My first analysis. I quite enjoyed writing this, so please be kind(ish).
QC: Nayrz, Dominatio, Minority
GP: CryoGyro
[OVERVIEW]
* Blaziken's ability, Speed Boost, makes it progressively harder to revenge kill.
* It has a good STAB combination in Fire and Fighting that hits most of the tier neutrally and sends Steel-types running, and access to Swords Dance allows it to exert good amounts of offensive pressure.
* It somewhat appreciates the increase in Dark-type usage, as, thanks to its typing, it can capitalize on forced switches and set up Swords Dance or slam its switch-ins for some good damage.
* It cannot be burned and appreciates the decline of Klefki and Thunder Wave.
* Life Orb and Flare Blitz recoil quickly wear Blaziken down.
* Blaziken suffers from severe four-moveslot syndrome; it will always be unable to hit prominent Pokemon no matter what three attacks it runs. Forgoing Hidden Power Ice will make Mega Salamence and Zygarde impossible to hit, Blaziken will struggle with Ho-Oh if Stone Edge is not opted for, and forgoing Knock Off makes the likes of Giratina insurmountable.
* Pathetic 80/70/70 bulk makes it nigh impossible to set up Swords Dance without prediction or support and almost invalidates Blaziken's Dark-type resistance. Said resistance is further let down by the fact that the most common Dark-type in the tier, Yveltal, has a strong super effective Flying-type STAB attack in Oblivion Wing.
* Protect is needed to get the Speed boost necessary for outspeeding important threats, but it gives such threats a free turn to switch out or set up.
* Unboosted Blaziken falls short of a lot of important KOes and 2HKOes such as on bulky Arceus formes and Primal Groudon without Stealth Rock damage.
* Blaziken is checked by extremely common Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and, depending on its coverage, Ho-Oh, Giratina formes, and Lunala.
* A lot of support is required for Blaziken to function, and it pretty much only fits on certain hyper offense teams, so it must be built around from the beginning; it is not a Pokemon you can just add to any build.
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Protect / Swords Dance
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Low Kick
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Stone Edge
item: Life Orb
ability: Speed Boost
nature: Naughty / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Protect allows Blaziken to easily get to +1 Speed, which causes it to outspeed everything up to Timid Shaymin-S, with which it Speed ties.
* Swords Dance, successfully, will put Blaziken at +2 Attack and +1 Speed, turning it into an extremely powerful wallbreaker that is difficult to revenge kill; it has an 87.5% chance to OHKO Sassy Primal Groudon with Stealth Rock damage (provided it came in on Stealth Rock as Primal Groudon).
* Flare Blitz is Blaziken's strongest STAB move, doing severe amounts of damage to anything that doesn't resist it and roasting most Steel-types. It cannot be used recklessly, as the opponent can switch into a Pokemon that resists it to force Blaziken to take lots of recoil damage.
* Low Kick is chosen over High Jump Kick because most Pokemon in the Ubers tier are very heavy, Mega Diancie doesn't exist yet, and Ghost-types can cause Blaziken to faint through High Jump Kick recoil very easily.
* Hidden Power Ice is the best coverage move by far, as it prevents Mega Salamence from easily taking advantage of Blaziken and setting up in its face by OHKOing it after Stealth Rock. It has a similar effect versus Rayquaza, Zygarde, and Landorus-T, which share a crippling Ice weakness with Salamence.
* Stone Edge allows Blaziken to OHKO Ho-Oh, have a 50% chance to OHKO a healthy Rayquaza, and hit Mega Salamence for reasonable damage; at +1, it can KO offensive variants with Stealth Rock on the field, but for this reason, it is only chosen over Hidden Power Ice when running Swords Dance.
* Knock Off allows Blaziken to deal somewhat meaningful damage to Giratina-O, has a chance to OHKO Lunala with Stealth Rock up, and is a sure KO on Lunala with a Swords Dance boost, but Lunala doesn't take Flare Blitz well and Giratina can be worn down with Stealth Rock and other chip damage due to lacking recovery. It also gives Mega Salamence a free switch in, and a +1 Salamence can spell doom for Blaziken and its team. Giratina-O, one of the prime targets of Knock Off, cannot have its Griseous Orb removed, so it doesn't even take much from it anyway.
Set Details
========
* Attack and Speed EVs are maximized in order to get the highest damage output possible and make Blaziken exert the most pressure on the opponent it can.
* A Naughty nature is used with Hidden Power Ice in order to keep all of Blaziken's physical attacks at maximum strength without hampering Hidden Power Ice's damage nor taking any extra damage from common priority moves.
* An Adamant nature is used with Swords Dance to make certain OHKOs more likely: Blaziken has a chance to OHKO Sassy Groudon at +2 and a very large chance to OHKO it after Stealth Rock damage as well as a chance to OHKO offensive Kyogre when unboosted after Stealth Rock.
* 4 Special Defense EVs are used with an Adamant nature in order to always survive any attack from Mega Gengar provided there are no entry hazards on your side of the field, which can be situationally useful.
* A Naive or Jolly nature, depending on the coverage run, can be used in order to outspeed Mega Gengar and Mewtwo at +1, but comes at the cost of some power.
Usage Tips
========
* Effective use of double switches to bring Blaziken into a favorable matchup such as against a Steel-type is key to allowing Blaziken to put in work; switching Blaziken in as your opponent switches their Steel-type in to check your Xerneas, for example, is a good method of allowing Blaziken to get the most work done as possible by netting a free turn as the Steel-type switches out for fear of being decimated. Blaziken's poor bulk prevents it from sponging hits to set up, so passive Pokemon are prime targets for Blaziken to set up on.
* Do not allow the opponent take advantage of Protect turns by mindlessly spamming it. A boosted foe can spell doom for your team, and, should they see Protect incoming, allows the opponent to pick a Pokemon more suited to handling Blaziken.
* It is important to recognize and capitalize on when the opponent is going to switch into a Fire-resistant Pokemon to make Blaziken take a lot of recoil for little gain; for example, setting up a Swords Dance or using Hidden Power Ice on the obvious Mega Salamence switch can put your opponent's team at a huge disadvantage, having lost an important Pokemon and now facing a boosted Blaziken.
* Remove priority users before attempting to sweep with Blaziken, and, depending on your move choices, remove the Pokemon that Blaziken's coverage misses out on.
Team Options
========
* Offensive Pokemon that appreciate the removal of Steel-types (namely Skarmory, Celesteela, Bronzong, and even Dialga), Arceus-Rock, and Tyranitar such as Mega Salamence, Arceus, and Xerneas pair well with Blaziken, as Blaziken makes a sweep for these Pokemon easier, especially Xerneas.
* A good check to Primal Groudon is a necessity, as it appears on pretty much every team, is one of the most common switch-ins for Blaziken, and can threaten it with an OHKO or set up on it, provided it has a good deal of health to spare.
* Hazard support allows Blaziken to secure certain OHKOs, and thus, suicide leads such as Excadrill, Cloyster, Deoxys-S, and Scolipede all work well here. Stealth Rock from Primal Groudon and Dialga are also options if you require a Pokemon that can stick around for longer than a suicide lead. Primal Groudon also doubles as a soft Xerneas check, which is helpful for any hyper offense team.
* Hazards compound Blaziken's issue with being worn down quickly, so hazard removal is appreciated. The aforementioned Excadrill and Cloyster work well here, as not only are they able to set hazards, they can Rapid Spin them away as well. Pheromosa, while frail, has the fastest Rapid Spin in the game, offers U-turn support, and is the scourge of Psychic Terrain teams; extra insurance against such teams is always appreciated. Defoggers like Arceus-Water also work here, but often drain momentum and are not suited to hyper offense teams.
* Tapu Lele is an interesting pick for a teammate: it prevents the priority that would swiftly bring Blaziken to its knees and makes a Blaziken with a few Speed boosts impossible to revenge kill. In turn, Blaziken can easily handle the Steel-types that stop Tapu Lele cold.
* Dark-types such as Yveltal and Arceus-Dark can easily deal with Giratina-O, Lunala, and, to a lesser extent, Lugia, which is needed if Blaziken is not running Knock Off.
* Arceus-Rock can effectively deal with the Flying-types Blaziken will struggle with if not running Hidden Power Ice or Stone Edge, namely Mega Salamence and Ho-Oh, respectively.
* A good Zygarde-C check is a necessity that cannot be passed up: Xerneas and mixed Rayquaza, the latter to some degree, can both deal with Zygarde.
* Wobbuffet allows Blaziken to easily set up Swords Dance by trapping an opposing Pokemon and locking it into an unfavorable move that Blaziken can set up Swords Dance on. This is especially useful versus hyper offense teams, as they give Blaziken little room to set up Swords Dance by continually exerting pressure, and Blaziken would otherwise find itself just being used as death fodder due to its poor unboosted Speed.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A set of Swords Dance and Protect can be used as a lure to make your opponent think you're running Protect and three attacks, but there are numerous threats that are resistant to Fire / Fighting coverage.
* Focus sash can be used with Blaze Kick and Swords Dance for a surprise lead set.
* A dedicated Baton Pass set can be used with Protect, Swords Dance, Substitute, and Baton Pass. Baton Pass can be used over Stone Edge or Knock Off to pass any incurred boosts to a more appropriate Pokemon, should it come up against a Pokemon it has a bad matchup against, such as Giratina.
* High Jump Kick hits harder than Low Kick and has consistent damage output, but the threat of losing 50% of Blaziken's health in a tier infested with Ghost-types make it often not worth the trouble, given that Low Kick hits most things with 120 Base Power.
* A set utilizing Knock Off, Darkinium Z, and Swords Dance can be used to net a surprise KO against Giratina-O, Blaziken's most common switch-in on balance and bulky offense archetypes.
* Z-Bulk Up can be used to reduce damage from Extreme Speed, but is otherwise useless, as Precipice Blades still OHKOes Blaziken.
* A Lonely nature can be run on Psychic Terrain teams to ensure Blaziken has a better chance of surviving Mega Gengar's attacks, but outside of Psychic Terrain, it makes Extreme Speed hit harder, which is never good for Blaziken.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Giratina**: Either Giratina forme can take any boosted hit Blaziken can throw at it and phaze or KO it. A Giratina forme at full health is arguably Blaziken's greatest check, but the more common Giratina-O lacks recovery, so ensure that Giratina has been sufficiently damaged before attempting a sweep. Griseous Orb cannot be removed by Knock Off, so Giratina-O doesn't take much damage from it. RestTalk Giratina is impossible to break for Blaziken unless it's boosted and carrying Knock Off.
**Bulky Water-types**: Both Toxapex and Mega Slowbro resist Blaziken's STAB combination, have good bulk, and have access to reliable recovery. Due to their bulk and weight, they can switch into even a boosted Blaziken and KO it with Scald or set up Toxic Spikes or Iron Defense, respectively. Toxapex can remove boosts with Haze, and both can punish a switch-in with Toxic. A boosted Black Hole Eclipse doesn't even come close to KOing Slowbro. Blaziken can't even pray for a critical hit against Slowbro, thanks to Shell Armor. Bulky Primal Kyogre variants cannot take a hit from boosted Blaziken, or even switch in safely due to the threat of being 2HKOed by Low Kick, but can otherwise bait an unboosted Low Kick that would OHKO offensive variants and KO it with Scald.
**Zygarde-C**: Zygarde's phenomenal physical bulk allows it to easily take anything from Blaziken and phaze it or hurt it with Thousand Arrows. It would be foolish to directly switch base forme Zygarde into a Low Kick, however, as that would spell doom for the otherwise insurmountable wall. An unboosted Low Kick doesn't do enough to trigger Power Construct, and Hidden Power Ice can finish the job, whereas a boosted Low Kick will 2HKO.
**Ho-Oh**: Ho-Oh takes anything except Stone Edge provided Stealth Rock is off the field and KOes Blaziken with ease with Brave Bird or Earthquake.
**Mega Salamence**: Mega Salamence can come in on Blaziken, Intimidate it, and set up on the forced switch. It only falls to a +1 Stone Edge when Stealth Rock is on the field, provided it has no Defense investment. It does take a fair chunk from Hidden Power Ice, however, which can even OHKO with Stealth Rock up.
**Priority**: Blaziken's bulk prevents it from taking hits. Priority moves cut Blaziken's health before it can even act, meaning it will faint from recoil very quickly. After one (if you're unlucky) or two rounds of Life Orb recoil, unboosted Extreme Speed from Adamant Arceus will KO Blaziken, and other methods of priority, which offensive teams often carry, will also take a fair chunk from Blaziken, limiting it to one or two attacks . After using Flare Blitz, however, priority from just about anything becomes a sure KO.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon can take any hit from Blaziken bar a +2 Low Kick (if it has come in on Stealth Rock as Primal Groudon) and proceed to phaze it or just OHKO it with Precipice Blades. Relaxed and Impish Primal Groudon do not have to worry about falling to even a boosted Blaziken provided they aren't switching in. Primal Groudon lacks recovery, however, and doesn't really appreciate switching in on any powerful attacks.
**Lugia**: Lugia will only fall to Blaziken provided it has a Swords Dance boost and Lugia has taken Stealth Rock damage. Without both of these conditions met, Lugia doesn't care about anything Blaziken can do, except be mildly annoyed by losing its Leftovers to Knock Off.
**Lunala**: Being immune to Low Kick is already a bad sign for Blaziken, but this is made worse by Shadow Shield mitigating Flare Blitz damage. While Flare Blitz can 2HKO Lunala, Blaziken will take extreme amounts of recoil, and if Lunala isn't switching in on anything bar Low Kick, will result in Blaziken fainting to any attack Lunala has. Lunala dreads Knock Off, however, which has the potential to KO with Stealth Rock up. Lunala's status as a check to Blaziken is nullified if it has a Swords Dance boost, however, as Knock Off will KO Lunala through Shadow Shield, and if Stealth Rock is up, Flare Blitz will too.
**Certain Arceus Formes**: Blaziken only has a small chance to OHKO Arceus-Water, bulky Arceus-Ground, and Arceus-Dragon with a boosted Low Kick after Stealth Rock. They cannot switch in safely to a +2 Blaziken, but will otherwise always force Blaziken out or just KO it with a powerful Judgement. Arceus-Ghost and Arceus-Fairy force Blaziken to commit to Flare Blitz, which, even then, doesn't KO either of them unless boosted.
**Rest Xerneas**: Unfortunately for Blaziken, without a boost, it cannot muscle past Xerneas, which can easily stall it while it racks up recoil from Flare Blitz and Life Orb or KO it with Moonblast. Thankfully, this variant isn't too common and cannot switch into Flare Blitz safely.
**Faster Pokemon**: Blaziken is extremely frail and thus cannot afford to take a hit; Pokemon like Mewtwo can outspeed a +1 Adamant Blaziken and KO it with ease. A Jolly nature can remedy this at the cost of power. Speed-increasing nature Deoxys-A is not even outsped by a +1 Jolly Blaziken.
**Entry Hazards**: Entry hazards compound Blaziken's issue with being worn down very quickly due to recoil.
QC: Nayrz, Dominatio, Minority
GP: CryoGyro
[OVERVIEW]
* Blaziken's ability, Speed Boost, makes it progressively harder to revenge kill.
* It has a good STAB combination in Fire and Fighting that hits most of the tier neutrally and sends Steel-types running, and access to Swords Dance allows it to exert good amounts of offensive pressure.
* It somewhat appreciates the increase in Dark-type usage, as, thanks to its typing, it can capitalize on forced switches and set up Swords Dance or slam its switch-ins for some good damage.
* It cannot be burned and appreciates the decline of Klefki and Thunder Wave.
* Life Orb and Flare Blitz recoil quickly wear Blaziken down.
* Blaziken suffers from severe four-moveslot syndrome; it will always be unable to hit prominent Pokemon no matter what three attacks it runs. Forgoing Hidden Power Ice will make Mega Salamence and Zygarde impossible to hit, Blaziken will struggle with Ho-Oh if Stone Edge is not opted for, and forgoing Knock Off makes the likes of Giratina insurmountable.
* Pathetic 80/70/70 bulk makes it nigh impossible to set up Swords Dance without prediction or support and almost invalidates Blaziken's Dark-type resistance. Said resistance is further let down by the fact that the most common Dark-type in the tier, Yveltal, has a strong super effective Flying-type STAB attack in Oblivion Wing.
* Protect is needed to get the Speed boost necessary for outspeeding important threats, but it gives such threats a free turn to switch out or set up.
* Unboosted Blaziken falls short of a lot of important KOes and 2HKOes such as on bulky Arceus formes and Primal Groudon without Stealth Rock damage.
* Blaziken is checked by extremely common Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and, depending on its coverage, Ho-Oh, Giratina formes, and Lunala.
* A lot of support is required for Blaziken to function, and it pretty much only fits on certain hyper offense teams, so it must be built around from the beginning; it is not a Pokemon you can just add to any build.
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Protect / Swords Dance
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Low Kick
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Stone Edge
item: Life Orb
ability: Speed Boost
nature: Naughty / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Protect allows Blaziken to easily get to +1 Speed, which causes it to outspeed everything up to Timid Shaymin-S, with which it Speed ties.
* Swords Dance, successfully, will put Blaziken at +2 Attack and +1 Speed, turning it into an extremely powerful wallbreaker that is difficult to revenge kill; it has an 87.5% chance to OHKO Sassy Primal Groudon with Stealth Rock damage (provided it came in on Stealth Rock as Primal Groudon).
* Flare Blitz is Blaziken's strongest STAB move, doing severe amounts of damage to anything that doesn't resist it and roasting most Steel-types. It cannot be used recklessly, as the opponent can switch into a Pokemon that resists it to force Blaziken to take lots of recoil damage.
* Low Kick is chosen over High Jump Kick because most Pokemon in the Ubers tier are very heavy, Mega Diancie doesn't exist yet, and Ghost-types can cause Blaziken to faint through High Jump Kick recoil very easily.
* Hidden Power Ice is the best coverage move by far, as it prevents Mega Salamence from easily taking advantage of Blaziken and setting up in its face by OHKOing it after Stealth Rock. It has a similar effect versus Rayquaza, Zygarde, and Landorus-T, which share a crippling Ice weakness with Salamence.
* Stone Edge allows Blaziken to OHKO Ho-Oh, have a 50% chance to OHKO a healthy Rayquaza, and hit Mega Salamence for reasonable damage; at +1, it can KO offensive variants with Stealth Rock on the field, but for this reason, it is only chosen over Hidden Power Ice when running Swords Dance.
* Knock Off allows Blaziken to deal somewhat meaningful damage to Giratina-O, has a chance to OHKO Lunala with Stealth Rock up, and is a sure KO on Lunala with a Swords Dance boost, but Lunala doesn't take Flare Blitz well and Giratina can be worn down with Stealth Rock and other chip damage due to lacking recovery. It also gives Mega Salamence a free switch in, and a +1 Salamence can spell doom for Blaziken and its team. Giratina-O, one of the prime targets of Knock Off, cannot have its Griseous Orb removed, so it doesn't even take much from it anyway.
Set Details
========
* Attack and Speed EVs are maximized in order to get the highest damage output possible and make Blaziken exert the most pressure on the opponent it can.
* A Naughty nature is used with Hidden Power Ice in order to keep all of Blaziken's physical attacks at maximum strength without hampering Hidden Power Ice's damage nor taking any extra damage from common priority moves.
* An Adamant nature is used with Swords Dance to make certain OHKOs more likely: Blaziken has a chance to OHKO Sassy Groudon at +2 and a very large chance to OHKO it after Stealth Rock damage as well as a chance to OHKO offensive Kyogre when unboosted after Stealth Rock.
* 4 Special Defense EVs are used with an Adamant nature in order to always survive any attack from Mega Gengar provided there are no entry hazards on your side of the field, which can be situationally useful.
* A Naive or Jolly nature, depending on the coverage run, can be used in order to outspeed Mega Gengar and Mewtwo at +1, but comes at the cost of some power.
Usage Tips
========
* Effective use of double switches to bring Blaziken into a favorable matchup such as against a Steel-type is key to allowing Blaziken to put in work; switching Blaziken in as your opponent switches their Steel-type in to check your Xerneas, for example, is a good method of allowing Blaziken to get the most work done as possible by netting a free turn as the Steel-type switches out for fear of being decimated. Blaziken's poor bulk prevents it from sponging hits to set up, so passive Pokemon are prime targets for Blaziken to set up on.
* Do not allow the opponent take advantage of Protect turns by mindlessly spamming it. A boosted foe can spell doom for your team, and, should they see Protect incoming, allows the opponent to pick a Pokemon more suited to handling Blaziken.
* It is important to recognize and capitalize on when the opponent is going to switch into a Fire-resistant Pokemon to make Blaziken take a lot of recoil for little gain; for example, setting up a Swords Dance or using Hidden Power Ice on the obvious Mega Salamence switch can put your opponent's team at a huge disadvantage, having lost an important Pokemon and now facing a boosted Blaziken.
* Remove priority users before attempting to sweep with Blaziken, and, depending on your move choices, remove the Pokemon that Blaziken's coverage misses out on.
Team Options
========
* Offensive Pokemon that appreciate the removal of Steel-types (namely Skarmory, Celesteela, Bronzong, and even Dialga), Arceus-Rock, and Tyranitar such as Mega Salamence, Arceus, and Xerneas pair well with Blaziken, as Blaziken makes a sweep for these Pokemon easier, especially Xerneas.
* A good check to Primal Groudon is a necessity, as it appears on pretty much every team, is one of the most common switch-ins for Blaziken, and can threaten it with an OHKO or set up on it, provided it has a good deal of health to spare.
* Hazard support allows Blaziken to secure certain OHKOs, and thus, suicide leads such as Excadrill, Cloyster, Deoxys-S, and Scolipede all work well here. Stealth Rock from Primal Groudon and Dialga are also options if you require a Pokemon that can stick around for longer than a suicide lead. Primal Groudon also doubles as a soft Xerneas check, which is helpful for any hyper offense team.
* Hazards compound Blaziken's issue with being worn down quickly, so hazard removal is appreciated. The aforementioned Excadrill and Cloyster work well here, as not only are they able to set hazards, they can Rapid Spin them away as well. Pheromosa, while frail, has the fastest Rapid Spin in the game, offers U-turn support, and is the scourge of Psychic Terrain teams; extra insurance against such teams is always appreciated. Defoggers like Arceus-Water also work here, but often drain momentum and are not suited to hyper offense teams.
* Tapu Lele is an interesting pick for a teammate: it prevents the priority that would swiftly bring Blaziken to its knees and makes a Blaziken with a few Speed boosts impossible to revenge kill. In turn, Blaziken can easily handle the Steel-types that stop Tapu Lele cold.
* Dark-types such as Yveltal and Arceus-Dark can easily deal with Giratina-O, Lunala, and, to a lesser extent, Lugia, which is needed if Blaziken is not running Knock Off.
* Arceus-Rock can effectively deal with the Flying-types Blaziken will struggle with if not running Hidden Power Ice or Stone Edge, namely Mega Salamence and Ho-Oh, respectively.
* A good Zygarde-C check is a necessity that cannot be passed up: Xerneas and mixed Rayquaza, the latter to some degree, can both deal with Zygarde.
* Wobbuffet allows Blaziken to easily set up Swords Dance by trapping an opposing Pokemon and locking it into an unfavorable move that Blaziken can set up Swords Dance on. This is especially useful versus hyper offense teams, as they give Blaziken little room to set up Swords Dance by continually exerting pressure, and Blaziken would otherwise find itself just being used as death fodder due to its poor unboosted Speed.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A set of Swords Dance and Protect can be used as a lure to make your opponent think you're running Protect and three attacks, but there are numerous threats that are resistant to Fire / Fighting coverage.
* Focus sash can be used with Blaze Kick and Swords Dance for a surprise lead set.
* A dedicated Baton Pass set can be used with Protect, Swords Dance, Substitute, and Baton Pass. Baton Pass can be used over Stone Edge or Knock Off to pass any incurred boosts to a more appropriate Pokemon, should it come up against a Pokemon it has a bad matchup against, such as Giratina.
* High Jump Kick hits harder than Low Kick and has consistent damage output, but the threat of losing 50% of Blaziken's health in a tier infested with Ghost-types make it often not worth the trouble, given that Low Kick hits most things with 120 Base Power.
* A set utilizing Knock Off, Darkinium Z, and Swords Dance can be used to net a surprise KO against Giratina-O, Blaziken's most common switch-in on balance and bulky offense archetypes.
* Z-Bulk Up can be used to reduce damage from Extreme Speed, but is otherwise useless, as Precipice Blades still OHKOes Blaziken.
* A Lonely nature can be run on Psychic Terrain teams to ensure Blaziken has a better chance of surviving Mega Gengar's attacks, but outside of Psychic Terrain, it makes Extreme Speed hit harder, which is never good for Blaziken.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Giratina**: Either Giratina forme can take any boosted hit Blaziken can throw at it and phaze or KO it. A Giratina forme at full health is arguably Blaziken's greatest check, but the more common Giratina-O lacks recovery, so ensure that Giratina has been sufficiently damaged before attempting a sweep. Griseous Orb cannot be removed by Knock Off, so Giratina-O doesn't take much damage from it. RestTalk Giratina is impossible to break for Blaziken unless it's boosted and carrying Knock Off.
**Bulky Water-types**: Both Toxapex and Mega Slowbro resist Blaziken's STAB combination, have good bulk, and have access to reliable recovery. Due to their bulk and weight, they can switch into even a boosted Blaziken and KO it with Scald or set up Toxic Spikes or Iron Defense, respectively. Toxapex can remove boosts with Haze, and both can punish a switch-in with Toxic. A boosted Black Hole Eclipse doesn't even come close to KOing Slowbro. Blaziken can't even pray for a critical hit against Slowbro, thanks to Shell Armor. Bulky Primal Kyogre variants cannot take a hit from boosted Blaziken, or even switch in safely due to the threat of being 2HKOed by Low Kick, but can otherwise bait an unboosted Low Kick that would OHKO offensive variants and KO it with Scald.
**Zygarde-C**: Zygarde's phenomenal physical bulk allows it to easily take anything from Blaziken and phaze it or hurt it with Thousand Arrows. It would be foolish to directly switch base forme Zygarde into a Low Kick, however, as that would spell doom for the otherwise insurmountable wall. An unboosted Low Kick doesn't do enough to trigger Power Construct, and Hidden Power Ice can finish the job, whereas a boosted Low Kick will 2HKO.
**Ho-Oh**: Ho-Oh takes anything except Stone Edge provided Stealth Rock is off the field and KOes Blaziken with ease with Brave Bird or Earthquake.
**Mega Salamence**: Mega Salamence can come in on Blaziken, Intimidate it, and set up on the forced switch. It only falls to a +1 Stone Edge when Stealth Rock is on the field, provided it has no Defense investment. It does take a fair chunk from Hidden Power Ice, however, which can even OHKO with Stealth Rock up.
**Priority**: Blaziken's bulk prevents it from taking hits. Priority moves cut Blaziken's health before it can even act, meaning it will faint from recoil very quickly. After one (if you're unlucky) or two rounds of Life Orb recoil, unboosted Extreme Speed from Adamant Arceus will KO Blaziken, and other methods of priority, which offensive teams often carry, will also take a fair chunk from Blaziken, limiting it to one or two attacks . After using Flare Blitz, however, priority from just about anything becomes a sure KO.
**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon can take any hit from Blaziken bar a +2 Low Kick (if it has come in on Stealth Rock as Primal Groudon) and proceed to phaze it or just OHKO it with Precipice Blades. Relaxed and Impish Primal Groudon do not have to worry about falling to even a boosted Blaziken provided they aren't switching in. Primal Groudon lacks recovery, however, and doesn't really appreciate switching in on any powerful attacks.
**Lugia**: Lugia will only fall to Blaziken provided it has a Swords Dance boost and Lugia has taken Stealth Rock damage. Without both of these conditions met, Lugia doesn't care about anything Blaziken can do, except be mildly annoyed by losing its Leftovers to Knock Off.
**Lunala**: Being immune to Low Kick is already a bad sign for Blaziken, but this is made worse by Shadow Shield mitigating Flare Blitz damage. While Flare Blitz can 2HKO Lunala, Blaziken will take extreme amounts of recoil, and if Lunala isn't switching in on anything bar Low Kick, will result in Blaziken fainting to any attack Lunala has. Lunala dreads Knock Off, however, which has the potential to KO with Stealth Rock up. Lunala's status as a check to Blaziken is nullified if it has a Swords Dance boost, however, as Knock Off will KO Lunala through Shadow Shield, and if Stealth Rock is up, Flare Blitz will too.
**Certain Arceus Formes**: Blaziken only has a small chance to OHKO Arceus-Water, bulky Arceus-Ground, and Arceus-Dragon with a boosted Low Kick after Stealth Rock. They cannot switch in safely to a +2 Blaziken, but will otherwise always force Blaziken out or just KO it with a powerful Judgement. Arceus-Ghost and Arceus-Fairy force Blaziken to commit to Flare Blitz, which, even then, doesn't KO either of them unless boosted.
**Rest Xerneas**: Unfortunately for Blaziken, without a boost, it cannot muscle past Xerneas, which can easily stall it while it racks up recoil from Flare Blitz and Life Orb or KO it with Moonblast. Thankfully, this variant isn't too common and cannot switch into Flare Blitz safely.
**Faster Pokemon**: Blaziken is extremely frail and thus cannot afford to take a hit; Pokemon like Mewtwo can outspeed a +1 Adamant Blaziken and KO it with ease. A Jolly nature can remedy this at the cost of power. Speed-increasing nature Deoxys-A is not even outsped by a +1 Jolly Blaziken.
**Entry Hazards**: Entry hazards compound Blaziken's issue with being worn down very quickly due to recoil.
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