Richard's Reasoning - Weezing

Welcome to the fourth entry of Richard's Reasoning, where I discuss Pokemon in Crystal Clear's unique metagame. This time we'll be talking about another Pokemon that received a pretty substantial buff in the latest patch. We're talking about Weezing.

Base Stats: 60 HP / 90 Attack / 120 Defense / 85 Sp. Attack / 70 Sp. Defense / 60 Speed

With the newest version of Crystal Clear Weezing was blessed with a move that it could only dream of in the past: Sacred Fire. 95% accurate, 100 base power, with a 50% chance to Burn. This move alone makes Weezing stand out as one of the only reliable Burn applicators. Burning a Pokemon cuts their Attack stat in half, rendering physical attacks ineffective. With this addition Weezing has risen from an outclassed, useless Pokemon into a star in its own right that every team should both consider adding and prepare to fight against.

Furthermore, Weezing has found a partner in crime with this patch: Tyranitar. Tyranitar's ability to switch into Psychic Pokemon and punish them with Pursuit combined with Weezing's ability to switch into Fighting attacks and Pokemon to threaten them out with Burn, the duo shines bright in the new landscape.

-Holy Smokes-

Weezing@ Leftovers
Sacred Fire
Sludge Bomb
Pain Split / Growth / Protect
Baton Pass / Hidden Power Grass / Thunderbolt / Thunder / Haze / Toxic

Sacred Fire is the selling point of Weezing, and it should always be using it. That 50% Burn chance makes switching into it an extremely difficult task and Burn support helps Weezing stay relevant, even if it ends up Burning a special attacker.

Sludge Bomb is Weezing's best STAB option with a 30% Poison chance. While this doesn't always pair well with Sacred Fire's Burn, it's worth having Sludge Bomb for two reasons: it helps Weezing keep pressure against sturdier walls like Porygon2 and Chansey, and it conserves Sacred Fire's 8PP for when it's absolutely necessary.

The third slot has three options. Pain Split is the go-to to keep Weezing healthy against sturdy walls like Chansey and Miltank. It isn't the most reliable, but in some scenarios it makes an opposing wall unable to fulfill their role. Growth is an option if you want to do some role compression and allow Weezing to serve as a Baton Passer, but its base 60 Speed and lack of STAB on special attacks means that Weezing itself doesn't get much from it and you're trying to do two things at once with Weezing, which can mean it doesn't succeed at either sometimes. It can allow Weezing to play two different roles depending on matchups though, so there is some merit to this. Finally, Protect allows Weezing a free Leftovers turn, and pairs well with Sacred Fire's Burn and Sludge Bomb's Poison. It also works very well with Toxic in the last slot, if you choose that.

Speaking of that last slot, we have numerous options. Baton Passing Growth can really help Weezing's teammates, even the one we mentioned earlier, Tyranitar. Giving Pursuit that extra buff can really help it break through problem Pokemon. Hidden Power Grass gives Weezing a good coverage move, allowing it to deal hefty damage to Quagsire and Rhydon, as well as just hitting Water types for okay damage. Thunderbolt is a stronger choice for Water types, especially Gyarados who is a pretty scary threat in the modern metagame. Thunder can be used here as well, but it only has a 10% chance to KO Gyarados at full health, and that's if it even hits. Thunder does have a 30% Paralysis chance, but that can end up being a negative if you Paralyze something you want to Burn or Poison. Haze can shut down any Pokemon that has accumulated boosts, and works really well to stop Curse users, especially alongside Sacred Fire's Burn. Finally, Toxic can be used in this slot to really allow Weezing to break through physically bulky Pokemon like Porygon2, Rhydon, and Quagsire.

As mentioned previously, Weezing pairs very well with Tyranitar. When using these two Pokemon, it's very important to have a Pokemon that resists or ideally, is immune to Ground-type attacks, as that's the one weakness the two Pokemon share. There are a number of options here, and what you decide to go with will ultimately depend both on playstyle and what the rest of the team will benefit from, but some options are: Moltres, Gyarados, Meganium, Skarmory, Mantine, and Exeggutor, to name a few.

-Other Options-

Weezing can do a few other things, but it usually isn't worth deviating from the above set given how effective it is. Curse can allow Weezing to buff its Attack and Defense, but it doesn't really get much from that and opportunity cost in such fast games means that you might end up giving the opponent a free switch to something that'll force Weezing out. Attract can be used to help stall turns and rack up extra Burn damage and Leftovers healing, but it's inconsistent and unreliable, as Attract always is. Psybeam is a cheeky option for dealing more damage to opposing Weezing than any other move, but it's otherwise pretty useless and the extra damage isn't going to really do much. You'd rather Burn the opposing Weezing anyway.

-My Opinion-

Weezing is ugly, but that's kind of the point. It's charming in its own weird way. It kind of looks like it wishes it wasn't what it is, and that's endearing. I have a strange affection for this lump. Galarian Weezing, on the other hand, is one of my least favorite Pokemon to ever exist. Wouldn't mind delivering a Sacred Fire directly onto that thing to cleanse the world of it.