Qwilfish [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

[pimg]211[/PIMG]

Qwilfish

[OVERVIEW]

<p>Qwilfish occupies a very specialized niche in the UU metagame: it has the unique capability to check both Fire- and Fighting-type physical attackers that can run through teams with their powerful STAB attacks. True to its thorny exterior, Qwilfish can also lay down Spikes to break down opposing teams, making it one of the best utility Pokemon in the tier. One of the Balloon Pokemon's biggest weaknesses was remedied in BW2, as Intimidate and Pain Split are compatible on a single set, allowing Qwilfish to both cushion the physical attacks it switches into and recover its health fairly reliably. However, with its horrid Special Defense, Qwilfish can be struck down by most neutral or super effective special attacks. Combined with unfortunate weaknesses to Ground-, Electric-, and Psychic-type attacks, Qwilfish is by no means an unbreakable defensive threat. Still, if played to its strengths, Qwilfish makes a great check to many dangerous threats and a superb team supporter.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Waterfall / Poison Jab
move 4: Haze / Thunder Wave
item: Black Sludge
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With Intimidate, its Dream World ability, Qwilfish makes a great check to many physical threats, such as Heracross, Azumarill, and Darmanitan. Once in play, Qwilfish can proceed to set up layers of Spikes to wear down the opponent's team. Pain Split is a welcome addition from BW2, and if used at opportune times will keep Qwilfish at enough health to continue sponging powerful hits. Waterfall is Qwilfish's primary option for offense, allowing it to damage Cobalion while also hitting Fire-types super effectively. Poison Jab is another option to hit physical Kingdra, which Qwilfish struggles against otherwise, while also hitting switch-ins with a chance to poison. Finally, Haze is an effective way to check setup sweepers looking to capitalize on Qwilfish's modest offensive capabilities, such as Bulk Up Scrafty or Calm Mind Suicune. Thunder Wave is another great option to cripple almost anything it hits — it's especially effective because most Ground-types fear a STAB Waterfall and are therefore reluctant to switch in to absorb Thunder Wave. If Qwilfish does manage to paralyze an opposing threat, it can take advantage of the flinch chance of Waterfall as well as the chance of a full paralysis, which means the opponent will have a reduced chance to hit Qwilfish at all.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While significant Speed investment on a defensive Pokemon might seem odd, the 56 Speed EVs do serve a purpose. With the given spread, Qwilfish will outspeed Jolly Victini after it has used V-Create once. This helps Qwilfish because, while Qwilfish can avoid a 2HKO even after Stealth Rock, after prior damage Victini can take out Qwilfish in two hits due to the insane power of V-Create. Qwilfish will also outspeed Jolly Aggron and uninvested base 90 Speed Pokemon, such as Roserade. For this reason, Taunt can be used in the last slot to prevent Roserade from setting up its Spikes. If none of these situations particularly concern your team, a simple 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe spread can be used to attain maximum physical bulk. Because Qwilfish invites Rapid Spin users such as Blastoise and Hitmontop to switch in and clear away hazards, Toxic can also work in the fourth slot. Once afflicted by Toxic poison, spinners will be unable to continue clearing hazards over the course of the battle. Qwilfish has access to Toxic Spikes as well as Spikes and can feasibly set them up just as easily; however, grounded Poison-types, such as Roserade and Nidoking, are quite common, so Spikes will almost always be of more use. Black Sludge is an equivalent item to Leftovers, and also will cripple any Trick users that Qwilfish switches into that lack Poison typing. If the opponent wants to use Trick again to rid themselves of Black Sludge, Qwilfish can switch in again to regain its item. However, Qwilfish will rarely switch into popular UU Trick users, and if Qwilfish were to faint before the Trick user another Pokemon could be crippled instead. Leftovers is an alternative if you're feeling edgy about Black Sludge and Trick.</p>

<p>With Qwilfish laying Spikes, a spinblocker is a good teammate to keep the hazards on the field. Both Chandelure and Sableye can block Rapid Spin courtesy of their Ghost typing. Chandelure appreciates entry hazard support to aid its extremely powerful special attacks, and Sableye can serve as a backup check to physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp. As Qwilfish will fold to most special attacks, pairing it with Umbreon or Snorlax is a good idea. Umbreon in particular makes a good partner because it can use Wish heal Qwilfish if it is unable to get off a Pain Split. Qwilfish also resists both the Bug- and Fighting-type attacks that Umbreon despises.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Instead of using significant defensive investment to lay down Spikes, Qwilfish can utilize its decent Attack and Speed, as well as its access to Destiny Bond and Explosion, to become a dangerous offensive Spikes user. However, Scolipede, Froslass, or even Smeargle can run that set more effectively. Qwilfish can use Swords Dance and Swift Swim on a Rain Dance team to become a powerful sweeper, but it faces heavy competition from Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo as a Swift Swim user. The ability to absorb Toxic Spikes, once Qwilfish's claim to fame for rain teams, is less important in a metagame with many grounded Poison-types, and other Swift Swim Pokemon can outpower Qwilfish without needing to explode on the sturdiest walls.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Blastoise and Hitmontop are huge annoyances for Qwilfish because they take little damage from Waterfall and can Rapid Spin away the Spikes that Qwilfish put down. Xatu works along the same lines because of Magic Bounce, which will reflect the hazards back onto Qwilfish's side of the field. While they are unable to clear away Spikes, Swampert and Quagsire can capitalize on Qwilfish's weakness to Ground-type attacks and maim Qwilfish with Earthquake.</p>

<p>In addition to these options, most special attackers can handle Qwilfish without trouble. Slower Pokemon, such as Porygon2 and Slowbro, do not mind Thunder Wave and can strike back with super effective attacks. Offensively inclined checks take more damage from either Waterfall or Poison Jab, but because few Qwilfish invest in Attack, most Pokemon can weather a few hits and knock out Qwilfish. Pokemon such as Roserade, Shaymin, Zapdos, Raikou, and Azelf fit solidly into this category. Roserade and Shaymin have powerful attacks such as Leaf Storm and Seed Flare to take out Qwilfish and have Natural Cure to guard against Qwilfish's status attempts. The latter three are more susceptible to status, but they have super effective STAB attacks that will almost certainly knock Qwilfish out in a single hit. As long as you minimize Qwilfish's chances to lay down Spikes and are able to overwhelm its weak Special Defense, Qwilfish will not cause you significant headaches.</p>
 

kokoloko

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Your Checks and Counters section needs to be expanded a bit before I can approve this, but other than that--assuming you plan to be more specific when saying things like "popular Pokemon" during the writeup--it looks good.
 
Added some more Checks and Counters and gave some examples of "popular pokemon." I'll definitely expand and be specific in the write-up
 

Nas

Banned deucer.
Okay I'm going to suggest an EV spread of 252 Hp / 200 Def / 56 Spe, which lets you outrun -1 Jolly CB Victini. This is actually pretty useful considering V-Create still does 33.23 - 39.22% after Intimidate, which will 2HKO after rocks if Qwilfish comes in with >72% health. As far as I can tell the 52 Def EVs don't make much of a difference, but if the other QC members don't agree that it should be the main spread then it should at least replace your AC spread.
 

PK Gaming

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I wouldn't be opposed to making that main EV spread either. You also get the jump on things like Jolly CB Aggron which is nice.
 

alexwolf

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Maybe Taunt should also be slashed into the last slot? It is good especially with the Speed investment that RT proposed, as with this spread you can even outspeed and Taunt defensive Roserade before she sets-up Spikes (yeah i know that Giga Drain hurts, which does ~50%, but sometimes preventing her from setting up is worth it. With Taunt you also prevent any set-up from Gligar, Registeel, and Bronzong, and some other mons, which is nice.
 
I made the 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe spread the main option and moved 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD to AC. Taunt makes more sense with the extra speed, and while it does help against some things, it hurts Qwilfish against some of the Pokemon it's supposed to be countering. I've left it in AC for now, but can move it to the 3rd slash if needed.
 

kokoloko

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56 Spe, not SpD, Friar.

Anyway, I would probably still run 252/252+ a big majority of the time, because Qwilfish's stats are so bad that it really needs all the bulk it can get. That said, the faster spread definitely has its uses, but they're pretty niche, so I think that should be the one in AC (that's how we usually do it).

I'm not bothered either way, though. It's not like it changes how Qwilfish plays.

QC Approved 1/3

PS. The last 4 EVs on the 252/252 spread should be in Speed to get the jump on 0 Spe Gligar, imo.
 

Nyktos

Custom Loser Title
Unless I'm doing the math wrong, -1 Jolly Victini should have 218 Speed, so Qwilfish only needs 52 EVs to outspeed (and it still outspeeds Jolly Aggron as well).
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
I think Poison Jab should be slashed with Waterfall because it allows you to beat/weaken DD Kingdra (both Substitute and Chesto Rest versions) and it also gets a decent hit on Roserade, Shaymin etc, and has a handy Poison chance.

But the main point is hitting Kingdra, as Waterfall Qwilfish can only ''ensure it doesn't get boosts'' via Haze, while Poison Jab at least lets you break Kingdra subs and weaken it to a point where any other pokemon can KO it.
 

Yonko7

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<p>Qwilfish occupies a very specialized niche in the UU metagame after the BW2 changes. It has the unique capability to check both Fire- and Fighting-type physical attackers that can run through teams with their powerful STAB attacks alone. True to its thorny exterior, Qwilfish can also lay down Spikes to break down opposing teams, making it one of the best utility Pokemon in the tier. One of the Balloon Pokemon's biggest weaknesses was remedied in BW2, as Intimidate and Pain Split are compatible on a single set, allowing Qwilfish to both cushion the physical attacks it switches into and recover its health fairly reliably. However, with its horrid Special Defense Qwilfish can be struck down by most any neutral or super effective special attack. Combined with unfortunate weaknesses to Ground-, Electric-, and Psychic-type attacks, Qwilfish is by no means an unbreakable defensive threat. Still, if played to its strengths, Comma Qwilfish makes a great check to many dangerous threats and a superb team supporter.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Waterfall / Poison Jab
move 4: Haze / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Aided by With Intimidate, its Dream World ability, this Qwilfish set makes a great check to many physical threats such as Heracross, Azumarill, and Darmanitan. Once into play, Qwilfish can proceed to set up layers of Spikes to wear down the opponent's team. Pain Split is a welcome addition from BW2, and if used at opportune times will keep Qwilfish at enough health to continue sponging powerful hits. Waterfall is Qwilfish's primary option for an attacking move, allowing it to touch Cobalion while also hitting Fire-types super effectively. Poison Jab is a secondary option that handles physical Kingdra, who Qwilfish struggles against otherwise, while also hitting switch ins with a solid chance to poison. Haze in the last slot is effective to check set up sweepers looking to capitalize on Qwilfish's modest offensive capabilties, such as Bulk Up Scrafty or Calm Mind Suicune. Thunder Wave is also a great option to cripple almost anything it hits, and is especially effective because most Ground-types fear a STAB Waterfall and are therefore reluctant to switch in to absorb Thunder Wave. If Qwilfish does manage to paralyze an opposing threat, Qwilfish can abuse the flinch chance of Waterfall as well as the paralysis chance, which means the opponent will have a reduced chance to hit Qwilfish at all.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While significant speed investment on a defensive Pokemon might seem odd, the 56 Speed EVs do serve a purpose. With the given spread, Qwilfish will outspeed Jolly Victini after it has used V-Create once. This helps Qwilfish quite a lot because while Qwilfish can avoid a 2HKO even after Stealth Rock, after just a bit of prior damage Victini can take out Qwilfish in two hits due to the insane power of the move V-Create. Qwilish will also outspeed Jolly Aggron and uninvested base 90 speed Pokemon such as Roserade. For this reason, Taunt can work in the last slot of the set to prevent Roserade from setting up its Spikes. If none of these situations particularly concern your team, a simple 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe spread can be used to attain maximum physical bulk. As Since Qwilfish invites Rapid Spin users such as Blastoise and Hitmontop to switch in and clear away hazards, Toxic can also work in the fourth slot. Once afflicted by Toxic poison, spinners will be unable to continue clearing hazards over the course of the battle. Qwilfish has access to Toxic Spikes as well as Spikes, and can feasibly set them up just as easily, but because ; however grounded Poison-types such as Roserade and Nidoking are quite common, Spikes will almost always be of more use.</p>

<p>With Qwilfish laying Spikes, a spinblocker makes is a good teammate to keep the hazards on the field. Both Chandelure and Sableye can block Rapid Spin courtesy of their Ghost-typing. Chandelure appreciates entry hazard support to aid its extremely powerful special attacks, and Sableye can serve as a backup check to physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp. As Qwilfish will fold to most special attacks, pairing it with Umbreon or Snorlax is a good idea. Umbreon in particular makes a good partner because its Wishes can heal Qwilfish, comma if it did not get off a Pain Split,. Period while Qwilfish also resists both the Bug- and Fighting-type attacks that Umbreon despises.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Instead of using significant defensive investment to lay down Spikes, Qwilfish can utilize its decent Attack and Speed, as well as its access to Destiny Bond or Explosion to become a dangerous offensive Spikes user. However, Scolipede, Froslass, or even Smeargle can run that sort of set more effectively. Qwilfish can use Swords Dance and Swift Swim on a Rain Dance team to become a powerful sweeper, but faces heavy competition from Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo as a Swift Swim abuser. The ability to abosrb absorb spelling error Toxic Spikes, once Qwilfish's claim to fame for rain teams, is less important in a metagame with many grounded Poison-types, and other Swift Swimmers can outpower Qwilfish without needing to explode on the sturdiest walls.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Blastoise and Hitmontop are huge annoyances for Qwilfish because they take little damage from Waterfall and can Rapid Spin away the Spikes that Qwilfish has laid put down. Xatu works along the same lines because of Magic Bounce, with which will reflect the hazards back onto Qwilfish's side of the field. While they are unable to clear away Spikes, Swampert and Quagsire can capitalize on Qwilfish's weakness to Ground-type attacks and maim Qwilfish with Earthquake.</p>

<p>In addition to these options, most special attackers are able to handle Qwilfish without trouble. Slower Pokemon such as Porygon2 and Slowbro do not mind Thunder Wave and can strike back with super effective attacks. Offensively inclined checks take more damage from either Waterfall or Poison Jab, but because few Qwilfish invest in Attack most Pokemon can weather a few hits and knock out Qwilfish. Pokemon such as Roserade, Shaymin, Zapdos, Raikou, and Azelf fit solidly into this category. Roserade and Shaymin have powerful attacks such as Leaf Storm and Seed Flare to take out Qwilfish, and have Natural Cure to guard against Qwilfish's status attempts. The latter three are more susceptible to status, but have super effective STAB attacks to hurt Qwilfish with, almost certainly kocking it out in a single hit. As long as you minimize Qwilfish's chances to lay down Spikes and are able to overwhelm its weak Special Defense, Qwilfish will not cause you significant headaches.</p>


Nice job writing this!
 
placeholder

[OVERVIEW]

<p>Qwilfish occupies a very specialized niche in the UU metagame after the BW2 changes. It has the unique capability to check both Fire- and Fighting-type physical attackers that can run through teams with their powerful STAB attacks. True to its thorny exterior, Qwilfish can also lay down Spikes to break down opposing teams, making it one of the best utility Pokemon in the tier. One of the Balloon Pokemon's biggest weaknesses was remedied in BW2, as Intimidate and Pain Split are compatible on a single set, allowing Qwilfish to both cushion the physical attacks it switches into and recover its health fairly reliably. However, with its horrid Special Defense,(comma) Qwilfish can be struck down by most neutral or super effective special attacks. Combined with unfortunate weaknesses to Ground-, Electric-, and Psychic-type attacks, Qwilfish is by no means an unbreakable defensive threat. Still, if played to its strengths, Qwilfish makes a great check to many dangerous threats and a superb team supporter.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Waterfall / Poison Jab
move 4: Haze / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With Intimidate, its Dream World ability, this Qwilfish set makes a great check to many physical threats such as Heracross, Azumarill, and Darmanitan. Once in play, Qwilfish can proceed to set up layers of Spikes to wear down the opponent's team. Pain Split is a welcome addition from BW2, and if used at opportune times will keep Qwilfish at enough health to continue sponging powerful hits. Waterfall is Qwilfish's primary option for an attacking move, allowing it to touch Cobalion while also hitting Fire-types super effectively. Poison Jab is a secondary option that handles physical Kingdra, whoich Qwilfish struggles against otherwise, while also hitting switch-(hyphen)ins with a solid chance to poison. Haze in the last slot is effective to check set(remove space)up sweepers looking to capitalize on Qwilfish's modest offensive capabilities, such as Bulk Up Scrafty or Calm Mind Suicune. Thunder Wave is also a great option to cripple almost anything it hits,(remove comma) and is especially effective because most Ground-types fear a STAB Waterfall and are therefore reluctant to switch in to absorb Thunder Wave. If Qwilfish does manage to paralyze an opposing threat, Qwilfish can abuseit can take advantage of the flinch chance of Waterfall as well as the chance of a full paralysis chance, which means the opponent will have a reduced chance to hit Qwilfish at all.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While significant sSpeed investment on a defensive Pokemon might seem odd, the 56 Speed EVs do serve a purpose. With the given spread, Qwilfish will outspeed Jolly Victini after it has used V-Create once. This helps Qwilfish quite a lot because,(comma) while Qwilfish can avoid a 2HKO even after Stealth Rock, after just a bit of prior damage Victini can take out Qwilfish in two hits due to the insane power of V-Create. Qwilfish will also outspeed Jolly Aggron and uninvested base 90 sSpeed Pokemon such as Roserade. For this reason, Taunt can work in the last slot of the set to prevent Roserade from setting up its Spikes. If none of these situations particularly concern your team, a simple 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe spread can be used to attain maximum physical bulk. SincBecause Qwilfish invites Rapid Spin users such as Blastoise and Hitmontop to switch in and clear away hazards, Toxic can also work in the fourth slot. Once afflicted by Toxic poison, spinners will be unable to continue clearing hazards over the course of the battle. Qwilfish has access to Toxic Spikes as well as Spikes,(remove comma) and can feasibly set them up just as easily; however,(comma) grounded Poison-types such as Roserade and Nidoking are quite common, so Spikes will almost always be of more use.</p>

<p>With Qwilfish laying Spikes, a spinblocker is a good teammate to keep the hazards on the field. Both Chandelure and Sableye can block Rapid Spin courtesy of their Ghost-typing. Chandelure appreciates entry hazard support to aid its extremely powerful special attacks, and Sableye can serve as a backup check to physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp. As Qwilfish will fold to most special attacks, pairing it with Umbreon or Snorlax is a good idea. Umbreon in particular makes a good partner because its Wishes can heal Qwilfish,(remove comma) if it did notis unable to get off a Pain Split. Qwilfish also resists both the Bug- and Fighting-type attacks that Umbreon despises.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Instead of using significant defensive investment to lay down Spikes, Qwilfish can utilize its decent Attack and Speed, as well as its access to Destiny Bond orand Explosion,(comma) to become a dangerous offensive Spikes user. However, Scolipede, Froslass, or even Smeargle can run that sort of set more effectively. Qwilfish can use Swords Dance and Swift Swim on a Rain Dance team to become a powerful sweeper, but it faces heavy competition from Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo as a Swift Swim abuser. The ability to absorb Toxic Spikes, once Qwilfish's claim to fame for rain teams, is less important in a metagame with many grounded Poison-types, and other Swift Swimmers Pokemon can outpower Qwilfish without needing to explode on the sturdiest walls.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Blastoise and Hitmontop are huge annoyances for Qwilfish because they take little damage from Waterfall and can Rapid Spin away the Spikes that Qwilfish put down. Xatu works along the same lines because of Magic Bounce, which will reflect the hazards back onto Qwilfish's side of the field. While they are unable to clear away Spikes, Swampert and Quagsire can capitalize on Qwilfish's weakness to Ground-type attacks and maim Qwilfish with Earthquake.</p>

<p>In addition to these options, most special attackers are able to handle Qwilfish without trouble. Slower Pokemon such as Porygon2 and Slowbro do not mind Thunder Wave and can strike back with super effective attacks. Offensively inclined checks take more damage from either Waterfall or Poison Jab, but because few Qwilfish invest in Attack,(comma) most Pokemon can weather a few hits and knock out Qwilfish. Pokemon such as Roserade, Shaymin, Zapdos, Raikou, and Azelf fit solidly into this category. Roserade and Shaymin have powerful attacks such as Leaf Storm and Seed Flare to take out Qwilfish,(remove comma) and have Natural Cure to guard against Qwilfish's status attempts. The latter three are more susceptible to status, but they have super effective STAB attacks to hurt Qwilfish,that will almost certainly knocking it Qwilfish out in a single hit. As long as you minimize Qwilfish's chances to lay down Spikes and are able to overwhelm its weak Special Defense, Qwilfish will not cause you significant headaches.</p>


[OVERVIEW]

<p>Qwilfish occupies a very specialized niche in the UU metagame after the BW2 changes. It has the unique capability to check both Fire- and Fighting-type physical attackers that can run through teams with their powerful STAB attacks. True to its thorny exterior, Qwilfish can also lay down Spikes to break down opposing teams, making it one of the best utility Pokemon in the tier. One of the Balloon Pokemon's biggest weaknesses was remedied in BW2, as Intimidate and Pain Split are compatible on a single set, allowing Qwilfish to both cushion the physical attacks it switches into and recover its health fairly reliably. However, with its horrid Special Defense, Qwilfish can be struck down by most neutral or super effective special attacks. Combined with unfortunate weaknesses to Ground-, Electric-, and Psychic-type attacks, Qwilfish is by no means an unbreakable defensive threat. Still, if played to its strengths, Qwilfish makes a great check to many dangerous threats and a superb team supporter.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Waterfall / Poison Jab
move 4: Haze / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With Intimidate, its Dream World ability, this Qwilfish set makes a great check to many physical threats such as Heracross, Azumarill, and Darmanitan. Once in play, Qwilfish can proceed to set up layers of Spikes to wear down the opponent's team. Pain Split is a welcome addition from BW2, and if used at opportune times will keep Qwilfish at enough health to continue sponging powerful hits. Waterfall is Qwilfish's primary option for an attacking move, allowing it to touch Cobalion while also hitting Fire-types super effectively. Poison Jab is a secondary option that handles physical Kingdra, which Qwilfish struggles against otherwise, while also hitting switch-ins with a solid chance to poison. Haze in the last slot is effective to check setup sweepers looking to capitalize on Qwilfish's modest offensive capabilities, such as Bulk Up Scrafty or Calm Mind Suicune. Thunder Wave is also a great option to cripple almost anything it hits and is especially effective because most Ground-types fear a STAB Waterfall and are therefore reluctant to switch in to absorb Thunder Wave. If Qwilfish does manage to paralyze an opposing threat, it can take advantage of the flinch chance of Waterfall as well as the chance of a full paralysis, which means the opponent will have a reduced chance to hit Qwilfish at all.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While significant Speed investment on a defensive Pokemon might seem odd, the 56 Speed EVs do serve a purpose. With the given spread, Qwilfish will outspeed Jolly Victini after it has used V-Create once. This helps Qwilfish quite a lot because, while Qwilfish can avoid a 2HKO even after Stealth Rock, after just a bit of prior damage Victini can take out Qwilfish in two hits due to the insane power of V-Create. Qwilfish will also outspeed Jolly Aggron and uninvested base 90 Speed Pokemon such as Roserade. For this reason, Taunt can work in the last slot of the set to prevent Roserade from setting up its Spikes. If none of these situations particularly concern your team, a simple 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe spread can be used to attain maximum physical bulk. Because Qwilfish invites Rapid Spin users such as Blastoise and Hitmontop to switch in and clear away hazards, Toxic can also work in the fourth slot. Once afflicted by Toxic poison, spinners will be unable to continue clearing hazards over the course of the battle. Qwilfish has access to Toxic Spikes as well as Spikes and can feasibly set them up just as easily; however, grounded Poison-types such as Roserade and Nidoking are quite common, so Spikes will almost always be of more use.</p>

<p>With Qwilfish laying Spikes, a spinblocker is a good teammate to keep the hazards on the field. Both Chandelure and Sableye can block Rapid Spin courtesy of their Ghost typing. Chandelure appreciates entry hazard support to aid its extremely powerful special attacks, and Sableye can serve as a backup check to physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp. As Qwilfish will fold to most special attacks, pairing it with Umbreon or Snorlax is a good idea. Umbreon in particular makes a good partner because its Wishes can heal Qwilfish if it is unable to get off a Pain Split. Qwilfish also resists both the Bug- and Fighting-type attacks that Umbreon despises.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Instead of using significant defensive investment to lay down Spikes, Qwilfish can utilize its decent Attack and Speed, as well as its access to Destiny Bond and Explosion, to become a dangerous offensive Spikes user. However, Scolipede, Froslass, or even Smeargle can run that sort of set more effectively. Qwilfish can use Swords Dance and Swift Swim on a Rain Dance team to become a powerful sweeper, but it faces heavy competition from Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo as a Swift Swim user. The ability to absorb Toxic Spikes, once Qwilfish's claim to fame for rain teams, is less important in a metagame with many grounded Poison-types, and other Swift Swim Pokemon can outpower Qwilfish without needing to explode on the sturdiest walls.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Blastoise and Hitmontop are huge annoyances for Qwilfish because they take little damage from Waterfall and can Rapid Spin away the Spikes that Qwilfish put down. Xatu works along the same lines because of Magic Bounce, which will reflect the hazards back onto Qwilfish's side of the field. While they are unable to clear away Spikes, Swampert and Quagsire can capitalize on Qwilfish's weakness to Ground-type attacks and maim Qwilfish with Earthquake.</p>

<p>In addition to these options, most special attackers are able to handle Qwilfish without trouble. Slower Pokemon such as Porygon2 and Slowbro do not mind Thunder Wave and can strike back with super effective attacks. Offensively inclined checks take more damage from either Waterfall or Poison Jab, but because few Qwilfish invest in Attack, most Pokemon can weather a few hits and knock out Qwilfish. Pokemon such as Roserade, Shaymin, Zapdos, Raikou, and Azelf fit solidly into this category. Roserade and Shaymin have powerful attacks such as Leaf Storm and Seed Flare to take out Qwilfish and have Natural Cure to guard against Qwilfish's status attempts. The latter three are more susceptible to status, but they have super effective STAB attacks that will almost certainly knock Qwilfish out in a single hit. As long as you minimize Qwilfish's chances to lay down Spikes and are able to overwhelm its weak Special Defense, Qwilfish will not cause you significant headaches.</p>



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Komodo

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[OVERVIEW]

<p>Qwilfish occupies a very specialized niche in the UU metagame:(colon) after the BW2 changes. it has the unique capability to check both Fire- and Fighting-type physical attackers that can run through teams with their powerful STAB attacks. True to its thorny exterior, Qwilfish can also lay down Spikes to break down opposing teams, making it one of the best utility Pokemon in the tier. One of the Balloon Pokemon's biggest weaknesses was remedied in BW2, as Intimidate and Pain Split are compatible on a single set, allowing Qwilfish to both cushion the physical attacks it switches into and recover its health fairly reliably. However, with its horrid Special Defense, Qwilfish can be struck down by most neutral or super effective special attacks. Combined with unfortunate weaknesses to Ground-, Electric-, and Psychic-type attacks, Qwilfish is by no means an unbreakable defensive threat. Still, if played to its strengths, Qwilfish makes a great check to many dangerous threats and a superb team supporter.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Waterfall / Poison Jab
move 4: Haze / Thunder Wave
item: Black Sludge
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With Intimidate, its Dream World ability, this Qwilfish set makes a great check to many physical threats,(comma) such as Heracross, Azumarill, and Darmanitan. Once in play, Qwilfish can proceed to set up layers of Spikes to wear down the opponent's team. Pain Split is a welcome addition from BW2, and if used at opportune times will keep Qwilfish at enough health to continue sponging powerful hits. Waterfall is Qwilfish's primary option for offense an attacking move, allowing it to touch Cobalion (can you explain what you mean by "touch". I would change this to "damage") while also hitting Fire-types super effectively. Poison Jab is a secondary option that handles is another option to hit with physical Kingdra, which Qwilfish struggles against otherwise, while also hitting switch-ins with a chance to poison. Finally, Haze in the last slot is an effective way to check setup sweepers looking to capitalize on Qwilfish's modest offensive capabilities, such as Bulk Up Scrafty or Calm Mind Suicune. Thunder Wave is also a another great option to cripple almost anything it hits and—(emdash) it's especially effective because most Ground-types fear a STAB Waterfall and are therefore reluctant to switch in to absorb Thunder Wave. If Qwilfish does manage to paralyze an opposing threat, it can take advantage of the flinch chance of Waterfall as well as the chance of a full paralysis, which means the opponent will have a reduced chance to hit Qwilfish at all.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While significant Speed investment on a defensive Pokemon might seem odd, the 56 Speed EVs do serve a purpose. With the given spread, Qwilfish will outspeed Jolly Victini after it has used V-Create once. This helps Qwilfish quite a lot because, while Qwilfish can avoid a 2HKO even after Stealth Rock, after just a bit of prior damage Victini can take out Qwilfish in two hits due to the insane power of V-Create. Qwilfish will also outspeed Jolly Aggron and uninvested base 90 Speed Pokemon,(comma) such as Roserade. For this reason, Taunt can work in the last slot of the set be used in the last slot to prevent Roserade from setting up its Spikes. If none of these situations particularly concern your team, a simple 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe spread can be used to attain maximum physical bulk. Because Qwilfish invites Rapid Spin users such as Blastoise and Hitmontop to switch in and clear away hazards, Toxic can also work in the fourth slot. Once afflicted by Toxic poison, spinners will be unable to continue clearing hazards over the course of the battle. Qwilfish has access to Toxic Spikes as well as Spikes and can feasibly set them up just as easily; however, grounded Poison-types,(comma) such as Roserade and Nidoking,(comma) are quite common, so Spikes will almost always be of more use. Black Sludge is an equivalent item to Leftovers, and also will cripple any Trick users that Qwilfish switches into that lack Poison(remove dash)typing. If the opponent wants to use Trick again to rid themselves of Black Sludge, Qwilfish can switch in again to take its item back to regain its item. However, Qwilfish will rarely switch into popular UU Trick users, and if Qwilfish were to faint before the Trick user,(comma) another Pokemon could be crippled instead. If this situation concerns you, Leftovers is an alternate item choice.</p>
(wait, Black Sludge is the primary item, this doesn't make sense? Shouldn't it say something like "Leftovers is an alternative if you're feeling edgy about Black Sludge and Trick". It's quite confusing the way it's worded.)

<p>With Qwilfish laying Spikes, a spinblocker is a good teammate to keep the hazards on the field. Both Chandelure and Sableye can block Rapid Spin courtesy of their Ghost typing. Chandelure appreciates entry hazard support to aid its extremely powerful special attacks, and Sableye can serve as a backup check to physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp. As Qwilfish will fold to most special attacks, pairing it with Umbreon or Snorlax is a good idea. Umbreon in particular makes a good partner because its Wishes can it can use Wish to heal Qwilfish if it is unable to get off a Pain Split. Qwilfish also resists both the Bug- and Fighting-type attacks that Umbreon despises.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Instead of using significant defensive investment to lay down Spikes, Qwilfish can utilize its decent Attack and Speed, as well as its access to Destiny Bond and Explosion, to become a dangerous offensive Spikes user. However, Scolipede, Froslass, or even Smeargle can run that sort of set more effectively. Qwilfish can use Swords Dance and Swift Swim on a Rain Dance team to become a powerful sweeper, but it faces heavy competition from Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo as a Swift Swim user. The ability to absorb Toxic Spikes, once Qwilfish's claim to fame for rain teams, is less important in a metagame with many grounded Poison-types, and other Swift Swim Pokemon can outpower Qwilfish without needing to explode on the sturdiest walls.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Blastoise and Hitmontop are huge annoyances for Qwilfish because they take little damage from Waterfall and can Rapid Spin away the Spikes that Qwilfish put down. Xatu works along the same lines because of Magic Bounce, which will reflect the hazards back onto Qwilfish's side of the field. While they are unable to clear away Spikes, Swampert and Quagsire can capitalize on Qwilfish's weakness to Ground-type attacks and maim Qwilfish with Earthquake.</p>

<p>In addition to these options, most special attackers are able to can handle Qwilfish without trouble. Slower Pokemon,(comma) such as Porygon2 and Slowbro,(comma) do not mind Thunder Wave and can strike back with super effective attacks. Offensively inclined checks take more damage from either Waterfall or Poison Jab, but because few Qwilfish invest in Attack, most Pokemon can weather a few hits and knock out Qwilfish. Pokemon such as Roserade, Shaymin, Zapdos, Raikou, and Azelf fit solidly into this category. Roserade and Shaymin have powerful attacks such as Leaf Storm and Seed Flare to take out Qwilfish and have Natural Cure to guard against Qwilfish's status attempts. The latter three are more susceptible to status, but they have super effective STAB attacks that will almost certainly knock Qwilfish out in a single hit. As long as you minimize Qwilfish's chances to lay down Spikes and are able to overwhelm its weak Special Defense, Qwilfish will not cause you significant headaches.</p>

 

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