Progress: Re-done.
[Overview]
<p>Houndour has great typing to go along with a great ability. Dark/Fire can really shine in a metagame filled with Ghosts, and Flash Fire allows easy switch-ins due to its immunity to Will-O-Wisp. Houndour also has one of the most effective tools at its disposal, Sucker Punch, which is an 80 Base Power STAB priority move. This allows it to run many more sets effectively, such as Reversal and mixed sets. It also helps with the only thing holding Houndour back, its mediocre Speed. Houndour is a big threat to this metagame with its powerful STABs, high Special attack, and powerful priority to boot. Houndour's biggest weakness on the sets with Sucker Punch, are the rare opponents that resist it, and are faster than Houndour. All Houndour needs is something that can absorb Aqua Jets coming from Carvahna and Vacuum Waves coming from Croagunk, and with proper prediction, Houndour is quite difficult to stop.</p>
[SET]
Name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Overheat / Pursuit
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 200 SpA / 40 SpD / 240 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Houndour's excellent Special Attack, decent Speed, and powerful STAB attacks make it a great Choice Scarf user. This set is especially useful for revenge killing slower Choice Scarf users and unboosted faster Pokémon, since they tend to be frail enough to be OHKOed by at least one of Houndour's attacks. Additionally, Houndour can sweep late game with Fire Blast or Dark Pulse when its counters are weakened.</p>
<p>Fire Blast backed by Houndour's base 80 Special Attack will 2HKO anything that switches in at the very least. Dark Pulse hits Water-types, Ghosts, and Wynaut. Hidden Power hits opposing Houndour, but Hidden Power Ground will also OHKO Pokémon such as Ponyta who can survive a Dark Pulse. Overheat and Pursuit are great moves to use in the last slot for different reasons. Overheat allows Houndour to play an effective hit-and-run strategy, which works well with Rapid Spin support. Pursuit allows Houndour to trap and OHKO most of the Ghost-types in the tier, even with a Timid nature.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With Houndour's immunities and high Special Attack, any Pokémon who can give it a chance to switch in and weaken its counters is going to be helpful, especially if it lures Fire-type attacks. Additionally, Pokémon who can absorb the ever common priority attacks such as Aqua Jet and Vacuum Wave will be necessary since Houndour will otherwise be OHKOed. Paras comes to mind as a great teammate for Houndour because of the above reasons.</p>
[SET]
Name: LeaDour
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Protect / Taunt
move 3: Overheat / Fire Blast
move 4: Reversal
item: Focus Sash
ability: Early Bird
nature: Lonely
evs: 196 Atk / 196 SpA / 36 SpD / 76 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set is designed to use Houndour's strong points to stop the opponent from setting up early game. With a combination of Protect, Focus Sash, and Early Bird, not much will be able to deal with Houndour, since most Pokémon are 2HKOed by Overheat or Reversal and Sucker Punch. This set also functions decently as a revenge killer or wall breaker after its job as a lead is done.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set is designed to deal with the opponent's lead and will rarely ever leave you at a disadvantage. Protect is needed for scouting, or blocking Fake Out from leads such as Meowth and Aipom. Overheat OHKOes Bronzor and most other Pokémon that do not resist Fire-type attacks. Sucker Punch is to finish off the Focus Sash leads, or deal damage if you do not need to use Overheat to KO the opposing Pokémon (to avoid the drop in Special Attack). Reversal easily takes out Meowth and Aipom (without resorting to Overheat) if they attack you with Return, while also taking out Houndour's number one switch-in, Munchlax. Reversal and Focus Sash work perfectly together as Focus Sash brings Houndour to 1 HP, giving Reversal nearly full power. Taunt can be used over Protect if you do not care about Meowth and want to stop Trick Room leads from setting up.</p>
<p>The true power of this set lies in Houndour's ability, Early Bird. A combination of Early Bird, Focus Sash, and Sucker Punch cover almost every possible lead. Early Bird deals with foe Meowth who attempt to Hypnosis you when expecting a Sucker Punch, while also dealing with lead Gastly who also use Hypnosis. Focus Sash with Overheat or Reversal and Sucker Punch will 2HKO almost any foe. This set however is not a suicide lead, so it can come back later in the game for a Sucker Punch revenge kill, or even if you need a powerful Pokémon to break down your opponent's walls.</p>
<p>The first thing you may notice when reviewing the EV spread is the lack of Speed. The Attack EVs are important to get OHKOes on Pokémon such as Diglett and Munchlax with Sucker Punch and Reversal respectively. The Special Attack EVs are important to hit Bronzor and for spread damage.</p>
<p>The most difficult lead for Houndour to deal with is Diglett. However, if Diglett takes the route of KOing Houndour instead of setting up Stealth Rock, that gives you a huge opening for some of the most dangerous Pokémon in the metagame. Gligar can easily set up on the standard Lead Diglett, due to being immune to Earthquake, and having ways around Sucker Punch. It can easily set up Swords Dance, Rock Polish, or Stealth Rock while Diglett is essentially useless against it. With these Pokémon countering Houndour's only true counter, you should be set for almost any situation.</p>
[SET]
Name: MixDour
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Substitute / Hidden Power Ground
item: Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Lonely / Mild
evs: 196 Atk / 196 SpA / 36 SpD / 76 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set specializes in taking out many of your opponent's defensive Pokémon, while also getting rid of the frail sweepers. Life Orb boosted Fire Blast hits everything that does not resist it incredibly hard, while Pokémon such as Munchlax are nailed by Crunch. Your opponent will likely try to revenge kill Houndour with some sort of Choice Scarf attacker, but a Life Orb boosted Sucker Punch says no to that, getting the OHKO on many frail Pokémon, most importantly Diglett. Substitute can be used to essentially guarantee a KO if set up. The strategy is simple: send in Houndour on something like Wynaut or Bronzor, then set up a Substitute on the switch and proceed to KO one of your opponents Pokémon with Crunch or Fire Blast. Hidden Power Ground is there to hit other Houndour and also defensive Rock-types who resist Fire Blast. Pursuit is an option to allow Houndour to trap Ghosts and Psychics, while also hitting other Choiced Fire Pokémon hard when they are forced out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Houndour's excellent mixed offensive stats and movepool give it the ability to run a very dangerous mixed set. With max EVs in Attack and Special Attack, Houndour will easily OHKO the likes of Bronzor and Diglett with Fire Blast and Sucker Punch respectively, as well as 2HKOing Munchlax with Crunch. Because of Houndour's ability to 2HKO almost the entire metagame with three attacks, Substitute works well in the last slot. If you manage to set up a Substitute via forcing a switch, then Houndour will almost assuredly get KO.</p>
<p>Here are some damage calculations to show the effectiveness of this set. These calculations show that Crunch is very powerful against the primary special wall in Little Cup, and that even with a Lonely nature Houndour's Fire Blast still hits incredibly hard. They also show the power of Sucker Punch.</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>Crunch vs min HP / 36 Def Munchlax: 48.48% - 63.64%</li>
<li>Fire Blast vs 220 HP / 68 SpD Bronzor: 100%</li>
<li>Sucker Punch vs min HP / min Def Diglett: 100%</li>
</ul>
<p>As the calculations make apparent, not much can switch into Houndour and live to fight back. However Houndour's weaknesses need to be covered, because after Houndour takes a Pokémon out, it will likely be forced out. Pokémon like Mantyke, Paras, Gligar, and even Misdreavus are great teammates for Houndour in this way, because they can switch into Pokémon like Croagunk or Buizel and take the opportunity to set up, or put the opponent to sleep. Giving Houndour a chance to attack is the key aspect a team needs to have for this set to be effective though, so Pokémon who lure either slower Pokémon such as Bronzor, and especially Choiced Psychic or Fire-types are good Pokémon to pair Houndour with. Croagunk fits this spot quite well, giving Houndour many opportunities to switch in, and also taking Water and Fighting-type attacks aimed at Houndour as a bonus.</p>
<p>Houndour also opens up the door for Pokémon who need walls gone with its powerful wall breaking capabilities. Bronzor, Munchlax, and the like will fall to the correct attack from Houndour. With Bronzor gone, Taillow and Dratini will have an easy time sweeping, while Misdreavus and basically any other special attacker will benefit from Munchlax being severely weakened or fainted.</p>
[SET]
Name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid / Hasty
evs: 200 SpA / 40 SpD / 240 Spe
ivs: 31 HP / 31 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set aims to force a switch and set up a Nasty Plot. After a Nasty Plot, Houndour will be able to OHKO almost any Pokémon after a +2 boost, with the exception of max Special Defense Munchlax, who has a decent chance to survive a +2 Hidden Power Fighting. Fire Blast is Houndour's main attack and will OHKO any Pokémon that does not resist it, while Dark Pulse will nail everything that does not.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The strategy of this set starts by switching Houndour in on one of its immunities (Fire and Psychic). From there, you hit the opposing switch in with whatever you feel would do the most damage to weaken the counter. After you do this once, you can Nasty Plot on the next switch in, and KO Houndour's counter. With the Special Attack boost under your belt, you can OHKO most of the metagame, but even without it, the type coverage of Dark Pulse and Flamethrower is very respectable. Hidden Power Fighting is for the annoying and ever-present Munchlax as well as foe Houndour. However, it is also a great weapon for the occasional Aron or Shieldon, which would otherwise shrug off your Dark Pulses and take neutral damage from Flamethrower.</p>
<p>An alternative spread can be used by putting 156 EVs from Special Attack into HP. The reason that the Special Attack EVs are not maxed is because the power of Life Orb and Nasty Plot make the extra EVs often redundant. However, Houndour's defenses are poor anyway, so the HP is generally not worth it. If you opt for Sucker Punch on this set, you can easily throw those extra EVs into Attack as well, which will easily allow you to OHKO Diglett (if you use a Hasty nature over Timid).</p>
<p>This set needs help taking care of some of the bulkier Pokémon; however, it mainly needs some time to set up, which is hard to get in Little Cup. There is one Pokémon who can quite easily buy Houndour a turn to set up, and that Pokémon is Wynaut. Wynaut not only has the ability to trap and Encore a foe, but it also is Psychic-type, which lures out Dark-type attacks and makes the foe less likely to use Fighting-type attacks. With a turn from Wynaut, Houndour can set up a Nasty Plot and nail whichever Pokémon that switches in with a terribly strong attack. That is, until a faster Pokémon comes in, so the usual Pokémon such as Paras and Croagunk come to mind as great partners.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Houndour can effectively run a physical set, if only because of Sucker Punch. Fire Fang is a very weak STAB attack and Thunder Fang offers mediocre coverage, hitting bulky Water-types without Volt Absorb. However, a Choice Banded Sucker Punch can OHKO Pokémon that the Life Orb sets with Sucker Punch can not, such as Voltorb and Doduo.</p>
<p>Houndour is one of the best Beat Up users outside of Ubers. It hits incredibly hard with a correct Beat Up team. However, this set can only be used effectively in the circumstances that there is a good Beat Up team backing it up. Beat Up can also be underwhelming, since it is still too weak to OHKO Munchlax without a Dread Plate.</p>
<p>A SolarBeam set can be used effectively on a Sunny Day team, especially since Sunny Day also boosts Fire-type attacks. Will-O-Wisp is a good move to catch Munchlax and other Pokémon on the switch, and it might be worthwhile to find space for it, even when considering its lower accuracy.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Because of the type coverage allotted by Dark and Fire, there are not too many Pokémon that can reliably switch into the Nasty Plot set. Without knowing what set you are up against, Diglett will not want to risk switching into a Houndour to revenge it, only to find itself OHKOed by Sucker Punch, or worse yet, to get shot down in flames by Fire Blast or Flamethrower by a Choice Scarf variant. Shieldon and Aron cannot even take a Life Orb-boosted Fire Blast, though if up against a Choice set, Dark Pulse is an ideal move to switch in on, though they must beware Overheat. Mantyke does fine against any Choiced variant of Houndour, but it needs to beware of mixed variants. Omanyte and Kabuto can cause massive trouble for Houndour in the rain or sandstorm, but that is fairly situational.</p>
<p>Houndour is basically countered by anything faster than it that can take an attack followed by a Sucker Punch, such as Munchlax, but anything that switches in is going to lose a lot of health. Other faster priority users can cause trouble as well, such as Magby with Mach Punch. The faster counters are much less effective now because of Sucker Punch. Croagunk is also a good revenge killer with Vacuum Wave and Sucker Punch resistance. Gligar can revenge kill most variants as well, since it survives Sucker Punch and can easily OHKO Houndour with Earthquake.</p>
[Overview]
<p>Houndour has great typing to go along with a great ability. Dark/Fire can really shine in a metagame filled with Ghosts, and Flash Fire allows easy switch-ins due to its immunity to Will-O-Wisp. Houndour also has one of the most effective tools at its disposal, Sucker Punch, which is an 80 Base Power STAB priority move. This allows it to run many more sets effectively, such as Reversal and mixed sets. It also helps with the only thing holding Houndour back, its mediocre Speed. Houndour is a big threat to this metagame with its powerful STABs, high Special attack, and powerful priority to boot. Houndour's biggest weakness on the sets with Sucker Punch, are the rare opponents that resist it, and are faster than Houndour. All Houndour needs is something that can absorb Aqua Jets coming from Carvahna and Vacuum Waves coming from Croagunk, and with proper prediction, Houndour is quite difficult to stop.</p>
[SET]
Name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Overheat / Pursuit
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 200 SpA / 40 SpD / 240 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Houndour's excellent Special Attack, decent Speed, and powerful STAB attacks make it a great Choice Scarf user. This set is especially useful for revenge killing slower Choice Scarf users and unboosted faster Pokémon, since they tend to be frail enough to be OHKOed by at least one of Houndour's attacks. Additionally, Houndour can sweep late game with Fire Blast or Dark Pulse when its counters are weakened.</p>
<p>Fire Blast backed by Houndour's base 80 Special Attack will 2HKO anything that switches in at the very least. Dark Pulse hits Water-types, Ghosts, and Wynaut. Hidden Power hits opposing Houndour, but Hidden Power Ground will also OHKO Pokémon such as Ponyta who can survive a Dark Pulse. Overheat and Pursuit are great moves to use in the last slot for different reasons. Overheat allows Houndour to play an effective hit-and-run strategy, which works well with Rapid Spin support. Pursuit allows Houndour to trap and OHKO most of the Ghost-types in the tier, even with a Timid nature.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With Houndour's immunities and high Special Attack, any Pokémon who can give it a chance to switch in and weaken its counters is going to be helpful, especially if it lures Fire-type attacks. Additionally, Pokémon who can absorb the ever common priority attacks such as Aqua Jet and Vacuum Wave will be necessary since Houndour will otherwise be OHKOed. Paras comes to mind as a great teammate for Houndour because of the above reasons.</p>
[SET]
Name: LeaDour
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Protect / Taunt
move 3: Overheat / Fire Blast
move 4: Reversal
item: Focus Sash
ability: Early Bird
nature: Lonely
evs: 196 Atk / 196 SpA / 36 SpD / 76 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set is designed to use Houndour's strong points to stop the opponent from setting up early game. With a combination of Protect, Focus Sash, and Early Bird, not much will be able to deal with Houndour, since most Pokémon are 2HKOed by Overheat or Reversal and Sucker Punch. This set also functions decently as a revenge killer or wall breaker after its job as a lead is done.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set is designed to deal with the opponent's lead and will rarely ever leave you at a disadvantage. Protect is needed for scouting, or blocking Fake Out from leads such as Meowth and Aipom. Overheat OHKOes Bronzor and most other Pokémon that do not resist Fire-type attacks. Sucker Punch is to finish off the Focus Sash leads, or deal damage if you do not need to use Overheat to KO the opposing Pokémon (to avoid the drop in Special Attack). Reversal easily takes out Meowth and Aipom (without resorting to Overheat) if they attack you with Return, while also taking out Houndour's number one switch-in, Munchlax. Reversal and Focus Sash work perfectly together as Focus Sash brings Houndour to 1 HP, giving Reversal nearly full power. Taunt can be used over Protect if you do not care about Meowth and want to stop Trick Room leads from setting up.</p>
<p>The true power of this set lies in Houndour's ability, Early Bird. A combination of Early Bird, Focus Sash, and Sucker Punch cover almost every possible lead. Early Bird deals with foe Meowth who attempt to Hypnosis you when expecting a Sucker Punch, while also dealing with lead Gastly who also use Hypnosis. Focus Sash with Overheat or Reversal and Sucker Punch will 2HKO almost any foe. This set however is not a suicide lead, so it can come back later in the game for a Sucker Punch revenge kill, or even if you need a powerful Pokémon to break down your opponent's walls.</p>
<p>The first thing you may notice when reviewing the EV spread is the lack of Speed. The Attack EVs are important to get OHKOes on Pokémon such as Diglett and Munchlax with Sucker Punch and Reversal respectively. The Special Attack EVs are important to hit Bronzor and for spread damage.</p>
<p>The most difficult lead for Houndour to deal with is Diglett. However, if Diglett takes the route of KOing Houndour instead of setting up Stealth Rock, that gives you a huge opening for some of the most dangerous Pokémon in the metagame. Gligar can easily set up on the standard Lead Diglett, due to being immune to Earthquake, and having ways around Sucker Punch. It can easily set up Swords Dance, Rock Polish, or Stealth Rock while Diglett is essentially useless against it. With these Pokémon countering Houndour's only true counter, you should be set for almost any situation.</p>
[SET]
Name: MixDour
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Substitute / Hidden Power Ground
item: Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Lonely / Mild
evs: 196 Atk / 196 SpA / 36 SpD / 76 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set specializes in taking out many of your opponent's defensive Pokémon, while also getting rid of the frail sweepers. Life Orb boosted Fire Blast hits everything that does not resist it incredibly hard, while Pokémon such as Munchlax are nailed by Crunch. Your opponent will likely try to revenge kill Houndour with some sort of Choice Scarf attacker, but a Life Orb boosted Sucker Punch says no to that, getting the OHKO on many frail Pokémon, most importantly Diglett. Substitute can be used to essentially guarantee a KO if set up. The strategy is simple: send in Houndour on something like Wynaut or Bronzor, then set up a Substitute on the switch and proceed to KO one of your opponents Pokémon with Crunch or Fire Blast. Hidden Power Ground is there to hit other Houndour and also defensive Rock-types who resist Fire Blast. Pursuit is an option to allow Houndour to trap Ghosts and Psychics, while also hitting other Choiced Fire Pokémon hard when they are forced out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Houndour's excellent mixed offensive stats and movepool give it the ability to run a very dangerous mixed set. With max EVs in Attack and Special Attack, Houndour will easily OHKO the likes of Bronzor and Diglett with Fire Blast and Sucker Punch respectively, as well as 2HKOing Munchlax with Crunch. Because of Houndour's ability to 2HKO almost the entire metagame with three attacks, Substitute works well in the last slot. If you manage to set up a Substitute via forcing a switch, then Houndour will almost assuredly get KO.</p>
<p>Here are some damage calculations to show the effectiveness of this set. These calculations show that Crunch is very powerful against the primary special wall in Little Cup, and that even with a Lonely nature Houndour's Fire Blast still hits incredibly hard. They also show the power of Sucker Punch.</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>Crunch vs min HP / 36 Def Munchlax: 48.48% - 63.64%</li>
<li>Fire Blast vs 220 HP / 68 SpD Bronzor: 100%</li>
<li>Sucker Punch vs min HP / min Def Diglett: 100%</li>
</ul>
<p>As the calculations make apparent, not much can switch into Houndour and live to fight back. However Houndour's weaknesses need to be covered, because after Houndour takes a Pokémon out, it will likely be forced out. Pokémon like Mantyke, Paras, Gligar, and even Misdreavus are great teammates for Houndour in this way, because they can switch into Pokémon like Croagunk or Buizel and take the opportunity to set up, or put the opponent to sleep. Giving Houndour a chance to attack is the key aspect a team needs to have for this set to be effective though, so Pokémon who lure either slower Pokémon such as Bronzor, and especially Choiced Psychic or Fire-types are good Pokémon to pair Houndour with. Croagunk fits this spot quite well, giving Houndour many opportunities to switch in, and also taking Water and Fighting-type attacks aimed at Houndour as a bonus.</p>
<p>Houndour also opens up the door for Pokémon who need walls gone with its powerful wall breaking capabilities. Bronzor, Munchlax, and the like will fall to the correct attack from Houndour. With Bronzor gone, Taillow and Dratini will have an easy time sweeping, while Misdreavus and basically any other special attacker will benefit from Munchlax being severely weakened or fainted.</p>
[SET]
Name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid / Hasty
evs: 200 SpA / 40 SpD / 240 Spe
ivs: 31 HP / 31 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set aims to force a switch and set up a Nasty Plot. After a Nasty Plot, Houndour will be able to OHKO almost any Pokémon after a +2 boost, with the exception of max Special Defense Munchlax, who has a decent chance to survive a +2 Hidden Power Fighting. Fire Blast is Houndour's main attack and will OHKO any Pokémon that does not resist it, while Dark Pulse will nail everything that does not.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The strategy of this set starts by switching Houndour in on one of its immunities (Fire and Psychic). From there, you hit the opposing switch in with whatever you feel would do the most damage to weaken the counter. After you do this once, you can Nasty Plot on the next switch in, and KO Houndour's counter. With the Special Attack boost under your belt, you can OHKO most of the metagame, but even without it, the type coverage of Dark Pulse and Flamethrower is very respectable. Hidden Power Fighting is for the annoying and ever-present Munchlax as well as foe Houndour. However, it is also a great weapon for the occasional Aron or Shieldon, which would otherwise shrug off your Dark Pulses and take neutral damage from Flamethrower.</p>
<p>An alternative spread can be used by putting 156 EVs from Special Attack into HP. The reason that the Special Attack EVs are not maxed is because the power of Life Orb and Nasty Plot make the extra EVs often redundant. However, Houndour's defenses are poor anyway, so the HP is generally not worth it. If you opt for Sucker Punch on this set, you can easily throw those extra EVs into Attack as well, which will easily allow you to OHKO Diglett (if you use a Hasty nature over Timid).</p>
<p>This set needs help taking care of some of the bulkier Pokémon; however, it mainly needs some time to set up, which is hard to get in Little Cup. There is one Pokémon who can quite easily buy Houndour a turn to set up, and that Pokémon is Wynaut. Wynaut not only has the ability to trap and Encore a foe, but it also is Psychic-type, which lures out Dark-type attacks and makes the foe less likely to use Fighting-type attacks. With a turn from Wynaut, Houndour can set up a Nasty Plot and nail whichever Pokémon that switches in with a terribly strong attack. That is, until a faster Pokémon comes in, so the usual Pokémon such as Paras and Croagunk come to mind as great partners.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Houndour can effectively run a physical set, if only because of Sucker Punch. Fire Fang is a very weak STAB attack and Thunder Fang offers mediocre coverage, hitting bulky Water-types without Volt Absorb. However, a Choice Banded Sucker Punch can OHKO Pokémon that the Life Orb sets with Sucker Punch can not, such as Voltorb and Doduo.</p>
<p>Houndour is one of the best Beat Up users outside of Ubers. It hits incredibly hard with a correct Beat Up team. However, this set can only be used effectively in the circumstances that there is a good Beat Up team backing it up. Beat Up can also be underwhelming, since it is still too weak to OHKO Munchlax without a Dread Plate.</p>
<p>A SolarBeam set can be used effectively on a Sunny Day team, especially since Sunny Day also boosts Fire-type attacks. Will-O-Wisp is a good move to catch Munchlax and other Pokémon on the switch, and it might be worthwhile to find space for it, even when considering its lower accuracy.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Because of the type coverage allotted by Dark and Fire, there are not too many Pokémon that can reliably switch into the Nasty Plot set. Without knowing what set you are up against, Diglett will not want to risk switching into a Houndour to revenge it, only to find itself OHKOed by Sucker Punch, or worse yet, to get shot down in flames by Fire Blast or Flamethrower by a Choice Scarf variant. Shieldon and Aron cannot even take a Life Orb-boosted Fire Blast, though if up against a Choice set, Dark Pulse is an ideal move to switch in on, though they must beware Overheat. Mantyke does fine against any Choiced variant of Houndour, but it needs to beware of mixed variants. Omanyte and Kabuto can cause massive trouble for Houndour in the rain or sandstorm, but that is fairly situational.</p>
<p>Houndour is basically countered by anything faster than it that can take an attack followed by a Sucker Punch, such as Munchlax, but anything that switches in is going to lose a lot of health. Other faster priority users can cause trouble as well, such as Magby with Mach Punch. The faster counters are much less effective now because of Sucker Punch. Croagunk is also a good revenge killer with Vacuum Wave and Sucker Punch resistance. Gligar can revenge kill most variants as well, since it survives Sucker Punch and can easily OHKO Houndour with Earthquake.</p>
