Qwilfish Analysis

[pokemonisfun]

QWILFISH



Summary:
Most Used Set:
The most used Qwilfish is its Lead set because it is so efficient at laying down Spikes for offensive teams. In UnderUsed many popular cores get worn down by Spikes, such as popular Fire Water Grass ones which rely on grounded Pokemon. Unfortunately Qwilfish has heavy competition from Omastar in the lead spot, who is slower but bulkier. Qwilfish is often superior for offensvie teams because of its Speed and ability to keep the momentum that offensive teams crave with Explosion.

Usual Counters:
Since nothing likes eating an Explosion in the face, there are very few reliable Qwilfish counters. Quagsire is a good answer, being able to take Waterfall with Water Absorb and resisting Poison Jab. It falls to Explosion though. Ambipom is probably the worst lead match up Qwilfish can face, since it obliterates it with Fake Out and Double Hit, but smart lead Qwilfish users will pack an answer to it usually. Shedinja is interesting since it walls all of Qwilfish's set, but Shedinja could be said to be a counter for any Pokemon that can't hit it then. The Qwilfish will most likely have set up Spikes barring the Shedinja from re-entry. Very defensive walls can beat Qwilfish if it doesn't get a boost or is outside of Rain, like Weezing and Spiritomb while Bulky waters can take Waterfalls but fear Explosion and repeated boostes Poison Jabs. Defensive Uxie can take a +2 Rain Boosted Waterfall after Stealth Rocks and strike back with Psychic.
Qwilfish is an unusual choice to say the least, even in the UnderUsed metagame. As a Rain Dance sweeper, many would prefer the stronger Kabutops who also has access to priority. As a Spike supporter, many would prefer the more durable, not to mention powerful Omastar. Although at first glance Qwilfish seems to be outclassed by a bunch of dusty fossils, one must focus on the assets Qwilfish brings to the table. With a unique typing and workable movepool, Qwilfish can be a powerful contender in the UnderUsed metagame.

Types Of Team Qwilfish is used on: Qwilfish is used almost exclusively on offensive teams with early sweepers that can abuse spikes it sets up. Swords Dance sweeper is found on Rain Dance teams often in conjunction with Kabutops to clear a way for one of them to sweep. Almost Bulky Water is rarely used at all, but when it is it is used on Balanced teams if only to provide good type synergy.


Swords Dance (UU Set)
Qwilfish@Life Orb
Swift Swim
Adamant: 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 HP
~Swords Dance
~Waterfall
~Poison Jab
~Explosion

This Swords Dance sweeper is meant to function in the Rain, where Swift Swim takes effect and makes Qwilfish a frighteningly fast and powerful sweeper. Life Orb is chosen to further boosts Qwilfish's power. Adamant nature with maximum Speed allows Qwilfish to outspeed any Pokemon in UU bar the non-existent Choice Scarf Electrode. Swords Dance boosts this little fish's strength so it can drown most walls in its path, such as Physically Defensive Weezing and Uxie, both of which are OHKOd 100% of the time with Stealth Rocks and a tiny bit more of residual damage with a +2 Rain Boosted Waterfall. Poison Jab complements Waterfall as a STAB move giving Qwilfish nearly unresisted coverage in STAB alone in UU (bar Shedinja, Toxicroak, Quagsire and opposing Qwilfish). Explosion allows you to finish a troubling wall such as Quagsire (who would be decimated by Waterfall if it chose to run Damp) and Milotic with Hidden Power Electric. This would open up the opponent for another Rain Dance Sweeper such as Kabutops who should freely sweep when freed of Quagsire. Qwilfish also absorbs Toxic Spikes on entry which often proves catastrophic for Rain teams, whose grounded sweepers take time to set up. Qwilfish needs Rain to be efficient so effective Rain Dance users are optimal partners. Uxie sets up Rain and can switch into Toxicroak which trouble Qwilfish with Sucker Punch. Qwilfish will most likely put huge pressure on the opponent so use that to your advantage.


Spikes Lead (UU Set)
Qwilfish@Focus Sash
Jolly: 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 HP
~Spikes
~Taunt
~Waterfall
~Explosion
This is meant to lead your team which is why it has a Focus Sash. Jolly lets you outspeed as many Pokemon as possible, including the base 80 tier should you see them in the lead spot. Spikes is the most important part of this set damaging your opponent each time they switch. Taunt is for defensive leads such as Omastar who may try to set up on you. Waterfall is a nice STAB while Explosion lets you take out the opponent after your set up. Firstly you need a Ghost to block Rapid Spin. Spiritomb is this sets perfect parnter being able to beat Ambipom leads and Alakazam leads which plague this set. Being the best spin blocker is a huge boon too. There are few leads who can "counter" this set because all it wants to do is set up Spikes, but the two mentioned can be stopped by Spiritomb. Donphan also proves to be troublesome because its massive Defense allows it to take a Waterfall and 2HKO with Earthquake and Ice Shard. Spiritomb will be hesitant to say the least to switch in to a STAB Earthquake from Donphan, who usually maxes its Attack. Good parters to this set abuse Spikes early and include powerful attackers such as Moltres (who beats Donphan if it avoids a Stone Edge) and Houndoom. Qwilfish can also occasionally stop the opponent from setting up Stealth Rocks, on leads such as Omastar, which the aforementioned Stealth Rock weak Pokemon hate. Although it is a very viable lead, you should prepare for opposing leads Qwilfish has no chance of beating.


Bulky Fish (UU Set)
Qwilfish@Leftovers
Impish: 252 HP, 156 Def, 100 SpD
~Spikes
~Pain Split
~Taunt
~Waterfall/Poison Jab

Typing is key here. Water/Poison typing grants Qwilfish key resistances to Water, Poison, Fire, Fighting and also useful Bug, Poison, and Steel. Poison typing lets you be immune to Toxic and absorb Toxic Spikes as well as granting you a neutrality to Grass moves. Maximum HP and the large Special Defense investment lets you not be 2HKO by defensive Milotic Hidden Power Eletric. Since you will often be setting up on Fighting Pokemon such as Hitmonlee, the rest is poured into Defense with an Impish nature. Spikes is a huge asset to any team either wearing down the opponent for your sweepers to break through walls or slowly whittling your opponents healh down. Pain Split gives you some form of recovery, ever helpful if you are trying to set up on a defensive Pokemon like Chansey or Milotic. Taunt shuts down most of your opponents walls while Waterfall and Poison Jab serve as STAB moves. This Qwilfish also needs a Ghost to block Rapid Spin, Spiritomb works well burning physical threats so Qwilfish can more easily set up on them and chasing away Alakazam and other Psychics which demolish this fish.

Other Options: There is not a terrible lot that Qwilfish can utilize but there is not a terrible lot that it needs to because it gets such great coverage with its STAB moves alone. Aqua Jet is illegal with Swords Dance but you would be outclassed by Kabutops anyways. It does however have merit on the lead sets to beat Alakazam, although you will not get any Spikes up against it still. Haze might work on the Almost Bulky Water set but Taunt already stops the opponent from setting up and you certainly will not be able to erase boosts from powerful sweepers like Dragon Dance Altaria. Water and Normal get good coverage so a Swords Dance Flail set may work, but Stealth Rock damage and possible weather damage would ruin this. Using Return makes you look more like a weak Kabutops. Aqua Tail hits harder than Waterfall but the lack of Flinch and perfect accuracy may hurt. Thunder Wave and Toxic shows Qwilfish's status moves which may work on the Almost Bulky Water set but you are usually better off setting up Spikes that paralyzing or poisoning opponents. Bounce is neat and damage Grass Poisons more than Poison Jab but the charging turn is a turn off as well as low accuracy and no STAB. There's no point in going with the special route with a Special Attack similiar to Skarmory's. Toxic Spikes is generally less favorable than Spikes in UnderUsed where there are many grounded Poisons to absorb them. Also if you want to use Toxic Spikes in the lead spot, know that getting only one layer of Toxic Spikes rarely helps most teams. Stockpile boosts both of your defenses and once again is usable on the Almost Bulky Water set, but remember Qwilfish relies on resistances to make a defensive set, not strong defenses. You can try to use an Offensive Spikes set outside of the lead position, but Omastar is usually a better Spiker because of superior bulk and power, its Special Attack being stronger than Qwilfish's Attack. A Lead Rain Dance set is viable, but you generally will not be able to get Rain up and and Swords Dance in the lead position, not to mention you will have to be sacrificing a moveslot if you want both Rain Dance and Swords Dance. Pokemon such as Electrode and Uxie are much more reliable Rain Dance leads. Lastly you have a few item choices. A Choice Band set can wield decent power and Speed with Aqua Jet but Azumarill gives Qwilfish huge competition, with Huge Power making Azumarill stronger and bulkier. Qwilfish does get Explosion though. Choice Scarf lets you be a revenge killer of sorts especially since you hit 85 Base Speed getting the jump on once boosted Altaria, ScarfBlaziken and ScarfVenasaur. You will find yourself weak though with a mediocre Attack and no boost.

Team Members: With Spikes Lead starting such a fast paced game laying down Spikes and trying to blow up the opposing lead, Qwilfish needs partners that abuse Spikes. These include the terrifyingly powerful Fire types in UnderUsed, like Blaziken, Houndoom and Moltres. Their counters are generally Bulky Waters like Milotic, Blastoise or even God-forbid bulky Qwilfish and can be easily worn down by Spikes. For Swords Dance the main support you will be needing is Rain. Uxie and Claydol resists Ground and can set up Rain Dance for Qwilfish to sweep in. Stealth Rocks support is very helpful to get a better chance to OHKO walls like Weezing in the Rain, but is not Rain should be the first priority because the massive Speed and power Qwilfish gets in the rain.

[JB]

Put some pictures of Qwilfish on this. It makes it more appealing to look at.
Also, why not just hyperlink Serebii's DPP page on Qwilfish for people to view the information better?

[pokemonisfun]

I can't believe I didn't notice but someone just told me there is a Qwilfish analysis on site but it seems outdated and rather bad. >.>

[Eos]

first off lol
second, i hardly ever use qwilfish so i really don't know too much about this spiky 'mon. altho, i still have seen it in action and i have seen that the SD set along with the spike set are both quite effective. Not really much to say on this, aside from; good job piffeh

[DDwhiscash]

Space a few things out in your Other options, or just bold the moves that are of major importance.

[pokemonisfun]

Ok what else did I miss?

[pokemonisfun]

If no one has anything to add I think this is finished. Or did I miss something crucial?

[ShootingStarmiex]

You forgot to mention its biggest counter...Starmie. Starmie can use a choiced-specs STAB phychic which can KO it and spin away its annoying spikes and toxic spikes...it doesn't mind being poisned by posion jab and/or toxic spikes either because of natural cure and it obvouisly doesn't take much from the waterfull, even in the rain.

When Starmie has finished owning you it can recover off all the damage. Peace x

[pokemonisfun]

I forgot to mention this should be entirely UU.
Starmie is OHKO'd by a +2 Poison Jab and outspeeded in the Rain.

[DDwhiscash]

You forgot to mention its biggest counter...Starmie. Starmie can use a choiced-specs STAB phychic which can KO it and spin away its annoying spikes and toxic spikes...it doesn't mind being poisned by posion jab and/or toxic spikes either because of natural cure and it obvouisly doesn't take much from the waterfull, even in the rain.

When Starmie has finished owning you it can recover off all the damage. Peace x

Thats a check. Starmie can come in on 2 of it's 3 moves. Still deserves mention though I guess. Plus what about 2+ Poison Jab? How much does Starmie take from that?