Project Victim of the Week

[Croven]

Counter

Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Foresight
- Toxic

Hitmontop is an interesting Pokemon, making one of his counterparts, Hitmonchan, completely outclassed in the RU tier. But with countering Excadrill, it can Intimidate it as it switches in, lowering it's attack, thus, lowering the damage it is going to do. Even with Stealth Rock and Sandstorm up, Hitmontop can take two hits and fire back a CC to OHKO.

-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hitmontop: 121-142 (39.8 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock, sandstorm damage, and Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hitmontop: 97-114 (31.9 - 37.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock, sandstorm damage, and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Hitmontop Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 372-440 (103 - 121.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Tbh, this is more of a check than a counter. It can only switch in once to Exca. If you switch in, take 40%, then he switches out to a counter to Hitmontop, you have to switch out, leaving you at ~65%. Excadrill comes in again, your Hitmontop is at ~30% w/ Leftovers. He EQ's again, see ya Hitmontop. A counter can switch in multiple times, while a check can threaten while against the said mon 1v1, but can't switch in multiple times. This Hitmontop is the perfect definition of a check.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Rotom-W was taken why live ,_,

Check

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
- Rock Slide​

Physically defensive Hippowdon is a great check to Sand Rush Excadrill, seeing his massive bulk allows him to take anything Excadrill throws at him and potentially OHKO it with a Sand Force boosted Earthquake. Slack Off lets Hippowdon heal off any damage and preserve him for later if Excadrill switches out. Not sure what else to mention, it's a super simple set. Excadrill will never win 1 v 1 against a healthy Hippowdon aside from hax.

Some calcs

What Excadrill can do:

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 153-183 (36.4 - 43.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 122-146 (29 - 34.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 39-45 (9.2 - 10.7%) -- possibly the worst move ever

What Hippowdon does in return:

4 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 356-422 (98.6 - 116.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO; guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Hate to break it to you, but hippo was already reserved.

 

[5th]

Hate to break it to you, but hippo was already reserved.

Ah, man. I swear I reread all the posts. xD

 

[escarlata]

Celebi: Counter
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spd
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed / Thunder Wave
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass / Heal Bell
- Recover

Oh great, another threat that is countered by one of Celebi's sets. Under the premise that being a counter does not factor in hax, Celebi can comfortably take any combination of 2 attacks from Excadril, and wear it down with Giga Drain. Every 3 Recover, or 2 turn under Leech Seed buys Celebi a free Giga Drain, where it can wear down Excadril, while also stalling out its sand, where 2 Recovers give a free Giga Drain.

Relevant Calc

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 224+ Def Celebi: 142-168 (35.1 - 41.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery

Gyarados: Counter
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Tail / Roar / Taunt
- Rest
- Sleep Talk / Taunt

Intimidate allows it to take any combination of 2 hits from Excadril, including Rock Slide after Leftovers and Sandstorm damage. Waterfall has a guaranteed OHKO after 2 rounds of Life Orb recoil (which there will be, or otherwise you will just get an extra Waterfall in). Subsequently, it can Rest up after defeating Excadril.

OOPS didn't notice Char-Y was taken

Charizard-Y: Check
Charizard @ Charizardite-Y
Ability: Blaze > Drougt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

Charizard-Y can basically switch in on anything except Rock Slide and remove the Sand altogether, and then subsequently OHKO with its Fire STAB. The catch is that it has to be M-Evoed before it comes in. Focus Blast also allows it to easily destroy the Ttar that always comes with SR Exca.

 

[Machi]

Charizard-Y: Check
Charizard @ Charizardite-Y
Ability: Blaze > Drougt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

Charizard-Y can basically switch in on anything except Rock Slide and remove the Sand altogether, and then subsequently OHKO with its Fire STAB. The catch is that it has to be M-Evoed before it comes in. Focus Blast also allows it to easily destroy the Ttar that always comes with SR Exca.

Char-Y was already taken just a few post above yours - besides I think it is supposed to be one mon per poster.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Char-Y was already taken just a few post above yours - besides I think it is supposed to be one mon per poster.

Yup, you're right about Arikado already taking Charizard-Y. However, this is rule 5 in the OP:

5. You can nominate up to two Pokemon, but try, if possible, not to take the two best/very similar mons. For example, if the victim is Azumarill, you shouldn't nominate Venusaur and Amoonguss. However, nominating Venusaur and Qwilfish would be fine.

 

[truedrew]

ReservING conkelldur as a check and balloon plus magnetrise magnezone as check/ shaky af counter

 

[Aragorn the King]

plus magnetrise magnezone as check/ shaky af counter

Yeah, definitely only list it as a check, since if it switches in on Rapid Spin, Rock Slide, or Iron Head, it fails completely.

 

[escarlata]

Char-Y was already taken just a few post above yours - besides I think it is supposed to be one mon per poster.

oops I literally Ctrl+F Char Y on every page except this page so I assumed it wasn't. I should look more carefully next time. Reserving Rest Talk Gyara in that case.

 

[Flamer]

Politoed-Hard Check

Set
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 200 HP / 100 Spe / 152 Def / 52 SpA
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Hidden Power Grass

Meet the only set during early BW that was capable of beating SR Exca. Fairly simple premise, Bring it in on any move, cancel out sand, and fire off a powerful Scald or Hydro Pump. In the rain, Hydro pump and Scald hit astonishingly hard, softening up potential switch ins and also providing a nice burn chance. Ice beam is for Dragons and grass types, who can stomach a hydro pump and and retaliate. HP Grass rounds off coverage and provides a way to hit opposing water types, particularly AV Azumarill, who can give trouble to rain teams.

Toed is able to win, without factoring in hax (cannot take a crit EQ), not only against Exca, who at best can fire off an EQ, do max 80% and get KOed next turn by either Scald or HPump but has a great advantage against the mons commonly seen on sand archetypes, meaning it can Spam Scald freely. The EVs are there to ensure that Toed will always survive 1 EQ after SR and be able to survive a round of sand afterwards should the opponent bring in their sand setter to kill toed from sand recoil, allowing a last ditch rain effort or sac. Ideally though, Toed should be coming in on a resisted Iron head or any other moves than EQ so that it has other opportunities to switch in later.

 

[FullLifeGames]

What you just posted is a check

Since azumarill can only switch into excadrill once.

I send it excadrill vs something
you switch to azu
I EQ (you down to 20%)
I switch out to azu counter
You hit counter with aqua jet.

Azumarill cannot safely switch into exca again.
A counter can switch into something many times throughout a match

"Pokémon A counters Pokémon B if Pokémon A can manually switch into Pokémon B and still win every time, even under the worst case scenario, without factoring in hax." - this means it just has to switch into Excadrill once in a 1vs1 scenario.

 

[Inspirited]

Hawlucha for silly check
Edit:
Name: Hawlucha

Check

Flying Gem ;-; @ Power Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Sky Attack
- Acrobatics

Hawlucha can come in on any attack (w/o sr on the field in Iron Head's case) during Excadrill's last turn of sandstorm and then proceed to put his foot though the mole's face. There isnt much more to be said other than birds > land creatures.

calcz

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 8 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 153-181 (51.1 - 60.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 8 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 243-289 (81.2 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 554-654 (153.4 - 181.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Post 420 btw :)

 

[looiiyut]

Zygarde - Check

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Glare
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Substitute

First of all, I consider Zygarde as a check because this set hasn't an effective recovery move. Zygarde can come in in all of Excadrill moves (max damage is around 44%) and 2 situations are possible: KOed using earthquake or go for glare to paralyze exca or another pokemon predicting a switch. Dragon Tail phazes out foes, bringing out new opponents for Zygarde to paralyze. Substitute is used to take advantage of the free turn. This zygarde's set is very useful against scarf lando-t. 56 Speed EVs are run to hit Bisharp with Earthquake before it can hit Zygarde with Knock Off.

0 Atk Zygarde Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 324-384 (89.7 - 106.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 200 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 152-179 (37.3 - 43.9%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 200 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 121-144 (29.7 - 35.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Puralux]

Reserving Ferrothorn as Check

 

[escarlata]

Hawlucha for silly check
Edit:
Name: Hawlucha

Check

Flying Gem ;-; @ Power Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Sky Attack
- Acrobatics

Hawlucha can come in on any attack (w/o sr on the field in Iron Head's case) during Excadrill's last turn of sandstorm and then proceed to put his foot though the mole's face. There isnt much more to be said other than birds > land creatures.

calcz

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 8 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 153-181 (51.1 - 60.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 8 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 243-289 (81.2 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 554-654 (153.4 - 181.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Post 420 btw :)

I think you are better off posting subsitrus, then you always counter him even in SS

 

[Random Passerby]

(sorry for no image, I dunno how to place it in a post)
Chesnaught: Counter
Chesnaught @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spiky Shield
- Hammer Arm
- Spikes


Chesnaught can come in on any of Excadrill's attack and proceed to do whatever it wants, whether it be Leech Seeding, setting up Spikes or cause Excadrill to faint with Hammer Arm. Spiky Shield allows Chesnaught to punish Excadrill for trying to Rapid Spin or use Iron Head while also allowing you to waste a turn of Sandstorm and gain health from Leech Seed and Leftovers. Wood Hammer can be used over spikes to 2HKO Specially Defensive Hippowdon but the recoil it causes means it is not recommended.

 

[escarlata]

(sorry for no image, I dunno how to place it in a post)
Chesnaught: Counter
Chesnaught @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spiky Shield
- Hammer Arm
- Spikes


Chesnaught can come in on any of Excadrill's attack and proceed to do whatever it wants, whether it be Leech Seeding, setting up Spikes or cause Excadrill to faint with Hammer Arm. Spiky Shield allows Chesnaught to punish Excadrill for trying to Rapid Spin or use Iron Head while also allowing you to waste a turn of Sandstorm and gain health from Leech Seed and Leftovers. Wood Hammer can be used over spikes to 2HKO Specially Defensive Hippowdon but the recoil it causes means it is not recommended.

It is already on post 2 on the previous page

 

[Random Passerby]

It is already on post 2 on the previous page

Oops didn't notice that.

Cresselia: Counter
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Moonlight
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Fighting

Cresselia can come in on any of Excadrill's attack and proceed to set up a Reflect to soften physical blows for itself and its teammates. Moonlight, even though it is hindered by the Sand, can be used as a means of recovery since after a Reflect, all of Excadrill's moves deal less damage than Moonlight heals (even in the Sand). Cresselia can also use Hidden Power Fighting to hit Excadrill (and Tyranitar harder), which will not last long thanks to Life Orb recoil. It is important to note that after a Reflect, Cresselia can escape from Tyranitar's Pursuits relatively unscathed.

vs Excadrill:
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia through Reflect: 61-73 (13.7 - 16.4%) -- possible 7HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Cresselia Hidden Power Fighting vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Excadrill: 98-116 (27.1 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

vs Tyranitar :
0 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia through Reflect: 70-84 (15.7 - 18.9%) -- possible 6HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia through Reflect: 85-102 (19.1 - 22.9%) -- possible 5HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Cresselia Hidden Power Fighting vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 92-112 (22.8 - 27.7%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

Note:Crunch is used as a place holder for Pursuit since they have the same BP when you are switching out.

 

[Puralux]

Hard Check

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Careful / Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

Maybe one of the best checks of Sand Rush Excadrill. Resists to Rock Slide and Iron Head greatly. While taking the Earthquake he can do Leech seed + protect to recover HP. It's not a counter because he cannot resist earthquake enough in the worst scenario.

Another Check

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast

Nice Check. Resists Earthquake and Rock Slide enough to do Close Combat and OHKO certainly Excadrill. Not a counter for the same reason of Ferrothorn and because also he cannot do free switches to Iron Head.

Calcs:

Hide

0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 184-217 (50.9 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 8+ Def Ferrothorn: 173-204 (49.1 - 57.9%) -- 55.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 8+ Def Ferrothorn: 69-82 (19.6 - 23.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 8+ Def Ferrothorn: 43-51 (12.2 - 14.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 105-125 (34.7 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 172-203 (56.9 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 107-126 (35.4 - 41.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage

 

[FullLifeGames]

Another Check

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast

Nice Check. Resists Earthquake and Rock Slide enough to do Close Combat and OHKO certainly Excadrill. Not a counter for the same reason of Ferrothorn and because also he cannot do free switches to Iron Head.

Calcs:

Hide

0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 184-217 (50.9 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 8+ Def Ferrothorn: 173-204 (49.1 - 57.9%) -- 55.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 8+ Def Ferrothorn: 69-82 (19.6 - 23.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 8+ Def Ferrothorn: 43-51 (12.2 - 14.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 105-125 (34.7 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 172-203 (56.9 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 107-126 (35.4 - 41.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage

Really shaky check, because it just can come in on a Rapid Spin, otherwise it will get destroyed by Iron Head. But works then fine.

Another thing, shouldn't we put SD > Rapid Spin on Excadrill? Because checking is with rapid spin a bit too easy imo.

 

[Stallmory]

Hard Check

Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
-Foul Play
-Knock Off
-Roost
-Whirlwind/Toxic/Taunt/Defog (depends on your team needs)


Mandibuzz can check Sand Rush Excadrill pretty well overall. Great physical bulk, is immune to Exca's main STAB, threatens it with Foul Play, doesn't suffer sandstorm recoil thanks to Overcoat and has reliable recovery in Roost. Despite being part Flying-type, Mandibuzz can tank some Rock Slides thanks to Roost and leftovers. Knock Off is there to punish switch-ins and for getting rid of Exca's Life Orb, which after that it becomes hampered and thus easier to deal with. Here are some calcs:

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Mandibuzz: 134-160 (31.6 - 37.8%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (lol)

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Mandibuzz: 169-200 (39.9 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery


If Life Orb gets knocked off, Rock Slide becomes a 4HKO (not counting its shaky accuracy).


0 Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 262-310 (72.5 - 85.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, which after some Life Orb recoil can be enough to OHKO.


The only thing preventing Mandibuzz to become a counter is the fact that Stealth Rock exists. If Mandi switches in on rocks and Excadrill goes for Rock Slide, it has a 97.3% to 2HKO, so always try to come in with an empty field for a solid check.

 

[The TurtleLord]

Hard Check:

Tangrowth (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def /8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake

Tangrowth can switch into any attack easily and always 2hkos with eq. it can use knock off to take away exca's lo and make it even weaker, and giga drain helps as a form of recovery. Because of regen it can switch in and out loads of times.

Calcs:

Hide

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 121-142 (30 - 35.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage

0 Atk Tangrowth Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 216-256 (59.8 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Hogg]

(Post deleted, as Slowbro was already taken. Will update later today with Trevenant.)

Hard Check

Trevenant

Trevenant @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Horn Leech

Trevenant is a vastly underrated spinblocker in OU, functioning especially well against sand offense, a huge threat in the current meta. As one of the only two ghost-types able to reliably spinblock against Starmie and Excadrill, it has some great utility.

Sitrus Berry is key here, allowing Trevenant to ALWAYS avoid the 2HKO from Iron Head, even with sand and rocks up. That gives the ghost tree a chance to WoW, neutering Excadrill, and then stall with Protect until Harvest kicks in.

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Trevenant: 165-195 (44.1 - 52.1%) -- 16% chance to 2HKO​

So, it looks like this:

First turn: Trevenant switches in to any of Excadrill's moves, taking minimal damage from everything but Iron Head. Assuming the worst, a max damage Iron Head, Sitrus Berry will activate.

Second turn: With Sitrus last turn, Trevenant can even survive another max damage Iron Head. It uses WoW. Harvest has a 50% chance of recovering Sitrus for another 25% healing.

Third turn: If Harvest activated last round and WoW hit, then you should have enough HP to start hitting back with Horn Leech or Leech Seed to recover more HP. If not, Protect to stall for another round in hopes of activating Harvest.

It's a check and not a counter because of WoW's shaky accuracy, and because even burned, Exca can take you down if Harvest doesn't activate at all over three rounds and you switches into an Iron Head. But it'll be neutered for the rest of the match - a burned Exca is no real threat.

 

[Glaedrix]

Reserving a Politoed as a Hard Check

 

[Salemance]

EDIT: God damn phone and your spelling errors...

Counter
Freeze Magnet (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Ah the mighty sand Hippo. Arguably its funny that Hippo can serve as one of the best San counters while being one of the two reliable sand setters. While Excadrill can hit Hippo with everything, he can evn attempt.a 2HKO without a SD boost which is rare as it is now adays with Exca needing those four moves.

Hippo can easily defeat Exca with his own Earthquake but with Sand Force Hippo is beyond comfortable in defeating Exca with one hit or also crippling TTar as well (or their own Hippowdon if they so wish).

Now Hippowdon's movepool is an intriguing one I guess as frankly he can be customer to your teams needs even with one available slot to work with (unless you got another Guy to use SR). Slack Off and EQ are nearly mandatory as they make Hippo who he is. ATM we have protect slotted in on Hippo to achieve some more passive recovery but there as a better way to combat Mega Medicham by making it miss a HJK and then retaliating with an EQ for a easy defeat. This however is not the final slot tho as really it can be any number of things. Would you prefer him spreading stats with Toxic? Whirlwinding your foes away? Hell he can even utilize ice fang in the battles with lando-t and or fire fang to beat ferrous (which I always love seeing) and scizor. Although more than not you will either see Toxic or Whirlwind.


A team player through and through this Hippo does more than necessary ay times even if he can be seen as jut a slab of pure bulk. I love him to death but he is difficult to argue for a team slot just due to the fact he can kill momentum at times if you go for just the one attacking set and his almost one dimensional bit. Either or if you do choose to use the might Freeze Magnet then you will almost certainly not be dissapointed.