Sets
Choice Bander
- Item Held
- Choice Band / Expert Belt
- Nature
- Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)
- Effort Points
- 252 Attack – 216 Speed – 42 HP
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Pursuit
- Night Slash / Aerial Ace
This has been the standard set for Weavile since the very first days that D/P came out. With its high Attack and Speed stats, this little guy can make excellent use of the Choice Band. Ice Punch is Weavile’s strongest Ice-type Physical option but it’s enough for knocking out Garchomp and Salamence. Brick Break is a perfect option for Tyranitar and most Steel-types that try to wall Weavile as well as other Weavile.
And now let’s see what’s the thing that makes Weavile such an OverUsed Pokémon. That’s its STABed, Choice Band boosted Pursuit. The only way to guarantee that Pokémon like Alakazam, Azelf, Gengar and, most important, Starmie won’t pose a threat later. If they switch out, scared of the possible Dark-type attack you’ll be throwing at them, they’ll get killed. If they decide to pretend they’re brave and stay in, they get killed again, unless they are unusually defensive. KOing their Gengar means your Rapid Spinner has no trouble blowing away opposing Stealth Rock and KOing their Starmie means your Spiker won’t have to worry about having its Spikes/Stealth Rock removed.
Finally, there are two options for the last move slot. Either go with the STABed Night Slash if you need a more reliable Dark-type move than Pursuit, or Aerial Ace for dealing with Heracross and Infernape mainly. As for the item, Choice Band gives a nice 1.5x boost to your moves while Expert Belt gives a smaller one (1.2x) but lets you choose a different move whenever you like without having to switch out. Why not Life Orb? That’s because Weavile is weak to Stealth Rock, not immune to Sandstorm and very fragile. More passive damage by Life Orb wouldn’t let this Pokémon survive anything.
You may also ask why not go with the classic 252/252 EP spread on Weavile. That’s because it only needs 373 Speed. Be sure to get such a Speed though, if you don’t have a Speed IV of 31 don’t stop at 216 EPs. Also, the remaining 42 EPs in HP slightly increase Weavile’s survivability.
Sub-Puncher
- Item Held
- Liechi Berry
- Nature
- Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)
- Effort Points
- 252 Attack – 216 Speed – 42 HP
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash / Pursuit
A Weavile with the good old Sub-Punch combo here. Hide behind the little, distracting doll and start offering Focus Punches to those unsuspected Steel-types that come in to wall you. If you don’t seem to be able to fire off an effective Focus Punch, just Substitute down to activate the Liechi Berry and start a sweep with your two STABed moves.
Swords Dancer
- Item Held
- Lum Berry / Life Orb
- Nature
- Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)
- Effort Points
- 252 Attack – 216 Speed – 42 HP
- Swords Dance
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash
- Brick Break
One of the fastest Swords Dance users out there, able to deal some serious damage when its counter is taken out. Just as any Swords Dancer, power up your attack as much as you can, then hit with the appropriate move. Lum Berry is probably the best item to use as it can save you from the occasional Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave that you may meet. Life Orb adds more power but after two Swords Dances, you won’t need that little 1.3x boost anyway.
Other Possible Options
Weavile’s movepool isn’t really wide. Ice Shard is Weavile’s only other noteable option, especially for the Swords Dancer set. Being able to hit Choice Scarf Garchomp, Aerdactyl, Dragon Dance Salamence and Ninjask isn’t bad at all. Assurance could be used with Stealth Rock support and it also works well with Screech for forcing switches. Fake Out is another eye-catching move but it’s not that useful. Finally, a set with Focus Sash and Counter is always an option for Pokémon with low Defenses and Weavile is no exception. However, Weavile’s offensive potential is wasted by such a set.
Counters
Forretress and Scizor are two pretty awesome counters to Weavile. Forretress will get its hits with ease while hitting back with its STABed Gyro Ball. On the other hand, Scizor can do anything it likes, from a standard X-Scissor to a Swords Dance, Life Orb boosted Quick Attack. As far as other Steel-types go, Metagross can stop Weavile with a Choice Band boosted Bullet Punch or a simple Meteor Mash after an Agility. Bronzong can also use Gyro Ball on Weavile.
Choice Scarf Heracross is faster than Weavile and OHKOes with any of its moves. A leading Breloom that may carry Mach Punch is also a fear to Weavile. Actually, most Mach Punch/Vacuum Wave/Bullet Punch users threaten it. Any Fighting-type move in general will hurt it a lot. A Hammer Arm by Swampert or Regirock (Regirock cal also use Stone Edge) or a Close Combat/Aura Sphere by Lucario will do. Gyarados can also stop it with its Intimidate and Stone Edge.
In the end, Stealth Rock is also dangerous as it chips off 25% of Weavile’s HP every time it switches in and destroys the whole concept of a Choice Bander. Be sure to have a Pokémon with Rapid Spin in your team if you are planning to use a CB Weavile.
Opinion & Notes
Weavile can be devastating. This sentence summarizes this Pokémon’s potential. It has both the sky-high Speed and the excellent Attack that a Physical Sweeper needs and, with moves like STABed Pursuit in its arsenal, it is a force to be reckoned. The only problem it faces is its totally useless defensive stats. Not switching out but staying in to receive an attack may prove lethal for the naughty sweeper. However, with some good prediction, Weavile can deliver some good amounts of damage.
Note that Pursuit and Ice Punch are egg moves. Ice Punch is also available to Sneasel from the move tutor in Emerald’s Battle Frontier for 48 BP.