RBY 6U Flareon [Discussion Ready]

Flareon
Type: Fire
Stats: 65 | 130 | 60 | 110 | 65

Introduction

It's safe to say Fire types got the short end of the stick in RBY, and Flareon is no exception, as it has found a home in 6U despite sporting formidable offensive stats. Those offensive stats make it a force to be reckoned with, as its Fire Blasts sport enormous power coming from base 110 Special, a trait that happens to make it probably the best check to Butterfree in the tier, while a 30% chance to burn (discounting accuracy) is also great and helps to keep some of its checks at bay. Its physical attacks are nothing to dismiss either thanks to Flareon's prodigious Attack stat, but they tend to get overshadowed by the nuke that is its STAB Fire Blast. Unfortunately Flareon has a number of flaws- it relies on Fire/Normal coverage, which leaves it troubled by Rock types, especially its nemesis Kabutops, while weaknesses to Ground, Rock and Water also prove problematic as they are easily exploited. Compounding that is the fact that it's both physically frail and possesses mediocre Speed. Overall, Flareon's a potent threat and if you overlook it you can expect a world of pain.

Sets

All-Out Attacker

Flareon
-Fire Blast
-Fire Spin
-Body Slam
-Hyper Beam

Set Details

Using this set is fairly simple; find an opening and cause as much damage as possible. Fire Blast is Flareon's calling card, possessing enormous power and a respectable chance to inflict a burn, while almost always OHKOing the ever troublesome Butterfree. Fire Spin allows it to exploit slower foes and play around tough matchups. Body Slam is its primary physical attack, notably being capable of spreading paralysis, while Hyper Beam is used to finish off weakened foes, with both moves coming in handy against the occasional mono-Water type.

Other Options

Flareon does have a handful of alternative move choices available. Flamethrower is significantly weaker than Fire Blast and fails to OHKO Butterfree, but can be useful in scenarios where the power doesn't matter and you instead want to avoid a miss. Quick Attack is intriguing, but its poor power makes it an unappealing option. Toxic's damage output is small, but it can potentially be used on Kabutops to weaken it and allow your checks to it to gain an edge. Flareon also learns a variety of stat-lowering moves, which can potentially be used to gain a speed advantage when both it and the opposing pokemon are paralysed, but they're generally a poor use of both a turn and a moveslot.

Checks and Counters

When it comes to checking Flareon, Kabutops stands head and shoulders above the rest thanks to its dual resistance to Fire Blast and resistance to Flareon's Normal coverage. It doesn't even mind a burn all that much, as its STAB attack and Slash are unaffected by the attack drop while Swords Dance also lifts the attack drop. After that, things become much more difficult. Omanyte also performs well against Flareon, but it's a lot less viable than most alternative checks. Seel resists Fire Blast and usually isn't KO'd by Body Slam+Hyper Beam, while having STAB Surf at its disposal, but it's nonetheless shaky. Horsea also resists Fire Blast and retaliates with STAB water attacks, while also outspeeding Flareon, but it's KO'd by Body Slam+Hyper Beam. Ponyta resists Fire Blast, outspeeds and has decent physical attacking options, but Flareon usually KOs with Body Slam+Hyper Beam. Onix resists all of Flareon's attacks, outspeeds and hits Flareon with super effective STAB attacks, but it's so specially frail that it still gets 2HKO'd by Fire Blast more often than not, on top of which it's completely crippled by a burn. Marowak doesn't resist Flareon's attacks, but it has good physical bulk and STAB Earthquake, making it effective against paralysed Flareon. Machamp and Machoke have absolutely no business switching into Flareon, but otherwise deal massive damage with Earthquake. Lastly, fast physical attackers such as Pidgeot, Hitmonlee and Diglett can be effective revenge killers against Flareon.

 

Maybe mention somewhere that Fire Blast cleanly OHKOs Butterfree (I think flamethrower doesn't?)

Otherwise looks great

 

I've used Toxic for Kabutops (that I coupled with Surf from my own Kabutops) it worked p nicely to remove it as it's the premier counter, idk if that's still viable in the current metagame though

 

There's actually a marginal chance of Butterfree living FB. Still mentioned.

Also added Toxic to OO