Keep in mind that Skarmory is steel type and is slow, and as for Hippowdon, It can easily be switched out.
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Pokémon Hawlucha
- Thread starter Molk
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As for Roost, YES. But Chesto-Rest Might be better. And Encore can be great as Hawlucha has high attack and it can take down pretty much anything in at least 3 Hits. Also, Its speed is not that great if you dont invest in it.
I can see Hawlucha being pretty good if it manages to garner any decent Flying STABs as Egg Moves. Even with its low offense, its STAB combo and speed will allow it to check a ton of Pokemon, and the power of Hi Jump Kick makes even Scrafty something to fear when set up. If it doesn't manage to cut the mustard in OU, he'll have a nice home in UU where I'm predicting him to be a very powerful contender.
Uninvested isn't that bad before the unburden boost, and after unburden, it's fast enough to outspeed every unboosted pokemon in the game.
I can see why the Staraptor and Hawlucha core would work, since Staraptor has some serious cohones offensively and Hawlucha has that great typing, superior speed and powerful STAB fighting move to potentially break through the few Pokemon Staraptor struggles with (Metagross, Rhyperior, Bronzong, Skarmory), so they could soften up each other's checks and counters.
Talonflame is another story though, IMO. It's fast but its offensive AND defensive stats suck, not to mention its 4x weakness to SR and lack of any way to break through rock types besides the mediocre Steel Wing. It also relies on setting up which is pretty difficult when you take 50% damage just entering and will most likely have to endure another attack on your 70/70/70 defenses to get the SD boost. It's SD-boosted power and Gale Wing ability might keep it out of NU, but I don't see it being above RU unless the metagame becomes very susceptible to its STAB combo. As a sort of analogy, let me direct you to Weavile, who has similar speed, an (arguably) superior offensive typing, lesser weakness to SR, similar defenses, massively superior offenses, better coverage (now that it doesn't need fighting moves to break through steel types), and reliance on Swords Dance, along with a great STAB priority move that was supereffective against the most threatening typing in OU last gen. Even with all these great traits, and in a dragon-dominated metagame, it was still only scraping by in UU. For everything Talonflame has going for it, it has a lot of negatives and I don't see it really being as good as some people are making it out to be.
Anyway, back to Hawlucha, yeah I can see why its STAB moves could mitigate its mediocre attack stat, but I'm still not convinced he's really OU material. If priority turns out to be less common than last generation then he could become a force as a cleaner or wallbreaker, but with all the massively quick and strong mega evolutions, more powerful offensive Pokemon and the very existence of incredibly fast Pokemon that are not only popular OU choices but can also easily KO it (most notably Alakazam and Jolteon) - and of course the infamous Aegislash who laughs at everything it tries to do except Encore (even a +6 Brave Bird is useless since King Shield weakens it and it has supereme bulk and resistance), while setting up its own SD and kicking its teeth in with priority Shadow Sneak. All-in-all, there might be too much getting in the way of Hawlucha for it to be OU.
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according to serebii hawlucha's base stats are 78hp/92atk/75def/74sp.atk/63sp.Def/118spe
Encore + Bulk Up really screws Aegislash over if it decides to use King's Shield. Since the move can't block status moves like Encore, Aegislash will be forced to use it while Hawlucha proceeds to set-up. Encore can be used over and over again until it is at +6, at which point it can probably OHKO (didn't check though) with STAB Flying Gem Acrobatics. If Aegislash dares to use Shadow Sneak, the boosted defense will allow Hawlucha to take one while he uses encore, then another one as he proceeds to boost its speed with Unburden, and smashes the now very frail Attack Stance Aegislash. This is all provided Aegislash doesn't use WoW on the switch, which I do not see happening since most proposed sets seem to lack it.
I can see the unburden set being a serious threat. 92 base atk isn't very impressive, but its best stabs are 130/110 respectively. Unburden lets you run adamant, and fighting/flying is damn good offensively. Thing is still hella frail though, and i see that being something that might push it into BL or UU.
Ingame this thing has been way too clutch with Encore to basically be able to do everything untouched. Encore could make for a really good SD set (or even just alongside Sub or U-Turn or Roost if SD isn't needed). Having amazing dual STAB and good stats/moves/abilities makes this guy super cool- not to mention I LOVE his design.
Except that neither Jolteon nor Alakazam can switch in against Hawlucha for fear of eating High Jump Kick or Acrobatics (Acrobatics is a guaranteed OHKO against Alakazam even without the flight gem, and High Jump Kick has a 62.5% chance to OHKO Jolteon after SR damage), and Aegislash can't really do much to prevent Hawlucha from passing its own swords dance off to an appropriate team mate. Actually, none of the faster OU Pokemon can switch in with impunity due to the strength of its STAB combo, and none of the tanks can prevent its Baton Pass from coming off.
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Is there actually any way of legitimately obtaining a flying/fighting gem in gen VI right now?
I realize that we rarely ever see two-move attacks being utilized in battles, but...
Sky Attack, with hazard support, could be a really punishing move. 140 base power (according to serebii) flying stab would force either the opponent to eat the attack, or bring another pokemon in with the hazards and THEN eating the attack, neither of which option would be potentially tasty for an opponent. And even if Gengar comes in to Mega Evolve and trap, as long as you button pass/switch on the next turn when it mega evolves, it won't be trapped. Its been confirmed that mega-evolution abilities don't take effect same-turn as the evolution, so...
Sky Attack, with hazard support, could be a really punishing move. 140 base power (according to serebii) flying stab would force either the opponent to eat the attack, or bring another pokemon in with the hazards and THEN eating the attack, neither of which option would be potentially tasty for an opponent. And even if Gengar comes in to Mega Evolve and trap, as long as you button pass/switch on the next turn when it mega evolves, it won't be trapped. Its been confirmed that mega-evolution abilities don't take effect same-turn as the evolution, so...
Rock smashing. Really low odds though.
Is this confirmed? Haven't seen this anywhere.
Stealth Rocks? Pfft. I'm sorry, but with the buff to Defog, Stealth Rocks is only slightly less obsolete than your mother's underpants from 25 years ago. Loads of people will at least TRY to run either that or Rapid Spin to get rid of the Sneaky Pebbles.
What I'm trying to say is, "Don't count a 'Mon out simply because of Stealth Rocks."
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... which means Jolteon loses 95% of its HP on the switch anyway, just to make Hawlucha switch out. It's still a long, long way from a counter.
Bred a Hawlucha with a Hitmonchan w/ Quick gaurd and all the punches. Only Quick Guard passed down.
I have a feeling that, like the last two generations, we'll have to wait until the next game's tutors before any new mons learn the elemental punches.
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Why no U-Turn lead set? How about this?:
Hawlucha:
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
Ability: Unburden
Item: Flying Gem
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
U-Turn
Encore / Taunt
Hi Jump Kick
Acrobatics
U-Turn provides Hawlucha with an option to do damage and get a switch if the opposing lead threats Hawlucha. Encore can force an unsuspecting opposing lead into continuously using a status move, while Taunt can eliminate the opposing lead from using said status move in the first place. Hi Jump Kick and Acrobatics provide Hawlucha with two STAB's that get pretty good coverage, to eliminate opposing leads if possible.
Hawlucha:
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
Ability: Unburden
Item: Flying Gem
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
U-Turn
Encore / Taunt
Hi Jump Kick
Acrobatics
U-Turn provides Hawlucha with an option to do damage and get a switch if the opposing lead threats Hawlucha. Encore can force an unsuspecting opposing lead into continuously using a status move, while Taunt can eliminate the opposing lead from using said status move in the first place. Hi Jump Kick and Acrobatics provide Hawlucha with two STAB's that get pretty good coverage, to eliminate opposing leads if possible.
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Unburden
Item: Red Card
Ev's 252 Atk / ? Spe(I'd have to do the math to find out the breakpoint for the minimum speed that when boosted with unburden is faster than most threats)/ (Remainder) HP
Moves:
Sword Dance
Hi Jump Kick
Acrobatics
U-Turn
The issue with the basic build most people are thinking of running with Hawlucha is the fact that said Pokemon's Atk is not meanigful without first at least sword dancing, and it's speed is not enough to outspeed most threats before unburden. This means to be a serious threat of sweeping you might take two hits, which Hawlucha's meager defense might not be able to handle. This build instead let's you set up unburden and sword dance on the first turn by letting your opponent's first hit activate unburden and phase it out at the same time with Red Card. This means that after the first turn you have Sword Dance and Agility set up and have a 110 damage STAB ready. This of coarse relies on your opponent attacking you and not killing you but overall I think it is safer than the basic build everyone has in mind.
This also gives you the option of switching in on a prime target for an easy free unburden.
Ability: Unburden
Item: Red Card
Ev's 252 Atk / ? Spe(I'd have to do the math to find out the breakpoint for the minimum speed that when boosted with unburden is faster than most threats)/ (Remainder) HP
Moves:
Sword Dance
Hi Jump Kick
Acrobatics
U-Turn
The issue with the basic build most people are thinking of running with Hawlucha is the fact that said Pokemon's Atk is not meanigful without first at least sword dancing, and it's speed is not enough to outspeed most threats before unburden. This means to be a serious threat of sweeping you might take two hits, which Hawlucha's meager defense might not be able to handle. This build instead let's you set up unburden and sword dance on the first turn by letting your opponent's first hit activate unburden and phase it out at the same time with Red Card. This means that after the first turn you have Sword Dance and Agility set up and have a 110 damage STAB ready. This of coarse relies on your opponent attacking you and not killing you but overall I think it is safer than the basic build everyone has in mind.
This also gives you the option of switching in on a prime target for an easy free unburden.
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This is what I use because 1st turn TTar is so common in OU. Hawlucha is a Pokemon sun teams have been needing. I solely use Hawlucha to ensure no rocks hit the field so my Megazard Y doesn't get crippled. I don't like Unburden on a scout/support Pokémon so this is why I chose Mold Breaker and Bounce over Unburden and Acrobatics.
Hawlucha is the most badass pokemon ever.
It's kinda funny but i think the main way to use it is in Uber:
-With an Adamant nature it got 335 speed, enough to outspeed a shitton of things in the tier (and you can outspeed tornadus / thundurus with a jolly one, Haw is reaching 369 iirc)
-Unburden + Flying gem is AWESOME, you can outspeed Scarfed mons like Palkia / Genesect and clearly OHKOing them
-With a set of Sub / SD / HJK / Acrobatics, you can pretty much tear apart a good portion of the metagame at +2, while not fearing behing a sub / +1 speed)
-Not that frail for the tier, really nice bug / fight / dark resistances with a ground immunity, while being the only offensive bid not weak to SRs and Stone edges
Maybe i'm just crazy about this pokemon, but i think it got crazy potentiel in Uber aha!
It's kinda funny but i think the main way to use it is in Uber:
-With an Adamant nature it got 335 speed, enough to outspeed a shitton of things in the tier (and you can outspeed tornadus / thundurus with a jolly one, Haw is reaching 369 iirc)
-Unburden + Flying gem is AWESOME, you can outspeed Scarfed mons like Palkia / Genesect and clearly OHKOing them
-With a set of Sub / SD / HJK / Acrobatics, you can pretty much tear apart a good portion of the metagame at +2, while not fearing behing a sub / +1 speed)
-Not that frail for the tier, really nice bug / fight / dark resistances with a ground immunity, while being the only offensive bid not weak to SRs and Stone edges
Maybe i'm just crazy about this pokemon, but i think it got crazy potentiel in Uber aha!
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