Typhlosion (UU Analysis)
[Overview]
/* Note that if for some reason the whole analysis gets QC Rejected, then I'd like dibs on the RU analysis.*/
- Decent Speed and a very powerful 100% accurate STAB move make it an ideal user of Choice Scarf or Specs
- Special movepool is unfortuantely quite limited
- Stealth Rock and other hazards reduces the power of Eruption so Rapid Spin support is vital
- Has decent bulk but bulk doesn't really matter in his case
- Has an okay Attack stat but can't really be put to use
- Lacks offensive boosting moves meaning only real role is as a revenge killer
- While seemingly outclassed by Arcanine, Victini, Houndoom, and Entei, Typhlosion has higher speed than most other UU Fire types (tying with Victini) and access to an extremely powerful STAB move with few drawbacks mean that Typhlosion is not to be overlooked.
[SET]
Name: Choice
Move 1: Eruption
Move 2: Fire Blast/Flamethrower/Heat Wave/Overheat
Move 3: Focus Blast
Move 4: Hidden Power Grass/Hidden Power Rock/Toxic
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
Nature: Modest/Timid
EV's: 4 HP/ 252 SPA / 252 SPE
[SET COMMENTS]
This set takes advantage of what Typhlosion gets that few other pokemon have: Eruption. Eruption is a 150 Base Power move that has 100% accuracy. Having an extremely powerful, and generally reliable 150 BP move is what gives Typhlosion his niche in UU - there are few things that can survive two or more hits from Choice Specs Eruption. However, if Typhlosion is damaged, Eruption's power decreases, so the second slot is to give Typhlosion a powerful STAB move when it's HP is low. Fire Blast is the prefered option due to it's very high Base Power, but its rather low accuracy may be discouraging, so Flamethrower is also an option. Heat Wave can also be used as it is more powerful than Flamethrower, but it has a slight chance of missing. Overheat is almost as powerful as a full-powered Eruption is, but Overheat halves Typhlosion's Special Attack so a switch is almost necessary after using Overheat. Focus Blast occupies the third slot, which allows it to hit Rock-types that resist Eruption. While Focus Blast has an infamously low accuracy, Focus Blast allows Typhlosion to KO several pokemon that would otherwise wall it. The last slot has several options: Hidden Power Grass can be used to damage bulky waters such as Quagsire, but it will generally fail to even 2HKO pokemon like Milotic unless Typhlosion is holding Choice Specs or the defending pokemon is extremely weak to Grass, like Quagsire. Hidden Power Rock could be used to KO pokemon like Moltres that resist both Eruption and Focus Blast, like Moltres. Toxic can be used to screw up walls that would otherwise screw over Typhlosion, but being locked into a status move is generally not a good thing.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
This set's EV's are the standard 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed that allows Typhlosion to outspeed many pokemon while dealing as much damage as possible. The prefered nature is Timid as Typhlosion needs the extra speed that the Timid nature provides, though Modest can be used if Typhlosion is running a Choice Scarf. However, running Modest carries the risk of Typhlosion being outspeed by other 100 base speed scarfers. Typhlosion is weak to Stealth Rock and is affected by both forms of Spikes, so s spinner like Donphan, Hitmontop, or Blastoise would greatly assist Typhlosion, especially because of Eruption's power drop. A pokemon that can get rid of bulky waters would also greatly aid Typhlosion, as Typhlosion can barely scratch most bulky waters. Two such pokemon are Jolteon and Zapdos; their Electric type attacks can deal massive damage to most bulky waters. As Typhlosion absolutely hates Chansey and Snorlax, a Fighting-type pokemon such as Cobalion and Heracross can easily get rid of both Chansey and Snorlax.
[OTHER OPTIONS]
Life Orb could be used in place of Choice Specs, and it has the advantage of not locking Typhlosion into one move. However, the recoil from Life Orb will decrease the power of Eruption, and so Choice Specs or Scarf is usually the better choice.Typhlosion unfortunately has a rather limited physical movepool outside of Eruption. Solarbeam could have been used in the fourth slot if Drought wasn't banned, though it might still be a viable option if you happen to be running a manual sun team. Typhlosion also has access to Inferno, which deals a large amount of damage and always burns. However, Inferno's horrible accuracy make it unviable. Typhlosion could have used Mud-slap for extra coverage, but Mud-slap is so incredibly weak that it would barely scratch even Aggron, who is extremely weak to Ground-type moves. Extrasensory may seem better than Hidden Power or Toxic, but unfortunately a super-effective Extrasensory is weaker than a full-power netural STAB Eruption and Extrasensory is only super-effective against types that Eruption is netural to. Typhlosion also has a rather large physical movepool as well as access to Flare Blitz, though Typhlosion has a rather low attack stat and a physical set would lack the hitting power the special set has. Lastly, Typhlosion could run a mixed set using both its large physical and powerful special movepool, but most of Typhlosion's physical moves have low base powers and lack of specialization in Special Attack would greatly cripple such a set.
[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]
Chansey is Typhlosion's number one enemy. Chansey can take any attack Typhlosion tries to throw at it and can respond by crippling Typhlosion with Toxic or Thunder Wave. The most Typhlosion can do to Chansey is to Toxic it, and even afterwards Typhlosion will be forced to switch out as it would be Choiced into Toxic. Arcanine can also switch in to Typhlosion's Eruptions and boost its own fire moves with Flash Fire, though it must watch out for Hidden Power Rock. Rhyperior resists Eruption and can KO back with Stone Edge or Earthquake, though Choice Specs Eruption will 2HKO offensive variants and Rhyperior must also watch out for Hidden Power Grass. Snorlax has a special defense so high that Typhlosion cannot deal any significant damage even with Focus Blast and Snorlax can KO back with Earthquake. Milotic and Slowbro can also take almost everything Typhlosion can do, but neither pokemon would like a Choice Specs Hidden Power Grass from Typhlosion.
[DREAM WORLD]
Typhlosion gets Flash Fire from the Dream World, though it is currently unreleased. In Typhlosion's case, Flash Fire is a great ability that allows it to switch into an expected Fire-type attack (presumebly from a non-fire type pokemon) and then sweep with a boosted Eruption or Fire Blast. This gives Typhlosion what is effectively a Choice Specs boost to its fire-type moves, and it would allow it to score critical OHKOs. Also, the Dream World allows Typhlosion to run a SubPetaya set, which allows Typhlosion to boost its special attack for a sweep. However, Eruption's power would be greatly reduced when running such a set.
[Overview]
/* Note that if for some reason the whole analysis gets QC Rejected, then I'd like dibs on the RU analysis.*/
- Decent Speed and a very powerful 100% accurate STAB move make it an ideal user of Choice Scarf or Specs
- Special movepool is unfortuantely quite limited
- Stealth Rock and other hazards reduces the power of Eruption so Rapid Spin support is vital
- Has decent bulk but bulk doesn't really matter in his case
- Has an okay Attack stat but can't really be put to use
- Lacks offensive boosting moves meaning only real role is as a revenge killer
- While seemingly outclassed by Arcanine, Victini, Houndoom, and Entei, Typhlosion has higher speed than most other UU Fire types (tying with Victini) and access to an extremely powerful STAB move with few drawbacks mean that Typhlosion is not to be overlooked.
[SET]
Name: Choice
Move 1: Eruption
Move 2: Fire Blast/Flamethrower/Heat Wave/Overheat
Move 3: Focus Blast
Move 4: Hidden Power Grass/Hidden Power Rock/Toxic
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
Nature: Modest/Timid
EV's: 4 HP/ 252 SPA / 252 SPE
[SET COMMENTS]
This set takes advantage of what Typhlosion gets that few other pokemon have: Eruption. Eruption is a 150 Base Power move that has 100% accuracy. Having an extremely powerful, and generally reliable 150 BP move is what gives Typhlosion his niche in UU - there are few things that can survive two or more hits from Choice Specs Eruption. However, if Typhlosion is damaged, Eruption's power decreases, so the second slot is to give Typhlosion a powerful STAB move when it's HP is low. Fire Blast is the prefered option due to it's very high Base Power, but its rather low accuracy may be discouraging, so Flamethrower is also an option. Heat Wave can also be used as it is more powerful than Flamethrower, but it has a slight chance of missing. Overheat is almost as powerful as a full-powered Eruption is, but Overheat halves Typhlosion's Special Attack so a switch is almost necessary after using Overheat. Focus Blast occupies the third slot, which allows it to hit Rock-types that resist Eruption. While Focus Blast has an infamously low accuracy, Focus Blast allows Typhlosion to KO several pokemon that would otherwise wall it. The last slot has several options: Hidden Power Grass can be used to damage bulky waters such as Quagsire, but it will generally fail to even 2HKO pokemon like Milotic unless Typhlosion is holding Choice Specs or the defending pokemon is extremely weak to Grass, like Quagsire. Hidden Power Rock could be used to KO pokemon like Moltres that resist both Eruption and Focus Blast, like Moltres. Toxic can be used to screw up walls that would otherwise screw over Typhlosion, but being locked into a status move is generally not a good thing.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
This set's EV's are the standard 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed that allows Typhlosion to outspeed many pokemon while dealing as much damage as possible. The prefered nature is Timid as Typhlosion needs the extra speed that the Timid nature provides, though Modest can be used if Typhlosion is running a Choice Scarf. However, running Modest carries the risk of Typhlosion being outspeed by other 100 base speed scarfers. Typhlosion is weak to Stealth Rock and is affected by both forms of Spikes, so s spinner like Donphan, Hitmontop, or Blastoise would greatly assist Typhlosion, especially because of Eruption's power drop. A pokemon that can get rid of bulky waters would also greatly aid Typhlosion, as Typhlosion can barely scratch most bulky waters. Two such pokemon are Jolteon and Zapdos; their Electric type attacks can deal massive damage to most bulky waters. As Typhlosion absolutely hates Chansey and Snorlax, a Fighting-type pokemon such as Cobalion and Heracross can easily get rid of both Chansey and Snorlax.
[OTHER OPTIONS]
Life Orb could be used in place of Choice Specs, and it has the advantage of not locking Typhlosion into one move. However, the recoil from Life Orb will decrease the power of Eruption, and so Choice Specs or Scarf is usually the better choice.Typhlosion unfortunately has a rather limited physical movepool outside of Eruption. Solarbeam could have been used in the fourth slot if Drought wasn't banned, though it might still be a viable option if you happen to be running a manual sun team. Typhlosion also has access to Inferno, which deals a large amount of damage and always burns. However, Inferno's horrible accuracy make it unviable. Typhlosion could have used Mud-slap for extra coverage, but Mud-slap is so incredibly weak that it would barely scratch even Aggron, who is extremely weak to Ground-type moves. Extrasensory may seem better than Hidden Power or Toxic, but unfortunately a super-effective Extrasensory is weaker than a full-power netural STAB Eruption and Extrasensory is only super-effective against types that Eruption is netural to. Typhlosion also has a rather large physical movepool as well as access to Flare Blitz, though Typhlosion has a rather low attack stat and a physical set would lack the hitting power the special set has. Lastly, Typhlosion could run a mixed set using both its large physical and powerful special movepool, but most of Typhlosion's physical moves have low base powers and lack of specialization in Special Attack would greatly cripple such a set.
[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]
Chansey is Typhlosion's number one enemy. Chansey can take any attack Typhlosion tries to throw at it and can respond by crippling Typhlosion with Toxic or Thunder Wave. The most Typhlosion can do to Chansey is to Toxic it, and even afterwards Typhlosion will be forced to switch out as it would be Choiced into Toxic. Arcanine can also switch in to Typhlosion's Eruptions and boost its own fire moves with Flash Fire, though it must watch out for Hidden Power Rock. Rhyperior resists Eruption and can KO back with Stone Edge or Earthquake, though Choice Specs Eruption will 2HKO offensive variants and Rhyperior must also watch out for Hidden Power Grass. Snorlax has a special defense so high that Typhlosion cannot deal any significant damage even with Focus Blast and Snorlax can KO back with Earthquake. Milotic and Slowbro can also take almost everything Typhlosion can do, but neither pokemon would like a Choice Specs Hidden Power Grass from Typhlosion.
[DREAM WORLD]
Typhlosion gets Flash Fire from the Dream World, though it is currently unreleased. In Typhlosion's case, Flash Fire is a great ability that allows it to switch into an expected Fire-type attack (presumebly from a non-fire type pokemon) and then sweep with a boosted Eruption or Fire Blast. This gives Typhlosion what is effectively a Choice Specs boost to its fire-type moves, and it would allow it to score critical OHKOs. Also, the Dream World allows Typhlosion to run a SubPetaya set, which allows Typhlosion to boost its special attack for a sweep. However, Eruption's power would be greatly reduced when running such a set.
