Hitmonchan Discussion

[ebeast]

Cowritten with Molk

Hitmonchan
(who wears manly skirts)

~Typing:

~Base Stats: 50 HP / 105 Atk / 79 Def / 35 SpAtk / 110 SpD / 76 Spe
~Abilities: Keen Eye / Iron Fist / Inner Focus (DW)​

Overview


In a tier full of powerful Fighting-type Pokemon such as Medicham, Gallade, Hariyama, and Hitmonlee who possess individual qualitites that makes them good such as Medicham's raw power, Gallade excellent bulk, Hariyama's Thick Fat and Guts, and Hitmonlee's Unburden. Due to this one would wonder why Hitmonchan of all the other Fighting-type Pokemon in the tier would get so much usage. A combination of versatility, decent bulk, and its Iron Fist ability, which gives Hitmonchan a reliable priority move in Mach Punch, alongside excellent coverage moves that benefit greatly from it give it the niche that Hitmonchan has been searching for since its introduction in Generation 1. Thanks to its excellent Fighting-type STABs and its access to elemental punches backed up by Iron Fist, Hitmonchan has all that it needs to be a versatile and dangerous threat. On the other hand, its defensive capability shouldn't be overlooked and even Rapid Spin sets are viable, but is usually outclassed by better Rapid Spin users such as Cryogonal who don't suffer from 4-Moveslot Syndrome and require the use of Foresight to get the job done.


~Notable Moves:

• Drain Punch
• Close Combat
• Thunder Punch
• Ice Punch
• Fire Punch
• Agility
• Foresight
• Rapid Spin
• Mach Punch
• Substitute
• Focus Punch
• Bulk Up
• Hi Jump Kick
• Earthquake
• Stone Edge
• Fake Out

~Example Sets:


All-Out Attacker
~ Drain Punch / Close Combat
~ Mach Punch
~ Ice Punch
~ Thunder Punch
~Item: Life Orb
~Ability: Iron Fist
~Nature: Adamant
~EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

With Hitmonchan's excellent coverage, Iron Fist ability, and priority in the form of Mach Punch, Hitmonchan makes for quite the offensive powerhouse. Backed by the amazing coverage provided by Hitmonchan's signature elemental punches, the only Pokemon safe from Hitmonchan's assault are bulky Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Cofagrigus, Spiritomb, and Uxie. The main reason to use Hitmonchan over competitors such as Medicham and Gallade is Hitmonchan's powerful and useful priority attack, Mach Punch which gets boosted by Iron Fist. This gives Hitmonchan the power to revenge kill dangerous Pokemon such as Kabutops, Omastar, Absol, and Crawdaunt before they can even touch our manly skirt wearing boxer. The EVs are specifically for Absol, who Hitmonchan can outspeed thanks to its slightly higher base speed and kills with a Mach Punch to avoid being OHKOed by a +2 Sucker Punch.


Rapid Spin
~ Rapid Spin
~ Foresight / Mach Punch
~ Drain Punch
~ Ice Punch
~Item: Leftovers
~Ability: Iron Fist
~Nature: Adamant
~EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe

While this is Hitmonchan's most popular set, it is listed below the All-Out Attacker set for a good reason. This set does have the utility of being able to utilize Rapid Spin, it isn't as good as other Rapid Spin users such as Cryogonal and Sandslash due to its complete inability to take out Ghost-type Pokemon that come in to prevent your Rapid Spin. Foresight would at least allow Himonchan to Rapid Spin on Ghost-type Pokemon, but it is as of now an unpopular choice as most Hitmonchan's are using Mach Punch for its utility. While Hitmonchan isn't the best Rapid Spin user out there, it still has some merit and therefore this set is still listed mainly due to Hitmonchan being able to take physical hits better than Cryogonal, while being able to take special hits better than Sandslash all while being capable of recovering its health with Drain Punch.


~A few general questions for discussion:

• What sorts of Hitmonchan sets do you run?
• What do you feel Hitmonchan is best at doing?
• What kind of support does Hitmonchan require most?
• How does Hitmonchan support your team?

 

[PrimeMinister]

A quick question- why the odd EVs on the rapid spin set? What are you outspeeding? (I'm sure there's a valid reason, I'm just asking.)

I've never really used Himonchan, but I think liepard would team greatly with it. Bulky ghosts, psychics, and even bulky waters carrying scald (most notably slowking) are Hitmon's biggest threats, and with liepard's new toy in Dark pulse, it can run an effective nasty plot set, skyrocketing it's special attack and allowing it to break through the aforementioned walls, and liepard carries super effective STAB as well, when dealing with ghosts or psychics.

Cofagrigus's common wil-o-wisp will not give nasty plot liepard much trouble, as liepard's SAtk will remain untouched.
Liepard will also resist ghost type stabs and is immune to psychic attacks, allowing it to switch in easily on walls.

 

[Double01]

I've never really liked Hitmonchan as an attacker or rapid spinner. I feel like on the offensive front there are just so many fighting types that out class offensively, such as Unburden Hitmonlee and SD/BU Gallade. Hitmonchan just lacks the speed and power of other fighting types.
Hitmonchan is also just an average rapid spinner. As it gets set up on hard by the most common spin blocker in the tier Cofag. Although, it does have foresight which at least can spin the hazards away but it is just too much set up bait for ghosts.

I hardly ever see offensive Hitmonchan as well which is a shame because it does have pretty fantastic coverage via elemental punches.

 

[jake]

A quick question- why the odd EVs on the rapid spin set? What are you outspeeding? (I'm sure there's a valid reason, I'm just asking.)

I've never really used Himonchan, but I think liepard would team greatly with it. Bulky ghosts, psychics, and even bulky waters carrying scald (most notably slowking) are Hitmon's biggest threats, and with liepard's new toy in Dark pulse, it can run an effective nasty plot set, skyrocketing it's special attack and allowing it to break through the aforementioned walls, and liepard carries super effective STAB as well, when dealing with ghosts or psychics.

Cofagrigus's common wil-o-wisp will not give nasty plot liepard much trouble, as liepard's SAtk will remain untouched.
Liepard will also resist ghost type stabs and is immune to psychic attacks, allowing it to switch in easily on walls.

It lets Hitmonchan outspeed neutral base 70s. There's very little reason to run max Speed on Hitmonchan, imo; you really only get Smeargle, opposing Hitmonchan, and neutral base 80s / Feraligatr. Most of those base 80s are gonna beat you anyway, though...

If Liepard tries to come in, it's basically got a 50/50 chance to not die (switching in on Shadow Ball or Nasty Plot vs switching in on TR / HP Fight) which is fairly unreliable for my tastes. Plus, it's got a less than 45% chance to OHKO Cofagrigus after SR with Dark Pulse, meaning it could still win after a Nasty Plot by using TR and proceeding to sweep.

I have to agree that Hitmonchan has become a relatively mediocre Rapid Spinner, but I don't use the listed set. With Toxic > Ice Punch (you only really miss it on some stuff like Roselia, since Gligar's gone) you can effectively lure in any Ghost-type and poison it, setting yourself up for a spin later on. Plus, you can nab stuff like Slowking and Tangrowth as well, which really helps you out if you're trying to get a lategame sweep with something like Hitmonlee. Hitmonchan is still one of the cooler Pokemon around and one of the more reliable spinners, definitely.

 

[ebeast]

It lets Hitmonchan outspeed neutral base 70s. There's very little reason to run max Speed on Hitmonchan, imo; you really only get Smeargle, opposing Hitmonchan, and neutral base 80s / Feraligatr. Most of those base 80s are gonna beat you anyway, though...

If Liepard tries to come in, it's basically got a 50/50 chance to not die (switching in on Shadow Ball or Nasty Plot vs switching in on TR / HP Fight) which is fairly unreliable for my tastes. Plus, it's got a less than 45% chance to OHKO Cofagrigus after SR with Dark Pulse, meaning it could still win after a Nasty Plot by using TR and proceeding to sweep.

I have to agree that Hitmonchan has become a relatively mediocre Rapid Spinner, but I don't use the listed set. With Toxic > Ice Punch (you only really miss it on some stuff like Roselia, since Gligar's gone) you can effectively lure in any Ghost-type and poison it, setting yourself up for a spin later on. Plus, you can nab stuff like Slowking and Tangrowth as well, which really helps you out if you're trying to get a lategame sweep with something like Hitmonlee. Hitmonchan is still one of the cooler Pokemon around and one of the more reliable spinners, definitely.

The only reason for max speed on Hitmonchan is due to Absol becoming more popular since Honchkrow left RU and that at +2 it wil outspeed other Chan spreads and get off a Sucker Punch, which actually has an incredibly high chance to OHKO.

252 +2 Atk Life Orb Absol (+Atk) Sucker Punch vs 40 HP/0 Def Hitmonchan: 90.04% - 106.37% (75% chance to OHKO)
If you used your Hitmonchan even once beforehand it will die.

 

[Scubasteve23]

I hardly ever see offensive Hitmonchan as well which is a shame because it does have pretty fantastic coverage via elemental punches.

Although it does have some pretty incredible coverage, most of its' stats are just too low, especially in comparison to the other fighting types in this tier.