[overview]
**Draft Order**: Early round 3 onwards
**Price Range**: 14-15 points
**Overview**:
Weavile is a frail yet formidable wallbreaker, leveraging its impressive Attack stat and potent STAB combination of Dark- and Ice-type moves. Its unique typing and high Speed make it not only challenging for foes to check but also an effective Pursuit trapper and revenge killer. Additionally, it boasts solid priority in Ice Shard, which allows it to threaten faster foes. However, Weavile's lack of bulk, weakness to entry hazards, and subpar typing leave it vulnerable to being worn down and revenge killed. Despite these flaws, Weavile synergizes exceptionally well with many top-tier offensive threats, making it a valuable asset on offensive teams. Overall, its ability to punch holes in the opposing lineup is crucial for creating opportunities for its teammates.
Common Roles
========
**Wallbreaker**: With Choice Band or Life Orb boosting its damage output, Weavile can punch holes through opposing teams. Weavile is able to spam Knock Off to cripple defensive switch-ins while potentially using Pursuit to eliminate Ghost- and Psychic-types for its teammates.
**Setup Sweeper**: With Swords Dance and a threatening STAB combination, it is nearly impossible to wall a boosted Weavile. Thanks to Ice Shard helping against faster threats, Weavile is potentially able to sweep through entire teams. However, Weavile's frailty and exploitable weaknesses means that it must be positioned correctly to be properly used.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Knock Off, Icicle Crash, Pursuit, Ice Punch, Throat Chop, Ice Shard, Beat Up
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Substitute, Taunt, Brick Break
**Coverage**: Low Kick, Poison Jab, Iron Tail, X-Scissor, Shadow Claw, Dig, Aerial Ace
Niche Moves
========
**Beat Up**: Beat Up can be useful for breaking Sturdy and Substitute, as well as being a stronger attack early-game.
**Foul Play**: Foul Play can be used to target foes with higher Attack stats as well as to circumvent Attack drops.
**Fake Out**: Fake Out can allow Weavile to break a Focus Sash or confirm a KO on a weakened foe.
**Endure**: Endure can be used in conjunction with a pinch Berry such as Salac or Liechi Berry to boost Weavile's stats. In addition, it allows Weavile to survive Fake Out.
Common Items
========
**Damage-boosting Items**: Damage-boosting items such as Choice Band and Life Orb are the premier items of choice for Weavile, amplifying its wallbreaking capabilities to the next level.
**Focus Sash** Since Weavile is so frail, Focus Sash is often needed to facilitate an opportunity to set up a Swords Dance.
Niche Items
========
**Z-Crystals**: Weavile can use Z-Crystals such as Groundium Z on Swords Dance sets to nail Toxapex as well as other Z-Moves just to have a one-time nuke available.
**Pinch Berries**: In conjunction with Endure, pinch Berries can be helpful for Weavile in certain situations. Salac Berry can allow Weavile to outspeed faster threats and slower Choice Scarf users, while Liechi Berry can help Weavile increase its damage output.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf can be a niche option for Weavile to catch faster Pokemon by surprise. However, this is usually not recommended, as Choice Scarf sets lack the breaking power that Weavile enjoys.
**Lum Berry**: While extremely situational, if Weavile is expected to be affected by debilitating status such as Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave, Lum Berry can be helpful.
Draft Strategy
========
Weavile is a powerful wallbreaker, but its one-dimensional physical attacks and its frailty mean it needs proper team support. Weavile's Pursuit helps teammates by removing key Psychic- and Ghost-types, allowing its team to operate more freely.
**Entry Hazard Removal**: With a crippling Stealth Rock weakness, entry hazard removal is key to enable bringing Weavile into the field. Spinners like Tentacruel and Excadrill and Defoggers such as Mega Scizor and Zapdos are welcome.
**Entry Hazard Setters**: Since Weavile often misses out on key KOs, users of Stealth Rock and Spikes such as Heatran, Gliscor, and Skarmory are helpful to chip down foes as they switch in, potentially bringing them into Weavile's OHKO range.
**Special Wallbreakers**: As Weavile is a one-dimensional physical attacker, special wallbreakers such as Latios, Nidoking, and Mega Diancie are appreciated, as they are able to deal with physical walls that Weavile might struggle with.
**Bulky Pivots**: Since Weavile is frail, it can often find difficulties entering the field, thus making slow pivots such as Rotom-W and Mandibuzz extremely beneficial. This is especially useful to safely pivot in on foes that it can Pursuit trap.
Checks and Counters
========
**Chip Damage**: Weavile is extremely vulnerable to Stealth Rock as well as other types of entry hazards, as they severely inhibit Weavile's ability to switch in. Additionally, Rocky Helmet users such as Ferrothorn and Rotom-W can chip away at Weavile's health, which is further compounded by Life Orb recoil if Weavile chooses to hold it.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types, especially ones resisting Weavile's STAB combination, such as Tapu Fini, Mega Mawile, and Azumarill are able to completely shut down Weavile's offense.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types such as Toxapex and Alomomola are able to take a Knock Off and check Weavile for the rest of the game.
**Priority Attacks**: Since Weavile is frail with an unfavorable defensive typing, it is often OHKOed by common priority moves such as Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch and Breloom's Mach Punch.
**Faster threats**: Faster threats such as Mega Lopunny, Tapu Koko, and Mega Beedrill are able to outspeed and exploit Weavile's poor defenses to OHKO it before it can act. In addition, Choice Scarf users can also outspeed and threaten Weavile.
**Status Conditions**: Burn and paralysis can severely cripple Weavile.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/dragonphoenix333.608218/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/princess-autumn.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adorluigi.528364/
**Draft Order**: Early round 3 onwards
**Price Range**: 14-15 points
**Overview**:
Weavile is a frail yet formidable wallbreaker, leveraging its impressive Attack stat and potent STAB combination of Dark- and Ice-type moves. Its unique typing and high Speed make it not only challenging for foes to check but also an effective Pursuit trapper and revenge killer. Additionally, it boasts solid priority in Ice Shard, which allows it to threaten faster foes. However, Weavile's lack of bulk, weakness to entry hazards, and subpar typing leave it vulnerable to being worn down and revenge killed. Despite these flaws, Weavile synergizes exceptionally well with many top-tier offensive threats, making it a valuable asset on offensive teams. Overall, its ability to punch holes in the opposing lineup is crucial for creating opportunities for its teammates.
Common Roles
========
**Wallbreaker**: With Choice Band or Life Orb boosting its damage output, Weavile can punch holes through opposing teams. Weavile is able to spam Knock Off to cripple defensive switch-ins while potentially using Pursuit to eliminate Ghost- and Psychic-types for its teammates.
**Setup Sweeper**: With Swords Dance and a threatening STAB combination, it is nearly impossible to wall a boosted Weavile. Thanks to Ice Shard helping against faster threats, Weavile is potentially able to sweep through entire teams. However, Weavile's frailty and exploitable weaknesses means that it must be positioned correctly to be properly used.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Knock Off, Icicle Crash, Pursuit, Ice Punch, Throat Chop, Ice Shard, Beat Up
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Substitute, Taunt, Brick Break
**Coverage**: Low Kick, Poison Jab, Iron Tail, X-Scissor, Shadow Claw, Dig, Aerial Ace
Niche Moves
========
**Beat Up**: Beat Up can be useful for breaking Sturdy and Substitute, as well as being a stronger attack early-game.
**Foul Play**: Foul Play can be used to target foes with higher Attack stats as well as to circumvent Attack drops.
**Fake Out**: Fake Out can allow Weavile to break a Focus Sash or confirm a KO on a weakened foe.
**Endure**: Endure can be used in conjunction with a pinch Berry such as Salac or Liechi Berry to boost Weavile's stats. In addition, it allows Weavile to survive Fake Out.
Common Items
========
**Damage-boosting Items**: Damage-boosting items such as Choice Band and Life Orb are the premier items of choice for Weavile, amplifying its wallbreaking capabilities to the next level.
**Focus Sash** Since Weavile is so frail, Focus Sash is often needed to facilitate an opportunity to set up a Swords Dance.
Niche Items
========
**Z-Crystals**: Weavile can use Z-Crystals such as Groundium Z on Swords Dance sets to nail Toxapex as well as other Z-Moves just to have a one-time nuke available.
**Pinch Berries**: In conjunction with Endure, pinch Berries can be helpful for Weavile in certain situations. Salac Berry can allow Weavile to outspeed faster threats and slower Choice Scarf users, while Liechi Berry can help Weavile increase its damage output.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf can be a niche option for Weavile to catch faster Pokemon by surprise. However, this is usually not recommended, as Choice Scarf sets lack the breaking power that Weavile enjoys.
**Lum Berry**: While extremely situational, if Weavile is expected to be affected by debilitating status such as Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave, Lum Berry can be helpful.
Draft Strategy
========
Weavile is a powerful wallbreaker, but its one-dimensional physical attacks and its frailty mean it needs proper team support. Weavile's Pursuit helps teammates by removing key Psychic- and Ghost-types, allowing its team to operate more freely.
**Entry Hazard Removal**: With a crippling Stealth Rock weakness, entry hazard removal is key to enable bringing Weavile into the field. Spinners like Tentacruel and Excadrill and Defoggers such as Mega Scizor and Zapdos are welcome.
**Entry Hazard Setters**: Since Weavile often misses out on key KOs, users of Stealth Rock and Spikes such as Heatran, Gliscor, and Skarmory are helpful to chip down foes as they switch in, potentially bringing them into Weavile's OHKO range.
**Special Wallbreakers**: As Weavile is a one-dimensional physical attacker, special wallbreakers such as Latios, Nidoking, and Mega Diancie are appreciated, as they are able to deal with physical walls that Weavile might struggle with.
**Bulky Pivots**: Since Weavile is frail, it can often find difficulties entering the field, thus making slow pivots such as Rotom-W and Mandibuzz extremely beneficial. This is especially useful to safely pivot in on foes that it can Pursuit trap.
Checks and Counters
========
**Chip Damage**: Weavile is extremely vulnerable to Stealth Rock as well as other types of entry hazards, as they severely inhibit Weavile's ability to switch in. Additionally, Rocky Helmet users such as Ferrothorn and Rotom-W can chip away at Weavile's health, which is further compounded by Life Orb recoil if Weavile chooses to hold it.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types, especially ones resisting Weavile's STAB combination, such as Tapu Fini, Mega Mawile, and Azumarill are able to completely shut down Weavile's offense.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types such as Toxapex and Alomomola are able to take a Knock Off and check Weavile for the rest of the game.
**Priority Attacks**: Since Weavile is frail with an unfavorable defensive typing, it is often OHKOed by common priority moves such as Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch and Breloom's Mach Punch.
**Faster threats**: Faster threats such as Mega Lopunny, Tapu Koko, and Mega Beedrill are able to outspeed and exploit Weavile's poor defenses to OHKO it before it can act. In addition, Choice Scarf users can also outspeed and threaten Weavile.
**Status Conditions**: Burn and paralysis can severely cripple Weavile.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/dragonphoenix333.608218/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/princess-autumn.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adorluigi.528364/
Last edited: