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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>
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>