mfw no flying gem
Overview
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Sadly, Hawlucha has numerous flaws that prevent it from making much of an impact in the OU metagame. The most crippling problem with Hawlucha is that it is countered or checked by some of the best and most common Pokemon in the tier, namely Aegislash, Thundurus, and Talonflame. On top of this, Hawlucha is heavily outclassed by other sweepers, particularly Mega Pinsir, and it cannot break through most defensive cores without a ton of support. However, Hawlucha does have its advantages. Unlike most sweepers in OU, Hawlucha is not reliant on priority; it outspeeds everything in the entire game after Unburden has been activated. It also has a crucial neutrality to Stealth Rock unlike Mega Pinsir. Hawlucha is not a bad Pokemon per se; the metagame is simply extremely unkind to it. If it is provided with adequate support though, Hawlucha is quite capable of pulling its weight in battle.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Acrobatics
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Sky Attack
ability: Unburden
item: Power Herb
evs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Swords Dance gives Hawlucha the power it needs to threaten defensive Pokemon and also lets it sweep severely weakened teams. Acrobatics is Hawlucha's main STAB option since it is decently powerful and has no drawbacks, while High Jump Kick is used for Fighting-type STAB, though it comes with a nasty side effect of causing recoil damage when it misses. Sky Attack is used alongside Power Herb to activate Unburden and is quite powerful, OHKOing Pokemon such as Garchomp at +2.
Set Details
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The given Speed EVs allow Hawlucha to outspeed Garchomp before Unburden. Adamant is the nature of choice because Hawlucha outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame and most of the boosted metagame with Unburden active even without a Speed boosting nature. Jolly can be used to outspeed Latios, Latias, Keldeo, Terrakion, and Gengar before Unburden and OHKO them with Sky Attack, but the Speed is entirely unnecessary once Unburden has been activated, and Hawlucha needs all the power it can get it order to sweep since its base Attack is rather low.
Usage Tips
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Use Swords Dance on a predicted switch or against a Pokemon that cannot threaten Hawlucha. Refrain from setting up or using Sky Attack until Hawlucha's checks and counters have been removed or severely weakened, since Hawlucha will rarely get more than one chance to sweep because of the one-time use nature of Unburden. If you get Hawlucha in early-game, the best option is generally to either double switch into Pokemon a that threatens Hawlucha's counters or spam High Jump Kick if your opponent lacks a Ghost-type. Be wary of Protect users, especially ones that are weak to High Jump Kick, such as Chansey and Heatran.
Team Options
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Pursuit support is almost mandatory for Hawlucha to help remove its biggest counter, Aegislash. Bisharp is the best answer to Aegislash in the tier and can easily come in and trap it. While Choice Scarf Tyranitar can't Pursuit trap Aegislash as easily as Bisharp can, it is great against Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, two of the other biggest threats to Hawlucha. Thundurus, Manectric, and Raikou are also good offensive checks to Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, and in addition, the latter two are also good answers to Thundurus. Excadrill can check Thundurus, Aegislash, and Clefable while also softening up physical walls such as Hippowdon for Hawlucha. Heatran has great defensive synergy with Hawlucha, can set up Stealth Rock to give it an easier time sweeping, and is a great switch-in to Aegislash, Talonflame, and Unaware Clefable.
Other Options
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Hawlucha can use a Baton Pass set with Substitute and Swords Dance in order to lure in Aegislash and give boosts to teammates such as Bisharp or Diggersby, but such a set is rarely worth the teamslot. Hawlucha can use Fling and a Dread Plate to OHKO Aegislash at +2, but if Aegislash uses King's Shield, the item is still lost, so it is unreliable and only works against unsuspecting players. Hawlucha can run a Life Orb set; however, the lack of strong Flying-type STAB and large amount of competition from superior options such as Terrakion make it a poor option overall.
Checks & Counters
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**Aegislash**: Aegislash hard walls Hawlucha thanks to its great typing, bulk, and King's Shield. It can set up Substitutes on Hawlucha or hit it hard with Shadow Ball. However, it must be wary of the gimmicky Fling.
**Thundurus**: Thundurus resists Hawlucha's STAB moves and can stop its sweep with priority Thunder Wave or simply OHKO it with Thunderbolt.
**Priority**: Hawlucha lacks priority of any kind, so opposing priority users make great checks to it. In particular, Talonflame and Mega Pinsir can OHKO Hawlucha with Brave Bird and Quick Attack, respectively.
**Zapdos**: Thanks to its typing, Zapdos is not 2HKOed by even a boosted Hawlucha's STAB moves and can OHKO it with Thunderbolt.
**Physical walls**: While not perfect stops to Hawlucha, physical walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory can usually take a STAB move at +2 and phaze it out.
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