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This moveset, as opposed to Water Absorb, allows it to perform as a dual-function Wall Breaker, where not only does Desolate Land allow Rhydon to effectively block Fishous Rend Mold Breakers such as Barrascuda, but it can allow Rhydon to use Solar Blade against the likes of Seismitoad, Barrascuda, Primarina, and opposing Rhydon. Additionally, as Fishous Rend is often paired with Bolt Beak due to their identical mechanics (and so Water attacks hit Ground-types, while Electric attacks hit Water-types), Rhydon has the necessary Electric-immunity to ward off counter coverage.
Alternatively, it can take advantage of V-Create for secondary coverage and handle non-Flash Fire Corviknight, and Water Absorb Steelix, while serving as an immediate threat to Primordial Sea variants of both Ferrothorn, and Melmetal.
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight in Harsh Sunshine: 412-486 (103 - 121.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Rhydon Solar Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 476-560 (114.9 - 135.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn in Harsh Sunshine: 700-828 (198.8 - 235.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Melmetal in Harsh Sunshine: 362-426 (76.3 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Rhydon Solar Blade vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Primarina: 260-308 (71.6 - 84.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The best part is, unlike Primordial Sea Melmetal who fears Fishous Rend, you can still survive the even the strongest weather boosted moves, which after a V-Create lose their Speed, and Defense, enabling Rhydon to finish them off with its STAB or coverage move of choice:
252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar-Zen V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Rhydon in Harsh Sunshine: 164-193 (39.6 - 46.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Lastly, Eviolite basically negates its own V-Create Defense, and Special Defense drops on the first use, so Rhydon is not completely vulnerable like most Pokemon, especially since Rhydon is designed to be slow, so it is not negatively impacted by - Speed drops.
EDIT: Adding 2 additional 1HKOs, 1 for V-Create and 1 for Solar Blade.
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Excadrill in Harsh Sunshine: 634-746 (149.5 - 175.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(Rhydon’s EQ only does 54.2 - 63.8% to Excadrill while a Banded Excadrill will 2HKO Rhydon going first).
———
Don’t just wall, brawl.
252 Atk Rhydon Solar Blade vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Barraskewda: 294-348 (90.1 - 106.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
This moveset, as opposed to Water Absorb, allows it to perform as a dual-function Wall Breaker, where not only does Desolate Land allow Rhydon to effectively block Fishous Rend Mold Breakers such as Barrascuda, but it can allow Rhydon to use Solar Blade against the likes of Seismitoad, Barrascuda, Primarina, and opposing Rhydon. Additionally, as Fishous Rend is often paired with Bolt Beak due to their identical mechanics (and so Water attacks hit Ground-types, while Electric attacks hit Water-types), Rhydon has the necessary Electric-immunity to ward off counter coverage.
Alternatively, it can take advantage of V-Create for secondary coverage and handle non-Flash Fire Corviknight, and Water Absorb Steelix, while serving as an immediate threat to Primordial Sea Ferrothorn, and Melmetal.
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight in Harsh Sunshine: 412-486 (103 - 121.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Rhydon Solar Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 476-560 (114.9 - 135.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn in Harsh Sunshine: 700-828 (198.8 - 235.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Rhydon V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Melmetal in Harsh Sunshine: 362-426 (76.3 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Rhydon Solar Blade vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Primarina: 260-308 (71.6 - 84.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The best part is, unlike Primordial Sea Fishous Rend, you can still survive the even the strongest weather boosted moves, which after a V-Create lose their Speed, and Defense, enabling Rhydon to finish them off with its STAB or coverage move of choice:
252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar-Zen V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Rhydon in Harsh Sunshine: 164-193 (39.6 - 46.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Lastly, Eviolite basically negates its own V-Create Defense, and Special Defense drops on the first use, so Rhydon is not completely vulnerable like most Pokemon, especially since Rhydon is designed to be slow, so it is not negatively impacted by - Speed drops.
I don't mean to slight on your set, but our analyses are mainly geared towards new players and this set feels a little too off meta for our audience, and as a result I'm not sure how good of an idea it would be to have an analysis on it. V-Create and Solar Blade are both incredibly specialized options that for sure can put in work in certain scenarios, but we're aiming for more standard sets in our analysis right now. At the time, this does not meet that preference, so I'm gonna have to reject this, but should this become more common and meta, I'd be fine with this being an analysis - Just make a post after it does and we'll take an approval into consideration. All the best!
I don't mean to slight on your set, but our analyses are mainly geared towards new players and this set feels a little too off meta for our audience, and as a result I'm not sure how good of an idea it would be to have an analysis on it. V-Create and Solar Blade are both incredibly specialized options that for sure can put in work in certain scenarios, but we're aiming for more standard sets in our analysis right now. At the time, this does not meet that preference, so I'm gonna have to reject this, but should this become more common and meta, I'd be fine with this being an analysis - Just make a post after it does and we'll take an approval into consideration. All the best!
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Sylveon: 291-343 (73.8 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
I'm not in NatDex QC but both have existing analyses awaiting QC... I'm sure you can still find some interesting mon to write about! Make sure to check this thread as well as the following links to know if the Pokemon you wish for is available: 1, 2, 3 (the third link is probably not up-to-date).
Best of luck with your writing experience :3
