With Nasty Plot Houndoom poses a big threat, even to the blob of special walling that is Blissey. After a boost, a Life Orb Fire Blast does 49–58% to a max HP/minimum Special Defense Blissey, 54–63% if Houndoom is Modest natured. Flamethrower is listed as an option if you prefer reliability to power. Dark Pulse provides a powerful secondary STAB and Hidden Power Fighting slaps Tyranitar around and hits Heatran. Will-O-Wisp will also cripple Tyranitar and most other physical attackers who come in. The last slot can be occupied with Substitute to protect against status and ease prediction somewhat. Attaching a Salac Berry could be helpful if you employ this strategy. Taunt can stop Blissey throwing status attacks at Houndoom and the rest of the team for a few rounds. Beat Up will 2HKO Blissey if your team is healthy enough. Leftovers is an option to recover a little damage inflicted from Stealth Rock or to nullify the effects of Sandstorm.
Choice Specs Overheat does masses of damage, with Fire Blast allowing for more power over two turns. Dark Pulse is a potential 2HKO on most Swampert and hits other Water types for a lot of damage too. Hidden Power Fighting covers other Houndoom, but more importantly—Tyranitar. The last slot is mostly filler, with Flamethrower to attempt a sweep late on, or Pursuit to punish the likes of Azelf and Celebi when they switch out.
Choice Scarf fixes up Houndoom's less than spectacular Speed and can surprise some opponents. Hidden Power type depends on who you wish to hit, Tyranitar or Dragons. Pursuit will help wear down Ghosts and Psychics if they run, or you can try Reversal which will power up as Stealth Rock and Sandstorm start to wear him down. With around 10% of his HP left, it will 2HKO Blissey and OHKO Tyranitar, which can prove useful if you opt for Hidden Power Ice. Other OptionsHoundoom is too fragile to phaze but can Roar out a Calm Mind Celebi to stop it from Baton Passing. Try Shed Shell if you are deathly afraid of being trapped by Dugtrio. There are a few other Hidden Power types Houndoom can use, with Ground for Heatran and Infernape, Electric for Gyarados and other Water types or Grass for Swampert and Rhyperior. Focus Sash/Counter can provide a surprise kill if you lead with Houndoom. EVs40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe allows Houndoom to survive three Seismic Tosses from Blissey, provided you don't have Life Orb. Timid will outrun all Porygon-Z and Lucario, Modest beats them if they're neutral natured but fails to outspeed Salamence. If you're using Pursuit and want it to do a little more damage, you can switch the HP EVs into Attack and use a Hasty nature. With Life Orb it almost guarantees a OHKO on a switching Azelf, although it will always 2HKO even with a Timid nature. 80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spe, Mild nature for the Choice Scarf set means Houndoom will be faster than Choice Scarf Heracross. An extra 4 EVs should be shifted to Speed in these spreads when using Hidden Power Fighting, as it requires a Speed IV of 30. OpinionAlthough he does have two immunities to switch in on, his weakness to Stealth Rock can wear him down rather quickly. This is not helped by his terrible defenses and his rather unimpressive Speed, considering he is a sweeper. Despite his flaws, the hellhound is still a good special sweeper. Being a great counter to Azelf doesn't hurt either. CountersDespite taking heavy damage from a boosted Fire Blast, Blissey does a good job at walling Houndoom since she can simply hit him with Thunder Wave and recover off damage. If Snorlax can avoid Will-O-Wisp, then he will bring down Houndoom easily. Heatran, Infernape and Blaziken are excellent choices to bring down Houndoom thanks to their resistances to both his STAB moves and immunity to Will-O-Wisp. Fighting attacks or Earth Power finish him easily. Milotic, Swampert and Suicune all handle him well unless he has Hidden Power Grass. Garchomp and Flygon only fear Hidden Power Ice and can shut down Houndoom with Earthquake. Tyranitar will beat Houndoom easily unless it switches into a Will-O-Wisp or Hidden Power Fighting. Thick Fat Hariyama and Poliwrath resist both STAB moves and easily KO. Given his rather middling Speed, his sweep attempts can be stopped by the likes of Starmie, Aerodactyl, Dugtrio and Weavile. Just don't switch any of them directly into Houndoom. |
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