Blaziken is a solid Pokemon, seemingly outclassed by Infernape in the fourth generation, and now coming up against yet another Fire-Fighting starter (seriously, why?), although with a secret trick up its sleeve to even up with the competition. But that's in the future. Let's talk about the now, where Blaziken, despite facing serious competition from Infernape, still can be a very useful and powerful Pokemon if you know how to use it (or, if you metagame, use it in UU where it is outclassed by no one). It has great offensive stats on both physical and special ends, which, combined with excellent type coverage, means few can withstand its assaults.
Capture/Training
Grab it if you want when offered along with the other Hoenn starters after beating Red, or trade it over from someone else.
Stats
80 HP, 120 Atk, 70 Def, 110 SpA, 70 SpD, 80 Spe
Great offensive stats. What makes it fall behind Infernape is its average Speed. Manage that and Blaziken doesn't have much standing in its way.
Ability
Blaze is by no means a bad ability, although making a set around it is risky (though one exists). At any rate, if Blaziken gets below that 1/3 point, watch out, as those Fire moves get a nice kick in power.
Moves
The scary thing about Blaziken is that it can unleash strong attacks from either the physical or special side. With Fire attacks, it has the whole spectrum of both physical and special attacks: Fire Punch, Blaze Kick, and Flare Blitz for physical and Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Overheat, Blast Burn, and Heat Wave for special. On the Fighting side, Blaziken's moveset is similarly varied. With no Close Combat, he has to resort to Superpower for heavy-hitting strength, while Brick Break is there for reliable damage, and Sky Uppercut does solid damage at the cost of some accuracy. Low Kick is situational but powerful against many heavyweights. Reversal can be used along with Blaze for destructive power. Focus Punch is also available. Special options are very limited; Focus Blast is the only real special move, although Vacuum Wave, as the lone Special priority move, is a great choice in its own way.
Blaziken has some secondary attacks it can make use of. Most are physical. ThunderPunch works well in fending off the Water- and Flying- types that can threaten it, while Stone Edge can also threaten Flying-types while putting dents in many other Pokemon that resist its moves. Shadow Claw gets a mention because Fighting + Ghost have perfect coverage, while Night Slash also offers similar coverage against Psychics and Ghosts. Past that, Earthquake and Brave Bird are both powerful moves, but offer little in the way of additional coverage. Special secondary attacks are very limited, really to just SolarBeam, on Sunny Day teams. However, if luck (or breeding) is on your side, Hidden Power works well; ideal types are Grass, Electric, Ice, and Rock.
Blaziken gets various boosting moves; Agility helps correct its low Speed, Swords Dance makes it a physical monstrosity, and Bulk Up allows it to defend and attack. Conveniently, Blaziken can also Baton Pass these boosts (see Baton Pass notes).
Endure and Substitute are to be used on Reversal sets as means to get to 1 HP; otherwise, Substitute can be used on Baton Pass sets.
Effective Movesets
Notes: Fire attacks and Fighting attacks can be exchanged with other moves of their type within reason.
1. Standard Mixed Attacker
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Vacuum Wave
- Shadow Claw/Stone Edge/Hidden Power
Item: Life Orb
Notes: Two Base 120 attacks with STAB, a STAB priority attack, and the ability to muscle past many of the worst threats out there. If your Hidden Power is of a good type and power, use that here.
2. Agility Mixed Attacker
- Agility
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Shadow Claw/Stone Edge/Hidden Power
Item: Life Orb/Expert Belt
Notes: Mollifies Blaziken's low speed before it starts tearing foes apart with its mixed moves. Again, use a Hidden Power if possible.
3. Physical Choice
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower/Low Kick
- ThunderPunch
- Stone Edge/Blaze Kick/Shadow Claw
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf
Notes: A physical Blaziken.
4. Mixed Choice
- Fire Blast/Overheat
- Superpower
- ThunderPunch
- Hidden Power/Shadow Claw/Stone Edge
Item: Choice Scarf
5. Swords Dance
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Sky Uppercut/Low Kick
- ThunderPunch
Item: Life Orb
6. Reversal
- Endure/Substitute
- Swords Dance/Agility
- Reversal
- Blaze Kick
Item: Salac Berry/Liechi Berry
Note: Use Salac with Swords Dance, Liechi with Agility.
7. Bulk Up Baton Pass
- Bulk Up
- Baton Pass
- Blaze Kick
- Sky Uppercut/Substitute
Notes: Of all the stats to pass, Bulk Up is probably the best option due to the lack of other users of the move. Substitute can also be used alongside Blaze and Blaze Kick before being passed along.
8. Sunny Day Teammate
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick
- Superpower
Notes: Blaziken can be a great Sunny Day teammate, although the actual job of setting up Sunny Day should go to someone else since Blaziken himself isn't very sturdily-built and is better off using its time to attack.
Baton Pass Notes
Since Blaziken belongs to the Ground egg group, it's easy enough to just Sketch the combination of moves to pass along. Here are some other combinations that can be passed with ease:
Agility + Reversal: Growlithe
Baton Pass + Agility: Aipom, Girafarig, Buneary, Jolteon (evolved w/Baton Pass)
Conclusion
While it lacked the speed necessary to top Infernape, Blaziken is still invaluable as a monster-chicken capable of plowing its way past the sturdiest of walls. He is very well suited for teams seeking a powerful offensive force capable of hitting hard both physically and specially.
A Look Into The Future
In the wake of yet another Fire-Fighting starter, how does Blaziken up the ante against its competition?
Two words: Speed Boost.
It remains to be seen just what kinds of monstrosities can emerge from Speed Boost Blaziken, considering its weakness of low Speed will no longer be a weakness...
