[OVERVIEW]
Fire
========
High Special Attack, good Speed, a good STAB combination, and Beast Boost to steamroll teams make Blacephalon a threatening revenge killer for Fire-type teams. A Choice Scarf lets it revenge kill Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Thundurus-T, which are otherwise threats to Fire-type teams. However, Blacephalon has absolutely no bulk and finds it really hard to come into battle. Due to its poor bulk, even resisted attacks tend to take a good chunk of its health. Due to its typing, Blacephalon is weak to common priority moves like Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, and Aqua Jet from Pokemon such as Bisharp, Aegislash, and Azumarill, which makes it easy to check. A lacking movepool also makes it more predictable for opposing teams.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Fire)
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Shadow Ball takes down weakened Pokemon like Rotom-W, Urshifu-R, and Mantine. It also takes care of Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Spectrier, Tapu Lele, and Slowbro. Flamethrower provides more STAB coverage and hits hard with Drought support, easily taking care of Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Landorus-T, and Thundurus-T with prior minor chip damage. Fire Blast may be used over Flamethrower for considerably more power, with it OHKOing a huge threat in Tapu Koko without Drought support, though it is not reliable as Flamethrower. Psyshock is used to revenge kill a threatening Pokemon in Nihilego, which takes all other moves comfortably. Trick is important to debilitate bulky walls that can take on Blacephalon throughout the battle such as Mantine, defensive Heatran, and Blissey. It also gives Pokemon like Bulk Up Cinderace and Volcarona setup opportunities against Choice-locked defensive Pokemon. Choice Scarf is used to help it revenge kill faster threats like Latias, Zeraora, and Dragapult for Fire-type teams.
Torkoal is a premier support Pokemon for Blacephalon and Fire-type teams in general, providing not only necessary Drought support to boost Fire-type moves and weaken Water-type attacks, but also quintessential Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock support. Torkoal can also pivot into physical attackers like Mimikyu, Drapion, and Bisharp that threaten Blacephalon. Cinderace complements Blacephalon massively, it's able to handle special sponges like Tyranitar, Blissey, and Galarian Slowking that can handle Blacephalon. Cinderace's colorful movepool and ability Libero let it wallbreak and clear the way for Blacephalon to clean up. Thanks to Bolt Strike, Choice Band Victini is tremendous to beat Pokemon like Mantine, Toxapex, which prove to be obstacles for Blacephalon. With Drought support, Victini can shred apart even Water / Ground Pokemon like Seismitioad and Gastrodon with V-create. Volcarona and Rotom-H can weaken shared checks for Blacephalon, and Volcarona can improve matchups like Electric and Dark, while Rotom-H can utilize a Nasty Plot set to break through defensive teams like Poison or support Blacephalon with dual screens. Either way, Rotom-H provides a valuable Ground immunity to the team. Heatran can support Blacephalon too by taking on Dragon-type Pokemon like Latios for it. Defensive Heatran also does a great job of checking threats like Nihilego, easing some pressure off of Blacephalon. Stallbreaker Heatran can eliminate walls like Mantine and Toxapex for Blacephalon. Volcanion is decent to help beat Water-types such as Tapu Fini, Urshifu-R, and Toxapex, as well as offering Defog support to the team.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Fire
--------
Blacephalon can also utilize a Choice Specs set to wallbreak, as it has already-high Special Attack and teams will struggle to take it on; however, Fire teams greatly appreciate the Speed ceiling that Blacephalon brings to the type with a Choice Scarf. A Substitute + Calm Mind set is also an option to take on specific teams like Normal teams, but Cinderace already does a good job of beating such types, and Blacephalon's low bulk grants fewer opportunities to set up.
Checks and Counters
===================
Fire
--------
**Priority moves**: Blacephalon is vulnerable to some common priority moves like Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, Aqua Jet, and Accelerock from Pokemon such as Bisharp, Mimikyu, Azumarill, and Lycanroc which can easily deal with Blacephalon.
**Special Walls**: Special walls like Mantine, Mandibuzz, Rotom-W, Blissey, and Tyranitar can easily take Blacephalon's attacks. They can proceed to status or weaken Blacephalon or set up Stealth Rock in the case of Blissey and Tyranitar. However, some of them need to be wary of Trick.
**Revenge Killers**: Even faster Choice Scarf users like Latios, Gengar, Dragapult, and Terrakion can outspeed Blacephalon and easily KO it.
**Residual Damage**: Thunder Wave greatly hampers Blacephalon's revenge killing potential, making it vulnerable to opposing slower Pokemon. Klefki and Grimmsnarl can easily land Thunder Wave with Prankster. Forms of residual damage like Toxic, Stealth Rock, and Spikes make Blacephalon worn out and easier to handle for opposing teams.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Harpp, 320110]]
- Fire analysis by: [[Harpp, 320110]]
- Quality checked by: [[Decem, 362454], [Maple, 473171],
- Grammar checked by: [[Adeleine, 517429], [<username2>, <userid2>]]
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