[Overview]
<p>Hypno's decent 85 / 70 / 115 defenses make it bulky enough to take some strong hits. Hypno's useful abilities, Insomnia and Inner Focus, nicely help it set up Trick Room. It has balanced Attack and Special Attack stats, meaning it could attack from either end of the spectrum. Hypno's Speed stat is somewhat high, but it is low enough to still abuse Trick Room well. One of Hypno's best traits is that no one knows what Hypno does. Hypno is obviously not your standard Pokemon in VGC, and not many people actually know about its abilities and what it's actually capable of.</p>
[SET]
name: Trick Room Tank
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Safeguard / Hypnosis
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Protect / Substitute
item: Lum Berry / Mental Herb
nature: Relaxed
ability: Inner Focus
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Hypno is a great Trick Room setter and benefits from it a lot. This is due to the sheer bulk it has with the given EV set. You can use Safeguard to prevent statuses, such as burns, paralysis, and sleep, wreaking havoc for your team. Hypno can also put threats to sleep, with Hypnosis. After all, it is called Hypno for a reason. Psychic is Hypno's main attacking option, as it's its strongest, and most reliable special attacking move. Protect is a staple move on nearly any VGC pokemon, as it allows Hypno to last longer in the battle and thus gives it a greater chance to beat other Pokemon. It can be used to stall, survive, or block pesky Fake Outs. Substitute can be used, if you expect things like Sucker Punch to come your way or if you think your opponent will do anything else that will give you a chance to set up a Substitute.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Lum Berry stops status inducers such as Amoonguss and Breloomfrom disrupting Hypno while it is setting up Trick Room. Mental Herb is also nice to get the easy Trick Room or Safeguard set up without the worry of being Taunted. Relaxed nature minimizes Hypno's Speed, which is the optimal choice when abusing Trick Room, and raises its Defense, allowing it to take hits better from physical attackers. Inner Focus is a great ability for Hypno, as it prevents Hypno from being flinched from the likes of Hitmontop, Infernape, and Hariyama. The EV set lets Hypno easily tank strong special and physical hits. The Special Attack EVs make sure that Hypno can still do some damage once Trick Room is up or once Hypno is Taunted and can't do anything else. The 0 Speed IV makes Hypno as slow as possible, for optimal use under Trick Room, so it can outspeed as many Pokemon as possible.</p>
<p>Hypno likes having Rage Powder / Follow Me support, from Pokemon such as Togekiss or Amoonguss. They help Hypno set up Trick Room and not get hit by some hard hitting moves. Togekiss is an especially good partner, because it can use Follow Me and attract Ghost-type moves aimed for Hypno that won't affect Togekiss. Dark-types are very hard for Hypno to deal with, especially when they're physically offensive such as the common Bisharp and Tyranitar. That's why Fighting-type support, from Hariyama or Hitmontop, would be beneficial. Support from these kinds of Fighting-type Pokemon can not only get rid of Dark types, but they can also provide Fake Out support, which is welcome, since then, Hypno has to deal with one less Pokemon when setting up Trick Room. Common Trick Room abusers, such as Rhyperoir and Snorlax, are excellent teammates because they work with Hypno once Trick Room is set up.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Hypno has many other options it can use. Hypno could abuse Trick very well, using items such as Choice Scarf or Choice Specs to lock the opponent into moves that are less desirable. Flatter is a fine option to attempt messing with physical attackers and confusing them. Swagger works similarly against special attackers. Thief could be another option, especially after you use your item and want to mess with your opponent in any way possible. A physical or special attacking Trick Room abuse set could be used on Hypno, but so many other Pokemon take the role better such as Jellicent or Dusknoir. Hypno can abuse Disable very well to rid the enemy of pesky moves that can hit very hard against Hypno, or moves that your opponent may abuse a lot, such as Protect or Rage Powder / Follow Me.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Gallade makes a decent counter to Hypno, since it can reset Trick Room, hit Hypno pretty hard with Shadow Sneak, and resist some moves Hypno can throw at it. Dark-types, such as Tyranitar and Bisharp, wall Hypno's wall most of Hypno's attacks. Metagross is also hard to deal with, and can hurt Hypno pretty easily with Meteor Mash or Earthquake. Although Hypno can take attacks from Reuniclus, Musharna, and a few other Psychic-types, it has a hard time hitting back. All it can do is either put them to sleep or set up Safeguard for team support.</p>
