Slither Wing (QC 1/2)

[Theorymon]

If things went my way, this would have gotten Victory Dance!

Note: I'm only doing the two offensive set write ups 100% for sure. I'm including defensive sets to put on the dex because they def exist, but I don't really have experience with using them.

[SET]
Name: Great First Impression!
move 1: First Impression
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Earthquake / U-turn / Wild Charge
move 4: U-turn / Flare Blitz / Flame Charge
item: Life Orb / Assault Vest / Booster Energy
tera type: Bug / Fire / Electric
ability: Protosynthesis
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Slither Wing's First Impression offers an incredible amount of power for a priority attack, making it a surprisingly dangerous revenge killer for its first turn!

* **Earthquake versus Wild Charge**: Earthquake offers good coverage, hitting foes that resist Slither Wing's STAB attacks such as Gholdengo and Azumarill and OHKOing Iron Moth. Wild Charge is Slither Wing's best option against Azumarill, and should be seriously considered if using Tera Electric. Just note that Close Combat deals similar damage to Corviknight and most Water-types.

* **Flare Blitz**: Flare Blitz deals massive damage to Corviknight and Amoonguss, who can handle Earthquake, in addition to dealing serious damage to Gholdengo even if it Terastallizes into a Flying-type.

* **Flame Charge**: Flame Charge is too weak to be decent coverage against Corviknight, but the Speed boost can lead to surprising sweeps.

* **Adamant versus Jolly**: Adamant makes First Impression as powerful as it can be, but Jolly is worth considering if outspeeding Jolly Breloom is required.

Other Options
========

* **Trailblaze**: Flame Charge has more high value targets to pick off like Scizor, but Trailblaze can let Slither Wing get a Speed boost and revenge kill off of some severely weakened foes more easily than Flame Charge, such as Iron Bundle and Azumarill.

* **Leech Life**: If using Assault Vest, Leech Life's extra recovery can make Slither Wing an even sturdier tank at the cost of coverage or pivoting.

* **Dual Wingbeat**: Dual Wingbeat's coverage isn't impressive, but it allows Slither Wing to surprise Breloom with a OHKO through its Focus Sash.

Tera Types
====

* **Tera Dependency - Medium**: Slither Wing's typing and movepool can be awkward, with annoying weaknesses to Fairy, Fire, and Flying, and it having trouble hitting Dragonite hard. So while Slither Wing can function fine without Terastallization, it can be a big help regardless.

* **Bug**: Tera Bug takes First Impression's revenge killing power to new levels, letting Adamant Slither Wing OHKO offensive Iron Bundle and bulky Chi-Yu.

* **Fire**: Not only does Tera Fire boost Flare Blitz, but it also gives Slither Wing key resistances to Fairy, Ice, and Fire for taking on Flutter Mane, Chien-Pao, and Chi-Yu, plus a useful immunity to Will-O-Wisp.

* **Electric**: Tera Electric turns the devastating Flying weakness into a resistance, which is quite helpful against Corviknight and makes Wild Charge a decent STAB attack.

* **Fighting**: Boosting Close Combat's power makes Slither Wing very difficult to wall without resisting Fighting, with even Dondozo and Corviknight being threatened with a 2HKO!

* **Ground**: Tera Ground makes Earthquake a reliable STAB, which happens to pair well with Assault Vest by removing a lot of Slither Wing's weaknesses.

* **Water**: Tera Water doesn't cover as many of Slither Wing's weaknesses as Tera Fire, but the lack of a weakness to Rock and Water makes it a good alternative.

* **Rock**: Rock is not a very good defensive typing, but when paired with Tera Blast, it gives Slither Wing an attack that covers Dragonite and Fire-types with one moveslot.

Items
======

* **Life Orb versus Booster Energy**: Life Orb is the most reliable way to revenge kill with First Impression. Booster Energy lets Slither Wing do this on its first switch-in without compromising its bulk, but it'll only boost one use of First Impression.

* **Assault Vest**: When used with bulkier EV spreads, Slither Wing reduces its revenge killing power in exchange for being a better tank.

Bulkier EV Spreads
========

* **228 HP / 180 Atk / 100 SpD with Adamant**: This spread is used with Assault Vest to avoid a 2HKO from Timid Choice Specs Iron Bundle's Hydro Pump, and survive Tera Normal Choice Band Dragonite's Extreme Speed after Stealth Rock damage.

[SET]
Name: Choice Attacker
move 1: U-turn
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Flare Blitz / Earthquake
move 4: Earthquake / Dual Wingbeat / Wild Charge
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
tera type: Fire / Fighting / Electric
ability: Protosynthesis
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Having one of the most powerful pivoting moves in the game under its wings, Slither Wing is a good user of choice items.

* **Flare Blitz** Flare Blitz is a strong option against Steel-types that aren't weak to Fighting such as Corviknight and Gholdengo, and pairs very well with Tera Fire.

* **Earthquake**: Earthquake can be a bit risky to be locked in on, but it allows Slither Wing to deal good damage to Azumarill as well as OHKO Iron Moth, which is key for Choice Scarf variants.

* **Dual Wingbeat**: Dual Wingbeat isn't a fantastic coverage move, but it lets Slither Wing slice through Focus Sash Breloom leads.

* **Wild Charge**: The large amount of Electric resistances and immunities from foes like Ting-Lu and Baxcalibur makes Wild Charge a dangerous move to be locked into, but it does let Choice Band almost always OHKO Azumarill, and works well with Tera Electric.

* **Adamant versus Jolly**: If using Choice Band, Adamant is preferred for extra power. If using Choice Scarf, Jolly ensures that Slither Wing outspeeds fast threats like Chien-Pao, Iron Bundle, and Dragapult.

Other Options
========

* **Leech Life**: Leech Life acts as a way to have a Bug STAB Attack without being forced to pivot out, in addition to restoring some health.

* **First Impression**: First Impression is a very risky move to use with Choice Band since it forces Slither Wing to switch out the next turn, but with Tera Bug, it does deal an astonishing amount of damage, OHKOing even Tera Normal Dragonite after Stealth Rock damage!

Tera Types
========

* **Tera Dependency - Low**: Terastallization can certainly help Slither Wing win matchups that its awkward weaknesses to Fairy and Fire can hamper, but Slither Wing pivots so much that it's not a big aspect of this set.

* **Fire**: Tera Fire fits Slither Wing in multiple ways, giving it a useful Fairy resistance, making it immune to Will-O-Wisp, and transforming Flare Blitz into a powerful STAB attack.

* **Fighting**: Boosting up Close Combat's power makes it difficult for sturdy physical Pokemon such as Dondozo and Corviknight to repeatedly switch in.

* **Electric**: Tera Electric flips the table on Slither Wing's Flying weakness and boosts the power of Wild Charge.

* **Rock**: Tera Rock is an unorthodox way to deal big damage to Dragonite and Fire-types like Chi-Yu with Tera Blast.

* **Bug**: While Slither Wing does not appreciate the Stealth Rock weakness, Tera Bug makes U-turn into one of the most powerful pivot moves in the game!

* **Water**: Tera Water isn't as useful offensively as Tera Fire, but it gives Slither Wing resistances to Ice, Water, and Fire without a Stealth Rock weakness.

The two set concepts that I KNOW exist, but need help with cuz I have 0 experience outside of seeing them lol

[SET]
Name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Leech Life
move 3: Earthquake / Low Kick / Low Sweep
move 4: Morning Sun / Close Combat / Flame Charge
item: Booster Energy / Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
tera type: Fire / Water / Flying??
ability: Protosynthesis
nature: Adamant / Careful
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe ????

[SET]
Name: Defensive
move 1: Morning Sun
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Low Kick / Whirlwind
item: Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
tera type: Water / Steel / Fire???
ability: Protosynthesis
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 60 Spe

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theorymon.29010/
Quality Checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/thick-fat-azumarill.330577/

Grammar checked by:

 

[DerpySuX]

hmmm I suggest finishing the analysis

 

[Omastar68]

"* **Flare Blitz**: Flare Blitz deals massive damage to Corviknight and Amoonguss, who can handle Earthquake, in addition to dealing serious damage to Gholdengo if it Terastallizes into a Flying-type."

Um, flare blitz hits Gholdengo...if it DOESN'T tera.

 

[Thick Fat Azumarill]

Ok, so I know this is still WIP but I have used defensive Slither and I have some comments.

First is a 244 HP / 204 Def / 60 Spe Impish spread, allows you to outspeed 4 Spe Adamant Baxcalibur(and also Tusk). You can go up to 100 speed for Adamant Tyranitar and most importantly Modest Magnezone, but it's a rarer sight compared to Regulation B.

Second is the choice of Fighting STAB. Slither Wing is a shaky Bax check since it takes a ton from both Glaive Rush and 4/5 hits Icicle Spear( 252+ Atk Baxcalibur Glaive Rush vs. 244 HP / 204+ Def Slither Wing: 108-127 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO and 252+ Atk Baxcalibur Icicle Spear (4 hits) vs. 244 HP / 204+ Def Slither Wing: 96-112 (50.2 - 58.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), so ideally you want Low Kick for it, as it has a low chance of OHKOing from full if Bax hasn't Terastallized yet and to 3HKO if it has into a type that's neutral to Fighting, 0 Atk Slither Wing Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 188-224 (84.6 - 100.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO and 0 Atk Slither Wing Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tera-Electric Baxcalibur: 94-112 (42.3 - 50.4%) -- 1.6% chance to 2HKO. It's also your best move against mons like Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Garganacl and Iron Hands.

Low Sweep lowering speed is kinda nice, but it's also really weak. One use case going for it and Body Press though is against Iron Bundle, Chi-Yu and Rotoms. Those three are so light that Low Kick does pathetic damage against them(Especially when factoring Tera from the first two). However they're also special attackers, which isn't the point of this set.

 

[Theorymon]

OK finally got this ready for a QC check!

Like I said before, I mainly have a vague idea of what the slashes / teras / EVs should be on Bulk Up and Defensive, but I want to AT LEAST put the sets onsite for someone else to reserve (unless someone wants to give me a cliff notes I can expand to a write up lol).

Pearl I'd love your feedback in particular since you and TFA are the only people I know that have used Slither Wing as well lol.

"* **Flare Blitz**: Flare Blitz deals massive damage to Corviknight and Amoonguss, who can handle Earthquake, in addition to dealing serious damage to Gholdengo if it Terastallizes into a Flying-type."

Um, flare blitz hits Gholdengo...if it DOESN'T tera.

To be clear, I meant that more like, Flare Blitz still does a lot of damage even if it tries to get out of the weakness with Tera, making it less risky than Earthquake. I added the word "even" to make this more clear!

Ok, so I know this is still WIP but I have used defensive Slither and I have some comments.

First is a 244 HP / 204 Def / 60 Spe Impish spread, allows you to outspeed 4 Spe Adamant Baxcalibur(and also Tusk). You can go up to 100 speed for Adamant Tyranitar and most importantly Modest Magnezone, but it's a rarer sight compared to Regulation B.

Second is the choice of Fighting STAB. Slither Wing is a shaky Bax check since it takes a ton from both Glaive Rush and 4/5 hits Icicle Spear( 252+ Atk Baxcalibur Glaive Rush vs. 244 HP / 204+ Def Slither Wing: 108-127 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO and 252+ Atk Baxcalibur Icicle Spear (4 hits) vs. 244 HP / 204+ Def Slither Wing: 96-112 (50.2 - 58.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), so ideally you want Low Kick for it, as it has a low chance of OHKOing from full if Bax hasn't Terastallized yet and to 3HKO if it has into a type that's neutral to Fighting, 0 Atk Slither Wing Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 188-224 (84.6 - 100.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO and 0 Atk Slither Wing Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tera-Electric Baxcalibur: 94-112 (42.3 - 50.4%) -- 1.6% chance to 2HKO. It's also your best move against mons like Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Garganacl and Iron Hands.

Low Sweep lowering speed is kinda nice, but it's also really weak. One use case going for it and Body Press though is against Iron Bundle, Chi-Yu and Rotoms. Those three are so light that Low Kick does pathetic damage against them(Especially when factoring Tera from the first two). However they're also special attackers, which isn't the point of this set.

Good points, modified the sets to take these into account!

hmmm I suggest finishing the analysis

Cheeky, it'll be done soon enough :P

 

[Omastar68]

Is Acrobatics ok on Booster Energy, like Roaring Moon does? I'm partial to Lunge over Leech Life on AV for OO. Lowering ATK compliments AV just like healing, and helps if they switch out immediately since you'd be full HP as is. But mostly the first idea.

I question flyng on the bulk up set strongly. It has no fake STAB from it, and flying resists only types the base takes. Ground, fighting, grass, bug.