combusken skelly

Overview
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- has the godly ability Speed Boost
- access to boosting moves such as Bulk Up and Swords Dance
- access to Baton Pass which, when combined speed boost and bulk up/sd, gives Combusken a huge niche in the RU metagame as the best baton passer.
- ability to use Eviolite means Combusken has decent bulk that can help it pass its boosts.
- ability to baton pass multiple times in a single match
- can pull off a sweep thanks to access to a good STAB in Flare Blitz
- weak to common attacking moves such as Earthquake and Scald
- susceptible to phazing


Baton Pass
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name: Baton Pass
move 1: Protect
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Bulk Up / Swords Dance
move 4: Flare Blitz / Substitute
ability: Speed Boost
item: Eviolite
evs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 192 Spe
nature: Jolly

Moves
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- Protect always guarantees a turn of Speed Boost
- Baton Pass is the main move of the set as it allows Combusken to pass its boosts to a teammate
- Bulk Up increases both attack and defense, which gives combusken bulk as it continues setting up, and can give more durability in general.
- Swords Dance along with Speed Boost is a good move that can allow Combusken to setup and pass to another Pokemon to sweep, or even to make Combusken sweep with Flare Blitz.
- Flare Blitz is a good attacking move that can allow Combusken to attempt a sweep.
- Substitute is an option to use over Flare Blitz to allow combusken to pass Subs along with its boosts, which helps another Pokemon to come in for free.

Set Details
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- EVs aim to maximize HP with 60 Def to survive Fletchinder's acrobatics, while the rest goes to speed, with Jolly to be as fast as possible.
- Eviolite boosts Combusken's defenses to respectable levels.
- Speed Boost gives Combusken its niche and boosts speed each turn by 1, allowing Combusken to outspeed the majority of the tier at +2, and the entire metagame at +3.

Usage Tips
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- Bring Combusken on Pokemon it can setup on, such as Rotom-C locked into Leaf Storm, Registeel, or Abomasnow.
- Make sure the opponent doesn't have Roar, Whirlwind, or Dragon Tail on their team or otherwise it could ruin Combusken's job.
- Use Substitute on predicted status such as Thunder Wave or Toxic from Registeel.
- make sure the Pokemon Combusken is baton passing to can come in safely, and not be threatened by the opponent's current Pokemon

Team Options
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- in general, any pokemon that likes attack/defense/speed boosts is a good teammate to pass to;
- baton pass reciepant: virizion appreciates the speed, power/bulk from SD/BU respectively and is good to pass to as it can beat most of combusken's counters such as rhyperior or alomomola
- baton pass reciepant: drapion, same as virizion, also appreciates power and speed boosts and can use them to make knock off strong, and it also frees up a moveslot to not use SD and use coverage instead
- passing bulk ups and speed boosts to calm mind xatu is good, since xatu has magic bounce to reflect back phazing attempts or toxic, has calm mind to further boost, good coverage in heat wave, and access to stored power and reliable recovery. additionally, defense boosts from bulk up make it easier for Xatu to set up.
- gallade, same as drapion and virizion, makes a good reciepant for the boosted speed and power that it appreciates
- druddigon appreciates power and speed
- entry hazard support is nice to weaken opposing switch ins for an easier sweep for teammates when passed to, for this reason rhyperior and druddigon are good teammates for their ability to set up stealth rock. additionally, hazards can also help combusken sweep with flare blitz late-game when needed.
- a hazard remover is important since combusken has no way of recovery, for that reason hitmonlee is good for spinning and shiftry and gligar are good for defog.

Other Options
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- not many other options Combusken can do that other Pokemon can't do better
- Speed Boost sweeper with Swords Dance/Protect, Flare Blitz, Sky Uppercut, and Thunder Punch but is weak without boosts and other sweepers do it better.
- coverage options such as rock slide, shadow claw, etc. but combusken isn't meant to sweep.


Checks & Counters
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**Phazing**: Phazing is absolutely the best way to shut down Combusken. Rhyperior with Roar, Golbat and Drapion with Whirlwind. Haze can remove all of Combusken's boosts, and is usually used by Pokemon such as Cofagrigus, Dragalge, and Weezing. Finally, Perish Song also falls under this especially since it is carried over with Baton Pass, and Meloetta is an excellent user of the move.

**Offensive Pressure**: Offensive pressure from the special side will easily overwhelm Combusken. Clawitzer, Slowking, Exploud, Rhyperior, Moltres, and Delphox can all keep Combusken in check with their strong super effective STAB attacks.

**Fletchinder**: Has Priority Acrobatics to potentially stop a pass.