[OVERVIEW]
Qwilfish fills two crucial niches in GSC UU—it is the best Spiker and has a fast Haze. It has just enough power behind its STAB attacks that it can occasionally pose a realistic threat to opposing teams, especially because it outspeeds and 2HKOes Nidoqueen, which is arguably the best Pokemon in the tier. Its typing is both a blessing and a curse; its immunity to Toxic and resistance to Water make it difficult for spinners to wear it down, but its weaknesses to common types such as Psychic and Ground and middling defenses can leave it struggling to find opportunities to lay Spikes down in the first place.
[SET]
name: Spiker
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Hydro Pump
move 4: Haze / Curse
item: Leftovers
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Spikes is what separates Qwilfish from GSC UU's plethora of other Water-type Pokemon and provides constant extra damage, which can prove crucial to securing KOs; notably, Nidoqueen gains a chance at 2HKOing Slowbro with Thunder with Spikes up. Once Qwilfish has put Spikes down, unless there is a spinner on the opposing team, it very often becomes the go-to choice when fodder is needed for taking a status move or strong hit, as its main purpose has been served. That is not to say that it is useless other than for setting Spikes—far from it. Sludge Bomb is a surprisingly powerful attack, especially with its 30% chance to inflict poison. It is handy for threatening Grass-types like Jumpluff and Bellossom and is also good for hitting other Water-types and neutral targets. Hydro Pump is key for hitting the many Ground-types in the metagame hard, especially Nidoqueen, which Qwilfish can beat one-on-one. Haze makes Qwilfish a solid check to all kinds of setup sweepers. Qwilfish has high Speed relative to most of the tier, so it can outspeed and erase the boosts of Pokemon like Granbull, Kabutops, Victreebel, Quagsire, and Politoed. It also Speed ties with Pinsir, another dangerous Swords Dance user. Curse is an alternative that gives Qwilfish the ability to boost Sludge Bomb's power against targets like Blastoise, which may try to outlast Qwilfish to keep its Spikes off the field. It can also be useful against Pokemon like Scyther and Pinsir, which can struggle to beat Qwilfish once it has a Curse boost. However, a boosted Qwilfish will still lose to many common Pokemon, including Curse Granbull, Slowbro, and Haunter. Nidoqueen's matchup against Qwilfish also improves if it uses Curse due to its reduced Speed.
Team Options
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Qwilfish has such great utility with Spikes and Haze that it can be used on almost any kind of team. The extra damage granted by its Spikes can be taken advantage of most by offensive Pokemon, particularly those with immediate power and good coverage like Nidoqueen, Electabuzz, Mr. Mime, Gyarados, and Dodrio. Pokemon that can force switches with Roar, Whirlwind, or Swagger such as Piloswine, Gyarados, Dodrio, and Arcanine also make good use of the extra damage from Spikes. While not strictly necessary, Belly Drum users such as Quagsire, Politoed, and Poliwrath appreciate the additional chip damage Qwilfish's Spikes provides; notably, Quagsire's +6 Earthquake becomes much more likely to OHKO Slowbro with Spikes on the field. Many defensive teams also opt to add Spikes to their team to ensure they have a reliable source of long-term damage, especially those with more passive Pokemon like Chansey, Blastoise, and Bellossom. Leech Seed Jumpluff and Bellossom are great at forcing switches, so Qwilfish's Spikes makes it an important teammate. Jumpluff has particularly good synergy with Curse Qwilfish, which can better keep Spikes up against Blastoise, whereas Jumpluff's Encore compensates for Qwilfish's lack of Haze. Qwilfish can struggle to find early-game opportunities to lay Spikes down against Psychic-type leads such as Mr. Mime and Slowking, so leads such as Electrode, Scyther, and Pinsir can be used to force them out and get Qwilfish in on a less dangerous foe. Finally, Haunter can be useful alongside Haze Qwilfish as a spinblocker to help ensure Qwilfish's Spikes can be kept on the field when facing Blastoise.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Qwilfish can use Hidden Power Ground to hit opposing Qwilfish harder and make it a more plausible recipient for Attack boosts from Baton Pass Scyther. However, it must sacrifice some of its bulk to do so due to DV requirements. Qwilfish's decent Speed also makes it possible for it to use Swagger somewhat effectively, which can give it a chance at breaking through some foes it might otherwise be very unlikely to, such as Slowbro. However, Haze is typically more useful and reliable than either of these options. Rest can also be used to give Qwilfish some extra longevity against Pokemon that are unable to hit it hard like Blastoise, Slowbro without Psychic, and opposing Qwilfish. However, Rest should only be used alongside a very solid defensive lineup due to the free turns it provides to the opposing team. Sleep Talk can also be used alongside Rest with Spikes and Haze or a STAB attack, but while this increases Qwilfish's durability, it must be noted that important coverage is being given up, which may result in it being used as setup fodder.
Checks and Counters
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**Slowbro**: Slowbro easily switches into any of Qwilfish's attacks and can deal massive damage to it with Psychic. It can also shrug off a potential poison infliction from Sludge Bomb with Rest.
**Opposing Qwilfish**: Opposing Qwilfish can take advantage of your own Qwilfish to set up Spikes, as it resists both STAB attacks. To avoid damage to more valuable members of the team, opposing Qwilfish can also choose to slowly wear your Qwilfish down with its STAB attacks before finishing it off with a teammate.
**Psychic-types**: Pokemon such as Mr. Mime and Kadabra outspeed and deal massive damage to Qwilfish with their STAB Psychic, although they don't want to switch into Sludge Bomb. Other Psychic-types such as Hypno and Slowking are not quite as good at fighting Qwilfish due to getting outsped and having lower Defense than Slowbro, but they can hit it hard with STAB Psychic and will usually beat it one-on-one. Girafarig is also notable because it is a Baton Pass user that threatens Qwilfish with Psychic and Thunder, meaning Qwilfish can find it difficult to use Haze to stop it from passing boosts.
**Electric-types**: Ampharos, Magneton, and Lanturn make for decent answers to Qwilfish, although if they are hit on their weaker defensive stat on the switch, they will take a large chunk of damage. Electabuzz outspeeds Qwilfish but does not enjoy getting hit by it on the switch. Ampharos, Magneton, and Electabuzz all OHKO Qwilfish with Thunder, while Lanturn does 93% at minimum.
**Blastoise**: With a RestTalk + Rapid Spin set, Blastoise has the defenses and typing to outlast Qwilfish and keep its Spikes off the field as long as it avoids a critical hit from Sludge Bomb at the wrong moment. Blastoise will struggle to keep Curse Qwilfish’s Spikes off the field, however. It can also try to take Qwilfish by surprise with Zap Cannon, although replacing any of Blastoise's moves will reduce its ability to consistently remove Spikes.
**Haunter**: Haunter outspeeds Qwilfish, takes negligible damage from Sludge Bomb, and threatens to 2HKO Qwilfish with Psychic and Thunder. It doesn't like taking Hydro Pump, though.
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