Piloswine Movesets & Competitive Sets

Piloswine's typing, huge bulk, and Thick Fat let it serve as a Stealth Rock setter that has good matchups against some Stealth Rock setters such as Rhydon and Galarian Stunfisk. Earthquake and Icicle Crash form a formidable STAB combination, hitting relevant targets such as Skuntank, Silvally formes, and Rotom-S. Ice Shard allows Piloswine to revenge kill weakened foes such as Shiftry and Rotom. Thick Fat lets Piloswine switch into the likes of Rapidash. Piloswine fits best on bulky offensive teams that appreciate its ability to take hits and consistently set Stealth Rock. Water-types such as Poliwrath and Cramorant are problematic for Piloswine; checks to them such as Articuno, Thwackey, and Manectric are appreciated. Fighting-types like Sawk, Gurdurr, and the aforementioned Poliwrath greatly pressure Piloswine. Partners such as Rotom-S and Qwilfish can alleviate this weakness; the former can provide VoltTurn support, while the latter can wear down problematic foes such as Tangela and Miltank with Spikes and Toxic Spikes.

Moves Piloswine makes for a decent offensive Stealth Rock user thanks to its STAB combination that can punish opposing Stealth Rock setters like Druddigon and Rhydon and entry hazard removers like Dhelmise and Golbat. Icicle Crash hurts foes that don't care about Earthquake like Xatu, Alolan Exeggutor, Rotom, and Vikavolt. Earthquake deals a considerable amount of damage to Garbodor, Steelix, and Incineroar and hits bulky Water-types like Slowking and Blastoise. Ice Shard is crucial for revenge killing weakened, faster threats such as Aerodactyl, Sceptile, and Vivillon. Set Details An Adamant nature and maximum Attack investment make Piloswine as powerful as possible, threatening Pokemon like Garbodor and Alolan Exeggutor, while maximum HP investment with Thick Fat and an Eviolite let it take hits from Pokemon like Incineroar, Aerodactyl, and Sneasel. Usage Tips Piloswine has positive matchups against opposing entry hazard setters such as Garbodor and Druddigon and certain entry hazard clearers such as Xatu and Dhelmise, so using Piloswine as a lead can be a good idea. Piloswine should aim to set Stealth Rock as soon as possible to maximize its offensive output. Once Stealth Rock is set, Piloswine can begin wallbreaking early- and mid-game or potentially pick off certain offensive threats late-game with Ice Shard. Piloswine can attempt to pivot into Pokemon it can take a hit from like defensive Incineroar, Sneasel locked into an Ice-type move, and Electric-types like Heliolisk and Rotom. Be aware that this can also be risky, since Sneasel could just as easily use Knock Off as Piloswine comes in, and Heliolisk and Rotom can stop it by using moves like Surf, Hyper Voice, and Will-O-Wisp. While Earthquake should be used the most out of all of Piloswine's moves thanks to its lack of drawbacks, if the opponent has multiple switch-ins to Ground-type moves like Decidueye, Sigilyph, and Xatu, using Icicle Crash to catch them off guard would be a good idea. Team Options Piloswine fits best on offensive teams that don't want a passive Stealth Rock setter like Steelix. Having a partner that can beat bulky Water-types for Piloswine is a good idea, so pairing it with a Pokemon like Heliolisk, Sceptile, and Vikavolt is always wise. Other Pokemon like Xatu, Slowking, and Comfey can threaten Fighting-types for Piloswine. Comfey also appreciates Piloswine's ability to beat Poison-types so it has an easier time sweeping later in the match. A spinblocker can help keep Piloswine's Stealth Rock intact, so Pokemon like Rotom, Dhelmise, and Mismagius can make for good teammates. Passimian is also an excellent partner for Piloswine because it can safely bring Piloswine into battle with U-turn, allowing it to either safely set Stealth Rock or fire off a powerful attack. Garbodor can form an entry hazard stacking core with Piloswine, providing the team with a Fighting-type switch-in, and it can absorb Toxic Spikes for Piloswine. Garbodor also appreciates Piloswine's ability to threaten Xatu, allowing it to set Spikes much more easily. Pokemon such as Incineroar, Braviary, and Vivillon appreciate Piloswine's ability to threaten Stealth Rock setters. A cleric like Vaporeon can be a good idea, since it can heal Piloswine if it has taken prior damage or been crippled with status. Vaporeon can also switch into Scald for Piloswine, while Piloswine can cover Electric-types for it.

Moves Thanks to Piloswine's naturally high Attack stat, Earthquake hits many Pokemon that fail to OHKO Piloswine very hard. Stealth Rock makes Fire- and Flying-type Pokemon more manageable for both Piloswine and its teammates. Icicle Crash is consistently powerful, while Icicle spear is weaker and more accurate; both pair well with Earthquake and allow Piloswine to hit bulky Ground- and Flying-type Pokemon super effectively. Ice Shard gives Piloswine the ability to pick off weakened foes, especially those that utilize Focus Sash. Toxic is another option to cripple the likes of Musharna, Rotom, and Pelipper. Set Details Maximum Attack investment paired with an Adamant nature lets Piloswine hit as hard as possible with its STAB attacks. 36 Speed EVs allow Piloswine to outspeed Gourgeist-XL, and the remaining EVs are put into HP to let Piloswine tank powerful attacks and set up Stealth Rock reliably in combination with Eviolite. Thick Fat allows Piloswine to survive powerful Fire-type attacks such as Magmortar's Fire Blast and eases Piloswine's matchup versus Ice-type Pokemon such as Jynx and Cryogonal. An EV spread utilizing maximum HP and Defense EVs with an Impish nature can be used on more defensive teams, but in general Piloswine's moveset and stat distribution favor a tankier build. Usage Tips Set up Stealth Rock as early as possible, but beware of common leads such as Archeops, which prevent Piloswine from doing so with Taunt. It should be noted that while Archeops can prevent Stealth Rock with Taunt, it will always go down to either the combination of Icicle Crash and Ice Shard or Icicle Spear. Earthquake is useful for hitting common Stealth Rock users such as Rhydon and Probopass super effectively. Switch Piloswine into Electric- and Ice-type attackers such as Rotom, Electivire, and Cryogonal, as they typically fail to deal large amounts of damage to Piloswine and do not appreciate taking its STAB moves. Ice Shard can be useful late-game to clean up weakened offensive Pokemon such as Swellow, Archeops, and Lilligant. Note that Piloswine does not have access to recovery; as such, allowing it to take repeated hits is not wise. Team Options Grass-type Pokemon such as Vileplume and Gourgeist can switch into Water- and Grass-type attacks aimed at Piloswine, and they also appreciate Piloswine's ability to switch into Ice-type moves. Psychic-type Pokemon such as Mesprit, Musharna, and Xatu can take Fighting-type attacks aimed at Piloswine; however, they need to be wary of Knock Off. Fairy-type Pokemon such as Mega Audino can switch into both Fighting-type attacks and Knock Off. Wish and Healing Wish users such as Audino, Mesprit, and Lilligant can offer Piloswine recovery throughout the game.

Piloswine makes a great Stealth Rock lead because it ensures that Pokemon such as Garbodor can only get one layer of Spikes up and beats common Stealth Rock leads such as Golem, Regirock, and Probopass with its bulk and STAB Earthquake. Piloswine is even bulky enough to survive Choice Scarf Sawk and Primeape's Close Combats, and can KO them with a combination of Earthquake and Ice Shard. Icicle Spear is used primarily to break Substitutes from Pokemon such as Misdreavus, Mandibuzz, and Braviary, and Ice Shard is used to pick off weakened threats that attempt to capitalize on Piloswine's lackluster Speed. Piloswine's bulk enables it to stay in the game for a longer period of time and also makes it a great switch-in to Electric-type Pokemon seen in Zebstrika and Rotom-F, making it a great way to stop Volt Switch momentum. The EV spread for this set is fairly straightforward, capitalizing on Piloswine's two main selling points: bulk and power. The 16 Speed EVs allow Piloswine to outspeed max Speed Torkoal and attack with Earthquake before it is able to do any damage. Icicle Crash can be considered over Icicle Spear as it is more powerful than Icicle Spear in most instances, but Icicle Spear is generally better because of its ability to break Substitutes and Earthquake is Piloswine's main form of offense regardless. Toxic can also be used over Icicle Spear if one wishes to poison common switch-ins, such as Alomomola and Wartortle. Lastly, an additional EV spread of 240 HP / 156 Atk / 96 Def / 16 Spe with an Impish nature can be used for more bulk. This spread in particular can be used in tandem with Roar due to Piloswine's heightened defensive presence. Spikes support from Garbodor and Roselia is beneficial for Piloswine in order to rack up additional entry hazard damage alongside Stealth Rock. Pokemon that switch in on Water-type moves such as Samurott, Ludicolo, and Serperior also make great partners as well. Pokemon that can switch into Fighting-type attacks also work well; for example, Misdreavus can come in on a Choice-locked Close Combat from Sawk or Primeape and force a switch, thus shifting momentum in your favor. Carracosta boasts great offensive synergy alongside Piloswine because it is able to set up on Normal-type attackers that Piloswine cannot switch into safely such as Swellow and Zangoose, and Piloswine can aid Carracosta by taking down certain Choice Scarfed Pokemon such as Rotom-Frost.

Despite Piloswine's low Speed, its Attack stat is hard to ignore when combined with its natural bulk, coverage, immunities to both hail and sandstorm, and STAB Ice Shard. Ice Shard is Piloswine's primary attacking option, since it ignores Piloswine's horrible Speed stat thanks to its priority. Earthquake, running off STAB and Piloswine's above-average Attack stat, devastates any Pokemon that attempts to switch in on a predicted Ice Shard. Substitute gives Piloswine more time to survive, while also forcing the opponent's hand by revealing their switch-in without any risk to Piloswine itself. In addition, Substitute protects Piloswine from priority moves and status, two problems that severely limit Piloswine's potential. However, Ice Fang can be used to net important kills that Ice Shard does not. Stone Edge rounds out the set, providing excellent coverage with Earthquake, while also making Pokemon such as Moltres less keen to switch in. Toxic is a viable option over Ice Fang in order to hamper bulky Pokemon that love to switch into Piloswine, such as Blastoise, Milotic, and Rotom. Avalanche also deserves a mention over Ice Fang, as Piloswine will usually be going last, ensuring that Avalanche's secondary effect will almost always activate. Piloswine also has the physical bulk to survive a hit, making Avalanche even more worthy of a mention. A Choice Band can be used to increase Piloswine's power at the cost of being locked into a move. For example, with a Choice Band and a Jolly nature, Earthquake has a chance to 2HKO Utility Blastoise and Mono Attacker Spiritomb after Stealth Rock damage. A Jolly nature maximizes Piloswine's Speed, and is preferred so that Piloswine is not outrun by 8 Speed Milotic, but an Adamant nature is also viable for more power; with an Adamant nature, Piloswine has a higher chance of 2HKOing Donphan (with Ice Fang) and RestTalk Milotic (with Earthquake). Weezing is an excellent teammate because it cripples Fighting-types, such as Hitmontop and Hitmonlee, that may give Piloswine trouble. Moreover, Weezing can act as a decent status absorber with RestTalk. Chansey can also absorb status, sponge special attacks aimed at Piloswine, and provide Wish and Heal Bell support. Uxie and Mesprit resist Fighting-type moves, and can also set up Stealth Rock before crippling potential threats with Thunder Wave. Additionally, both Psychic-types can help against opposing Weezing, which is a huge threat to Piloswine. Houndoom appreciates Piloswine's abilities to lure Fire-type attacks and weaken the opposing team, giving it an opportunity to clean up stragglers. Slowbro and Slowking can take any Fire-, Water-, and Fighting-type moves that Piloswine attracts, and slow down other threats that might hinder Piloswine's sweep with Thunder Wave.

Piloswine is the epitome of the word "tank," and it really shows its true colors with this set. While not packing as much power as with a Choice Band, this set aims to take attacks and dish them out, spreading and taking as much damage as possible before going down. This set is very flexible thanks to the ability to switch moves, and Piloswine's longevity is truly surprising with just Leftovers recovery. To give an idea of Piloswine's tankishness, with the given EV spread, Piloswine avoids the 2HKO from Choice Band Raticate's Return after Protect and easily 2HKOes with Earthquake in return. This set is also less susceptible to special attackers like Plusle and Haunter than most of Piloswine's other sets due to its ability to stall for Leftovers recovery and switch moves to play around those sporting Levitate. Ice Beam and Blizzard do a good amount of damage to the Flying-types that are immune to Earthquake, as well as to Tangela. Toxic + Protect allows Piloswine to spread residual damage around the opponent's team and stall for Leftovers recovery. However, either can be replaced with Roar, which is an actually highly sought-after move in the tier and allows Piloswine to phaze dangerous setup sweepers like Bulk Up Vigoroth and rack up potential Spikes damage. The Special Attack investment of this set allows Piloswine to OHKO Tangela, offensive Shelgon, and Murkrow with Ice Beam as well as get the 2HKO on Haunter. With the same spread, Blizzard has a chance to OHKO even Pidgeot and ensures the OHKO on Graveler. Brave is the needed nature to make sure Earthquake does enough damage to relevant targets like Swalot, with which Piloswine easily 2HKOes physically defensive variants. All this said, the STAB Ice move and Special Attack investment can be dropped in favor of Rock Slide or Double-Edge with the EVs pumped into Attack instead. However, doing so removes a lot of utility and uniqueness that Piloswine holds by making use of its Ice STAB. Piloswine is a little harder to switch into with this set for defensive Pokemon, as many do not like taking a potential Toxic, but Grass- and Water-type switch-ins will still be the most common. RestTalk Dewgong in particular can switch into this set without much fear, so a teammate that can take it out like Hitmonchan is a must. Flareon, Murkrow, and Haunter make good teammates to capitalize on the opponent's Grass-types and appreciate Piloswine's ability to spread damage around the opposing team, making a few KOs for the latter two in particular easier when Toxic and Spikes damage have been spread around a bit. As always, Hitmonchan is super threatening for Piloswine, making Chimecho a brilliant teammate as well as Poison-types such as Golbat and Swalot.

A strong, STAB Earthquake is the main selling point of this set and should be used at every opportunity with gusto. Rock Slide completes almost perfect coverage alongside Earthquake and takes out Flying-types and Haunter. Ice Beam and Blizzard both get STAB, and even without any investment, they get a really good hit on defensive Tangela and the other Grass-types in the tier without having to reach for the recoil-inducing Double-Edge. That said, Double-Edge is super strong and generally hits the Pokemon that resist or are immune to Earthquake for really good damage, making it a good safe move to use when unsure of what the opponent is planning to do next. 44 Speed EVs let Piloswine outspeed minimum Speed Swalot and Relicanth, with the remaining EVs pumped into HP and Attack for bulk and power. A Naughty nature ensures that Ice Beam and Blizzard aren't reduced in power. More Speed can definitely be run, even up to max Speed if overall bulk isn't needed, which gets Piloswine the jump on other major defensive Pokemon like Dewgong, Chimecho, Flareon, and Pelipper. Toxic is an option to cripple the bulky Water-types that are likely to switch into Piloswine, particularly Pelipper. However, with a layer of Spikes on the opposing side of the field, Piloswine cleanly 2HKOes even fully physically defensive Whiscash and isn't OHKOed by Surf in return, assuming the above EV spread. Piloswine tends to draw in Fire-, Grass-, and Water-type attacks, making special walls like Flareon, Kecleon, and Dewgong really important teammates to bring with Piloswine. Venomoth and Flying-types also make good switch-ins to Grass-type attacks, while Grass-types like Roselia and Electric-types like Plusle can scare out most Water-types. Hitmonchan is very dangerous for this set to deal with, making Chimecho, Haunter, and Flying-types important teammates to bring when using Piloswine. Piloswine also makes a really good check to Plusle and Haunter, unlike most of the other Ground- or Rock-types in the tier, due in part to its higher bulk, its immunity to Electric, and the fact that it's not totally destroyed by Grass- or Ice-type attacks. With this fact in mind, Piloswine also makes a good partner to Pokemon especially weak to the aforementioned Pokemon, such as Huntail and Mawile.

Piloswine tends to lure in a large array of special attackers, particularly Water-types, but Grass- and Fire-types too. The latter two are actually weak to Piloswine's STAB moves, and because of this fact, this set is extremely effective at getting the jump on those Pokemon by using Light Screen as a buffer shield as they switch in and causing them to fail to KO Piloswine while it easily KOes back with the appropriate move. Piloswine also lures in Hitmonchan too, making Reflect a decent alternative to Light Screen, although Piloswine will only be doing 72.3 - 85.5% to 4/0 Hitmonchan with Earthquake and the given EV spread. Screen support in general is great in NU. To give an idea of its effectiveness, Modest Huntail can't even OHKO Piloswine with Surf in the rain with Light Screen up, while Piloswine in return can rack up damage with Toxic or Earthquake or safely switch out to a teammate like Plusle to take it head on. The possibilities are truly endless with this set, allowing Piloswine to tank attacks from Pokemon it otherwise fears, such as Flareon, Tangela, and Roselia, and really turn the tables on them, with the only caveat being you must be able to predict and set up the Light Screen on the switch. The combination of a screen and Roar also makes Piloswine arguably the best phazer in the tier, for five turns at a time anyway, and prevents really dangerous threats from being able to use Piloswine as setup bait. The EV spread includes Special Attack investment to allow Piloswine to OHKO Shelgon, Tangela, and Murkrow with Ice Beam and OHKO Pidgeot and Graveler with Blizzard. Blizzard also allows Piloswine to 2HKO bulky Sunny Day Bellossom after Spikes while only taking roughly ~60% in return from Solar Beam from behind a Light Screen. Plusle absolutely adores this set as a teammate, as Piloswine most commonly lures in Water-types, and from behind a Light Screen Plusle can switch in especially easily and force the foe out or KO it with its STAB Thunderbolt. Pokemon that enjoy Fire- or Grass-types out of the way make the best possible teammates for this set, as they can then capitalize on their absence and hopefully sweep. Good examples of these include Mawile, Kingler, Dragon Dance Pupitar, and frail sweepers like Pikachu. Pokemon that can make use of the screen support, particularly setup sweepers, make especially good teammates as well. Bulk Up Vigoroth, Swords Dance Tropius, and weather sweepers like Huntail and Bellossom are all exceptionally dangerous when protected by the right screen. As a bonus, the weather sweepers in particular have an easy time switching into the attacks that are normally directed at Piloswine too. Finally, Hitmonchan is as always a threat to this set, and while rare, it could also be carrying Brick Break, making a teammate that can take it out like Chimecho or Pidgeot essential to this set's success.

Set Description Piloswine's great STAB combination, decent bulk, and unique defensive typing make it a good candidate for a RestTalk set. Earthquake gives Piloswine a potent STAB move for its respectable Attack stat, threatening tier staples like Raikou, Tyranitar, Nidoking, and Gengar. Earthquake also does enough damage to prevent Snorlax from safely switching into Piloswine, although Piloswine cannot reliably switch into a Snorlax and force it to switch out. Ice Beam is a great secondary STAB move that lets Piloswine efficiently play offense while on defense, since it can threaten major damage against Zapdos after switching into Thunder without being forced to KO itself; the move also 2HKOes other crucial threats like Exeggutor, Golem, Rhydon, and Marowak. In addition, Ice Beam's chance to freeze foes gives Piloswine a means to threaten otherwise sturdy counters such as Skarmory, Umbreon, Miltank, Blissey, and most Water-types. It's worth noting that Piloswine is a poor dedicated sleep absorber, since it can't reliably switch into Jynx, Exeggutor, or Lovely Kiss Snorlax, so don't solely rely on it for that purpose. Team Options Zapdos is a great teammate, since it can punish Skarmory, Forretress, and Water-type switch-ins that take advantage of Piloswine, and it enjoys Piloswine acting as a sturdy check to Gengar and Nidoking. Piloswine's ability to absorb sleep from those two is especially useful, making it easier for Zapdos to drop Sleep Talk and fit a different move in its place like Reflect. Any variant of Snorlax with Sleep Talk is a great asset to Piloswine teams, providing a sturdy backup sleep absorber and checking Hidden Power Water Electric-types with aplomb. Since Piloswine can help deal with Gengar and Rock-types, a mono-attacking Snorlax set with Curse is entirely feasible, as is the use of a mixed coverage option such as Thunder or Fire Blast. Piloswine doesn't pack a Normal resistance unlike Golem, Rhydon, and Steelix, so a teammate that can switch into Snorlax is crucial; Skarmory and Misdreavus are a great pairing that can combine to wall every possible Snorlax set, and Tyranitar is serviceable here as well.