Wo-Chien, the Ruinous Pokémon. The grudge of a person punished for writing the king's evil deeds upon wooden tablets has clad itself in dead leaves to become a Pokémon. It drains the life-force from vegetation, causing nearby forests to instantly wither and fields to turn barren.

Overview

Wo-Chien lives up to the idea of the defensive Grass type, wasting away opponents with cumulative chip damage in between Leech Seed and Ruination and turning them into the wastelands of legend. Wo-Chien manages this with its good HP, Tablet of Ruin backed Defense and massive Special Defense, allowing Wo-Chien to endure numerous attacks. This is complimented by Wo-Chien possessing many of Grass’ numerous healing options, such as Giga Drain and Leech Seed, giving Wo-Chien significant longevity, allowing it to in theory last for an extended period. Wo-Chien puts all this stalling to good use, crippling the opponent with Stun Spore, Taunt and Knock Off, slowing its opposition down and forcing them to play at Wo-Chien’s sluggish pace.

Sadly Wo-Chien’s tablets speak of ruin for itself as much as its victims. Fantastic defenses mean nothing when you have a whopping 7 weaknesses including a quadruple weakness to Bug, meaning the number of target’s Wo-Chien can wall is incredibly limited. For a Pokémon that is so focused on walling, it is a death knell for Wo-Chien by itself. While having indirect recovery options, Wo-Chien sorely misses direct recovery options like Synthesis or even the passive recovery of Regenerator. This has Wo-Chien falter in the face of fellow Grass typed walls like Hydrapple, Chestnaught and Amoonguss who boast greater typing and longevity in comparison to Wo-Chien. While Wo-Chien is faster than its contemporaries, base 70 is still woefully slow compared to most offensive threats, making its poor typing and lack of direct recovery more noticeable. In the end, the tale written on Wo-Chien’s tablets is a sad old one of a prospective defensive great brought low by horrid base typing, eliciting the same tired reaction.
Positives
85/135 Special bulk is amazing and when backed by Tablet of Ruin pseudo-boosted base 100 Defense, Wo-Chien can take a myriad of attacks without issue.
Fantastic disruptive movepool with Knock Off, Taunt, and Stun Spore cripple the opposition for Wo-Chien’s teammates to exploit.
Far from passive with Ruination and Foul Play cleaving through target’s HP, setting them up for Knock Outs, if not by Wo-Chien, its teammates.

Negatives
Grass Dark is horrid defensively with 7 weaknesses including a quad weakness to Bug and the ubiquitous U-Turn more than overriding the 6 resistances and immunity it provides.
Lacking direct recovery prevents Wo-Chien from recovering from large incidents of damage, making it easier to wear down than one would expect.
Base 70 speed falls short of many offensive threats who can expose Wo-Chien’s many weaknesses.

Movesets

Sub Seed Scourge

Leech Seed
-Substitute
-Knock Off
-Ruination
Ability: Tablet of Ruin
Item: Leftovers
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature

Wo-Chien can make for an amazing wall provided one can navigate through the minefield that is its weakness laden typing. Leech Seed does just about everything Wo-Chien could ask for, chipping the opponent, providing passive recovery for Wo-Chien to give it much greater longevity. Substitute pairs wonderfully with this set in innumerable ways. Between allowing Wo-Chien to through up a Substitute on a predicted switch to allow Wo-Chien a free buffer turn to ruin the opponent how it wishes, blocks status like Toxic that would cripple Wo-Chien, and against opponents unable to outspeed Wo-Chien or break its Substitute in one go, an outright win condition as the healing from Leftovers and Leech Seed can outpace the HP tax from Substitute. What follows is how one wants to cripple the opposition. Knock Off is highly recommended, item disruption is invaluable, especially when removing a Choice Item from attackers, which can leave them unable to break through Wo-Chien, though removing Heavy-Duty Boots or Leftovers from opposing walls, making them easier to wear down. Ruination allows Wo-Chien to start picking up Knock Outs on its own, slashing the timer one must Leech Seed stall, or just leave a defensive wall compromised to the point it can’t handle Pokémon it is supposed to.

Tera Types:
As a Pokémon whose issues largely stem from its typing, it is of little surprise that Wo-Chien all but mandates Terastalizing. Tera Poison is the most popular on Wo-Chien, giving it valuable resistances to Bug, Fighting, and Fairy, its quadruple weakness and the two types most seen as coverage, on top of granting an immunity to Toxic and Toxic Spikes, removing an easy out to Wo-Chien. Tera Fairy is also a popular choice for its Bug and Fighting resistances on top of having hard to exploit weaknesses. Tera Ghost is another frequent choice for the Bug resistance and Fighting immunity. Though as a defensive staple, one must ask if Terastalizing Wo-Chien is the right thing to do and whether it would be better serviced by keeping its admittedly many resistances.

EVs and Items:
Maximizing physical bulk is highly recommended with this set, given its valuable Ground, Water and Dark resistances pre-Terastalization and how great Poison, Fairy and Ghost are as physically defensive types post Terastalization. Note that with Tablet of Ruin, Wo-Chien’s physical bulk is effectively higher than its special bulk. With full investment into HP and Defense, Wo-Chien avoids being 2HKO’d by physical attacks like Iron Boulder’s Close Combat, Ceruledge’s Bitter Blade, Supreme Overlord Kingambit’s Iron Head, etc. with just Leftovers alone, allowing Wo-Chien to stall out such targets with Leech Seed. Alternatively, if one is more concerned with Special Attackers, one can invest in Special Defense, but making out HP is enough for Gholdengo’s Make it Rain to be a mere 3HKO. With Special Defensive investment, even Darkrai’s Focus Blast, Keldeo’s Aura Sphere, and Zapdos’ Hurricane all fail to 3HKO. Some Speed investment can be considered to have Wo-Chien get the jump on key targets for a more stable matchup. 96 Speed allows Wo-Chien to outrun max Speed Adamant Kingambit, while 176 Speed outruns Max Speed neutral nature base 60 targets like Primarina, as well as uninvested base 90 targets like Great Tusk and Moltres. Leftovers is recommended for the passive recovery it provides. Wo-Chien is expected to stick several turns on the field so Leftovers persistent recovery is vital to Wo-Chien’s success. Big Root is an alternative, squeezing extra healing from Giga Drain and Leech Seed, though the lack of passive recovery is noticeable.

Partners:
: Allies that can cover Wo-Chien’s weaknesses are greatly appreciated, especially defensive allies who naturally operate at the same sluggish pace as Wo-Chien. Toxapex is notable due to how Water Poison and Grass Dark natively cover most of each-other’s weaknesses. Wo-Chien loves Toxapex’s Toxic and Toxic Spikes placing opponents on a faster timer while Toxapex loves the HP halving of Ruination and passive recovery Leech Seed can grant. Slowbro and Slowking also work well, trading out the Fairy and Poison resists for Scald and Future Sight support, while loving Wo-Chien’s ability to answer Ghost and Dark types. A Flying type is invaluable for Wo-Chien, since they can safely absorb the Fighting coverage and U-Turns sent Wo-Chien’s way. Moltres and Talonflame are key examples, considering their Fire and Fairy resistances as well, while loving Wo-Chien taking on opposing Water and Electric attacks. Their ability to burn targets further increases Wo-Chien’s bulk, making it even harder to take down and access to Defog doesn’t hurt either. Landorus-Therian and Gliscor trade out Defog and Will-O-Wisp for reliable hazard stacking, further wearing down the opponent.

Other Options:
Giga Drain provides Grass STAB and burst healing otherwise unavailable for Wo-Chien. Wo-Chien is one of the few singles Pokémon that likes Protect, stalling for Leech Seed and Leftovers recovery and making it that much more of a nuisance. Stun Spore and Taunt are great disruptive tools, shutting down offensive and defensive Pokémon respectively, making them easier for Wo-Chien and its teammates to handle. Foul Play is Wo-Chien’s best damage dealing option, using its opponent’s attack to ruin them, wrecking fast and frail Pokémon like Dragapult, and Barraskewda, while dedicated physical attackers like Ogerpon and Ursaluna are solidly 2HKO’d by their own power.

Doubles and VGC Options

Wo-Chien’s tale of woe continues into doubles formats, where multiple opponents make it incredibly likely that one of them is holding some coverage to efficiently dispatch Wo-Chien. This is even before we consider how Wo-Chien’s favored style of stalling out does not work in doubles due to how defensive Pokémon become a liability that can be ignored, until they are the only Pokémon left, at which point they can be overwhelmed by multiple attackers. Even Wo-Chien’s ability, Tablet of Ruin is outclassed by the ubiquitous Intimidate, which offers a sharper and persistent drop until the afflicted switch out while its fellow Treasures of Ruin all offer unique effects that are not replicated by any ability. All of this leaves very little reason to use Wo-Chien. The little reason that remains however, is fascinating. Thanks to the dominance of Intimidate for several generations now, there are many ways to shut Intimidate down. Tablet of Ruin has no such answers, so for physically "frail" Special Attackers, Wo-Chien is very attractive as a guaranteed way to reduce damage. As such, Wo-Chien becomes a fantastic enabler for some of the scariest special attackers in the game, keeping them around to repeatedly apply their offense. Wo-Chien’s movepool proves to be its saving grace, offering just enough disruptive tools for Wo-Chien to not only keep its allies alive, but reach knock outs otherwise unthinkable.

Tablet of Unity

-Ruination
-Pollen Puff
-Leech Seed
-Protect
Ability: Tablet of Ruin
Item: Leftovers
Tera Type: Poison
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 44 Def / 4 SAtk / 20 SDef / 188 Speed
Bold Nature

Wo-Chien has made a name for itself as one of Kyogre’s key partners in crime, its passive Attack lowering invaluable in slowing Urshifu’s assault, something that no Intimidate user or Screen setter can replicate due to the auto-Crit nature of Wicked Blow and Surging Strikes. Ruination serves a similar role to Fake Tears on Whimsicott, as halving a targets HP is often just enough for Kyogre to reach a OHKO with its titanic Water STABs. Pollen Puff serves dual purpose, not only keeping Wo-Chien’s partner healthy, allowing for surprise Kyogre Water Spouts, but also checking opposing Grass types like Rillaboom and Wellspring Ogerpon that could otherwise stop Kyogre in its tracks. Leech Seed is staple for Wo-Chien, its passive recovery keeping Wo-Chien around longer and allowing it to provide its attack lowering debuff. Protect synergizes well with Leech Seed and Leftovers, providing absurd recovery and making Wo-Chien very sticky, on top of the usual doubles benefits it provides in scouting out attacks and Terastalizations, stalling for field conditions, etc.

This fast Wo-Chien set is meant to be paired with a slow Kyogre, outspeeding it so it can land Ruination or Pollen Puff before Kyogre acts, enabling surprise Water Spouts, while still outrunning Timid Calyrex Shadow Rider under Tailwind. Everything else goes for bulk to make Wo-Chien as durable as possible. Tera Poison remains invaluable for Wo-Chien, resisting 4 of Wo-Chien’s weaknesses and making for an excellent pivot. Fighting Resistant Teras are highly recommended in general thanks to the prevalence of Urshifu and its Protect busting Fighting STAB.

Other Options:
Giga Drain offers more direct recovery and Grass typed damage, which can be invaluable for Water typed targets and Groudon. Foul Play is potentially Wo-Chien’s most damaging option, especially against Calyrex-Ice Rider, though most prominent physical attackers do resist it. Knock Off deserves mention as item disruption is hard to pass up, regardless of the format. Snarl further slows down the opponent, sapping their Special Attack and making Wo-Chien’s team that much harder to break.

Preferred Partners:
This set is all about enabling Kyogre, as task Wo-Chien performs with aplomb, while Kyogre makes Wo-Chien harder to remove with its Rain removing Wo-Chien's Fire weakness. Archaludon also works with this set, both loving Kyogre's rain and being impossible to remove thanks to both Tablet of Ruin and Stamina. Flutter Mane can also work, though its high Speed prevents some of the applications that Kyogre could use so effectively. Since this team's largely about defense, other forms of damage mitagation are highly recommended. Grimmsnarl with Screens and Incineroar further help reduce the opponent's damage output, keeping Wo-Chien and its partners around longer. Tailwind Support is highly recommended so that setup can occur before the opponent acts. Tornadus and Booster Energy Iron Jugulus are fantastic at this, not only reliably setting up Tailwind, but possessing Hurricane, which in the Rain is great for opposing Fighting types like Urshifu that can quickly break Wo-Chien.

Countering Wo-Chien

Wo-Chien’s many failings from its typing may make it easier to handle, though carelessness can still lead to disaster. Do note that nothing likes switching into Ruination and very few like getting their item removed from Knock Off. Grass types are generally safer direct switch ins to Wo-Chien, given their immunity to both Leech Seed and Stun Spore limits how Wo-Chien can ruin them, though they need super effective coverage or Wo-Chien will simply outlast them regardless. Breloom, Hisuian Lilligant, Meowscarada, offensive Ogerpon, Rillaboom, and Venusaur all possess sufficient power and coverage to one or two hit KO Wo-Chien.

Defensive checks are generally unadvised for Wo-Chien. Wo-Chien excels when games are slowed to a crawl and in between Leech Seed, Taunt and Ruination, it is well equipped to outlast all manner of defensive checks. Magic Guard Clefable may be the only exception, taking pittance from all Wo-Chien’s moves, immune to Leech Seed and can overwhelm Wo-Chien with super effective STAB Moonblasts, though losing half its HP to Ruination is not an attractive prospect.

Offensively, checking Wo-Chien is greatly preferred. U-Turn is heavily recommended; regardless of user given it will deal significant damage to Wo-Chien while maintaining positioning advantage against it and guards against predicted switches. Bug Buzz users like Ribombee and Yanmega are fantastic for Substitute sets thanks to their STAB ignoring the Substitute and obliterating the Wo-Chien behind it. Specs Sylveon also works for similar reasons. Lokix and Slither Wing with their First Impression is fantastic at obliterating Wo-Chien immediately and will all but force a Terastalization or Switch. Other attackers like Kleavor, Banded Terrakion, and Specs Regidrago do have the sheer strength to OHKO Wo-Chien.

Anime Appearences

Wo-Chien has yet to make an appearance in the anime. # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics