Community POTW #083

[Serebii]

This week we go to the fish tank to cover one of the most powerful Treasures of Ruin!

It's Chi-Yu

Chi-Yu #1004 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Chi-Yu Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

www.serebii.net

 

[Pigbeef]

Ah yes, Chi-Yu, the embodiment of game freaks tendencies to overtune Pokemon in the recent gens, Chi-yus overheat is one of the most powerful moves in the game when paired with choice specs, Tera fire and sun support thanks to beads of ruin, passively lowering opposing special defense.

Da Funni Feesh

Chi-Yu @ Choice specs
Tera type: fire
Modest nature / timid nature
Evs: 4 Def / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
-Flamethrower
-Overheat
-Dark pulse
-Psychic / Fire Blast

Ah Yes, the classic Spec Chi-Yu, Utterly Annihilates any fat team structure and is even more so under the sun. This set is famously known to be able to nuke blissey from full with Tera fire sun boosted overheat, and was banned from OU almost immediately.

Choice specs Chi-Yu is a reliable source of immediate power for balance and Bulky offense teams, and an utter nuke on sun when paired with a sun setter thanks to its great 135 special attack and a unhinged ability that passively decreases opposing special defense, allowing for more damage.
Flamethrower is the main Stab move, Overheat is the renowned nuke, dark pulse is secondary stab and psychic can hit the fighting types that it may have a hard time with. Fire blast could also be ran for the right situations. A timid nature could also be used if the speed is needed, but modest can hit some benchmarks that timid could not.

Now grab this set and nuke em.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Chi-Yu can generally get away with only running STAB moves thanks to the insane power of its usually Tera Fire-boosted Fire STABs. Hell, it rarely even clicks its Dark STAB unless a Flash Fire user is present on the opposing team. Meet the only Pokemon where running Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Overheat on the same set is actually a viable option.

Chi-yu @ Life Orb
Modest - Beads of Ruin
252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Defense
Tera Type: Fire
-Overheat
-Flamethrower
-Dark Pulse
-Nasty Plot

Tired of losing to stall teams? Want to never do that ever again? Wish games against stall could be over in 7 turns? Boy, do I have the Pokemon for you! Nasty Plot Chi-Yu boasts the ability to absolutely annihilate just about any Pokemon slower than itself, being able to completely flatten defensive teams singlehandedly and apply enormous pressure to balance and even offensive teams if played correctly. The amount of damage this Pokemon can put it is absurd; with a Modest nature and a Life Orb you always OHKO Ting-Lu at +2 and have a strong chance to OHKO Blissey. If you can provide Chi-Yu with sunlight (Koraidon makes a fantastic partner for Chi-Yu anyways and puts in a ton of work against offensive teams), you can opt to run Timid and replace the Life Orb with Heavy-Duty Boots while still guaranteeing an OHKO on Blissey at +2.

This Pokemon is basically impossible to handle defensively. The very few Pokemon that aren't instantly incinerated by its Fire STABs (Flash Fire users and 4x resists) are almost all obliterated by a boosted Dark Pulse. You cannot wall Chi-Yu; you must beat it offensively. That being said, handling Chi-Yu offensively is a lot more manageable. 55/80/120 bulk is actually pretty decent, especially on the special side, but its physical bulk is lacklustre and its typing is very poor defensively, with exploitable Water, Fighting, Rock, and Ground weaknesses. It also sits at a middling Speed tier that allows most offensive Pokemon to outpace it, especially if running a Modest nature. If not holding Heavy-Duty Boots, hazards will quickly wear into Chi-Yu's HP. Partners such as Great Tusk and Giratina-O who can remove hazards are invaluable as such. Koraidon, as mentioned before, is another fantastic partner for Chi-Yu with its ability to set up sun to make Chi-Yu's Fire attacks truly unsurvivable, threaten offensive teams with Choice Scarf or Scale Shot sets, and soften up Ting-Lu and Blissey to allow Chi-Yu to blast them even if sun isn't up or it hasn't gotten a Nasty Plot boost.​