Under Mixed Priority Attacker:
Jolly Blaziken's Flare Blitz: 508 Atk vs 372 Def & 384 HP (120 Base Power): 177 - 208 (46.09% - 54.17%)
I wouldn't call Donphan a very safe switch-in at all, especially with lack of a recovery move.
Mixed Choice Scarf:
Mixed Agility Sweeper:<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 its major counters.Azumarill is a good choice with Blaziken too, because with Slowbro out of the way, Azumarill can sweep more effectively.</p>
<p>Defensively, Roserade is a great Pokemon to use alongside Blaziken, as it can take the Water-type attacks aimed at Blaziken, while dealing with the bulky Water-types 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. Someone to take Ground-type attacks is appreciated as well, so Mismagius makes a nice partner. It also combines well with Blaziken offensively, as Blaziken blows through Registeel, one of Mismagius's best counters. Espeon can eliminate Hariyama, who may otherwise give Blaziken problems with Thick Fat and great bulk.</p>
<p>Naturally, Blaziken draws 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 Choice Scarf base 90s such as Roserade and Moltres after an Agility.</p>
Choice Specs:<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. A Pokemon who can deal with Altaria is a must. Someone like Scarf Glaceon, Rock Polish Torterra, or Rhydon do well in this regard. Stealth Rock also helps, taking away 25% from Altaria every time it switches in. Honchkrow makes a perfect partner with Blaziken as well, beating Hariyama with its STAB Drill Peck, trapping Slowking with its STAB Pursuit, and getting free switches on Earthquakes aimed at Blaziken. 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>
Physical Choice:<p>Blaziken can forgo wall breaking for a Specs set, and it uses it efficiently. The 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, though, so Focus Punch is also an option. Focus Punch always gets an OHKO on Chansey and Clefable, even with a hindering nature.</p>
<p>There are other options for the Hidden Power slot with this set, such as Hidden Power Rock, which hits Moltres 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, since 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>Blaziken can be a 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, and a predicted Stone Edge will even OHKO the poor dragon. The main disadvantage of using this set, however, is that Slowbro can switch into it all day, with ThunderPunch barely missing out on the 2HKO.</p>
<p>With a Choice Scarf, Blaziken is a more powerful revenge killer than the mixed set, but it will not last as long due to recoil and may be set up on by a physically defensive Pokemon.</p>
<p>The reason Blaze Kick is an option on this set is because Flare Blitz comes with a price, recoil. However, Blaziken can use this recoil to its advantage and sweep teams late game with a Blaze boosted Blaze Kick, which has a nice 127.5 base power after Blaze is activated.</p>
Adamant Blaziken's Flare Blitz vs Max / Max Impish Donphan: 558 Atk vs 372 Def & 384 HP (120 Base Power): 195 - 229 (50.78% - 59.64%)<p>This set is walled hard by Donphan, who laughs at this set. Again, Roserade makes an excellent partner for Blaziken, as it can OHKO Donphan with a STAB Leaf Storm, leaving Blaziken free to sweep.</p>
Jolly Blaziken's Flare Blitz: 508 Atk vs 372 Def & 384 HP (120 Base Power): 177 - 208 (46.09% - 54.17%)
I wouldn't call Donphan a very safe switch-in at all, especially with lack of a recovery move.
Mixed Choice Scarf:
Reversal:<p>Blaziken's brilliant offensive stats are often offset by its mediocre Speed. This can be remedied by a Choice Scarf, which gives Blaziken a break from its usual wall breaking duties to becoming a good revenge killer and sweeper. With a Choice Scarf, Blaziken reaches 384 Speed, which outspeeds max Speed base 125s such as Swellow. Blaziken also boasts a STAB Fighting-type attack in Superpower, which always OHKOs Chansey and Clefable.</p>
<p>The advantage of using a mixed set over a purely physical set is that it broadens Blaziken's revenge killing spectrum, though it is slightly lower in power. With this set, Blaziken can open with a STAB Fire Blast to deal a lot of damage to whatever it is attempting to revenge kill, and it works well as an opportunity to scout your opponent's Blaziken counters. With "BoltBeam" coverage alongside its STABs, there are few Pokemon that Blaziken will not hit for super effective, which is important for a choice set. After its revenge killing job is completed, Blaziken can utilize whatever residual damage it has taken and use a Blaze boosted Fire Blast to sweep your opponent.</p>
<p>This set is best used with a team that needs some revenge killing and late game sweeping power. Choice Scarf Blaziken works great offensively with Pokemon such as Swords Dance Drapion or Rock Polish Torterra, being able to outspeed and OHKO many of their counters.</p>
<p>Defensively, Blaziken needs something to sponge hits from the Pokemon who can take a hit while also hitting Blaziken for a KO back. With the lack of an attack boosting item, Water-types will be more common switch-ins to this set. Pokemon such as Roserade can easily force them out and will greatly appreciate the free turn to set up (Toxic) Spikes for your team. Dugtrio can come in on ThunderPunch and KO Blaziken, so Azumarill and Choice Scarf Roserade make good partners as well.</p>
Team Options:<p>With two nice STABs and Blaze, as well as the rarity of Hail and Sandstorm, Blaziken has the capability to pull off a Reversal set. At one HP with a Swords Dance under its belt, Blaziken OHKOes almost all of the metagame with SR in play with a 200 base power Reversal and a 127.5 base power Blaze Kick. To start, you send Blaziken in on a Pokemon who cannot break its Substitute or is forced out by Blaziken, and then use Substitute. After your opponent switches, if the Pokemon sent in is faster, use Substitute until Salac Berry activates, and if it's slower, use Swords Dance, then Substitute down until you get your Speed boost. Endure can work as well, if you Swords Dance on a Pokemon that can not OHKO you, and then Endure the hit that would otherwise KO. However, Substitute is preferred as you are blocked from status moves.</p>
<p>This set needs a Pokemon which can lure out priority attackers such as Hitmontop, Ambipom and Azumarill. Hitmontop will be seen on almost every team with Moltres, so if you have a Pokemon who can use Stealth Rock and Explode, that's exactly what you need. Registeel, Regirock, and Steelix can do this quite well, as they can all survive one Fighting-type attack, and Explode. The flaw with this strategy, however, is that Hitmontop may Rapid Spin before an Explosion, so it's best to land Thunder Wave on Hitmontop beforehand. Claydol with Psychic also hurts Hitmontop, so it's a good bet as well. Ambipom is rather difficult to isolate and destroy, because it has a fast U-turn and often switches out. Your best bet is to throw attacks at it early in the game with set up Pokemon, because Ambipom will likely Taunt them to prevent set up. Azumarill is also quite tricky, but your best bet here is to use Venusaur or Slowbro, who both handily deal with Azumarill.</p>
Other Options:<p>Due to Blaziken's offensive nature, any teammate who can set up Stealth Rock reliably will be greatly appreciated, as it turns some 3HKOs into 2HKOs against common switch-ins, such as Milotic and Moltres. With Stealth Rock up, a general all out attacking Blaziken (such as the mixed Life Orb set, Choice Specs, or Choice Band) can 2HKO every Pokemon in the UU metagame, barring set specific counters (such as Hariyama, Altaria, and Slowbro).</p>
<p>The previously mentioned Blaziken sets all punch holes in the opponent's team and often allow your other sweepers to pull off a sweep. Since Blaziken is adept at taking out special walls such as Registeel and Chansey, it makes a great teammate for special sweepers such as Mismagius, Espeon, and Shaymin, who otherwise have trouble getting past these walls. Blaziken can also take out Physical walls, such as Steelix and Regirock, which gives Pokemon such as Drapion, Hitmonlee, and Swellow an easier time to sweep.</p>
<p>Blaziken's Choice Scarf and stat boosting sweeper sets (such as Swords Dance and Agility sets) can have a fair bit of trouble sweeping early in the game with your opponent's bulky Water-types in play, such has Milotic, Slowbro, Slowking, Azumarill, and the like. You can deal with these Pokemon by utilizing Roserade, Venusaur, or Magneton. The "BaitLix" variant of Steelix does an excellent job of luring in Water-types, and Exploding on them. Pokemon such as Magmortar also do this job nicely, as Milotic may think it's switching into a Fire Blast, but can instead be severely crippled by a Life Orb or Choice Specs boosted Thunderbolt. Blaziken itself draws out the aforementioned bulky waters, so Roserade will have a great time wreaking havoc against them.</p>
<p>Defensively, Blaziken appreciates Pokemon who can take attacks from any faster Pokemon who threaten to KO it. Pokemon such as Swellow, Drapion, Espeon, Charizard, and the like are common threats to Blaziken, and Pokemon such as Registeel or Steelix can handle most of them, minus Charizard, obviously. Regirock is also a good Pokemon for backing up Blaziken, because it can handle Charizard, taking little damage from Earthquakes, Fire Blasts, or Flying attacks. Roserade is a great Pokemon for taking the attacks of the Water-type Pokemon who commonly switch in on Blaziken. Poliwrath is as well, taking advantage of its Water Absorb ability.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Pokemon that Blaziken is adept at taking out are rarely seen with Hariyama, but Milotic is seen often with Steelix and can pose a threat to Blaziken if sent in on a Fire Blast. Another bulky Water-type, Azumarill, is often seen with Grass-types such as Venusaur and Roserade to cushion Fire attacks, and with Aqua Jet it can pose a serious threat to any type of Blaziken. Unfortunately, Altaria is also seen from time to time with Registeel, so it would be a good idea to carry an Ice-type move on your team.</p>
<p>Blaziken is one of those Pokemon who can be stuck on nearly any team and do its job, but to utilize it to its fullest potential, there are many strategies one can use. One of the most effective late game sweeping strategies is to use a Calm Mind passing Espeon with an Agility sweeping Blaziken. Once Espeon gets a couple of Calm Minds, it can quickly Baton Pass to Blaziken, who resists Bug and Dark-type attacks aimed at Espeon. After an Agility and a couple of Calm Minds, Blaziken is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and it may end the game right there. Another strategy for using Blaziken is to have a Choice Specs user (why exactly does it have to be Choiced? CM / BP Espeon would work find, wouldn't it?), such as the previously mentioned Espeon, that has Baton Pass or U-turn and can easily lure out Chansey and Registeel. Using those moves to switch to Blaziken on the same turn gives Blaziken a free turn to do whatever it wants, as neither of these special walls will want to stick around to get hit by a STAB Fighting attack. With Registeel, Regirock, or Steelix on your team, foe Ambipom leads will usually be forced to Taunt and U-turn right away to stop Stealth Rock and get out of battle. Blaziken can then use its Bug resistance to it's advantage and switch into the U-turn, which will keep your opponent from setting up as they need to U-turn to their Blaziken counter.</p>
Hidden Power:<p>Due to Blaziken having so many viable sets, there is some more ground to be covered here, as there are a few sets that Blaziken could run that are not mentioned above.</p>
<p>Flamethrower can replace Fire Blast on any set if you dislike Fire Blast's accuracy, but there is a significant drop in power. Blaziken can use a basic Swords Dance set with Sky Uppercut and Flare Blitz, but Blaziken's low Speed lets it down. On the note of Sky Uppercut, Blaziken can replace Superpower with it on almost any of the sets if you dislike the stat drops from Superpower, but you lose many important KOs such as Milotic on the mixed Life Orb set. Blaziken can also run a purely physical Agility set, with the same attacks as mentioned for the Swords Dance set. It can sweep in the same fashion that the mixed Agility sweeper can, but the fact that Fire Blast does not have recoil and that it can effectively use Superpower without lowering its main attacking stat makes the mixed set superior in most cases. Overheat can go over Fire Blast in some places for the extra power, but it will only work effectively on the mixed Choice Scarf set, and the Choice Specs set due to being more "hit and run" oriented.</p>
<p>With some commonly used UU Pokemon able to learn the move Gravity (such as Chansey and Clefable), Blaziken can run a powerful Gravity abusing sweeper set. 100% accurate Focus Blasts and Fire Blasts can tear through most teams, with the former OHKOing Pokemon such as Regirock, who can survive a Superpower with a small amount of HP left. With an Agility under its belt, Blaziken can pull off a quick sweep.</p>
<p>Blaziken can also play the role of a Baton Passer, capable of passing Swords Dance, Agility, and Bulk Up, along with a Substitute. It's actually very good at doing it, because Blaziken forces a lot of switches, which allows you to use Substitute and then pass along the stat boosts.</p>
<p>Blaziken can effectively pull off an Agility SubPetaya set, similar to Empoleon in OU, but you might as well use Reversal if you are going to get that low on health.</p>
<p>Hidden Power Grass is one of the two Hidden Power types that hit Water-type Pokemon. It is important on many sets to hit Pokemon such as Omastar for a OHKO, who can otherwise survive and get a layer of spikes up. It also hits the odd Gastrodon and Quagsire, who can take a couple of Superpowers and be a general annoyance to Blaziken. However, with Blaziken's STABs, Hidden Power Grass leaves you open to Altaria, Moltres and Charizard.</p>
EVs:<p>Hidden Power Ice has pretty much one use in UU for Blaziken: OHKOing Altaria. Without Stone Edge, Blaziken needs Hidden Power Ice to have any chance of breaking through Altaria who resists both of Blaziken's STAB attacks, and has great Special Defense with a recovery move to boot. This leaves you painfully open to Water-types, however, so it is only recommended if you have those Pokemon covered some other way. It also leaves you open to Charizard and Moltres. The reason it's used on the mixed Choice Scarf set is because it is used in conjunction with ThunderPunch, which hits these Flying and Water-type Pokemon super effectively.</p>
<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>
Opinion:<p>With the Choice Scarf sets, only the physical set can take advantage of a Jolly nature to outspeed Torterra after a Rock Polish because the mixed Choice Scarf set has its EVs split up already, so the sacrifice in power is not worth it. Without a boosting nature 384 Speed outruns base 125s, mainly Swellow.</p>
<p>For the Agility set, it has 64 Speed EVs to outspeed Adamant Torterra, who can otherwise hinder Blaziken's sweep with the threat of STAB Earthquake(of course, it can't switch in).</p>
Counters:<p>Blaziken is arguably the best wall breaker in the UU metagame, with its base 120 Attack and base 110 Special Attack. With a Fighting STAB to take out the special walls of the metagame, and a powerful Fire STAB to deal major damage, Blaziken is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Blaziken alone is the reason that Chansey is not used as a primary special wall as often as it should.</p>
<p>The main thing holding Blaziken back is its Speed coupled with poor defenses. Speed is very important for sweeping, and the fact that Blaziken can be easily revenge killed holds it back from sweeping effectively; Blaziken will ideally knock out one Pokemon, then be forced out or trapped by Dugtrio.</p>
<p>However, Blaziken's offensive nature makes it very appealing for any team that needs something to break stall and balanced teams alike, while also providing some decent revenge killing power for offensive teams. Which brings up another advantage Blaziken has - it's a very versatile Pokemon with so many viable options. With so many possibilities, no one can ever be sure of what set it is running until it attacks.</p>
<p>In the OU metagame, Blaziken is generally outclassed by Infernape because of the latter's superior Speed and movepool, but Blaziken's role in the UU metagame can only be filled by a select few Pokemon, though none of them are as versatile. Nidoking can be used as a wall breaker with its superior Speed and movepool, but it lacks the brute force that Blaziken brings. Magmortar can also be a good wall breaker, but it bears a weakness to Stealth Rock and lacks the physical STAB Fighting attacks and priority to pull it off as effectively as well, though it hits a little harder than Blaziken from the special side. Blaziken has the benefit of having a secondary STAB that is enhanced by Blaze for Reversal sets, an advantage over Pokemon such as Medicham and Hitmonlee. For its Agility set, an advantage over other Agility users such as Moltres is that it has a STAB Fighting attack to dispose of Chansey and Clefable. Moltres, however, is much more durable and hits a little harder from the special side.</p>
<p>If you need a Pokemon to break down walls, revenge kill, or sweep late game, definitely consider Blaziken for a slot on your team with one of its many viable sets.</p>
I also think there should be more emphasis on Dugtrio. You cannot throw out Blaziken at every opportunity now, if your opponent has Dugtrio, or else one kill and it's revenge killed. This is especially important if your opponent has death fodder he can use to sack to Blaziken in order to bring Dugtrio safely.<p>Blaziken is one of those Pokemon who can dish out damage from both ends of the spectrum, meaning it's hard to switch any Pokemon in safely. That being said, safe initial switch-ins include bulky Water-types such as Milotic, but they need to watch out for Hidden Power, as it lowers them into KO range from Superpower.</p>
<p>Altaria is probably the best all around switch-in to Blaziken, as it can take any attack except for Hidden Power Ice and Stone Edge. Resisting both of Blaziken's STABs, it is probably your best bet if you want to safely switch into Blaziken. Similar to Altaria, Moltres can switch in on many attacks except for Stone Edge and Hidden Power Electric as long as Stealth Rock is kept off the field.</p>
<p>Slowking is a very good counter to the Mixed Priority and Agility sets, as it takes Fire Blasts and Hidden Powers better than Slowbro due to its good Special Defense, while Blaziken suffers Life Orb recoil damage.</p>
<p>Dugtrio serves as a good check to most Blaziken sets, as it can trap and KO Blaziken with STAB Earthquake, while Blaziken can only muster around 60% with a Life Orb Vacuum Wave, and a bit more with a Specs Vacuum Wave. </p>
<p>Blaziken's main weaknesses are its low Speed and defenses. With mediocre Speed, Blaziken can be easily revenge killed by anything with a super effective attack that has decent attack strength. Pokemon such as Drapion and Yanmega can be taken out by a Fire Blast, but they outrun Blaziken and OHKO with Earthquake and Air Slash respectively. The key to eliminating Blaziken is by predicting an obvious Fire Blast or Superpower and then taking advantage of the fact that it's slow and fragile by either forcing it out or easily revenge killing it. For example, Pokemon such as Azumarill or Kabutops can switch in on a Fire Blast, then threaten to KO it with Aqua Jet or Waterfall respectively.</p>
