Resource A Guide to Entry Hazards

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A Guide to Hazard Stacking in NU





Introduction:
Just like every other tier, entry hazards are a key part to the NU metagame, and their effect has greatly changed throughout the various tier shifts. The loss of Accelgor and Kabutops has left a quite an impact on entry hazards in the tier, but prominent threats that play an important role in the hazard game such as Garbodor and Crustle are still prevalent. These can often quickly determine the outcome of a match due to the various Flying-types in the tier which are severely crippled by Stealth Rock and common grounded defensive Pokemon who can get whittled down by repeated switch ins to Spikes. Every team must prepare for entry hazard setting and removal, as winning the "hazard war" is often key to success. Keep in mind that one of the most defining factors about entry hazard setters is how well they match up versus common entry hazard removers or deterrents.

Lets take a look at the Pokemon which play major roles [and their typical sets] in the hazard war, whether it be setting them up, removing, or deterring their placement.

Entry Hazard Setters:

~Spikes / Toxic Spikes ~


Garbodor has always been one of the best Spikes setters in the tier thanks to its excellent typing, solid movepool, and overall utility that it provides for a team apart from setting up Spikes. Regarding specifically Garbodor's matchup versus entry hazard removers / deterrents and opposing setters, one of the most notable factors is that while Xatu can switch in to bounce back Spikes, it extremely dislikes a potential Poison from Gunk Shot. To an even further extent, offensive Garbodor variants can outspeed most Xatu and 2HKO, which the defensive set cannot. Seed Bomb is another notable move that deals decent damage to Rhydon and Quagsire, which otherwise only fear getting poisoned from Gunk Shot while they threaten Garbodor with their STAB ground moves. Overall, Garbodor is a solid choice for various playstyles.

Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Haze / Drain Punch
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes / Toxic


Cacturne's viability as a Spikes setter stemmed from the fact that it is (or was) commonly seen as a Swords Dance set, and the mixed set with Spikes is much more unprepared for this reason, giving Cacturne various opportunities to set up spikes. Cacturne also has an excellent matchup versus common entry hazard removers and setters, most notably Xatu, Claydol, Rhydon, and Garbodor. Garbodor can check Swords Dance variants, but extremely dislikes taking a Dark Pulse from specially based sets.

Cacturne @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Giga Drain
- Dark Pulse
- Spikes
- Sucker Punch

or

Cacturne @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Counter
- Seed Bomb
- Sucker Punch


Crustle has always been a solid Spikers setter for offensive teams due to its access to both Stealth Rock and Spikes. With the (re)release of Custap Berry, Crustle's effectiveness has increased with the ability to get up another layer of entry hazards when below 25% HP, but at the cost of Mental Herb or Red Card which have other useful purposes. Crustle doesn't have the best matchup versus most entry hazard setters / removers, unfortunately. Seismitoad and Prinplup bother it quite a bit with Scald and Rhydon can break through its Sturdy with Rock Blast. However, Crustle is no problem for Xatu, as it cannot switch in well in fear of a potential Rock Blast, and X-Scissor is a solid choice to nail a roosting Xatu as well as targeting the omnipresent Malamar. In addition, having Rock Blast is a great tool to have versus Focus Sash Archeops leads.

Crustle @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- X-Scissor / Shell Smash

Honorable Mentions:



~Stealth Rock users~

Unlike the Spikes setters in the tier, the amount of viable Stealth Rock setters is a very large pool of Pokemon and as such I'll only highlight a few, but that does not mean they are better than all the others.


Rhydon is a very reliable Stealth Rock setter thanks to its overall bulk backed by an Eviolite alongside its solid Rock / Ground typing that allows it to check various Fire and Flying types. Rhydon's Rock Blast gives it a great matchup against most opposing entry hazards and removers, being able to break through Sturdy or Focus Sash users such as Crustle and Archeops. Lastly, Rhydon's Rock type STAB moves make Xatu very wary to switch in, thus making Rhydon a very reliable Stealth Rock setter.
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Megahorn


Mesprit is an excellent Stealth Rock setter due to its wide movepool which allows it to hit all of the relevant entry hazard setters and removers for at least neutral damage, depending on its moveset. Energy Ball deals heavy damage to the likes of Rhydon, Claydol, and Sandslash, while Thunderbolt is a solid choice to threaten the likes of Mantine, Xatu, and Pelipper.
Mesprit @ Colbur Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Healing Wish
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Energy Ball / Thunderbolt


While not having as many tools at its disposal to dispatch or threaten opposing entry hazard setters, Mawile is a solid Stealth Rock user due to how it can consistently check a variety of threats such as Kangaskhan, Sneasel, Mega Audino, and Scyther with Intimidate. Defensive Mawile typically doesnt have room for it on its moveslot, but Grass Knot can catch Seismitoad and Rhydon off guard.
Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 64 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head / Play Rough
- Super Fang / Taunt
- Baton Pass / Toxic

~Entry Hazard Removal~

Defog Users



Defog is the most common form of entry hazard removal since most Defog users provide useful support for the team by removing all entry hazards from both sides of the field. Defoggers tend to fit on most archetypes of teams with the exception of hyper offense which would much rather keep entry hazards on the opposing side of the field. Mantine and Pelipper both have excellent defensive typings with a ground immunity and useful resistances, the former with Water Absorb being more useful than Pelipper's abilities.

Rapid Spinners



Due to the fact that there are only three viable Rapid Spin users in the tier (not counting the low ranks), it is inevitably the less common form of entry hazard removal. However, that doesnt necessarily mean they're bad as Rapid Spinning can be more beneficial to the outcome of the match because they keep your hazards up on the opposing side of the field. Claydol is arguably the best Rapid Spin user due to its colorful movepool including Grass Knot, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, Psyshock, and others. Cryogonal doesnt have trouble spinning since most Ghost-types are hit quite hard by a Nevermelt-Ice boosted Ice Beam, and Sandslash has Knock Off to cripple or OHKO Ghosts.

Xatu

Xatu plays an important role in the NU hazard game simply because of its ability, Magic Bounce, that bounces back entry hazards and deters their placement often just by its presence. While Xatu doesn't have the greatest matchup versus most entry hazard setters (struggles versus Rhydon and Cacturne while disliking a potential poison from Garbodor's Gunk Shot), it has two moveslots open due to only needing Roost and a STAB move on all of its sets; as such allow it to utilize coverage moves such as Heat Wave and Giga Drain. From a general standpoint, Xatu can be used as a pivot with U-turn or a Calm Mind user.
Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- U-turn
- Psychic
- Heat Wave / Giga Drain

or

Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Def / 80 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Heat Wave / Signal Beam

~Defiant Users~


In generation 6, Defog gained a massive buff from doing absolutely nothing to clearing all entry hazards from the field with the side effect of lowering the foe's evasion. This secondary effect would otherwise be pointless, but it is very useful for Pokemon with Defiant as they can punish the use of Defog, because by lowering its evasion their Attack stat will increase by two stages. Pawniard is extremely threatening after a boost to both slower and faster teams due to STAB Knock Off crippling bulkier Pokemon while Sucker Punch alleviates Pawniard's subpar Speed. Primeape's advantage over Pawniard is its wider movepool with the likes of Stone Edge, Gunk Shot, and U-turn which target common Defoggers like Mantine and Pelipper; OHKOing all of them with the appropriate coverage move after a Defiant boost. However, the main flaw with using these as a way to deter entry hazards is that 3 of the common Defog users [Prinplup, Pelipper, Mantine] all have STAB Scald which puts these two in an awkward and often unfavorable position whether or not to switch into a Defog and get the boost or risk a burn from Scald.​
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Primeape @ Choice Band​
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge / Ice Punch
- Gunk Shot / Earthquake

or

Primeape @ Black Belt
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Encore

pls don't use scarf primeape k

Team Examples:

Carracosta Offense

BirdSpam Offense

~~~

Well, thats about it - hope this is a helpful guide for new and experienced players alike :)
Might add some more information in the future, but I think I went into enough detail lol.
 
Last edited:
Maybe Mega Camerupt in SR setters?
Really effective SR setters that finds lots of opportunities to set up SR on the switches it forces. Plus, lots of its checks such as mantine and archeops lose 1/4 of their health from switching in on SR.
 
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