As far as physical walling goes, you won't find many Pokémon better than Hippowdon in DP. Rock resistance, 10% better overall physical defense than Skarmory, and a one turn recovery move without any drawback makes Hippowdon a hard Pokémon to budge. It laughs at any Aerodactyl, ruins all-physical Salamence or Electivire, counters Tyranitar better than anything ever did in RS, and can even switch in against Jolly Choice Band Heracross Megahorns and recover off all the damage. Not including Explosion, Selfdestruct or critical hits, no Pokémon can OHKO Hippowdon with any physical attack. For those reasons, Hippowdon is a perfect candidate for use of Stealth Rock. It can set up the entry hazard and then use Slack Off to recover any damage it takes, and it can even utilize Roar effectively to pile up residual damage on your opponents team.
Hippowdon has impressive attacking capability with 112 Base Attack, and Curse amplifies it while reducing a stat Hippowdon rarely uses, Speed. Earthquake + Ice Fang give Hippowdon a very respectable range of coverage, and Slack Off is there to recover any residual damage gained from Life Orb or general battle. The EVs are designed to allow Hippowdon to always survive a Choice Specs Salamence's Draco Meteor. The next purpose is to maximize Attack as much as possible. 309 Attack might not seem significant, but note that 307 Attack is the minimum required to OHKO a 358 HP / 226 Def Garchomp with a non-STAB, Life Orb Ice Fang, on average.
Choice Band Hippowdon is used most effectively once a little information on the opponent's team has been gathered, so that it can surprise with massive damage right away. Earthquake is the standard STAB Attack; Ice Fang and Thunder Fang provide coverage and useful Super Effective attacks against threats like Salamence, Garchomp, and Gyarados. The last slot is a matter of preference. If Cresselia, Dusknoir, or Celebi are primary issues, run Crunch and note that Stealth Rock + Sandstorm damage is enough to 2HKO these threats (besides Cresselia, which requires a bit of residual damage). If Bronzong happens to be the primary area of concern, run Fire Fang. Slack Off is also viable as Hippowdon is certainly capable of switching in and scaring off Pokemon like Lucario and Garchomp, and late game it can use the recovery potential.
The EVs are designed with Garchomp and Lucario in mind. The HP + Defensive EVs allow Hippowdon to survive both an Adamant Garchomp's Swords Dance Outrage and an Adamant Lucario's Life Orb Swords Dance Close Combat. The Attack EVs are then enough to OHKO both with the respective Super Effective attack. 320 Attack with Choice Band is also enough to OHKO a 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados switching into Hippowdon. Other OptionsToxic can help make up for its lack of attacking power. After all, with Stealth Rock and its Sand Stream ability, it is already two thirds of a TSS team by itself. Yawn is an alternative to Roar. It will never miss, even if a Pokémon uses evasion raising moves, and it is useful against Pokémon with Ingrain or the abilities Suction Cups or Soundproof (these three situations are almost irrelevant for Hippowdon). However it can be made useless by use of Substitute or Safeguard, the abilities Insomnia or Vital Spirit, or by Sleep clause. It also allows your opponent to choose what Pokémon they switch out, which technically is advantageous to your opponent—but it does mean you can switch safely the same turn your opponent switches. This may help you to avoid situations where you are forced to switch another Pokémon into an attack of your opponent's. Stone Edge can be used in the place of Ice Fang on the physical wall set. It is stronger, but has worse PP and accuracy. It is useful for Gyarados switch ins. EVsMax Defense and HP is needed to effectively counter Tyranitar and to have a chance to survive two STABed 120 power attacks from high attack Pokémon with Choice Band. If you choose to run Curse, you may want to add some Special Defense. It also makes a reasonable counter to Electric Pokémon if it has Special Defense EVs. OpinionThe main reason anyone would use Hippowdon is to counter Tyranitar. It is the only genuine Tyranitar counter in the game. Even Choice Band Crunch only manages a paltry 34%–40%. Unless Choice Band Tyranitar drops your Defense the turn you switch in, you will be able to recover enough damage to safely switch in the next time Tyranitar shows its face. And even then Tyranitar needs a layer of Spikes, or do better than average damage, to finish you off. For this reason alone it is an extremely valuable asset to any stall team. CountersHippowdon's lack of attacking power hurts it here. Any special attacker with moderate defense and no Ground weakness will switch in happily. Special mention goes to Bronzong who resists all of Hippowdon's attacks, is immune to Toxic, and will almost certainly 2HKO with Grass Knot. Gyarados will happily set up on any set without Stone Edge or Thunder Fang. |
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