NationalDex
blacephalon
#806

Blacephalon

Fireworks Pokémon

FireGhost

It slithers toward people. Then, without warning, it triggers the explosion of its own head. It’s apparently one kind of Ultra Beast.

Base Stats

HP 53
Attack 127
Defense 53
Sp. Atk 151
Sp. Def 79
Speed 107
Total 570

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Details

Category Fireworks Pokémon
Height 1.8 m
Weight 13.0 kg
Base Exp 257
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 30
Base Happiness 0
Gender Genderless
Habitat
Egg Groups No Eggs

Sprites

blacephalon Front Front
blacephalon Back Back
blacephalon Front Shiny Front Shiny
blacephalon Back Shiny Back Shiny
blacephalon Official Art Official Art
blacephalon Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Choice Scarf (Fire)
Item
Choice Scarf
Nature
Timid
EVs
SpA 252
SpD 4
Spe 252
Choice Scarf (Ghost)
Moves
Flamethrower / Fire Blast
Psyshock / Psychic
Item
Choice Scarf
Nature
Timid
EVs
SpA 252
SpD 4
Spe 252

Strategy Overview

Fire

High Special Attack, good Speed, a good STAB combination, and Beast Boost to steamroll teams make Blacephalon a threatening revenge killer for Fire teams. Choice Scarf lets it revenge kill Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Thundurus-T, which are otherwise threats to Fire teams. However, Blacephalon has pitiful bulk and finds it really hard to come into battle. Due to its poor bulk, even resisted attacks tend to take a good chunk of its health. Due to its typing, Blacephalon is weak to common priority moves like Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, and Aqua Jet from Pokemon such as Bisharp, Aegislash, and Azumarill, which makes it easy to check. A lacking movepool also makes it more predictable for opposing teams.

Ghost

Blacephalon is gifted with one of the game's highest Special Attack stats, a great ability in Beast Boost, and a great secondary typing in Fire, making it a fierce sweeper. Beast Boost and Choice Scarf allow it to snowball through many teams and be one of the best revenge killers in the tier, outspeeding key threats to Ghost teams like Zeraora and Dragapult as well as Choice Scarf users like Landorus-T. However, Blacephalon is extremely frail and is threatened by any super effective priority move such as Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, or Shadow Sneak from users like Azumarill, Bisharp, and Mimikyu. Furthermore, Blacephalon's poor bulk gives it very limited opportunities to safely switch into the field. Blacephalon can at times be difficult to fit on Ghost teams because it faces competition from other strong revenge killers and wallbreakers like Gengar and Spectrier. It can also struggle to break through bulky Pokemon like Heatran and Mantine, which easily prevent it from sweeping. Blacephalon also has a sizable entry hazard weakness, being weak to Stealth Rock and losing its Choice Scarf Speed boost to Sticky Web. This limits its revenge killing opportunities.

Most Used Moves

Psychic
99.0%
Trick
96.8%

Most Used Items

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc