[SET]
Defensive (Ho-Oh) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground / Water / Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[Nature] Impish
- Sacred Fire
- Recover
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
[SET COMMENTS]
Ho-Oh is a defensive stalwart with the typing to wall some of the best physical attackers in the metagame, namely three powerful gods in Calyrex-I, Necrozma-DM, and Zacian-C. With a great ability in Regenerator and a useful movepool, Ho-Oh can consistently switch into wallbreakers, burn them, and stop their sweep in its tracks. Sacred Fire does good damage and hits Calyrex-I, Necrozma-DM, and Zacian-C super effectively, and comes with a high chance to burn, which is seriously debilitating for the physical attackers that Ho-Oh wants to wall. However, many Fire-types like Heatran, Skeledirge, and Volcanion can easily switch into Sacred Fire, and many Pokemon such as the aforementioned Necrozma-DM and Calyrex-I run Tera Fire to become immune to burn, so Earthquake is used to cover these Pokemon while also providing great super effective coverage all around. Recover keeps Ho-Oh healthy when Regenerator alone isn't enough and increases its staying power. Finally, Whirlwind forces set-up sweepers like Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM, Sword Dance, Clayrex-I, Swords Dance Landorus-T, Bulk Up Great Tusk, and many more to switch out and lose their boosts, and can allow Ho-Oh to control the pace of the match by interrupting an set-up sweeper's momentum; if hazards are on the field, it can also be used to rack up chip. Tera Ground turns Ho-Oh's Electric-type weakness into an immunity, which can catch Wild Charge Zacian-C by surprise, Tera Water turns Ho-Oh's Water-type weakness into a resistance, and Tera Steel is simply an overall sound defensive type that saves Ho-Oh from being KOed by Necrozma-DM's Stone Edge.
With it's well rounded stat spread, Ho-Oh can form a variety of teams, but defensive Ho-Oh tends to benefit the most from balance and bulky offense structures. Fast pivots like Scarf Hisuian Samurrott, Meowscarada, and Ogerpon and its forms are great candidates for the Attack slot because they can bring Ho-Oh in safely, set up hazards, and pressure the opposing team with Knock Off. Many Pokemon benefit greatly from Ho-Oh's massive Special Defense stat, including but lot limited to: Great Tusk, Iron Hands, and Ting-Lu, which can wall special attackers that Ho-Oh is vulnerable to. Ho-Oh absolutely cannot afford to have its Heavy-Duty Boots removed by Knock Off, so it either needs teammates that resist Dark-type like Clefable or Primarina, or ones that don't care that much about losing their item like Corviknight, Skarmory, or Leftovers RestTalk Dondozo to switch into the move. Ho-Oh is forced out by Electric-types such as Iron Hands, Hisuian Electrode, and Sandy Shocks, so Ground-types that can switch into these Pokemon like Landorus-T, Clodsire, and Great Tusk are appreciated; likewise, Pokemon like Primarina, Dondozo, and Ogerpon-W that can switch into Water-type attacks are also good to have around. Lastly, despite its great typing, Ho-Oh's fairly average defense can sometimes lead to it getting overwhelmed by numerous attackers over the course of a game, so it appreciates other physically defensive Pokemon like Landorus-T, Sinistcha, and Rotom-W to help lighten the load for it.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/wes8888.584907/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Defensive (Ho-Oh) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground / Water / Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[Nature] Impish
- Sacred Fire
- Recover
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
[SET COMMENTS]
Ho-Oh is a defensive stalwart with the typing to wall some of the best physical attackers in the metagame, namely three powerful gods in Calyrex-I, Necrozma-DM, and Zacian-C. With a great ability in Regenerator and a useful movepool, Ho-Oh can consistently switch into wallbreakers, burn them, and stop their sweep in its tracks. Sacred Fire does good damage and hits Calyrex-I, Necrozma-DM, and Zacian-C super effectively, and comes with a high chance to burn, which is seriously debilitating for the physical attackers that Ho-Oh wants to wall. However, many Fire-types like Heatran, Skeledirge, and Volcanion can easily switch into Sacred Fire, and many Pokemon such as the aforementioned Necrozma-DM and Calyrex-I run Tera Fire to become immune to burn, so Earthquake is used to cover these Pokemon while also providing great super effective coverage all around. Recover keeps Ho-Oh healthy when Regenerator alone isn't enough and increases its staying power. Finally, Whirlwind forces set-up sweepers like Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM, Sword Dance, Clayrex-I, Swords Dance Landorus-T, Bulk Up Great Tusk, and many more to switch out and lose their boosts, and can allow Ho-Oh to control the pace of the match by interrupting an set-up sweeper's momentum; if hazards are on the field, it can also be used to rack up chip. Tera Ground turns Ho-Oh's Electric-type weakness into an immunity, which can catch Wild Charge Zacian-C by surprise, Tera Water turns Ho-Oh's Water-type weakness into a resistance, and Tera Steel is simply an overall sound defensive type that saves Ho-Oh from being KOed by Necrozma-DM's Stone Edge.
With it's well rounded stat spread, Ho-Oh can form a variety of teams, but defensive Ho-Oh tends to benefit the most from balance and bulky offense structures. Fast pivots like Scarf Hisuian Samurrott, Meowscarada, and Ogerpon and its forms are great candidates for the Attack slot because they can bring Ho-Oh in safely, set up hazards, and pressure the opposing team with Knock Off. Many Pokemon benefit greatly from Ho-Oh's massive Special Defense stat, including but lot limited to: Great Tusk, Iron Hands, and Ting-Lu, which can wall special attackers that Ho-Oh is vulnerable to. Ho-Oh absolutely cannot afford to have its Heavy-Duty Boots removed by Knock Off, so it either needs teammates that resist Dark-type like Clefable or Primarina, or ones that don't care that much about losing their item like Corviknight, Skarmory, or Leftovers RestTalk Dondozo to switch into the move. Ho-Oh is forced out by Electric-types such as Iron Hands, Hisuian Electrode, and Sandy Shocks, so Ground-types that can switch into these Pokemon like Landorus-T, Clodsire, and Great Tusk are appreciated; likewise, Pokemon like Primarina, Dondozo, and Ogerpon-W that can switch into Water-type attacks are also good to have around. Lastly, despite its great typing, Ho-Oh's fairly average defense can sometimes lead to it getting overwhelmed by numerous attackers over the course of a game, so it appreciates other physically defensive Pokemon like Landorus-T, Sinistcha, and Rotom-W to help lighten the load for it.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/wes8888.584907/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Last edited: