QC: Jio / Carbonific
GP: The Dutch Plumberjack
[OVERVIEW]
* Access to Fake Out enables Salazzle to disrupt opposing teams by threatening to immobilize threats to itself and its teammates for a turn.
* Its typing grants it a strong STAB combination that threatens a variety of common Pokemon, including Kartana, Celesteela, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini.
* At the same time, Salazzle is also threatened by a variety of common Pokemon, such as Garchomp, Alolan Marowak, Alolan Muk, and Araquanid.
* Its defenses leave much to be desired, making Salazzle highly dependent on Focus Sash in order to have any chance of taking a hit.
* Salazzle suffers from four-moveslot syndrome; it wishes it could run all of Fake Out, Flamethrower, Sludge Bomb, Protect, Encore, and Taunt, but it can only pick four of them.
* Furthermore, Salazzle has to choose between two situational abilities; most of the time, it may as well not have an ability at all.
* It also faces competition as a Fake Out user; Alolan Raichu in Electric Terrain and Weavile are both faster users of Fake Out.
[SET]
name: Offensive Support
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Sludge Bomb
move 4: Protect / Encore / Taunt
item: Focus Sash
ability: Oblivious
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Fake Out enables Salazzle to immobilize a foe on the first turn that it's out, enabling it to stop a threat to its teammate for that turn.
* Flamethrower is Salazzle's preferred Fire-type STAB move, having perfect accuracy while OHKOing Kartana and 2HKOing Celesteela.
* Sludge Bomb allows Salazzle to hit Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini super effectively while hitting Tapu Bulu harder than Flamethrower.
* Protect allows Salazzle to shield itself while its teammate handles a threat like Alolan Marowak that Salazzle can't handle and also allows it to shield itself from an ally's Earthquake.
* Encore expands on Salazzle's disruption capabilities, allowing it to lock an opponent into a status move like Substitute or Protect, allowing Salazzle and its teammates to ignore that Pokemon and instead focus on another one for a few turns.
* Taunt allows Salazzle to prevent Pokemon like Porygon2 and Mandibuzz from using Trick Room or Tailwind while also preventing these Pokemon from using their recovery moves.
Set Details
========
* A simple spread of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe is fine for Salazzle, as it won't be taking very many hits anyway.
* A Timid nature is essential, as this allows Salazzle to outspeed Kartana and Alolan Ninetales.
* Focus Sash allows Salazzle to take any attack from full health, which is helpful given that its paper-thin defenses don't allow it to take very many attacks. Furthermore, the Focus Sash enables it to actually threaten Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini with Sludge Bomb.
* On Salazzle, Oblivious is a situational ability at best. However, it gets the nod over Corrosion thanks to protecting Salazzle from Taunt, thus ensuring that it can always use any of its status moves no matter what. On the other hand, Corrosion only enables Sludge Bomb to poison opposing Poison-types, but Salazzle has no business staying in on Alolan Muk or Nihilego to begin with.
Usage Tips
========
* Unless Tapu Lele shows up in Team Preview, Salazzle is generally a pretty easy pick for a lead, allowing it to immediately exert Fake Out pressure.
* Leading Salazzle with a Tailwind setter like Mandibuzz helps to maintain momentum; for example, Salazzle can use Fake Out against a threat like Tapu Koko while Mandibuzz sets up Tailwind to allow Salazzle to then outspeed and OHKO Tapu Koko.
* Try to conserve Salazzle for as long as possible by switching it out, even if it has been brought down to its Focus Sash. Even a 1 HP Salazzle can still come in handy for the Fake Out pressure.
* Unless you need to bring Salazzle in order to beat a threat like Kartana, it's generally not recommended to bring it against a team that has Gigalith, seeing as Gigalith's Sand Stream ability will break Salazzle's Focus Sash and it resists both of Salazzle's STAB moves.
Team Options
========
* Fast, offensive Pokemon like Pheromosa and Kartana appreciate Salazzle's ability to create free turns with Fake Out and Encore, as it protects them from OHKOs while they handle the foe that has not been immobilized. Furthermore, Pheromosa can handle Garchomp with Ice Beam, while Kartana easily manages Gigalith and Nihilego.
* Given that Salazzle cannot touch Pokemon like Gigalith, Nihilego, and Alolan Marowak, Ground-type Pokemon like Garchomp and Krookodile make for good teammates. Since their Earthquake will also target Salazzle, it is almost essential to run Groundium Z on whichever one of Garchomp or Krookodile you pick.
* If your team does not have any more room for Z-Move users, Mudsdale makes for a good teammate to handle the aforementioned Ground-weak threats, as it can target them with High Horsepower, which does not have the downside of also hitting Salazzle.
* As Ground-types like Garchomp and Mudsdale prove to be problematic for Salazzle, it's a good idea to consider running a Water-type like Tapu Fini or Gyarados alongside it.
* Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini make for strong teammates for Salazzle, as they can remove Psychic Terrain from the field.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Toxic, when used with Salazzle's Corrosion ability, enables it to poison Poison- and Steel-type Pokemon. However, Salazzle has no problems handling the latter as is, meaning this option is only really useful for inflicting Alolan Muk with the badly poisoned status in order to put a timer on it if its teammates struggle against it.
* Disable allows Salazzle to temporarily block a foe from using a move like Protect or a move like Earthquake that threatens to OHKO it.
* Hidden Power Ice gives Salazzle an option to deal super effective damage to Garchomp, which otherwise fears nothing Salazzle can throw at it.
* Air Balloon allows Salazzle to dodge Earthquakes, either from its enemies or its teammates, but a frail Pokemon like it would much rather have Focus Sash.
* Life Orb improves Salazzle's damage output; for example, it makes Sludge Bomb a guaranteed OHKO against non-bulky variants of Tapu Lele.
* Overheat gives Salazzle a stronger Fire-type attack, having a chance to OHKO Celesteela without a Life Orb and always OHKOing it with a Life Orb.
* Poisonium Z allows Salazzle to use Acid Downpour, which picks up OHKOs on Tapu Fini and Tapu Lele.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-type Pokemon**: Garchomp resists both of Salazzle's STAB moves and, thanks to Rough Skin, will break Salazzle's Focus Sash should Fake Out hit it, allowing it to OHKO it with Earthquake. Mudsdale can take Salazzle's Flamethrower and easily OHKO it with High Horsepower once its Focus Sash has been broken, while using Fake Out on Mudsdale is not recommended due to Stamina giving it a Defense boost.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Water-type Pokemon like Gyarados, Araquanid, Gastrodon, and Milotic can take any of Salazzle's attacks and threaten it with their Water-type STAB moves. Tapu Fini can take one Sludge Bomb from Salazzle and threaten it with its Water-type STAB moves.
**Rock-type Pokemon**: Rock-type Pokemon resist both of Salazzle's STAB moves and boast super effective STAB of their own. Nihilego can take any attack from Salazzle and readily retaliate with Power Gem, although Salazzle is still capable of breaking a potential Focus Sash with Fake Out. Gigalith also takes any of Salazzle's attacks and OHKOes it with any Rock-type STAB move, with its Sand Stream ability setting a sandstorm that both boosts its Special Defense and breaks Salazzle's Focus Sash.
**Alolan Marowak**: Alolan Marowak resists both of Salazzle's STAB moves and boasts an immunity to Fake Out, allowing it to take anything from Salazzle and OHKO with Bonemerang through Focus Sash.
**Alolan Muk**: Although Alolan Muk only resists Sludge Bomb from Salazzle, its high Special Defense in combination with Gluttony and Figy Berry means Salazzle does not threaten it, only being able to fish for a burn with Flamethrower.
**Psychic Terrain**: Tapu Lele itself is not an answer to Salazzle thanks to its lower Speed and its weakness to Sludge Bomb, but its Psychic Surge ability will set up Psychic Terrain, which prevents Salazzle from using Fake Out against any grounded Pokemon.
**Trick Room**: Salazzle's high Speed stat means it is likely to be moving last during Trick Room, which it does not want given its poor defenses. However, Salazzle is not totally useless during Trick Room, as it can still use Fake Out to immobilize a foe.
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