Community POTW #105

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week. This time, we're going with another commonly used Pokémon



It's Weavile, the awesome evolution of Sneasel. It's a fast Pokémon with decent Attack and is capable of quite a lot.

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/461.shtml

Go nuts, and don't forget Sneasel!

[HRRlion]

Weavile@Choice Band
252/252
Att/Spd
Jolly
-Ice Shard
-Pursuit
-Low Kick
-Ice Punch

[RioluEeveeZorua fan]

Weavile:

Blizzard
Hail
Dark Pulse
Embargo

[Sala-imence]

Item: Focus Sash
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Ability: Pressure
Moveset:
- Night Slash
- Ice Punch
- Low Kick
- Swords Dance

A standard SWORDS DANCE set. Use this first. Focus Sash gives you another turn to survive, and gives your ability pressure some use. Then go nuts with your attacking moves. As Weavile lurks in the higher tiers, heavy pokemon are abundunt so LOW KICK is very useful.

[Lucario Fan]

Ability: Pressure
Item: Muscle Band
Moves: Ice Shard, Night Slash, Low Kick, Aerial Ace

[Umbilical Noose]

Just like always I will do the counters.

Weavile is a great check for Grachomp and other Dragon types which are 4x weak to Ice Shard but sadly abundance of Scizor made it leave OU. Maybe someday it will return to OU since it is a power to reckon with in UU.

Counters:
Weavile sports a massive Attack stat and even better Speed but that leaves it with awful defenses. Defense stat 70/65/85 is really troublesome specially with the abundance of Mach Punch Users. The first counter to Weavile would be Hitmontop. It has enough bulk to take a Ice Shard(priority move against priority user) and then retaliate with Mach Punch slaying Weavile in the process. And then there are bulky water-types like Milotic, Swampert and Blastoise which can take anything Weavile throws at them and then threaten it out. Arcanine is also a nice check for Weavile because of Intimidate and will force Weavile out.

[Kraleck]

My favorite Pokemon's time to shine...

Kraleck's Poke-Analysis
Abilities:
-Pressure - Won't get much use due to how fragile Weavile is, but it can mean your opponent can't use one of their low PP Moves as often.
-Pickpocket - When hit by a Physical Contact Move, you steal your opponent's Item. Useless with a non-consumable Hold Item or if you don't have Fling, but is my preferred Ability for handling certain nasties.

Stats:
-HP - Average - Base 70 is nothing special.
-Attack - Godly - Base 120 means you wreck stuff easily, plus your Physical Movepool ain't too shabby...
-Defense - Below Average-bordering-Bad - Base 65 is going to get you smacked around quite a bit.
-Sp.Atk - Bad - Base 45 is terrible compared to that Attack stat.
-Sp.Def - Above Average - Base 85 isn't particularly spectacular.
-Speed - Slightly Above Godly - Base 125 means you outrun quite a few Pokemon unless they decide to use Priority.

My favorite set: "Skirmish in the Alley"
Stats: Adamant, 252 Attack, 252 Speed, rest HP/Defense
Ability: Pickpocket
Item: Focus Sash/Normal Gem
Moves: Fake Out, Ice Shard, Night Slash, Ice Punch/Aerial Ace/Brick Break/Low Sweep/X-Scissor/Double Hit

Tactics: Get in without hazards up. Fake Out immediately to break any Sashes, then use other Moves as needed. If you see a potential Mach Punch user, fall back to a Ghost Type. If you see a potential Bullet Punch user, fall back to a Fire, Steel, or Water Type. If you see a Water Type, fall back an available and proper check/counter to it (different Water Types require different strategies, after all). If you see a potential Prankster Ability Pokemon, judge accordingly (for example, Sableye's WoW and Whimsicott's Stun Spore are both crippling if you can't 1-shot them, so beware of a Focus Sash if they come in after Fake Out).

Basically, Weavile is the king of hit & run, with emphasis on hit. Glass Cannon is an appropriate term, but it also has a short fuse and slight cracks. Because most Moves require Physical Contact and since Weavile enjoys high Attack, high Speed, and using Focus Sash, a Flame Body, Static, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs Ability Pokemon can really ruin Weavile's day.

[SkyDriver]

Weavile @ Focus Sash
PickPocket
Jolly
252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Beat Up
-Ice Punch
-Low Kick

Lead set. Set up an SD, steal the opponent's item (if physically hit) and start beating up stuff. Ice Punch is for a reliable and strong Ice move, Low kick for Heatran/TTar.

Sneasel @ Focus Sash
PickPocket
Jolly
252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Beat Up
-Ice Punch
-Low Kick

Lead set. Set up an SD, steal the opponent's item (if physically hit) and start beating up stuff. Ice Punch is for a reliable and strong Ice move, Low kick for Heatran/TTar. Works surprisingly well in NU. Sweeps early game already, but can be used as late-game cleaner.

[EonDragonFTW]

Well Weavile is all About coverage and power, but can't take a hit, so here's a life orb set:

Weavile @ life orb
EVs: 252 attack 252 speed 4HP
Nature: Jolly/ adamant
Moves:
Low Kick
ice shard
Pursuit
Ice punch

Counters:
Since it's weak to stealth rock, a phazer like skarmory could shut down and wall Weavile. You could also exploit the 4x fighting weakness with pretty much any fighting move.

[adu98]

Boasting ridiculous speed and fantastic attack, Weavile fits in as one of the finest pokemon in the entire UU tier. It no longer lives in the fear of insanely powerful Bullet Punches or U-Turns. Instead... it faces the even bigger threat of x4 STAB Mach Punches, which are very common in UU. Furthermore, bulky water types such as Swampert or Blastoise easily wall the weak attacks Weavile throws. However, with access to Priority, a good enough movepool and Low Kick, Weavile is a great pokemon.

Choice Band
@Choice Band
252 Att/252 Speed/6 SDefense

-Pursuit/Night Slash
-Low Kick/Brick Break
-Ice Punch
-Ice Shard/Night Slash

Jolly.

You'll outspeed most of the unboosted UU metagame, apart from, like, Crobat, who can't OHKO very easily, and Ice Shard handles that.
Pursuit, your best STAB when they switch. Really good in general, since Weavile's high attack will cause switches.
Low Kick is better if you're using this guy in UU, since heavy threats like Snorlax and Rhypherior lie here.
Brick Break is better in OU, where threats are lighter.
Ice Punch is a god send, it's your strongest move and has great coverage against the numerous Grass types in the lower tiers.
Ice Shard hits Crobat fast, but I'd say Night Slash is better in UU, where Chandelure is.
Night Slash is a good secondary STAB move. If you find Pursuit unreliable, use it. Or, if Ice Shard is unnecessary, go with it.

If you want to, replace the Band with a Life Orb, so you have better coverage. Or with a Scope Lens, to boost the crit rate of Night Slash, although this is very gimmicky.

[DizzyCobraMew]

low Ahh been waiting for this one

Frozen Assassin
Adamant
Focus sash
Pressure
Evs 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 def
Ice Shard
Fake Out / Foul Play / Shadow Claw
Ice Punch
Low Kick / Brick Break / Low Sweep

You could go and replace fake out for something as its not stabbed and isn't good against steels, rocks, and is $#/+ against ghosts, Low Kick for heavy foes, Brick Break for taking out reflect and light screen if you encounter them often, low sweep to lower speeds of pokemon who will automatically outspeed you and bring them down to size so you can sweep with Ice Punch or maybe Foul Play or Shadow Claw

[Meowmeow]

Weavile is not as great as many expect. While Weavile sports excellent offensive stats in a base 120 attack and 125 speed, Weavile does not have much power. This is because Weavile has zero physical attacks (besides Giga Impact) with more than 100 base power. Weavile has a nifty offensive typing, but it dies easily because of it's poor defensive stats and its horrendous typing. Dark and Ice share a weakness to fighting, which is a death sentence. It's also weak to bug, fire, rock, and steel, all very common attacking types.
Why use Weavile? Pinch value. Weavile can easily smash any dragon and psychic type that dares show their faces. With Ice Shard and Ice Punch, dragons will die. Psychic types will fear Pursuit. Weavile checks the likes of Salamence, Dragonite, Latios, Latias, the now OU Garchomp, Haxorus, Hydreigon, Alakazam, Reuniclus, Starmie, Gengar, Espeon, Celebi, and Landorus (both forms). With coverage from Low Kick or Brick Break, Tyranitar is not safe.
If you are looking for a reliable speedy physical attacker, you have better options. If you need a good dragon slayer, Weavile is right for you.

[Marowak-Z]

Focus Sash
hp 4/atk 252/spd 252
Adamant/Jolly
Pickpocket: Weavile has awful defences and hp, pressure is a defensive ability so it is pretty useless.

-Ice Shard/Ice Punch
-Night Slash/Pursuit
-Low Kick
-Swords Dance


Weavile has stats to be a good sweeper but it's movepool is not very strong, so Swords Dance helps to give more power to its mediocre moves.
The idea is set up with Swords Dance, Focus Sash allows Weavile endure a 1 hit KO if you use SD, if that hit had physical contact pickpocket could steal the foe's item after Focus Sash is used (I'm not sure about of this). Ice Shard is a stab move with priority with the Weavile's speed you can outrun other priority moves and Ice Punch is more powerful thought it isn't great and has chance of freeze the foe. Pursuit and Night Slash are like Ice shard/punch, the first allows to hit a pokemon trying to escape with decent power and the other is more reliable to hit aways "hard" and has more critical hit ratio. Low Kick gives coverage and can kill heavy foes specially steel types that resist Weavile's stab moves.

[Luthor]

Sneasel Set

sneasel can pretty much do what weaville does but weaker which works in NU

adamant/jolly
focus sash/life orb
inner focus/pickpocket
-Ice Shard/Ice Punch
-Beat up/Pursuit
-Low Kick
-Swords Dance

[Pokemon Power]

For the pre-evolution corner, I would like it if you showed where to catch Sneasel in addition to the usual. Personally the only thing I don't like about the pre-evolution corner is that it dosen't show where you can catch the pre-evolved form.

[BionicToaster]

Weavile @ Leftovers
4HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
Jolly
Pressure
-Substitute
-Swords Dance
-Ice Punch/Ice Shard
-Night Slash/Low Kick

Sub-Dancing Weavile. Jolly because your attack will be so high after a swords dance anyways. Ice Shard for priority, but Weavile is already very fast and can take a mach punch or bullet punch when behind a Substitute. Night Slash could be used for dual stab with ice shard/punch, but low kick provides more coverage since dark doesn't hit many things super effectively (Night slash is still preffered because of raw and reliable power).

[shadow_burnt]

Counters can be anything that can resist ice, dark, or fighting to being able to take at least one hit. While Weavile is fast and become powerful after a turn of Swords Dance it can't take hits, especially when sporting a 4x weakness to fighting. Something that can make use of fighting moves is good, something that can resist ice is better, but anything that has a super effective priority move is best. Lucario and Scizor are two examples, and even something such as Breloom could do well, but has to worry if they have a priority ice move.

[Superwott]

Weavile@Focus Sash/Life Orb
Jolly Nature
Ev's: 252 Atk 252 Spd 4 Whatever you want
-Swords Dance
-Night Slash/Pursuit
-Ice Punch/Ice Shard
-Brick Break/Low Kick

My usual Weavile SD set.Set up and demolish.Use Night Slash for power and crits, or pursuit to hit pokemon that try switching.Ice Punch for power and Ice Shard for priority.Brick Break and Low Kick depends if you want to hit heavy pokemon or all for normal damage.Focus Sash is to survive a hit to setup and Life Orb is for more damage.

[Black Murder Heavangelon]

I'll be doing one for Sneasel only. Not very experienced with using Weavile.

Sneasel@Focus Sash
Adamant/Jolly Nature
Inner Focus
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
-Taunt
-Counter
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick/Bite/Pursuit

The main reason to consider Weavile over Sneasel is two things only; Inner Focus and Counter. Weavile does not get Inner Focus, which is vital for a Counter set, as it has the power to retaliate against Fake Out users that were ever so common in D/P/Pt. Even with the addition of team preview before matches, Sneasel can still snag some surprise KOs and can disrupt the balance of a match at the very beginning of the game.

Taunt is your premier move, as it is the reason opponents will have trouble deciding whether or not they should set up or attack Sneasel, as predicting Sneasel with a Focus Sash is as easy as predicting a Combee's gender (hint, they're usually male). However, you need to worry yourself about mindgames, because leading pokemon are harder to predict than in past generations due to prompts of switching pokemon around with the team preview. Counter is the piece de resistance to this set, and is the only reason you're running Sneasel over Weavile. If you're anticipating a physical move over Stealth Rocks or Spikes, or after you've Taunted the opposition, this move will make your opponent faint faster than a kid getting an N64 in the 90's. In the rare case that a Focus Sash is revealed, Ice Shard is there to steal the last bit of HP from them, meaning you would have taken out a pokemon before they could've set up anything (usually).

The last move is up to you. Low Kick will be hitting for some almost consistent damage to the likes of Tyranitar and co. while Bite is STAB and can get you some flinchhax you may desperately need. Also, it is the most consistently strongest Dark STAB you are going to have (Only Weavile gets Night Slash. Sucks, huh? You can try your luck with Foul Play but...). Pursuit is also an option if you find that your opponents like to run away a lot after being Taunted.

And finally, the nature is your choice between more attacking power after a successful KO, or a faster Taunt.

[MatchMaster]

When looking at Weavile's stat spread, the one thing that comes to mind is "glass cannon". In addition, it is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards and common priority. However, Weavile has quite a few things going for it. A good base 120 Attack, an almost supersonic base 125 Speed stat, and STAB priority make it among the best revenge killer in the game. Garchomp's drop from ubers and the rise of Tornadus-T have also put its abilities in demand.

Abilities
Pressure: Has hardly any use on Weavile considering it can't take a hit, but is better than the other option.
Pickpocket: Only use this on a "lead" set with a focus sash, but dedicated leads are quite uncommon anyway.

Physcial Attacker
Item: Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability:Pressure
Nature:Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard
- Ice Punch / Night Slash
- Low Kick

Pretty standard physical attacker here. Pursuit catches stuff that is switching out, like Chandelure, Azelf, and the Latis. Ice Shard beats Pokemon that outpace you, like Accelgor, Crobot, and choice scarf variants of Flygon and Salamence. In the third slot you just choose between what STAB type you want more of. Low Kick is in the last slot to destroy Dark- and Steel- types mainly.