OU Chandelure

Leo

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MPL Champion
[OVERVIEW]

Chandelure's incredibly high Special Attack, great offensive dual typing in Ghost / Fire, and spammable STAB moves let it tear apart common defensive cores with relative ease. On the flipside, Chandelure's average defensive stats prevent it from providing too much defensive utility outside of being one of the best offensive Mega Charizard Y switch-ins thanks to its typing and Flash Fire ability. While Chandelure's Speed stat is decent enough to outpace most passive Pokemon like Celesteela and Toxapex, it falls short against some of the faster threats such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, which can scare it out with their STAB moves. Its Ghost typing, while great offensively, leaves it vulnerable to Pursuit trapping from Tyranitar and Weavile, though the former has to be healthy enough to take an Energy Ball in order to trap it. Finally, an annoying Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from pivoting into attacks if the entry hazard is active on the field.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Trick / Flamethrower
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Overheat is a strong nuke that nets a lot of damage on even offensive Pokemon that resist it, like Greninja, Keldeo, and Garchomp, on the switch, though it should be noted that Chandelure's Special Attack will be halved after using it. Shadow Ball is Chandelure's secondary STAB move that 2HKOes most neutral targets like Toxapex and Zygarde thanks to Chandelure's raw power when boosted by Choice Specs. Energy Ball is useful for hitting Tyranitar on the switch for a 2HKO while also dealing more damage to Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W. Chansey is one of the few defensive answers to Chandelure, so Trick can be used against it to get rid of its Eviolite while locking it into a move. Flamethrower is a weaker yet more spammable Fire-type STAB move due to its perfect accuracy and lack of Special Attack drops.

Set Details
========

Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment is required in order for Chandelure to be as fast and powerful as possible. A Timid nature combined with the Speed investment allows Chandelure to outspeed Heatran, Adamant Landorus-T, and Jolly Mega Heracross. Choice Specs further boosts its amazing Special Attack and makes it extremely powerful. Flash Fire is Chandelure's best ability, making it immune to opposing Fire-type moves, which allows Chandelure to pretty much wall Mega Charizard Y completely. It can also pivot into other Fire-type moves and get a boost from Flash Fire to achieve devastating amounts of damage.

Usage Tips
========

There are very few Pokemon with the ability to reliably switch into Chandelure, so getting it into the field as many times as possible to fire off Choice Specs-boosted attacks is the key to using it effectively. Because of Chandelure's poor defensive typing and mediocre defensive stats, it can't afford to switch into most attacks, since even resisted strong moves will deal a big chunk of damage. Instead, it should try to gain switch-in initiative either with VoltTurn support or through double switches. Overheat and Shadow Ball are the moves it's going to use the most because they pretty much 2HKO or OHKO the entire metagame. However, if there's a Tyranitar on the opposing team, Chandelure should use its STAB moves more carefully since Tyranitar resists both of them and can trap it effortlessly with Pursuit.

Team Options
========

Entry hazard removal is mandatory when using Chandelure because of its Stealth Rock weakness. Mew, Mantine, and Latios are good users of Defog that can help patch this weakness. Chandelure's low Speed stat for an offensive Pokemon coupled with an awful defensive typing makes it an easy prey for most revenge killers in the tier, so it's going to need bulky pivots to fall back on whenever it's in danger of getting revenge killed. Bulky Grass-types like Assault Vest Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur can switch into both Ash-Greninja and Tapu Koko, two of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame that revenge kill Chandelure. Tangrowth has the added bonus of being a switch-in to Ground-type moves from non-Z-Move Landorus-T and Zygarde. Chandelure has a poor matchup against more offensive playstyles and stall because the former doesn't give it enough opportunities to switch in and punch holes and the latter has one of the few Pokemon that wall Chandelure in Chansey. Faster offensive threats like Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele take advantage of Chandelure's breaking power to have a better chance of cleaning up late-game. Meanwhile, stallbreakers like Swords Dance Tapu Bulu and offensive Landorus-T patch its stall weakness.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Hidden Power Electric, Ground, or Fighting can be used in the last slot to hit Mantine, Heatran, and Tyranitar, respectively. Choice Scarf patches Chandelure's Speed issue at the cost of its breaking power, which makes it unappealing most of the time. A set consisting of Substitute / Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / Flamethrower lets Chandelure take advantage of passive foes and set up on them, though it's stopped in its tracks by Toxapex and is overall less effective than Choice Specs sets at breaking down defensive cores.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Chansey possesses the highest special bulk out of all Pokemon in the tier, which lets it sponge any attack from Chandelure. It has to watch out for Trick, though.

**Pursuit Trapping**: Tyranitar, Weavile, and Alolan Muk have access to Pursuit, which allows them to trap and remove Chandelure from the game without much effort. Tyranitar and Alolan Muk are especially annoying because they can pivot into its STAB moves and trap it.

**Faster Pokemon**: The likes of Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Greninja are fast enough to outspeed and OHKO Chandelure.
 
Last edited:

Gary

Can be abrasive at times (no joke)
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Honestly just drop HP Ground to set details. Shadow Ball 2HKOs Heatran anyway and Energy Ball does way more too T-tar and can OHKO Gren on switch ig which can be nice. HP Ground doesn't really offer much.

Flesh out team options a bit more. Talk about Pokemon that appreciate Chandy's wallbreaking ability. Also worth mentioning mons that can help vs T-tar as well as stall because Chandy can't touch Chansey unless it runs Trick and even then it still cant beat stall on its own.

QC 1/3
 

Leo

after hours
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
MPL Champion
Honestly just drop HP Ground to set details. Shadow Ball 2HKOs Heatran anyway and Energy Ball does way more too T-tar and can OHKO Gren on switch ig which can be nice. HP Ground doesn't really offer much.

Flesh out team options a bit more. Talk about Pokemon that appreciate Chandy's wallbreaking ability. Also worth mentioning mons that can help vs T-tar as well as stall because Chandy can't touch Chansey unless it runs Trick and even then it still cant beat stall on its own.

QC 1/3
implemented
 
Timid Nature also outspeeds Adamant Landorus-T (which is way more relevant than Adamant Exacdrill lol). HP Ground is pointless when Shadow Ball is such an easy move to go for already and 2HKOes Heatran, so just put it in OO.

3/3
 
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P Squared

a great unrecorded history
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GP 1/2

[OVERVIEW]

Chandelure's incredibly high Special Attack, coupled with a great offensive dual typing in Ghost / Fire, Fire / Ghost and spammable STAB moves let it tear apart common defensive cores with relative ease. On the flipside, Chandelure's average defensive stats prevent it from providing too much defensive utility outside of being one of the best offensive Mega Charizard Y switch-ins thanks to its typing and Flash Fire ability. While Chandelure's Speed stat is decent enough to outpace most passive Pokemon like Celesteela and Toxapex, it falls short against some of the faster threats such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, which that can scare it out with their STAB moves. Its Ghost typing, while great offensively, leaves it vulnerable to Pursuit trapping from Tyranitar and Weavile, though the former has to be healthy enough to take an Energy Ball in order to trap it. Finally, an annoying Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from pivoting into attacks if the entry hazard is it's active on the field.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Trick / Flamethrower
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Overheat's a strong nuke that nets a lot of damage on offensive Pokemon that resist it, like Greninja, Keldeo, and Garchomp, on the switch, though it should be noted that Chandelure's Special Attack will be halved after using it. Shadow Ball is Chandelure's secondary STAB move that 2HKOes most neutral targets like Toxapex and Zygarde thanks to Chandelure's raw power when boosted by Choice Specs. Energy Ball is useful for hitting Tyranitar on the switch for a 2HKO while also dealing more damage to Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W. Chansey is one of the few defensive answers to for Chandelure, so Trick can be used against it to get rid of its Eviolite while locking it into a move. Flamethrower is a weaker yet more spammable Fire-type STAB move.

Set Details
========

Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment is are required in order for Chandelure to be as fast and powerful as possible. A Timid natured combined with the Speed investment allows Chandelure to outspeed Heatran, Adamant Landorus-T, and Jolly Mega Heracross. Choice Specs further boosts its amazing Special Attack and makes it extremely powerful. Flash Fire is Chandelure's best ability, making as it makes it immune to opposing Fire-type moves from Mega Charizard Y, which allows Chandelure it to pretty much wall it completely. It can also pivot into other Fire-type moves and get the boost to achieve devastating amounts of damage.

Usage Tips
========

There are very few Pokemon with the ability to reliably switch into Chandelure, so getting it into the field as many times as possible to fire off Choice Specs-boosted attacks is the key to using it effectively. Because of Chandelure's poor defensive typing along with mediocre defensive stats, it can't afford to switch into most attacks, since even resisted strong moves will deal a big chunk of damage. Instead, it should try to gain switch-in initiative iniciative either with either VoltTurn support or through double switches. Overheat and Shadow Ball are the moves it's going to use the most because they pretty much 2HKO or OHKO the entire metagame. However, if there's a Tyranitar on the opposing team, Chandelure should use its STAB moves more carefully since Tyranitar resists both of them and can trap it effortlessly.

Team Options
========

Entry hazard removal is mandatory when using Chandelure because of its Stealth Rock weakness. Mew, Mantine, and Latios are good users of Defog that can help patch this weakness. Chandelure's low Speed stat for an offensive Pokemon coupled with an awful defensive typing makes it an easy prey for most revenge killers in the tier, (add comma) so it's going to need bulky pivots to fall back on whenever it's in danger of getting revenge killed. Bulky Grass-types like Assault Vest Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur can switch into both Ash-Greninja and Tapu Koko, two of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame that which revenge kill Chandelure. Tangrowth has the added bonus of being a switch-in to Ground-type moves from Ground resist for non-Z-Move Landorus-T and Zygarde. Chandelure has a poor matchup against more offensive playstyles and stall because the former doesn't give it enough opportunities to switch in and punch holes on it while and the latter has a one of the few Pokemon that wall Chandelure in Chansey. Faster offensive threats like Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele take advantage of Chandelure's breaking power to have a better chance of cleaning up late-game. Meanwhile, stallbreakers like Swords Dance Tapu Bulu and offensive Landorus-T patch its stall weakness. (add period)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Hidden Power Electric, Ground, or and Fighting can be used on the last slot to hit Mantine, Heatran, and Tyranitar, (add comma) respectively. A Choice Scarf patches Chandelure's Speed issue at the cost of its breaking power, which makes it unappealing most of the time. A set consisting consisiting of Substitute / Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / Flamethrower lets Chandelure take advantage of passive foes and set up on them, though it's stopped in on its tracks by Toxapex and is overall less effective than the Choice Specs sets at breaking down defensive cores.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Chansey possesses the highest special bulk out of all Pokemon in the tier, which lets it sponge any attack from Chandelure. It has to watch out for Trick, (add comma) though. (add period)

**Pursuit Trapping**: Tyranitar, Weavile, and Alolan Muk-Alola have access to Pursuit, which allows them to trap and remove Chandelure from the game without much effort. Tyranitar and Alolan Muk-Alola are especially annoying because they can pivot into its STAB moves and trap it.

**Faster Pokemon**: The likes of Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Greninja are fast enough to outspeed and OHKO Chandelure.
 
Last edited:
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Leo

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MPL Champion
GP 1/2

[OVERVIEW]

Chandelure's incredibly high Special Attack, coupled with a great offensive dual typing in Ghost / Fire, Fire / Ghost and spammable STAB moves let it tear apart common defensive cores with relative ease. On the flipside, Chandelure's average defensive stats prevent it from providing too much defensive utility outside of being one of the best offensive Mega Charizard Y switch-ins thanks to its typing and Flash Fire ability. While Chandelure's Speed stat is decent enough to outpace most passive Pokemon like Celesteela and Toxapex, it falls short against some of the faster threats such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, which that can scare it out with their STAB moves. Its Ghost typing, while great offensively, leaves it vulnerable to Pursuit trapping from Tyranitar and Weavile, though the former has to be healthy enough to take an Energy Ball in order to trap it. Finally, an annoying Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from pivoting into attacks if the entry hazard is it's active on the field.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Trick / Flamethrower
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Overheat's a strong nuke that nets a lot of damage on offensive Pokemon that resist it, like Greninja, Keldeo, and Garchomp, on the switch, though it should be noted that Chandelure's Special Attack will be halved after using it. Shadow Ball is Chandelure's secondary STAB move that 2HKOes most neutral targets like Toxapex and Zygarde thanks to Chandelure's raw power when boosted by Choice Specs. Energy Ball is useful for hitting Tyranitar on the switch for a 2HKO while also dealing more damage to Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W. Chansey is one of the few defensive answers to for Chandelure, so Trick can be used against it to get rid of its Eviolite while locking it into a move. Flamethrower is a weaker yet more spammable Fire-type STAB move.

Set Details
========

Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment is are required in order for Chandelure to be as fast and powerful as possible. A Timid natured combined with the Speed investment allows Chandelure to outspeed Heatran, Adamant Landorus-T, and Jolly Mega Heracross. Choice Specs further boosts its amazing Special Attack and makes it extremely powerful. Flash Fire is Chandelure's best ability, making as it makes it immune to opposing Fire-type moves from Mega Charizard Y, which allows Chandelure it to pretty much wall it completely. It can also pivot into other Fire-type moves and get the boost to achieve devastating amounts of damage.

Usage Tips
========

There are very few Pokemon with the ability to reliably switch into Chandelure, so getting it into the field as many times as possible to fire off Choice Specs-boosted attacks is the key to using it effectively. Because of Chandelure's poor defensive typing along with mediocre defensive stats, it can't afford to switch into most attacks, since even resisted strong moves will deal a big chunk of damage. Instead, it should try to gain switch-in initiative iniciative either with either VoltTurn support or through double switches. Overheat and Shadow Ball are the moves it's going to use the most because they pretty much 2HKO or OHKO the entire metagame. However, if there's a Tyranitar on the opposing team, Chandelure should use its STAB moves more carefully since Tyranitar resists both of them and can trap it effortlessly.

Team Options
========

Entry hazard removal is mandatory when using Chandelure because of its Stealth Rock weakness. Mew, Mantine, and Latios are good users of Defog that can help patch this weakness. Chandelure's low Speed stat for an offensive Pokemon coupled with an awful defensive typing makes it an easy prey for most revenge killers in the tier, (add comma) so it's going to need bulky pivots to fall back on whenever it's in danger of getting revenge killed. Bulky Grass-types like Assault Vest Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur can switch into both Ash-Greninja and Tapu Koko, two of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame that which revenge kill Chandelure. Tangrowth has the added bonus of being a switch-in to Ground-type moves from Ground resist for non-Z-Move Landorus-T and Zygarde. Chandelure has a poor matchup against more offensive playstyles and stall because the former doesn't give it enough opportunities to switch in and punch holes on it while and the latter has a one of the few Pokemon that wall Chandelure in Chansey. Faster offensive threats like Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele take advantage of Chandelure's breaking power to have a better chance of cleaning up late-game. Meanwhile, stallbreakers like Swords Dance Tapu Bulu and offensive Landorus-T patch its stall weakness. (add period)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Hidden Power Electric, Ground, or and Fighting can be used on the last slot to hit Mantine, Heatran, and Tyranitar, (add comma) respectively. A Choice Scarf patches Chandelure's Speed issue at the cost of its breaking power, which makes it unappealing most of the time. A set consisting consisiting of Substitute / Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / Flamethrower lets Chandelure take advantage of passive foes and set up on them, though it's stopped in on its tracks by Toxapex and is overall less effective than the Choice Specs sets at breaking down defensive cores.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Chansey possesses the highest special bulk out of all Pokemon in the tier, which lets it sponge any attack from Chandelure. It has to watch out for Trick, (add comma) though. (add period)

**Pursuit Trapping**: Tyranitar, Weavile, and Alolan Muk-Alola have access to Pursuit, which allows them to trap and remove Chandelure from the game without much effort. Tyranitar and Alolan Muk-Alola are especially annoying because they can pivot into its STAB moves and trap it.

**Faster Pokemon**: The likes of Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Greninja are fast enough to outspeed and OHKO Chandelure.
Implemented, thanks
 

GMars

It's ya boy GEEEEEEEEMARS
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Great work Leo
[OVERVIEW]

Chandelure's incredibly high Special Attack, great offensive dual typing in Ghost / Fire, and spammable STAB moves let it tear apart common defensive cores with relative ease. On the flipside, Chandelure's average defensive stats prevent it from providing too much defensive utility outside of being one of the best offensive Mega Charizard Y switch-ins thanks to its typing and Flash Fire ability. While Chandelure's Speed stat is decent enough to outpace most passive Pokemon like Celesteela and Toxapex, it falls short against some of the faster threats such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, which can scare it out with their STAB moves. Its Ghost typing, while great offensively, leaves it vulnerable to Pursuit trapping from Tyranitar and Weavile, though the former has to be healthy enough to take an Energy Ball in order to trap it. Finally, an annoying Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from pivoting into attacks if the entry hazard is active on the field.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Trick / Flamethrower
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Overheat's Overheat is a strong nuke that nets a lot of damage on even [optional] offensive Pokemon that resist it, like Greninja, Keldeo, and Garchomp, on the switch, though it should be noted that Chandelure's Special Attack will be halved after using it. Shadow Ball is Chandelure's secondary STAB move that 2HKOes most neutral targets like Toxapex and Zygarde thanks to Chandelure's raw power when boosted by Choice Specs. Energy Ball is useful for hitting Tyranitar on the switch for a 2HKO while also dealing more damage to Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W. Chansey is one of the few defensive answers to Chandelure, so Trick can be used against it to get rid of its Eviolite while locking it into a move. Flamethrower is a weaker yet more spammable Fire-type STAB move due to its perfect accuracy and lack of Special Attack drops. [or other phrasing to explain why it's more spammable]

Set Details
========

Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment is required in order for Chandelure to be as fast and powerful as possible. A Timid nature combined with the Speed investment allows Chandelure to outspeed Heatran, Adamant Landorus-T, and Jolly Mega Heracross. Choice Specs further boosts its amazing Special Attack and makes it extremely powerful. Flash Fire is Chandelure's best ability, making it immune to opposing Fire-type moves, (AC) from Mega Charizard Y, which allows Chandelure to pretty much wall it Mega Charizard Y completely. It can also pivot into other Fire-type moves and get the a boost from Flash Fire to achieve devastating amounts of damage.

Usage Tips
========

There are very few Pokemon with the ability to reliably switch into Chandelure, so getting it into the field as many times as possible to fire off Choice Specs-boosted attacks is the key to using it effectively. Because of Chandelure's poor defensive typing along with and [or "along with its"] mediocre defensive stats, it can't afford to switch into most attacks, since even resisted strong moves will deal a big chunk of damage. Instead, it should try to gain switch-in initiative either with VoltTurn support or through double switches. Overheat and Shadow Ball are the moves it's going to use the most because they pretty much 2HKO or OHKO the entire metagame. However, if there's a Tyranitar on the opposing team, Chandelure should use its STAB moves more carefully since Tyranitar resists both of them and can trap it effortlessly with Pursuit. [optional]

Team Options
========

Entry hazard removal is mandatory when using Chandelure because of its Stealth Rock weakness. Mew, Mantine, and Latios are good users of Defog that can help patch this weakness. Chandelure's low Speed stat for an offensive Pokemon coupled with an awful defensive typing makes it an easy prey for most revenge killers in the tier, so it's going to need bulky pivots to fall back on whenever it's in danger of getting revenge killed. Bulky Grass-types like Assault Vest Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur can switch into both Ash-Greninja and Tapu Koko, two of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame that revenge kill Chandelure. Tangrowth has the added bonus of being a switch-in to Ground-type moves from non-Z-Move Landorus-T and Zygarde. Chandelure has a poor matchup against more offensive playstyles and stall because the former doesn't give it enough opportunities to switch in and punch holes and the latter has one of the few Pokemon that wall Chandelure in Chansey. Faster offensive threats like Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele take advantage of Chandelure's breaking power to have a better chance of cleaning up late-game. Meanwhile, stallbreakers like Swords Dance Tapu Bulu and offensive Landorus-T patch its stall weakness.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Hidden Power Electric, Ground, or Fighting can be used on in the last slot to hit Mantine, Heatran, and Tyranitar, respectively. A Choice Scarf patches Chandelure's Speed issue at the cost of its breaking power, which makes it unappealing most of the time. A set consisting of Substitute / Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / Flamethrower lets Chandelure take advantage of passive foes and set up on them, though it's stopped in its tracks by Toxapex and is overall less effective than Choice Specs sets at breaking down defensive cores.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Chansey possesses the highest special bulk out of all Pokemon in the tier, which lets it sponge any attack from Chandelure. It has to watch out for Trick, though.

**Pursuit Trapping**: Tyranitar, Weavile, and Alolan Muk have access to Pursuit, which allows them to trap and remove Chandelure from the game without much effort. Tyranitar and Alolan Muk are especially annoying because they can pivot into its STAB moves and trap it.

**Faster Pokemon**: The likes of Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Greninja are fast enough to outspeed and OHKO Chandelure.

GP 2/2
 
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Leo

after hours
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
MPL Champion
Great work Leo
[OVERVIEW]

Chandelure's incredibly high Special Attack, great offensive dual typing in Ghost / Fire, and spammable STAB moves let it tear apart common defensive cores with relative ease. On the flipside, Chandelure's average defensive stats prevent it from providing too much defensive utility outside of being one of the best offensive Mega Charizard Y switch-ins thanks to its typing and Flash Fire ability. While Chandelure's Speed stat is decent enough to outpace most passive Pokemon like Celesteela and Toxapex, it falls short against some of the faster threats such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, which can scare it out with their STAB moves. Its Ghost typing, while great offensively, leaves it vulnerable to Pursuit trapping from Tyranitar and Weavile, though the former has to be healthy enough to take an Energy Ball in order to trap it. Finally, an annoying Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from pivoting into attacks if the entry hazard is active on the field.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Trick / Flamethrower
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Overheat's Overheat is a strong nuke that nets a lot of damage on even [optional] offensive Pokemon that resist it, like Greninja, Keldeo, and Garchomp, on the switch, though it should be noted that Chandelure's Special Attack will be halved after using it. Shadow Ball is Chandelure's secondary STAB move that 2HKOes most neutral targets like Toxapex and Zygarde thanks to Chandelure's raw power when boosted by Choice Specs. Energy Ball is useful for hitting Tyranitar on the switch for a 2HKO while also dealing more damage to Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-W. Chansey is one of the few defensive answers to Chandelure, so Trick can be used against it to get rid of its Eviolite while locking it into a move. Flamethrower is a weaker yet more spammable Fire-type STAB move due to its perfect accuracy and lack of Special Attack drops. [or other phrasing to explain why it's more spammable]

Set Details
========

Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment is required in order for Chandelure to be as fast and powerful as possible. A Timid nature combined with the Speed investment allows Chandelure to outspeed Heatran, Adamant Landorus-T, and Jolly Mega Heracross. Choice Specs further boosts its amazing Special Attack and makes it extremely powerful. Flash Fire is Chandelure's best ability, making it immune to opposing Fire-type moves, (AC) from Mega Charizard Y, which allows Chandelure to pretty much wall it Mega Charizard Y completely. It can also pivot into other Fire-type moves and get the a boost from Flash Fire to achieve devastating amounts of damage.

Usage Tips
========

There are very few Pokemon with the ability to reliably switch into Chandelure, so getting it into the field as many times as possible to fire off Choice Specs-boosted attacks is the key to using it effectively. Because of Chandelure's poor defensive typing along with and [or "along with its"] mediocre defensive stats, it can't afford to switch into most attacks, since even resisted strong moves will deal a big chunk of damage. Instead, it should try to gain switch-in initiative either with VoltTurn support or through double switches. Overheat and Shadow Ball are the moves it's going to use the most because they pretty much 2HKO or OHKO the entire metagame. However, if there's a Tyranitar on the opposing team, Chandelure should use its STAB moves more carefully since Tyranitar resists both of them and can trap it effortlessly with Pursuit. [optional]

Team Options
========

Entry hazard removal is mandatory when using Chandelure because of its Stealth Rock weakness. Mew, Mantine, and Latios are good users of Defog that can help patch this weakness. Chandelure's low Speed stat for an offensive Pokemon coupled with an awful defensive typing makes it an easy prey for most revenge killers in the tier, so it's going to need bulky pivots to fall back on whenever it's in danger of getting revenge killed. Bulky Grass-types like Assault Vest Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur can switch into both Ash-Greninja and Tapu Koko, two of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame that revenge kill Chandelure. Tangrowth has the added bonus of being a switch-in to Ground-type moves from non-Z-Move Landorus-T and Zygarde. Chandelure has a poor matchup against more offensive playstyles and stall because the former doesn't give it enough opportunities to switch in and punch holes and the latter has one of the few Pokemon that wall Chandelure in Chansey. Faster offensive threats like Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele take advantage of Chandelure's breaking power to have a better chance of cleaning up late-game. Meanwhile, stallbreakers like Swords Dance Tapu Bulu and offensive Landorus-T patch its stall weakness.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Hidden Power Electric, Ground, or Fighting can be used on in the last slot to hit Mantine, Heatran, and Tyranitar, respectively. A Choice Scarf patches Chandelure's Speed issue at the cost of its breaking power, which makes it unappealing most of the time. A set consisting of Substitute / Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / Flamethrower lets Chandelure take advantage of passive foes and set up on them, though it's stopped in its tracks by Toxapex and is overall less effective than Choice Specs sets at breaking down defensive cores.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Chansey possesses the highest special bulk out of all Pokemon in the tier, which lets it sponge any attack from Chandelure. It has to watch out for Trick, though.

**Pursuit Trapping**: Tyranitar, Weavile, and Alolan Muk have access to Pursuit, which allows them to trap and remove Chandelure from the game without much effort. Tyranitar and Alolan Muk are especially annoying because they can pivot into its STAB moves and trap it.

**Faster Pokemon**: The likes of Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Greninja are fast enough to outspeed and OHKO Chandelure.

GP 2/2
Thanks, ready for upload
Can I get Diancie back now?
 

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