Conkeldurr, eat your heart out.
Overview
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- Great attack stat rips holes in Pokemon that don't resist its attacks.
- Huge Hp stat somewhat mitigates sub-par defenses.
- Low speed is a blessing on dedicated Trick Room teams.
- Diverse movepool allows multiple roles.
- Speed a liability outside of Trick Room, also slowest Fake Out user not named Kecleon or Scrafty.
- Four moveslot syndrome.
- Longevity greatly shortened by Guts and lack of reliable healing options.
Trick Room Utility
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name: Trick Room Utility
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Feint / Knock Off
move 4: Detect / Wide Guard / Rock Slide
ability: Guts
item: Flame Orb
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave
Moves
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- Fake Out is the priority move of choice, and should be used to help teammates set up Trick Room.
- Close Combat hits like a truck after Hariyama is burned, heavily damaging or KOing Pokemon that don't resist it.
- Feint can be used to help teammates smash through Protect, while Knock Off gives Hariyama some much appreciated coverage against Psychic and Ghost types.
- Detect allows Hariyama to protect against powerful attacks and can be used to safely wait a turn while Trick Room setters attempt to set up. Wide Guard can be used in a similar capacity, negating spread attacks. Rock Slide can be used if additional coverage is desired, as it takes care of Pokemon Hariyama otherwise couldn't touch, such as Mega-Charizard-Y and Volcanora.
- Hariyama has a wealth of coverage options to further support its team. Heavy Slam can be used if the team struggles against Fairy-types, as it destroys all Fairies not named Mawile, Klefki, or Azumarill. Earthquake can be used specifically to combat Mega-Mawile. Fire Punch ruins Scizor's day, Ice Punch hits 4x weak Dragons hard, and Lightning Punch surprises and KOs Azumarill, whom like Mega-Mawile can survive any other move Hariyama runs and KO back with Play Rough.
Set Details
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- The most reliable set Hariyama offers. Guts increases its damage output impressively, but its longevity suffers.
- EV spread optimal to provide both increased bulk - to somewhat improve longevity - and give substantial attacking prowress.
- 0 Speed IVs and Brave nature lower Hariyama's speed as far as possible, "outspeeding" neutral base 30 and faster Pokemon in Trick Room.
- Adamant nature and 31 Speed IVs can be used when not using Trick Room, although this results in the set being strictly inferior to Hitmontop.
- Flame Orb reliably burns Hariyama to trigger Guts, which also prevents the attack decrease typically associated with the status.
Usage Tips
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- Trick Room is essential for this set to work properly. Hariyama's dismal speed and poor defenses result in faster Pokemon KOing it before it can attack outside of Trick Room.
- Fake Out is very useful in giving Hariyama something to do outside of Trick Room and giving Trick Room setters a better opportunity to set up. It also can prevent status abusers from ruining Hariyama with priority status inducing attacks.
- Once Trick Room has been set up, Hariyama becomes something of a hit man, taking down enemies that are checks and counters to the team's sweepers and busting down walls.
- Due to its lack of recovery, multiple switches are seldom possible with Hariyama, but can be beneficial to rack up Fake Out damage and tempo gains.
Team Options
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- Trick Room setters are required. Jellicent and Chandelure make great partners, both able to reliably set up Trick Room with Fake Out support (which they themselves do not fear) and the latter can mop up Psychic and Ghost types that trouble Hariyama.
- Other Pokemon that can soak Psychic and Ghost types for Hariyama are also appreciated. Tyranitar and Mega-Mawile fit this bill nicely and also perform admirably on Trick Room teams. Pokemon that can deal with Talonflame's priority Brave Bird, such as Mega-Ampharados, are also great teammates.
- Bulky sweepers such as Mega-Abomasnow can help clean up once Hariyama is done blowing holes in the opponent's team and help net KOs with spread moves that Hariyama would otherwise not achieve.
- Talonflame also gets a mention due to its ability to attack first despite Trick Room and deal with Fighting-types that Hariyama cannot punch through.
Other Options
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- Poor speed and poor defensive stats limit Hariyama's use outside of Trick Room.
- Belly Drum is an option for a risky Hariyama set that uses Sitrus Berry and Bullet Punch. It requires considerable support (Spore works great with it) but has nearly unrivaled attacking prowess.
- Choice Scarf Hariyama can run Sheer Power and pick from its variety of elemental Punches to surprise opponents. This set would fare better in singles metas, where being Choice locked is less of an inconvenience.
- A ChestoRest set would allow Hariyama to use Bulk Up in an attempt to become a legitimate physical tank. This set is outclassed by the likes of Iron Fist Conkeldurr, which can run Bulk Up with much more reliable recovery in Drain Punch.
- A gimmicky set involving Wake-Up Slap and Smelling Salts can be attempted on teams with a wealth of status abusers, but its lack of reliability makes it generally inferior to other sets.
Checks and Counters
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**Offensive Typing Advantage**
- Priority Flying-type moves are the bane of Hariyama. All varieties of Talonflame OHKO Hariyama with their priority Brave Bird, although Hariyama running Rock Slide can KO one foolish enough to switch into it.
- Hariyama does not fare much better against strong Psychic or Fairy-type moves, although it usually has the ability to OHKO users of the latter first in Trick Room if using Heavy Slam. No Hariyama stands much of a chance against Azumarill or Mega-Mawile, which survive Heavy Slam and can OHKO back with Play Rough.
- Few Pokemon can hope to stall either Hariyama set either due to its coverage or raw power. However, Gliscor shrugs off Hariyama's attacks and can simply stall until burn damage takes its toll. Skarmory doesn't enjoy taking Close Combat, but can Roost if moving last.
**Status**
- While no Hariyama running Guts fears burn, all become ruined if effected by another status. Great care should be taken to ensure Flame Orb does its job, either by targetting status abusers with Fake Out or simply not using Hariyama with those Pokemon in play.
- Top offenders include Amoonguss (in Trick Room), Klefki, and Thundurus.
**Attack Control**
- Hariyama does not enjoy attack control. Intimidate greatly reduces its utility, typically forcing a switch.
- Arcanine and Landorus survive -1 Rock Slide and hit back hard, and Mega-Manetric laughs at -1 Earthquake and hits back hard with STAB attacks of its own.
**Utility Moves**
- Tricking a Choice Sash cripples any Pokemon in Trick Room, but common users such as Rotom-W can usually be KOed by Hariyama before they have the opportunity.
- Ironically, Hariyama rarely minds being Faked Out itself, except in circumstances where it has low health.
- Knock Off used against Hariyama before its item is used generally cripples it.
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