This design is not lazy!!!!
[Pros]
<ul>
<li>Chandelure has a very high Special Attack stat.</li>
<li>Its Ghost-typing allows it to function as an offensive spinblocker.</li>
<li>Its ability, Flash Fire, makes it immune to Fire-type attacks, while also granting it a 50% boost to its Fire-type attacks when hit by one.</li>
<li>These useful immunities give it some useful switch-in opportunities.</li>
<li>It can function as a solid wall breaker or revenge killer thanks to its amazing movepool and Special Attack.</li>
<ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>Chandelure has a weakness to Stealth Rock and is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards, which heavily limits its switch-in opportunities.</li>
<li>It possesses sub-par defensive stats.</li>
<li>Its lackluster Speed stat makes it vulnerable to common revenge killers.</li>
<li>It's cursed with very common and exploitable weaknesses to Water-, Ground-, Rock-, Ghost-, and Dark-type moves.</li>
<li>It is Pursuit weak.</li>
<li>Gengar gives it slight competition as an offensive spinblocker.</li>
<ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: Substitute<br />
move 1: Substitute<br />
move 2: Fire Blast<br />
move 3: Shadow Ball<br />
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Pain Split<br />
ability: Flash Fire<br />
item: Leftovers / Life Orb<br />
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Modest / Timid</p>
<p>Chandelure's frailness and susceptibility to common revenge killers can be remedied with the help of Substitute, which gives it a free turn to deal heavy damage to just about anything and helps ease prediction. Thanks to its high Special Attack and great coverage, Chandelure is able to force a lot of switches, so it finds many opportunities to setup a Substitute. Fire Blast is an incredibly powerful STAB Fire-type move that demolishes Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Aegislash, while also frying Gourgeist and Trevenant. Shadow Ball provides Chandelure with another STAB move to spam against anything that resists Fire Blast, while OHKOing Gengar and dealing heavy damage to Talonflame. Hidden Power Fighting is incredibly nifty for catching outTyranitar, who resists both of Chandelure's STAB moves and can threaten to trap it with Pursuit if it isn't behind a Substitute. On the other hand, Pain Splitprovides Chandelure with a bit of semi-reliable recovery that works well in tandem with Life Orb, while also crippling the special walls such as Blissey and Chansey that might try to stall it out. Hidden Power Fighting is still usable with Life Orb because Tyranitar will wall it otherwise, but without Pain Split, Substitute and Life Orb recoil can really put a damper on Chandelure's HP</p>
<p>The nature is purely personal preference, but Modest is highly recommended for much needed firepower and the ability to 2HKO pretty much every variant of Tyranitar with Hidden Power Fighting. A Timid nature does have its merits in outspeeding neutral natured base 80 Speed Pokemon, such as Goodra, Mamoswine, and Dragonite. Leftovers helps greatly improve Chandelure's longevity and gives it more Substitutes if need be, but Life Orb gives this set maximum power and it has excellent synergy with Pain Split; without Pain Split, Chandelure can be easily worn down. Pairing Chandelure with a Rapid Spin user is mandatory, or else the combination of Substitute and hazards will wear Chandelure down really fast. Excadrill and Forretress are both great partners because they lure Fire-type attacks, but Starmie is good too because they have great offensive and defensive synergy with each other. Rotom-W not only cripples Tyranitar with Will-O-Wisp, but also can remove any bulky Water-Types that would threaten Chandelure, such as Vaporeon or Azumarill. Incidentally, Azumarill pairs well offensively with Chandelure, as it can wipe special walls, such as Blissey and Tyranitar off the face of the earth, while Chandelure can fry the Grass-types that stand in its way</p>
<p>name: Choice Scarf<br />
move 1: Fire Blast<br />
move 2: Shadow Ball<br />
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting<br />
move 4: Energy Ball / Flamethrower<br />
ability: Flash Fire<br />
item: Choice Scarf<br />
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Timid</p>
<p>Chandelure's less-than-satisfying Speed stat makes it a perfect candidate for a Choice Scarf set, letting it get the jump on faster Pokemon and revenge kill them. Not only that, but its amazing movepool, high Special Attack stat, and powerful STAB moves makes it a fantastic revenge killer. Fire Blast gives Chandelure a powerful STAB option to hit Steel-types such as Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, while picking off Mega Lucario. Shadow Ball gives Chandelure another STAB move to smash anything that resists Fire Blast, or to OHKO Pokemon, such as Gengar, Starmie, and Alakazam. Hidden Power Fighting is still essential for hitting Tyranitar; otherwise, it can easily switch into all of Chandelure's other moves and threaten to trap it with Pursuit. Energy Ball rounds off the set by giving it a decently powerful Grass-type coverage move to hit bulky Water-types, such as Rotom-W and Gastrodon, while also hitting specially defensive Hippowdon harder than anything else. Flamethrower is an option if bulky Water-types aren't much of a threat, as it gives Chandelure a reliable Fire-type STAB move to clean up with late game, or when a Fire Blast miss could potentially cost you the match.</p>
<p>Timid is actually the preferred nature here because it allows Chandelure to get the jump on Pokemon with base 130 Speed. It also outspeeds +1 Adamant Dragonite and Gyarados. Infiltrator is viable on this set because it can allow Chandelure to revenge kill Pokemon behind Substitutes, but Flash Fire is still the best option all around because the Fire-type immunity is just so important and useful. It would be wise to pair Chandelure with something that can beat Tyranitar, as it can't rely on the weak Hidden Power Fighting to reliably deal with it. Scizor, Lucario, and Breloom come to mind because they can all OHKO Tyranitar with their respective STAB moves, allowing Chandelure to safely revenge kill without having to feel Tyranitar breathing down its neck. All of the partners listed above can also beat Blissey and Chansey, which are the best hard counters to Chandelure. A Rapid Spinner is mandatory, because Chandelure needs to have the ability to switch-in freely without having to worry about entry hazards chipping away at its health. Excadrill and Forretress have great synergy because they can lure Fire-type moves, while Starmie can beat a large majority of Chandelure's checks. Pairing Chandelure with an offensive Grass-type, such as Breloom or Mega Venasaur is a good idea, as they can deal with bulky Water-types such as Gastrodon and Rotom-W or Ground-types such as Hippowdon. Rotom-W is also a fantastic partner that covers its Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type weaknesses.</p>
<p>name: Choice Specs<br />
move 1: Fire Blast / Overheat<br />
move 2: Shadow Ball<br />
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting<br />
move 4: Energy Ball<br />
ability: Flash Fire<br />
item: Choice Specs<br />
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>
<p>This set takes advantage of Chandelure's monstrous Special Attack and amazing STAB combination to become an incredibly fearsome wallbreaker, capable of OHKOing a decent portion of the tier with its STAB moves alone. Fire Blast absolutely nukes anything that doesn't resist, OHKOing half of the tier apart from the incredibly bulky special walls such as Blissey, Chansey, and Goodra. Overheat is an option if you just want Chandelure to waste the tier, but apart from the power, Fire Blast is preferred because Chandelure doesn't have to worry about switching out after each usage. Shadow Ball gives Chandelure a secondary STAB move to hit basically anything that resists Fire Blast, such as Kingdra, Goodra and Garchomp. Hidden Power Fighting is once again really only for Tyranitar, who threatens to trap Chandelure. It's also neat for the rare Hydreigon. Energy Ball is useful for the Water-types that aren't already OHKOed by Shadow Ball, such as Rotom-W, Politoed.</p>
<p>Although Timid lets Chandelure get the jump on neutral base 80 Speed Pokemon, Modest is essential for giving this set raw power, as the power drop is incredibly significant without it. Teammates for this set should be based around keeping Chandelure alive, beating its checks and counters, and pairing it with a sweeper of some kind that appreciates Chandelure's wall breaking capabilities. A Rapid Spinner is a must for this set so Chandelure can come in at any opportunity to nuke something, so pairing it with Excadrill and Forretress is a given, as they could potentially lure in a Fire-type move and activate Chandelure's Flash Fire ability to rain fire and brimstone onto the opposing team. Lucario and Scizor are two amazing partners to this set because they can beat Blissey, Chansey, and Tyranitar, which are one of the only three hard counters to this set. Aegislash is a great offensive partner because it appreciates the lack of Steel-types and it can also set up on a few of Chandelure's common counters. Rotom-W can beat Greninja and Starmie, both great checks to this set. Ninetales, although much less viable this generation, can summon sun with Drought and power up Chandelure's Fire-type moves to astronomical proportions. Mega Charizard-Y is also a good partner, for the same reason. Azumarill appreciates the lack of defensive Grass-types such as Gourgeist and Trevenant</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Chandelure's raw power makes it somewhat of a hard Pokemon to counter completely, but there are a few Pokemon in OU that still manage to counter it very well. Blissey and Chansey are probably the only hard counters to Chandelure in the game, as they are immune to Shadow Ball and take next to nothing from Fire Blast. Support, Assault Vest, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar sets are great checks/counters to most of Chandelure's sets, as none of them are OHKOed by a Hidden Power Fighting. It can then proceed to trap Chandelure with Pursuit. Checking Chandelure is a lot easier because of its many exploitable weaknesses and low Speed. Greninja and Starmie are great checks to most of Chandelure's sets, as they can decimate it with Hydro Pump. Bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon, Mega Gyarados, and Rotom-W, are great checks to most of its sets as well, while Azumarill can simply spam Aqua Jet. Mega Absol, Mega Mawile, and Mega Kangaskhan can beat Chandelure with priority Sucker Punch. Mega Houndoom is a great check because it resists both of Chandelure's STAB moves and can OHKO back with Dark Pulse. As long as Stealth Rock is on the field, with a bit of residual damage, Aegislash can pick off Chandelure with Shadow Sneak. Gengar outspeeds all but the Choice Scarf sets and OHKOes it with Shadow Ball. Politoed can summon rain with Drizzle and nerf Chandelure's STAB Fire-type moves; as well as this, Politoed is usually paired with Swift Swim attackers such as Kingdra and Kabutops, most of which destroy Chandelure.</p>
Last edited:
