Pokémon Wo-Chien

[Hematemesis]

Wo-Chien

Stats

Ability: Tablets of Ruin - The attack stat of all other active pokemon is reduced by 25%
HP: 85
Attack: 85
Defense: 100*
Special Attack: 95
Special Defense: 135
Speed: 70

Notable Moves ​

*Moves bolded are particularly notable
- Body Press

- Body Slam

- Dark Pulse

- Energy Ball

- Facade

- Foul Play

- Giga Drain

- Grass Knot

- Hex

- Knock Off

- Leaf Storm

- Leech Seed

- Light Screen

- Power Whip

- Protect

- Reflect

- Rest

- Seed Bomb

- Sleep Talk

- Stun Spore

- Substitute

- Taunt

- Tera Blast

- Trailblaze

- Zen Headbutt

Pros ​

- Audaciously good defenses
Wo-Chien has an 85/100/135 statline for defenses. This would already be incredible, as evidenced by

These Calcs

0 Atk Mew Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxapex: 75-89 (31.1 - 36.9%) -- 74.9% chance to 3HKO 0 Atk Mew Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxapex: 75-89 (31.1 - 36.9%) -- 74.9% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Mew Hyper Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Toxapex: 79-94 (32.7 - 39%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Mew Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zarude: 108-128 (34.7 - 41.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Mew Hyper Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zarude: 84-99 (27 - 31.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO Used Zarude with adjusted stats to simulate Wo-Chien

showing how Wo-Chien has comparable bulk to Toxapex (better spdef, worse defense). However, looks can be deceiving. Due to Wo-Chien’s ability, its defense stat is actually bolstered quite nicely. In fact, it has what can be approximated as 85/~139/135 for defense stats (stats per Hematite XP). That is absolutely incredible, and this thing will be a defensive staple of whatever tier it winds up in most likely.
- Utility
Wo-Chien has access to a fair amount of strong utility moves, most notably Leech Seed, Knock Off, Taunt, and Stun Spore. Notably, knock off had its distribution limited, which means it will be a lot more notable to have this utility. Taking a look at what else gets leech seed, Wo-Chien seems like it will be the premier leech seed user in the tier (spore focus punch Breloom sets may use this as well, but that is a less traditional usage than Wo-Chien). Stun Spore has accuracy issues, and taunt may not be able to fit on every sit, but they are nonetheless good alternatives.
- Variety
Usually, a pokemon is very obviously either a physical attacker or special attacker. However, Wo-Chien has the movepool to be either. For stabs, the combinations of either Power Whip and Knock Off or Leaf Storm/Energy Ball and Dark Pulse work as attacking moves. Wo-Chien also has access to body press, which will most likely see lots of mileage. Although special attack has 10 more points than attack, knock off’s strength may make some users go the physical route instead. Mixed is also a very possible option on this pokemon. It will be tough to completely predict what exactly Wo-Chien will be running, and opponents will need to analyze Wo-Chien’s role on the team to make an educated guess, which is good for this pokemon.

Cons ​

- 4x bug weakness
Plenty of incredible pokemon have 4x weaknesses (Lando-T, Heatran, Kartana, etc), but a 4x bug weakness is notable because of u-turn. Wo-Chien getting blasted by a u-turn not only heavily depletes its HP, but it puts the user on the back foot because of momentum. Wo-Chien is a relatively slow pokemon pace-wise, and it might struggle to keep up with the prevalence of this momentum move.
- No Recovery
Although this is not as much of a weakness as it would be in previous gens due to the PP nerfs, a defensive pokemon not having access to reliable recovery is a definitive con. Although leech seed and leftovers will allow Wo-Chien to recover some HP, it pales in comparison to what recover, slack off, or roost would do for another pokemon. Because Wo-Chien is centered around defense, not having the longevity of competitors is a significant concern.
- Inconsistent with Metagame Trends
At current, the tier is absolutely dominated by the strong offensive presence of many threats (as are many new generations). As a result, defense oriented play styles will not be nearly as common or viable as they will be in the future. Additionally, the recovery PP nerfs do a number on bulky offense, balance, and stall that other styles were able to avoid. As a result, it may be challenging to fit this pokemon on teams, and it could slide down in usage as a result. This pokemon is also fodder for Volcarona, which might end up being a staple pokemon in the tier (as it has been good in every tier since its release).

Terastallizing ​

In all likelihood, this pokemon should not be terastallizing. Generally, terastallizing should be reserved for an offensive pokemon, and Wo-Chien will almost never be used as that. One thing that Wo-Chien could benefit from is rock type terastallizing. This would allow it to blast Volcarona with a strong STAB tera blast. Alternatively, grass type terastallizing into a strong leaf storm move could be a great way to surprise unsuspecting opponents thinking Wo-Chien was merely acting as a wall. With that being said, this pokemon should generally not be the terastallizing pokemon in any given battle.

Potential Sets
​

Wall Sina (Wo-Chien) @ Leftovers
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Knock Off
- Power Whip

Wall Rose (Wo-Chien) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
- Stun Spore
- Body Press
- Knock Off
- Tera Blast

Wall Maria (Wo-Chien) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Energy Ball
- Dark Pulse

In truth, because Wo-Chien is so splashable, there are many different variations of similar sets. These are just some examples, feel free to mix and match EVs, items, and moves to make the best possible tablet slug you can!

Consensus

It’s good!
​

For real though. To be perfectly candid, I do not know if Wo-Chien has what it takes to be an OU pokemon. While it has absurd defenses, there are plenty of pokemon with great defenses. That is not enough to make it OU, and a middle of the road moveset and some troublesome weaknesses may hold it back. It also will compete with Meowscarada and Brute Bonnet for a grass/dark spot (Zarude too when it comes out, and I guess Cacturne but realistically nobody is using Cacturne). However, one thing is for certain: this pokemon can work at an OU level. It has great strengths, and a good team that can take advantage of them is sure to get a lot of mileage. My guess for this thing out of OU, UU, RU, NU, or PU would be that it ends up as a UUBL, UU, or RUBL level pokemon. It seems too good for RU but not good enough for OU at a glance. Of course, I cannot wait to be proven wrong and this thing is Ubers or PU. This pokemon may also suffer from not being as “cool” as some of the new attackers. I implore you to try out slug buddy, even if it’s just on a single team. This pokemon has insane potential, and offers very unique things other pokemon cannot hope to match. Believe me, if you use this pokemon, you are sure to Wo-Chienjoy ;).

 

[Eeveeto]

Restalk with Knock Off + Body Press could be another set, since Leech Seed can sometimes be unreliable (especially if Poison Heal Breloom is a thing). It should probably check well things like Palafin, Tyranitar, DD Pult/Roarin Moon, Kingambit, that electric Tyranitar whose name I didn't learn yet, and future Donphan among others.

 

[escarlata]

Honest a very pleasant surprise so far.
Wasn't expecting much out of its weakness-laden typing but in practice can just eat hits left and right, especially when on a team where it is allowed to Terastalise.
I've run into Tera Steel variants pretending to be Ferrothorn 2.0, but the one that really caught me off guard was the Tera Fairy variant that one shotted my Roaring Moon out of nowhere.

 

[HeartlessAngel1993]

From testing, I think the Wall Sina set could benefit from running Giga Drain over Power Whip. You aren't really going for direct damage here, so personally I feel like the added healing ability from getting a Giga Drain off would be helpful for longevity.

 

[earl]

Really wish this guy had hazards or swords dance or something, as it stands it’s sort of just a blob that clicks Knock. Not anywhere near OU material atm. Bummer, considering how cool it looks

 

[viet noa]

Wo-Chien's viability will likely rely more heavily on metagame trends relative to other Pokemon. It has tons of crippling weaknesses, but resisting Ground, Ghost, and Electric are all extremely valuable. Furthermore, thanks to Tablets of Ruin, Wo-Chien can also function as a premier Knock Off absorber.

Wo-Chien @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison / Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed / Stun Spore
- Body Press / Protect / Tera Blast

Most people have been focusing on offensive Terastallization, and for good reason, but Wo-Chien could use it to surprise certain offensive threats looking to sweep. Poison can handle Fairy-types, while Rock can handle Fire and Bug-types (in spite of it generally being a weak defensive typing).

In a generation lacking almost any high-level defensive mons, Wo-Chien will be an interesting addition to the fold. It probably won't be OU, but it could have a strong supportive presence in UU or RU.

 

[MrHands]

Stats and movepool are good but Grass / Dark walls basically nothing at all. Bug / Fighting / Fairy / Fire / Ice... even Poison / Flying claps your slug cheeks. Dark / Grass is good offensively though so it will probably be quite good somewhere, just probably not in OU.

 

[MythicalNick]

nice aot reference

 

[Minazuki]

As a Grass type enthusiast I love the design of this mon (actually the best one this gen) but unfortunately that speed, lack of proper recovery and horrible typing make it unviable in OU especially if Terastalize gets banned. My prediction is that it will get clapped by U-Turns and First Impressions all the way down to NUBL eventually during this gen.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

The lack of reliable recovery outside Rest and one of the worst defensive typings in game really hinders it. At least it can terastalize to get rid of most of its weaknesses, like Fire or Fairy but it just falls short most of the time. It's a pretty disappointing pokemon tbh

 

[viet noa]

The lack of reliable recovery outside Rest and one of the worst defensive typings in game really hinders it. At least it can terastalize to get rid of most of its weaknesses, like Fire or Fairy but it just falls short most of the time. It's a pretty disappointing pokemon tbh

i get where youre coming from but leech seed + giga drain is pretty solid recovery even if it isnt on the same level as something like recover

 

[STEELDRAGON]

i get where youre coming from but leech seed + giga drain is pretty solid recovery even if it isnt on the same level as something like recover

It's better than nothing but still pretty lacking

 

[LunaPhoebe]

whoa............chien

It's alright, I can't think of much it does that'll rock your fucking sucks off, but it's not terrible.

 

[alephgalactus]

This thing’s gonna be insane in Tier Shift once it hits NU or wherever it ends up.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Wo-Chien @ Leftovers
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Fire/Fairy
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 SpD
Bold Nature
-Tera Blast/Rumination
-Leech Seed
-Stun Spore
-Substitute

I have tried many sets for Wo-Chien and this one stands out as the best. Once Stun Spore is revealed a lot of people think twice about switching in. When you pair with entry hazards this set performs a lot better. Fire Teratyping allows it to obliterate many of your opponents most common answers to it. Fairy is much better defensively but it gets more easily delt with.