Frillish
[Overview]
<p>Frillish is a very strange Pokemon, both in its appearence and how it is used. It cannot fit into most normal teams, mostly due to being excessively weak and possessing close to zero offensive presence. The one style of play where Frillish does excel, however, is stall. It can reliably beat all common Rapid Spin users in NU such as Torkoal and Armaldo, meaning that a stall team with Frillish is almost guaranteed to keep its hazards up, which is an incredible niche to possess. On top of this, it is one of the most reliable counters to Samurott and Emboar, two Pokemon that stall teams will typically have a huge amount of trouble with. While many stall teams will use Misdreavus as their spinblocker, Frillish has one great advantage over it: the ability to use Recover. A reliable recovery move is such a rare commodity on Eviolite users, and Frillish makes great use of it.</p>
[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Night Shade
move 2: Recover
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Taunt
item: Eviolite
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>There is only one set that Frillish can pull off effectively, and this is it. Any other set fails to do what Frillish needs to do: beat all of the common Rapid Spin users in NU. Frillish lacks the offensive prowess to effectively use conventional attacks, and will almost always do more damage with Night Shade. It can easily 3HKO or 4HKO both Armaldo and Torkoal, defeating them before they can get past Frillish in order to use Rapid Spin. Recover is the move that sets Frillish apart from other NU spinblockers, and with it, Frillish can easily keep up entry hazards for an entire match. Will-O-Wisp stops Frillish from becoming absolute Pursuit bait, as it can burn Skuntank and Absol as they switch in. Surprisingly, Frillish can also act as a somewhat effective stallbreaker with Will-O-Wisp and Taunt. Taunt lets Frillish shut down slow Calm Mind users such as Musharna and Duosion, and Frillish can beat them with Night Shade.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is designed to maximize Frillish's bulk and enable it to outspeed a few common threats. 248 EVs in HP mean that Frillish has an odd HP number, so it will take less damage from entry hazards and status; the Speed EVs mean that Frillish is faster than minimum speed Golem and any other Pokemon aiming for that benchmark. The remaining EVs are put into Defense so that Frillish can beat physical Rapid Spin users such as Armaldo, as well as check Samurott and Emboar with more consistency. Even more Speed EVs can be used in order to outrun Tangela or another specific threat, but Frillish really does need all the Defense it can get. Eviolite is the only viable item here, and it makes Frillish incredibly bulky despite its poor base stats. Scald is a decent alternative to Night Shade, primarily for its ability to burn the target. However, Night Shade is much more reliable, and Frillish can burn opponents with Will-O-Wisp. Toxic is another reliable way for Frillish to deal damage, and is a better option than Will-O-Wisp if you are using Scald.</p>
<p>The sole purpose of using Frillish is to keep up entry hazards, so obviously teammates that set up entry hazards are essential. Cacturne has excellent synergy with Frillish, and finds many opportunities to set up Spikes. Many Stealth Rock users also pair very well with Frillish, including Probopass, Bastiodon, Miltank, and Golem. Garbodor can also set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, the latter of which can be very potent when combined with Frillish. Despite its many good qualities, Frillish can become setup bait for a number of Pokemon. In particular, Guts users can easily switch in with no trouble and promptly threaten Frillish with powerful attacks. Both Ursaring and Swellow are especially adept at this due to their immunity to Night Shade.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Frillish has an incredibly limited movepool, and it is made even smaller when you consider how much of it is actually usable. Shadow Ball and Ice Beam are possible options, but are so weak because of Frillish's Special Attack stat that they are not really worthwhile. Support options such as Trick Room, Acid Armor, and Refresh are also available, but again, Frillish will not be particularly effective while using them. Magic Coat is a more viable move than the others, as it can be used to bounce back both Taunt and status moves, but Frillish struggles to fit it into its moveset. Finally, a specially defensive spread is usable, but it fails to capitalize on Frillish's main niche: blocking Rapid Spin.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>If your team has no need to get rid of entry hazards, you will have little trouble with Frillish. Any Pokemon with recovery that doesn't mind burns will make a great defensive counter; Lickilicky and Audino are good counters in particular, as they are also immune to Night Shade. Ursaring, Swellow, and Zangoose are great offensive checks, as all three can switch in on Night Shade and Will-O-Wisp, provided that Toxic Orb is activated on Zangoose. Misdreavus can outspeed Frillish and Taunt it, which means it can outstall Frillish or just KO it with Shadow Ball. Armaldo is the only Rapid Spin user with a hope of beating Frillish, and to do so it needs to use Swords Dance with a Lum Berry; however, it often comes out of then encounter with such little HP it cannot get a Rapid Spin off. Toxic Spikes, and indeed all entry hazards severely limit Frillish's ability to switch in. Exeggutor and Ludicolo can easily set up Sunny Day or Rain Dance, respectively, on Frillish, or just KO with powerful Grass-type moves. Vileplume and Amoonguss can also easily switch in and threaten Frillish with STAB Grass-type moves. Vileplume also has Aromatherapy to get rid of any burns from Will-O-Wisp.</p>
[Overview]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Night Shade
move 2: Recover
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Taunt
item: Eviolite
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Frillish is a strange Pokemon.
- On most normal teams it is simply too weak and without enough offensive presence to be useful.
- On Stall teams however, it is transformed into perhaps the MVP, being able to reliably beat every NU spinner
- This should only be used on Stall teams, it sucks on balance or offense
- Has an advantage over Misdreavus in that it has access to Recover.
- Amazing utility on stall teams to counter Samurott and check Emboar very effectively.
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Night Shade
move 2: Recover
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Taunt
item: Eviolite
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- This is the only set that Frillish should be using, enabling it to beat all common Rapid Spin users.
- Night Shade is the most reliable damage Frillish can deal, and enables it to beat Rapid SPin users without recovery, easily 3-4HKOing Armaldo and Torkoal.
- Recover is what sets Frillish apart from other NU spinblockers, and allows it to do its job of keeping up hazards for an entire match for a stall team.
- Will-O-Wisp stops Frillish from becoming complete Pursuit bait, being able to burn Skuntank and Absol as they switch in. It can also act as a somewhat effective stallbreaker with Taunt and Will-O-Wisp.
- Taunt can shut down slow Calm Mind users like Musharna and Duosion, and allow Frillish to beat them with Night Shade.
- 248 HP EVs give Frillish an odd HP number, meaning it takes less damage from entry hazards. The Speed EVs enable Frillish to outrun minimum Speed Golem, and anything else hitting that benchmark. The rest is used in Defense, which means Frillish can beat Armaldo and other spinners, as well as acting as an excellent Emboar check.
- More Speed can be run in order to hit another threat like Tangela, but Frillish needs all the Defense it can get.
- Eviolite to maximise Defense
- Scald is a decent alternative, but Night Shade is much more reliable with Frillish's terrible offense.
- Toxic can be used, instead of Taunt or Will-O-Wisp, in order to wear down the opponents faster
- Frillish exists to keep up entry hazards, hence hazards needs to go up. Cacturne can set up Spikes, and has excellent synergy with Frillish.
- Most Stealth Rock Pokemon pair well with Frillish, including Probopass, Bastiodon, Golem, Miltank etc
- Toxic Spikes from Garbador can also be very potent
- Ursaring is a great switch to this set, being immune to anything Frillish can throw at it, and being able to threaten it out with Crunch. Zangoose is in a similar boat provided Toxic Boost is activated
- Frillish has a very limited movepool. Shadow Ball and Ice Beam exist, but are incredibly weak.
- Trick Room, Acid Armour and Refresh are also present, but again Frillish will not be effective using them
- Magic Coat is actually usable to bounce back Taunt and various status moves.
- A Specially defensive spread is usable, but fails to capitalise on Frillish's main niche, blocking Rapid Spin.
- If you are not attempting to spin, Frillish is easy to counter. Anything with recovery that does not care about a burn can be a great defensive counter, such as Lickilicky or Audino, who can heal a burn with Heal Bell.
- Ursaring and Zangoose are both great offensive checks, as is Swellow.
- As long as they avoid Will-O-Wisp, Absol and Skuntank can Pursuit trap Frillish
- Misdreavus outspeeds Frillish and can Taunt it, thus being able to outstall it or just go for a KO with Shadow Ball.
- Armaldo can make a very decent fist at being Frillish by using Swords Dance and Lum Berry, but it comes out of the encounter with not enough HP left to get a Rapid Spin off.
- Toxic Spikes, and indeed other entry hazards, can severely weaken the ability of Frillish to switch in.
- Exeggutor does not care about anything Frillish will throw at it, and can easily KO with a powerful Leaf Storm.
- Provided it avoids Will-O-Wisp, Swords Dance Lickilicky can set up on Frillish.
- Ludicolo can easily set up Rain Dance on Frillish, not being too bothered by Will-O-Wisp
- Vileplume and Amoonguss can easily switch in, and threaten to either put Frillish to Sleep or hurt it with Giga Drain. Vileplume also has Aromatherepy.
