Overview
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In the midst of a powerful sandstorm, Hippowdon is able to take on some of the strongest Pokemon in the metagame. With Rocky Helmet and reliable recovery, Hippowdon can wall threatening physical attackers such as Blaziken and Mega Kangaskhan. Between Rocky Helmet, sand damage, and even recoil for Pokemon such as Blaziken and Talonflame, physical attackers will be taking a good chunk of damage without Hippowdon even needing to attack. Hippowdon can even check special attackers as well if invested for it. The very prominent Aegislash easily falls to Hippowdon's high defenses and STAB Earthquake. Sand Stream is a fantastic ability which gets chip damage that can end up being crucial. It's also very useful for breaking Focus Sashes, making troublesome Focus Sash users such as Breloom easier to deal with. It can also work as a good way to remove other weather if need be. Hippowdon's access to Yawn is great thanks to the lack of Sleep Clause in Battle Spot; with Yawn's two turn mechanic, it forces a lot of switches. This works well in conjunction with Stealth Rock, punishing foes for attempting to avoid being put to sleep. However, Hippowdon suffers from a very low Speed tier and will almost always be moving last, and it heavily relies on support moves, making it an easy target for Taunt users such as Thundurus.
Rocky Helmet Wall
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name: Rocky Helmet Wall
move 1: Slack Off
move 2: Yawn
move 3: Stealth Rock / Whirlwind
move 4: Earthquake / Rock Tomb
ability: Sand Stream
item: Rocky Helmet
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Relaxed
Moves
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Slack Off is what makes Hippowdon great at what it does; Hippowdon can use Slack Off to keep itself as healthy as possible while being attacked. Thanks to sand and Rocky Helmet, the foe will still be taking a good amount of damage while Hippowdon recovers. Yawn and Stealth Rock go hand in hand; Yawn's two turn mechanic gives the foe a chance to switch out and avoid being put to sleep, and when Stealth Rock is up Hippowdon can safely continuously use Yawn, forcing the opponent to either let something sleep or take too much damage from Stealth Rock and sand. If you choose to run Stealth Rock on another Pokemon, Whirlwind can be used instead, as it really messes with the opponent's switches and racks up even more residual damage. It's also nice for phazing sweepers and Minimize users, as Whirlwind will always work even against foes with evasion boosts. Earthquake is Hippowdon's main form of offense, a strong STAB move coming off a respectable Attack for a defensive Pokemon. It hits many Pokemon Hippowdon would like to check super effectively, such as Blaziken, Mawile, and Aegislash. Rock Tomb is a good alternative to hit Talonflame and lower the foe's Speed, but it doesn't hit nearly as hard in most situations.
Set Details
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Maximum Defense and HP EVs are used because Hippowdon is meant to check the strongest of physical attackers. Rocky Helmet is the essential item that ensures Hippowdon can check Mega Kangaskhan, being able to do extra damage thanks to the latter's Parental Bond ability. Minimum Speed is desired to underspeed all Aegislash so Hippowdon can hit them with Earthquake in their frailer Blade forme. Additionally, it can be helpful against Trick Room teams, most notably underspeeding Brave Mega Mawile.
Usage Tips
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Hippowdon can take hits from threatening attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan, Talonflame, and Blaziken, protecting teammates from being revenge killed by them. It can also serve nicely as a lead by immediately setting up Stealth Rock and spreading sleep with Yawn. Setting Stealth Rock up fast allows Focus Sashes to be broken early and provides some chip damage that could be very helpful to put a foe in KO range for your other Pokemon, but Hippowdon works just as well mid-game or whenever it is needed most. You should be cautious leading with Hippowdon, as you often won't want to lose it too quickly in the match. Slack Off should be used wisely and not neglected. Keeping Hippowdon healthy can be important; losing it too early could make you susceptible late-game to a foe that Hippowdon could have checked. The power of foes such as Kangaskhan, Blaziken, and Aegislash should not be underestimated, and Hippowdon still has to be careful not to fall early to them. Whenever you decide to set up Stealth Rock or use Yawn, make sure Hippowdon is healthy enough to do so. Try to keep sand up as long as you still need it, as the chip damage can be great and softens foes up for Hippowdon's teammates. You should keep in mind that continuously using Yawn is a viable option, as it prevents the opponent from bringing in a counter to Hippowdon without getting punished.
Team Options
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Hippowdon fits very well on balance teams. Fast and frail sweepers such as Charizard, Mega Lucario, Greninja, and Blaziken appreciate Hippowdon's ability to deal with opposing Blaziken and Talonflame; with the priority and Speed Boost revenge killers out of the way, they can have an easier time cleaning up teams late-game. Although it does not have particularly good type synergy with Hippowdon, Excadrill becomes very threatening with Hippowdon's sand up thanks to Sand Rush. Especially after Hippowdon has helped weaken teams, Excadrill can have an easy time picking off the rest of a team with its boosted Speed and naturally high Attack. Once Hippowdon has weakened foes with its numerous ways of inflicting chip damage, they become closer to KO range for heavy hitters such as Aegislash and Mega Kangaskhan.
Specially Defensive
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name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Slack Off
move 2: Yawn
move 3: Stealth Rock / Whirlwind
move 4: Earthquake
ability: Sand Stream
item: Rocky Helmet / Sitrus Berry / Smooth Rock
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Sassy
Moves
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Slack Off allows Hippowdon to stay healthy; it can tank a hit, dish one out itself, and proceed to recover. Yawn spreads sleep around and forces switches thanks to its two turn mechanic, working well with Stealth Rock to create extra chip damage. Should you choose to use Stealth Rock on another Pokemon, Whirlwind is an option to mess with the opponent's switches and rack up even more damage from Stealth Rock. Earthquake is Hippowdon's strongest STAB move and is necessary to deal with Pokemon that Hippowdon threatens most. It can do a great amount of damage to Aegislash and Heatran, among others.
Set Details
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Maximum Special Defense investment is used to let Hippowdon take hits from powerful special attackers. It can survive strong hits and proceed to use Yawn on them. Minimum Speed is used to have the best matchup against Aegislash as possible. With Special Defense investment, Hippowdon becomes a fantastic counter to Aegislash; it is able to take any hit and knock Aegislash out in return, as it will always be attacking after Aegislash and hitting its frailer Blade forme. Rocky Helmet is the item of choice to get some chip damage, and it allows Hippowdon to scare physical attackers even without Defense investment. Sitrus Berry can be used for recovery on turns you use Yawn or Earthquake instead of Slack Off. Smooth Rock allows sand to be up longer and can be helpful for more turns of chip damage or to support other Pokemon on your team, such as Excadrill or Garchomp.
Usage Tips
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Hippowdon can be an annoyance to special attackers and should be coming in and trying to put them to sleep or weakening them with Earthquake. This set lacks physical investment, so it should not be brought directly in on certain physical powerhouses such as Blaziken and Mega Kangaskhan, but it can still serve as a check to them with Rocky Helmet.
Team Options
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Hippowdon fits well on balance teams. Pokemon that only need a bit of chip damage on certain foes to manage to KO them, such as Blaziken and Mega Lucario, appreciate Stealth Rock and Hippowdon's other forms of chip damage. Pokemon that appreciate the removal of Aegislash work well with Hippowdon as their partner. Mega Kangaskhan and Salamence appreciate the removal of Aegislash, as they can more freely use their STAB attacks. Talonflame also likes having Aegislash removed so that it doesn't need to play King's Shield mind games and can spam Brave Bird without it switching in. It also likes the residual damage that Hippowdon provides. Bulky Talonflame can be a good partner by spreading Will-O-Wisp, putting less pressure on Hippowdon's uninvested Defense. Excadrill becomes a threatening Pokemon capable of cleaning up teams with Hippowdon's sand up thanks to the speed boost from Sand Rush. Porygon2 can be used as an extra defensive Pokemon to work with Hippowdon; together, they can be hard to break without a dedicated wallbreaker.
Other Options
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Toxic can be useful for wearing down defensive Pokemon such as Porygon2 and Cresselia. Leftovers is a good item choice on certain sets, providing nice passive recovery each turn. Ice Fang can be used to hit Salamence, Garchomp, and Landorus-T, which are all prevalent threats. Sets utilizing Stockpile and Toxic can work well against unprepared teams and are almost impossible to break when put in the right position.
Checks & Counters
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**Water-types**: Bulky Water-types in particular cause a lot of problems for Hippowdon. Most Water-types are special attackers, so they will be hitting Hippowdon for super effective damage on its weaker Special Defense, meaning that it cannot afford to stay in to use Yawn. It also fears being burned by Scald, as the residual damage significantly hinders Hippowdon's ability to stay in the match. Rotom-W, Suicune, and Slowbro are all common sights and nightmares for Hippowdon.
**Grass-types**: Grass-types can do heavy damage to Hippowdon and take very little damage from Earthquake, so it is not really worth staying in to Yawn against them. Breloom and Venusaur in particular are extremely threatening, as they can put Hippowdon to sleep before it can use Yawn.
**Strong Special Attackers**: Hippowdon's uninvested Special Defense is not amazing. Most powerful special attackers such as Greninja and Mega Charizard Y are capable of doing heavy damage to Hippowdon, and unless it can KO them with Earthquake or has already hit them with Yawn on the switch, it is often not worth staying in because they may be doing more damage than Hippowdon is able to recover.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Hippowdon excels only against very offensive Pokemon. Pokemon such as Cresselia and Porygon2 can be very troublesome for Hippowdon, as they can use Toxic on it, hit it with STAB special attacks, and recover off most damage it does. Putting them to sleep is useful, but foes such as Cresselia, which sometimes carries Rest anyway, might not even care.
**Taunt**: Hippowdon's most important moves are stopped by Taunt. Taunt is not the most common of moves, but Taunt users such as Gyarados and Thundurus will shut down Hippowdon really well.
**Mega Sableye**: Mega Sableye is a hard counter to Hippowdon, as Magic Bounce nullifies Yawn, Stealth Rock, and Whirlwind by bouncing them back. Mega Sableye can also burn Hippowdon, making Earthquake do pitiful damage. Hippowdon is total setup bait for Mega Sableye.
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