I don´t play competitive too often, so please take my contribution with a grain of salt. I usually play just to have some fun. That said, here are some sets I like that are a lot of fun to use.
Lampent @ Eviolite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Flamethrower
- Pain Split/haze
I think that lampent is very underrated. It´s one of the very few viable fire types in the tier, and the only one that can do an effective defensive set. The great thing about Lampent is that it's not as passive as many other defensive Pokemon, which let it scare out mons like ninjask, first impression fraxure and gourgeist, as well as other defensive pokemon like vespiquen or solrock. It doesn't fear getting trapped by trapinch, unlike other fire types, which is nice. In fact, offensive sets with energy ball can directly threaten non-sucker punch trapinch sets.
Speaking of offensive sets, lampent can also run scarf or specs sets with trick. It plays very similar to rotom, actually.
Noctowl @ Blunder Policy
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hypnosis
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave/roost
- Nasty Plot
A different take on double dance noctowl. Hypnosis can possibly remove the opponents best noctowl switch in, which can be huge. Obviously, it's not reliable at all, but it can be extremely deadly if it works. If you miss a hypnosis or hurricane, you get a free agility boost, which allows noctowl to sweep. Compared to the normal double dance noctowl set, this set has the advantage of better setup upportunity thanks to hypnosis. The downside is that it's much less reliable, obviously. Still, it's a nice set if you want to test your luck.
now we are really delving into meme territory
Machoke @ Choice Specs
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 208 HP / 252 SpA / 48 Spe (speed is to outrun mawile)
Rash Nature
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Bullet punch/Knock Off/whatever
Since mawile is everywhere, I wanted a good way to bait it out reliably. Specs no guard machoke is the best thing I could come up with, since it's the only thing with fire blast that draws mawile in like every single time. I don't know what spread mawile usually runs, but specs fire blast OHKO's max HP mawile reliably. fully specially defensive careful varients are still 2HKO'd. specs vacuum wave is a guaranteed OHKO on max HP Stonjourner and pawniard, and it 2HKO's frail fighting-weak Pokemon like Liepard and Persian. The problem with this set is that it relies heavily on surprise factor, It's easily walled by fairies and ghosts. Still, successfully luring in mawile or ninjask can be gamechanging.
Lampent @ Eviolite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Flamethrower
- Pain Split/haze
I think that lampent is very underrated. It´s one of the very few viable fire types in the tier, and the only one that can do an effective defensive set. The great thing about Lampent is that it's not as passive as many other defensive Pokemon, which let it scare out mons like ninjask, first impression fraxure and gourgeist, as well as other defensive pokemon like vespiquen or solrock. It doesn't fear getting trapped by trapinch, unlike other fire types, which is nice. In fact, offensive sets with energy ball can directly threaten non-sucker punch trapinch sets.
Speaking of offensive sets, lampent can also run scarf or specs sets with trick. It plays very similar to rotom, actually.
Noctowl @ Blunder Policy
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hypnosis
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave/roost
- Nasty Plot
A different take on double dance noctowl. Hypnosis can possibly remove the opponents best noctowl switch in, which can be huge. Obviously, it's not reliable at all, but it can be extremely deadly if it works. If you miss a hypnosis or hurricane, you get a free agility boost, which allows noctowl to sweep. Compared to the normal double dance noctowl set, this set has the advantage of better setup upportunity thanks to hypnosis. The downside is that it's much less reliable, obviously. Still, it's a nice set if you want to test your luck.
now we are really delving into meme territory
Machoke @ Choice Specs
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 208 HP / 252 SpA / 48 Spe (speed is to outrun mawile)
Rash Nature
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Bullet punch/Knock Off/whatever
Since mawile is everywhere, I wanted a good way to bait it out reliably. Specs no guard machoke is the best thing I could come up with, since it's the only thing with fire blast that draws mawile in like every single time. I don't know what spread mawile usually runs, but specs fire blast OHKO's max HP mawile reliably. fully specially defensive careful varients are still 2HKO'd. specs vacuum wave is a guaranteed OHKO on max HP Stonjourner and pawniard, and it 2HKO's frail fighting-weak Pokemon like Liepard and Persian. The problem with this set is that it relies heavily on surprise factor, It's easily walled by fairies and ghosts. Still, successfully luring in mawile or ninjask can be gamechanging.