[OVERVIEW]
Rhydon is a high-risk yet high-reward Pokemon that takes a more offensive lean as a Rock-type and Stealth Rock setter over Regirock. First, its secondary Ground typing gives it a great matchup against Regirock, while its sheer power and coverage pressure Slowking and Grass-types trying to switch in. This also gives it an Electric immunity against Pokemon like Magneton, Manectric, and Ampharos to pivot around them or take advantage of Choice-locked moves. Second, Rhydon has Swords Dance to break past defensive cores and threaten to sweep. Third and finally, its access to Rock Blast is a unique tool over Regirock, which lets it adequately check SubToxic Charizard and SubCM Drifblim. All of these traits make Rhydon a good wallbreaker on aggressive teams that has a good matchup against Regirock + Slowking cores while sharing a few of Regirock's defensive responsibilities against Tauros and Skuntank.
However, most of Regirock's splashability in DPP NU comes from its defensive traits, and Rhydon lacks Regirock's mixed bulk and has a 4x weakness to Water- and Grass-type moves, making it worse against Tauros and offensive Fire-types without the ability to tank against Water- and Grass-types such as Floatzel, Vileplume, and Cacturne to respond with Thunder Wave or Explosion like Regirock. Rhydon's worse defensive profile, reliance on coverage options that can miss, and need for specific items in specific circumstamces can all make it inconsistent. Rhydon also shares competition with other Ground-types that have massive offensive potential, such as Swords Dance Sandslash, Marowak, and Piloswine.
[SET]
Name: Offensive Tank
Move 1: Stealth Rock / Substitute
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Rock Blast
Move 4: Megahorn / Swords Dance
Item: Custap Berry / Leftovers / Rindo Berry
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 136 HP / 36 Atk / 252 SpD / 84 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
While Rhydon's general bulk is inferior to Regirock, it makes for an effective bulky Stealth Rock setter with a more offensive edge over other Ground-types such as Nidoqueen, Sandslash, and Gligar. If another Stealth Rock user is already being used, Rhydon can also use Substitute to scout switch-ins and generate momentum, which works well in tandem with Swords Dance to aid in setup and break through bulky structures. Rock Blast is the chosen Rock-type STAB option on this set for handling Substitute Charizard, Drifblim, and Haunter while having the potential for great power with five hits. Megahorn allows Rhydon to hit Grass-types such as Cacturne, Shiftry, Meganium, and Cradily in addition to hitting Slowking quite hard. However, Swords Dance can be used in its place to set up on Regirock and Skuntank and pose a sweeping threat mid- to late-game.
Custap Berry pairs well with Rhydon's solid bulk, giving it an opportunity to land a strong hit against faster foes such as Tauros and Manectric and check Unburden Drifblim in a pinch. Leftovers is the best item on Substitute sets to increase Rhydon's longevity and set multiple Substitutes throughout the match. Rindo Berry allows Rhydon to consistently survive Hidden Power Grass from Charizard, Typhlosion, and Manectric, and it can survive Grass-type moves from Vileplume, Cradily, Meganium, and Cacturne to lure in and KO them with Megahorn. However, this will not work on Shiftry due to Life Orb Leaf Storm still OHKOing Rhydon even with Rindo Berry. Similarly, Chople Berry allows Rhydon to survive a hit from Life Orb Hitmonchan's Close Combat, Medicham's High Jump Kick, and Charizard's and Magmortar's Focus Blasts to sneak a surprise hit on them.
WIth a bulky EV spread, Rhydon takes on the likes of Drifblim, SubToxic Charizard, and Tauros with ease while also being able to win one-on-one versus Gardevoir, Haunter, Articuno, and Leftovers Hitmonchan. The given EV spread allows Rhydon to survive a 2HKO from Drifblim's Hidden Power Fighting while outspeeding uninvested Regirock and Vileplume, but more HP can be used to consistently survive Magneton's Flash Cannon, Ampharos's Focus Blast, and Cacturne's Energy Ball with Rindo Berry. 216 HP EVs allow Rhydon to set 101 HP Substitutes versus Seismic Toss users like Dusclops and Lickilicky while also setting the maximum amount of Substitutes from full health.
Team Options
=========
Rhydon's main form of entry comes from switching in on Regirock, so it appreciates Pokemon that force Regirock in early such as Skuntank, Tauros, and Charizard. After Rhydon has set Stealth Rock, it appreciates spinblockers like Drifblim and Haunter that can switch in on Hitmonchan and Sandslash to maintain Rhydon's entry hazards while also baiting Medicham into taking High Jump Kick's recoil damage. Sleep users such as Vileplume, Jynx, and Venomoth can give Rhydon potential entry points to set up Substitute or Swords Dance. Substitute Rhydon can be used alongside heavy paralysis support to mitigate its slow Speed, take advantage of full paralysis turns, and threaten to sweep. Thunder Wave Regirock is a good partner to spread paralysis, luring shared checks such as Hitmonchan, Poliwrath, and Meganium, while also using Explosion on bulky Ground-types that are immune to Thunder Wave and check Rhydon. Slowking can also spread paralysis decently by threatening out Ground-types and drawing in Skuntank, one of Rhydon's common entry points. Substitute Rhydon also takes advantage of bulky Water- and Grass-types taking Toxic, as it can stall for Toxic damage and can potentially bring them in range of its attacks. Therefore, Rhydon pairs well with Toxic users such as Regirock, Slowking, and Floatzel, which draw in bulky Water- and Grass-types like Slowking and Meganium. Since Rhydon is generally forced out by Fighting- and Water-types, it appreciates Pokemon that can switch into them while maintaining momentum such as Slowking and Vileplume. Rhydon setting Stealth Rock and making good mid-game progress is appreciated by late-game cleaners such as Tauros, Manectric, and Drifblim.
[SET]
Name: Setup Sweeper
Move 1: Swords Dance / Rock Polish
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Rock Blast
Move 4: Megahorn
Item: Custap Berry / Chople Berry / Shuca Berry
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Rhydon can take advantage of its limited entry on Regirock, Skuntank, and Choice-locked Tauros and Manectric by wielding a setup move to break open holes in the opposing team with Swords Dance or clean up late-game with Rock Polish. Swords Dance lets Rhydon cleave through physically defensive switch-ins such as Slowking and Vileplume with enough chip damage. Rock Polish flips Rhydon's poor Speed on its head, outspeeding anything not carrying a Choice Scarf while having great enough power to pick off frailer teams. Rock Blast is a strong multi-hit move against most Earthquake-resistant or -immune Pokemon, notably covering Substitute Charizard, Drifblim, and Haunter. Megahorn allows Rhydon to hit Grass-types such as Meganium, Cacturne, and Shiftry while also hitting Slowking hard without boosts. Swords Dance + Rock Polish can potentially work together to devastating effect, but the chances of getting both boosts in a single game is unlikely.
Custap Berry makes up for Rhydon's lacking Speed on Swords Dance sets by turning the tides on potential revenge kills and picking off frailer late-game sweepers such as Tauros and Drifblim after Unburden. Endure can also let Rhydon get into Custap Berry range more consistently and against threats that might OHKO it. Chople Berry lets Rhydon survive even Life Orb Hitmonchan's Close Combat as well as Charizard's Focus Blast and Drifblim's boosted Hidden Power Fighting while also enabling Rock Polish Rhydon to check some means of speed control from Hitmonchan's Mach Punch as well as Choice Scarf Hitmonchan, Medicham, and Gardevoir. Shuca Berry helps Rhydon take Tauros's Earthquake, Haunter's Hidden Power Ground, and Nidoqueen's Earth Power to increase its setup opportunity with Rock Polish and countersweep some of these Pokemon. An Adamant nature is useful on Swords Dance sets to OHKO some Slowking variants after Stealth Rock with +2 Earthquake, while a Jolly nature is mandated with Rock Polish to outspeed Floatzel at +2.
Team Options
=========
Rhydon appreciates teammates that can lure its common entry points such as Regirock, Skuntank, Tauros, and Manectric. Pokemon like Tauros, Charizard, Haunter, and Jynx are able to accomplish this to create offensive momentum for Rhydon. Pokemon with sleep moves such as Jynx, Vileplume, and Venomoth are able to generate free turns for Rhydon to find setup opportunities. Swords Dance Rhydon takes advantage of paralysis spam, so it appreciates Pokemon that are good at paralysis spreading such as Regirock and Slowking, which can also set up Stealth Rock in the former's case or switch into Hitmonchan and Water-types in the latter's. Ampharos is also a good lead choice with Rhydon that can spread paralysis, match up well against Water-types, Tauros, and offensive Charizard, and deal early damage to Grass- and Ground-types that Rhydon can capitalize on. An alternative method of making Rhydon faster than the opposing team while also sweeping with Swords Dance is by using it on Trick Room teams, making Trick Room setters such as Slowking, Solrock, and Porygon2 good partners. To make Rhydon less reliant on Swords Dance boosts or its raw power in Rock Polish's case, it likes entry hazard support from Spikes setters such as Cacturne and Glalie that provide beneficial chip damage to push foes into range of Rhydon's attacks late-game. Because Rock Polish Rhydon is weak to most forms of priority, it appreciates lures to the Pokemon that carry them like Hitmonchan, Medicham, Sharpedo, and Floatzel, making Chople Berry Regirock and Colbur Berry Slowking solid teammates to support a Rhydon sweep. Rhydon appreciates additional late-game cleaners that can take advantage of teams weakened by its mid- to late-game wreckage, such as Tauros, Manectric, and Floatzel.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rock Slide and Stone Edge are alternative Rock-type STAB options that have less variance than Rock Blast and have good consistent damage, but it means Rhydon loses the ability to break Drifblim's and Charizard's Substitutes and deal some extra damage. Rhydon can use Ice Punch or Fire Punch over Megahorn to have a coverage option for Grass-types that can't miss; Ice Punch has the bonus of dealing great damage to Gligar, while Fire Punch can hit Magnet Rise Magneton. Choice Band, Life Orb, and Earth Plate are all offensive items that can increase Rhydon's immediate power but are less useful compared to items that can bolster Rhydon's defensive capabilities, as Rhydon already has enough significant power while having the option to sweep with Swords Dance or Rock Polish, making Marowak a better choice for a Ground-type with nuclear power.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Ground-types**: Physically defensive Ground-types such as Sandslash, Gligar, and Marowak are able to tank Rhydon's attacks while dealing decent damage with their own Earthquake. Nidoqueen is weak to Ground, yet it can beat Rhydon one-on-one due to its higher Speed and Earth Power landing a 2HKO.
**Grass-types and Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-types such as Meganium, Cacturne, and Shiftry resist Rhydon's powerful Earthquake, while Cradily and Vileplume don't resist it yet have decent physical bulk, and they all can threaten to OHKO Rhydon. However, most of these Pokemon besides Shiftry are susceptible to being lured by Rindo Berry sets, and some have great trouble switching into Megahorn. Some Pokemon will even use Hidden Power Grass as coverage for Rhydon, such as Charizard, Typhlosion, and Manectric.
**Water-types**: Offensive Water-types such as Sharpedo, Floatzel, and Poliwrath can threaten to OHKO Rhydon while preventing its attempts to sneak a Custap Berry-boosted hit on them with Aqua Jet or Vacuum Wave. Slowking has trouble switching into Rhydon, especially if it's carrying Megahorn, but physically defensive sets can still take it on decently when they're healthy.
**Fighting-types**: Although most Fighting-types have trouble switching into Rhydon, Pokemon like Hitmonchan, Medicham, and Poliwrath can each threaten Rhydon with powerful Fighting-type moves and carry priority to prevent Custap Berry Rhydon from revenge killing them. It also has trouble with Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast Charizard, Typhlosion, Magmortar, and Gardevoir without a Chople Berry.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amity.619555/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rabia.336073/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/heysup.21929/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096
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