Monotype Blacephalon (Ghost)

[MegaBanette69]

[OVERVIEW]

Ghost
========
Blacephalon is gifted with one of the game's highest Special Attack stats, a great ability in Beast Boost, and a great secondary typing in Fire, making it a fierce sweeper. Beast Boost and Choice Scarf allow it to snowball through many teams and be one of the best revenge killers in the tier, outspeeding key threats to Ghost teams like Zeraora and Dragapult as well as Choice Scarf users like Landorus-T. However, Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by any super effective priority move such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, or Shadow Sneak from users like Azumarill, Urshifu-S, and Mimikyu. Furthermore, Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very limited opportunities to safely switch into the field. Blacephalon can at times be difficult to fit on Ghost teams because it faces competition from other strong revenge killers and wallbreakers like Gengar and Spectrier. It can also struggle to break through bulky Pokemon like Heatran and Mantine, which easily prevent it from sweeping. Blacephalon also has a sizable entry hazard weakness, being weak to Stealth Rock and losing its Choice Scarf Speed boost to Sticky Web. This limits its revenge killing opportunities.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock / Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Flamethrower and Fire Blast help remove Steel- and Grass-types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Zarude. Fire Blast is less reliable, but its extra power allows Blacephalon to secure KOs against foes like Tapu Koko. Shadow Ball hits many targets for neutral damage while also dealing with Fire-resistant Pokemon like Slowbro and Dragapult. Psyshock hits Poison- and Fighting-types like Dragalge, Nihilego, and Kommo-o while also dealing increased damage against specially defensive walls. Psychic is an option for physically defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing. Trick forces Choice Scarf onto defensive Pokemon like Porygon2, Blissey, Toxapex, and Amoonguss, making them significantly easier to KO. This also allows teammates like Mimikyu and Aegislash to come in more easily and set up. Maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature lets Blacephalon outspeed key threats like Dragapult, Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan, and Spectrier with Choice Scarf.

Teammates such as Dragapult, Mimikyu, and Jellicent appreciate Blacephalon's ability to KO Ice- and Steel-type threats like Weavile and Excadrill. This allows Dragapult to pressure Electric, Fire, and Water teams that may give it trouble. Mimikyu can get rid of Dark- and Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latias that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill and clean up matches with Disguise. Spectrier spreads burns and effectively wallbreaks for Blacephalon to comfortably sweep through the rest of the team. Water Absorb Jellicent can sponge attacks from Water-types like Urshifu-R, Keldeo, and Barraskewda. Gengar helps with Dark-types like Tyranitar and Hydreigon with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam and stops Toxic Spikes from wearing down Blacephalon by automatically removing them. Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lightning Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the Electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko. Aegislash reliably takes care of specially defensive walls like Blissey with Close Combat, while Blacephalon deals with threats to Aegislash like Celesteela.

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

Ghost
--------
A Calm Mind + Substitute set can help Blacephalon get past specially defensive walls, but it has very low bulk, so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful. However, Blacephalon forces out most Grass- and Ice-types like Zarude and Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan, which allows it to set up as they switch and opens up new KO opportunities. This set also helps greatly in matchups like Steel and Normal; however, the low usage of Normal and Heatran having to be severely chipped in the Steel matchup leaves it less preferred. Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, but losing the Speed boost opens Blacephalon up to OHKOs from Choice Scarf users like Galarian Darmanitan and Krookodile, or naturally faster foes such as Gengar, Spectrier, Weavile, and Dragapult.

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

Ghost
--------
**Dark-types**: Dark-types like Hydreigon and Tyranitar are immune to or resist all of Blacephalon's attacks, and many of them can take a hit and KO back.

**Revenge Killers and Priority Users**: Blacephalon is very weak to both revenge killers and priority users such as Choice Scarf Latios and Mimikyu, respectively, due to its extremely low bulk.

**Specially Defensive Walls**: Blacephalon can struggle to blow past special walls like Blissey and Heatran; try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field.

**Residual Damage**: Blacephalon is crippled severely by status conditions. Paralysis leaves it easily revenge killed by otherwise slower Pokemon like Tapu Lele, while poison limits its effectiveness as a reliable Choice Scarf user. As Ghost teams don't carry reliable entry hazard control, Blacephalon is extremely vulnerable to entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock, limiting the number of times it can switch into the field safely.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [Decem, 362454]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [deetah, 297659]]

 

[roxie]

[OVERVIEW]
Blacephalon is gifted with one of the highest Special-attacking stats in the game, making it a fierce Sweeper. Ghost is a great offensive type right now, and its secondary Fire coverage complements many of its teammates. A low bulk makes it susceptible to Scarfers, so adding a Scarf to it makes it much harder to kill. An amazing ability in Beast Boost makes Sweeping even easier, as well as powerful STAB options. However Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with a Super Effective Priority move(Just mention Aqua/Sucker/etc as examples for clarification).

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock/ Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Modest/ Timid Nature
evs: 252 Spa/ 252 Spe/ 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Paragraph 1:
A Special stat of 151 makes a Blacephalon a fierce attacker, combined with Beast Boost and the Speed-enhancement from the Choice Scarf makes Blacephalon difficult to kill without bulky resist or Priority users. A STAB flamethrower helps teammates likes Mimikyu and Dragapult come in easier by getting rid of some of their checks. Fire Blast is a secondary option for more breaking power, but is inconsistent due to its lower accuracy.(We are mainly talking about Blacephalon here, talk about how Flamethrower and Fire Blast both helps with Steel- and Grass-type Pokemon like xyz and maybe how Fire Blast can pick up more KOs than flame due to it being more powerful of course). Ghost hits almost everything neutrally, which makes it a great type for a choice-locked sweeper. (I'd just jump right into Shadow Ball here. When you say "Ghost" that doesn't really specify Shadow Ball. Talk about how Shadow Ball is needed to hit Heatran in the Steel MU and other things perhaps.) Psyshock hits Specially Defensive Walls that might try to come in on an anticipated Flamethrower or Shadow Ball, such as Blissey and Chansey. (Blissey seems like a better example for Trick) Psychic is another option(that hits? list typings + examples. I'd just merge Psychic and Psyshock tbh), giving more power but being susceptible to Special walls. Trick combined with a Choice Scarf allows you to force a Wall or Stall mon into its first move(You can mention Blissey here and other examples), making it significantly easier to kill. This also allows a teammate to come in easier and setup, such as Mimikyu or Aegislash. Max Special Attack and Speed maximize its offensive capabilities, and the last points are put into its Special-Defense, as that's its only decent bulk stat. A choice-Scarf allows it to outspeed key threats such as Dragapult, Scarfed Galarian Darmanitan and Spectrier. Modest nature is run for more breaking power, as scarf brings its speed high enough to out speed most threats. Timid could be used to out speed other Scarfers that have a higher speed than it(Timid is the more ideal nature so it's a 50/50 against other Blacephalons however you can mention Modest still. Just Timid>Modest)

Paragraph 2:
Teammates such as Dragapult(What does Dragapult do? Mention it in its own sentence) and Runerigus, as well as other Ghost/Ground types benefit from Ice types being threatened and/or removed so that they can do their respective jobs easier. Mimikyu appreciates Steel types being removed such as Celesteela(What does Mimikyu do for Blacephalon? Does it just sit there and watch Blacephalon kill Steel mons and not contribute or?). Jellicent and the Ground types listed above appreciate Grass types being threatened as well. What does these "Ground-type" Pokemon do for Ghost.) Any and all Super-effective attacks will will most likely KO as Blacephalon has bad defenses, there are ways to get around this weakness such as Water Absorb Jellicent to help sponge attacks from the likes of priority and fast Water-types likeUrshifu-Rapid-Strike, Barraskewda, Crawdaunt, and other fast/ Priority Water types. Dhelmise and Giga Drain Polteageist are more niche options to help ease to Blacephalons Ground, Rock, and Water weakness. To help with his Weaknesses in Dark and Ghost, Gengar helps with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam, hitting every Dark-Type for Super-effective bar Poison/Dark types like Drapion and Skuntank.(Mimikyu does the same with Play Rough STAB) Sableye and Spiritomb and both helpful walls with neutralities to Ghost and Dark from their part Dark typing. Spiritomb has higher defensive stats while Sableye has more consistent recovery with Recover. (Spiritomb is unranked and Sableye does nothing for Dark. Not enough room for Sableye, more of a fish, don't mention)

- Mention Galarian Corsola. Galarian Corsola is higher than D-ranked Runerigus. Palossand is worth mentioning but Runerigus is more on teams with Spectrier (that benefits from Tspikes with Hex).
- Why exactly is Ghost using Electric immunities, mention how Dragapult helps with the Electric matchup with Choice Scarf for Regieleki or just Dragon Dance + Darts)
-Dhelmise is hard to fit

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

Ghost
=============
Calm Mind- Could be run over Trick on Blacephalon, but he has a very low bulk so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful, however getting it off on the switch can bring new KO's with the +1 Special Attack. This would be run in conjunction with Life Orb (You can just mention its Calm Mind + Substitute set here. Talk about how it helps with like Blissey and Normal.)

Another option is Life Orb over the Choice Scarf, while this brings more immediate power, but the without the Speed Boost you open yourself up to OHKO's from things like Scarf G-Darm, Spectrier, Scarfed Moxie Krookodile, and other Scarfers with a close speed to it, or things naturally faster than you such as Gengar and Dragapult. (just talk about Choice Specs over LO)

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

Ghost
===================
(You can bunch these together like:

**Ghost-types:** Dragapult xyz, Mimikyu xyz, Gengar xyz
**Dark-types:** Bisharp xys, Urshifu xyz and so on)
**Dragapult**: Phantom Force sets will out speed after a Dragon Dance and OHKO back

**Gengar**: Scarf Gengar out speeds and threatens OHKO with Shadow Ball

**Mimikyu**: Mimikyu can take any hit and return with Shadow Claw to easily kill

**Bisharp**: Bisharp can take advantage of a Shadow Ball or Psyshock locked Blacephalon and setup a Swords Dance and OHKO with Knock Off, or even Sucker Punch outright will kill

**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar can take most any attack thanks to the Special Defense increase from Sand and OHKO back with any of its STAB moves, or use the opportunity to setup a Dragon Dance

**Urshifu(Rapid and Single Strike)**: Either of the Urshifu forms can OHKO Blacephalon their STAB Priority moves in Aqua Jet and Sucker Punch respectively

**Hydreigon**: Resists or is immune to all of Blacephalons attacks and threatens with Dark Pulse

**Shell Smashers**: A good portion of Shell Smash users(List examples) can out speed after a Smash and can easily kill it

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, userid1]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, userid1]]
- Quality checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>], [<username3>, <userid3>]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

AMcheck
addremovecomments
You are not obligated to implement this check as I am not a member of the QC team, changes or not, this remains at QC: 0/2, good luck!

 

[MegaBanette69]

Implemented, thanks!

 

[Havens]

Hi there, for full analyses we are following upon a new format similar to last generation. I urge you to read this post, and alter information/formatting as applied. https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/please-follow-the-new-format.3674338/#post-8676552

 

[Rotten]

Second AMQC check. Implement what you wish

blacephalon

[OVERVIEW]
"Ghost is a great offensive type right now, and its secondary Fire coverage complements many of its teammates." In analyses, you shouldn't mention the current state of the type. Also, explain how its Fire-typing helps Ghost teams.
- put the sentence about beast boost above the sentence about blacephalon's low bulk. mention the positives of the pokemon, then go straight to the negatives
-A low bulk makes it susceptible to Scarfers such as?, so adding a Scarf to it makes it much harder to kill.
"However Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with a Super Effective Priority move such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, Accelerock, and Shadow Sneak." Mention foes that carry these priority moves such as Urshifu-R, Bisharp, and Mimikyu. Also, I feel like you could remove Accelerock because only Lycanroc is running it
- mention that blacephalon struggles to break through a healthy Heatran, which stops it from sweeping Steel teams
- blacephalon can also find a hard time fitting on every single ghost team, as it leads to dropping a mon like gengar

[SET COMMENTS]
Paragraph 1:
-A Special stat of 151 makes a Blacephalon a fierce attacker, combined with Beast Boost and the Speed-enhancement from the ChoiceScarf makes Blacephalon difficult to kill without bulky resist or Priority users. The Overview already reflects this, so you can remove it
- mention some specific steel- and grass-types that are problematic for Ghost teams like Celesteela and Zarude
- what's fire blast's extra power particularly useful for?
- remove shadow ball since it's unneeded information on ghost teams; also, spdef heatran can live many shadow balls from blacephalon
- "Psyshock hits Specially Defensive Walls that might try to come in on an anticipated Flamethrower or Shadow Ball, such as Blissey." 252 SpA Blacephalon Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 177-209 (24.7 - 29.2%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO; psyshock is mainly for poison-types like nihilego and dragalge
- remove what the spa and spdef evs do since that's filler
-Timid is used to out speed other Scarfers that have a higher speed than it like?, as well as tying with other Scarfed Blacephalons. combine this with the choice scarf sentence
- I feel like modest belongs in OO, as outspeeding more targets with Timid is important.

Paragraph 2:
Teammates such as Dragapult appreciate Ice- and Steel-types being gone to setup Dragon Dance's easer. explain what matchups pult is useful against like electric, fire, and water and that it can also run a choice specs set
- golurk, pallossand, and runergius are uncommon, remove them. especially Golurk because it's UR
- mimikyu's disguise makes it a good revenge killer and cleaner as well; emphasize that
- add spectrier as another special attacker that weakens walls for blacephalon and spreads burns with will-o-wisp
- Jellicent and the Ground types listed above appreciate Grass types being threatened as well so they can set hazards, which allow Blacephalon to break things much easier, and take hits for Blacephalons that it cannot take, like Colbur Berry Pallosand taking a Dark move.
"Any and all Super-effective attacks will will most likely KO as Blacephalon has bad defenses, there are ways to get around this weakness such as Water Absorb Jellicent to help sponge attacks from priority and fast Water-types like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Barraskewda." Jellicent only fits on balance teams and also checks Dracovish and Keldeo, add those two
-Giga Drain Polteageist is a more niche options to help ease to Blacephalons Ground, Rock, and Water weakness. remove this sentence, polteageist is rare on ghost teams
- add that gengar removes tspikes for blacephalon thanks to its typing
"Mimikyu also offer Dark help with its strong Play Rough STAB." combine this with the first sentence about mimikyu, and say that it helps w/ dragon-types as well
- talk about Galarian Corsola beating physical attackers due to will-o-wisp, strength sap, and its good bulk w/ Eviolite while setting up Stealth Rock for Blacephalon. Also, mention Galarian Corsola at the top
- idk about mentioning alolan marowak since it's hard to fit on a ghost team with blacephalon.


[Other Options]
- talk about what foes blacephalon can force out and set up w/ calm mind

[Checks and Counters]

"or a Mimikyu that can take any hit and return" this makes it sound like mimikyu is bulky, say that mimikyu can live any attack from blacephalon with its disguise intact

**Revenge Killers**:

**Priority Moves**:

**Specially Defensive Walls**:

- remove the shell smashers section, since it's niche.

 

[MegaBanette69]

Implemented, thanks for the check!

 

[Perish Song]

Third AMQC cuz why not? Spotted a few things that could probably use mentions. Implement the ones that u like.
Add Delete Comments

[OVERVIEW]
-Blacephalon is gifted with one of the highest Special-attacking stats in the game, making it a fierce Sweeper.
- Blacephalons secondary Fire coverage complements many of its teammates, such as Mimikyu and Jellicent. ( Complements them how? )
-A low bulk makes it susceptible to Scarfers like Gengar and Dragapult, so adding a Scarf to it makes it much harder to kill. (Reword this IMO, low bulk doesnt play any part in running Choice Scarf, you mainly want to use your Sp. Atk and Speed to make best of Blacephalon's offensive capabilities. Moreover, you still dont outspeed Choice Scarf variants of those two examples which are commonly ran, so the examples here are flawed. You also already mentioned its poor bulk on the sentence below so you can probably cut that part as well.)
- An amazing ability in Beast Boost makes Sweeping even easier, as well as powerful STAB options.
-However Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with a Super Effective Priority move such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, , and Shadow Sneak from users likes Azumarill, Urshifu-S, Azumarill, and Mimikyu's. (Reordered to match the Pokemon with correct priorities.)
- However, Blacephalon can struggle to get onto a team because of other strong sweepers like Gengar complete your sentence here.
- Blacephalon can also rarely break through a healthy Heatran, stopping an easy steel sweep.
- Mention its entry hazard weakness and that it cant frequently come into play especially with the lack of hazard removal support.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock/ Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid Nature
evs: 252 Spa/ 252 Spe/ 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Paragraph 1:
-STAB Fire options help remove Steel and Grass types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela and Zarude that threaten your teammates
-Shadow Ball is a great move that hit lots of thing neutrally (such as?), making for easier sweps .
- Psyshock hits Specially Defensive Walls that might try to come in on an anticipated Flamethrower or Shadow Ball, such as Toxapex,Dragalagae, or Nihilego.
- Psychic is another option for more power that hits Bulky mons such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing.
- Trick combined with a Choice Scarf allows you to force a Wall or Stall mon defensive Pokemon like Porygon 2, Blissey, Toxapex or Amoongus into its first move, making it significantly easier to kill. This also allows a teammate to come in easier and setup, such as Mimikyu or Aegislash.
-Max Special Attack and Speed maximize its offensive capabilities, and the last points are put into its Special-Defense, as that's its only decent bulk stat.(Doesnt need a mention since its bulk is very poor and 4 spd doesnt provide anything meaningful)
-A choice-Scarf allows it to outspeed key threats such as Dragapult (specify that Dragapult isnt scarf, because Scarf Dragapult is fairly common.), Scarfed Galarian Darmanitan, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele and Spectrier. Timid is used to out speed other Scarfers that have a higher speed than it (such as what?), as well as tying with other Scarfed Blacephalons.

Paragraph 2:
Teammates such as Dragapult appreciate Ice and Steel types being gone to setup Dragon Dance's easer. This allows Dragapult to pressure, electric, fire, and water teams that may give you trouble. A Choice Specs set on Dragapult can also help.
- Mimikyu appreciates Steel types being removed such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Celesteela so that it can setup and threaten Dark types like Urshifu-S Single Strike and Mandibuzz that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill and clean up matches with Disguise. Mimikyu also offers Dark and Dragon help with its strong Play Rough STAB. (You already mentioned Dark, dont repeat yourself)
- Bulky Ghost like Galarian Corsola can help sponge hits for Blacephalon. Galarian Corsola also sets Stealth Rock, as well as pressure physical attackers with its combination of Will-O-Wisp, Strength Sap, and its Eviolite improved bulk.
- Jellicent appreciates Grass types being threatened as well so they can set hazards, which allow Blacephalon to break things much easier, and take hits for Blacephalons that it cannot take, like Colbur Berry Pallosand taking a Dark move. Spectrier can also help weaken walls and spread burns with Will-O-Wisp.
- Any and all Super-effective attacks will will most likely KO as Blacephalon has bad defenses, there are ways to get around this weakness such as Water Absorb Jellicent to help sponge attacks from priority and fast Water-types like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Dracovish, Keldeo and Barraskewda. Jellicent fits well on Balance teams more so than on Hyper-Offensive. (You need to combine the two sentences above with small corrections. Jellicent does not set up entry hazards for Blacephalon so you need to cut out that part, and both share the Dark type weakness so Jellicent really cannot take hits from strong Dark-type Pokemon such as Hydreigon. Instead you should focus more on the second part that what Water Absorb Jellicent does for Blacephalon, and add a separate line for Spectrier.)

-To help with his Weaknesses in Dark and Ghost(The entire type is weak to Ghost.), Gengar helps with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam, hitting every Dark-Type for Super-effective such as Tyranitar and Hydreigon, bar Poison/Dark types like Drapion and Skuntank. Gengar also removes Toxic Spikes thanks to its typing.
-Mimikyu also offer Dark help with its strong Play Rough STAB. (Third repeat, not necessary)
-Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko.
- Talk about here how a Blacephalon should be used in a game. I.e. : Blacephalon should be used in late-game when the opposing team is weakened, thus it can easily snowball with Beast Boost + Choice Scarf.

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

Ghost
=============
-Calm Mind- A Calm Mind+ Substitute set can be run on Blacephalon to help get past Specially Defensive Walls, but he has a very low bulk so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful, however getting it off on the switch can bring new KO's with the +1 Special Attack. Blacephalon forces out most grass and ice types, opening opportunities for setup.
-Playing your Sub right is absolutely key to this set, as it help get by attacks that would otherwise kill, like Bisharps Sucker Punch. This would be run in conjunction with Life Orb. Leftovers .(If you are running Sub + CM, your item is most certainly Leftovers as a fragile Pokemon such as Blacephalon doesnt appreciate cumulative chip generated by Life Orb + Substitute)

-Specs- Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, while this brings more immediate power, but the without the Speed Boost you open yourself up to OHKO's from things like Scarf G-Darm, Spectrier, Scarfed Moxie Krookodile, and other Scarfers with a close speed to it, or things naturally faster than you such as Gengar and Dragapult. (Just arrange your examples properly here, you really should have 2 sections in slower Pokemon who can outspeed it with Choice Scarf such as Galarian Darmanitan, Tapu Lele and Krookodile, and Pokemon that can naturally outspeed it such as Spectrier, Gengar, Dragapult, and Weavile.)

Modest Nature- - Modest nature can be run for more breaking power, as scarf brings its speed high enough to out speed most other threats. However, you no longer speed tie with opposing Blacephalons. (Unless you have calculations of Modest nature providing anything meaningful, such as a 3HKO / low roll for 2HKO becoming 2HKO or OHKO, keep this out. You dont have any reason to run Modest unless there are real improvements for consideration.)

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

Ghost
===================
**Ghost Types**: Ghost types that are faster than Blacephalon that often run a Choice Scarf like Gengar and Dragapult, or a Mimikyu that can take any hit and return thanks to Disguise, can all outspeed or outlive Blacephalon and OHKO back.

**Dark types**: Dark types are immune to or resist 2/3 of Blacephalons attacks, and many of them can take a hit and Kill back, or just outright beat it with Priority

**Revenge Killers and Priority* Blacephalon is very weak to both Revenge Killers and Priority Users due to its extremely low bulk.

**Specially Defensive Walls** Blacephalon can struggle to blow past Special Wall before a few boosts, try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field.

(Add examples to each bullet here.)

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, userid1]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, userid1]]
- Quality checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>], [<username3>, <userid3>]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

 

[MegaBanette69]

Thanks for the check, just implemented!

 

[roxie]

Trial QC Approved by Rotten
This is a lot of information, so implement this carefully.
comments|comments
green = add
strikethrough = remove
Please check this article out: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...t-article-writers-read-the-last-post.3564613/ for grammar and check out one of the uploaded analyses to see the standards when writing

trial qc

[OVERVIEW]
-Blacephalon is gifted with one of the highest Special-attacking stats in the game, making it a fierce Sweeper sweeper.
- Mention its Beast Boost ability here in conjunction with Choice Scarf. Talk about how it becomes an effective revenge killer (listing examples of what it outspeeds is fine also)
- Blacephalons secondary Fire coverage complements many of its teammates, such as Mimikyu and Jellicent, removing some checks and counters for them . Move this to the teammates section and when you do, mention what "checks and counters" it deals with for Mimikyu and Jellicent. "Steel- and Grass-types like x, y, and z, respectively."
- Blacephalon is in danger from anything faster than it, so adding a Scarf to it makes it much harder to kill. set comments & moved this up
- An amazing ability in Beast Boost makes Sweeping even easier, as well as powerful STAB options.
-However Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with a Super Effective Priority(caps aren't needed here) move such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, , (remove comma) and Shadow Sneak from users likes Azumarill, Urshifu-S, and Mimikyu's Mimikyu, respectively. [I would also add that Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very little opportunities to switch in safely]
- However, Blacephalon can struggle to get onto a team because of other strong sweepers like Gengar and Dragapult. I'd just say Blacephalon faces competition with Gengar as a revenge killer and Spectrier as a wallbreaker.
- Blacephalon can also rarely break through a healthy Heatran, stopping an easy steel sweep. This is true, but I feel like starting off saying something like "It struggles to get past bulky Pokemon like Heatran, Mantine, and etc, which prevents it from sweeping" would be better. Many Pokemon on Steel commonly uses Protect and that can easily scout what move its performing next.
- Blacephalon also has a big entry hazard weakness, as stealth rock does 1/4 of his health(dex data), and sticky webs negate the choice scarf boost. Heavy hazard removal is necessary with him. just moving this to checks and counters seems more appropriate [It's fine to say that Blacephalon's vulnerability to entry hazards limits its revenge killing opportunities]

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock/ Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid Nature
evs: 252 Spa/ 252 Spe/ 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Paragraph 1:
-STAB Fire options Flamethrower and Fire Blast help remove Steel- and Grass [Add a hyphen here too] types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela(AC) and Zarude. that threaten your teammates [There should be an explanation of why to use Fire Blast over Flamethrower]
-Shadow Ball is a great move that hit lots of thing neutrally, making for easier sweeps . not a big thing, but just list some stuff that resists its Fire STAB that are neutral to Shadow Ball. Like Slowbro, Dragapult, etc.
- Psyshock hits Specially Defensive Walls Poison- and Fighting-types that might try to come in on an anticipated Flamethrower or Shadow Ball, such as Toxapex, Dragalagae Dragalge, or Nihilego and Fight. like Dragalge, Nihilego, and Kommo-o.
- Psychic is another option for more power that hits Bulky mons for physically defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing.
- Trick combined with a Choice Scarf allows you to force a forces Choice Scarf on defensive Pokemon's like Porygon(spacing not needed)2, Blissey, Toxapex, orand Amoongus into its first move, making it significantly easier to kill. This also allows a teammates like Mimikyu and Aegislash to come in easier and set up. setup, such as Mimikyu or Aegislash.
(spacing isn't needed here)
-Maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed maximizes its offensive capabilities [Imo you could remove this, it's filler], while maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature lets it outspeed key threats like Dragapult, Galarian Darmanitan [Should specify Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan here because Choice Band g-darm is also a thing], and Spectrier with Choice Scarf.
-A choice-Scarf allows it to outspeed key threats such as non-scarf Dragapult, Scarfed Galarian Darmanitan, Choice Scarf and Spectrier. Timid is used to out speed other Scarfers that have a higher speed than it, as well as tying with other Scarfed Blacephalons.

Paragraph 2:
Teammates such as Dragapult, Mimikyu, and Jellicent appreciate Blacephalon's ability to KO Ice- and Steel-types threats like Weavile and Excadrill. being gone to setup Dragon Dance's easer. This allows Dragapult to pressure, electric, fire, and water teams that may give you trouble.(types are capitalized. re: "Electric, Fire, and Water teams). A Choice Specs set on Dragapult can also help. (help with what?) I'd just remove this
- Mimikyu appreciates Steel types being removed such as Ferrothorn, Skarmony, and Celesteela so that it can setup and threaten can get rid of Dark- and Dragon-types Dark types like Urshifu-S and Mandibuzz that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill (revenge kill what) and clean up matches with Disguise. Mimikyu also offers Dragon help with its strong Play Rough STAB.(add examples of what Dragon-types Mimikyu helps with besides the Dark-types.)
- Bulky Ghost like Galarian Corsola can help sponge physical attacks hits for Blacephalon. Galarian Corsola also sets Stealth Rock, as well as pressure physical attackers with its combination of Will-O-Wisp, Strength Sap, and its Eviolite improved bulk. Galarian Corsola can status physical attackers like Excadrill and Dracovish with its combination of Will-O-Wisp and Strength Sap, and set Stealth Rock, making it easier for Blacephalon to pick up KOs.
- Spectrier can also help weaken walls and spread burns with Will-O-Wisp I need you to expand on this.
- Any and all Super-effective attacks will will most likely KO as Blacephalon has bad defenses, there are ways to get around this weakness such as Water Absorb Jellicent can to help sponge attacks from priority and fast Water-types like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Dracovish, Keldeo(AC) and Barraskewda. Jellicent fits well on Balance teams more so than on Hyper-Offensive.
(remove this spacing)
-To help with his Weaknesses in Dark, Gengar helps with Dark-types like Tyranitar and Hydreigon with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam, hitting every Dark-Type for Super-effective like Tyranitar and Hydreigon bar Poison/Dark types like Drapion and Skuntank. Gengar also and removes Toxic Spikes that can wear down Blacephalon thanks to its typing.
-Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko.
- Blacephalon is best used late-game, when most of his checks and counters have been eliminated and he can sweep with his Beast Boost + Choice Scarf combo.A usage tip is fine but put it at the VERY end of the first paragraph
- Mention Aegislash in teammates in its own line

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

Ghost
=============
-Calm Mind- A Calm Mind+ Substitute set can be run on Blacephalon to help get past Specially Defensive Walls, but he has a very low bulk so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful, however getting it off on the switch can bring new KO's with the +1 Special Attack. Blacephalon forces out most grass and ice types [Some examples would be good here prob], opening opportunities for setup.
-Playing your Sub right is absolutely key to this set, as it help get by attacks that would otherwise kill, like Bisharps Sucker Punch. This would be run in conjunction with Leftovers [This doesn't need its own bullet point. It would be much better to add it onto the previous bullet point, like: "A Calm Mind + Substitute set can be used to break through teams more easily while preventing foes like x, y, and z from revenge killing it.]

-Specs- Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, while this brings more immediate power, but the without the Speed Boost you open yourself up to OHKO's from things like Scarf G-Darm, Scarfed Moxie Krookodile, and other Scarfers with a close speed to it, or things naturally faster foes than you such as Gengar, Spectrier, Weaville and Dragapult. [This point needs to be reworded. "Choice Scarf users" should be replaced over "things", "Galarian Darmanitan" over "G-Darm", " etc.]

Modest Nature- - Modest nature can be run for more breaking power, as scarf brings its speed high enough to out speed most other threats. However, you no longer speed tie with opposing Blacephalons. [Say that Modest shouldn't be used, Timid is too important for Blacephalon]

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

Ghost
===================
**Ghost Types**: Ghost types that are faster than Blacephalon that often run a Choice Scarf like Gengar and Dragapult, or a Mimikyu that can take any hit and return thanks to Disguise, can all outspeed or outlive Blacephalon and OHKO back.

**Dark types**: Dark types are immune to or resist 2/3 of Blacephalons attacks, and many of them can take a hit and Kill back, or just outright beat it with Priority [There is a section dedicated to priority moves] [There also needs to be examples of what Dark-types Blacephalon struggles with, like Tyranitar, Mandibuzz, and Hydreigon] "Dark-types" when you write the types, they need a hyphen.

**Revenge Killers and Priority* Blacephalon is very weak to both Revenge Killers and Priority Users due to its extremely low bulk. [Needs to add examples of revenge killers and priority moves]

**Specially Defensive Walls** Blacephalon can struggle to blow past Special Wall before a few boosts, try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field. [Again, needs to add example of specially defensive walls like Blissey and Heatran]

Add a section for entry hazards

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, userid1]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, userid1]]
- Quality checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>], [<username3>, <userid3>]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

1/3

 

[DugZa]

[OVERVIEW]
-Blacephalon is gifted with one of the highest Special-attacking stats, a great ability in Beast Boost along with a great secondary typing in Fire, making it a fierce sweeper.
- Beast Boost in conjunction with Choice Scarf allows Blacephalon to snowball to a range of different teams while also making it one of the best revenge killers in the tier, outspeeding key threats to Ghost-type teams like Zeraora, Dragapult and Choice Scarf users like Landorus-T.
- Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with a super effective priority moves such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, and Shadow Sneak from users likes Azumarill, Urshifu-S, and Mimikyu, respectively. Furthermore, Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very limited oppurtunities to safely switch-in to the field.
- Blacephalon can at times be difficult to fit on Ghost teams because of the competition it faces with other strong revenge killers and wallbreakers like Gengar and Spectrier.
- Blacephalon can also struggle to break through bulky Pokemon like Heatran and Mantine, easily preventing it from sweeping.
- Blacephalon also has a sizable entry hazard weakness, being especially weak to Stealth Rock due to its Fire typing and Sticky Web negates the Choice Scarf speed boost. This limits Blacephalon's revenge killing oppurtunities.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock/ Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Paragraph 1:
- Flamethrower and Fire Blast help remove Steel- and Grass-types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Zarude. While Flamethrower is the more reliable option due to its better accuracy, Fire Blast provides extra power, allowing it secure KOs against foes like Tapu Koko, that Flamethrower might fail to achieve.
-Shadow Ball is a great move that hit many targets for neutral damage while also dealing with Pokemon like Slowbro and Dragapult that resist its Fire-type STAB moves.
- Psyshock hits Poison- and Fighting-types like Dragalge, Nihilego, and Kommo-o while also dealing increased damage against specially defensive walls.
- Psychic is an option for physically defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing.
- Trick forces Choice Scarf on defensive Pokemon like Porygon2, Blissey, Toxapex, and Amoongus, making it significantly easier to kill. This also allows teammates like Mimikyu and Aegislash to come in easier and set up.
- Maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature lets it outspeed key threats like Dragapult, Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan, and Spectrier, with Choice Scarf.

Teammates such as Dragapult, Mimikyu, and Jellicent appreciate Blacephalon's ability to KO Ice- and Steel-types threats like Weavile and Excadrill. This allows Dragapult to pressure Electric, Fire, and Water teams that may give you trouble.
- Mimikyu can get rid of Dark- and Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latias that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill and clean up matches with Disguise.
Galarian Corsola can status physical attackers like Excadrill and Dracovish with its combination of Will-O-Wisp and Strength Sap, and set Stealth Rock, making it easier for Blacephalon to pick up KOs.
- Spectrier can also help weaken walls and spread burns with Will-O-Wisp, while also effectively wallbreaking for Blacephalon to comfortably sweep through the rest of the team.
- Water Absorb Jellicent can help sponge attacks from Water-types like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Dracovish, Keldeo, and Barraskewda.
- Gengar helps with Dark-types like Tyranitar and Hydreigon with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam, and removes Toxic Spikes that can wear down Blacephalon thanks to its typing.
-Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko.
- Aegislash pairs up well with Blacephalon, dealing with each other's threats effectively. Blacephalon deals with threats to Aegislash like Celesteela while Aegislash reliably takes care of specially defensive walls like Blissey with Close Combat.

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

Ghost
=============
- A Calm Mind+ Substitute set can be run on Blacephalon to help get past Specially Defensive Walls, but he has a very low bulk so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful, however getting it off on the switch can bring new KO's with the +1 Special Attack. Blacephalon forces out most Grass- and Ice-types like Zarude and Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan, opening opportunities for setup. This set also helps greatly in matchups like Steel and Normal, however the low usage of Normal and Heatran having to be severly chipped in the Steel matchup leaves it less preferred.
- Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, while this brings more immediate power, but the without the Speed Boost you open yourself up to OHKO's from Choice Scarf users like Galarian Darmanitan and Krookodile, or naturally faster foes such as Gengar, Spectrier, Weaville and Dragapult.

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

Ghost
===================

**Dark-types**: Dark types like Hydreigon and Tyranitar are immune to or resist all of Blacephalons attacks, and many of them can take a hit and kill back.

**Revenge Killers and Priority**: Blacephalon is very weak to both revenge killers and priority users such as Choice Scarf Latios and Mimikyu, respectively, due to its extremely low bulk.

**Specially Defensive Walls**: Blacephalon can struggle to blow past special walls like Blissey and Heatran, try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field.

**Residual Damage**: Blacephalon is crippled severely by status conditions. Paralysis allowed it to easily be revenge killed by otherwise slower Pokemon like Tapu Lele while poison limits its effectiveness as a reliable Choice Scarf user. As Ghost teams don't carry reliable hazard control, Blacephalon is extremely vulnerable to hazards, especially Stealth Rock, limiting the number of times it can switch-in to the field safely.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [Decem, 362454]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

 

[mushamu]

check

[OVERVIEW]
-Blacephalon is gifted with one of the highest Special-attacking stats in the game, making it a fierce sweeper. fire stab should be mentioned somewhere since its a main trait of blace that separates it. also beast boost should be mentioned as well
- Beast Boost in conjunction with Choice Scarf allows Blacephalon to snowball to a range of different teams while also making it one of the best revenge killers in the tier, outspeeding key threats to Ghost-type teams like Zeraora, Dragapult and Choice Scarf users like Landorus-T.
- Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with a super effective priority moves such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, and Shadow Sneak from users likes Azumarill, Urshifu-S, and Mimikyu, respectively. Furthermore, Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very limited oppurtunities to safely switch-in to the field.
- Blacephalon can at times be difficult to fit on Ghost teams because of the competition it faces with other strong revenge killers and wallbreakers like Gengar and Spectrier.
- Blacephalon can also struggle to break through bulky Pokemon like Heatran and Mantine, easily preventing it from sweeping.
- Blacephalon also has a big entry hazard weakness, and Sticky Web negates the Choice Scarf speed boost. This limits Blacephalon's revenge killing oppurtunities. would tie in its fire typing making it rocks weak

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock/ Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid Nature
evs: 252 Spa/ 252 Spe/ 4 SpD this is ordered wrong. it should be 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Paragraph 1:
- Flamethrower and Fire Blast help remove Steel- and Grass-types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Zarude. While Flamethrower is the more reliable option due to its better accuracy, Fire Blast provides extra power, allowing it secure KOs that Flamethrower might fail to achieve. koko huge example.
-Shadow Ball is a great move that hit many targets for neutral damage while also dealing with Pokemon like Slowbro and Dragapult that resist its Fire-type STAB moves.
- Psyshock hits Poison- and Fighting-types like Dragalge, Nihilego, and Kommo-o while also dealing increased damage against specially defensive walls like Galarian Slowking. think its fine to just remove the slowking part
- Psychic is an option for physically defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing.
- Trick forces Choice Scarf on defensive Pokemon like Porygon2, Blissey, Toxapex, and Amoongus, making it significantly easier to kill. This also allows teammates like Mimikyu and Aegislash to come in easier and set up.
- Maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature lets it outspeed key threats like Dragapult, Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan, and Spectrier, with Choice Scarf.

Teammates such as Dragapult, Mimikyu, and Jellicent appreciate Blacephalon's ability to KO Ice- and Steel-types threats like Weavile and Excadrill. This allows Dragapult to pressure Electric, Fire, and Water teams that may give you trouble.
- Mimikyu can get rid of Dark- and Dragon-types like Urshifu-S, Hydreigon, and Latias that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill and clean up matches with Disguise. remove darkshifu mention
Galarian Corsola can status physical attackers like Excadrill and Dracovish with its combination of Will-O-Wisp and Strength Sap, and set Stealth Rock, making it easier for Blacephalon to pick up KOs.
- Spectrier can also help weaken walls and spread burns with Will-O-Wisp, while also effectively wallbreaking for Blacephalon to comfortably sweep through the rest of the team.
- Water Absorb Jellicent can help sponge attacks from Water-types like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Dracovish, Keldeo, and Barraskewda.
- Gengar helps with Dark-types like Tyranitar and Hydreigon with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam, and removes Toxic Spikes that can wear down Blacephalon thanks to its typing.
-Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko.
- Aegislash pairs up well with Blacephalon, dealing with each other's threats effectively. Blacephalon deals with threats to Aegislash like Celesteela while Aegislash reliably takes care of specially defensive walls like Blissey with Close Combat.

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

Ghost
=============
- A Calm Mind+ Substitute set can be run on Blacephalon to help get past Specially Defensive Walls, but he has a very low bulk so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful, however getting it off on the switch can bring new KO's with the +1 Special Attack. Blacephalon forces out most Grass- and Ice-types like Zarude and Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan, opening opportunities for setup. would focus subcm on steel/normal but say like normal isnt common and it doesnt work that well vs steel since heatran needs to be chipped
- Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, while this brings more immediate power, but the without the Speed Boost you open yourself up to OHKO's from Choice Scarf users like Galarian Darmanitan and Krookodile, or naturally faster foes such as Gengar, Spectrier, Weaville and Dragapult.

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

Ghost
===================
**Ghost Types**: Ghost types that are faster than Blacephalon that often run a Choice Scarf like Gengar and Dragapult, or a Mimikyu that can take any hit and return thanks to Disguise, can all outspeed or outlive Blacephalon and OHKO back. cg said we dont gotta put se attacks

**Dark-types**: Dark types like Hydreigon and Tyranitar are immune to or resist all of Blacephalons attacks, and many of them can take a hit and kill back.

**Revenge Killers and Priority**: Blacephalon is very weak to both revenge killers and priority users such as Choice Scarf Latios and Mimikyu, respectively, due to its extremely low bulk.

**Specially Defensive Walls**: Blacephalon can struggle to blow past special walls like Blissey and Heatran, try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field.

**Status**: Blacephalon is crippled severely by status conditions. Paralysis allowed it to easily be revenge killed by otherwise slower Pokemon like Tapu Lele while poison limits its effectiveness as a reliable Choice Scarf user.

**Hazards/Residual Damage** is huge since ghost teams dont carry removal typically and blace is rocks weak

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [<username2>, <userid2>]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

QC 2/2

 

[Adeleine]

Add/Fix Remove Comment
(AC): Add Comma

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

Ghost
========
Blacephalon is gifted with one of the game’s highest Special-attacking Special Attack stats, a great ability in Beast Boost, (AC) along and a great secondary typing in Fire, making it a fierce sweeper. Beast Boost in conjunction with Choice Scarf allows Blacephalon to snowball to a range of different teams while also making it and Choice Scarf allow it to snowball through many teams and be one of the best revenge killers in the tier, outspeeding key threats to Ghost-type teams like Zeraora, Dragapult, and Choice Scarf users like Landorus-T. Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by anything with any super effective priority moves such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, and or Shadow Sneak from users likes Azumarill, Urshifu-S, and Mimikyu, respectively. Furthermore, Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very limited opportunities to safely switch into the field. Blacephalon can at times be difficult to fit on Ghost teams because of the competition it faces with it faces competition from other strong revenge killers and wallbreakers like Gengar and Spectrier. Blacephalon It can also struggle to break through bulky Pokemon like Heatran and Mantine, easily preventing which easily prevent it from sweeping. Blacephalon also has a sizable entry hazard weakness, being especially weak to Stealth Rock due to its Fire typing and Sticky Web negates the Choice Scarf speed boost. weak to Stealth Rock and losing its Choice Scarf Speed boost to Sticky Web. This limits Blacephalon's its revenge killing opportunities.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock / Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Flamethrower and Fire Blast help remove Steel- and Grass-types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Zarude. While Flamethrower is the more reliable option due to its better accuracy, Fire Blast provides extra power, allowing it to secure KOs against foes like Tapu Koko, that Flamethrower might fail to achieve. Fire Blast is less reliable, but its extra power allows it to secure KOs against foes like Tapu Koko. Shadow Ball is a great move that hit hits many targets for neutral damage while also dealing with Fire-resistant Pokemon like Slowbro and Dragapult that resist its Fire-type STAB moves. Psyshock hits Poison- and Fighting-types like Dragalge, Nihilego, and Kommo-o while also dealing increased damage against specially defensive walls. Psychic is an option for physically defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing. Trick forces Choice Scarf onto defensive Pokemon like Porygon2, Blissey, Toxapex, and Amoongus, making it them significantly easier to kill KO. This also allows teammates like Mimikyu and Aegislash to come in easier more easily and set up. Maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature lets it Blacephalon outspeed key threats like Dragapult, Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan, and Spectrier (RC) with Choice Scarf.

Teammates such as Dragapult, Mimikyu, and Jellicent appreciate Blacephalon's ability to KO Ice- and Steel-types threats like Weavile and Excadrill. This allows Dragapult to pressure Electric, Fire, and Water teams that may give you it trouble. Mimikyu can get rid of Dark- and Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latias that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill and clean up matches with Disguise.
Galarian Corsola can status physical attackers like Excadrill and Dracovish with its combination of Will-O-Wisp and Strength Sap, and set Stealth Rock, making it easier for Blacephalon to pick up KOs. Spectrier can also help weaken walls and spread burns with Will-O-Wisp, while also effectively wallbreaking Spectrier spreads burns and effectively wallbreaks (G-Corsola stuff all seemed pretty general, every offensive mon likes SR and nobody dislikes foes being crippled, but if there's a reason it's more specific and should stay, lmk.) for Blacephalon to comfortably sweep through the rest of the team. Water Absorb Jellicent can help sponge attacks from Water-types like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Urshifu-R, Dracovish, Keldeo, and Barraskewda. Gengar helps with Dark-types like Tyranitar and Hydreigon with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam and removes Toxic Spike-s that can wear down Blacephalon thanks to its typing stops Toxic Spikes from wearing down Blacephalon by automatically removing it. Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the Electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko. Aegislash pairs up well with Blacephalon, dealing with each other's threats effectively. Blacephalon deals with threats to Aegislash like Celesteela while Aegislash reliably takes care of specially defensive walls for Blacephalon like Blissey with Close Combat, (AC) while Blacephalon deals with threats to Aegislash like Celesteela.

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

Ghost
--------
A Calm Mind (added space) + Substitute set can be run on Blacephalon to help get past Specially Defensive Walls, but he has a very low bulk help Blacephalon get past specially defensive walls, but it has very low bulk, so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful. (comma -> period) however getting it off on the switch can bring new KO's with the +1 Special Attack. Blacephalon forces out However, forcing out foes to set up, which could be most Grass- and Ice-types like Zarude and Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan, opening opportunities for setup opens up new KO opportunities. This set also helps greatly in matchups like Steel and Normal; (comma -> semicolon) however, the low usage of Normal and Heatran having to be severely chipped in the Steel matchup leaves it less preferred. Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, while this brings more immediate power, but without the Speed Boost you open yourself up to OHKO's but losing the Speed boost opens Blacephalon up to OHKOs from Choice Scarf users like Galarian Darmanitan and Krookodile, or naturally faster foes such as Gengar, Spectrier, Weaville, and Dragapult.

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

Ghost
--------
**Dark-types**: Dark-types like Hydreigon and Tyranitar are immune to or resist all of Blacephalon's (added apostrophe) attacks, and many of them can take a hit and kill KO back.

**Revenge Killers and Priority**: Blacephalon is very weak to both revenge killers and priority users such as Choice Scarf Latios and Mimikyu, respectively, due to its extremely low bulk.

**Specially Defensive Walls**: Blacephalon can struggle to blow past special walls like Blissey and Heatran; (comma -> semicolon) try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field.

**Residual Damage**: Blacephalon is crippled severely by status conditions. Paralysis allowed it to easily be leaves it easily revenge killed by otherwise slower Pokemon like Tapu Lele, (AC) while poison limits its effectiveness as a reliable Choice Scarf user. As Ghost teams don't carry reliable entry hazard control, Blacephalon is extremely vulnerable to hazards, especially Stealth Rock, limiting the number of times it can switch into the field safely.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [Decem, 362454]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

1/2

 

[deetah]

Add Remove Comments (RC) = Remove Comma

GP 2/2

Blacephalon

[OVERVIEW]

Ghost
========
Blacephalon is gifted with one of the game’s game's (ASCII apostrophe) highest Special Attack stats, a great ability in Beast Boost, and a great secondary typing in Fire, making it a fierce sweeper. Beast Boost and Choice Scarf allow it to snowball through many teams and be one of the best revenge killers in the tier, outspeeding key threats to Ghost teams like Zeraora, (RC) and Dragapult, (RC) and as well as Choice Scarf users like Landorus-T. However, Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by any super effective priority move such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, or Shadow Sneak from users likes like Azumarill, Urshifu-S, and Mimikyu. Furthermore, Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very limited opportunities to safely switch into the field. Blacephalon can at times be difficult to fit on Ghost teams because it faces competition from other strong revenge killers and wallbreakers like Gengar and Spectrier. It can also struggle to break through bulky Pokemon like Heatran and Mantine, which easily prevent it from sweeping. Blacephalon also has a sizable entry hazard weakness, being weak to Stealth Rock and losing its Choice Scarf Speed boost to Sticky Web. This limits its revenge killing opportunities.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Ghost)
move 1: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Psyshock / Psychic
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Flamethrower and Fire Blast help remove Steel- and Grass-types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Zarude. Fire Blast is less reliable, but its extra power allows it Blacephalon to secure KOs against foes like Tapu Koko. Shadow Ball hits many targets for neutral damage while also dealing with Fire-resistant Pokemon like Slowbro and Dragapult. Psyshock hits Poison- and Fighting-types like Dragalge, Nihilego, and Kommo-o while also dealing increased damage against specially defensive walls. Psychic is an option for physically defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Galarian Weezing. Trick forces Choice Scarf onto defensive Pokemon like Porygon2, Blissey, Toxapex, and Amoonguss, making them significantly easier to KO. This also allows teammates like Mimikyu and Aegislash to come in more easily and set up. Maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature lets Blacephalon outspeed key threats like Dragapult, Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan, and Spectrier with Choice Scarf.

Teammates such as Dragapult, Mimikyu, and Jellicent appreciate Blacephalon's ability to KO Ice- and Steel-type threats like Weavile and Excadrill. This allows Dragapult to pressure Electric, Fire, and Water teams that may give it trouble. Mimikyu can get rid of Dark- and Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latias that would threaten Blacephalon. Mimikyu also helps to revenge kill and clean up matches with Disguise. Spectrier spreads burns and effectively wallbreaks for Blacephalon to comfortably sweep through the rest of the team. Water Absorb Jellicent can sponge attacks from Water-types like Urshifu-R, Keldeo, and Barraskewda. Gengar helps with Dark-types like Tyranitar and Hydreigon with Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam and stops Toxic Spikes from wearing down Blacephalon by automatically removing it them. Dragon Dance Dragapult and Lighting Lightning Rod Alolan Marowak can help with the Electric matchup, which has several fast threats that can outspeed Blacephalon such as Regieleki and Tapu Koko. Aegislash reliably takes care of specially defensive walls for Blacephalon like Blissey with Close Combat, while Blacephalon deals with threats to Aegislash like Celesteela.

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

Ghost
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A Calm Mind + Substitute set can help Blacephalon get past specially defensive walls, but it has very low bulk, so the Special Defense boost isn't hugely helpful. However, forcing out foes to set up, which could be Blacephalon forces out most Grass- and Ice-types like Zarude and Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan, which allows it to set up as they switch and opens up new KO opportunities. This set also helps greatly in matchups like Steel and Normal; however, the low usage of Normal and Heatran having to be severely chipped in the Steel matchup leaves it less preferred. Another option is Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf, but losing the Speed boost opens Blacephalon up to OHKOs from Choice Scarf users like Galarian Darmanitan and Krookodile, or naturally faster foes such as Gengar, Spectrier, Weaville Weavile, and Dragapult.

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

Ghost
--------
**Dark-types**: Dark-types like Hydreigon and Tyranitar are immune to or resist all of Blacephalon's attacks, and many of them can take a hit and KO back.

**Revenge Killers and Priority Users**: Blacephalon is very weak to both revenge killers and priority users such as Choice Scarf Latios and Mimikyu, respectively, due to its extremely low bulk.

**Specially Defensive Walls**: Blacephalon can struggle to blow past special walls like Blissey and Heatran; try to get rid of them before Blacephalon comes onto the field.

**Residual Damage**: Blacephalon is crippled severely by status conditions. Paralysis leaves it easily revenge killed by otherwise slower Pokemon like Tapu Lele, while poison limits its effectiveness as a reliable Choice Scarf user. As Ghost teams don't carry reliable entry hazard control, Blacephalon is extremely vulnerable to entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock, limiting the number of times it can switch into the field safely.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Ghost analysis by: [[MegaBanette69, 525733]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [Decem, 362454]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [<username2>, <userid2>]]