phantom
Banned deucer.
[OVERVIEW]
In a sea of lower-tier Fire-types, Salazzle stands out as the most lethal among them and one of the most powerful SM Pokemon introduced to RU. Its excellent STAB combination, great Speed, and access to Nasty Plot give it the means to pose as a threat to every playstyle, and its great typing makes up for its minuscule bulk by granting it crucial 4x resistances, which allow it to set up on a multitude of Pokemon including Florges, Whimsicott, Comfey, Roserade, Chesnaught, and single-attack or Choice-locked Escavalier. Salazzle's defensive typing serves other purposes as well by diluting the threat of Toxic Spikes and letting it serve as an offensive check to Chlorophyll Venusaur. Salazzle is also a notable user of Z-Moves, using its Acid Downpour to its fullest by melting through a slew of tenacious specially defensive Pokemon such as Snorlax, Diancie, Milotic, Cresselia, and Mantine with minimal support. Suffice to say, Salazzle's bulk and Stealth Rock weakness result in it being a tad too easy to revenge kill, either with priority such as Sucker Punch or any ordinary Choice Scarf user. Salazzle's bulk also gets in the way of its ability to set up, as it's restricted to forced switches and specific targets to do so, and even then, Salazzle's limited coverage options make it require additional support to break through the likes of Gigalith.
[SET]
name: Special Sweeper
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Sludge Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Taunt
item: Poisonium Z
ability: Oblivious
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Nasty Plot gives Salazzle the necessary power to break through a variety of walls such as Umbreon and Porygon2. Fire Blast complements Sludge Wave well and is used to KO Registeel at +2. Sludge Wave is used to target Water- and Dragon-types and deal with Bulletproof users such as Kommo-o and Chesnaught with an accurate move. In the last slot, Hidden Power Ice prevents Flygon from setting up on Salazzle and hits Dragalge and Tyrantrum for respectable damage. In addition, Hidden Power Ice at +2 brings down even specially defensive variants of Gligar with an accurate move. Taunt, on the other hand, allows Salazzle to shut down Pyukumuku, Froslass, and Thunder Wave Porygon2; rendering Pyukumuku helpless makes Salazzle's matchup versus stall particularly good.
Set Details
========
Poisonium Z is by far Salazzle's best item, as the extra power given to its +2 Sludge Wave allows it to OHKO Diancie, specially defensive Water-types such as Mantine and Milotic, and Snorlax and Cresselia after two switches into Stealth Rock. In addition, Poisonium Z allows Salazzle to more safely set up on passive Knock Off users and gives it the means to break through Prankster Encore. Life Orb can be used if another Z-Move user is more useful for your team, and the initial power has its uses in making its job as revenge killer a bit easier, but Poisonium Z should always be the first option to consider due to the significance of the KOs it gets.
Salazzle's defenses are equal, so putting the last 4 EVs in Special Defense prevents the albeit rare Download Porygon2 from getting a Special Attack boost on it. Oblivious is the most useful ability, as it allows Salazzle to safely set up Nasty Plots against Taunt users, and its other ability, Corrosion, simply isn't useful when Salazzle can only inflict poison 10% of the time using Sludge Wave.
Usage Tips
========
There are only a few offensive Pokemon that Salazzle sets up on, but several defensive Pokemon, which include Florges, Chesnaught, Roserade, Registeel, Umbreon, Sableye, and Comfey, are easy enough to take advantage of. Aside from these Pokemon, Salazzle can be used to revenge kill threats such as Durant, Escavalier, Gardevoir, and Shaymin or even set up on them if a switch is anticipated. Against Froslass teams, if Salazzle has Taunt, one can lead with it and prevent Froslass from using Spikes, and from there, Salazzle can proceed to threaten the opposing team with its STAB attacks or set up a Nasty Plot if it's feasible. Aside from this, Salazzle should only be brought in when a teammate faints to revenge kill or if it's given the proper support with Volt Switch, U-turn, or Parting Shot users such as Rotom-C, Gligar, and Alolan Persian, respectively.
Team Options
========
Defog support from Mantine and Gligar is imperative, as Salazzle being at full health allows it to withstand many important attacks it otherwise wouldn't because of the added chip damage, which include surviving Cresselia's Psychic, Mantine's Scald, Zoroark's Sucker Punch, and avoiding the 2HKO from Porygon2's Thunderbolt. Rapid Spin users such as Donphan and Dhelmise can provide similar support and work better on offensive Spikes teams, but neither are as consistent as Mantine or provide the pivotal slow U-turn support that Gligar offers. Pivots such as Alolan Persian and Whimsicott can help bring in Salazzle and allow it to set up safely, whereas offensive Pokemon such as Rotom-C can use Volt Switch to draw in Pokemon Salazzle sets up on and provide the same kind of support.
Zoroark makes a good partner for Salazzle, as it can disguise itself as Salazzle and significantly weaken or outright KO Salazzle's checks such as Slowking, Gigalith, and Rhyperior with Knock Off or a coverage move of choice and then give Salazzle the opportunity to set up safely with Memento. Choice Specs Gardevoir shares similar answers in Cresselia and Gigalith and can be used alongside Salazzle to help soften up each other's checks. Swellow, Honchkrow, and Yanmega share similar checks with Salazzle and can make good partners, since Salazzle and any one of the three can wear down each other's counters for the other to sweep.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Scarf allows Salazzle to outspeed most of the metagame and function as a decent revenge killer that can customize itself to revenge kill speedy threats like Shell Smash Cloyster, Belly Drum Slurpuff, weather sweepers such as Kingdra and Venusaur, and Dragon Dance Flygon with Hidden Power Ice. This set can work on Salazzle in large part due to its blistering Speed and STAB combination, which serves an important role in allowing Salazzle to outspeed and revenge kill many Pokemon other Choice Scarf users cannot.
Knock Off can be used in the fourth slot on the standard set so that Salazzle can cripple its defensive checks prior to setting up. Dragon Pulse allows Salazzle to get more damage in on Goodra and Dragalge but is otherwise not as useful as Hidden Power Ice. Encore can be used to enable setup versus entry hazard setters and removers, ease Sucker Punch mind games, and turn the tables on opposing setup sweepers such as Calm Mind Reuniclus, but it is not particularly reliable. Substitute can be used to dodge Sucker Punch, evade Thunder Wave, and make Salazzle harder to revenge kill.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Rock-types**: Gigalith and Rhyperior are capable of taking hits from a +2 Salazzle and KOing it back. Gigalith in particular takes very little damage from any of its attacks. Minior is also capable of defeating Salazzle one-on-one or using it as setup bait after it has used Acid Downpour.
**STAB-resistant Pokemon**: Dragalge, Quagsire, Jellicent, and Choice Scarf Tyrantrum resist both of Salazzle's STAB attacks and are capable of revenge killing it in Tyrantrum's case or defensively checking it in the case of Dragalge, Quagsire, and Jellicent.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Cresselia, Porygon2, Snorlax, and Assault Vest Slowking are all capable of taking a hit from full and dealing massive damage back or outright crippling it, although prior chip damage can allow Salazzle to muscle through them with a +2 Acid Downpour.
**Priority Users and Faster Pokemon**: Priority users such as Zoroark and Honchkrow are capable of picking off Salazzle with Sucker Punch after Stealth Rock damage, whereas faster Pokemon such as Swellow, Aerodactyl, Sand Rush Stoutland, and just about any Choice Scarf user revenge kill Salazzle with ease.
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