"Choice" is in reference to the items and the popularity of this Heracross set. With a Choice Band boost Heracross is incredibly powerful and few Pokémon can survive hits from his 120 base power dual STAB moves, Megahorn and Close Combat. Flying-types ruin the fun, but that's where Stone Edge comes in to at least 2HKO the majority of Heracross' airborne foes. Pursuit works great on the brawling bug, as it punishes fleeing opponents and is particularly useful against slower Psychic-types who switch out, fearing a Megahorn. Night Slash allows Heracross to 2HKO Dusknoir in case it stays in, predicting a Pursuit. Sleep Talk is also a good option in the last slot if you are in need of a sleep absorber. Heracross can switch in with relative safety against many sleep inducers, such as Milotic, Gengar, Breloom, and Tangrowth. Bear in mind that Sleep Talk will fail after the first use due to the restrictions of Choice items, so you will have to switch out. Choice Band Heracross can pose an enormous threat to stall teams if used correctly, due to his excellent STAB moves. If 574 Attack wasn't enough, Heracross can gain a further boost by switching into a status move. With Choice Band and Guts activated, Heracross will essentially be operating with over a "free" Swords Dance every time he unleashes his attacks.
Although he lacks the monstrous power provided by Choice Band, Choice Scarf Heracross is still a potent threat. He outspeeds almost everything — aside from other Choice Scarf users, of course—with the Scarf attached and still boasts an Attack of 383. Toxic may seem out of place on the heavy-hitting Heracross, but the Choice Scarf variant doesn't have the firepower to take on its more troublesome counters, such as Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Dusknoir. But Heracross can Toxic these (as well as bulky Water-types) on the switch-in, making life more difficult for them. For instance, Gliscor normally Roosts off damage faster than Heracross can deal it, but once Gliscor is poisoned, it has to contend with Roosting off the increasing poison damage as well as Heracross's attacks (most likely Stone Edge), making it possible for Heracross to go toe-to-toe with Gliscor and win. What's more, these same Pokémon tend to hinder sweeps from the likes of Lucario and Tyranitar. These two will welcome the poison support. Toxic is preferred over Pursuit in this case because without the Attack boost of the Choice Band, Pursuit's damage can be disappointing. While Adamant is the preferred nature for the much needed power, Jolly can be used if you want the ability to revenge kill Timid Choice Scarf Heatran.
A more sweeper orientated set than the previous one. This is a simple premise, really; just wait until your opponents team is sufficiently weakened and send in Heracross to Swords Dance and sweep. Life Orb provides more attack power at the cost of his HP. Wide Lens boosts the accuracy of Stone Edge and Megahorn and helps to avoid a costly miss. Heracross is not too swift, so paralysis support or a Baton Passed Agility would be welcome here.
More fun with Swords Dance here, but with Substitute and Salac Berry to increase your chances of plowing through an opponent's team. Substitute protects against potentially fatal attacks and drops Heracross's HP, activating Salac Berry and Swarm. Hopefully you had the chance to set up a Swords Dance along the way, as you can now sweep with Megahorn, taking out Flying-types that get in the way with Stone Edge. With a 30 HP IV and no EVs in HP, Salac activates after three Substitutes, allowing Heracross to get in a few hits before dying from the effects of sandstorm or hail.
This set is designed to beat Heracross' usual counters. With Swords Dance and Flame Orb, Heracross' Attack will have effectively tripled, giving it a stat of roughly 1149 or 1047, depending on your nature. Thanks to Flame Orb, Heracross has a deadly new weapon in Facade, which OHKOes bulky Gyarados (with Intimidate factored in), Gliscor, and Weezing. Hippowdon, Bronzong, and Skarmory are OHKOed by Close Combat after a Swords Dance, and every single Psychic-type in the game is OHKOed by Megahorn. Don't expect this Heracross to survive too long, as it loses 12.5% of its health every turn, and 18.75% in Hail or Sandstorm conditions.
With three auto-weather inducers—most notably the virtually omnipresent Tyranitar—blighting the landscape with their sandstorms and hail, this set can be difficult to use effectively. As such it is recommended you pack a weather changer with Sunny Day or Rain Dance to clear the skies after Tyranitar, Hippowdon and Abomasnow are downed. Use Substitute or Endure to get Heracross down to a Salac boost, enabling him to sweep with a full powered Reversal. Swords Dance gives Heracross more Attack, while Focus Punch can prove useful to wear down the likes of Skarmory.
Bulk Up Heracross is not as immediately threatening as the Sword Dance or Choice Band varieties, but in the proper hands can be a powerful sweeper that is difficult to stop. With the proper EV investment, Heracross's respectable base HP and Special Defense allow it to set up on quite a few popular special attackers in the metagame such as Gengar or defensive Starmie. The vulnerability of Heracross on the Defense side is patched up with Bulk Up while simultaneously raising Heracross's already impressive Attack to astronomical levels. Couple this with Rest, which activates Guts, and Heracross becomes quite a potent threat to any unprepared team. One of the primary advantages of using a Bulk Up set as opposed to another more offensive set is that Heracross can now beat many of its counters and is more difficult to revenge kill. Should a defensive Gliscor switch into a Bulk Up, Heracross can then actually set up on Gliscor since after two Bulk Ups Gliscor's Aerial Ace only manages to do 43% - 52%, never a 2HKO with Leftovers. The standard 80 SpA EV Weezing will also never 2HKO Heracross with Fire Blast, allowing it to effectively set up on another of its so-called counters. Heracross also becomes much more difficult to revenge kill when using this set, due to the more defensive style. For example, Heat Wave from Life Orb Zapdos will never OHKO while Heracross does with Megahorn after a Bulk Up and Stealth Rock, while sleeping. A significant drawback to this Heracross is that you instantly lose to Heatran with it. To resolve this problem, pairing this with a Choice Scarf Dugtrio to remove the threat of Heatran entirely isn't a bad choice. The given EVs are designed to give Heracross the best defensive capabilities possible while still outrunning Jolly Tyranitar. Switching to a Careful nature is also viable to allow Heracross to set up on an even wider range of Special Attackers; however, Adamant is usually the superior choice because of the greater attacking power. While not recommended, if a Fighting attack is more appealing, Brick Break is usable over Megahorn. If using Brick Break, be sure to pair Heracross with a Pursuiter to eliminate Ghost types, who will wall you otherwise
A sturdier version of Heracross and a good choice for absorbing sleep, particularly from Grass-types. Rest also activates Guts, so this Heracross, while asleep, has power comparable to the Choice Bander. Megahorn + Stone Edge is good type coverage when only using two attacks, although you can use Close Combat over either attack so you are not stuck against the likes of Magnezone or Skarmory. Bear in mind, however, that Close Combat reduces Heracross' defenses with each use and goes against the general idea of this set somewhat. Leftovers is generally recommended for more staying power, but Life Orb is also an option for that little extra kick; you can recover any lost HP with Rest, anyway. Other OptionsAerial Ace takes down other Heracross. Earthquake isn't much use on Heracross, aside from hurting the rare Nidoqueen, but it's there. Focus Punch can be useful on the Choice Bander to do a lot of damage to anything in the game, OHKOing anything that doesn't resist Fighting after Guts. EVsFor the Choice Band set, a minimum of 246 Speed (Adamant, 160 EVs) to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar, and most defensive Zapdos and Celebi who run no more than 245 Speed. Other Speeds to aim for include 254 (Adamant, 192 EVs) to beat out Modest Heatran, 260 (Adamant, 216 EVs) to beat Adamant Medicham and Blaziken, 280 (Jolly, 196 EVs) for Adamant/Modest Lucario and Drapion, 285 (Jolly, 216 EVs) for Jolly Medicham and Blaziken, and 290 (Jolly, 232 EVs) for Adamant Electivire. Max Attack and pour any remaining EVs in HP. Choice Scarf sets should be Adamant with max Attack and Speed. For the Sub + Salac variant of the Swords Dance set, make sure your HP is divisible by four. This is to ensure the Salac Berry will activate after three Substitutes, giving Heracross some leftover HP to survive at least one turn if Sandstorm or Hail is active. Reversal set needs 264 Speed, but max is recommended. If using Substitute make sure your HP is indivisible by four, so Heracross can make four Substitutes, instead of three. Swords Dance sets can follow the same pattern as the Choice Bander, but Jolly is the preferred nature unless you're planning to provide him a lot of paralysis support or pass him some Speed. Sleep Talk set can focus on HP, or use the same spread as the Choice Bander. If you're using Bulk Up, then a mere 60 HP EVs will allow Heracross to survive an Adamant Choice Banded Aerial Ace from Dugtrio after one Defense boost. OpinionWith his massive Attack stat and high powered STAB moves, Heracross is a huge threat to any team. Several of his counters from the previous generation can be destroyed if they switch in on the wrong move. Salamence and Gyarados only had to worry about the fairly weak Rock Slide, but now they face Stone Edge with its higher base power and high critical hit chance. Skarmory gets 2HKOed by a Choice Banded Close Combat or OHKOed by the same attack after a Swords Dance and with a Life Orb boost. However, Heracross is not invincible. UnSTABed Aerial Aces can bring him down with ease, fairly mediocre Speed, and he has few useful resistances. All things considered, Heracross is one of the most fearsome physical threats in the game and shouldn't be underestimated. CountersGliscor is the best counter around. High Defense, resistant to both STAB moves and neutral to Rock and Dark. He has higher base Speed than Heracross so he can use Roost to heal and buy him a resistance to Stone Edge. STAB Aerial Ace has no problem bringing down Heracross. If Gliscor leaves the house without Aerial Ace, he will not be able to beat the Swords Dance Facade set. Like Gliscor, Weezing also resists both STAB attacks and has the Defense to handle Stone Edges. Flamethrower or Fire Blast can 2HKO Heracross. Make sure you don't burn Heracross with Will-O-Wisp though. Fire Punch Dusknoir is also a good choice thanks to his Fighting immunity and Bug resistance. In a similar vein, the Rotom formes can also work, though Rotom-H and Rotom-S are most notable for having access to Overheat and Air Slash, respectively. Like with Weezing, be sure to avoid burning Heracross. Although Stone Edge has the potential to KO them both, Salamence and Gyarados provide good coverage against Heracross. Intimidate and resistance to Close Combat and Megahorn help them switch in. Gyarados requires Waterfall to 2HKO, while Salamence can bring him down with Choice Band Fire Fang or Dragon Claw or a Choice Specs Draco Meteor or Flamethrower. Nidoqueen with Aerial Ace works well thanks to her resistances to everything (save Pursuit and Night Slash) Heracross normally carries. Nidoking and Toxicroak also have the appropriate resistances, but their lower defenses and lack of a solid Flying attack make them rather shaky switch-ins against the Choice Band set. A defensive Hitmontop with Intimidate and Aerial Ace can switch into anything apart from CB Close Combat. More attack minded sets can bring down Heracross with a combination of Fake Out and Bullet Punch. Jirachi can survive any of the attacks on the Choice Band set and use Zen Headbutt to kill off Heracross. It won't OHKO without significant EV investment, but if you make Jirachi faster he can grab some luck with the flinch rate of Zen Headbutt. Switching into a Close Combat allows for an OHKO when factoring in the Defense drop. Metagross works in a similar way, but will require a Choice Scarf to ensure he is faster than Heracross. Although it risks a Choice Band Close Combat, Skarmory can counter every other form of Heracross with its massive base 140 Defense and STABed Flying-type moves to dispose of Heracross. Dugtrio gets a mention for his ability to trap and kill with Aerial Ace. |
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