QC Checks: Hawkstar/Rowan/macle
Final QC Check: Heysup
GP Checks: GatoDelFuego/Legitimate Username
Taken over from Goddess Briyella with permission of Goddess Briyella
Overview
########
The mascot of Smogon, Koffing continues to be a great help to many teams. With a high Defense stat and Poison typing, Koffing reliably walls some of the powerful physically attacking Pokemon in the metagame. Not only does it take little damage from Fighting-types, it also gets Levitate, meaning that it is immune to one of its would-be weaknesses. This leaves it weak to only one type, the uncommon Psychic-type. However, Koffing is extremely slow and lacks any strong offensive power. Also, despite its incredible physical bulk, Koffing is susceptible to most special attackers.
Defensive
########
name: Defensive
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Clear Smog
move 4: Fire Blast / Destiny Bond
ability: Levitate
item: Eviolite
evs: 36 HP / 236 Def / 236 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
========
Will-O-Wisp is Koffing's key to bringing down physical attackers and is an important move in its arsenal, if not the most important. Pain Split is Koffing's only means of recovery. Luckily, it's a form of recovery that heals Koffing at the expense of the opponent's health. Sludge Bomb is a STAB attack that can deal decent chunks of damage and has a nice 30% chance to poison the opposing Pokemon. Clear Smog is an possible option over Sludge Bomb if you want Koffing to be able to stop setup sweepers from getting out of control, though this effect will not activate if the opponent has a Substitute up. Fire Blast is primarily for hitting the Steel-types that are immune to Koffing's STAB move; it lands a powerful hit on Pawniard and nails Ferroseed especially hard. Destiny Bond lets Koffing take a foe down with it when it is KOed by a direct attack. It's mostly a last-ditch attempt to get rid of a troublesome enemy.
Set Details
========
An Eviolite, with the given EV spread, gives Koffing an effective Defense stat of 30. This allows Koffing to tank physical hits well. Apart from maxing out Defense, the remaining EVs contribute to Koffing's special bulk so that it can survive stray neutral special hits more easily. Fewer EVs are invested in HP so that Pain Split takes more health from the opponent. Levitate rids Koffing of its would-be Ground weakness, except for when facing an opponent with Mold Breaker and Earthquake.
Usage Tips
========
Koffing can switch in comfortably against Bug-, Fairy-, Ground-, and Fighting-type foes and can force most physical attackers out with the threat of Will-O-Wisp. A warning to the wise: do not use Will-O-Wisp on Timburr. Most Timburr run Guts, which will boost its Attack and help it deal more damage. Pain Split can be used at lower health against enemies with higher health to damage them while also recovering HP; Koffing's low Speed can come in handy for this move in particular, as it lets the opponent take away some of its health before stealing it back from them with Pain Split. Destiny Bond can be used to make the opponent reconsider delivering a fatal blow. This looming threat often keeps them from outright attacking Koffing. Follow that with Pain Split and they will be punished for not finishing Koffing off.
Team Options
========
Koffing's main goal is to neutralize Fighting-type threats. Because of this, teammates that have problems with Fighting-types enjoy the support that Koffing provides. Koffing appreciates the recovery granted by Wish support, even though it has Pain Split; Lickitung makes a particularly good partner for this purpose, as Koffing can shrug off the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Lickitung, while its Wish recovery can be provided to both of them. Scraggy makes an ideal partner that covers Koffing's sole weakness to Psychic, and Koffing tanks the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Scraggy. Other Dark-types, such as Zorua and Purrloin, love having Koffing as a partner, as it resists all of their weaknesses. Other Dark-types such as Vullaby and Pawniard appreciate this coverage too, but to a lesser extent, as their second type neutralizes some of these resistances. Chinchou makes for a good partner for dealing with Tentacool, which resists Koffing's STAB move and Fire Blast rather easily. Entry hazard setters like Dwebble and Ferroseed can be ideal partners, as Koffing can force switches. The constant switches rack up residual damage quite nicely.
Other Options
########
Because Koffing has no reliable means of recovery, Berry Juice would be a helpful option. However, as Koffing commonly switches into Fighting-type Pokemon, this item is likely to be removed by Knock Off. RestTalk is another option for recovery and makes Koffing a fantastic wall to most Chlorophyll sweepers as it resists Grass- and Poison-type attacks and won't mind Sleep Powder. Flamethrower is a more accurate option than Fire Blast, but it does not have the same level of power, which means that it's less capable of dealing with common Steel-types. Explosion is an option for going out with a bang. Memento can be used as a suicide option as well, almost entirely stripping an enemy of their offensive presence, and can be used to help a teammate come in and set up afterward. Thanks to its Poison typing, Koffing has access to a perfectly accurate Toxic. Koffing has access to and can utilize Stockpile in a defensive set, likely using Toxic or Toxic Spikes to slowly KO opposing Pokemon while it survives. Toxic Spikes is a new addition to Koffing's movepool and can be used to poison all grounded foes as they enter battle, although opposing Poison-types can absorb them just by switching in. Haze is a move that's more reliable for stopping setup sweepers than Clear Smog is in most cases, but it does not deal damage and is blocked by Taunt. Thunderbolt is an option for hitting Water- and Flying-types hard, and can be useful for getting around Tentacool, but is generally not useful outside of that. Shadow Ball can be used to hit Psychic- and Ghost-type switch-ins such as Abra and Gastly. Taunt can stop slower walls such as Hippopotas and Foongus from using status moves or recovering, but Koffing is generally a bit too slow to utilize this to its full potential.
Checks & Counters
########
**Psychic-types**: Abra, Slowpoke, and a few others can inflict major damage to Koffing with their STAB attacks. Gothita is especially notable for being able to trap Koffing with Shadow Tag and follow up with an easy KO.
**Earthquake Users With Mold Breaker**: Drilbur especially, but also Cranidos, can override Koffing's immunity to Ground by ignoring Levitate. This means that their powerful Ground-type moves can easily hit Koffing and OHKO it most of the time.
**Rock-types**: Rock-types resist Sludge Bomb well as Fire Blast. Some of the more specially inclined ones, such as Omanyte, don't mind being burned and set up on Koffing with little risk.
**Tentacool**: Tentacool walls any set without Thunderbolt and can dish back decent damage with Scald and/or have a free Knock Off against either Koffing or on an incoming teammate as Koffing flees.
**Flash Fire**: Ponyta and other Flash Fire users can come in on a Will-O-Wisp or Fire Blast and get a boost to their Fire-type attacks, often putting Koffing in a defensively bad position, especially if its Eviolite has been removed via Knock Off.
**Special Attackers**: Koffing is threatened by Pokemon that can prey on its low Special Defense and disregard the Attack drop from a burn, such as Abra.
**RestTalk Users**: Chinchou and Munchlax don't care about burns, as they can use Rest to remove them, and Koffing's attacks do very little to them.
Final QC Check: Heysup
GP Checks: GatoDelFuego/Legitimate Username
Taken over from Goddess Briyella with permission of Goddess Briyella
Overview
########
The mascot of Smogon, Koffing continues to be a great help to many teams. With a high Defense stat and Poison typing, Koffing reliably walls some of the powerful physically attacking Pokemon in the metagame. Not only does it take little damage from Fighting-types, it also gets Levitate, meaning that it is immune to one of its would-be weaknesses. This leaves it weak to only one type, the uncommon Psychic-type. However, Koffing is extremely slow and lacks any strong offensive power. Also, despite its incredible physical bulk, Koffing is susceptible to most special attackers.
Defensive
########
name: Defensive
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Clear Smog
move 4: Fire Blast / Destiny Bond
ability: Levitate
item: Eviolite
evs: 36 HP / 236 Def / 236 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
========
Will-O-Wisp is Koffing's key to bringing down physical attackers and is an important move in its arsenal, if not the most important. Pain Split is Koffing's only means of recovery. Luckily, it's a form of recovery that heals Koffing at the expense of the opponent's health. Sludge Bomb is a STAB attack that can deal decent chunks of damage and has a nice 30% chance to poison the opposing Pokemon. Clear Smog is an possible option over Sludge Bomb if you want Koffing to be able to stop setup sweepers from getting out of control, though this effect will not activate if the opponent has a Substitute up. Fire Blast is primarily for hitting the Steel-types that are immune to Koffing's STAB move; it lands a powerful hit on Pawniard and nails Ferroseed especially hard. Destiny Bond lets Koffing take a foe down with it when it is KOed by a direct attack. It's mostly a last-ditch attempt to get rid of a troublesome enemy.
Set Details
========
An Eviolite, with the given EV spread, gives Koffing an effective Defense stat of 30. This allows Koffing to tank physical hits well. Apart from maxing out Defense, the remaining EVs contribute to Koffing's special bulk so that it can survive stray neutral special hits more easily. Fewer EVs are invested in HP so that Pain Split takes more health from the opponent. Levitate rids Koffing of its would-be Ground weakness, except for when facing an opponent with Mold Breaker and Earthquake.
Usage Tips
========
Koffing can switch in comfortably against Bug-, Fairy-, Ground-, and Fighting-type foes and can force most physical attackers out with the threat of Will-O-Wisp. A warning to the wise: do not use Will-O-Wisp on Timburr. Most Timburr run Guts, which will boost its Attack and help it deal more damage. Pain Split can be used at lower health against enemies with higher health to damage them while also recovering HP; Koffing's low Speed can come in handy for this move in particular, as it lets the opponent take away some of its health before stealing it back from them with Pain Split. Destiny Bond can be used to make the opponent reconsider delivering a fatal blow. This looming threat often keeps them from outright attacking Koffing. Follow that with Pain Split and they will be punished for not finishing Koffing off.
Team Options
========
Koffing's main goal is to neutralize Fighting-type threats. Because of this, teammates that have problems with Fighting-types enjoy the support that Koffing provides. Koffing appreciates the recovery granted by Wish support, even though it has Pain Split; Lickitung makes a particularly good partner for this purpose, as Koffing can shrug off the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Lickitung, while its Wish recovery can be provided to both of them. Scraggy makes an ideal partner that covers Koffing's sole weakness to Psychic, and Koffing tanks the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Scraggy. Other Dark-types, such as Zorua and Purrloin, love having Koffing as a partner, as it resists all of their weaknesses. Other Dark-types such as Vullaby and Pawniard appreciate this coverage too, but to a lesser extent, as their second type neutralizes some of these resistances. Chinchou makes for a good partner for dealing with Tentacool, which resists Koffing's STAB move and Fire Blast rather easily. Entry hazard setters like Dwebble and Ferroseed can be ideal partners, as Koffing can force switches. The constant switches rack up residual damage quite nicely.
Other Options
########
Because Koffing has no reliable means of recovery, Berry Juice would be a helpful option. However, as Koffing commonly switches into Fighting-type Pokemon, this item is likely to be removed by Knock Off. RestTalk is another option for recovery and makes Koffing a fantastic wall to most Chlorophyll sweepers as it resists Grass- and Poison-type attacks and won't mind Sleep Powder. Flamethrower is a more accurate option than Fire Blast, but it does not have the same level of power, which means that it's less capable of dealing with common Steel-types. Explosion is an option for going out with a bang. Memento can be used as a suicide option as well, almost entirely stripping an enemy of their offensive presence, and can be used to help a teammate come in and set up afterward. Thanks to its Poison typing, Koffing has access to a perfectly accurate Toxic. Koffing has access to and can utilize Stockpile in a defensive set, likely using Toxic or Toxic Spikes to slowly KO opposing Pokemon while it survives. Toxic Spikes is a new addition to Koffing's movepool and can be used to poison all grounded foes as they enter battle, although opposing Poison-types can absorb them just by switching in. Haze is a move that's more reliable for stopping setup sweepers than Clear Smog is in most cases, but it does not deal damage and is blocked by Taunt. Thunderbolt is an option for hitting Water- and Flying-types hard, and can be useful for getting around Tentacool, but is generally not useful outside of that. Shadow Ball can be used to hit Psychic- and Ghost-type switch-ins such as Abra and Gastly. Taunt can stop slower walls such as Hippopotas and Foongus from using status moves or recovering, but Koffing is generally a bit too slow to utilize this to its full potential.
Checks & Counters
########
**Psychic-types**: Abra, Slowpoke, and a few others can inflict major damage to Koffing with their STAB attacks. Gothita is especially notable for being able to trap Koffing with Shadow Tag and follow up with an easy KO.
**Earthquake Users With Mold Breaker**: Drilbur especially, but also Cranidos, can override Koffing's immunity to Ground by ignoring Levitate. This means that their powerful Ground-type moves can easily hit Koffing and OHKO it most of the time.
**Rock-types**: Rock-types resist Sludge Bomb well as Fire Blast. Some of the more specially inclined ones, such as Omanyte, don't mind being burned and set up on Koffing with little risk.
**Tentacool**: Tentacool walls any set without Thunderbolt and can dish back decent damage with Scald and/or have a free Knock Off against either Koffing or on an incoming teammate as Koffing flees.
**Flash Fire**: Ponyta and other Flash Fire users can come in on a Will-O-Wisp or Fire Blast and get a boost to their Fire-type attacks, often putting Koffing in a defensively bad position, especially if its Eviolite has been removed via Knock Off.
**Special Attackers**: Koffing is threatened by Pokemon that can prey on its low Special Defense and disregard the Attack drop from a burn, such as Abra.
**RestTalk Users**: Chinchou and Munchlax don't care about burns, as they can use Rest to remove them, and Koffing's attacks do very little to them.
Overview
########
- Literally the mascot of Smogon
- Defensive Poison type with awesome resistances
- Reliably walls and threatens the offensive capabilities of most physical attackers
- One of the few Pokemon to resist Fairy + Ground coverage
- Only one weakness (Psychic)
- Very slow and is only decently strong offensively
Defensive
########
name: Defensive
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Clear Smog
move 4: Fire Blast / Destiny Bond
ability: Levitate
item: Eviolite
evs: 36 HP / 236 Def / 236 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
========
- Will-O-Wisp is Koffing's key to bringing down physical attackers and is a very important move in its arsenal, if not the most important
- Pain Split is Koffing's only form of recovery but it is one that heals itself while also damaging the opponent
- Sludge Bomb is the obligatory STAB attack that deals decent chunks of damage and has a nice 30% Poison chance
- Clear Smog is an ideal option over Sludge Bomb if you want to tailor Koffing to be able to stop setup sweepers from getting out of control, though this effect will not activate on a Substitute
- Fire Blast is an option primarily for hitting the Steel-types that are immune to Koffing's STAB; it gets a big hit on Pawniard and nails Ferroseed especially hard
- Destiny Bond lets Koffing take a foe down with it when it is made to faint by a direct attack, and can be used as a last-ditch attempt to get rid of a troublesome enemy
Set Details
========
- Eviolite with the given EV spread gives Koffing and effective Defense stat of 30, very impressive and tanks physical hits very well
- Apart from maxing out Defense, the remaining EVs contribute Koffing's special bulk so that it can put up with stray neutral special hits more easily
- Less is invested in HP to make Pain Split more effective.
- Levitate rids Koffing of its would-be Ground weakness and comes in very handy, except when facing an opponent with Mold Breaker and Earthquake
Usage Tips
========
- Koffing can switch in comfortably in most cases against Bug-, Fairy-, Ground- and Fighting-type foes, and can force most physical attackers out with the threat of Will-O-Wisp
- NOTE: Do not use Will-O-Wisp on Timburr. Many Timburr's run Guts, which will boosts its Attack and actually helps Timburr deal more damage.
- Pain Split can be used at lower health against enemies with higher health to damage them while also recovering HP; Koffing's low Speed can come in handy for this move in particular, as it lets the opponent take away some of its health before stealing it back from them with Pain Split
- Clear Smog stops setup cold, though some exceptions are that it will not reset stats if it hits a Substitute or a Steel-type
- Destiny Bond can be used as Koffing's health reaches near-fainting-levels, to make the opponent think twice before delivering a fatal blow, this can be used to make them not attack Koffing and then Pain Split can be used to regain health if they don't finish you off, it's kind of evil lol
- Fire Blast roasts Steel-types and can be used on predicted switch-ins of that type to turn the tide of battle
Team Options
========
- Koffing's main goal is to nuetralize Fighting-type threats. Because of this, teamates that have problems with Fighting-types enjoy the support that Koffing provides.
- Koffing highly appreciates Wish support, even though it has Pain Split; Lickitung makes a good partner for this purpose in particular, since Koffing can shrug off the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Lickitung, while Wish recovery can be provided to them both
- Scraggy makes an ideal partner that covers Koffing's sole weakness to Psychic, while Koffing tanks the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Scraggy's weakness to them. Other pure Dark-types such as Zorua or Purrloin love having Koffing as a partner, as it resists all 3 weakness of Dark: Fighting, Bug, and Fairy; other Dark-types such as Vullaby and Pawniard appreciate this as well, but to a lesser degree since their second type neutralizes some of the weak points already.
- Chinchou makes a good partner for dealing with Tentacool, as it walls Koffing's STAB as well as Fire Blast rather easily and can therefore cause issues
- Hazard setters like Dwebble and Ferroseed can be ideal partners, since the switches Koffing can cause can rack up residual damage via hazards quite nicely; Fighting-types switch out to avoid being burned, and Fairy-types switch out due to the overall type disadvantage, for example.
Other Options
########
- Since Koffing has no reliable means of recovery, Berry Juice would be a helpful option. However, since it commonly switches into Fighting-type Pokemon, this item is likely to be Knocked Off.
- Rest+Sleep Talk is another option for recovery and makes Koffing a fantastic wall to most Chlorophyll sweepers as it resists Grass and Poison and won't mind Sleep Powder.
- Flamethrower is a more accurate option than Fire Blast, but It does not have the same power, rendering it incapable of dealing with common Steel-types as well as it needs to.
- Explosion is an option for going out with a bang, though this became notably less powerful after DPP; Memento can be used as a suicide option as well, to strip an enemy of their offensive presence almost entirely, and can be used to help a teammate come in and set up afterward
- Toxic Spikes is a new addition to Koffing's movepool and can be used to poison all grounded foes as they enter battle, though opposing Poison-types make them go away effortlessly just by coming in
- Haze is a move that's more reliable for ending setup sweeps than Clear Smog in most cases, but does not deal damage and is blocked by Taunt
- Thunderbolt is an option for hitting Water- and Flying-types hard, and can be useful for getting around Tentacool, but is generally not useful outside of that
- Thanks to its Poison-typing, Koffing has access to a prefectly accurate Toxic.
- Koffing has access to and can utilize Stockpile into a defensive set, likely using Toxic or Toxic Spikes to slowly KO opposing Pokemon while it survives.
-Shadow Ball can be used to hit Psychic type and Ghost-type switch-ins such as Elgyem and Gastly.
-Taunt can stop slower walls, such as Hippopotas and Foongus, from using status moves or recovering, but generally Koffing is a bit too slow to utilise this to its full potential.
Checks & Counters
########
**Psychic-types**: Abra especially, but also Slowpoke and a few others can make Koffing take major damage with their STAB attacks. Gothita is especially notable for being able to completely trap and remove Koffing.
**Mold Breaker EQ Users**: Drilbur especially, but also Cranidos, can override Koffing's immunity to Ground provided to it by Levitate, and nail its weakness
**Rock-types**: They wall Koffing's STAB as well as Fire Blast, and some of the more specially inclined ones such as Omanyte don't mind being burned and can set up on Koffing with little risk
**Tentacool**: Tentacool pretty much hard-walls the main set and can dish back decently significant damage with Scald and/or have a free Knock Off against either Koffing or on an incoming teammate as Koffing flees
**Flash Fire Carriers**: Ponyta and other Fire-types can come in on Will-O-Wisp or Fire Blast and get a boost to their Fire attacks, often putting Koffing in a defensively bad position, especially if its Eviolite has been removed via Knock Off.
**Special Attackers**: Koffing is threatened Pokemon that prey on its low Special Defense and disregard the Attack drop from burn, like Abra.
**RestTalk Pokemon**: Chinchou and Munchlax don't care about burns is they're using Rest and Koffing's attacks do very little to them.
########
- Literally the mascot of Smogon
- Defensive Poison type with awesome resistances
- Reliably walls and threatens the offensive capabilities of most physical attackers
- One of the few Pokemon to resist Fairy + Ground coverage
- Only one weakness (Psychic)
- Very slow and is only decently strong offensively
Defensive
########
name: Defensive
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Clear Smog
move 4: Fire Blast / Destiny Bond
ability: Levitate
item: Eviolite
evs: 36 HP / 236 Def / 236 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
========
- Will-O-Wisp is Koffing's key to bringing down physical attackers and is a very important move in its arsenal, if not the most important
- Pain Split is Koffing's only form of recovery but it is one that heals itself while also damaging the opponent
- Sludge Bomb is the obligatory STAB attack that deals decent chunks of damage and has a nice 30% Poison chance
- Clear Smog is an ideal option over Sludge Bomb if you want to tailor Koffing to be able to stop setup sweepers from getting out of control, though this effect will not activate on a Substitute
- Fire Blast is an option primarily for hitting the Steel-types that are immune to Koffing's STAB; it gets a big hit on Pawniard and nails Ferroseed especially hard
- Destiny Bond lets Koffing take a foe down with it when it is made to faint by a direct attack, and can be used as a last-ditch attempt to get rid of a troublesome enemy
Set Details
========
- Eviolite with the given EV spread gives Koffing and effective Defense stat of 30, very impressive and tanks physical hits very well
- Apart from maxing out Defense, the remaining EVs contribute Koffing's special bulk so that it can put up with stray neutral special hits more easily
- Less is invested in HP to make Pain Split more effective.
- Levitate rids Koffing of its would-be Ground weakness and comes in very handy, except when facing an opponent with Mold Breaker and Earthquake
Usage Tips
========
- Koffing can switch in comfortably in most cases against Bug-, Fairy-, Ground- and Fighting-type foes, and can force most physical attackers out with the threat of Will-O-Wisp
- NOTE: Do not use Will-O-Wisp on Timburr. Many Timburr's run Guts, which will boosts its Attack and actually helps Timburr deal more damage.
- Pain Split can be used at lower health against enemies with higher health to damage them while also recovering HP; Koffing's low Speed can come in handy for this move in particular, as it lets the opponent take away some of its health before stealing it back from them with Pain Split
- Clear Smog stops setup cold, though some exceptions are that it will not reset stats if it hits a Substitute or a Steel-type
- Destiny Bond can be used as Koffing's health reaches near-fainting-levels, to make the opponent think twice before delivering a fatal blow, this can be used to make them not attack Koffing and then Pain Split can be used to regain health if they don't finish you off, it's kind of evil lol
- Fire Blast roasts Steel-types and can be used on predicted switch-ins of that type to turn the tide of battle
Team Options
========
- Koffing's main goal is to nuetralize Fighting-type threats. Because of this, teamates that have problems with Fighting-types enjoy the support that Koffing provides.
- Koffing highly appreciates Wish support, even though it has Pain Split; Lickitung makes a good partner for this purpose in particular, since Koffing can shrug off the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Lickitung, while Wish recovery can be provided to them both
- Scraggy makes an ideal partner that covers Koffing's sole weakness to Psychic, while Koffing tanks the Fighting-type attacks aimed at Scraggy's weakness to them. Other pure Dark-types such as Zorua or Purrloin love having Koffing as a partner, as it resists all 3 weakness of Dark: Fighting, Bug, and Fairy; other Dark-types such as Vullaby and Pawniard appreciate this as well, but to a lesser degree since their second type neutralizes some of the weak points already.
- Chinchou makes a good partner for dealing with Tentacool, as it walls Koffing's STAB as well as Fire Blast rather easily and can therefore cause issues
- Hazard setters like Dwebble and Ferroseed can be ideal partners, since the switches Koffing can cause can rack up residual damage via hazards quite nicely; Fighting-types switch out to avoid being burned, and Fairy-types switch out due to the overall type disadvantage, for example.
Other Options
########
- Since Koffing has no reliable means of recovery, Berry Juice would be a helpful option. However, since it commonly switches into Fighting-type Pokemon, this item is likely to be Knocked Off.
- Rest+Sleep Talk is another option for recovery and makes Koffing a fantastic wall to most Chlorophyll sweepers as it resists Grass and Poison and won't mind Sleep Powder.
- Flamethrower is a more accurate option than Fire Blast, but It does not have the same power, rendering it incapable of dealing with common Steel-types as well as it needs to.
- Explosion is an option for going out with a bang, though this became notably less powerful after DPP; Memento can be used as a suicide option as well, to strip an enemy of their offensive presence almost entirely, and can be used to help a teammate come in and set up afterward
- Toxic Spikes is a new addition to Koffing's movepool and can be used to poison all grounded foes as they enter battle, though opposing Poison-types make them go away effortlessly just by coming in
- Haze is a move that's more reliable for ending setup sweeps than Clear Smog in most cases, but does not deal damage and is blocked by Taunt
- Thunderbolt is an option for hitting Water- and Flying-types hard, and can be useful for getting around Tentacool, but is generally not useful outside of that
- Thanks to its Poison-typing, Koffing has access to a prefectly accurate Toxic.
- Koffing has access to and can utilize Stockpile into a defensive set, likely using Toxic or Toxic Spikes to slowly KO opposing Pokemon while it survives.
-Shadow Ball can be used to hit Psychic type and Ghost-type switch-ins such as Elgyem and Gastly.
-Taunt can stop slower walls, such as Hippopotas and Foongus, from using status moves or recovering, but generally Koffing is a bit too slow to utilise this to its full potential.
Checks & Counters
########
**Psychic-types**: Abra especially, but also Slowpoke and a few others can make Koffing take major damage with their STAB attacks. Gothita is especially notable for being able to completely trap and remove Koffing.
**Mold Breaker EQ Users**: Drilbur especially, but also Cranidos, can override Koffing's immunity to Ground provided to it by Levitate, and nail its weakness
**Rock-types**: They wall Koffing's STAB as well as Fire Blast, and some of the more specially inclined ones such as Omanyte don't mind being burned and can set up on Koffing with little risk
**Tentacool**: Tentacool pretty much hard-walls the main set and can dish back decently significant damage with Scald and/or have a free Knock Off against either Koffing or on an incoming teammate as Koffing flees
**Flash Fire Carriers**: Ponyta and other Fire-types can come in on Will-O-Wisp or Fire Blast and get a boost to their Fire attacks, often putting Koffing in a defensively bad position, especially if its Eviolite has been removed via Knock Off.
**Special Attackers**: Koffing is threatened Pokemon that prey on its low Special Defense and disregard the Attack drop from burn, like Abra.
**RestTalk Pokemon**: Chinchou and Munchlax don't care about burns is they're using Rest and Koffing's attacks do very little to them.
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