What is a good moveset for Delphox?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Delphox, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for its pre-evolutions, if any, can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Delphox Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Stole this set off of some sucker on Frost, then "modified" it for my personal use. This is one of the most evil sets I've seen in 14 years of playing Pokemon. I use it on my mono fire team and it's brilliant. Anyway, here it is:

Ear strike (Delphox) @ Red Card
Ability: Magician
EVs: 96 HP / 8 Def / 144 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Hidden Power [Rock] / Psychic / Psyshock
- Flamethrower

The plan is simple. Send Delphox out as a lead and use substitute. If the opponent attacks, then red card swaps them out. If they try to set up, then either substitute blocks them, or they boost up, making it hurt that much more when red card forces them out. So far so starightforward.
So the opponent's next poke is dragged out. This is where it gets interesting. Delphox uses will-o-wisp to burn them, and magician steals their item at the same time, crippling them in two ways at once, and boosting Delphox in the process (the item stolen is almost always leftovers). This is absolutely devastating against more physically oriented teams and tanks. With substitute and it's evs, it can burn half a team before being put down pretty easily. The last two slots ensure that Delphox isn't taunt bait and has a tool to use against Pokemon that can't be burned. Flamethrower is the prefered STAB for it's higher pp and accuracy over fire blast. the last move is filler. Psychic is a decent move to hit things of it's other STAB quite hard. If you anticipate things like Houndoom and Heatran then HP rock is the prefered hidden power, especially against things like Moltres.
It's Hp and very minor def and sp.def evs are enough to let it take hits behind subs pretty well, and take burned physical hits and special attacks comfortably. The Sp. atk evs give it a nice total Sp. atk stat of 300, enough to do good damage to anything that doesn't resist it's two attacking moves, while burn damage racks up (if staying in) or when pushed into a corner or cleaning a team of weakened mon. The timid nature and speed ivs are so that it will almost always get it's sub up before taking a hit, and firing off its magician will-o-wisps before the opposing Pokemon moves. It is vital.

Now, for the downsides. The primary one is that while Delphox can enter the field and sub up with great ease, and the burns and bulk can help it stay alive for quite a while being a hellish nuisance, the opponent is obviously going to be doing stuff too. First and foremost, the boost to infiltrator and sound moves, especially bug buzz, will allow several mon to derail this strategy quite a bit (recommend HP rock for Noivern, chandelure and Crobat, by the way).
Also, while boosting sweepers are no threat at all if Delphox gets it's sub up (and look downright silly when they hit a sub with a +6 earthquake and have to switch out) , entry hazards are more of a problem. A spinner is definitely recommended to get rid of any hazards set up after Delphox is done. This isn't a huge issue, though, as Delphox can bag the premium OU rocks users and spikers (skarmory, Forretress, Ferrothorn etc.) with a few well timed attacks and burns.
Finally, and most crucially, beware of what you're burning. Red card drags out a purely random mon. This means that Delphox could easily steal a choice band and cripple itself for the rest of the match, along with its opponent.
Also blah blah stealth rock blah.

Other useful possible moves on this set are wish, trick and mystical fire. use whatever you want.

So in short, what you have here is an excellent, surprisingly hard hitting, fast and downright sadistic Pokemon that offers great utility and opponent-crippling. BUT it does take skill to use at times. Use it well, and it can make your team mates jobs a whole lot easier.
This set really does work, though. I've been using it on my OU gen 6 mono fire team. It's been winning a lot since I started using this thing.

Heh. Text wall.

Comments

Anyway, just back. And what do I see? That my set for Delphox doesn't actually work. Damn.
Full disclaimer, I tested this on Showdown. I assumed the rules would be the same in-game, which is where I'm pretty sure SM979 was referring to.  So, it turns out that this set is less creativity and more loophole abuse, which I find pretty funny.
Anyways, if this set still works on Showdown, I'll keep it up. If not, I'll take it down.  Was fun while it lasted though. Cheers for the feedback.

---

Hey man, long time no see, come say hello on the server?
http://pokemondatabase.psim.us/

---

OK playa the set must be good cause u haven't taken this down yet but I'm going to try it out, it looks awesome #pokefam

---

What safe guards does it have for water types? None.

---

wow, just straight up evil lmao.

Answer 2

Although sun will become less viable in OU, one thing does stand out to me: sunny rock now is 8 turns! so this is a hyper offense sun sweeper.

Delphox @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf / Life Orb / Heat Rock

Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Switcheroo / Sunny Day / Shadow Ball

Sorry for all of the item options, but I wanted to show as many as possible. Heat Rock is not preferred, but interesting. If you're lucky, 8 turns of destruction follow. If a choice item, use Switcheroo, and if LO, then Shadow Ball.

Comments

Heat Rock will only increase to 8 turns

---

oops, i'll fix it. still a lot tho

Answer 3

I think a Scarf set would work nicely with dat speed:

Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 16 HP / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Switcheroo
- Hidden Power [Ice] /Hidden Power [Grass] / Hidden Power [Steel] (Lol fairies)

Good speed, good SpA, fast special sweeper to counter Terrakion!

Comments

You're missing, like, 100 EVs.

---

I think he meant 116 :P

---

236 Speed Dx

Answer 4

Delphox @ Choice Specs / Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature: Timid
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Grass Knot / Hidden Power [Grass]

Shame that Delphox doesn't get a good Hidden ability like Greninja does, but its got some pretty decent stats, and slightly better defences than Greninja.

Grass Knot & HP Grass depend on a few things, mainly just the tier Delphox is in. I don't think that Delphox will be higher than UU, and considering that Grass Knot is most effective in the higher tiers, especially Ubers because everything there is obese, HP Grass might be your better bet in order to deal consistent damage. I'm pretty sure HP Grass will OHKO Rhyperior anyway.

Answer 5

Delphox's speed can also be augmented with Flame Charge, making it a very nice little sun or cs sweeper

Delphox @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Flame Charge
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock / Hidden Power [Grass]
- Psyshock / Shadow Ball

Hidden Power [Ground] may also be used for Heatran, and Hidden Power [Fighting] for Tyranitar, and of course
Flamethrower is also a fine substitute for Fire Blast.

Comments

Honestly, Psychic would be a better move than Psyshock.

---

Well, Psyshock is for special walls. WHY FLAME CHARGE! IT'S PHYSICAL

Answer 6

Stall Set,

Delphox (F) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 126 Def / 126 SpA / 126 SpD / 126 Spe
Modest Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Flamethrower

Start off with WOW. Once the opponent is burned, wear them down with flamethrower over and over again. When needed, use rest. The Chesto Berry will wake you up the first time, and the next few times (should Delphox make it that far) use sleep talk and hope you get Flamethrower. If the opponent switches, WOW wouldn't be bad either.

Comments

uhh... WOW! lol

Answer 7

Why are more than half the sets here hyper-offensive? Delphox's main niche is its signature move, Mystical Fire, which lowers Special Attack.

Delphox @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Hypnosis / Toxic
- Mystical Fire

• Wish- Healing and support.
• Protect- Works with Wish and Leftovers.
• Hypnosis / Toxic- To shut down threats or just, you know. I prefer Hypnosis because it helps me deal with Heatran, who always wrecks my team.
• Mystical Fire- STAB and lower Special Attack.

Compared to what offensive Delphox does, defensive Delphox is superior. As you can tell, I actually use this in OU because it's a fire type with Wish not named Flareon, and it actually works pretty well.

Comments

Yay! I didn't waste tons of time on breeding my fennekins with hypnosis, magic coat, heat wave and wish! I'm not very good at competitive battles (just a starter) so I have no grip on what kind of moves to use! thanks anyway, this setup is like my favourite.

Answer 8

Wallphox time!

Now, Delphox actually has great Special Defense and not-bad HP and Defense. In conjunction with Mystical Fire, it can run an effective wall set.

Delphox @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Magic Coat
- Mystical Fire
- Psyshock

It's rather simple. Cripple physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp, special attackers with Mystical Fire, repel Taunts and status with Magic Coat, and hit special walls not named Slowking with Psyshock. Annoying as heck to face,

Colbur Berry is run on this set because of the omnipresent Knock Off, and Magician provides some nice item-stealing. If you don't like this unpredictablity, run Blaze as the Ability and use Lefties.

Oh, and look at this:
-1 252+ SpA Choice Specs Dragalge Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Delphox: 190-225 (53.6 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Assuming you're against a smart opponent, they'll switch Dragalge in on Delphox- no one expects Mystical Fire. Psyshock proceeds to 2HKO, taking out one of the most dangerous threats in RU.

4 SpA Delphox Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Cobalion: 206-246 (63.7 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
CM Cobalion is getting more and more common in RU, and this cripples him MASSIVELY. Sure, he can tank you, but how much damage can he do unboosted?

Comments

This is super helpful! I won lots of battles with this moveset :)
P.S. How can I vote up? I want to upvote this post.

---

It needs some speed

Answer 9

Gen 7 NU

Delphox @ Psychium Z
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hypnosis
- Flamethrower
- Psyshock

Calm Mind is to boost stats. Hypnosis can give you a set up opportunity, or you can use Z-Hypnosis to get a speed boost and out-speed most of the metagame (still gives you a set up opportunity to Calm Mind and sweep). Flamethrower is standard STAB. Psyshock can beat special walls, or can be used as a Z-Move to do tons of damage and ignore Psyshocks limitations of only hitting on the physical side.

Answer 10

I think this thing is a unique special staller/sweeper.

Delphox @ Life Orb / Wise Glasses
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 100 SpD / 100 Spe
Timid Nature
- Mystical Fire
- Protect
- Psychic
- Switcheroo

• Mystical Fire: can be OP with the Special Attack decrease, Wise Glasses, and STAB.
• Protect: I am just assuming it can learn like every other Pokemon. This can waste major PP.
• Psychic: Is pure special stallerness.
• Switcheroo: For getting rid of recoil from Life Orb for one reason or another.

I just wanted to provide a moveset for an X/Y Pokemon. It may not be the best, but it's pure ML.

Comments

Switcheroo doesn't switch stat boosts, it switches items...

Answer 11

Timid Nature (-Atk, +Spe)
@Mind/Flame Plate / Leftovers / Expert Belt
4 Def / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
~ Calm Mind
Boosts Sp. Atk and Sp. Def to higher levels.
~ Flamethrower/Fire Blast
For STAB and coverage. Use Flamethrower if Fire Blast's accuracy doesn't appeal to you. Though, the difference in power is notable.
~ Psychic/Psyshock
For STAB and coverage. Psyshock ruins Blissey and other Special-only walls, while Psychic has slightly more power.
~ Shadow Ball/Grass Knot
Shadow Ball is there for countering her Ghost type weakness and other Psychic types or you could use Grass Knot for her Water, Rock and Ground type weaknesses depending on what your team needs.

Answer 12

Delphox @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Fire Blast

Sub CM set. Substitute shields you from hits, while you set up Calm Minds, which aid your sweeping abilities. STAB Psychic for power and the ability to defeat physical walls who resist Fire Blast easier, or STAB Psyshock to defeat special walls more efficiently. Fire Blast is a powerful STAB move and gets pretty good coverage with your Psychic STAB. Since this guy will most likely be NU or RU, it's EVs give it just enough to outspeed + speed base 100's as well as the + speed monkey trio, which are basically the fastest relevant threats it has the ability to outspeed.

Answer 13

Because of this Pokemon's high Special Attack, it's a must for powerful special moves that cover coverage and STAB.

Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Mystical Fire / Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball / Grass Knot
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- Psyshock / Psychic

In my opinion this moveset works quite well. This is more of a offensive type of variation with the Choice Scarf working well with that Speed. Plus I recommend this starter as it has the highest stat points out of the three starters.

Answer 14

Delphox @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 100 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpA / 152 Spe
Calm / Timid Nature
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Solar Beam
- Sunny Day

Solar Beam is for all weaknesses and can be used after Sunny Day, lowering water type move's damage and hiring power of fire blast and flamethrower! Psychic and Psyshock are both STAB, and are a Psychic type's favorite moves! Have fun with this loved starter and battle well.

Answer 15

Role: Fast special set-up sweeper

Delphox @ Leftovers / Red Card
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Alt. Choices: Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, Dazzling Gleam, Wish

Delphox. I feel bad for this guy, it's really underrated in competitive. (Or that's my opinion, at least.) I use her and she actually helps me out quite a lot! Here's the set:

Delphox is born to be a fast special sweeper. Those Special Attack and Speed stats are amazing, so pour the most EVs into those stats and put the rest into its Special Defense.

The item I use for Delphox is Leftovers. It makes up for it's frailty and helps keep it on the field. Another good choice is Red Card, if you want to be a troll with the Substitute.

The ability is just fine being Blaze, as Magician doesn't really do much if you're going to be holding an item.

As for nature, best to go with either Modest or Naive. Modest will boost your Special Attack, but Naive will guarantee you will be the fastest on the field. However, it does sap a bit of your Special Defense.

And last but not least, it's moveset:

Delphox's two main STAB moves are Fire Blast and Psychic. Or if you want, use Psyshock instead of Psychic if you feel you might come across special walls like Blissey.

Calm Mind boosts Special Attack and Special Defense, and Substitute will make up for your frailty and allow you to set up quickly.

The plan is simple. Put up a Substitute, rack up as many Calm Minds as you can, and once the Sub is broken, you'll be ready to sweep.

Delphox has other good moves if you feel like using them: Grass Knot and Shadow Ball cover her weaknesses, Dazzling Gleam takes out unsuspecting Dark types and Dragons, and Wish makes up for her frailty.

However, Fire Blast // Psychic // Substitute // Calm Mind works the best for me.

Comments

Naïve is not better than Jolly with this set.

Answer 16

I love this setup for Delphox on my Sun and moon and it's amazing!

Delphox @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psychic
- Mystical Fire
- Dazzling Gleam

It's simple, Will-O-Wisp to burn your opponent. Psychic because it can lower an opponent's Special Defense and because of Delphox's high Special Attack. Mystical Fire because it's a Fire type, and like Psychic it lowers Special Attack. Dazzling Gleam to use against Dragon, Dark, and Fighting.

Comments

The "EVs" listed above are not EVs, but rather the stats when they have 252 EVs with a Timid nature.

---

I thought each stat can only have 252 EVs and what is 337? I am confused.

Answer 17

Delphox @ Expert Belt / Colbur Berry
Ability: Blaze / Magician
EVs: 4 HP / 12 Def / 236 SpA / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Mystical Fire
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

Magician for Colbur Berry

And so use Will-O-Wisp for physical strikers, Mystical Fire for special attackers, Psyshock to go through special walls, and Shadow Ball for coverage. Alternatively, you could use Psychic and Flamethrower/Fire Blast instead but they don't tend to work as well. Dazzling Gleam could replace Shadow Ball for coverage against Dark types.

Answer 18

Gen 7 NU

Delphox @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Flamethrower
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind

Psyshock is STAB and hits special walls. Flamethrower is also STAB. Dazzling Gleam deals with dark types. Calm Mind boosts your special attack and special defense.

Answer 19

The power of magic can trick you... And this set too

Gen VII
Delphox @ Red Card
Ability: Magician
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Flamethrower / Mystical Fire
- Signal Beam / Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind / Will-O-Wisp

Psychic is STAB
The fire move is also STAB, while Flametrower is stronger, Mystical Fire lowers the Special Attack of your opponent
Signal Beam and Dazziling Gleam are for coverage
Calm Mind And Will-O-Wisp are for setup and for ruin physical attackers day respecivelly
Plus, Red Card + Magician can surprise many opponents, since they are probably unprepared for that. This combo is exactly why this set can be tricky

Answer 20

Gen 9 NU Nasty Plot

Delphox @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Fire / Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Delphox has dropped to NU recently and has some new tools it didn't have in Gen 7 NU. Delphox gets Nasty Plot, which boosts its Special Attack by 2 stages instead of 1, making it a scary threat. Fire Blast is used for a powerful Fire STAB, while Flamethrower can be used for a more consistent Fire STAB. Psyshock is used for the Psychic STAB so it can hit Pokemon who can tank special hits such as Blissey and Goodra. Focus Blast, another new tool Delphox got in Gen 9, allows Delphox to hit Pokemon such as Umbreon, Coalossal, and Tera Steel Appletun super effectively. Heavy-Duty Boots is used as the item to prevent Delphox from getting chipped by hazards. Tera Fire lets Delphox get a x2 STAB boost on its Fire STAB. Tera Fighting can be used to turn Delphox's Dark weakness into a resist. Tera Fighting also allows a +2 Focus Blast to OHKO Umbreon.