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Rhyperior was made to be a tank. Its base 115 HP coupled with its Solid Rock ability, base 130 Defense, base 55 Special Defense, and access to Assault Vest makes it one of the bulkiest Pokemon in Battle Spot Singles. Its stellar base 140 Attack lets Rhyperior deal a lot of damage to Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Salamence, hitting them with one of its great coverage moves including STAB Earthquake, Rock Blast, and Stone Edge, as well as Superpower and Ice Punch. Rhyperior completely counters physical attacking Mega Salamence, as Rhyperior takes little damage from Double-Edge and Earthquake. Rhyperior's great offensive typing grants it a STAB EdgeQuake combo; however, it is a lackluster defensive typing, as it gives Rhyperior six weaknesses, including common types such as Fighting, Ground, and Water. Rhyperior has a 4x weakness to Water- and Grass-type attacks, and although this is reduced to 3x damage thanks to Solid Rock, Rhyperior will still be OHKOed or 2HKOed by most of them, making it very weak to Pokemon such as Azumarill, Rotom-W, Mega Venusaur, and Breloom. Rhyperior's base 40 Speed stat makes it very slow, so it won't be outspeeding much, either.
Assault Vest
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name: Assault Vest
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Blast / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Horn Drill
ability: Solid Rock
item: Assault Vest
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
nature: Adamant / Brave
Moves
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Earthquake is a reliable STAB attack that does tons of damage coming off of Rhyperior's amazing base 140 Attack. Rock Blast is a secondary STAB attack that has the ability to break Focus Sashes and Substitutes and hit through Sturdy; however, it is fairly weak if it doesn't get at least three hits. This lets Rhyperior beat low-health Substitute Pokemon such as Volcarona or the rare Substitute Talonflame. Stone Edge, on the other hand, is more reliable in terms of power; it has a consistent 100 Base Power, but it is only 80% accurate. Ice Punch hits Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Garchomp, Gliscor, and Landorus-T, all of which take little damage from Rhyperior's STAB attacks. Ice Punch does enough damage to Gliscor to the point where it won't have enough HP left to create a Substitute. Horn Drill OHKOes bulky Pokemon that Rhyperior has trouble with, such as Cresselia, at the cost of only being 30% accurate. Megahorn does a good chunk of damage to Cresselia without having to resort to Horn Drill; however, Rhyperior only has a 21.9% chance of 2HKOing her, and, in the process, has to take damage from Rocky Helmet. Fire Punch is an option to be considered, as it 2HKOes Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn. However, using it means Rhyperior has to give up either Ice Punch or Horn Drill, whose targets are Landorus-T and Cresselia, respectively, which are greater threats in Battle Spot Singles.
Set Details
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Using an Assault Vest boosts Rhyperior's rather low Special Defense stat by 50%, giving it the ability to take special attacks, as Rhyperior can already take many physical attacks thanks to its monstrous base 130 Defense. In combination with Solid Rock, Rhyperior can survive a plethora of threatening attacks. Maximum Attack investment coupled with an Adamant nature enables Rhyperior hit as hard as possible. A Brave nature can be used instead of an Adamant nature, as it lets Rhyperior underspeed minimum Speed Aegislash, avoid giving Aegislash a Weakness Policy boost, and OHKO it with Earthquake. It also lets Rhyperior outspeed Trick Room-based Mega Mawile under Trick Room, OHKOing with Earthquake. Maximum Special Defense investment is used instead of maximum HP investment because Rhyperior can then survive threatening attacks such as +1 4 SpA Suicune's Scald, 252 SpA Modest Mega Salamence's Hydro Pump, 4 SpA Rotom-W's Hydro Pump, 252 SpA Modest Rotom-W's Hydro Pump in the sun, and 252 SpA Modest Mega Venusaur's Giga Drain. An alternate EV spread with maximum HP lets Rhyperior easier handle physical attacks from the likes of Blaziken, Mega Salamence, etc.
Usage Tips
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Use Rhyperior's fantastic mixed bulk to take hits from Pokemon such as Mega Salamence and Cresselia, and use its even better Attack stat to retaliate with strong super effective attacks. When in doubt, against bulky Pokemon that Rhyperior can take hits from but not hit hard back, use Horn Drill to have a chance to OHKO them on the spot. Rhyperior should be used to force out physical attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamence, and Talonflame, threatening them with the appropriate coverage move. If Rhyperior is against Pokemon such as Suicune, Rotom-W, Mega Venusaur, and Breloom, switch out, as they threaten Rhyperior with a powerful Water- or Grass-type attack.
Team Options
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Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Talonflame can switch into Grass-type attacks aimed at Rhyperior. Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss can also switch into Water-type attacks, while Talonflame can threaten opposing Grass-types with its STAB Brave Bird and can freely switch into Ground-type attacks. Zapdos provides excellent defensive synergy with Rhyperior, taking the Ground-, Steel-, and Grass-type moves aimed at Rhyperior, with Rhyperior taking the Rock-type moves aimed at Zapdos. Mega Charizard Y can beat the Steel-, Grass-, and Ice-type Pokemon that threaten Rhyperior. Its ability, Drought, sets up sun, which weakens Water-type attacks aimed at Rhyperior. Rhyperior can switch into Pokemon that threaten teammates such as Mega Charizard Y, Gyarados, Mega Salamence, Hydreigon, and Aegislash.
Other Options
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Rhyperior can utilize its wide movepool and use attacks such as Megahorn, Hammer Arm, Superpower, Aqua Tail, or Thunder Punch. Rock Slide can be used over Rock Blast or Stone Edge, as it still retains many OHKOs or 2HKOs that the latter can achieve and has greater accuracy than both. A Choice Band or Life Orb can be used, but Rhyperior enjoys the extra Special Defense that Assault Vest provides. A Weakness Policy can be used to capitalize on Rhyperior's ability to take super effective attacks. A pure defensive set can be used, with an EV spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD with an Impish nature and the moves Stealth Rock, Roar, Earthquake, and Stone Edge, holding Leftovers or Rocky Helmet, with Leftovers increasing Rhyperior's longevity and Rocky Helmet crippling physical attackers. However, it is outclassed by other defensive Pokemon and Stealth Rock setters such as Mega Aggron and Garchomp; Mega Aggron has much greater Defense and Special Defense and has access to Thunder Wave, while Garchomp has much more Speed, Rough Skin, and the ability to use items such as Focus Sash or Rocky Helmet. Smack Down is an interesting option, letting Rhyperior knock down Pokemon such as Skarmory, 2HKOing it with Earthquake. Rock Polish can be utilized to boost Rhyperior's rather low Speed stat. Dragon Tail phazes common switch-ins such as Suicune, preventing a possible unfavorable matchup. Rhyperior's bulk lets it tank hits, so Metal Burst is an option.
Checks & Counters
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**Grass- and Water-type Attacks**: Rhyperior struggles against Water- and Grass-type moves due to its large weakness to them. Suicune, Rotom-W, Mega Venusaur, and Breloom are all examples of Pokemon that utilize them.
**Powerful Special Attackers**: Though Rhyperior utilizes an Assault Vest, powerful special attackers still have to ability to OHKO or 2HKO it. Mega Charizard Y OHKOes Rhyperior with Solar Beam, and Pokemon such as Suicune, Rotom-W, and Mega Venusaur 2HKO Rhyperior.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Rhyperior has a hard time against physically defensive Pokemon, as they can tank any one of Rhyperior's attacks. However, they have to be aware of Horn Drill if they cannot do much to Rhyperior. Pokemon such as Suicune and Cresselia can easily tank Rhyperior's attacks, but they have to watch out for Horn Drill.
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