[OVERVIEW]
Qwilfish can be a niche pick on rain teams due to its ability to absorb Toxic Spikes from Toxapex, alleviating pressure on Pelipper to remove them with Defog, as well as wallbreak with Swords Dance in conjunction with its threatening offensive movepool. Its solid Speed tier in conjunction with Swift Swim allows Qwilfish to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and outspeed the majority of viable Choice Scarf users. Qwilfish can break down and outright beat traditional rain checks like Ferrothorn with Swords Dance in conjunction with a Life Orb due to rain powering up Liquidation, and it has access to Explosion for taking on more annoying Water-resistant and -immune Pokemon like Toxapex and Gastrodon. It has the ability to sweep offensive teams late-game due to Liquidation hitting insanely hard under rain, especially with a Swords Dance boost. Also, Qwilfish provides an emergency check for setup sweepers such as Mega Gyarados that can get out of hand versus rain teams. Defensively, Qwilfish's typing allows it to soft check Ash-Greninja, alleviating pressure from Ferrothorn, which is often the only reliable Ash-Greninja check on rain teams. However, Qwilfish is relatively frail and prone to getting worn down by Life Orb, so it can be OHKOed by even strong neutral attacks and can't even switch into certain offensive Water- and Fighting-types, being OHKOed by Keldeo's Z-Move and Choice Specs Greninja's Hydro Pump. Qwilfish also suffers from being prediction reliant due to having to set up on forced switches versus teams that don't have particularly passive Pokemon, and it has to use Explosion on the correct turn to actually do anything useful for rain teams. Finally, Qwilfish mandates that Pelipper run Damp Rock due to Swords Dance taking up a turn of rain in conjunction with Qwilfish having to be pivoted in first, whereas other rain sweepers such as Mega Swampert and Kingdra function based on their immediate power.
[SET]
name: Rain Wallbreaker
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Liquidation
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Poison Jab / Spikes
item: Life Orb
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Swords Dance allows Qwilfish to become a wallbreaker for rain teams and break through traditional rain checks such as Ferrothorn and Mantine as well as function as a late-game sweeper under rain. Liquidation is the preferred Water-type STAB move due to its strength when boosted by rain and ability to KO Celesteela and Mega Lopunny among a myriad of other Pokemon without foregoing accuracy. Waterfall can be used over Liquidation in exchange for a flinch chance, but the drop in power actually means it misses out on several notable KOs, such as an OHKO on Celesteela after a Swords Dance boost. Explosion is a powerful one-time use move that can OHKO a variety of offensive Pokemon and outright remove some of rain's biggest threats, such as Gastrodon and Toxapex. Poison Jab is the preferred option in the last slot to hit Grass-types that normally annoy rain teams such as Tapu Bulu and Tangrowth. Alternatively, Qwilfish can use Spikes on teams lacking Ash-Greninja in order to give Ferrothorn room to run utility options such as Leech Seed and Knock Off that it may not be able to run otherwise.
Set Details
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252 Attack and Speed EVs in conjunction with an Adamant nature allow Qwilfish to outspeed almost the entire metagame under rain while maximizing its attacking power. Life Orb is the preferred item on this set, allowing Qwilfish to net significant 2HKOs on defensive Pokemon and OHKOs on offensive Pokemon after a Swords Dance boost. Swift Swim doubles Qwilfish's Speed with rain up, allowing it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and become a sweeper under rain.
Usage Tips
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First off, Qwilfish is a very frail Pokemon, so try to pivot it in either through Pelipper's U-turn or on free switches throughout the match with rain up. Try to set up against more passive Pokemon that can't burn or heavily damage Qwilfish such as Chansey, Clefable, and Mega Scizor because Qwilfish will be easily KOed otherwise. Be careful when using Explosion, as it can only be used once, and if it's used against the incorrect Pokemon, it can oftentimes cost you the game. This is especially true versus users of Protect such as Zygarde, as they can render Explosion completely ineffective. Avoid sending in Qwilfish near the end of rain expiring because it uses up a lot of rain turns between setting up Swords Dance and throwing out Liquidations to scout how the opponent plays in most scenarios; however, don't intentionally avoid sending in Qwilfish near the end of rain in scenarios where it can revenge kill a significant threat or is guaranteed to get a KO.
Team Options
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Qwilfish should only be used on full rain teams because that is its sole niche in the metagame, so Pelipper is a mandatory teammate to activate Swift Swim. It's also a useful teammate because it can switch into offensive Ground-types that threaten out Qwilfish such as Landorus-T. Mega Swampert has excellent offensive synergy with Qwilfish due to it heavily pressuring Toxapex and Ferrothorn while simultaneously switching into Electric-types that threaten out Qwilfish. Ferrothorn makes a great teammate for Qwilfish, providing entry hazards to wear down Qwilfish's defensive answers, the majority of which are grounded, as well as wearing away at opposing Ferrothorn between blocking Leech Seed and removing their Leftovers with Knock Off. Pokemon that appreciate Qwilfish luring and breaking through defensive Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Toxapex, such as Kingdra and Ash-Greninja, make excellent teammates on rain teams for Qwilfish. Ash-Greninja is a good partner in particular, as it provides entry hazard support for Qwilfish.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Qwilfish is a fairly straightforward Pokemon in terms of its moveset options, but Toxic Spikes deserve an honorable mention due to the ability to cripple some of Qwilfish's normal answers; however, Spikes is usually the better option, wearing down Ferrothorn and Magearna better. Waterium Z can be used to give Qwilfish a powerful one-time attack to break through its normal answers, but losing out on the damage boost from Life Orb results in Qwilfish not being able to 2HKO or OHKO key threats after a Swords Dance boost in rain, such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn. In a similar vein, Normalium Z can be used in conjunction with Explosion to OHKO Toxapex after Stealth Rock without sacrificing Qwilfish; however, it suffers from the same inconsistency issues as Waterium Z.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ferrothorn**: Ferrothorn is one of the most common answers to Qwilfish, as it cannot be broken through by Explosion unless Qwilfish acquires two Swords Dance boosts and can heavily damage Qwilfish with Power Whip. However, it's still 2HKOed by Liquidation in the rain following a Swords Dance boost, so it needs to ensure that Qwilfish is below approximately 70% HP before trying to beat it.
**Bulky Water-types**: Bulky Water-types such as Alomomola and Toxapex can threaten to burn Qwilfish, but they have to be wary of being KOed by Explosion.
**Opposing Weather**: Other weather users are excellent answers to Qwilfish due to them removing rain. Mega Charizard Y in particular is a fantastic offensive check to Qwilfish due to its ability to OHKO it with Solar Beam. Tyranitar also deserves a mention here because while it cannot beat Qwilfish one-on-one, it allows its teammates to beat Qwilfish by neutralizing Swift Swim.
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