[OVERVIEW]
-mostly outclassed by pony, which has better stats (most notably speed) and more versatility, so it's rarely worth using
-however intimidate allows growlithe to act as a decent check to a large variety of physical attackers, giving it a niche over ponyta
-can act as a decent defensive pokemon thanks to its useful resistances to prevalent types such as grass, steel, and fairy and its access to morning sun and wisp
-good attack stat + 120 bp stab + wild charge gives it a fairly strong offensive presence too
-immunity to wisp allows it to easily switch into pumpkaboo-xl
-weak to rocks
-trapped by dig
-can't really check pawniard because of defiant
-easily beaten by onix, which only fears wisp, and chinchou, both of which are common
-kinda low bulk for a defensive mon, so it has to rely on evio and intimidate
-morning sun isn't completely reliable because of its low pp
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Morning Sun
move 4: Wild Charge
item: Eviolite
ability: Intimidate
nature: Careful
evs: 76 HP / 236 Def / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
-flare blitz kills shit cuz stab, though the recoil can be troublesome
-wisp cripples physical attackers
-morning sun provides recovery to ensure it stays healthy throughout the match, which is especially important cuz flare blitz recoil
-wild charge provides coverage for water types
Set Details
========
-ev spread + nature + eviolite maximize its bulk so that it can reliably counter as many threats as possible, e.g. survives 2 leaf storms from snivy even after rocks.
-the ev spread also minimizes rocks damage and outspeeds timburr
-with intimidate, it can act as a blanket check to physical attackers, e.g. lives 2 brave birds from doduo
Usage Tips
========
-switch into resisted attacks or physical attackers that can't 2hko, but watch out for knock off, which significantly decreases growlithe's bulk, and coverage moves like snubbull's eq
-use wisp on physical attackers to make them easier for growlithe and its teammates to handle
-use wild charge on predicted switches to water types, but be wary of chinchou cuz volt absorb
-don't switch into pawn, defiant
-use morning sun when hp is low
-watch out for dig - don't switch in on volt switch or uturn
Team Options
========
-hazard removal from mons like staryu, drilbur and vullaby is great
-staryu is particularly good cuz it helps with ground types, and if it runs thunderbolt, water types. in turn, growlithe deals with grass types for staryu.
-grass types such as snivy, pumpkaboo-xl and ferro are cool because they handle water and ground types
-snivy is especially notable cuz it's good at punishing the opp for trapping growlithe with dig, as snivy gets a free opportunity to fire off a leaf storm. it also gets defog.
-setup sweepers like shellder are good because growlithe can help them set up by burning things with wisp
-dig traps chinchou and weakened onix
-fighting and dark types like mienfoo and scraggy benefit from growlithe's ability to check fairy types
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
-roar fucks over torchic and other setup pokemon, but most physical setup sweepers are already afraid of wisp, and other move options are usually more useful
-a special set with fire blast and hp grass can be used because fire blast lacks recoil and hp grass hits onix, kabuto, and chinchou, but fire blast is less consistent than flare blitz and hp grass doesn't hit most water types as hard as wild charge
-growlithe often switches in on knock off users like fighting types, so thief can be used to steal an item once growlithe's has been removed
-flash fire could be used to check fire types, but this makes it outclassed by pony
-an offensive set with close combat to hit rock-types could be used, but growlithe is p slow
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Pokemon such as Staryu and Slowpoke resist Flare Blitz and can hit Growlithe hard with their super effective STAB moves, though they do fear Wild Charge. However, bearing Volt Absorb, Chinchou is an exception to this.
**Ground-types**: Ground-types like Mudbray and Drilbur threaten Growlithe with their super effective STAB moves and are immune to Wild Charge, though they should watch out for Will-O-Wisp. RestTalk Mudbray is particularly effective at dealing with Growlithe because it can heal burns with Rest, and Onix is particularly effective because it resists Flare Blitz and is immune to Wild Charge. Diglett is even more noteworthy because it can trap Growlithe.
**Rock-types**: Resisting Flare Blitz and being able to hit Growlithe super effectively with their STAB moves, Rock-types like Onix, which is notably immune to Wild Charge, and Kabuto are solid counters to Growlithe. Additionally, many get access to Stealth Rock, which Growlithe is vulnerable to. Most run physical sets however, so they need to be careful of Will-O-Wisp.
-mostly outclassed by pony, which has better stats (most notably speed) and more versatility, so it's rarely worth using
-however intimidate allows growlithe to act as a decent check to a large variety of physical attackers, giving it a niche over ponyta
-can act as a decent defensive pokemon thanks to its useful resistances to prevalent types such as grass, steel, and fairy and its access to morning sun and wisp
-good attack stat + 120 bp stab + wild charge gives it a fairly strong offensive presence too
-immunity to wisp allows it to easily switch into pumpkaboo-xl
-weak to rocks
-trapped by dig
-can't really check pawniard because of defiant
-easily beaten by onix, which only fears wisp, and chinchou, both of which are common
-kinda low bulk for a defensive mon, so it has to rely on evio and intimidate
-morning sun isn't completely reliable because of its low pp
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Morning Sun
move 4: Wild Charge
item: Eviolite
ability: Intimidate
nature: Careful
evs: 76 HP / 236 Def / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
-flare blitz kills shit cuz stab, though the recoil can be troublesome
-wisp cripples physical attackers
-morning sun provides recovery to ensure it stays healthy throughout the match, which is especially important cuz flare blitz recoil
-wild charge provides coverage for water types
Set Details
========
-ev spread + nature + eviolite maximize its bulk so that it can reliably counter as many threats as possible, e.g. survives 2 leaf storms from snivy even after rocks.
-the ev spread also minimizes rocks damage and outspeeds timburr
-with intimidate, it can act as a blanket check to physical attackers, e.g. lives 2 brave birds from doduo
Usage Tips
========
-switch into resisted attacks or physical attackers that can't 2hko, but watch out for knock off, which significantly decreases growlithe's bulk, and coverage moves like snubbull's eq
-use wisp on physical attackers to make them easier for growlithe and its teammates to handle
-use wild charge on predicted switches to water types, but be wary of chinchou cuz volt absorb
-don't switch into pawn, defiant
-use morning sun when hp is low
-watch out for dig - don't switch in on volt switch or uturn
Team Options
========
-hazard removal from mons like staryu, drilbur and vullaby is great
-staryu is particularly good cuz it helps with ground types, and if it runs thunderbolt, water types. in turn, growlithe deals with grass types for staryu.
-grass types such as snivy, pumpkaboo-xl and ferro are cool because they handle water and ground types
-snivy is especially notable cuz it's good at punishing the opp for trapping growlithe with dig, as snivy gets a free opportunity to fire off a leaf storm. it also gets defog.
-setup sweepers like shellder are good because growlithe can help them set up by burning things with wisp
-dig traps chinchou and weakened onix
-fighting and dark types like mienfoo and scraggy benefit from growlithe's ability to check fairy types
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
-roar fucks over torchic and other setup pokemon, but most physical setup sweepers are already afraid of wisp, and other move options are usually more useful
-a special set with fire blast and hp grass can be used because fire blast lacks recoil and hp grass hits onix, kabuto, and chinchou, but fire blast is less consistent than flare blitz and hp grass doesn't hit most water types as hard as wild charge
-growlithe often switches in on knock off users like fighting types, so thief can be used to steal an item once growlithe's has been removed
-flash fire could be used to check fire types, but this makes it outclassed by pony
-an offensive set with close combat to hit rock-types could be used, but growlithe is p slow
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Pokemon such as Staryu and Slowpoke resist Flare Blitz and can hit Growlithe hard with their super effective STAB moves, though they do fear Wild Charge. However, bearing Volt Absorb, Chinchou is an exception to this.
**Ground-types**: Ground-types like Mudbray and Drilbur threaten Growlithe with their super effective STAB moves and are immune to Wild Charge, though they should watch out for Will-O-Wisp. RestTalk Mudbray is particularly effective at dealing with Growlithe because it can heal burns with Rest, and Onix is particularly effective because it resists Flare Blitz and is immune to Wild Charge. Diglett is even more noteworthy because it can trap Growlithe.
**Rock-types**: Resisting Flare Blitz and being able to hit Growlithe super effectively with their STAB moves, Rock-types like Onix, which is notably immune to Wild Charge, and Kabuto are solid counters to Growlithe. Additionally, many get access to Stealth Rock, which Growlithe is vulnerable to. Most run physical sets however, so they need to be careful of Will-O-Wisp.
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