UU Haxorus

[Kreme]

QC: dodmen / Hikari / IronBullet93
GP: The Dutch Plumberjack / P Squared

Overview
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Haxorus has fallen from grace since the beginning of ORAS, especially now that Salamence and Tyrantrum provide more competition to Haxorus as a Dragon-type. Haxorus has access to two amazing boosting moves, however, in Dragon Dance and Swords Dance, as well as an amazing Attack stat; unfortunately, its Speed and bulk are lacking.

Double Dance
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name: Double Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Dragon Dance
move 3: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 4: Earthquake
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Lum Berry
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Adamant

Moves
========

Swords Dance allows Haxorus break through more defensively oriented teams by boosting its Attack stat by two stages. Dragon Dance, on the other hand, boosts Haxorus's Speed and Attack stats at the same time, allowing Haxorus to beat more offensive teams. Dragon Claw is a reliable STAB move, although its damage output can be underwhelming at times. Outrage, on the other, hand hits hard but has the drawback of locking Haxorus into it. Earthquake has great coverage in conjunction with Dragon-type moves, hittingthe Steel-types that resist Dragon-type moves for super effective damage.

Set Details
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Maximum Attack and Speed EVs allow Haxorus to sweep as efficiently as possible. Mold Breaker is the chosen ability, as it has the most use out of all three choices, nullifying defensive abilities such as Mega Aggron's Filter and Rotom-H's Levitate. A Lum Berry gives Haxorus a means of setting up more easily. A Jolly nature allows Haxorus to outspeed many threats ranging from Nidoking to Lucario. An Adamant nature can also be used, should the extra power be appealing to you.

Usage Tips
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Haxorus should be sent in during the mid- and late-game against more offensive teams to have a good chance of cleaning up. Against more defensive teams, however, it should be sent in from the get-go or during the mid-game to wear down the opposing team for another Pokemon to clean after it.

Team Options
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Haxorus appreciates entry hazard support, making Forretress and Roserade good teammates. Haxorus can wear down opposing teams fairly well, making cleaners such as Yanmega and Mega Sharpedo excellent partners to it. Lastly, wallbreakers such as Choice Band Darmanitan and Life Orb Hydreigon can wear down foes for Haxorus to clean up.

Choice Band
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name: Choice Band
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Poison Jab
move 4: Dragon Claw / Sleep Talk
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Choice Band
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly

Moves
========

Outrage warrants the first moveslot, as it hits extremely hard in conjunction with a Choice Band. Earthquake gives perfect neutral coverage with Outrage and hits the Steel-types that tend to switch into Haxorus. Poison Jab hits Fairy-types for super effective damage, which is important, as they're the best switch-ins for Haxorus. Dragon Claw is a viable option if you don't want to lock Haxorus into Outrage. Sleep Talk is an alternative, should you want Haxorus to serve as a sleep absorber on your team.

Set Details
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Haxorus's Speed and Attack EVs are maximized to augment its offensive capabilities. Choice Band is the item for the set, as it allows Haxorus to be an amazing wallbreaker, nailing 2HKOs and OHKOs on a majority of the tier's premier walls such as Suicune and Florges. An Adamant nature is used to increase Haxorus's damage output as much as possible. A Jolly nature can also be used should outspeeding positive-natured base 85s and above seem more important. Mold Breaker is the chosen ability as it provides the most use out of all three choices, nullifying defensive abilities such as Levitate.

Usage Tips
========

This particular Haxorus set is most effective during the mid-game, when it can start to break down opposing walls or significantly dent the opposing team. Haxorus shouldn't be locked into Outrage if opposing Fairy- or Steel-types are still active on the opposing team.

Team Options
========

Shaymin is an amazing teammate, as it not only forms a good wallbreaking core with Haxorus but also has access to Healing Wish, which allows Haxorus to have another chance at wallbreaking should it be weakened at some point during the game. Sharpedo, Mega Beedrill, and Swords Dance Lucario are examples of cleaners, which highly appreciate the wallbreaking capabilities that Haxorus possesses. Vaporeon and Florges are clerics, making them good partners, as they can heal off any status Haxorus incurs. Haxorus appreciates entry hazard support, making Pokemon such as Nidoqueen and Chesnaught good partners. An excellent partner for Choice Band Haxorus is Choice Scarf Heracross, as Haxorus lures in most of its defensive checks, making it easier for Heracross to clean. Speed control support, such as Stun Spore and Tailwind, really helps this Haxorus set fare well against more offensive teams; therefore, Tornadus and Whimsicott are amazing teammates.

Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage / Dragon Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Taunt / Poison Jab
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Adamant

Moves
========

Dragon Dance raises Haxorus's Speed and Attack stats by one stage, making it a deadly sweeper. Outrage hits relatively hard but confuses Haxorus after two to three turns and locks Haxorus into it during that period. Dragon Claw doesn't have the flaws Outrage does but is lacking in the damage department. Earthquake is the most important coverage move for Haxorus, being able to hit anything that resists Haxorus's STAB type for at least neutral damage. Taunt allows Haxorus to set up on walls relying on support moves to prevent Haxorus from sweeping, such as Will-O-Wisp Rotom-H and Roar Swampert; however, it should only be used with a Life Orb, as Lum Berry usually makes Taunt less useful. Poison Jab can be used over Taunt as an alternate coverage move to hit Fairy-types such as Aromatisse and Granbull super effectively.

Set Details
========

Life Orb gives Haxorus a nice damage boost at the cost of 10% HP each time it uses an attacking move. Lum Berry gets rid of status only once per match; it is also a good option when using Outrage, removing the that the move causes. Maximum Attack and Speed EVs are being used to maximize Haxorus's sweeping potential. A Jolly nature allows Haxorus to outspeed positive-natured base 85s, whereas an Adamant nature gives Haxorus a 10% damage increase.

Usage Tips
========

This Haxorus set should be sent in during mid- or late-game to sweep or weaken the opposing team. Haxorus should set up on Pokemon that can't OHKO it, don't have phazing moves, or are forced out by it. Haxorus should only set up when the opposing team doesn't have a Choice Scarf user or any priority users left.

Team Options
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This Haxorus set aims to sweep or clean mid- to late-game; therefore, wallbreakers make for excellent partners, such as Life Orb Hydreigon and Choice Band Darmanitan. Physically defensive Steel-types usually stop Haxorus from sweeping unless they're weakened, which makes Ground-, Fighting-, and Fire-types good partners. Examples of them are Nidoking, Heracross, and Entei, respectively. Shaymin is an amazing partner to this Haxorus set, as it can wallbreak as well as use Healing Wish to allow Haxorus more than one chance to sweep the opposing team.

Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Poison Jab
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Adamant

Moves
========

Swords Dance allows Haxorus to break through more defensively orientated teams by boosting its Attack stat by two stages. Outrage pairs well with Swords Dance due to its amazing damage output coupled with a STAB boost. Given that Outrage users such as Haxorus commonly lure in Steel- and Fairy-type Pokemon, super effective coverage against them is most appreciated in the last two slots, thus making Earthquake and Poison Jab perfect fits.

Set Details
========

Due to Haxorus not having any significant bulk, the EVs are put into Attack and Speed instead. A Lum Berry gives Haxorus a one-time immunity to status. A Life Orb, on the other hand, gives Haxorus a 1.3x damage boost, but at the cost of 1/10 of its HP with each hit. A Jolly nature is crucial for outspeeding positive-natured base 85s. Meanwhile, an Adamant nature can be used for more power.

Usage Tips
========

This particular set is most effective against defensively oriented teams and is best set up when no faster threats are left. This set should also be sent in mid-game.

Team Options
========

A set such as this is always paired best with cleaners, as they can usually sweep after Haxorus does its job; as such, Mega Sharpedo, Yanmega, and Choice Scarf Mienshao make the best of partners. Lunar Dance and Healing Wish are both moves that can remove status and heal the recipient to full, giving Haxorus another chance to wear down walls. Therefore, Lunar Dance and Healing Wish users, such as Cresselia and Shaymin, respectively, make for excellent teammates.

Other Options
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Haxorus can run a Choice Scarf set, but it's usually beaten by a majority of the other Choice Scarf users in the tier. A Hone Claws set might seem viable but is outclassed by the Swords Dance set. Despite learning a variety of support moves such as Roar and Taunt, Haxorus doesn't have the typing nor the bulk to run a good defensive set. Dual Chop is an option over Dragon Claw on any Haxorus set, as it breaks through Focus Sashes, Sturdy, and Substitutes; however, it has a chance to miss, which can be crucial.

Checks & Counters
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**Granbull**: Granbull checks all Haxorus variants, being able to take a Poison Jab and OHKO with Play Rough in return.

**Faster Choice Scarf Users**: Choice Scarf users that outspeed Haxorus at +1 Speed such as Hydreigon and Mienshao check Haxorus fairly well.

**Fairy-types**: Bulky Fairy-types such as Aromatisse and Florges check Haxorus fairly well but have to be wary of Poison Jab, while Whimsicott, a faster Fairy-type, can switch into a setup move and Encore Haxorus into said move.

**Faster Dragon-types**: Faster Dragon-types such as Hydreigon and Salamence easily outspeed Haxorus and OHKO with a STAB Dragon-type move.

**Bulky Water-types with Ice Beam**: Bulky Water-types that run Ice-type coverage, such as Ice Beam Suicune and Ice Beam Vaporeon, check Haxorus fairly well.

**Ice Shard Users**: Pokemon with STAB Ice Shard such as Cloyster and Abomasnow can easily revenge kill Haxorus by hitting it super effectively before it can do anything.

 

[Kreme]

Moved this into QC, I put CB in OO but if it should be a main set then I'll edit that in later.

 

[boltsandbombers]

Why is Granbull separate from fairy-types in c&c? Makes more sense to put them together.

 

[Kreme]

Why is Granbull separate from fairy-types in c&c? Makes more sense to put them together.

Based on calcs I ran, Granbull doesnt have to worry about PJab as much as the others and does the checking job a lot easier, esp since SD PJab destroys the other two fairies, so I thought it would be better should Granbull have another separate column. If I'm told by QC that Granbull should be grouped in then fine.

 

[Politoad]

I would mention in the Overview that it may have access to Swords Dance and Dragon Dance, but how its attacking movepool is rather small. 97 base Speed isn't that mediocre at all, it's close to 100, (Mega Charizard X's Speed; just using as an example, I know it isn't in the tier).

I would mention in TO in the first set stuff that can beat Fairy-types if Haxorus decides to run Taunt. It means that it has a hard time even touching the fairies while they can OHKO it back in return. You could also mention entry hazard support for KOing with more ease.

Nitpick but in the second TO I would mention paralysis support / sticky web support alongisde Tailwind. Also maybe other physical attackers that take advantage of Haxorus's wallbreaking as they can't by theirselves.

You mentioned in every option in OO why it isn't worth it, why is band not worth it? maybe you could mention that. I would mention Low Kick there as an alternative to 2HKO Mega Aggron at +1/+2 and hits Snorlax, Umbreon harder.

In C&C Faster Dragon-types could be a section; opposing Hydreigon, Flygon and Noivern can easily outspeed Haxorus at +1 and OHKO them.

 

[Kreme]

I would mention in the Overview that it may have access to Swords Dance and Dragon Dance, but how its attacking movepool is rather small. 97 base Speed isn't that mediocre at all, it's close to 100, (Mega Charizard X's Speed; just using as an example, I know it isn't in the tier).

I would mention in TO in the first set stuff that can beat Fairy-types if Haxorus decides to run Taunt. It means that it has a hard time even touching the fairies while they can OHKO it back in return. You could also mention entry hazard support for KOing with more ease.

Nitpick but in the second TO I would mention paralysis support / sticky web support alongisde Tailwind. Also maybe other physical attackers that take advantage of Haxorus's wallbreaking as they can't by theirselves.

You mentioned in every option in OO why it isn't worth it, why is band not worth it? maybe you could mention that. I would mention Low Kick there as an alternative to 2HKO Mega Aggron at +1/+2 and hits Snorlax, Umbreon harder.

In C&C Faster Dragon-types could be a section; opposing Hydreigon, Flygon and Noivern can easily outspeed Haxorus at +1 and OHKO them.

Thanks for the input, I am implementing changes as we speak.

 

[Saria]

I have used Haxorus a ton, and I fully disagree with the Dual Dance only being mentioned in OO. Dual Dance is easily the best set you can run in the current metagame, and it is significantly less matchup reliant than the other two sets. Running both moves gives Haxorus the ability to hurt both offensive and defensive teams at the same time. Taunt is quite overrated, Haxorus can brute force its way through every Taunt target if it is running a Lum Berry. Poison Jab helps against Fairy-types (basically Florges), but you can run something like Roserade to setup hazards on Florges to help Haxorus wear it down and kill it off later on, because +2 Earthquake does a ton to Bold Florges (66.6 - 78.6%) .

Personally, I would make Dual Dance the first set of the analysis. But let's wait for the opinion of a another QC member before doing anything.

 

[dodmen]

I wholeheartedly agree with making dual dance its own set. Being able to pick which move to set up is a lot better than being practically dead weight against a certain play style if you only carry one setup move. I also think CB should have its own set as well as it's able to 2HKO basically everything with the appropriate move right off the back and really make it easier for sweepers to go through. Ice beam bulky waters should be mentioned in checks and counters.

 

[Kreme]

I have used Haxorus a ton, and I fully disagree with the Dual Dance only being mentioned in OO. Dual Dance is easily the best set you can run in the current metagame, and it is significantly less matchup reliant than the other two sets. Running both moves gives Haxorus the ability to hurt both offensive and defensive teams at the same time. Taunt is quite overrated, Haxorus can brute force its way through every Taunt target if it is running a Lum Berry. Poison Jab helps against Fairy-types (basically Florges), but you can run something like Roserade to setup hazards on Florges to help Haxorus wear it down and kill it off later on, because +2 Earthquake does a ton to Bold Florges (66.6 - 78.6%) .

Personally, I would make Dual Dance the first set of the analysis. But let's wait for the opinion of a another QC member before doing anything.

Implemented all these changes except the Taunt one as I'm unsure if you mean I should remove it completely and put it in OO or just mention that it should only be used when in conjunction with LO.

I wholeheartedly agree with making dual dance its own set. Being able to pick which move to set up is a lot better than being practically dead weight against a certain play style if you only carry one setup move. I also think CB should have its own set as well as it's able to 2HKO basically everything with the appropriate move right off the back and really make it easier for sweepers to go through. Ice beam bulky waters should be mentioned in checks and counters.

I've implemented all these.

 

[Politoad]

I think you can merge the part w/ boosting moves and diverse movepool. I wouldn't recall the movepool too diverse, as its damaging options are really limited to like outrage,dclaw,superpower,poisonjab,eq,aqua tail? Nothing compared to stuff like Toxicroak.

me edit; im not qc btw, no need to.

 

[Kreme]

I think you can merge the part w/ boosting moves and diverse movepool. I wouldn't recall the movepool too diverse, as its damaging options are really limited to like outrage,dclaw,superpower,poisonjab,eq,aqua tail? Nothing compared to stuff like Toxicroak.

Dunzo.

 

[Saria]

Implemented all these changes except the Taunt one as I'm unsure if you mean I should remove it completely and put it in OO or just mention that it should only be used when in conjunction with LO.

I've implemented all these.

I mean that the SD + DD set doesn't need to Taunt anything. Actually, no set with SD needs Taunt, because you are better off smacking all Taunt targets if you are at +2:

+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 303-357 (72.1 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 300-354 (67.5 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Forretress: 149-176 (42.2 - 49.8%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

And if you aren't at +2, you shouldn't be trying to setup on things that can kill Haxorus before getting killed.

 

[Kreme]

I mean that the SD + DD set doesn't need to Taunt anything. Actually, no set with SD needs Taunt, because you are better off smacking all Taunt targets if you are at +2:

+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 303-357 (72.1 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 300-354 (67.5 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Forretress: 149-176 (42.2 - 49.8%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

And if you aren't at +2, you shouldn't be trying to setup on things that can kill Haxorus before getting killed.

OK so removed Taunt from the SD set.

 

[Kreme]

Bumping this up

 

[dodmen]

Earthquake hits any Steel-types that would try to come in on Haxorus for super effective damage.

Make sure to add that Forretress isn't hit super effectively.

For the Choice Band and Swords Dance sets, Choice Scarf Heracross is an excellent partner and it's able to take advantage of Haxorus doing massive damage to defensive Fairies. On the other hand, SD/CB Heracross makes a great partner to the DD set as their roles are reversed in this situation.

Mention Tailwind support for the CB set in TO since it enjoys it more than the SD set does.

In Checks and Counters under Fairy-types, mention that Whimsicott can also switch into a set-up move and lock it in with Encore.

Nitpick, but the last section in C&C should probably just be changed to "Ice Beam Bulky Waters" since there's no other Ice move that they would run (even Swampert should carry Ice Beam over Ice Punchbc of Mence's Intimidate). And under "Faster Choice Scarf Users" make sure to specifically say that they outspeed Haxorus /at +1 Speed/.

 

[Kreme]

Make sure to add that Forretress isn't hit super effectively.

For the Choice Band and Swords Dance sets, Choice Scarf Heracross is an excellent partner and it's able to take advantage of Haxorus doing massive damage to defensive Fairies. On the other hand, SD/CB Heracross makes a great partner to the DD set as their roles are reversed in this situation.

Mention Tailwind support for the CB set in TO since it enjoys it more than the SD set does.

In Checks and Counters under Fairy-types, mention that Whimsicott can also switch into a set-up move and lock it in with Encore.

Nitpick, but the last section in C&C should probably just be changed to "Ice Beam Bulky Waters" since there's no other Ice move that they would run (even Swampert should carry Ice Beam over Ice Punchbc of Mence's Intimidate). And under "Faster Choice Scarf Users" make sure to specifically say that they outspeed Haxorus /at +1 Speed/.

Lemme know when this is implemented and I'll edit my stamp into this post.

I believe every change mentioned has been implemented.

 

[dodmen]

QC 1/3

 

[Ernesto]

In the DD set, I'd change the slashes to reflect that Lum should primarily go with Outrage (I guess Lum D-Claw isn't /terrible/ because you can set up on Scalds and such, but it's disappointingly weak imo).

I take issue with the fact that it says "outclassed by other dragons" and then you have 4 different sets—two of them which are in direct competition with Mence and Tyrantrum. Now I'm not saying that DD and CB should go to OO, but you should at least rephrase that line to say "it faces a lot of competition from other dragons", since Mence has Intimidate + really nice Speed tier to make it a better DDer most of the time (and a strong Fire Blast coming from 256 SpA to still hit Mega Aggron and Bronzong hard) and Tyrantrum has an excellent secondary STAB to smack Fairies with.
I'm still not totally convinced all four sets are fine, I'd like to discuss it before approving it so that you don't need to make many changes after the writeup. I'll get back to you with that.

 

[Kreme]

In the DD set, I'd change the slashes to reflect that Lum should primarily go with Outrage (I guess Lum D-Claw isn't /terrible/ because you can set up on Scalds and such, but it's disappointingly weak imo).

I take issue with the fact that it says "outclassed by other dragons" and then you have 4 different sets—two of them which are in direct competition with Mence and Tyrantrum. Now I'm not saying that DD and CB should go to OO, but you should at least rephrase that line to say "it faces a lot of competition from other dragons", since Mence has Intimidate + really nice Speed tier to make it a better DDer most of the time (and a strong Fire Blast coming from 256 SpA to still hit Mega Aggron and Bronzong hard) and Tyrantrum has an excellent secondary STAB to smack Fairies with.
I'm still not totally convinced all four sets are fine, I'd like to discuss it before approving it so that you don't need to make many changes after the writeup. I'll get back to you with that.

Changed the bit in the overview as well as the Lum and Outrage bit. Thanks for looking into the sets, I'm not fully convinced all 4 are fine myself either.

 

[Saria]

QC 2/3

 

[Kreme]

Unfortunately my exams took place the last week but the write up is finally finished and this is ready for the last check, I'm still willing to remove the Dragon Dance and Choice Band sets should Ernesto think it appropriate.

 

[Ernesto]

Yesterday we came to the conclusion they were fine as is (I still don't think I'd ever run DDance + 3 Atks Hax over Mence, but w/e), so we're not taking them out—at least for the moment.

 

[Kreme]

Yesterday we came to the conclusion they were fine as is (I still don't think I'd ever run DDance + 3 Atks Hax over Mence, but w/e), so we're not taking them out—at least for the moment.

Ah ok thanks for the update on that, I was wondering what the conclusion was.

 

[Kreme]

Bumping up

 

[IronBullet]

I think Mega Abomasnow deserves a mention in C&C for its ability to revenge kill with priority Ice Shard. Also state Dual Chop in OO as an option over Dragon Claw on any set for its ability to hit through subs and sashes. Otherwise looks good, QC 3/3