OU Cinderace

Zneon

uh oh
is a Community Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus

[OVERVIEW]

Cinderace is one of the best and most consistent offensive Pokemon in the OU metagame. Its high Speed tier, great Attack stat, numerous coverage options coupled with Libero allow Cinderace to consistently overwhelm a large portion of the metagame, as well as offensively checking Pokemon such as Magearna, Kartana, and Rillaboom. Because of its wide array of coverage options, Cinderace can potentially beat traditional Fire-type checks such as Toxapex and Tapu Fini and offensive checks such as Spectrier and Tornadus-T. Furthermore, Cinderace is incredibly hard to effectively wear down due to the combination of its Speed tier, Heavy-Duty Boots, and U-turn. However, Cinderace cannot fit all of its coverage moves on one set, which can hinder it in a disadvantageous matchup if it's not carrying the right coverage move, such as against Toxapex without Zen Headbutt or against Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot. Cinderace is also frail, meaning it's difficult to consistently switch it into even resisted attacks such as Clefable's Moonblast and Heatran's Magma Storm.

[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Pyro Ball
move 2: U-turn
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Libero
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

U-turn allows Cinderace to pivot out of situational matchups such as against incoming Toxapex and Slowbro while also bringing in wallbreakers such as Nidoking and Rillaboom. High Jump Kick allows it to KO Pokemon like Swampert, Garchomp, and especially Heatran. Zen Headbutt allows Cinderace to overwhelm Toxapex, one of its best checks; therefore, it does not want to drop it unless there is Spikes and Future Sight support. Gunk Shot gives Cinderace a way of hitting Pokemon like Moltres and Tapu Fini for serious damage, while its chance to poison allows it to pressure Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Zapdos, and the aforementioned Moltres. Sucker Punch allows Cinderace to revenge kill Pokemon like Spectrier, Dragapult, and Choice Scarf Latios. Low Kick can be used as an alternative to High Jump Kick to KO Heatran while avoiding the recoil damage of High Jump Kick in case it misses, it lands into Protect from Heatran, or it hits a Ghost-type.

Future Sight support from Slowbro and Slowking is very helpful for Cinderace, as it makes it easy to overwhelm Toxapex as well as wear down Pokemon that lack recovery options such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Cinderace can be paired with Pokemon like Magearna, Tapu Koko, and Zapdos to create potent VoltTurn cores. Rillaboom pairs well with Cinderace, as it can bait in Grass- and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Corviknight for Cinderace, whereas Cinderace can bait in Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Swampert for Rillaboom. Wallbreakers such as Magearna, Spectrier, Nidoking, and Tapu Lele appreciate Cinderace's ability to bring them in safely with U-turn. Spikes support from Ferrothorn is very helpful in wearing down its checks, most notably Tapu Fini and Garchomp, and putting Pokemon like Toxapex in range of being 2HKOed by it. Toxic users such as Melmetal and Landorus-T can be helpful for baiting, crippling, and wearing down Pokemon such as Slowbro and Moltres, making them great partners.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Electro Ball can be used in the fourth moveslot for beating both Slowbro and Toxapex; however, its inconsistent power coming from Cinderace's poor Special Attack makes it worse in any other scenario and doesn't 2HKO Toxapex without Spikes or Future Sight support. Bulk Up can also be an option over U-turn to make it a deadly wincon on specific teams, most notably hyper offense; however, Cinderace cannot fit all the coverage moves that it wants, meaning that it can lose to various Pokemon without the right coverage move, such as Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot and Spectrier without Sucker Punch. Cinderace can use an Adamant nature in case teams have a way of dealing with Pokemon that it would otherwise check such as Latios and Kartana, which outspeed Adamant Cinderace otherwise.

Checks and Counters
====

**Bulky Water-types**: Pokemon like Tapu Fini, Slowbro, and Toxapex can take very little from Cinderace's attacks depending on the moves it's running. Without Gunk Shot, Tapu Fini takes little from its other attacks, and Slowbro is able to completely wall Cinderace and keep itself healthy with Regenerator, while Toxapex takes very little from it without Zen Headbutt or Future Sight support. However, Toxapex and Tapu Fini are prone to losing against Cinderace if it's running the correct move, and Slowbro has to be wary of a Gunk Shot poison that can potentially overwhelm it.

**Bulky Ground-types**: Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Hippowdon are able to threaten Cinderace out with Earthquake, take advantage of it and set Stealth Rock, and chip it down with Rough Skin damage from the former or Rocky Helmet damage from the latter two; however, Landorus-T and Garchomp cannot consistently switch into Cinderace due to their lack of recovery, and Hippowdon has to be wary of a Pyro Ball burn or a Gunk Shot poison.

**Revenge Killers**: Naturally faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Spectrier and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T and Latios can easily revenge kill Cinderace; however, Latios and Spectrier have to be wary of Sucker Punch.

**Knock Off**: Cinderace is very weak to entry hazards without its Heavy-Duty Boots, so Knock Off from Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Clefable can be very detrimental.

**Chip Damage**: Rocky Helmet, Rough Skin, and Iron Barbs from Pokemon like Landorus-T, Toxapex, Garchomp, and Ferrothorn can punish Cinderace for using its contact moves, meaning that it has to be cautious when constantly using U-turn.

**Paralysis**: Paralysis in general can be very detrimental for Cinderace; Zapdos can cripple it on the switch with Static, and Thunder Wave from Clefable, Ferrothorn, and Blissey can limit its offensive presence significantly.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [Ruft, 295110]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [Estronic, 240732]]
 
Last edited:
comments in purple, things to add in green, things to remove in red



[Overview]

  • Cinderace is one of the best and most consistent offensive Pokemon in the OU metagame.
  • Its amazing ability, Speed tier coupled with a great attack stat and numerous coverage options allow Cinderace to consistently overwhelm a large portion of the metagame, such as Clefable, Melmetal and Garchomp. It's imperative to mention Libero when talking about its numerous coverage options.
  • Because of its wide array of coverage options, Cinderace can beat Pokemon that would be able to check it, such as Tapu Fini, Toxapex, and choice-locked Spectrier. I think that this is a little too non-specific for a point in the overview. Saying that it's noteworthy because it can deal with typical Fire-type checks like Tapu Fini and Toxapex as well as offensive checks like Spectrier thanks to its wide movepool seems like a better way to frame this.
  • Cinderace does have its faults however, it cannot fit all of its coverage moves on one set, which can hinder it in a disadvantageous matchup if it's not carrying the right coverage move. Being more specific than this is pretty important in my opinion. Lacking what coverage move is an issue in which specific matchup? Give me a couple examples, such as no Zen Headbutt against Toxapex, etc.
  • Cinderace is also frail, meaning its difficult to consistently switch it into attacks, even resisted attacks.

There's most notably no mention of just how hard it is to wear down Cinderace given its combination of high Speed, U-turn, and Heavy-Duty Boots. The fact that Cinderace can offensively check a lot of offensive threats like Magearna, Rillaboom, and Kartana is worth noting too. Also note that Cinderace still has a decent amount of offensive counterplay despite its high Speed tier. Make sure to talk about how it can be checked offensively by Pokemon like Tornadus-T, Spectrier, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, etc.

[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Pyro Ball
move 2: U-turn
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Libero
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

  • U-turn allows Cinderace to pivot out of situational matchups such as Toxapex and Slowbro on the switch, while also bringing in wallbreakers such as Nidoking and Rillaboom.
  • High Jump Kick allows it to KO Pokemon like Blissey, Heatran and Tyranitar. You should stress Heatran more than any other targer in my opinion. It is the primary reason why High Jump Kick is so important; being walled by it sucks. On top of that, I think you should mention Garchomp instead of Blissey and Tyranitar. Blissey is no Cinderace check regardless and Tyranitar takes way too much from U-turn. Garchomp doesn't really mind any other move and is a much more notable target as a result. Zen Headbutt allows Cinderace to overwhelm Toxapex, one of its best checks.
  • Gunk Shot gives Cinderace a way of hitting Pokemon like Zapdos, Moltres, and Tapu Fini for serious damage, while its chance to poison allows it to pressure Mandibuzz, Slowbro and the aforementioned Moltres and Zapdos. You hit Zapdos with Pyro Ball either way so it's a weird Pokemon to bring up in this context. It's fine to mention that you can poison it because that's what ultimately leads to it being overwhelmed.
  • Sucker Punch allows Cinderace to revenge kill Pokemon like Spectrier, Dragapult and Choice Scarf Latios.

  • Future Sight support from Slowbro and Slowking is very helpful for Cinderace as its able to overwhelm Toxapex without the need for Zen Headbutt, as well as wear down Pokemon that lack recovery options such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T and Garchomp. You still need Zen Headbutt. If you don't run it, Toxapex just switches in on Cinderace freely and just takes the Future Sight straight up. You can only give up Zen Headbutt when in combination with Spikes, so that the damage from Future Sight actually is too much.
  • Cinderace can pair with Pokemon like Magearna, Tapu Koko and Zapdos to create potent VoltTurn cores. Wallbreakers such as Magearna, Spectrier and Nidoking appreciate Cinderace's ability to bring them in safely with U-turn.
Spikes support should absolutely be mentioned. It's incredibly strong alongside Cinderace. I also like Toxic users that bait Slowbro and Landorus-T such as Melmetal and Landorus-T.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

  • Electro Ball can be used as a 4th option for beating both Slowbro and Toxapex in the same moveslot.
What's the drawbacks?
  • Bulk Up can also be an option to make it a deadly win condition.
This doesn't really tell me what makes Bulk Up potentially worthwhile and why it is flawed. That is perhaps the most important thing.

Checks and Counters
====

**Bulky Water-types**: Tapu Fini, Slowbro and Toxapex for example can take very little from Cinderace depending on the moves its running. Without Gunk Shot, Tapu Fini takes little from its attacks, Slowbro is able to wall all of Cinderace's attacks and keep itself healthy with Regenerator, and Toxapex takes very little from it without Zen Headbutt or Future Sight support. However, Toxapex and Tapu Fini are prone to losing against Cinderace with the correct move. Slowbro must still be wary of switching into Gunk Shot repeatedly because as soon as it gets poisoned, Cinderace exerts massive pressure on it.

**Fast Revenge killers**: Naturally faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Spectrier and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T and Latios can easily revenge kill Cinderace, however Latios and Spectrier have to be wary of Sucker Punch As do a weakened Tornadus-T and Landorus-T.

**Strong Attacks**: Cinderace struggles to take repeated hits, especially strong hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum, meaning strong attackers such as Magearna, Landorus-T and Spectrier can overwhelm it due to its less-than-stellar defenses.
This is a very weak point that honestly doesn't deserve to be mentioned. You are not switching Cinderace directly into these Pokemon, it's obvious why. As such, the issue where you want to switch into strong attacks but simply can't, hardly, if ever arises.

**Knock Off**: Cinderace is very weak to hazards without its Heavy-Duty Boots, so Knock Off or Trick from Pokemon like Landorus-T, Mandibuzz and Tornadus-T can be very detrimental to Cinderace. These Pokemon are really bad examples. You are never switching Cinderace into a Knock Off from any of these. Clefable and Ferrothorn are much, much better examples.

Bulky Ground-types like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Garchomp are some of the strongest checks and should 100% be mentioned.


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
I would like to take another look once this is implemented.
 
comments in purple, things to add in green, things to remove in red



[Overview]

  • Cinderace is one of the best and most consistent offensive Pokemon in the OU metagame.
  • Its high Speed tier, great attack stat, numerous coverage options coupled with Libero allow Cinderace to consistently overwhelm a large portion of the metagame, such as Clefable, Melmetal and Garchomp, as well as offensively check Pokemon such as Magearna, Kartana and Rillaboom. I don't think being specific here has much benefit. The general picture that it overwhelms a large portion of the metagame is fine.
  • Because of its wide array of coverage options, Cinderace can beat traditional Fire-type checks such as Toxapex and Tapu Fini and offensive checks such as Spectrier and Tornadus-T.
  • Furthermore, Cinderace is incredibly hard to effectively wear down due to the combination of its Speed tier, Heavy-Duty Boots and U-turn.
  • Cinderace does have its faults however, it cannot fit all of its coverage moves on one set, which can hinder it in a disadvantageous matchup if it's not carrying the right coverage move, such as Tornadus-T without Sucker Punch and Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot. Sucker Punch isn't really a coverage move for Tornadus-T. It's just a move that also happens to situationally catch Tornadus-T. Mentioning Toxapex without Zen Headbutt just makes more sense, as it is an actual struggle to deal with.
  • Cinderace is also frail, meaning its difficult to consistently switch it into attacks, even resisted attacks. Like? Clefable's Moonblast comes to mind.

[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Pyro Ball
move 2: U-turn
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Libero
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

  • U-turn allows Cinderace to pivot out of situational matchups such as Toxapex and Slowbro on the switch, while also bringing in wallbreakers such as Nidoking and Rillaboom.
  • High Jump Kick allows it to KO Pokemon like Blissey, Garchomp and especially Heatran. More than 24 hours have passed and Blissey is still no Cinderace check.
  • Zen Headbutt allows Cinderace to overwhelm Toxapex, one of its best checks. I think it's important to note that you generally do not want to drop Zen Headbutt unless you have Spikes + Future Sight support.
  • Gunk Shot gives Cinderace a way of hitting Pokemon like Moltres and Tapu Fini for serious damage, while its chance to poison allows it to pressure Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Zapdos and the aforementioned Moltres.
  • Sucker Punch allows Cinderace to revenge kill Pokemon like Spectrier, Dragapult and Choice Scarf Latios.
Don't forget to mention Low Kick as an alternative to High Jump Kick.
  • Future Sight support from Slowbro and Slowking is very helpful for Cinderace as its able to makes it easy to overwhelm Toxapex, as well as wear down Pokemon that lack recovery options such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T and Garchomp. Subjective change, but I think this phrasing is a little better. Future Sight on its own is not quite enough to singlehandedly overwhelm Toxapex.
  • Cinderace can pair with Pokemon like Magearna, Tapu Koko and Zapdos to create potent VoltTurn cores. Wallbreakers such as Magearna, Spectrier and Nidoking appreciate Cinderace's ability to bring them in safely with U-turn.
  • Spikes support from Ferrothorn is very helpful in wearing down its checks, most notably Tapu Fini, Garchomp and putting Pokemon like Toxapex in range of being 2HKOd by it.
What happened to the Toxic users? Still add them please. I'd also like to see a note of Pokemon that can bait in Grass-types and Pokemon that can take advantage of the Water-types that Cinderace tends to invite in.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

  • Electro Ball can be used as a 4th option for beating both Slowbro and Toxapex in the same moveslot, however its inconsistent power coming from Cinderace's poor special attack makes it worse in any other scenario. It does about 40 to Toxapex. You still need Spikes / Future Sight support to actually overwhelm it.
  • Bulk Up can also be an option over U-turn on Cinderace to make it a deadly win condition on specific teams, most notably hyper offense, however without U-turn it cannot pivot out of disadvantageous matchups, meaning it can lose to Landorus-T, Spectrier and Toxapex without the correct coverage move. I don't think this quite focuses on the right things. The primary issue with Bulk Up Cinderace is that it can't fit all the coverage moves it needs. You mention this, but primarily focus on the fact that you can't U-turn out of disadvantageous matchups, which is definitely not anything major. That's not particularly important for hyper offensive teams anyway. What is important is the fact that you can't fit all of Pyro Ball, High Jump Kick, Zen Headbutt, Gunk Shot, and Sucker Punch in 3 moveslots.

Checks and Counters
====

**Bulky Water-types**: Tapu Fini, Slowbro and Toxapex for example can take very little from Cinderace depending on the moves its running. Without Gunk Shot, Tapu Fini takes little from its attacks, Slowbro is able to wall all of Cinderace's attacks and keep itself healthy with Regenerator, and Toxapex takes very little from it without Zen Headbutt or Future Sight support. However, Toxapex and Tapu Fini are prone to losing against Cinderace with the correct move, and Slowbro has to be wary of Gunk Shot poison otherwise it can be overwhelmed by it.

**Fast Revenge killers**: Naturally faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Spectrier and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T and Latios can easily revenge kill Cinderace, however Latios and Spectrier have to be wary of Sucker Punch

**Knock Off**: Cinderace is very weak to hazards without its Heavy-Duty Boots, so Knock Off from Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Clefable and Toxapex can be very detrimental to Cinderace. Just keep it at Ferrothorn and Clefable. Toxapex is not a good example.

**Bulky Ground-types**: Garchomp, Landorus-T and Hippowdon are able to threaten Cinderace out with Earthquake, take advantage of it and set up Stealth Rock, and chip it down with Rough Skin damage from the former or Rocky Helmet damage from the latter; however, Landorus-T and Garchomp cannot consistently switch into Cinderace due to their lack of recovery and Hippowdon has to be wary of a Pyro Ball burn or a Gunk Shot poison. This should be moved right below Bulky Water-types and right above Revenge Killers.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
Good job, 1/2.
 

Ruft

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
OU Leader
comments in blue, things to add in green


[OVERVIEW]

Cinderace is one of the best and most consistent offensive Pokemon in the OU metagame. Its high Speed tier, great attack stat, numerous coverage options coupled with Libero allow Cinderace to consistently overwhelm a large portion of the metagame, as well as offensively check Pokemon such as Magearna, Kartana and Rillaboom. Because of its wide array of coverage options, Cinderace can potentially beat traditional Fire-type checks such as Toxapex and Tapu Fini and offensive checks such as Spectrier and Tornadus-T. Furthermore, Cinderace is incredibly hard to effectively wear down due to the combination of its Speed tier, Heavy-Duty Boots and U-turn. Cinderace does have its faults however, it cannot fit all of its coverage moves on one set, which can hinder it in a disadvantageous matchup if it's not carrying the right coverage move, such as Toxapex without Zen Headbutt and Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot. Cinderace is also frail, meaning its difficult to consistently switch it into attacks, even resisted attacks, such as Clefable's Moonblast and Heatran's Magma Storm.

[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Pyro Ball
move 2: U-turn
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Libero
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

U-turn allows Cinderace to pivot out of situational matchups such as Toxapex and Slowbro on the switch, while also bringing in wallbreakers such as Nidoking and Rillaboom. High Jump Kick allows it to KO Pokemon like Garchomp and especially Heatran. You can add Swampert as a HJK target too. Zen Headbutt allows Cinderace to overwhelm Toxapex, one of its best checks, thus it does not want to drop it unless there is Spikes and Future Sight support alongside Cinderace. Gunk Shot gives Cinderace a way of hitting Pokemon like Moltres and Tapu Fini for serious damage, while its chance to poison allows it to pressure Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Zapdos and the aforementioned Moltres. Sucker Punch allows Cinderace to revenge kill Pokemon like Spectrier, Dragapult and Choice Scarf Latios. Low Kick can be used as an alternative to High Jump Kick to KO Heatran while avoiding the recoil damage of High Jump Kick in case it misses or if Heatran uses Protect or gets switched out to a Ghost-type.

Future Sight support from Slowbro and Slowking is very helpful for Cinderace as it makes it easy to overwhelm Toxapex, as well as wear down Pokemon that lack recovery options such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T and Garchomp. Cinderace can pair with Pokemon like Magearna, Tapu Koko and Zapdos to create potent VoltTurn cores. Rillaboom too, as it lures in Grass- and Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Corviknight. Wallbreakers such as Magearna, Spectrier and Nidoking appreciate Cinderace's ability to bring them in safely with U-turn. You should add Tapu Lele, as it fares well against the usual Cinderace checks like Toxapex. Spikes support from Ferrothorn is very helpful in wearing down its checks, most notably Tapu Fini, Garchomp and putting Pokemon like Toxapex in range of being 2HKOd by it. Toxic users such as Melmetal and Landorus-T can be helpful for crippling Pokemon such as Slowbro and Moltres, thus wearing them down, these two especially make for great partners as they can bait them in.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Electro Ball can be used as a 4th option for beating both Slowbro and Toxapex in the same moveslot, however its inconsistent power coming from Cinderace's poor special attack makes it worse in any other scenario and doesn't 2HKO Toxapex without Spikes or Future Sight support. Bulk Up can also be an option over U-turn on Cinderace to make it a deadly win condition on specific teams, most notably hyper offense, however Cinderace cannot fit all the coverage moves that it wants, meaning that it can lose to various Pokemon without the right coverage move, such as Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot and Spectrier without Sucker Punch. In this section, I would also talk about how an Adamant nature is an option on certain teams that already have the necessary tools to deal with Pokemon like Kartana and Latios effectively (which it fails to outspeed with an Adamant nature unless it uses Sucker Punch).

Checks and Counters
====

**Bulky Water-types**: Tapu Fini, Slowbro and Toxapex for example can take very little from Cinderace depending on the moves its running. Without Gunk Shot, Tapu Fini takes little from its attacks, Slowbro is able to wall all of Cinderace's attacks and keep itself healthy with Regenerator, and Toxapex takes very little from it without Zen Headbutt or Future Sight support. However, Toxapex and Tapu Fini are prone to losing against Cinderace with the correct move, and Slowbro has to be wary of Gunk Shot poison otherwise it can be overwhelmed by it.

**Bulky Ground-types**: Garchomp, Landorus-T and Hippowdon are able to threaten Cinderace out with Earthquake, take advantage of it and set up Stealth Rock, and chip it down with Rough Skin damage from the former or Rocky Helmet damage from the latter; however, Landorus-T and Garchomp cannot consistently switch into Cinderace due to their lack of recovery and Hippowdon has to be wary of a Pyro Ball burn or a Gunk Shot poison.

**Revenge killers**: Naturally faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Spectrier and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T and Latios can easily revenge kill Cinderace, however Latios and Spectrier have to be wary of Sucker Punch.

**Knock Off**: Cinderace is very weak to hazards without its Heavy-Duty Boots, so Knock Off from Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Clefable can be very detrimental to Cinderace.

I would like to see two more sections here: a section for things that punish contact moves, like Static, Flame Body, and Rocky Helmet, as they can heavily punish Cinderace spamming U-turn, and a section for paralysis in general, as coming in on Thunder Wave from Clefable, Ferrothorn, or Blissey hampers its offensive presence tremendously.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
Good stuff, 2/2 once this is implemented.
 

Milak

Stoïque fierté
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Add (AC=Add comma, ASC=Add semicolon)
Remove (RC=Remove comma)
Comments
GP 1/2

[OVERVIEW]

Cinderace is one of the best and most consistent offensive Pokemon in the OU metagame. Its high Speed tier, great attack Attack stat, numerous coverage options coupled with Libero allow Cinderace to consistently overwhelm a large portion of the metagame, as well as offensively check checking Pokemon such as Magearna, Kartana,(AC) and Rillaboom. Because of its wide array of coverage options, Cinderace can potentially beat traditional Fire-type checks such as Toxapex and Tapu Fini and offensive checks such as Spectrier and Tornadus-T. Furthermore, Cinderace is incredibly hard to effectively wear down due to the combination of its Speed tier, Heavy-Duty Boots,(AC) and U-turn. Cinderace does have its faults however, it However, Cinderace cannot fit all of its coverage moves on one set, which can hinder it in a disadvantageous matchup if it's not carrying the right coverage move, such as against Toxapex without Zen Headbutt and or against Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot. Cinderace is also frail, meaning its it's difficult to consistently switch it into attacks, even resisted attacks,(RC) such as Clefable's Moonblast and Heatran's Magma Storm.

[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Pyro Ball
move 2: U-turn
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Libero
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

U-turn allows Cinderace to pivot out of situational matchups such as against incoming Toxapex and Slowbro on the switch,(RC) while also bringing in wallbreakers such as Nidoking and Rillaboom. High Jump Kick allows it to KO Pokemon like Swampert, Garchomp, and especially Heatran. Zen Headbutt allows Cinderace to overwhelm Toxapex, one of its best checks, thus ;(ASC) therefore,(AC) it does not want to drop it unless there is Spikes and Future Sight support alongside Cinderace. Gunk Shot gives Cinderace a way of hitting Pokemon like Moltres and Tapu Fini for serious damage, while its chance to poison allows it to pressure Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Zapdos,(AC) and the aforementioned Moltres. Sucker Punch allows Cinderace to revenge kill Pokemon like Spectrier, Dragapult,(AC) and Choice Scarf Latios. Low Kick can be used as an alternative to High Jump Kick to KO Heatran while avoiding the recoil damage of High Jump Kick in case it misses or if Heatran uses Protect or gets switched out to ,(AC) it lands into Protect from Heatran,(AC) or it hits a Ghost-type.

Future Sight support from Slowbro and Slowking is very helpful for Cinderace,(AC) as it makes it easy to overwhelm Toxapex,(RC) as well as wear down Pokemon that lack recovery options such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T,(AC) and Garchomp. Cinderace can pair be paired with Pokemon like Magearna, Tapu Koko,(AC) and Zapdos to create potent VoltTurn cores. Rillaboom pairs well with Cinderace, as it can bait in Grass-types and Steel-types such as Corviknight and Ferrothorn and Corviknight for Cinderace, whereas Cinderace can bait in Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Swampert for Rillaboom. Wallbreakers such as Magearna, Spectrier, Nidoking, and Tapu Lele appreciate Cinderace's ability to bring them in safely with U-turn. Spikes support from Ferrothorn is very helpful in wearing down its checks, most notably Tapu Fini,(RC) and Garchomp,(AC) and putting Pokemon like Toxapex in range of being 2HKOd by it (it isn't super clear what "it" is referring to here, juse use the name of the Pokemon). Toxic users such as Melmetal and Landorus-T can be helpful for bating,(AC) crippling,(AC) and wearing down Pokemon such as Slowbro and Moltres, thus wearing them down,(RC) these two especially make for great partners as they can bait them in making them great partners.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Electro Ball can be used as a 4th option for beating both Slowbro and Toxapex in the same moveslot,(RC) ;(ASC) however,(AC) its inconsistent power coming from Cinderace's poor special attack Special Attack makes it worse in any other scenario and doesn't 2HKO Toxapex without Spikes or Future Sight support. Bulk Up can also be an option over U-turn on Cinderace to make it a deadly win condition wincon on specific teams, most notably hyper offense,(RC) ;(ASC) however,(AC) Cinderace cannot fit all the coverage moves that it wants, meaning that it can lose to various Pokemon without the right coverage move, such as Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot and Spectrier without Sucker Punch. Cinderace can use an Adamant nature in case teams have a way of dealing with Pokemon that it would otherwise check,(RC) such as Latios and Kartana, which outspeeds outspeed Adamant Cinderace otherwise.

Checks and Counters
====

**Bulky Water-types**: Pokemon like Tapu Fini, Slowbro,(AC) and Toxapex for example can take very little from Cinderace's attacks depending on the moves its it's running. Without Gunk Shot, Tapu Fini takes little from its other attacks,(RC) and Slowbro is able to completely wall all of Cinderace's attacks and keep itself healthy with Regenerator, and while Toxapex takes very little from it without Zen Headbutt or Future Sight support. However, Toxapex and Tapu Fini are prone to losing against Cinderace with if it's running the correct move, and Slowbro has to be wary of a Gunk Shot poison otherwise it can be overwhelmed by it that can potentially overwhelm it. (last sentence honestly feels a bit redundant, you've already explained how they can deal with it if it's not carrying Gunk Shot / Zen Headbutt, so I don't think there's any point in saying that if Cind does carry such moves, it can beat them)

**Bulky Ground-types**: Garchomp, Landorus-T,(AC) and Hippowdon are able to threaten Cinderace out with Earthquake, take advantage of it and set up Stealth Rock, and chip it down with Rough Skin damage from the former or Rocky Helmet damage from the latter; however, Landorus-T and Garchomp cannot consistently switch into Cinderace due to their lack of recovery,(AC) and Hippowdon has to be wary of a Pyro Ball burn or a Gunk Shot poison.

**Revenge killers**: Naturally faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Spectrier and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T and Latios can easily revenge kill Cinderace,(RC) ;(ASC) however,(AC) Latios and Spectrier have to be wary of Sucker Punch.

**Knock Off**: Cinderace is very weak to entry hazards without its Heavy-Duty Boots, so Knock Off from Pokemon like Ferrothorn,(RC) and Clefable can be very detrimental to Cinderace.

**Chip Damage**: Rocky Helmet, Rough Skin,(AC) or Iron Barbs from Pokemon like Landorus-T, Toxapex, Garchomp,(AC) and Ferrothorn can punish Cinderace for using its contact moves, meaning that it has to be cautious when constantly using U-turn.

**Paralysis**: Paralysis in general can be very detrimental for Cinderace; Zapdos can cripple it on the switch with Static, and Thunder Wave from Clefable, Ferrothorn,(AC) and Blissey can limit its offensive presence significantly.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [Ruft, 295110]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [username2, userid2]]
 

Astra

talk to me nice
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Community Leader Alumnus
add remove (comments)
[OVERVIEW]

Cinderace is one of the best and most consistent offensive Pokemon in the OU metagame. Its high Speed tier, great Attack stat, numerous coverage options coupled with Libero allow Cinderace to consistently overwhelm a large portion of the metagame, as well as offensively checking Pokemon such as Magearna, Kartana, and Rillaboom. Because of its wide array of coverage options, Cinderace can potentially beat traditional Fire-type checks such as Toxapex and Tapu Fini and offensive checks such as Spectrier and Tornadus-T. Furthermore, Cinderace is incredibly hard to effectively wear down due to the combination of its Speed tier, Heavy-Duty Boots, and U-turn. However, Cinderace cannot fit all of its coverage moves on one set, which can hinder it in a disadvantageous matchup if it's not carrying the right coverage move, such as against Toxapex without Zen Headbutt or against Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot. Cinderace is also frail, meaning it's difficult to consistently switch it into attacks, (RC) even resisted attacks such as Clefable's Moonblast and Heatran's Magma Storm.

[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Pyro Ball
move 2: U-turn
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Libero
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

U-turn allows Cinderace to pivot out of situational matchups such as against incoming Toxapex and Slowbro while also bringing in wallbreakers such as Nidoking and Rillaboom. High Jump Kick allows it to KO Pokemon like Swampert, Garchomp, and especially Heatran. Zen Headbutt allows Cinderace to overwhelm Toxapex, one of its best checks; therefore, it does not want to drop it unless there is Spikes and Future Sight support. Gunk Shot gives Cinderace a way of hitting Pokemon like Moltres and Tapu Fini for serious damage, while its chance to poison allows it to pressure Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Zapdos, and the aforementioned Moltres. Sucker Punch allows Cinderace to revenge kill Pokemon like Spectrier, Dragapult, and Choice Scarf Latios. Low Kick can be used as an alternative to High Jump Kick to KO Heatran while avoiding the recoil damage of High Jump Kick in case it misses, it lands into Protect from Heatran, or it hits a Ghost-type.

Future Sight support from Slowbro and Slowking is very helpful for Cinderace, as it makes it easy to overwhelm Toxapex as well as wear down Pokemon that lack recovery options such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Cinderace can be paired with Pokemon like Magearna, Tapu Koko, and Zapdos to create potent VoltTurn cores. Rillaboom pairs well with Cinderace, as it can bait in Grass- (spacing) and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Corviknight for Cinderace, whereas Cinderace can bait in Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Swampert for Rillaboom. Wallbreakers such as Magearna, Spectrier, Nidoking, and Tapu Lele appreciate Cinderace's ability to bring them in safely with U-turn. Spikes support from Ferrothorn is very helpful in wearing down its checks, most notably Tapu Fini and Garchomp, and putting Pokemon like Toxapex in range of being 2HKOed by it. Toxic users such as Melmetal and Landorus-T can be helpful for baiting, crippling, and wearing down Pokemon such as Slowbro and Moltres, making them great partners.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Electro Ball can be used as a 4th option in the fourth moveslot for beating both Slowbro and Toxapex; however, its inconsistent power coming from Cinderace's poor Special Attack makes it worse in any other scenario and doesn't 2HKO Toxapex without Spikes or Future Sight support. Bulk Up can also be an option over U-turn to make it a deadly (spacing) wincon on specific teams, most notably hyper offense; however, Cinderace cannot fit all the coverage moves that it wants, meaning that it can lose to various Pokemon without the right coverage move, such as Tapu Fini without Gunk Shot and Spectrier without Sucker Punch. Cinderace can use an Adamant nature in case teams have a way of dealing with Pokemon that it would otherwise check such as Latios and Kartana, which outspeed Adamant Cinderace otherwise.

Checks and Counters
====

**Bulky Water-types**: Pokemon like Tapu Fini, Slowbro, and Toxapex can take very little from Cinderace's attacks depending on the moves it's running. Without Gunk Shot, Tapu Fini takes little from its other attacks, (AC) and Slowbro is able to completely wall Cinderace and keep itself healthy with Regenerator, while Toxapex takes very little from it without Zen Headbutt or Future Sight support. However, Toxapex and Tapu Fini are prone to losing against Cinderace if it's running the correct move, and Slowbro has to be wary of a Gunk Shot poison that can potentially overwhelm it.

**Bulky Ground-types**: Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Hippowdon are able to threaten Cinderace out with Earthquake, take advantage of it and set up Stealth Rock, and chip it down with Rough Skin damage from the former or Rocky Helmet damage from the latter two; however, Landorus-T and Garchomp cannot consistently switch into Cinderace due to their lack of recovery, and Hippowdon has to be wary of a Pyro Ball burn or a Gunk Shot poison.

**Revenge Killers**: Naturally faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Spectrier and Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T and Latios can easily revenge kill Cinderace; however, Latios and Spectrier have to be wary of Sucker Punch.

**Knock Off**: Cinderace is very weak to entry hazards without its Heavy-Duty Boots, so Knock Off from Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Clefable can be very detrimental.

**Chip Damage**: Rocky Helmet, Rough Skin, or and Iron Barbs from Pokemon like Landorus-T, Toxapex, Garchomp, and Ferrothorn can punish Cinderace for using its contact moves, meaning that it has to be cautious when constantly using U-turn.

**Paralysis**: Paralysis in general can be very detrimental for Cinderace; Zapdos can cripple it on the switch with Static, and Thunder Wave from Clefable, Ferrothorn, and Blissey can limit its offensive presence significantly.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [Ruft, 295110]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [username2, userid2]]
2/2 :blobthumbsup:
Estronic-GP-small.gif
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top