-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Underused Pokemon Matchmaking Phase 2 [Week 29 - Nasty Plot Infernape]
- Thread starter nv
- Start date
With a close vote, Cactrune takes the win this week with his nice Toxicroak submission!
This week, I decided to go with a S-rank Pokemon that has a decent amount of versatility and power. That Pokemon is...
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
Choice Scarf Hydreigon is a really good revenge killer and cleaner thanks to its immense power and momentum grabbing ability. It also has a ton of usefulness with being able to power through fast threats such as Alakazam, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Aerodactyl.
Submissions end on Friday.
This week, I decided to go with a S-rank Pokemon that has a decent amount of versatility and power. That Pokemon is...
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
Choice Scarf Hydreigon is a really good revenge killer and cleaner thanks to its immense power and momentum grabbing ability. It also has a ton of usefulness with being able to power through fast threats such as Alakazam, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Aerodactyl.
Submissions end on Friday.
Dr Ciel
Banned deucer.
Reserving Mega Sceptle.
Strobe (Sceptile) @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Earthquake / Drain Punch
SD Mega Sceptile forms a very devastating double Dragon core with Hydreigon that can hit from both sides of the spectrum. Mega Sceptile also appreciates Pokemon such as Scarf Darmanitan, a myriad of Grass types, and Mega Aerodactyl gone, all of which can be either weakened or straight up KO'd by Hydreigon. In addition, Mega Sceptile is able to set up Swords Dance on Water types that lack Ice Beam.
Strobe (Sceptile) @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Earthquake / Drain Punch
SD Mega Sceptile forms a very devastating double Dragon core with Hydreigon that can hit from both sides of the spectrum. Mega Sceptile also appreciates Pokemon such as Scarf Darmanitan, a myriad of Grass types, and Mega Aerodactyl gone, all of which can be either weakened or straight up KO'd by Hydreigon. In addition, Mega Sceptile is able to set up Swords Dance on Water types that lack Ice Beam.
Last edited:
Valentine
Banned deucer.
when i build with scarf hydregion, i try my best to include slurpuff. this belly drumming eyesore benefits tons from scarf hydregion in particular. slurpiuff generally needs bulky waters and steels weakened before it can sweep, and it greatly appreciates it's teammates creating set up opportunities for it. hydregion is an excellent revenge killer that can often force your opponent's steel types to take damage. it also has a natural resistance to water, which makes it easy to pressure and weaken waters that would otherwise live +6 play rough like swampert. if your opponent isn't using steels for their dragon switch in, they'll usually have something like florges, which is arguably the sturdiest hydregion counter. however, florges can easily become a liability for your opponent since you can u-turn when you predict them to bring it in. this allows you to go into slurpuff freely and belly drum for the win, provided you've weakened your opponent's team appropriately. u-turning on florges isn't the only way hydregion creates set up opportunities, though. any time your opponent locks a bug, fighting, or dragon move to kill your pesky hyedrgion, slurpuff can come in afterwards and set up effortlessly. scarfmence is an example of something that can be set up on lategame if you force your opponent to kill your hydregion.
• scarf hydregion is an excellent teammate for slurpuff because it helps wear down it's counters and generates set up opportunities. • slurpuff transforms one of hydregion's biggest problems, florges, into set up fodder.
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Belly Drum
-Play Rough
-Return
-Drain Punch
Last edited:
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
SubCM Chandelure and Scarf Hydreigon work perfectly well together. Scarf Hydreigon lures special walls like Blissey and Florges, and if it can get a U-Turn as they switch in, Chandelure gets a free turn to set up a sub and start boosting.
Behind a sub, Chandelure can destroy stall teams after a few boosts, while Scarf Hydreigon deals with faster threats.
They also have near perfect type synergy, with Chandelure resisting Fighting, Bug, Ice and Fairy and Hydreigon resisting Water, Ground, Dark and Ghost.
edit: you can also run 112 HP EVs to lower the chance of standard Florges' Moonblast breaking the sub
Last edited:
ok so scarf hydreigon is a pokemon that greatly appreciates entry hazard support of any kind. toxic spikes being able to wear down those common af fairies that really annoy the hell out of it, stealth rock being able to guarantee ohkos on stuff like mega beedrill and darmanitan w/ draco which is always beneficial. any hydreigon set that doesn't carry flash cannon / iron tail automatically becomes extremely vulnerable to fairies so having a good answer to fairy types is pretty much necessitated and nidoqueen is exactly that. can switch into and remove them with comfort as well as get up entry hazards such as stealth rocks or toxic spikes. in addition to this it's also able to handily check pokemon that take advantage of choice-locked hydreigon such as cobalion.
Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb / Black Sludge
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
- Stealth Rock / Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam / Toxic Spikes
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
- Stealth Rock / Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam / Toxic Spikes
Last edited:
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off/Haze/Acid Spray
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off/Haze/Acid Spray
Alright, so Tentacruel is an amazing partner for Hydreigon. First off, they have almost perfect defensive synergy together: Tentacruel resists Fairy, Ice, Bug and Fighting while Hydreigon sports two useful immunities to Ground and Psychic as well as a resistance to Electric. We all know that Hydreigon despises Fairies like Florges and Whimsicott - Tentacruel can easily come in on them and proceed to set up Toxic Spikes: Florges will continually be pressured to use Aromatherapy, which opens opportunities for other team members, and Whimsicott will be worn down quickly. Additionally, Tentacruel provides Rapid Spin support for Hydreigon, which is always appreciated, but it is the last move slot that actually makes Tentacruel so good of a partner for Hydreigon: Tentacruel can choose what specifically it wants to beat or neutralize as a threat for Hydreigon, which makes team building with this core a lot easier.
1) Knock Off provides overall good utility: Most of the time it will be used to negate passive recovery on the likes of Whimsicott and Empoleon, but it is also used to knock off Eviolites (SpDef Gligar is a thing; P2 of course) and Choice Scarfs from Mons with 100 or more Base Speed (looking at you, Salamence and Mienshao). Sometimes it's hard to decide wether to spam Scald or Knock Off though... "sigh"
2) Not just Fairies, but also Fighting types pose a threat to Hydreigon. Especially Lucario and Cobalion are troublesome for Hydreigon: They can either come in on a predicted Dark Pulse and enjoy the Justified boost or set up in the face of Hydreigon locked into Draco Meteor or Dark Pulse. Fortunately, Tentacruel can deal with both situations if it opts to run Haze in the final slot. It is also useful to reset Speed boosts from Sharpedo, which otherwise can have some fun versus this core.
3) Alternatively, Tentacruel can run Acid Spray, which allows it to beat CM Florges 1v1. However, it should only be used over Haze if the rest of the team can't deal with Florges at all, or if the team has trouble to beat CM users in general.
This core also works very well with Taunt LO Hydreigon, because it allows Hydreigon to shut down Defog and cleric actions. On the other side, Scarf Hydreigon can grab momentum with U-turn more easily, which gives Tentacruel more opportunities to reliably set up T-Spikes or Spin, and outspeeds Alakazam, who otherwise dominates this core.
For partners for this core, I recommend Cobalion, which can actually kill the troublesome Fairies (if you didn't choose Acid Spray), set up Rocks and pressure Steel Types, or Florges, as it covers the Dragon weakness and provides utility as a WishPasser and Cleric (especially helpful for Tentacruel). Strange how sometimes your worst enemies can become your best friends...
Last edited:
Reserving Mega Aggron~
So Scarf Hydreigon is a Pokemon that enjoys having hazards in its opponent's side. (Best examples include Stealth Rocks or Toxic Spikes.) Mega Aggron is a perfect partner for Hydreigon, as it can set up rocks for it, and kill Fairies for it, which threaten Hydreigon. Stealth Rocks help give minimal damage to incoming threats (Most notably Mega Aerodactyl, which Hydreigon actually 2HKOs with Draco Meteor unless you have Stealth Rocks up, which results in a OHKO.) Heavy Slam is for, of course, killing fairies like Florges, Whimsicott, Slurpuff, etc. and is your main STAB. Earthquake is covergae to hit Steel and Fire types. And the last slot is up to you. Roar is to phaze out opponents. Toxic to further cripple opponents, most notably, Fairy types. And Thunder Wave, which can paralyze other scarfers.
The only problem with this is the weakness to Fighting types, most notably, Scarf Mienshao. A good partner would be a Pokemon that can help resist Fighting such as a Fairy type like Florges, or a Ghost type like Sableye. (Bonus, Will-O-Wisp burns, unless Guts Heracross.)
Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roar / Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roar / Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
So Scarf Hydreigon is a Pokemon that enjoys having hazards in its opponent's side. (Best examples include Stealth Rocks or Toxic Spikes.) Mega Aggron is a perfect partner for Hydreigon, as it can set up rocks for it, and kill Fairies for it, which threaten Hydreigon. Stealth Rocks help give minimal damage to incoming threats (Most notably Mega Aerodactyl, which Hydreigon actually 2HKOs with Draco Meteor unless you have Stealth Rocks up, which results in a OHKO.) Heavy Slam is for, of course, killing fairies like Florges, Whimsicott, Slurpuff, etc. and is your main STAB. Earthquake is covergae to hit Steel and Fire types. And the last slot is up to you. Roar is to phaze out opponents. Toxic to further cripple opponents, most notably, Fairy types. And Thunder Wave, which can paralyze other scarfers.
The only problem with this is the weakness to Fighting types, most notably, Scarf Mienshao. A good partner would be a Pokemon that can help resist Fighting such as a Fairy type like Florges, or a Ghost type like Sableye. (Bonus, Will-O-Wisp burns, unless Guts Heracross.)
Last edited:
Cresselia @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
Last edited:
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
In terms of typing, Doublade by far has the best advantage with Hydreigon alone, being one the very few with perfect type synergy. Resisting Ice, Dragon, Fairy, Bug, and Fighting types as his partner tanks Fire, Dark, Ground, and Ghost moves in return.
Being scarfed, Hydreigon sometimes has problems with getting locked into moves it doesn't want, leaving it vulnerable against pokemon like Porygon2 that can easily recover from a Dark Pulse and still cripple him with Ice Beam, Thunder Wave, etc. Doublade provides great cover against specially bulky pokemon that can usually survive a Draco Meteor like this such as Florges and threaten them out with SD. U-turn on Scarf Hydreigon as well can lure out free set up bait like Blissey for Doublade in exchange.
On the flip side, Hydreigon can be used a decent scald switchin and can act as an Entei and Zapdos check as well, things Doublade generally doesn't love in UU. Weakening and chipping in more damage, it helps to assist and free up more windows for Doublade to get an SD up.
Last edited:
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Sleep Powder
Roserade beats Florges, CroCune, and sets up spikes to make Hydreigon's job easier. Hydreigon on the other hand, checks Psychics like Reuniclus, Alakazam or Slowking. they work great together as they have great type synergy too!
Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz
I'm sorta surprised no one came up with this yet. Entei freely switches in Florges and Whimsicott, two of the most used Hydreigon counters. Besides being able to spam burns with Sacred Fire, it also benefits from Hydreigon being able to switch into most earthquake users (besides Mamoswine) and the ability to take well most scald users. Since we're talking about the scarf Hydreigon set, it is also worth mentioning that Hydreigon can pivot into entei by using u-turn, so there's that too. This core is sorta weak to rain dance Swampert (although most Swamperts don't like switching into sacred fire, anyways) and Suicune, so I recommend adding something that can deal with them, like Zapdos or Heliolisk.
Mega Beedrill is a good partner for Scarf Hydreigon with its access to adaptability boosted U-Turn and Poison Jab. Its Poison typing allows Mega Beedrill to take care of Fairy types that look to take advantage of Hydreigon such as Whimsicott, Florges and Slurpuff while STAB U-Turns allow Mega Beedrill to pivot out, dish out some considerable damage and leave the field for Hydreigon to spam powerful Draco Meteors. With a hazard control support, Mega Beedrill + Hydreigon combo can be a nightmare for the opponent.
Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off/Drill Run/Pursuit
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off/Drill Run/Pursuit
Last edited:
We got a ton of submissions this round (I think it is the most in one round since the start of this project, not sure) but anyways...it is voting time!
We got Dr Ciel's Mega Sceptile, Valentine's Slurpuff, Ninjacalibur's Chandelure, Cyndequil.'s Nidoqueen, Lord Esche's Tentacruel, Electra's Mega Aggron, Mr. Highways's Cresselia, Merlouvynis's Doublade, Shadestep's Roserade, retrowaves's Entei, and LLH's Mega Beedrill.
Voting ends on Monday.
We got Dr Ciel's Mega Sceptile, Valentine's Slurpuff, Ninjacalibur's Chandelure, Cyndequil.'s Nidoqueen, Lord Esche's Tentacruel, Electra's Mega Aggron, Mr. Highways's Cresselia, Merlouvynis's Doublade, Shadestep's Roserade, retrowaves's Entei, and LLH's Mega Beedrill.
Voting ends on Monday.
