RBY 6U Ponyta

Ponyta
Type: Fire
Stats: 50 | 85 | 55 | 65 | 90

Introduction

With decent stats and a powerful STAB attack, Ponyta can sometimes see play as a lead in 6U, using its STAB to scare out the likes of Butterfree and Weepinbell and threaten teams with its STAB and the combo of Toxic and Fire Spin. This differentiates it from the slower, but far more powerful Flareon, which cannot lead but instead attempts to break walls. Unfortunately, although it sees a lot of good matchups as a lead it can be exposed to horrific matchups outside the lead spot, as the ubiquitous Kabutops greatly threatens it, while other attackers are more than capable of exploiting its weakness to Earthquake. Thanks to its excellent speed it can mitigate these matchups with Fire Spin, potentially in conjunction with Toxic, but even that is fraught with risk as a miss will usually be costly. Although limited, Ponyta has a clear niche within the tier and should always be accounted for when teambuilding.

Sets

Lead

Ponyta
-Fire Blast
-Fire Spin
-Toxic
-Body Slam

Set Details

This set is used primarily as a lead, deterring Weepinbell and Butterfree. Fire Blast is your STAB move, 2HKOing the aforementioned pokemon and severely denting anything that doesn't resist it. Fire Spin, if it hits, allows you to secure a free switch if you face a problematic matchup, or alternatively it can be used as a means of grinding down foes, but in that context you must beware its poor accuracy. Toxic combines well with the latter strategy as it racks up passive damage over a number of turns. Lastly, Body Slam allows Ponyta to potentially spread paralysis, while also being useful against Flareon, Seel and Horsea.

Other Options

The only other move in Ponyta's movepool that's even remotely intriguing is Agility, as it enables Ponyta to shrug off speed drops from paralysis, which makes it potentially viable if used in place of Body Slam. Otherwise Ponyta doesn't have any useful alternatives. Double-Edge is perhaps worth mentioning, as it deals slightly more damage than Body Slam, but it misses out on potentially spreading paralysis, which is a significant component of why Body Slam is used in the first place.

Checks and Counters

By far the biggest threat to Ponyta is Kabutops, taking almost no damage from anything Ponyta can throw at it and mauling Ponyta with Surf. Onix functions similarly while also being a viable lead, but its special bulk is so poor that Fire Blast will still 3HKO. Seel and Horsea shrug off Fire Blast and can retaliate with STAB Water attacks. Flareon also resists Fire Blast and can hammer Ponyta with powerful Normal attacks. Beyond those, your best options for taking on Ponyta are Earthquake users. Marowak and Machamp are notable here, although Machoke can also work. Machamp is only just 3HKO'd by Fire Blast, while Marowak is usually 2HKO'd but has a chance of OHKOing in return. One thing to bear in mind is that if Ponyta can catch a check switching in with Toxic or a burn it has the option of spamming Fire Spin, which thanks to its excellent speed will ensure the opponent is incapable of doing anything as the passive damage accumulates unless Ponyta misses a Fire Spin. Another trait of Ponyta's is that it's very difficult to revenge kill safely thanks to its Speed- Pidgeot is the only commonly seen Pokemon that can reliably accomplish this due to its superior speed and powerful attacks.

 

Good stuff, maybe the intro could mention a quick comparison with Flareon ? the reasons why you'd pick one over the other maybe