Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
85
|
- |
311 |
374 |
- |
| Atk |
73
|
163 |
182 |
245 |
269 |
| Def |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| SpA |
73
|
163 |
182 |
245 |
269 |
| SpD |
115
|
239 |
266 |
329 |
361 |
| Spe |
67
|
153 |
170 |
233 |
256 |
The old standard returns. Whereas special attackers in OU have trouble getting past Blissey, in UU they have trouble getting past Hypno. Hypno is as much of a full-stop against special attacks as you can get. He's a great team supporter too, learning pseudopassing moves like Reflect and Light Screen, Wish (from NYPC), Thunder Wave and Hypnosis, and more. Hypno may be UU, but he's one of the best. Seismic Toss lets you beat most stat-uppers, Psychic can hurt a lot of stuff more. They are about the same when it comes to effectiveness.
Too bad Baton Pass is illegal with Wish (XD and NYPC moves, respectively). Anyway, this Hypno can take special hits just as well as the previous set, though it can't heal itself with Wish. Boost up your rather mediocre special attack with Nasty Plot and then fire away with some strong Psychics. The last move slot is up to preference; you can either hit those things that resist Psychic with Hidden Power Fighting or Shadow Ball, or do more team support with a status or pseudopassing move. Remember that you can always Baton Pass away from those psychic resists.
Another attacking Hypno. Again, a shame Baton Pass and Wish are illegal together. You'll definitely want to use Hidden Power Fighting or Shadow Ball on this set, because you can no longer simply Baton Pass your Nasty Plot boosts away from psychic resists that show up to ruin the party. Reflect, however, can let you Nasty Plot up in the face of physical attackers who would otherwise force Hypno to switch out. This Hypno is generally a better special tank than the last one because it can heal itself with Wish.
This Hypno is like an Alakazam with more defensive abilities and a hell of a lot less special attack and speed. That is to say, it's really not like Alakazam at all. Still, this is usable in much of the same way: send it in (which you will get ample opportunities to do thanks to Hypno's special defense), fire off with some heavy-hitting special attacks and, when you feel it's appropriate, Switcheroo your Choice Specs onto something to disable it. Be careful in that you don't have nearly as much speed as Alakazam does. Choice Scarf is a bit safer to Switcheroo, but you'll be dealing a lot less damage.
Yes, you read that correctly, physical sweeper Hypno. Hypno gets Belly Drum (as well as Wish) through NYPC and a decent physical movepool in Zen Headbutt from level-up and all the elemental punches from the Emerald tutor. Fire Punch with Zen Headbutt provides the best coverage with STAB as you will at least hit most things neutral in UU. While Hypno has pathetic speed it does have nice special defense and passable physical defense, thus it can pull this off with some degree of success.
Other Options
Hypnosis can go on most sets and not only is it a great support move, it's Hypno's signature move! It can Calm Mind and, while it's not so useful when Hypno can learn Nasty Plot, it's a good move and Hypno gets it. Toxic works fine if you're feeling stallish. If you're feeling confident in your prediction you can use Snatch. You can use Psych Up to come in and defeat Special Attack/Defense boosting Pokémon. Skill Swap can have interesting applications in 2v2.
Opinion
Hypno was a top-tier UU in Advance, and with the addition of Nasty Plot it has only improved. While it's no Blissey, Hypno can shut down most special attackers in UU with its massive special defense and learns a wide variety of support moves to help the team. Hypno is awesome.
Counters
Hypno is more of a wall than something that needs to be directly countered in most cases, but any bulky physical attacker that commonly carries Rest can scare it, aka Kangaskhan. However, all of these have trouble getting past Reflect and Wish combined. Rest/Sleep Talk/Calm Mind Grumpig will also stop Hypno if Hypno doesn't carry Shadow Ball.
Nidoking could always come in on Thunder Wave and Megahorn Hypno to dust, but now it really needs to be especially careful of Psychic.
Insomnia vs. Forewarn
In most cases, you will always want to use Insomnia. Insomnia lets you switch in without fear on things like Vileplume that carry Sleep Powder, things that you really should be able to wall. Forewarn, on the other hand, will mostly tell you useless things like "This Solrock has Explosion!" in far fewer and less informative words. The only time you should be using Forewarn over Insomnia is if you want to use Rest.
