What kind of roles should we pursue to complement both our concept and chosen offensive direction?
Given that 25f's amazing neutral coverage frees it from having much 4-moveslot syndrome (especially if we aren't going to give it Rock Tomb), I would like to bring up the potential for 25f as an offensive hazard setter. I think it'd be healthy for the metagame because 25f will have poor match-ups against some of the utility mons that are supposed to provide hazard control, especially Fidgit, defensive Tomohawk, defog Latios/as, and tanky Colossoil sets. A Fire/Ground type being a threatening Stealth Rock or Spikes setter might help with Fidgit's viability and bring diversity to some of the defensive cores in the meta. 25f will also have decent match-ups vs Sticky Web setters like Necturna and Ribombee, making it a fun and potentially unique lead for balance and offense teams. The interaction of Flame Charge being able to simultaneously break opposing Focus Sash and then enable 25f to outspeed other leads could create healthy prediction-based matchups. I think it's at least worth considering and debating.
What moves coordinate best with our ability, Technician?
On another hopefully not-too-contradictory note, I do support giving 25f Rock Tomb. I think that is one of the main coverage moves that is appealing given 25g's typing and ability, which is supposed to have amazing synergy with its movepool. A 75 base power Flame Charge and a 90 base power Bulldoze are not exactly fulfilling the expectations of this concept in my opinion. After all, Moxie Gyarados is a sweeper, not a defensive counter, and it still lives a Life Orb and Technician-boosted Rock Tomb. Defensive Pelipper lives the same attack even after rocks and OHKOs with an uninvested Scald. And 25f is going to have a terrible match-up against any team with Pelipper anyway. Given the opportunity cost of running Rock Tomb, since it can't fit on a set with Flame Charge/Fire move/Ground move/Hidden Power, being able to take out weakened versions of Gyarados and Pelipper is hardly going to break the metagame.
Frankly, 25f will face a lot of counters that can live a neutral hit and outdamage it in return. Arghonaut, Pyroak, Tomohawk, Mega Latias, and Rotom-W will pretty much stop this attacker in its tracks. And offensive teams will have Stratagem, Latios, powerful priority users such as Battle Bond Greninja, and common scarfers that will outspeed 25f even at +1. So we shouldn't be afraid to give 25f a good Technician-boosted Rock move. That's part of the nature of Technician as an ability: it powers up weaker utility and coverage moves. So Rock Tomb is a healthy and pro-concept way to enable 25f to occasionally sweep.
Given that 25f's amazing neutral coverage frees it from having much 4-moveslot syndrome (especially if we aren't going to give it Rock Tomb), I would like to bring up the potential for 25f as an offensive hazard setter. I think it'd be healthy for the metagame because 25f will have poor match-ups against some of the utility mons that are supposed to provide hazard control, especially Fidgit, defensive Tomohawk, defog Latios/as, and tanky Colossoil sets. A Fire/Ground type being a threatening Stealth Rock or Spikes setter might help with Fidgit's viability and bring diversity to some of the defensive cores in the meta. 25f will also have decent match-ups vs Sticky Web setters like Necturna and Ribombee, making it a fun and potentially unique lead for balance and offense teams. The interaction of Flame Charge being able to simultaneously break opposing Focus Sash and then enable 25f to outspeed other leads could create healthy prediction-based matchups. I think it's at least worth considering and debating.
What moves coordinate best with our ability, Technician?
On another hopefully not-too-contradictory note, I do support giving 25f Rock Tomb. I think that is one of the main coverage moves that is appealing given 25g's typing and ability, which is supposed to have amazing synergy with its movepool. A 75 base power Flame Charge and a 90 base power Bulldoze are not exactly fulfilling the expectations of this concept in my opinion. After all, Moxie Gyarados is a sweeper, not a defensive counter, and it still lives a Life Orb and Technician-boosted Rock Tomb. Defensive Pelipper lives the same attack even after rocks and OHKOs with an uninvested Scald. And 25f is going to have a terrible match-up against any team with Pelipper anyway. Given the opportunity cost of running Rock Tomb, since it can't fit on a set with Flame Charge/Fire move/Ground move/Hidden Power, being able to take out weakened versions of Gyarados and Pelipper is hardly going to break the metagame.
Frankly, 25f will face a lot of counters that can live a neutral hit and outdamage it in return. Arghonaut, Pyroak, Tomohawk, Mega Latias, and Rotom-W will pretty much stop this attacker in its tracks. And offensive teams will have Stratagem, Latios, powerful priority users such as Battle Bond Greninja, and common scarfers that will outspeed 25f even at +1. So we shouldn't be afraid to give 25f a good Technician-boosted Rock move. That's part of the nature of Technician as an ability: it powers up weaker utility and coverage moves. So Rock Tomb is a healthy and pro-concept way to enable 25f to occasionally sweep.
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