Delphox Meta Analysis

Posted in
Delphox FirePsychic

Ask anyone who their favourite Gen 6 starter is, chances are high that they might answer “Greninja” without batting an eyelid. For those who find the ninja frog weird or overrated… “Chesnaught“, pat comes the reply. 

Alas! The Fire starter from Kalos, Delphox, is largely put on the shelf by the Pokémon community.  But let me tell you this: This foxy witch beauty has potential that many haven’t even thought of! 

While I’m not in a position to change your opinion of Delphox’s design, I can throw out a few surprises on this Pokémon’s viability in Pokémon Go! Don’t believe me?

What if I told you:

  • Delphox has a higher ATK stat than the much loved Charizard. So Delphox deals more DPS
  • That isn’t enough? What if I told you that Delphox is bulkier than Charizard
  • Last but not the least, Delphox is blessed with an amazing moveset already and its potential would only elevate with its eventual Community Day

I bet many of you didn’t see that Charizard part coming!

As it stands, stat-wise, Delphox is better than Charizard (the keyword being “stat-wise”)

So is Delphox wholly better than Charizard? Where does it round up as a Fire type starter and a Pokémon in general?

You will get the answers to all that and more as you read this article on the mysterious and enigmatic Pokémon from Kalos. 

Disclaimer: High probability that you’re going to appreciate Delphox more!

Type, Weaknesses and Resistances

Delphox is a Fire Psychic type Pokémon. It is weak to the Dark Ghost Ground Rock and Water.

While it does have its fair share of weaknesses, it also has a very amazing collection of resistances to impress: Fairy Fighting Fire Grass Ice Psychic and Steel

Quite honestly, those set of resistances are really great on a starter Pokémon.

Way to go, Delphox! 🔥


Stats

Delphox FirePsychic
Level 40 CP 3059
ATK 230 DEF 189 HP 181
Weak to Strong Against
Dark Ghost Ground Rock Water Bug Grass Ice Steel Fighting Poison

 

Delphox has a pretty good ATK stat for a starter and in general. 

The Fire and Psychic types are both excellent offensive types, being able to size down the Bug Grass Ice Steel Fighting and Poison types. 

In case you haven’t guessed it already, Delphox can deal neutral damage to all the types through its STAB moves. 

On that note, let’s check out Delphox’s movesets.


Moveset Analysis

Delphox gets access to the following moves in Pokémon Go:

Fast Moves Charged Moves
  • Fire Spin Fire
  • Zen Headbutt Psychic
  • Scratch Normal
  • Flamethrower Fire
  • Fire Blast Fire
  • Flame Charge Fire
  • Psychic Psychic

Just by the looks of the movepool, it is quite obvious that Delphox has a really interesting set of moves. 

Quick Moves

It gets access to the highly coveted Fire Spin, automatically putting Delphox in contention for being an amazing Fire type in general.

While Delphox is complemented by a secondary Psychic typing, Zen Headbutt just doesn’t bear a candle to Fire Spin’s clearly superior dmg and energy gains. 

Scratch lacks STAB, super-effective coverage and synergy with any of Delphox’s moves. Just avoid this move.

Charge Moves

Flamethrower is undoubtedly its best move for PvE, dealing 70 dmg and 50 energy (2 bar)

While Fire Blast functions similarly by dealing 140 dmg at 100 energy, its 1 bar status makes it inferior to Flamethrower.

While Flamethrower is undoubtedly amazing even in PvP, 90 dmg at 55 energy, it is not necessarily the most viable in the PvP meta when you compare it to Flame Charge

Sporting 65 dmg at 50 energy, Flame Charge looks inferior to Flamethrower on paper. However, Flame Charge is the quickest charge move for Delphox. More importantly, using Flame Charge in PvP gives Delphox a guaranteed boost to its Atk stat, automatically making it the go-to Fire type charge move for Delphox

Being a starter Pokémon, it is very cheap to unlock the second charge move for Delphox (25 candies and 10,000 Stardust).  Which makes Psychic is an excellent second charge move to have. It also has STAB, making it a really attractive choice

Best moveset for Delphox?

  • For PvP, Delphox should ideally have Fire Spin with Flame Charge and Psychic
  • For PvE, go with Fire Spin and Flamethrower

How about Blast Burn Delphox? 

While Delphox will not be the best Fire type starter due to the superiority of Blaziken and the lack of a mega evolution/bond phenomenon for Delphox, it will surpass Charizard in both DPS and TDO. 

This is a really cool aspect of Delphox, purely from a Fire type perspective, as we have all been using Charizard right from Gen 1 and are well-acquainted with its usage.


Performance in Raids and Gyms

The Fire type has always been offensively a good type, held back mostly by inferior moveset. 

Gen 5 has given us some really amazing Fire type Pokémon like Reshiram, Chandelure, Darmanitan and the yet to be released Volcarona, Delphox with its good Atk stat, impressive resistances, good movepool and eventual access to Blast Burn is a thoroughly welcome addition to this red hot meta!


Performance in PvP

Great League

Delphox is a mixed bag in GL matches. While it does trouble with dealing Galarian Stunfisk, it still can break through the Galarian Stunfisk and Azumarill core. In fact, Delphox beats Galarian Stunfisk (weak to Fire) only with a shield advantage.

However, it’s not a lost cause and the reason for that is Fire Spin, which is a totally lit move to have. Naturally, it threatens Steel types menacingly. So Delphox is not amazing for the Great League but it still has its uses. 

Ultra League

In the Ultra League, Delphox’s showing will improve vastly. 

For one, it totally annihilates Cresselia through its Fire STAB alone. This is where Delphox’s resistances come into play, with its Fire typing resisting Fairy as well as Grass, and the Psychic type resisting Psychic. So this fire witch tames Cresselia totally in a battle! 

Once again, it beats the Steel types definitively. This aspect is always welcome in PvP! 

The continuous boost to its Atk from Flame Charge makes Delphox a red alert danger in the Ultra League, so much that it can deal massive damage to bulky Water types like Swampert and Gyarados with Psychic.

Not to forget, Giratina totally owns Delphox. Well, that’s expected. 

To sum up, it is a good addition to the Ultra League Premier Cup.

Master League

You would expect Delphox to be underwhelming in the Master League, but it’s not!

While it had somewhat of an average showing in the Open Master League where it gets destroyed by Dialga, it fares exceedingly well in the Premier Cup!

It completely beats Metagross and Togekiss. Now that is huge!

This itself makes Delphox a really great Pokémon to have, potentially even as a partner to a Dragon type like Garchomp as it resists Fairy Ice and Steel, beating all of them! 

However, take care of the Rock type damage if you’re partnering it with Dragonite!

A huge thumbs up for the Master League Premier Cup!


Parting Words

Let me say it right away… Delphox is the only  Gen 6 starter to be viable in all formats of PvE and PvP! Just how AMAZING is that?

The most ignored Gen 6 starter is among the good Pokémon from this region and this just goes on to show what a tremendous difference a good moveset and a good Atk stat can make!

This fiery fox is going to do extremely well in the meta. We all may as well be prepared to be spellbound by this magical Pokémon!

Author & tags

Tags
babygengar
babygengarhttps://pokemongohub.net/post/author/babygengar/
Heya there! I'm Manjari, a Mystic trainer from India and one day, I will be walking across the lands like Ash! When not found with my keyboard and keywords, I can be found reading about ghost Pokémon lore or binge-watching Pokémon movies! 💜

Further reading

Popular today

Latest articles

Support us

Buy GO Hub merch

Get your very own GO Hub t-shirt, mug, or tote.