Why use stronger less accurate Pokémon attacks?
This battle I had prompted this question.
In the above battle, Fire Blast missed. Twice. A simple Flamethrower would have ended the battle much sooner.
+-------+----------+------------------+
| Power | Accuracy | "Average" output |
+--------------+-------+----------+------------------+
| Flamethrower | 90 | 100% | 92.8125 |
+--------------+-------+----------+------------------+
| Fire Blast | 110 | 85% | 96.421875 |
+--------------+-------+----------+------------------+
Factoring in that accuracy, your average output is barely 3.5 Base Power higher than that of Flamethrower, and Flamethrower isn't prone to sudden bursts of luck.
(Personally I use Flame Burst - you lose 10BP for it, but the ability to hit the other opponent for 1/16th of their HP, bypassing everything from Substitute to Protect is pretty sweet. Can't tell you how many times I've splashed out a Pokémon that Protected! Great for breaking Focus Sash too!)
I also calculated Heat Wave, factoring in hitting two targets your average overall Base Power expectancy on that move is 66-ish per target, so 132 overall. Not bad!
So, why do people use Fire Blast and related moves? Is that little bit of extra power really worth it? Overall, how likely is Fire Blast to one-shot something that Flamethrower would two-shot?
Best Answer
This is more of an opinion question, however I will try to answer the question from the Meta point of view.
In most movesets in the meta game, people will choose the less powerful/more accurate moves, because even though they have less BP, they are generally enough to get the job done at a competitive level.
Overpowered moves are high risk, high reward.
People would use these moves (for example) in situations where they have an accuracy boost, or something similar, where they are sure of the hit connecting.
In the Meta, most players prefer to be assured of a 2HKO then risk an inaccurate 1HKO.
To answer the other part of your question, Fire blast is much more likely to OHKO a pokemon than Flamethrower.
But in general, the less powerful variants are better overall as they are less likely to give your opponent a free turn to set up or KO you.
Pictures about "Why use stronger less accurate Pokémon attacks?"
Can moves with 100 accuracy miss?
Moves with 100% still perform an accuracy check. This is necessary because these moves can miss if the user's accuracy is lowered or the target's evasion is increased.What is the least accurate Pokémon move?
Here are the lowest-accuracy moves.How much does sand attack decrease accuracy?
Sand-Attack reduces Raticate's Accuracy to about 67.4%, while Double Team increases Pidgeot's Evade to about 34.1%....Research & Data.Uses:Accuracy:253.3%342.7%4*40.4%5*32.9%2 more rowsHow is accuracy measured in Pokémon?
Each move's accuracy is measured on a scale of 1-100 and can be modified by the user or opponent only in battle. Moves that are marked with (\u2014) mean they will always hit unless the enemy Pokemon uses a move like Protect, or a move that has a semi-invulnerable turn (Fly, Dig).Poker Ranges Explained
More answers regarding why use stronger less accurate Pokémon attacks?
Answer 2
Hopefully this helps:
After experimenting myself, I've found that you can eliminate lower accuracy by equipping items like a Wide Lens to your Pokemon. Once you are sure that your more powerful move has equal accuracy (Fire Blast/Flamethrower), all you need to do is analyze your competitive standpoint and prepare for moves like Knock Off. Competitive battlers trade accuracy for power, but if you want accuracy, this is a way you could maintain it.
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Images: Ono Kosuki, Andrea Piacquadio, Andrea Piacquadio, Andrea Piacquadio