So the analysis now mainly emphasizes the new EV spread for the mixed priority attacker. I also rewrote a few paras.
HeYsUp still deserves most of the credit, the rest of the sets themselves were fine.
www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/blaziken
[SET]
name: Mixed (Priority) Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Electric
move 4: Vacuum Wave / Stone Edge
item: Life Orb
nature: Mild / Rash
evs: 72 Atk / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set is designed to take advantage of Blaziken's great offensive stats and break down most of the walls in UU. The strategy is simple - send Blaziken in on a support move or weak attack , such as Spiritomb's Will-O-Wisp or Stealth Rock from Registeel or Steelix. After this, proceed to hit the inevitable switch-in with Fire Blast or Hidden Power, and then finish them off with Superpower, or Vacuum Wave if they outspeed Blaziken.</p>
<p>Fire Blast will be your main attack, and Hidden Power is for the common Water-type switch-ins. Both Hidden Powers get the important 2HKO on bulky waters like Slowbro and Milotic, who fall to a Fire Blast followed by Hidden Power, and Superpower followed by Hidden power respectively
(Milotic has a very small chance of survival with the most defensive EV spread), as long as Stealth Rock is in play. Other walls such as Registeel and Regice are (
removed "easily
") dispatched by any of Blaziken's STAB attacks, and Chansey is easily OHKOed by Superpower, which lets another special sweeper dominate. Vacuum Wave helps Blaziken become a fairly decent revenge killer as well, nearly OHKOing dangerous Pokemon such as Omastar and Kabutops (if it does not carry Aqua Jet) in the rain.</p>
<p>Another option is to put Stone Edge over Vacuum Wave to hit Altaria, who is the only Pokemon who can safely switch into this set. However, Vacuum Wave is generally a better choice though, taking into account Blaziken's
mediocre Speed, and Vacuum Wave's revenge killing power.</p>
<p>The EVs are chosen to
capitalize on Blaziken's mixed attacking capabilities, while
still managing to outrun some dangerous foes.
(space)With 184 Speed EVs, you outspeed pokemon like Honchkrow and Gardevoir, allowing you to beat them before they nail you with their STAB attacks. Maximum Special attack is used to hit walls as hard as possible, while 72 Attack EVs still get the OHKO on Chansey,
(removed "assuming that Stealth Rock is in play."
since even with 0 Atk EVs and a -Atk nature, Blazikens SP is a clean ohko on Chansey almost 100% of the time)</p>
<p>
A perfectly viable alternate EV spread of 240 Atk/252 SpA/16 Spe
is also recommeded for this set. Blaziken becomes one of the best stall breakers in UU with this spread, as it can
OHKO or 2HKO almost every Pokemon in UU. The speed EVs let you outspeed minimum speed Milotic, who would otherwise counter Blaziken very well,
while giving you a higher chance of taking it out with Superpower followed by a super effective Hidden Power. Some bulky waters like
Gastrodon and Omastar
(removed "now"
) fall to a Fire Blast followed by Superpower, and the standard Lanturn is now OHKOed by Superpower assuming Stealth Rock is in play. Note that this spread is better used with Hidden Power Electric.
Using this slower EV spread will net you more clean OHKOs against stall teams in case you can't accumulate residual damage, at the cost of being revenge killed by a couple of extra threats that fall in Blaziken's speed tier. Blaziken is one of few Pokemon that can pull off a power for speed trade, so either spread will benefit your team greatly.</p>
<p>The choice of nature does not affect the set too much; it depends on your preference. Mild is suggested for the sole reason that Blaziken makes a very good Spiritomb and Houndoom switch-in. Rash helps you live through other priority users' attacks, such as Arcanine, Hitmontop, or Ambipom. Either of the natures is perfectly fine.</p>
<p>This Blaziken is a great Pokemon to break your opponent's walls such as Registeel, Chansey, and Slowbro, who may cause significant trouble for your sweepers. Mismagius and Espeon make great teammates for Blaziken, because with Registeel and Chansey out of the way, they can set up a couple of Calm Minds and sweep the opponent's team. Pokemon such as Swords Dance Drapion can take advantage of a possible Steelix or Regirock kill as well, as they are it's major counters. Azumarill is a good choice with Blaziken too, because with Slowbro out of the way, Azumaril can sweep more effectively.</p>
<p>Defensively, Shaymin is a great Pokemon to use alongside Blaziken, as it can take the Water and Ground-type attacks aimed at Blaziken, while dealing with the bulky Water-types and Hariyama that Blaziken may have trouble with. It is also recommended that you carry an Ice-type attack on your team when you use Blaziken, because Altaria severely hinders Blaziken's wall breaking power, as it walls the entire set. Stealth Rock is also needed to take advantage of this set.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Agility Sweeper
move 1: Agility
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Hidden Power Electric
item: Life Orb / Expert Belt
nature: Rash
evs: 192 Atk / 252 SpA / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>An oft-heard complaint about Blaziken is that while it hits hard, it lacks the speed to actually sweep. This is remedied by utilizing Agility to take Blaziken's speed to a whole new level, and is one of it's best shots at sweeping.</p>
<p>Fire Blast will be your main sweeping attack, and really leaves its mark
removed comma coming off of base 110 Special Attack. Superpower deals with what Fire Blast cannot, and the drops in attack are not very important, as you will be sweeping primarily with special moves. Finally, Hidden Power Electric is used for coverage against bulky waters and Flying types. Most importantly, it allows you to beat Moltres,
(removed "who loves switching in on Blaziken"
), if Stealth Rock is up.</p>
<p>Naturally, Blaziken lures out its counters, but what is remarkable about Blaziken is that it can actually beat its counters before setting up its sweep. The EVs reflect this, allowing you to KO Milotic with Hidden Power followed by Superpower, assuming Stealth Rock in play. Maximum special attack allows Fire Blast to outright annihilate most things that do not resist it. 64 Speed EVs outspeeds Adamant Torterra before an agility, and outspeeds Choice Scarf users such as Roserade and Moltres after an agility.</p>
<p>The item choice is slightly tricky. Life Orb is preferred because of the damage output against neutrally-hit Pokemon such as Hariyama, but Expert Belt lets you bluff a Choice Scarf or Choice Specs set before you use Agility, and you take no recoil damage. A Rash nature is used over Mild because this set needs as much protection against priority attacks as possible.</p>
<p>This set works a lot like the previous set, but without priority, instead it increases its speed. Since this variant of Blaziken is a stand-alone sweeper (as in it breaks walls for itself), this set only has trouble with Pokemon like Altaria, Slowking, and Hariyama, who wall this set with their resistances and bulkiness. One of the best ways to deal with Altaria is to use a Pokemon such as Shaymin who can lure it in on a Seed Flare, and OHKO it with Hidden Power Ice. In fact, any Pokemon who can lure in Altaria and hit it with an Ice-type attack is a good partner for Blaziken. Stealth Rock also helps, due to Altaria taking 25% every time it switches in. Honchrow makes a perfect partner with Blaziken as well, beating Hariyama with its STAB Drill Peck, as well as trapping Slowking with its STAB Pursuit. Even though this set functions fine without any other boosts, it can benefit greatly from Calm Mind boosts from Espeon, who can Baton Pass to Blaziken on any Bug or Dark-type attack aimed at Espeon.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Focus Blast / Focus Punch
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Vacuum Wave
item: Choice Specs
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Blaziken can forego wall breaking for a Specs set, and uses it efficiently.
spaceThe most attractive thing about this set is that you have a very powerful priority move in Vacuum Wave. This allows Blaziken to function as a late game priority sweeper, and even though it doesn't have Technician, it has a very respectable Special Attack stat to work off.</p>
<p>Focus Blast always gets the 2HKO on Milotic and Chansey,and Blissey in OU, as well as the OHKO on Clefable, and is a very powerful secondary STAB attack. The 70 accuracy is a bit of a turn off, so Focus Punch is also an option. Focus Punch even with a -Atk nature always gets
an OHKO on Chansey and Clefable.</p>
<p>There are other options for the Hidden Power slot with this set, such as Hidden Power Rock, which hits Moltres
remove comma and Charizard, who are otherwise some of the safest switch-ins to this set. Hidden Power Ice can be used if you find Altaria (another safe switch-in to this set) walling you too often, while Blaziken's Fire Blast has a very good (97%) chance to 2HKO Slowbro with Stealth Rock up anyway. Using those Hidden Power types means you need to rely on Focus Blast's 70 accuracy to take out Milotic in two hits, though.</p>
<p>The EVs make this Blaziken as offensive as possible, but there are a couple of alternative EV spreads. Blaziken can sacrifice some Speed EVs for bulk, due to Vacuum Wave and the fact that the Pokemon it comes in on are generally slow walls. Safely, the lowest Speed that Blaziken should be at is 201 (Modest with 20 Speed EVs), which outspeeds Milotic and max Speed Azumarill. With the remaining 152 EVs in HP, and 84 EVs put into Defense, Blaziken can survive a Choice Band boosted Aqua Jet and 2HKO Azumarill. The bulkier EV Spread looks like this: 152 HP / 84 Def / 252 SpA / 20 Spe.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Choice
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Superpower
move 3: ThunderPunch
move 4: Stone Edge / Blaze Kick
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Blaziken can be a
(removed "terribly
") powerful sweeper with its superior Attack stat and movepool. With two 120 base power STAB attacks coming off a base 120 Attack stat, many Pokemon will think twice before switching into this monster. ThunderPunch is an excellent move for Blaziken on this set, as a Choice Band boosted ThunderPunch always 2HKOs Milotic, which is one of the safer switch-ins to the other sets. The sheer power of a Choice Band boosted Flare Blitz can OHKO a good portion of the metagame on its own, such as Crobat. It also 2HKOs most defensive Pokemon as well. Altaria, who would otherwise commonly switch in to any of the other sets, is 2HKOed with Stealth Rock in play, though a predicted Stone Edge will OHKO the poor dragon. The main disadvantage of using this set, however, is that it Slowbro can switch in to it all day, with ThunderPunch barely missing out on the 2HKO.</p>
[EVs]
<p>The mixed attacking set can run an alternate spread of 240 Atk/252 SpAtk/ 16 Spe. This spread
is especially suggested if you opt to use Hidden Power Electric,
as it allows Blaziken to KO
Gastrodon, Omastar and Quagsire with Fire Blast followed by Superpower. It also gives Superpower more oomph, but the
general rule of thumb is that Speed is more useful on a sweeper. The 16 Speed EVs
still allow you to outrun minimum speed Milotic, which is important, as Milotic is otherwise one of Blaziken's primary counters.
Using all of that Attack power allows Blaziken to be one of the best wall-breakers in UU, at the expense of being a bit easier for your opponent to revenge kill. </p>
