[OVERVIEW]
Chi-Yu poses itself as one of the most menacing special attackers in DOU, with its high Special Attack, near unresisted STAB combination, and Beads of Ruin allowing it to hit the majority of the metagame extremely hard. Beads of Ruin also not only indirectly makes Chi-Yu hit harder but also empowers its special attacking teammates, with Iron Bundle and Gholdengo in particular being excellent partners due to their ability to either overwhelm shared checks like Ting-Lu or outright beat some of Chi-Yu's checks, such as Garchomp for the former and Glimmora for the latter. Furthermore, Chi-Yu has very good Speed, allowing it to naturally outspeed a considerable portion of the metagame. However, Chi-Yu is not without glaring weaknesses, as its HP and Defense are absurdly low, which leaves it vulnerable to common priority moves such as Palafin's Jet Punch and Dragonite's Extreme Speed. In addition, despite Dark / Fire being a good type combination offensively, it leaves Chi-Yu vulnerable defensively, as its weaknesses to Ground-, Rock- and Water-type moves in addition to Stealth Rock compromise its ability to switch in and fire off more attacks. Finally, Pokemon such as Glimmora, Ting-Lu, and Garchomp have the ability to potentially switch into Chi-Yu and threaten it out, with Ting-Lu's Tablets of Ruin being a particular annoyance due to it offsetting Beads of Ruin. However, it is important to note that Chi-Yu's strength is still to the magnitude that it can 2HKO all the aforementioned Pokemon under the right circumstances.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Flamethrower / Overheat
move 4: Snarl
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beads of Ruin
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Fire / Ghost
[SET COMMENTS]
* Heat Wave allows Chi-Yu to pick off Pokemon like Choice Scarf Gholdengo and Chien-Pao, as well as being a good method of spreading damage.
* Dark Pulse can hit Ghost- and Psychic-types like Dragapult and Armarouge, as well as Pokemon that resist Fire-type moves, like Glimmora.
* Flamethrower and Overheat both give Chi-Yu the ability to focus its damage on a singular Pokemon, with Overheat being significantly stronger but far more punishing than Flamethrower.
* Snarl is useful for spread damage when both Pokemon on the field can take Heat Wave, as well as supporting its team.
* Choice Scarf lets Chi-Yu outrun almost the entire tier, allowing it to either threaten out Pokemon like Dragapult and Chien-Pao and pick off weakened targets.
* The EV spread and a Timid nature both maximizes the number of Pokemon Chi-Yu can outspeed along with its damage output.
* Tera Fire allows Chi-Yu to pick up KOs it normally wouldn't be able to otherwise, such as Amoonguss with Heat Wave, while Tera Ghost grants an immunity to Fake Out and Extreme Speed, blocking two common methods to stop Chi-Yu, as well as making it immune to Fighting-type moves, which it would normally be weak to, like Drain Punch from Iron Hands.
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Flamethrower / Overheat
move 4: Snarl / Tera Blast / Protect
item: Choice Specs / Life Orb
ability: Beads of Ruin
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Fire / Grass / Ghost
[SET COMMENTS]
* Heat Wave provides excellent spread damage severely threatening Steel- and Grass-types like Gholdengo and Amoonguss while still being able to scorch neutral targets.
* Dark Pulse hits several Pokemon that resist Heat Wave, such as Glimmora, as well as Ghost- and Psychic-types like Armarouge and Dragapult hard, as well as just being a solid STAB move
* Flamethrower and Overheat deal more damage to a single target than Heat Wave, which can allow Chi-Yu break past Pokemon it normally wouldn't be able to, such as Ting-Lu. Overheat allows Chi-Yu to deal an insane amount of damage, accomplishing feats such as OHKOing Tera Normal Dragonite, while Flamethrower is weaker than Overheat by a significant margin but doesn't have the Special Attack drop and imperfect accuracy.
* Snarl provides a secondary spread attack that can hit deceptively hard, in addition to debuffing the opposing team, while Tera Blast can be utilized with Tera Grass in order to give Chi-Yu an option to hit Pokemon like Palafin and Iron Bundle. Protect should only be used with Life Orb, but can keep Chi-Yu safe for a turn while a teammate either repositions or sets speed control to assist it.
* Choice Specs and Life Orb both boost Chi-Yu's damage output to absurd levels, with the former allowing Chi-Yu to switch moves in exchange for the recoil and loss of power.
* Tera Fire exponentially increases the strength of Fire-type moves for Chi-Yu, while Tera Grass patches up Chi-Yu's weakness to Water-type moves, and Tera Ghost prevents Fake Out and Extreme Speed from slowing down or picking off Chi-Yu, in addition to turning the Fighting-type weakness to an immunity.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
EV investment into Chi-Yu's HP and Defense allows it to survive a significant number of moves it would normally be OHKOd by, notably Dragonite's Extreme Speed, while a Modest nature can be used on both sets to further increase the amount of damage Chi-Yu can do overall. However both options can cut into Chi-Yu's Speed, with the former also potentially lowering the amount of damage Chi-Yu can do depending on the amount of investment.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zoe.531334/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/qsns.230771/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/smudgerox.550367/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Chi-Yu poses itself as one of the most menacing special attackers in DOU, with its high Special Attack, near unresisted STAB combination, and Beads of Ruin allowing it to hit the majority of the metagame extremely hard. Beads of Ruin also not only indirectly makes Chi-Yu hit harder but also empowers its special attacking teammates, with Iron Bundle and Gholdengo in particular being excellent partners due to their ability to either overwhelm shared checks like Ting-Lu or outright beat some of Chi-Yu's checks, such as Garchomp for the former and Glimmora for the latter. Furthermore, Chi-Yu has very good Speed, allowing it to naturally outspeed a considerable portion of the metagame. However, Chi-Yu is not without glaring weaknesses, as its HP and Defense are absurdly low, which leaves it vulnerable to common priority moves such as Palafin's Jet Punch and Dragonite's Extreme Speed. In addition, despite Dark / Fire being a good type combination offensively, it leaves Chi-Yu vulnerable defensively, as its weaknesses to Ground-, Rock- and Water-type moves in addition to Stealth Rock compromise its ability to switch in and fire off more attacks. Finally, Pokemon such as Glimmora, Ting-Lu, and Garchomp have the ability to potentially switch into Chi-Yu and threaten it out, with Ting-Lu's Tablets of Ruin being a particular annoyance due to it offsetting Beads of Ruin. However, it is important to note that Chi-Yu's strength is still to the magnitude that it can 2HKO all the aforementioned Pokemon under the right circumstances.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Flamethrower / Overheat
move 4: Snarl
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beads of Ruin
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Fire / Ghost
[SET COMMENTS]
* Heat Wave allows Chi-Yu to pick off Pokemon like Choice Scarf Gholdengo and Chien-Pao, as well as being a good method of spreading damage.
* Dark Pulse can hit Ghost- and Psychic-types like Dragapult and Armarouge, as well as Pokemon that resist Fire-type moves, like Glimmora.
* Flamethrower and Overheat both give Chi-Yu the ability to focus its damage on a singular Pokemon, with Overheat being significantly stronger but far more punishing than Flamethrower.
* Snarl is useful for spread damage when both Pokemon on the field can take Heat Wave, as well as supporting its team.
* Choice Scarf lets Chi-Yu outrun almost the entire tier, allowing it to either threaten out Pokemon like Dragapult and Chien-Pao and pick off weakened targets.
* The EV spread and a Timid nature both maximizes the number of Pokemon Chi-Yu can outspeed along with its damage output.
* Tera Fire allows Chi-Yu to pick up KOs it normally wouldn't be able to otherwise, such as Amoonguss with Heat Wave, while Tera Ghost grants an immunity to Fake Out and Extreme Speed, blocking two common methods to stop Chi-Yu, as well as making it immune to Fighting-type moves, which it would normally be weak to, like Drain Punch from Iron Hands.
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Flamethrower / Overheat
move 4: Snarl / Tera Blast / Protect
item: Choice Specs / Life Orb
ability: Beads of Ruin
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Fire / Grass / Ghost
[SET COMMENTS]
* Heat Wave provides excellent spread damage severely threatening Steel- and Grass-types like Gholdengo and Amoonguss while still being able to scorch neutral targets.
* Dark Pulse hits several Pokemon that resist Heat Wave, such as Glimmora, as well as Ghost- and Psychic-types like Armarouge and Dragapult hard, as well as just being a solid STAB move
* Flamethrower and Overheat deal more damage to a single target than Heat Wave, which can allow Chi-Yu break past Pokemon it normally wouldn't be able to, such as Ting-Lu. Overheat allows Chi-Yu to deal an insane amount of damage, accomplishing feats such as OHKOing Tera Normal Dragonite, while Flamethrower is weaker than Overheat by a significant margin but doesn't have the Special Attack drop and imperfect accuracy.
* Snarl provides a secondary spread attack that can hit deceptively hard, in addition to debuffing the opposing team, while Tera Blast can be utilized with Tera Grass in order to give Chi-Yu an option to hit Pokemon like Palafin and Iron Bundle. Protect should only be used with Life Orb, but can keep Chi-Yu safe for a turn while a teammate either repositions or sets speed control to assist it.
* Choice Specs and Life Orb both boost Chi-Yu's damage output to absurd levels, with the former allowing Chi-Yu to switch moves in exchange for the recoil and loss of power.
* Tera Fire exponentially increases the strength of Fire-type moves for Chi-Yu, while Tera Grass patches up Chi-Yu's weakness to Water-type moves, and Tera Ghost prevents Fake Out and Extreme Speed from slowing down or picking off Chi-Yu, in addition to turning the Fighting-type weakness to an immunity.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
EV investment into Chi-Yu's HP and Defense allows it to survive a significant number of moves it would normally be OHKOd by, notably Dragonite's Extreme Speed, while a Modest nature can be used on both sets to further increase the amount of damage Chi-Yu can do overall. However both options can cut into Chi-Yu's Speed, with the former also potentially lowering the amount of damage Chi-Yu can do depending on the amount of investment.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zoe.531334/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/qsns.230771/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/smudgerox.550367/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Last edited: