The idea is pretty simple—switch into physical attackers with Rhyperior's amazing defenses and strike back with 317 Attack and great STAB moves. Megahorn provides coverage against Grass-types and makes a big dent in Cresselia, while Avalanche hits Garchomp and Gliscor hard and can also bring down a Dragon Dancing Salamence or Dragonite, if you don't want to rely on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. Stealth Rock is a great support move and Rhyperior is certainly sturdy enough to set it up. Roar provides your team with phazing support, should you require it. Substitute helps to scout for attacks and provides protection against status.
Same as above, but Rest/Sleep Talk gives Rhyperior even more longevity. Life Orb is a decent option if you want some extra power and won't hurt too much as Rhyperior is immune to Sandstorm and resistant to Stealth Rock. Sadly, this doesn't make Rhyperior able to absorb sleep that effectively. This is due to the massive risk he is taking when switching into common sleep inducers such as Breloom, Tangrowth, Gengar and Milotic.
The Choice Band set, used by Rhydon in ADV and improved by all of Rhyperior's superior traits. With an Attack of 624, this hits really hard on all counts and switches in easily on many physical attackers. Not much can handle repeated hits from this monster. Megahorn is your most powerful attack against most Grass-types, but Fire Punch gives you some extra kick against Bronzong. It also prevents Skarmory stalling you out, as you're not relying on Stone Edge to hurt him. Ice Fang has a bit more initial power than Avalanche, since you will often be using it against incoming enemies.
This is for sweeping, thanks to Rhyperior's excellent 140 base Attack and Swords Dance. Substitute is for blocking status and easing prediction, but Megahorn and Avalanche are also good choices to beat Pokémon that resist both Earthquake and Stone Edge. Rhyperior is incredibly slow, so you'll need provide him with paralysis support or Baton Pass him some Speed (Zapdos is a fine choice here) to get the most out of this set. Trick Room will also help him rampage through a team, if only for a few turns.
Rock Polish solves the problem of his abysmal Speed and with max Attack and a Life Orb, he'll be firing off attacks with an Attack stat of roughly 492. Megahorn or Ice Fang provide type coverage. Ice Fang is preferred to Avalanche here as you don't want your otherwise speedy Rhyperior to be attacking last. Choosing the nature for this set depends on who you want to out run. With Adamant you will fail to beat the likes of Starmie and Sceptile. Jolly allows Rhyperior to hit 392 Speed, although you'll only need to reach 373 to prevent Sceptile ending your sweep. 384 (initial Speed of 192) beats Weavile if you are concerned about him finishing you off with Ice Punch. Other OptionsRock Blast can be used to break Substitutes and destroys any Ninjasks that dare to try and set up on Rhyperior. Rock Slide is also an option over Stone Edge if the low PP concerns you, although the flinch rate is of no real consequence on anything but the Rock Polish set. Focus Punch isn't generally much use due to a STAB Earthquake or Stone Edge having the same power and Fire Punch being just as powerful against Bronzong without the potential flinch Rock Wrecker is mentioned simply because it is Rhyperior's signature attack. Regardless of the high base power it has, the recharge turn makes it a poor choice. EVsDespite the apparently obvious base stat bias towards Rhyperior's Defense, Sand Stream and some investment into Special Defense can make Rhyperior a formidable tank if you choose to take that route. With Sandstorm support and a spread of 252 HP/12 Atk/16 Def/230 SDef and an Adamant nature, Rhyperior attains incredible defenses of 434 HP/300 Def/304 SpDef, with an amazing 350 Atk stat to back it up. This, combined with the amazing trait of Solid Rock makes it one of the best Heatran counters in the game and gives Rhyperior the ability to continue dealing heavy damage even in the face of Starmie's STAB Surf. A Rhyperior with that EV spread can even handle potent Special based threats like Togekiss, Yanmega and Gengar. Rhyperior's great Defense lets it serve as a physical tank very well, and its EV spread should reflect this. Its monstrous 115 base HP and 130 base Defense combined with its damage reducing trait give Rhyperior extremely uncommon bulk which tends to be underrated. Even though it sports weaknesses to both Close Combat and Earthquake, physically defensive Rhyperior can usually take these assaults and live long enough to get that crucial KO. Maxing out HP is recommended, then the rest of your EVs should be allocated to whichever side of the defensive spectrum you feel is most important. With Sand Stream support, you may want to put those spare EVs into Defense thanks to Rhyperior's Special Defense boost in the sandstorm. Without Sand Stream support, you will likely want to make up for Rhyperior's lower base Special Defense. The EVs for the Choice Band set can be handled in a few different ways. You can simply max out his HP and Defense like on the more defensive sets, which will still give him an impressive 475 Attack stat after the boost from Choice Band. If you wish to take full advantage of his offensive potential, Adamant with max Attack is recommended. You can aim for 178 Speed to beat most Skarmory by avoiding having your Stone Edge PP stalled out by repeated use of Roost. This will also make you faster than Weezing, which provides the possibility to finish him with Stone Edge without being hit with Will-O-Wisp. Swords Dancing Rhyperior is similar to the Choice Bander, so the EVs can be handled in the same way. You can put 164 EVs into Speed so you will out run minimum Speed Impish Swampert, or max it out if you're planning to pass him an Agility or Rock Polish. For the Rock Polish set you'll first want to max out Attack. If you choose an Adamant nature, 240 EVs will allow you to hit 352 Speed after a boost, which out runs Gengar and anything below. Jolly with 200 Speed EVs will outrun Starmie and Azelf, an additional 16 EVs allows Rhyperior to get ahead of Timid Sceptile, while 236 EVs will enable him to get the drop on Weavile. Any remaining EVs should be allocated to HP. OpinionRhyperior's biggest problem is the competition he faces for a team slot. Although he possesses greater defensive stats than any of his fellow Ground-types his lack of instant recovery is a let down, something Gliscor and Hippowdon both have access to. Swampert's offensive and defensive stats seem poor compared to Rhyperior, but the mudfish has superior defensive typing and can use special attacks effectively. When considering Rhyperior for a slot as an offensive Pokémon, his piss poor Speed means he requires support to effectively use Swords Dance to sweep with. Garchomp on the other hand is fast enough not to require such support in order to sweep. Metagross provides stiff competition for the Rock Polish variants as he is able to reach much higher Speeds. However, this does not take away from the fact that Rhyperior is a very powerful Pokémon indeed. 434 HP and 394 Defense is very hard to break alongside Solid Rock and with the potential for a free Special Defense buff from Sandstorm he can take quite a beating. Rhyperior is not to be underestimated and a good choice on most teams if you can play to his strengths. CountersBarring boosted Megahorns and Focus Punches, Bronzong can shake off pretty much anything Rhyperior can throw his way and hit back with Grass Knot. Skarmory can't hurt Rhyperior, but can stall him out—especially the Choice Band set—provided it is faster by wasting Stone Edge's PP with Roost and simply Whirlwinding him away. Swampert handles him decently and can bring him down with STAB Water attacks, with Surf or Hydro Pump being more effective than Waterfall as they hit the weaker of Rhyperior's defensive stats. Suicune also fares well if he can avoid a critical hit from Stone Edge. Hippowdon can wear him down by alternating between Earthquake and Slack Off. Beware of Choice Banded or Swords Danced Avalanches though. If you can get them in on either of his STAB moves, Breloom and Torterra handle him well. Both can fire off Seed Bomb, while the latter can also use the more powerful Wood Hammer. Flygon can also work somewhat, although like the previously mentioned Grass-types, be sure to avoid Ice attacks and repeated hits from Megahorn. |
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