaziken's offensive presence, so Pokemon such as the aforementioned Hitmontop, Salamence, Gyarados, and Landorus-T are good counters
-Politoed can set up Drizzle, allowing Pokemon such as Kingdra to destroy Blaziken
-Trick Room can be a major problem for Blaziken
-Thundurus-I can get off a Prankster Thunder Wave and essentially "kill" Blaziken
-Latias and Latios can tank any hit and KO back
-Very bulky Pokemon such as Cresselia can tank a hit easily and KO Blaziken or Thunder Wave it (the aforementioned Intimidate users work well for this too)
-Fast Choice Scarf users can outrun Blaziken even after 1 Speed Boost, so Pokemon such as Landorus-T are good in this regard
-Excadrill outruns +2 Blaziken in the sand

 

[noobcubed]

Blaziken is going to want to stay in rather than switch out and lose its speed boosts - so maybe slash sky uppercut after superpower (or even focus blast to ignore intimidate?) The power difference is not quite as large as draco meteor vs dragon pulse.
In OO, swords dance may be more punishing than substitute for punishing prediction of protect.

 

[-Tsunami-]

I added Swords Dance and slashed Hi Jump Kick after Superpower. Sky Uppercut is only 85 Base Power and isn't even 100% accuracy (Focus Blast's accuracy really makes it not worth it, especially since Blaziken has to go mixed), so HJK seems like the best choice.

 

[tofucocoa]

since blaziken is one of my favorites it is only natural that i comment on this.

compare blaziken with darmanitan in the overview. both are fire types with a flare blitz beatstick, are fast (darm is usually scarfed) and are super frail because of recoil/bad defensive typing.

slash brave bird in with stone edge. also im not entirely sure why shadow claw is here since flare blitz probably does roughly the same damage as a SE claw except for hitting jellicent (even then it really, really isn't worth it). brave bird screws over fighting types and since you're already frail and using recoil moves, why not?

add sableye and cress as sunny day users because ninetales is a piece of shit. sableye gets feint (hjk), priority on sunny day, and of course fake out. cress reverses trick room and has helping hand. air balloon seems like oo material. emphasis on helping hand.

stuff for oo: sky uppercut, low kick, overheat, acrobatics, swords dance, earthquake, rock slide, flamethrower/fire blast (since you're mentioning a special set), sunny day and blaze kick. for items, choice band, lum berry, and gems. also mention that stuff like feint and baton pass are off limits because speed boost ken is male only from the dw.

add mence to the intimidate party (thats all of the intimidators really lol). mention how easy blaziken is to deal with (even w/o speed control) for 1-2 turns. it gets p scary after 3 turns. its a shame it isn't fast enough to activate the trick room 1809 glitch :(

 

[-Tsunami-]

Made all the changes / additions.

 

[Pocket]

Seeing how Blaziken's signature move being Flare Blitz, I have some reservations for adding on to the recoil with LO. Thoughts on slashing Fire Gem / Fighting Gem and drop Life Orb to AC? Respective Gems allow Blaziken to attain some critical KOs. With a Fire Gem boost, Flare Blitz OHKOs Hitmontop in the sun after the Intimidate Attack drop. With a Fighting Gem boost, Blaziken OHKOs max HP Politoed (OHKOs max HP / max Def Bold Politoed with HH support).

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this @lucariojr and anybody else who has play experience with Blaziken.

 

[-Tsunami-]

I personally feel like Life Orb is better since it can boost Fire- and Fighting-type moves, but thats just me.

 

[noobcubed]

Expert belt could be a compromise, just sayin'....

 

[tofucocoa]

fire gem can be slashed in with life orb, though i think life orb is the better option. fire gem makes that first flare blitz super strong (which is the main reason behind slashing it) and lets blaze stick around longer without killing itself, though with its low defs and such it won't save you from much bar a bullet punch or something. fighting gem can go in ac since blaze doesn't have much in the way of spammable fighting moves though it can nab an ohko on ttar (chople) with superpower i guess.

 

[-Tsunami-]

done

 

[tofucocoa]

looks good to me

QC 1/3

e: also mention with lum berry the possibility of swagg+lum :)

 

[Mizuhime]

QC 2/3
I have no problems with this thread so write it up

 

[Nollan]

I have a few things to say:

First off, Low Kick is probably one of the best STAB options, it doesn't come with any drawbacks, and hits a lot of common threats that resist your Fire STAB hard (i.e. hits 100bp vs Hydreigon, 120bp vs Heatran, etc). I'd probably add it on the main set and drop HJK, which is honestly really unreliable, to say the least.

Secondly, I'd value Gems over LO in terms of slashes on the set for items. I personally would prefer to keep my Blaziken alive for as long as possible. Others may disagree, but that is my view on the matter.

Well, I don't really have much to add apart from that.

 

[Pocket]

The problem with Low Kick is that you can't touch Rotom-W at all, and you really can't do much to Politoed, either. Probably worth an AC mention, but I don't support it as one of its main STAB.

 

[Nollan]

The problem with Low Kick is that you can't touch Rotom-W at all, and you really can't do much to Politoed, either. Probably worth an AC mention, but I don't support it as one of its main STAB.

I dunno, I feel Rain teams & Rotom-W are going to beat you regardless of that. Of course, I usually run Exeggutor when I run Blaziken, so I've never faced problem with those. :s

I'd view it as a secondary STAB option (Superpower slashed before it), but I haven't used Blaziken all that much, so maybe I'm just plain wrong.

 

[Pocket]

Locking this due to inactivity. ShakeItUp, you have 2 QC stamps, so you may immediately start a new thread with the write-up whenever you get the chance.