Type: Dark / Poison
Stats: 85 HP / 115 Atk / 95 Def / 65 SpA / 65 SpD / 85 Spe
Abilites: Poison Point / Swift Swim / Intimidate (HA)
Notable Moves:
- Crunch
- Poison Jab
- Barb Barrage
- Liquidation
- Aqua Jet
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Haze
- Swords Dance
New Move:
Barb Barrage
Poison
BP: 60
PP: 10
Accuracy: 100%
Physical
Explanation: Has a 50% chance to poison the target. Power doubles if the target is already poisoned.
Pros:
- 85 HP and 95 Def on top of Intimidate is just fantastic. It can easily handle a large amount of the physical attackers in the tier.
- On top of its bulk and ability, Dark/Poison is one of the best defensive typings out there, having only one weakness in Ground while also having very important resistances to types such as Dark and Ghost while also being immune to Psychic.
- Access to dual hazards is always useful, and its bulk often allows it to set multiple layers consistently.
- Barb Barrage is a nice move, not only providing utility with a high chance of poison but also doubling in power against poisoned targets, really threatening Pokemon that try to take advantage of it.
- A solid attack stat, Barb Barrage, and access to Haze and Taunt prevent it from being too passive, unlike other Poisons like Toxapex and Amonguss.
Cons:
- Its special bulk is dreadful. 65 SpD is beyond awful for a defensive Pokemon.
- Lacks reliable recovery.
- Despite its good defensive typing, being weak to Ground is a major detriment, especially in OU with Pokemon like Great Tusk, Ursulana, and Landorous-T running around.
- Has no good Dark-type moves, with Crunch as its only real option. A defensive Dark without Knock Off is pretty disappointing.
- While its attack is solid, its pretty mediocre offensively due to Poison being heavily resisted and not having any good Dark-type moves. It's also lacking in coverage.
- Pretty limited support outside of providing hazards, making it very one-dimensional and often doesn't provide much to teams that other Pokemon don't.
- For these reasons, it's mostly outclassed by other defensive Pokemon, especially Toxapex, which has mostly the same movepool but has much larger special bulk, reliable recovery, and access to Regenerator, as well as Ting-Lu, with its much higher bulk, better offensive presence in Earthquake, and access to Stealth Rock and Ruination.
Terastal Potential:
- Tera Dark is a decent option, taking advantage of its resistances to Dark, Ghost, and Psychic while getting rid of its Ground weakness. However, being weak to Fighting, Bug, and Fairy now is pretty rough.
- Tera Flying is another option to turn its main weakness into an immunity, while also resisting Fighting. However, this results in three new common weaknesses in Electric, Ice, and Rock, which makes it harder to come in on Stealth Rock.
Potential Sets:
Physically Defensive
Overqwil @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Dark / Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Barb Barrage
- Crunch
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes / Haze / Taunt
Really the only set you should be using. Barb Barrage is better than Poison Jab due to its higher poison chance and also being much stronger after the target is poisoned. Crunch is necessary so you don't be completely walled by the large amount of Pokemon that resist Poison, especially Steels. Spikes is mandatory as its one of its few utilty moves, and spreading hazards is basically the main draw of Overqwil. The last slot is somewhat flexible. Toxic Spikes can be used for dual hazards, and is probably the best option overall. Haze can be used to prevent Pokemon from using it as set-up fodder, although it shouldn't be spammed recklessly, as it can get rid of the opponent's attack drop caused by Intimidate. Lastly, Taunt can also be used to prevent set-up, hazard removal, opposing hazards, or recovery from other walls trying to 1v1 it. Keep in mind that Overqwil isn't particularly fast for Taunt, so it shouldn't be used recklessly on offensive set-up sweepers, as it could result in it being KOed if it fails to predict a set-up move, or just result in the mon already boosting once before the Taunt. Its also risky against faster Taunt users such as Ceruledge.
Other Options:
- Swift Swim sets may seem nice on rain teams with its nice attack, access to Swords Dance, and Water-type moves, but it's mostly an inferior option to better Swift Swim users in Barraskewda, Floatzel, and Basculegion due to their water STAB moves, better speed tier and coverage in the former two cases, better special bulk in the latter's case, and just generally more immediate power.
Overall Thoughts:
Overqwil looks really nice on paper due to its very solid typing and Intimidate, on top of being a much needed evolution to Qwilfish, which was already solid in lower tiers, but in terms of OU, yeah it's just outclassed. Its movepool and poor special bulk really let it down. However, I can definitely seeing it have a chance in RU or maybe even UU. If Qwilfish is viable in NU currently, Overqwil will certainly thrive in at least one tier above it.
