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Overview
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Heatran possesses a unique Fire / Steel typing and the ability Flash Fire, which grant it nine resistances and an immunity to Fire-type moves, allowing it to switch in on a lot of common threats in the Doubles metagame and serve as a great check for Sun offense and Fairy-types. With a high Special Attack stat and good bulk, it serves as a strong offensive support Pokemon, capable of delivering significant damage to the opposing team. However, Heatran is held back by its weaknesses to common offensive types such as Fighting, Ground, and Water. A fairly linear movepool makes Heatran quite predictable, and its middling Speed tier leaves it outrun by common threats when using its faster sets and undersped in Trick Room by common Trick Room sweepers.
Substitute
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name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Heat Wave
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Protect
ability: Flash Fire
item: Leftovers
evs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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Substitute shields Heatran from super effective moves and status, giving it room to operate. Heat Wave is the primary attacking move; the goal is to get behind a Substitute and use Heat Wave to wear down the opposing team for Heatran's teammates. Earth Power lets it beat opposing Heatran, which would otherwise wall it, as well as hit Rock-types such as Terrakion if you predict the switch. Protect does a number of things, including letting Heatran scout, stalling out field conditions, and surviving a deadly attack.
Set Details
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A Modest Nature and 252 Special Attack EVs are used for maximum damage output. 76 Speed EVs are used to outrun 0 Spe Cresselia and Rotom-W so Heatran can either attack the partner before taking a Hydro Pump or fish for a miss with Substitute. The remaining EVs are put into HP for increased bulk and stronger Substitutes. An alternate spread of 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe with a Modest nature can be used to let Heatran outrun neutral-natured, fully invested base 70 Speed Pokemon such as Bisharp and Adamant Breloom.
Usage Tips
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When usIng Substitute Heatran, it is better to be patient and wait for a free turn to get behind a Substitute. There are numerous situations in which Heatran can safely set up, such as against support Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Togekiss, Cresselia, and Jirachi. Certain Choice item users, such as Genesect, Landorus-T, and Sylveon, locked into Iron Head, Rock Slide, and Hyper Voice, respectively, are good foes to safely setup against. Once Substitute is up, use Protect and Leftovers to allow Heatran to quickly recuperate the HP lost from setting up the Substitute. Use Protect to scout for random Hidden Power Ground and Focus Blast, because common threats such as Sylveon, Charizard, Gardevoir, and Latios occasionally carry them to beat Heatran. A key part of using Heatran is that you should not try to set up a Substitute against a foe that beats Heatran, but if Heatran is already behind a Substitute when a check switches in, feel free to fire off a Heat Wave or Earth Power before switching out (unless their partner can also do heavy damage). Heatran can also switch in and out rather frequently, as it has enough bulk and resistances to do so relatively freely. In certain situations, it can be worth risking a Substitute versus a Pokemon that is capable of breaking it, such as when the opposing Pokemon are more threatened by Heatran's partner or are forced to go for the partner. It can be worth sacrificing a Pokemon to set up a Substitute, depending on how much of a nuisance Substitute Heatran is to the opposing team. For example, versus sun offense, Heatran can be virtually immovable, but against rain, Heatran is more of a liability.
Team Options
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Bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Rotom-W can clear out Terrakion and Ground-types such as Landorus-T. Rotom-W has the added bonuses of a Ground-type immunity and the ability to beat opposing Water-types, and Suicune has Tailwind for speed control. Fairy-types such as Gardevoir, Sylveon, and Diancie can all beat Fighting-types and enjoy having Steel-types cleared out. They also can complement Heatran's Heat Wave with powerful spread moves of their own. Substitute Heatran enjoys redirection quite a bit more than most Pokemon, as it relies on setting up a Substitute to succeed in doing its job. Partners such as Togekiss and Amoonguss can provide redirection and have good defensive synergy with Heatran. They both provide valuable resistances to Fighting-type, and Togekiss can provide speed control via Tailwind, and Amoonguss can easily absorb Water-type moves and use Spore to create free turns. Thundurus can paralyze faster threats, beat Water-types, and use Prankster Taunt in case opposing teams try to use their own Taunt to stop Heatran from setting up.
Partners that provide significant amounts of offensive pressure are also excellent, as they tend to generate a lot of free turns as well as attention from the opposing team. Kangaskhan is a good example, as it can use Fake Out to buy Heatran a turn to set up. Latios can provide Tailwind support, and it threatens most common Fighting-types due to its high Speed and Special Attack and Psychic typing. Cresselia is a great partner, as it can support Heatran in many ways, such as by providing Skill Swap support to alleviate Heatran's Ground-type weakness, using Icy Wind or Thunder Wave for speed control, setting up sun via Sunny Day for a boost to Heat Wave, and beating common threats to Heatran such as Landorus-T, Keldeo, and Terrakion. Levitate and Flying-type Pokemon such as Gengar, Cresselia, Rotom-W, Thundurus, and Zapdos are good partners. Due to being a major liability against rain teams, Heatran prefers partners that can compensate for it against rain. Electric-types and Grass-types, such as Thundurus and Amoonguss, work well in this regard, as do Dragon-types such as Latios and Hydreigon. Charizard also helps against rain by being able to change the weather using Drought, providing Heatran with increased Fire-type damage as well. Wide Guard users such as Hitmontop, Swampert, and Aegislash are useful partners, as they can shield Heatran from Earthquake users. Hitmontop also provides useful Intimidate and Fake Out support, Swampert can be useful in dealing with Landorus-T, Terrakion, and opposing Heatran, and Aegislash possesses powerful offense and a useful Fighting-type immunity.
Special Attacker
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name: Special Attacker
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Protect
move 4: Flash Cannon / Hidden Power Ice
ability: Flash Fire
item: Life Orb / Shuca Berry
evs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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Even with spread reduction factored in, Heat Wave does good damage against foes that don't resist it, thanks to Heatran's high Special Attack. Earth Power lets it beat opposing Heatran, which would otherwise wall it. Protect lets Heatran scout, stall out field conditions, or survive a deadly attack. Flash Cannon is useful for doing heavy damage to Kyurem-B and Fairy-types; for example, it always OHKOes Mega Diancie, which Earth Power does not. Hidden Power Ice is useful for predicting Ground-type switches such as Landorus and Garchomp, as well as Salamence.
Set Details
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MaxImum Special Attack and a Modest nature are used to let Heatran hit as hard as possible. The Speed EVs let it outrun neutral-natured base 70 Speed Pokemon such as Bisharp and Breloom, and the rest of the EVs are put into HP for added general bulk. A Life Orb is used to increase Heatran's damage output. Alternatively, Shuca Berry can be used when you are less reliant on Heatrans resistances and won't be switching it in as often, as Heatran needs to be at or near 100% HP in order for it to be useful.
Usage Tips
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Due to Heatran's middling Speed stat, speed control is a priority. Heatran can take a neutral hit relatively well and can sponge resisted attacks with ease, so it can just park itself and spam Heat Wave. Use coverage moves when needed, but otherwise just use Heat Wave to spread as much damage as possible. Heatran's many resistances allow it to switch in and out easily, though chip damage and Life Orb recoil can wear it down if you switch too often. If using a Shuca Berry, avoid switching Heatran in and out, even on resisted hits, as Heatran needs to be at or near full HP for it to be effective. Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Garchomp can OHKO through Shuca Berry once Heatran has lost 20% of its HP, and Hidden Power Ground users such as Sylveon can break through from 30%, meaning Heatran has to take great caution not to take significant damage before Ground-type move users are dealt with.
Team Options
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Speed control via Tailwind is important and can be provided by partners such as Togekiss, Latios, and Suicune. Togekiss is particularly useful due to its access to Follow Me, allowing it to sponge Fighting-type moves for Heatran easily, and because the Steel- and Rock-types that it struggles against can be handled by Heatran. Latios and Latias are good partners for Heatran because they can beat Fighting-types with ease and have good defensive synergy with Heatran. Suicune easily handles Ground- and Rock-types and can reliably set Tailwind for Heatran, and Heatran can tackle Grass-types that wall Suicune. Grass-types such as Breloom and Shaymin-S work well as partners for Heatran because they can provide support against Ground-types and Water-types, and Heatran can KO the Steel- and Ice-types that work well against them. Amoonguss is another notable Grass-type, as it provides Rage Powder and Spore support, easily absorbs Fighting- and Water-type attacks for Heatran via Rage Powder, and can Spore Earthquake users on turns where Heatran uses Protect. Mega Charizard Y can pair with Heatran, and together in the sun they can break through bulky teams with Heat Wave easily. Fairy-types such as Sylveon, Diancie, and Gardevoir can easily beat Fighting-types for Heatran, and in return, Heatran beats Steel-types.
Partners that can break past what Heatran can't work best: Terrakion breaks through Mega Charizard Y and Kangaskhan; Keldeo breaks through Landorus, Rotom-H, and Kangaskhan; Latios breaks through Fighting-types and opposing Dragon-types; and Shaymin-S breaks through Water-, Fighting-, Rock-, and Ground-types. Cresselia is a great partner, as it can support Heatran in many ways, such as by providing Skill Swap support to alleviate Heatran's Ground-type weakness, using Icy Wind or Thunder Wave for speed control, setting up sun via Sunny Day for a boost to Heat Wave, and beating common threats to Heatran such as Landorus-T, Keldeo, and Terrakion. Levitate and Flying-type Pokemon such as Gengar, Cresselia, Rotom-W, Thundurus, and Zapdos are good partners. Due to being a major liability against rain teams, Heatran prefers partners that can compensate for it against rain. Electric-types and Grass-types, such as Thundurus and Amoonguss, work well in this regard, as do Dragon-types such as Latios and Hydreigon. Charizard also helps against rain by being able to change the weather using Drought, providing Heatran with increased Fire-type damage as well. Wide Guard users such as Hitmontop, Swampert, and Aegislash are useful partners, as they can shield Heatran from Earthquake users. Hitmontop also provides useful Intimidate and Fake Out support, Swampert can be useful in dealing with Landorus-T, Terrakion, and opposing Heatran, and Aegislash possesses powerful offense and a useful Fighting-type immunity.
Other Options
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Will-O-Wisp can be used to hinder physical attackers on the switch. Safety Goggles is a solid item choice, bolstering Heatran's ability to wall Chlorophyll Venusaur and Amoonguss, which might try to put it to sleep. Taunt can be used to stop Trick Room and sleep spam. Ancient Power can be used to beat Talonflame and Charizard, though is generally a poor choice. Heatran is one of the few Pokemon that can be used as a Stealth Rock setter, though it should only be used if sun is a major weakness of your team. Eruption is a decent choice in Trick Room or on the Choice Scarfed set, though Heatran faces competition from Mega Camerupt as a Trick Room user. Chople Berry can be used to allow Heatran to survive a single Fighting-type attack. Choice Scarf can be used to outrun and do heavy damage to Pokemon that normally outspeed Heatran. Air Balloon can be useful in some cases but should be avoided, as it removes Heatran's ability to switch in and out without breaking the Air Balloon.
Checks and Counters
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**Offensive Typing Advantage**:
Ground-type Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Swampert, and Garchomp can easily OHKO Heatran with Earthquake, and Swampert can also use Waterfall to circumvent the Shuca Berry sets. Bulky Water-types can take any of its attacks and wear it down. Suicune, Gyarados, and Rotom-W can easily take any move Heatran uses, and 2HKO back with Hydro Pump, and Gyarados can do the same with Waterfall. Faster Water-types such as Kingdra, Ludicolo (under rain), and Keldeo can all outrun and OHKO Heatran; Keldeo in particular can beat it with both of its STAB moves. Fighting-types, such as the Muskedeers, can beat it with STAB moves such as Close Combat. Bulky Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr, Scrafty, and Hitmontop are good checks as well; Conkeldurr and Scrafty can easily take its attacks due to commonly using Assault Vest and can 2HKO with Drain Punch to recover most of the damage taken. Hitmontop commonly has Wide Guard to protect itself from Heat Wave, and it does massive damage to Heatran with Close Combat. Pokemon with Ground- or Fighting-type coverage moves, such Earth Power Hydreigon and Kyurem-B and Low Kick or Power Up Punch Kangaskhan can all OHKO or 2HKO Heatran.
**Opposing Weather**:
Rain teams render Heatran relatively useless, as Heat Wave becomes a very weak move, and common rain users don't mind Earth Power.
**Utility Moves**:
Substitute Heatran is susceptible to both Taunt and Encore, as they can prevent it from setting up Substitute or lock it into Substitute, respectively. Though both sets are susceptible to Thunder Wave, the attacker set is more so, as it does not have the ability to hide behind a Substitute and is more dependent on its Speed. Wide Guard prevents Heat Wave from being used and forces Heatran to either switch out, wait for its partner to handle the Wide Guard user, or use a coverage option.
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