[Overview]
<p>With an outstanding base 140 Attack stat and low Speed, Rhyperior is the perfect candidate for Trick Room teams in VGC 2012. It also gets STAB on the "QuakeSlide" combo, which makes it a big threat to many teams. Wonderful bulk helps it take most physical attacks with ease too. Sadly, Rhyperior's lacking Special Defense allows many special attackers to check it. Rhyperior's ability, Solid Rock, helps that weakness somewhat, though. Overall, Rhyperior's excellent HP and Defense stats are what really aid his survivability in battle.</p>
[SET]
name: Trick Room Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock slide
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Protect
item: Ground Gem / Rock Gem
nature: Brave
ability: Lightningrod / Solid Rock
Evs: 252 HP/ 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With this set, Rhyperior is a behemoth under Trick Room,destroying anything that doesn't resist its powerful STAB combination. With just its two STAB moves in Rock Slide and Earthquake, Rhyperior achieves near-perfect coverage, hitting a wide range of threats very hard. Although its accuracy is below average, Megahorn comes useful in many situations, 2HKOing Bold 252 HP/ 252 Def Cresselia and OHKOing all Latios. Protect is a necessity in VGC for prediction and scouting, and Rhyperior is no exception. When considering Rhyperior's weaknesses to common attacking types, Protect's ability to shield it from all attacks for a turn and allow its partner to take out the threatening foe makes it all the more crucial. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>
The EVs are pretty straightforward. They maximize bulk while preserving offensive prowess. A Brave nature and 0 speed IVs are needed to "outslow" as many other Pokemon in battle as possible. Lastly, Lightningrod is a great ability in doubles. It lures away Electric-type attacks from Pokemon that have trouble with the likes of Thundurus and Zapdos. If this doesn't interest you, Solid Rock can be used to take less damage from super effective attacks.Even with 252 HP EVs, Rhyperior still has trouble surviving certain attacks. Type-resist berries can fix that dilemma. Chople berry helps Rhyperior survive STAB Close Combats Fighting-types such as Hitmontop and Infernape, Babiri Berry helps Rhyperior survive Metagross's Iron Head or Meteor Mash while, Shuca allows Rhyperior to avoid a 2HKO from almost any Earthquake. Some damage calculations below show how much type-resist berries aid Rhyperior in battle:
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>252 Atk Adamant Metagross Meteor Mash vs. 252 HP Brave Rhyperior with a Babiri Berry: 35.1% - 41.9%<li>
<li>Fight Gem 252 Atk Adamant Hitmontop Close Combat vs. 252 HP Brave Rhyperior with a Chople Berry: 49.1% - 58.1%<li>
<li>252 Atk Jolly Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP Brave Rhyperior with a Shuca Berry: 23%-27.5%<li>
</ul></p>
<p>Obviously, in order for Rhyperior to pose a major threat with this set, Trick Room support is needed. Pokemon that can fit this role include Dusclops, Reuniclus, Musharna, and Cresselia. Cresselia receives a special mention for this role; it is immune to Earthquake and can destroy troublesome Fighting-types with Psychic. Dual Screen support can also be used to increase Rhyperior's longevity in battle. Rain teams can destroy Rhyperior with no problem, making Abomasnow a fantastic teammate; it can change the weather, and also destroy Grass- and Water-types with a STAB Grass Knot and Blizzard. Pokemon that take very little to no damage at all from Rhyperior's Earthquakes make great partners. Gyarados is particularly effective because of its fantastic ability, Intimidate, which allows Rhyperior to tank physical hits even better. In return, Rhyperior can lure away Electric type attacks with Lightningrod.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Rhyperior's large movepool includes some interesting alternative options such as Avalanche, the elemental punches and fangs, and Hammer Arm. In most cases, using these moves is inadvisable due to the difficulty of finding space on a set. Rhyperior already has pretty good coverage and using these moves ruins that. Rock Blast to break Substitutes, sashes, and Charti Berries, but Rhyperior is usually better off with more coverage moves instead of two Rock-type attacks and Rock Slide is a must have. If you are using Rhyperior on a Trick Room team Rock Blast can be especially useful to stop Prankster Pokemon from stalling out your Trick Room with Substitute. Hammer Arm would fit the best if any of these moves were to be used, however, because of the additional effect. It hits Dark-types and Ferrothorn harder, and actually makes Rhyperior "faster" with each use under trick room. Lastly, a Lum Berry could be used to give Rhyperior an answer to Will-O-Wisp and other status conditions.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Rain teams will absolutely demolish Rhyperior, as it has no hope surviving a rain boosted Surf from common rain abusers. Bulky Ghost-types with Will-O-Wisp, such as Dusclops, can cripple all Rhyperior lacking a Lum Berry. Breloom and Virizion resist Rhyperior's STABs, and can retaliate with Spore and Giga Drain. Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Hitmontop can weaken Rhyperior's attacks and pick on his weaknesses. Without the right type-resist berry, Rhyperior is also vulnerable to a 2HKO from certain attacks, such as Garchomp's Earthquake when it isn't holding a Shuca Berry, and Metagross's Meteor Mash when it is without a Babiri Berry.</p>
[Dream World]
<p> Rhyperior receives Reckless from the Dream World. While this may seem to be great on a powerful physical attacker like Rhyperior at first, it's almost completely useless. The only move that would benefit from this ability is Double-Edge, which Rhyperior cannot fit on any moveset. Lightningrod and Solid Rock outclass this ability completely.</p>
