What is a good moveset for Falinks?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Falinks, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions 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 explanation, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Falinks Pokedex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Oh boy, I've been waiting for this one. Falinks is my favorite Gen 8 mon, so I was really saddened when I saw its underwhelming base stats. Luckily, it’s backed up by one of the best set-up moves in the entire game, No Retreat, alongside some pretty nice coverage. I've been surprised by how well it worked in SwSh UU (although I haven’t played since they banned Dynamax), and I’ve been using it in the Battle Tower. Here's the set I recommend:

Whoop Troop (Falinks) @ Sitrus Berry / Life Orb / Focus Sash maybe?
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def or SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- No Retreat
- Close Combat
- Iron Head / Megahorn / Throat Chop / First Impression
- Rock Slide / Iron Head

No Retreat and Close Combat are necessities. For the third slot, One of the first three options I have listed are definitely better than First Impression, but if you’re looking for something a bit unorthodox, I’ve found FI to be quite fun (although probably just because I'm a sucker for quirky moveset options). Before setting up, First Impression can be used to get a surprise KO on a weakened Pokémon (since everyone expects No Retreat on the first turn you send Falinks out) before you switch out again, and after setting up, it can still be used if you Dynamax. Although if you’re playing a Smogon format, then First Impression is just going to be complete dead weight on Falinks.
Overall, I’d say that the best set is probably No Retreat / CC / Iron Head / Rock Slide.

EVs and nature are chosen to make you as fast and powerful as possible. I've seen some people run bulky Adamant, but you do actually get pretty fast after No Retreat, so I prefer capitalizing on that. For the ability, Defiant is far better than Battle Armor, to gain a boost from your opponent's Intimidate, Defog, Sticky Web, etc. There really isn't a best item for Falinks though, you can run pretty much whatever you want. I prefer Sitrus Berry to get some health back if you're hit while setting up, but Life Orb is also very good.

Answer 2

PU No Retreat Suicide Lead

Falinks @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- No Retreat
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop/Rock Slide
- Iron Head

The title says it all, the No-Retreat Suicide Lead in the PU format. No Retreat is for Falinks to boost itself to prepare for the suicide lead. Close Combat is mandatory as it is STAB and since it lowers defense and special defense by one each, it also raises the attack stat by 2 stages TWICE because of Falinks's ability, Defiant. Now Falinks needs a lot of type coverage in order to make a great suicide lead. Throat Chop to cover Falinks weakness, Psychic types such as Kadabra and Golduck. It's also for Pokemon immune to Falinks Close Combat, like Drifblim and Dusknoir. Rock slide could be another choice as it covers Falinks Flying type weakness, such as Unfezant. Iron Head is for showing Rapidash-Galar who's boss. A good teammate for Falinks would be Morpeko, as it covers Falinks's Psychic type weakness and Flying type weakness and in return, Falinks covers Morpeko's Fairy type weakness with Iron Head.

Comments

"Close Combat is mandatory as it is STAB and since it lowers defense and special defense by one each, it also raises the attack stat by 2 stages TWICE because of Falinks's ability, Defiant."

I know I'm late saying this, but that's not how Defiant works. Defiant raises your attack 2 stages when the opponent lowers your stats. Defiant does not not raise your attack 2 stages if you lower your own stats. Also, Golduck isn't a Psychic type. :P

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both very valid points

other than that though, good moveset

Answer 3

Falinks seems like a great Pokémon, until you see it’s more then underwhelming stats. But I think I got a moveset for it...

Falinks @ Focus Sash
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 200 Atk / 56 Speed / 200 Def / 52 Sp. Def
Adamant Nature
No Retreat - Setup
Iron Head/Brick Break/Close Combat - Coverage/STAB
Megahorn/Brick Break/Close Combat - Coverage/STAB
Rock Slide/Brick Break/Close Combat - Coverage/STAB

Focus Sash is to keep Falinks in for at least 1 extra turn, do to people probably taking advantage of No Retreat. The Defiant is to help Falinks stats. And the EVs in attack is to boost move power, the 56 in speed is to make sure it goes first most of the time, because with the moveset I made, going first is essential. The Adamant nature boosts attack. You could also use Jolly, but in this case, Adamant is better. No Retreat is a great move to have and use, even with it not letting you switch out. But people are bound to take advantage of it, so Iron Head, Megahorn, and Rock Slide are to take care of Falinks weaknesses, because the opponent can just switch out a Pokémon that has an advantage over Falinks when you can’t do anything about it. You could also replace any one of these with Brick Break or Close Combat, which receive a STAB boost, but I don’t recommend it. If you were to replace one, replace Rock Slide, do to most Fairy and Psychic moves being Special, and that being Falinks weak point.

Comments

why would you choose a 120BP and 85 Accuracy move with the worst type in the game and no stab (Megahorn)
over
a 120BP and 100 Accuracy move that is a decent type, has stab, and only lowers defense and SpD by one stage. (Close Combat)

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I am just putting the options out there.

Answer 4

Dual Dance Falinks

Gen 8 ZU

Falinks @ Lum Berry / Focus Sash?
Ability: Defiant
- Swords Dance
- Agility
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide / Iron Head / Throat Chop / Zen Headbutt

Yes, I'm aware that Falinks gets No Retreat, but I wanted to do something different. Swords Dance and Agility boost your attack and speed by two stages. Close Combat is STAB. Your coverage move depends on what you want to deal with. Rock Slide deals with bug and flying types. Iron Head deals with fairy types. Throat Chop deals with ghost and psychic types. Zen Headbutt deals with poison types.