[SET]
name: Swords Dancer
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Poison Jab
move 4: Explosion
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set plays like a less
powerful but slightly faster version of Kabutops. One of the big advantages Qwilfish has over Kabutops is its ability to absorb Toxic Spikes, which
can badly hurt your team's ability to sweep. Waterfall is its main attack option, and its power should not be underestimated in the rain, thanks to the 1.5x boost it provides. Poison Jab is its secondary attack to hit Grass- and Water-types that resist Waterfall. Explosion takes out anything that doesn't resist
it after a Swords Dance boost. Return is a minor option for use over Explosion as it can hit Quagsire, Gastrodon, Toxicroak, and other Water- and Poison-type resists without you having to blow yourself up; however, Explosion's sheer power and ability to blow holes in teams is generally preferred.
Also, Explosion is one of the main moves that differentiates it from Kabutops, and running Return makes Qwilfish in many ways inferior to Kabutops[I'd omit this part; even with Return, Qwilfish still has a number of advantages over Kabutops].</p>
<p>[
this part was kind of awkwardly worded]Thanks to Swift Swim, Qwilfish reaches 538 Speed when Rain Dance is up, which outspeeds pretty much everything you will encounter in UU, including all common Choice Scarf users. You could drop its
Speed[can't drop its Speed up], but it's better to run maximum Speed to Speed tie with other Adamant Qwilfish.</p>
<p>Rain Dance is a requirement when using Swords Dance Qwilfish on your
team because it doubles its average Speed, as well as giving a 1.5x boost on your STAB Waterfall. Claydol makes a great partner
to Qwilfish,
immune or resistant to all of
its weaknesses, as well as being able to set up both Stealth Rock and Rain Dance. Stealth Rock
is definitely suggested[it's better than just an option] because it makes it easier for Qwilfish to deal with Pokemon like
Altaria. Uxie is another Pokemon
who can set up Stealth Rock while taking the Ground- and Psychic-type moves commonly directed at Qwilfish. Uxie also has access to
Memento,[remember to either use "that" or "who", or use a comma before which when using it as a demonstrative] which can help Qwilfish set up a Swords Dance, albeit at the cost of Uxie. Rotom is another great partner, taking the Ground-, Fighting-, and Electric-type moves aimed at Qwilfish while setting up Rain Dance; it can also use Hidden Power Grass to hit Quagsire and
Gastrodon, which Qwilfish can do nothing but
Explode on. Ludicolo is very dangerous in the
rain and makes a great partner as it has access to Grass-type
moves, which can deal with the bulky Water-types
that Qwilfish hates. Although it may seem like a conflict of interests, Kabutops can actually make a nice partner to Qwilfish; they have problems with many of the same
Pokemon, so when Qwilfish Explodes on Quagsire or Gastrodon, it will open up an opportunity for Kabutops to finish off the opponent's team. Dugtrio can trap and kill Toxicroak; however, it has to be careful when switching in on a Nasty Plot
because Toxicroak can OHKO Dugtrio with Vacuum Wave.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Dance Lead
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Poison Jab / Taunt
move 4: Explosion / Destiny Bond
item: Focus Sash
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Qwilfish can make a decent Rain Dance lead. The idea is to set up Rain Dance and attempt a sweep on your
own or Explode on someone and send in your secondary Swift Swimmer unharmed. With Focus Sash, you will always survive a hit and get Rain Dance on the field unless you get hit with Taunt
or certain status or are against a Fake Out lead. However, Damp Rock with an EV spread of 252 HP / 92 Def / 166 Spe is another option, as it means
you'll get eight turns of Rain Dance. Also, with the extra HP, you'll be able to take an
unboosted Earthquake from Steelix. The Speed EVs outspeed +1 positive base 100s in the rain, allowing you to Destiny Bond them before they attack. However, the safety that Focus Sash provides is better.</p>
<p>Waterfall is your main attack, and although Qwilfish lacks Life Orb on this set, it
can still deal plenty of damage. Poison Jab is better for sweeping and hits the Grass-type Pokemon
who resist your main attack, but Taunt has its uses, too. You can prevent opponents
from setting up a Substitute
or Stealth Rock or throwing status around, which can harm a
team member's chance of sweeping. However, Qwilfish is quite slow, meaning
Taunt's only useful against slower, bulkier leads unless you have rain up. Explosion is the preferred option in the last slot to go out with a bang, but Destiny Bond can be used instead to force
opponents to switch or faint, and due to Rain Dance, you'll be faster than them. Spikes or Toxic Spikes are other minor options for use in the third slot should you want to utilize entry hazards. An Adamant nature is used to hit as powerfully as possible, and you don't need the extra Speed investment due to Swift Swim doubling your Speed. One of the main reasons to use Qwilfish over other Rain Dance leads, such as Electrode and Ambipom, is that you can straight out put the momentum of the match on your side.</p>
<p>Obviously, this Qwilfish should only be used on a Rain Dance team, and
it therefore needs to be supported by appropriate Pokemon. Ludicolo makes a great offensive partner, taking out the bulky Water-types
that Qwilfish hates.
If Qwilfish
can lure in and Explode on Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Toxicroak, Kabutops
will have an easier time at a sweep and therefore makes an effective partner. Claydol covers all of
Qwilfish's weaknesses and so is a great option for a partner. It can also set up both Stealth Rock and Rain Dance to support the team. Dugtrio
is a great partner because it can trap Toxicroak
and Chansey, who causes problems for the special sweepers in Rain Dance teams.</p>
<p>Qwilfish has a lot of trouble with Ambipom leads, as they can use Fake Out to break Qwilfish's Focus Sash, therefore making Rotom a nice partner to switch into Fake Out, while also being able to set up Rain Dance to support the team. It will have to watch out for
Payback, though, which will 2HKO 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Rotom 98.62% of the time if Ambipom is holding Life Orb. However, Rotom can burn Ambipom with Will-O-Wisp, and since Life Orb isn't too common on Lead Ambipom, Rotom will usually be fine. Uxie has great bulk and makes another good switch into Ambipom, and since U-turn and Payback only do around 25% to 252 HP / 252 Def Relaxed Uxie, it shouldn't have too much trouble getting in and setting up both Rain Dance and Stealth Rock to support your team.</p>
[SET]
name: Spikes Support
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Poison Jab / Taunt
move 4: Explosion / Destiny Bond
item: Leftovers
ability: Poison Point
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although one of its lesser options, Qwilfish can still make a great Spikes user. The handy thing about Qwilfish is that five of the best Rapid Spinners in UU have trouble switching into it, allowing Qwilfish to set up quite easily. Claydol, Donphan, Sandslash, and Torkoal are all weak to Waterfall, and are therefore unlikely to switch in, while Blastoise has trouble doing any real damage and gets worn down by Poison Jab.</p>
<p>Waterfall is the main attacking option for Qwilfish, while Poison Jab helps against Grass-types and certain Flying-types
who resist or are immune to Water-type attacks, like Mantine and Altaria.
Although Qwilfish doesn't have stellar defenses, it can use Taunt over Poison Jab to stop opponents from setting up. For the last slot, Explosion is the preferred option to go out with a bang, but Destiny Bond is a good
alternative and might cause some switching if you reveal it early. Thunder Wave is a minor option, but if your team is slow, it could be helpful, and with the 20% flinch rate of Waterfall, Qwilfish can be an annoyer of sorts. Although Qwilfish may seem outclassed by Omastar as a Spikes user, its access to Explosion, Taunt, and higher Speed are some big things which set it apart from Omastar. It can also soak up Toxic
Spikes, which stall teams hate.</p>
<p>The EVs are aimed at boosting Qwilfish's Attack while also letting it take hits better, with the rest put in Speed. Poison Point is the preferred ability as the odd chance of poisoning your opponent could prove crucial, and with only 4 EVs in Speed, Qwilfish won't be able to make that good use of Swift Swim anyway. Running an EV spread of 252 HP / 32 SpD / 224 Spe is another option; this outruns Timid LO Milotic and anything
slower, though at the cost of Attack. Therefore, this is best when running Spikes / Waterfall / Taunt / Destiny Bond.</p>
<p>A Ghost-type Pokemon is a requirement as a partner to this set to stop opponents from Spinning away your Spikes and ruining all of your work. Rotom, Spiritomb, and Mismagius are the best options for that slot.
They all have access to Will-O-Wisp and
various supporting qualities[I think this will help transition to the next few sentences] to cripple your opponents.
Perish Song Mismagius can put your opponents in a horrible
position: they'll need to switch because of Perish Song, but don't want to because of Spikes.
[all three can use Pain Split] Spiritomb is the most defensive of the three and can handle key threats to Qwilfish, like Toxicroak, the best. Rotom
can help your team take hits better with dual screens. Obviously, Qwilfish can do well on stall teams as Spikes are very important to stall
teams, so Chansey is a great partner to take special attacks aimed at Qwilfish. Donphan
makes a nice partner because it has an immunity to Electric-type moves and can also set up Stealth Rock and
use Rapid Spin. Altaria has an immunity to Ground-type moves and can use Toxic to poison the bulky Water-types
that cause Qwilfish problems
[seemed unrelated].</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Stealth Rock is a great support option to help the offensive
sets and makes it harder for opponents to just predict around you. Claydol and Uxie are the best
options as they can also set up Rain Dance
themselves and take
many of Qwilfish's weaknesses with ease. Donphan is one of the best options to set up Stealth Rock for the Spikes Support set
[Donphan cannot be fully associated with stall]. Dual screen or Memento support is a great option to help the Swords Dancer set
up with relative ease. Rotom is one of the best options for dual screen support, and it can also set up Rain Dance. Uxie is an amazing user of
both dual screens and Memento while also having access to both Rain Dance and Stealth Rock, making it one of the best, if not the best, partner to the Swords Dancer.</p>
<p>Ludicolo is perhaps the best offensive support Pokemon as it can deal with both Quagsire and
Gastrodon, who are the most common counters to Qwilfish's offensive sets, while also dealing with Altaria through its Ice-type moves. Kabutops is another great offensive Pokemon because although it's countered by the same Pokemon as Qwilfish, it can take advantage of Qwilfish Exploding on one of the aforementioned threats. Omastar and Gorebyss are other nice partners to hit some of the more physically defensive Pokemon
who cause Qwilfish
trouble, using Hidden Power Grass to hit Quagsire and Gastrodon
and Earth Power and Psychic, respectively, to deal with Toxicroak.</p>
<p>There are many great defensive partners to Qwilfish. For the offensive Rain Dance sets, Pokemon like Uxie and Claydol are among the best, as they can set up Rain Dance and Stealth Rock to support Qwilfish while also taking most attacks aimed at it. Lanturn can absorb Electric-type moves aimed at Qwilfish and also set up Rain Dance to support Qwilfish while abusing it itself. Rotom can take the Ground- and
Electric-type moves aimed at
Qwilfish and set up Rain Dance to support it.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Toxic Spikes is an option over Spikes, although in UU, there are many Poison-types who can easily absorb them. There's Endure/Substitute and Flail, but that is better left to Kabutops. Counter is rather
gimmicky and should only be used with a Focus Sash, but it could surprise some Pokemon. Anything else of note requires Qwilfish to take a hit or be slow (Revenge, Payback, Gyro Ball), which is definitely not acceptable. Aqua Jet is another option, as priority is very useful in UU, but this makes it generally outclassed by
Kabutops, who has a higher Attack stat. Also, Aqua Jet + Swords Dance is an illegal move combination, so this further prevents Qwilfish from using it too effectively.</p>
[EVs]
<p>For offensive sets, just simply maximize Attack and Speed. For more defensively oriented sets, you'll want to invest in both HP and Attack to help you take hits and dish some out damage in the process.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Qwilfish is a neat UU Pokémon that can support a team, take down opponents by sacrificing itself, or even sweep. It doesn't have the power of other Swift Swimmers like Kabutops and Gorebyss, but it has plenty in its movepool to offer. Its ability to soak up Toxic Spikes, higher Speed, and access to Explosion are the main things that differentiate it from Kabutops, and it can make good use of this. When Rain Dance is up, this is one Pokemon that you shouldn't underestimate, or it will likely lead to your demise. DPP hasn't changed it a whole lot,
but there's still enough to recommend[I don't really get this part].</p>
[Counters]
<p>Quagsire and Toxicroak are effective general counters, as they are immune to Water-type moves because of Water Absorb and Dry Skin, respectively, and both resist Poison-type moves. Walrein, Gastrodon, and Cradily with Earthquake will also be effective, although a +2 rain boosted Waterfall is going to hurt both Cradily and Gastrodon. Most healthy Pokémon with decent defenses will be able to take a hit if they're not weak to Water- or Poison-type attacks
[didn't seem to sound right]. Milotic and Lapras are some examples of such Pokemon, although Milotic will need Hidden Power Electric and Lapras will need Thunderbolt. Furthermore, Qwilfish's Speed is noticeably average, so the non-Rain Dance version can be outsped and hit with strong attacks from Choice item users.</p>
