Bulking UUp Your Knowledge: The Fighting-types of UU!

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Introduction

From the iconic Machamp to the not-so-scary Falinks, Fighting-types have no shortage of awesome and heroic figures. Despite UU having Pokémon like Aegislash, Primarina, Salamence, and Galarian Slowbro at the forefront, Fighting-types still manage to shine through with their great offensive prowess, blowing foes like Krookodile and Rhyperior to pieces! Let's explore how these Pokémon have carved a niche for themselves in UU after a good handful of punches!

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By far the most influential Fighting-type in UU, Keldeo stands out as a potent special attacker that can tear apart cores like physically defensive Tangrowth + Chansey due to its Flying-type coverage and access to Secret Sword. Keldeo's Speed is also valuable, with it outspeeding heavy hitters like Nihilego and Zarude, even if it fails to outspeed others like Starmie. In a tier where Keldeo answers like Amoonguss are also tasked to deal with foes like Aegislash, Mienshao, and Lycanroc-D, it can be tricky to maneuver around such a strong wallbreaker. However, the tier has adapted very well to Keldeo, with staples like Assault Vest Tangrowth and Amoonguss still being relevant and the rise of RestTalk Primarina and Assault Vest Galarian Slowbro. In short, Choice Specs Keldeo is an incredible wallbreaker that finds itself being balanced out by the presence of good checks.

By using a Calm Mind set, Keldeo manages to turn conventional checks like Amoonguss, Aegislash, and Seismitoad on their heads. It can opt for Substitute to prevent status like sleep and poison, or Air Slash for a more potent immediate hit on the Grass-types that threaten it. Either way, this set makes Keldeo a very scary sweeper.

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Good teammates:         

Bulky Roserade can counter and actively threaten the likes of Primarina, Assault Vest Tangrowth, and Amoonguss with Sludge Bomb, and it can use Spikes to wear them and other checks like Aegislash, Assault Vest Galarian Slowbro, and Assault Vest Reuniclus down. Nihilego does a similar job, using Knock Off to cripple the aforementioned Pokémon, pressuring the former three with Sludge Wave, and setting Stealth Rock to wear down the opponent. Nidoking is a formidable wallbreaker that destroys all the checks listed for Keldeo, and it can power through Pokémon like Rotom-W and Mantine a lot more easily with its coverage.

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Kommo-o's viability stems a lot from its versatility as an offensive Pokémon. Swords Dance is a newer set that has seen more usage due to its reliability, being able to boost more than once and switch into weaker attacks if needed because it can use Leftovers. It's a great attacker that can very easily blow past Pokémon like defensive Primarina and Aegislash when boosted. Scale Shot is a especially useful move it can opt for, bypassing Kommo-o's main flaw in its Speed at the cost of some Defense and vulnerability to Choice Scarf users.

The offensive Stealth Rock set stands out as a very potent entry hazard setter capable of denting Defoggers like Rotom-W and OHKOing others like Salamence. It takes advantage of Clanging Scales and Close Combat lowering its stats to keep momentum with Eject Pack, enabling teammates that have a hard time switching in, like Lycanroc-D and Azelf. It's especially hard to pivot around if it carries Life Orb, as a foe like Amoonguss can take a Close Combat easily, but doesn't want to risk a Life Orb-boosted Flamethrower or Clanging Scales, whereas Chansey can handle special attacks just fine, but gets mauled by Close Combat.

Clangorous Soul sets have seen usage right from the start due to how scary they can be and how easy it is to use them given Kommo-o's stats and defensive typing. Clangorous Soul's omniboost effect catapulted this set, which was originally used solely as a special attacker. This all-special variant unfortunately faces hardship with the ban of Light Clay and the drop in viability of dual screens hyper offense, and it falls prey to foes like Primarina, Aegislash, and Nihilego, which are all very common. Kommo-o adapted to this by using a mixed set, hitting special walls like Chansey and Nihilego hard with Close Combat while still threatening physical walls like Amoonguss and Buzzwole with Clanging Scales and Flamethrower.

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Good teammates:         

Lycanroc-D is a teammate that benefits from Kommo-o's early-game wallbreaking, acting as a late-game cleaner, removing weakened Pokémon like Primarina and Buzzwole. Azelf can bring Kommo-o in safely against foes like Rotom-W and Jirachi, and it appreciates Kommo-o giving it a potential free switch in with Eject Pack. Nihilego can pressure the likes of Salamence and Primarina for Kommo-o and set Stealth Rock to wear down Amoonguss and Tangrowth.

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Buzzwole's enormous Attack and Defense help it become one of UU's best tanks, capable of walling insane wallbreakers like Mamoswine and Mienshao while still dishing out major damage even if not invested. The three attacks + Roost set isa powerful wallbreaker that keeps itself healthy to ignore Life Orb recoil and provide defensive use through its typing and stats. The defensive set walls basically any physical attacker that doesn't have a very strong super effective move, meaning Buzzwole only has to worry about a handful of Pokémon, like Salamence and Azumarill, as it shrugs off coverage moves like Zen Headbutt from Tapu Bulu and Fire Punch from Diggersby. Buzzwole's faults come mainly in its horrid Special Defense and disappointing Speed, leaving it vulnerable to almost any special attacker and outsped even by Pokémon with an average Speed tier, like Nidoking.

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Good teammates:         

Since Buzzwole has a mediocre Speed stat, Sticky Web support from Ribombee is extremely valuable on hyper offense teams, and Buzzwole pairs well with Psychic-types like Necrozma. On less offensive teams, Assault Vest Reuniclus provides Future Sight support to destroy checks like Amoonguss and make Buzzwole become incredibly hard to switch into. Chansey is an amazing teammate for the defensive set, handling all the special attackers that trouble Buzzwole, like Aegislash and Primarina.

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What makes Mienshao stand out among other UU Fighting-types is its outstanding longevity, surpassing even Conkeldurr's. This is due to Mienshao's incredible ability in Regenerator. Unlike Keldeo, it doesn't need to lock itself in with a Choice item to cause major damage, and unlike Kommo-o, it can recover from Life Orb recoil. U-turn and Knock Off complement this beautifully, with Mienshao removing Rocky Helmet and Heavy-Duty Boots from checks like Amoonguss and Togekiss, and then immediately using U-turn to get out of there and recover that sweet 33% HP of chip damage back. Not to mention its stellar power: Close Combat hits neutral targets dangerously hard, and Stone Edge and Poison Jab make sure checks such as Moltres and Primarina don't switch in unpunished.

Where Mienshao's faults show are its defenses and, believe it or not, its Speed. Yes, it outspeeds a lot of the tier, but base 105 doesn't cut it in certain matchups. Keldeo, Lycanroc-D, Starmie, Zygarde-10%, Noivern, and Azelf outspeed it, and it Speed ties with Zarude. And despite its increased longevity with Regenerator, Mienshao has a meager 65/60/60 bulk, meaning you won't get any defensive mileage out of it aside from taking resisted hits like U-turn. By opting to fix this issue with a Choice Scarf, Mienshao's main appeal, its hit-and-run style, is lost, and it falls back a bit from the spotlight. It still manages to find a niche as a good revenge killer and pivot, but Choice Scarf Mienshao fails to punish its checks as easily as the Life Orb set.

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Good teammates:         

Similarly to Buzzwole, with Future Sight support from Reuniclus, Mienshao becomes very tricky to switch into, and it also provides Knock Off support to make sure checks like Aegislash have a hard time facing Mienshao. Nidoking puts immense pressure on checks like Amoonguss, Tangrowth, and Moltres with its STAB moves and coverage. Primarina is a good switch-in to the Flying-types that check Mienshao, such as Salamence and Moltres, and can cripple Aegislash and Amoonguss with Scald.

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Good ol' Conk has seen better days. Conkeldurr's vulnerability to metagame trends like Primarina and Salamence makes it struggle to keep up with the tier, and its horrid Speed certainly doesn't help, being outsped by even offensive Aegislash and Azumarill. It does, however, have a very good matchup against stall teams, where its status immunity, absolutely insane wallbreaking power, coverage, and longevity provided by Drain Punch make it a nightmare to deal with. By virtue of its raw wallbreaking power and good coverage options, Conkeldurr can be considered, but it's not the best pick.

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Good teammates:         

Jirachi is a good pivot that can bring Conkeldurr in safely with U-turn against Celesteela and set up Stealth Rock. Nihilego is another teammate that can set Stealth Rock for Conkeldurr to make the job of physically defensive walls like Tangrowth a lot harder, and it pressures the Flying-types that check Conkeldurr, such as Moltres. Aegislash switches into the Fairy-types that give Conkeldurr trouble, like Azumarill and Primarina, and can wear down checks such as Buzzwole and Tangrowth with Toxic + Shadow Ball.

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Cobalion is a fast Stealth Rock setter with a pivoting move in Volt Switch and a good defensive typing. It's also a consistent answer to foes like Zarude and Nihilego, both defensively and offensively checking them. But there's not really much else. Cobalion is completely walled by Aegislash, which is arguably the best Pokémon in UU, fails to reliably pressure checks like Salamence with its coverage due to how weak it is, and gets destroyed by common Pokémon, such as Lycanroc-D, Krookodile, and Keldeo. Most importantly of all, Cobalion's Fighting typing means it doesn't resist Fairy, Psychic, or Flying. This usually mandates the use of another Steel-type alongside it to cover those Pokémon, stacking weaknesses.

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Good teammates:         

Aegislash is a good teammate for Cobalion. It checks the Fairy- and Psychic-types that scare it, like Hatterene and Primarina. Jirachi forms a VoltTurn core with Cobalion and has a free moveslot without the need for Stealth Rock, freeing up moves like Psychic for Amoonguss and Buzzwole and Healing Wish to aid other teammates. Moltres can take advantage of Cobalion pivoting against Amoonguss, Tangrowth, and Aegislash to wreak havoc as well.

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While not a Fighting-type itself, Lycanroc-D's Tough Claws-boosted Close Combat might as well be considered a STAB attack due to how insanely powerful it is. Just like Fighting-types, it stomps all over metagame staples like Krookodile and Zarude with its insane boosted coverage move, effectively giving it the status of an actual Fighting-type.

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Conclusion

Despite their abundance of answers, Fighting-types manage to actively remain as some of the best Pokémon in the metagame by virtue of their versatility and good traits. I hope this article has inspired you to test some of these fierce fighters, so go out there and try 'em out!

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