Hitmontop is a pretty decent spinner, being resistant to Stealth Rock. It also makes a good Tyranitar counter with Intimidate and resistances to Stone Edge and Crunch. To fulfill his role as a spinner, Hitmontop will need something to shut down sturdy Ghosts like Dusknoir and Spiritomb and Toxic is his only real solution. Stone Edge prevents Gyarados, Salamence and most other Flying-types getting for free (aside from hitting them with Toxic), while Aerial Ace will help to kill off Heracross. Hitmontop has useful resistances to all Heracross' attacks, save Close Combat which will fail to 2HKO from Choice Scarf variants. Might be a wise choice if you are throwing Toxic around, although it won't OHKO unless Heracross has previous used Close Combat. Stone Edge is the superior choice as it covers more, but Aerial Ace is worth considering.
While Hitmontop is slow, Intimidate and a handful of useful resistances make it a decent Choice Bander. Earthquake gives coverage against Fighting/Rock resists like Toxicroak and Nidoqueen. Aerial Ace will help against those Grass/Poison and Grass/Psychic-types and also destroys Heracross. Pursuit can help wear down switching opponents and will be Hitmontop's most powerful attack against most Ghosts and Psychics, since he has Technician to power it up.
The purpose of this set is to come in and deal a certain amount of guaranteed damage before the opponent can hit you. It can function as a late game sweeper, when your Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes and general residual damage have lowered the health of your opponent's Pokémon. The EVs are for maximum Attack, and the rest are dumped into HP because this set does not require much Speed. 4 Speed EVs are there, however, to KO Skarmory if your residual damage to it has built up. Close Combat is a useful OHKO on Blissey and Cradily, and hurts the usual, bulky Pokémon that switch into Fighting-types, such as Swampert, Hippowdon, and Skarmory for about 45% damage on average. The Technician boost that Fake Out + Mach Punch / Bullet Punch receive allows Hitmontop to KO (after Stealth Rock damage) the usual Jolteon, Roserade, and Infernape, while also doing high damage to other defensively weak sweepers. Mach Punch is a OHKO on Weavile, Porygon-Z and Tyranitar, all of which are common threats. Your choice between Stone Edge and Bullet Punch comes down to what your team has weaknesses with. Bullet Punch is great for dealing damage to Pokemon such as Roserade, Heracross (nearly a 2HKO after Stealth Rock, so if it's taken any extra damage, you can use Fake Out + Bullet Punch on it), and Salamence (when you switch in, so as to not be affected by Intimidate). It is a 2HKO on Gengar and Mismagius with Stealth Rock damage, and is especially useful if you can predict them switching in. Stone Edge is for when you find Salamence / Gyarados switching in too often. It also prevents Zapdos from entirely walling you.
Bulk Up set, by virtue of Hitmontop's good Special Defense. The HP and Speed are unfortunate, but this can still work in UU. Hi Jump Kick or Revenge are preferable to Close Combat due to the latter's unwelcome defense drops. After Technician, Revenge has 90 power if they don't hit you, only slightly less than Hi Jump Kick, and with perfect accuracy. If they do hit Hitmontop, you get a 120 power Attack, which is equal to Close Combat's power (but you don't have that nasty drop to your defenses). Technician is suggested here to boost Mach Punch and / or Revenge. You can use Aerial Ace and Pursuit here too, with the latter being Hitmontop's best weapon against Ghosts and Psychics. Intimidate is an option over Technician if you use Hi Jump Kick, as this allows you to come in easier and take those physical hits before you can start Bulking Up. Other OptionsEndeavor and Mach Punch / Bullet Punch could work, but only use it in UU, as Sandstorm and Hail hinder it greatly. EVsEV spreads for the Rapid Spin and Choice Band sets are designed to outspeed Adamant Tyranitar, or Jolly with a Speed boosting nature. If you plan to use it in UU, move 4 EVs to Attack or HP to outspeed base 60s. Hitmontop's HP is just plain bad, so try to favor that, except on the Choice Bander. OpinionHitmontop would be so much better with more HP, but as it is, it's a rather average Pokémon with some good options. Good spinners are hard to come by, and Hitmontop does the job pretty well. CountersHitmontop can't do anything to Weezing and will not enjoy being burned. Cresselia, Claydol, Gliscor, Dusknoir, and Spiritomb are all effective, though Toxic will hinder them. Skarmory is a fine counter, though the Choice Bander can do significant damage with Close Combat. Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Toxicroak will wall Hitmontop's Fighting and Rock moves and are immune to Toxic but all three will fall to Earthquake. Anything with strong, neutral STAB moves will hurt Hitmontop significantly due to its bad HP. |
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