[Overview]
<p>While Heracross is often overlooked; it has several advantages over other common Pokemon that enable it to function well in the VGC 2012 metagame. With its excellent Bug / Fighting typing, Heracross can hit several top threats, such as Terrakion, Cresselia, and Tyranitar, for super effective damage. Thanks to its terrific base 125 Attack stat, which can be further boosted by its fantastic ability Guts, Heracross can dispose of opposing Pokemon with ease. With decent base 80 / 75 / 95 defenses, Heracross can also take a hit or two before going down. Due to its average base 85 Speed, Heracross benefits greatly from Tailwind, Trick Room, and Thunder Wave or Icy Wind support, all of which allow it to get the jump on faster threats. Heracross isn't the perfect Pokemon, however; it is plagued with weaknesses to Fire-, Flying-, and Psychic-type moves, all of which are commonly used in the VGC metagame. Despite its faults, Heracross flourishes with proper team support, and is able to fit onto any team with ease.</p>
[SET]
name: Guts
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Rock Slide / Earthquake / Facade
move 4: Protect
item: Flame Orb / Toxic Orb
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of common type weaknesses to demolish the opponents's team through hard-hitting moves. After a Guts boost, Heracross's Attack stat is boosted to unimaginable levels, which allows it to destroy common threats, such as Cresselia, Tyranitar, and Politoed, amongst others. Megahorn easily destroys Cresselia and Amoonguss, two Pokemon that are commonly seen in VGC. Megahorn also hits Ludicolo for super effective damage, but Heracross takes a lot of damage from Scald or Surf in the rain. Fighting-type moves are notorious for their super effective coverage; indeed, Heracross's STAB Close Combat KOes many Pokemon with ease, and hits even Pokemon who are neutral to it for large amounts of damage as well.</p>
<p>Your choice of third move depends on what coverage move benefits your team most. Rock Slide and Earthquake are good spread moves, and hit a good portion of the metagame super effectively. Rock Slide helps Heracross against Flying-types, doesn't harm its ally, and hits Shedinja, while Earthquake works well with most of Heracross's recommended teammates, and hits a lot of the metagame for significant amounts of damage. Facade hits almost everything for neutral damage and, after a Guts boost, its Base Power doubles to a cool 140. Protect is a crucial move in VGC; it shields Heracross from a potentially fatal attack and activates Guts.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The choice between Flame Orb and Toxic Orb is not very important. Toxic Orb does less damage over short periods of time, but battles tend to last longer than before so Flame Orb is typically the superior item. While unlikely, Toxic Orb prevents Heracross's Attack from being halved if its ability were to be switched. An Adamant nature lets Heracross Speed tie with other neutral base 85s, while a Jolly one enables it to get the jump on all neutral Krookodile, Lucario, and Rotom formes, Excadrill out of sand, as well as Speed tie with neutral Hydreigon.</p>
<p>Suicune and Aerodactyl make for great Tailwind partners as both deal with a few counters to Heracross, namely Fire- and Flying-types. Tornadus, Salamence, and Crobat also make for good Tailwind partners. If you'd rather provide Heracross with Thunder Wave support, Pokemon such as Thundurus, Togekiss, Rotom-W, and Cresselia are great partners. Thundurus destroys Flying-types, Togekiss draws in potentially threatening attacks with Follow Me, Rotom-W threatens Fire-types, and Cresselia makes for an excellent all-round support Pokemon. Starmie is faster than all of the Dragon-types and rains on their parade with Ice Beam. Mamoswine is very useful for checking both Dragon-types and Zapdos, both of which are common checks to Heracross. Ninetales and Politoed also make for good teammates, as they can remove hail and sand, and put pressure on Fire-types. Furthermore, Politoed can use Ice Beam to deal respectable damage to Zapdos and other Flying-types.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A more defensive spread of 252 HP / 68 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SpD / 12 Spe capitalizes on Heracross's decent bulk. Specifically, this Heracross survives a Dragon Gem-boosted Draco Meteor from Latios and two Heat Waves from Zapdos, and can do massive damage to Cresselia with a Bug Gem-boosted Megahorn. Feint can negate the opponents' Protect, but the loss of a coverage move hurts Heracross greatly. Aerial Ace gains some useful coverage, but its Base Power is too low to be usable. Smack Down, when used in conjunction with either an Earthquake user or Earthquake on Heracross, is feasible, but forces Heracross to Protect often (this only refers to if hera's partner is using EQ though?), and wastes its Guts ability. Night Slash hits Ghost-types, but has overlapping coverage with Megahorn. If Heracross's partner can activate Guts, Heracross can use another item, such as a Bug Gem, but the set-up is difficult to accomplish consistently. Stone Edge hits Zapdos harder than Rock Slide does, but one crucial miss can lose you a game, and the fact that Rock Slide is a spread move with a flinch chance is too good to pass up on. A Choice Scarf lets Heracross outpace faster threats, but being locked into a move and losing Guts far outweighs the advantages of the extra Speed.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can KO with both Heat Wave and Hidden Power Flying, resists both its STABs, and only fears Rock Slide. Acrobatics users (such as?) can dispatch of Heracross with ease, as most are faster than it. Chandelure can utilize Heat Wave and often caries a Focus Sash, and therefore makes for a decent check to Heracross. Infernape outspeeds Heracross and can easily KO it with its Fire-type move of choice, or even Encore Heracross's Protect. Salamence and Dragonite outrun Heracross, wall most of its attacks, and can use a Fire-type move or Hidden Power Flying to KO Heracross. Latios also outspeeds and can use its STAB Psychic to KO Heracross.</p>
[Unreleased]
<p>Heracross receives Moxie from the Dream World. When utilizing a Choice Scarf, Heracross outspeeds key threats, such as Latios, Terrakion, Thundurus and others, and retains most of its hard-hitting power. While a Moxie set has lots of potential, the main set is more effective overall as it is less weak to Speed-lowering moves such as Icy Wind, Tailwind, and Trick Room, and also boasts more power.</p>
