Cover image:
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Excerpt: Learn about how to use Blaziken in Pokkén Tournament!
Welcome to Pokkén Dojo! In this article series we'll give you PokéCommunity members' hint and tips to using a character in the game Pokkén Tournament for the Wii U. We're starting off with one of the third generation starter Pokémon in Blaziken! Other characters may be covered in future articles as well.
Overview
Blaziken is a Fire/Fighting type (we hope you knew that already) labelled as a Standard fighter. But really the way he plays according to
0bs1d1ankn1ght is a fighter with a mix of Power/Speed. His strategy is simple: get up in your opponent's face, stay in your opponent's face, and win. For Power players, you're pretty used to that strategy, but the difference between your big guy and Blaziken is that Blaziken is faster. Like,
much faster. He can keep your opponent pinned to the wall really well, which is a position you want to be in.
Field Phase
The Field Phase isn't exactly Blaziken's forte. Most of his projectiles don't have a very long range on them, so mostly what you're aiming for is a quick rushdown with either your homing attack or Blaze Kick. However, that is not to say that Blaziken doesn't have
any good Field moves.
First off is his side-Y attack: he kicks a sizable horizontal stream of flame toward your opponent which actually travel a pretty good distance. And then there's his aerial-Y, which has him produce a fireball in the air, and kicks it if you press Y an additional time. But wait, THERE'S MORE: just after you produce the fireball in the air, you can press side-Y to have him kick a vertical stream of flame straight at your opponent. So with his aerial attack alone, he has a three-in-one mindgame. Either: you can kick the fireball to hit them from a distance; instantly go for a side-Y to catch them off guard; or you can simply leave that fireball to float in the air so that opponents who decide to home you from the air (most commonly Weavile for some reason) will run into it.
Hi! advises that in Field Phase, the aerial vertical fire attack of Blaziken's [NAME?] has a huge range to it. Try to catch your opponents off-guard with the attack straight after the Dual Phase to Field Phase switch, in order to jump straight back into Duel Phase. If you jump and press either left or right and then Y (Midair <|>, Y), you will use the vertical stream without the small fireball attack and reduce the attack lag as well.
As far as stages go, to make most of his field moves worth ANYTHING, it's best to go for the smaller stages if you're not playing on random. For example, Neos City is a good stage with him.
Duel Phase
With Blaziken you want to head into Duel Phase ASAP. That's where the meat and potatoes of his character really are. As mentioned above, Blaziken loves to wall pressure his opponents, so make sure you get them nice and panicky once you put them between you and the wall. A good approach tactic is Blaze Kick, which can combo into a Flare Blitz if you press X just after the first kick; if you do this, you can even
pierce counters. Now that you got them near the wall, you're probably thinking, "But what if they try to jump over me?" Two words: Sky Uppercut. Problem solved.
However be mindful: his Pokemon moves have recoil, so don't just throw them out willy-nilly. Not everyone is a fan of using his Brave Bird attack all that much because it lags before he attacks, leaving him open for just about anything from grabs, counters, and other attacks.
Hi! however argues otherwise, and points out that Brave Bird is actually amazing for comboing, such as by using Y, Y right after to score high damage. The enhanced version has barely any start lag, while the un-enhanced version has some cool uses too, as Blaziken will fly backwards a little and then circle back and rush forward, which means the backwards movement at the start can be used as a super quick dodge and punish.
Hi Jump Kick (HJK; aerial A) charged is super safe in duel phase, but only if it connects. If it does, you will bounce off the opponent and are free to do another air dash to close the gap and go straight into more attacks, even if they block it. It's an awesome way to build pressure and they usually don't expect you to dash straight back in and attack after blocking the HJK.
Heat Wave is fun to use if you read their approach. If you have fully charged it and they take it near the end, they get an attack nerf. An un-enhanced Heat Wave is especially useful against super aggressive rush characters, catching them off guard. Blaze Kick is not only a pretty good approach attack, but it can combo into a counter piercing Flare Blitz, and you're going to run into a lot of counters. Sky Uppercut while charged can combo into any air attack, which is nice, but be warned that this will usually change back into the Field Phase again.
Hi! advises changing the stance Blaziken is in as well. Blaziken's high stance will block weak projectiles, and his low stance will block weak low attacks, giving him a bit of armour. The latter is great as his low stance X can be chained into an X, X, sky uppercut (enhanced) combo which scores great damage.
0bs1d1ankn1ght has seen a pretty common pattern on Ranked Mode: once you go into Burst Mode, the opponent is either going to back up out of range or straight up going to keep up his guard unless they too go into Burst Mode. If they insist on guarding until your Burst runs out, make them feel like the complete fool they are by spamming your grab. There'll be ample opportunity to do that. Trust me, you'll have the opportunity to do that. If they do, however, decide to get out of their block and try to challenge you, applaud their fruitless effort with a Burst Attack.
However,
0bs1d1ankn1ght feels that Blaziken has a very difficult time against Lucario. Not only does Lucario throw his moves out faster than Blaziken, he also has range over Blaziken since most of his attacks involve a Bone Rush. On top of that, they WILL put you against the wall if you allow them to. To fix that, spam your light attacks, since that's about the only thing you have that's fast enough to challenge him in this state, and that's not even a guarantee. Consider also charging counters if they rely too much on attacking instead of grabbing.
Support
0bs1d1ankn1ght's favorite support set to use with Blaziken is Rotom/Togekiss. Rotom gives you an easy punish option for opponents who tend to attack from the air, like Charizard and at times, Garchomp and Gardevoir. Togekiss gives you a good Speed boost, and also recovers some HP for you, which is useful considering many of your good moves recoil you for damage.
Here's something actually funny with Rotom: as with Burst Mode, people's immediate instinct when seeing an active Rotom is to go into a guard, despite the fact Rotom only hits you when you jump in the air. Such opponents are easy to grab when this happens.
Some other good sets are Cubone/Diglett to maintain offensive pressure, and Frogadier/Eevee, for [REASONS HERE]. Magikarp may be worth using as well, although 0bs1d1ankn1ght suggests ignoring its partner choice in Pachirisu [EXPLANATION HERE]
So overall, Blaziken is pretty solid. He doesn't take very long to learn how to use as well.
What did you think of this guide for Blaziken? Share your thoughts in the comments below! And if you have a hint or two to share, or if you just want to battle,
check out the Pokkén Tournament section.
Written by 0bs1d1ankn1ght and Hi!
Edited by bobandbill
![[PokeCommunity.com] Pokkén Dojo: Blasting with Blaziken](https://www.kotakgame.com/images/gambar/berita/28/80/50882/154973l.jpg "[PokeCommunity.com] Pokkén Dojo: Blasting with Blaziken")
