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-
Sand Stream
- Summons permanent sandstorm.
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Sand Force
- Increases power of Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks by 30% in a sandstorm.
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Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
68
|
- |
23 |
26 |
- |
| Atk |
72
|
11 |
13 |
16 |
17 |
| Def |
78
|
12 |
14 |
17 |
18 |
| SpA |
38
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
| SpD |
42
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
| Spe |
32
|
8 |
9 |
12 |
13 |
Overview
Hippopotas has one niche in Little Cup: using its ability, Sand Stream, to set up permanent sandstorm. Sandstorm is the most dangerous weather in Little Cup, with devastating sweepers such as Drilbur and Sandshrew and resilient walls like Lileep benefiting from it. With good bulk, decent defensive typing, Slack Off, and access to Stealth Rock, Hippopotas is not dead weight either, being able to check many physical attackers in the tier. Nevertheless, despite its lackluster offenses and weaknesses to Water-, Grass-, and Ice-type attacks, Hippopotas maintains a solid niche in Little Cup because of how threatening sand teams can be.
Hippopotas's most important role is staying alive to keep sandstorm up to support its teammates, so Eviolite is the chosen item along with heavy EV investment in its defenses. Thanks to its good bulk, Hippopotas can set up Stealth Rock on much of the tier; it can take hits from basically any physical attacker. Earthquake is Hippopotas's consistent STAB, doing solid damage to Pokemon that Hippopotas can wall such as Drilbur and Mienfoo. With the help of Slack Off, Hippopotas can continually switch in and Earthquake physical attackers throughout the match to wear them down for its team. Whirlwind in the last slot allows Hippopotas to check stat boosters and prevent setup from the likes of Dragon Dance Scraggy and SubRoost Murkrow, in addition to shuffling the opposing team around to rack up Stealth Rock damage. Crunch, on the other hand, prevents Hippopotas from being a completely free switch-in for Natu and prevents Taunt Misdreavus from setting up on it. However, without Whirlwind, Hippopotas is vulnerable to being set up on by Will-O-Wisp Misdreavus, Murkrow, and Scraggy, so be ready to check these threats with the rest of your team.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Toxic can be used to let Hippopotas wear down Pokemon that can normally switch in and wall it such as Misdreavus, Lileep, and Porygon. Rock Slide is viable over Crunch to hit Snover, as well as Murkrow and other Flying-types. If another Pokemon on your team is running Stealth Rock (Lileep is common on sand teams), Hippopotas can run an extra supporting or attacking move instead. Drilbur is the most obvious teammate to Hippopotas, playing the role of a great spinner and dangerous sweeper. Sandshrew can be run alongside Drilbur to form a "Double Rush" team; the two can overwhelm their shared checks and beat down the opposing team. However, stacking up on three Ground-types will make your team extremely vulnerable to Water-, Grass-, and Ice-type attacks. Lileep is a fantastic teammate for Hippopotas, receiving a Special Defense boost from sandstorm, and contributing excellent synergy by being immune to Water-type attacks and taking little damage from Grass-type attacks. Lileep can take most special attacks, while Hippopotas covers physical threats; the two together can check the majority of the tier. The biggest obstacle to Hippopotas's ability to support its teammates with sand is Snover. Most of the best Pokemon in sand—Drilbur, Sandshrew, Lileep, and Hippopotas itself—are weak to Ice, so Snover's ability to summon hail to replace sandstorm makes it the perfect Pokemon to combat sand. For this reason, Pawniard and Munchlax are excellent teammates for Hippopotas, able to switch in easily on most of Snover's attacks and trap it with Pursuit or threaten to OHKO with Iron Head and Fire Punch, respectively. Staryu is also problematic for Hippopotas by being able to OHKO it with Hydro Pump and Rapid Spin away Stealth Rock. Lileep, as mentioned above, helps deal with Water-type threats like Staryu; Ferroseed also walls Staryu and can set up Spikes. Ghost-types such as Misdreavus and Frillish are also good support for Hippopotas to block Rapid Spin and take special attacks effectively.
Other Options
Hippopotas has one other ability: Sand Force. Unfortunately for Hippopotas, it is the only Sand Stream user in Little Cup, so running Sand Force is a gimmick at best due to its reliance on the other team. Stockpile allows Hippopotas to raise its defenses and become much bulkier, but it fears Toxic and still loses to strong Water-type attacks like Staryu's Hydro Pump. Overall, Hippopotas's only effective niche is being a Sand Stream and Stealth Rock user, and the options listed are the best way to fulfill that niche.
Checks and Counters
Snover removes sand from the field and threatens to KO with either of its STABs. Bronzor walls Hippopotas and can Toxic it and set up Stealth Rock. Staryu can use Rapid Spin to remove the Stealth Rock Hippopotas sets up and can OHKO it with Hydro Pump. Misdreavus takes little from most of Hippopotas's attacks and can burn it with Will-O-Wisp to render its attacks almost useless. In addition, Misdreavus can set up on non-Whirlwind Hippopotas with Nasty Plot. Natu, although rare, beats all Hippopotas variants without Crunch or Rock Slide by reflecting Stealth Rock, Whirlwind, and Toxic with Magic Bounce. Wingull can set up Rain Dance on Hippopotas and deal heavy damage to most common members of sand teams with STAB Hurricane and Scald. In general, Water-, Ice-, and Grass-types are effective at defeating the sandiest of mammals.
