Hariyama is the premier Knock Off user of ADV OU, being more reliable defensively than other frail Knock Off users like Armaldo and Alakazam. Knock Off is Hariyama's biggest selling point because it's a a way to punish sand weak Pokemon that rely on Leftovers to survive in sand, and denies recovery from sand immune Pokemon that abuse Leftovers. Knock Off can also get rid of a Choice Band or a boosting Berry from a powerful sweeper, drastically reducing its offensive potential. Its Fighting type also allows it to fit defensively on teams as a Rock-type check.
Hariyama typically runs a defensive set mainly focused on knocking off Leftovers from the opposing Pokemon, but sometimes it runs a more offensive set that can threaten immediate damage thanks to its high Attack stat and the powerful coverage provided by Focus Punch, Rock Slide and Hidden Power Bug. For this versatility Hariyama is really hard to switch into due to the threat of Knock Off from the defensive set or a powerful Focus Punch from the offensive set. Additionally, Hariyama has access to two great abilities: Guts to absorb status from the likes of Blissey, Gengar, Porygon2, and Thick Fat to tank Special and Mixed attackers that rely on Fire and Ice-type coverage.
Stat wise, Hariyama is the bulkiest Fighting-type in ADV due to its very high base HP stat that allows it to take little damage when switching into Seismic Toss from Blissey. Due to its good bulk and not being 4x weak to Aerial Ace like fellow fighters Breloom and Heracross, Hariyama is not terribly afraid of being trapped by Dugtrio. Hariyama's 50 base Speed stat means it’s the slowest of all fully evolved fighters so it cant sweep without extreme paralysis support. Hariyama's low Defense and Special Defense stat means it has a difficult time in choosing between putting EVs in bulk in both areas or pumping out its Attack stat.
[SET]
name: Defensive Knock Off
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Brick Break
move 3: Rest / Hidden Power [Bug]
move 4: Whirlwind / Hidden Power [Bug]
item: Leftovers
ability: Thick Fat
nature: Impish
evs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Defensive Hariyama is excellent at forcing progress against bulky balance and stall teams thanks to Knock Off. It is a good check to Tyranitar thanks to its Rock resisting typing and its good bulk, and is also a decent check to Snorlax thanks to its ability to threaten it with Brick Break or phaze it with Whirlwind. However, its weakness to sand and lack of a form of instant recovery means that Hariyama is prone to being worn down with repeated attacks, and its middling defenses are exposed when taking big hits from a Choice Band Tyranitar or a +1 Attack Snorlax.
Knock Off is what makes Hariyama really hard to switch into because usual Fighting-type checks like Gengar, Celebi, Starmie, Gyarados, Salamence, Zapdos and Moltres really hate losing Leftovers due to their weakness to sand, while sand immune checks like Swampert, Claydol, Flygon, Metagross, Forretress and Skarmory, still dislike losing their only form of recovery. Brick Break is the STAB attack of choice because it OHKOes bulkless Tyranitar and max HP Tyranitar after a Spike, and can pressure Blissey and Snorlax decently while having higher PP and better accuracy than Cross Chop. Rest is useful to shrug off status moves like Toxic and Will-O-Wisp and generally helps in boosting Hariyama's longevity. Whirlwind can phaze boosting threats like Curse Snorlax and Calm Mind Suicune, as well as racking up damage on the opposing team with Spikes up. Hidden Power Bug is also used as an alternative to Rest or Whirlwind to pressure Recover Starmie and Celebi who could otherwise recover off the damage they take switching in to Hariyama.
Thick Fat is generally the preferred ability over Guts because it allows defensive Hariyama to check mixed Tyranitar and Fire Blast + Ice beam Blissey. An Impish nature with maximum Defense investment allows it to check non Choice Band physical Tyranitar and switch into Snorlax a few times without being forced to use Rest, while the Special Defense investment allows it to take a hit from special attackers in order to Knock Off and helps to phaze Calm Mind users such as Suicune more reliably.
Team Options
========
Defensive Knock Off Hariyama is only found on Stall and Balance teams as way to force progress vs other Stall and Balance teams. Despite it being a Tyranitar check, it cannot completely fulfill the role as a Physical wall by itself due to it being weak to Metagross and Salamence. For this reason it is always paired with a bulky Water type like Milotic, Suicune, Swampert or Starmie. Defensive Hariyama's passivity often invites strong special attackers like offensive Water-types and Electric-types, making a sturdy special wall like Blissey, Celebi or Jirachi is a required partner. With already three grounded members on a stall team it is advised to run a spinner to have better insurance against Spikes: Claydol pairs very well with Hariyama and a bulky water type like Milotic or Suicune, but even more common is defensive Starmie alongside a sturdy Rock resist like Swampert or Metagross. Starmie is a fantastic Hariyama partner due to its abilities to check Salamence and Metagross, clear Spikes with Rapid Spin, and provide paralysis support with Thunder-Wave which allows Hariyama to shine against faster threats.
In order to abuse the power of Knock Off to the fullest, pairing Hariyama with Tyranitar is reccomended to make sure the sand will slowly chip all the non Rock, Steel and Ground-types that are missing Leftovers. Hariyama can also be effective even outside of sand with Knock Off's ability to negate recovery and while recovering HP through leftovers while not taking sand chip itself. Stall teams featuring defensive Hariyama often have a Spiker like Skarmory or Forretress in order to pile the residual damage of sand and Spikes alonside the effectiveness of Knock Off at negating Leftovers recovery. Additionally, Forretress deserves a special mention as it can also act as a spinner with dedicated Pursuit Support from Tyranitar or Umbreon. Defensive Hariyama on stall really enjoys Wish support from the likes of Blissey, Jirachi or Vaporeon, additionally it enjoys Leech Seed support from Celebi or Venusaur, as well as paralysis support from Thunder-Wave users like Blissey, Starmie and Zapdos or Body Slam users like Jirachi and Snorlax. Rest Hariyama does not always have the bulk to survive resting, so appreciates the support of heal bell users Blissey and Celebi who can wake it early and bring it back in to play. Opposing Skarmory is often used to switch in to Knock Off , so Hariyama is also appreciated by team mates who would usually struggle to break Skarmory without Magneton, such as Taunt Gyarados or Leech Seed Celebi.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Cross Chop
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Knock Off / Rock Slide
move 4: HP Bug / HP Ghost
item: Leftovers
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 228 Def / 28 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Offensive Hariyama gives up the longevity of the defensive set for more offensive coverage and two stronger STAB fighting moves in Cross Chop and Focus Punch. Cross Chop is a very powerful move coming from Hariyama's max invested Attack stat, making up for it's low accuracy with a high critical hit ratio that helps in breaking past Salamence and Gyarados's Intimidate as well as the Defense boosts of Curse Snorlax. Focus Punch is an even more powerful and accurate move that can be used somewhat safely when expecting a switch from Pokemon that are threatened by Cross Chop such as Blissey, Snorlax, Porygon2 and Tyranitar, and can be used against sleeping threats like Snorlax or Suicune when they are going through their Rest cycles. Knock Off is still very useful on offensive Hariyama as it cripples Gengar and Flying-types such as Zapdos and Moltres who otherwise would be a pain to wear down. Alternatively, Rock Slide can be used instead to cover Flying types like Zapdos, Moltres, Salamence and Gyarados and to slightly chip Gengar directly. Knock off also cripples hard to break defensive walls like Rest Suicune, Rest Zapdos and Wish Jirachi. In the fourth slot Hidden Power Bug is the most common choice as it allows Hariyama to punish Psychic types like Celebi, Starmie and Claydol; alternatively, Hidden Power Ghost can be used instead to deal the most damage to Gengar despite losing some damage against Celebi compared to Hidden Power Bug.
Guts is considered the best ability on offensive Hariyama as Thick Fat is not as useful without the Special Defense investment. When Guts increases the already maxed out Attack stat of offensive Hariyama the results can be devastating, making Hariyama an even better switch-in to Blissey and Porygon2 without fearing their status moves, and also prevents Gengar from crippling it with Will-O-Wisp. Max Attack investment is mandatory to make sure that Hariyama hits as hard as possible, while Defense investment is helpful for switching into Physical Tyranitar and Snorlax. The small Speed investment llows Hariyma to outspeed Relaxed Swampert and -0 Speed Tyranitar, however more EVs can be invested in Speed to outspeed 0 Speed Blissey, 0 speed Tyranitar and even standard specially defensive Skarmory at the cost of a lower Defense stat.
Team Options
========
Offensive Hariyama is featured on more aggressive offense and balance teams that are looking to take the initiative rather than stalling out the game. This means that usual defensive Hariyama partners like Blissey, Skarmory and Forretress are no longer common here, however, some other partners like defensive Starmie, Leech Seed Celebi and Wish Jirachi are still very common. A different partner that is commonly seen with offensive Hariyama is Porygon2, not only it makes the team better against Dugtrio but it also checks the Dragon Dance users Salamence and Gyarados that often setup on Hariyama, additionally, it provides paralysis support for the team with Thunder-Wave. Another partner worth mentioning is offensive Zapdos with Thunder-wave and Baton Pass: which can proceed to paralyze members of the opposing team, or use Baton Pass to catch the switch to Blissey or Snorlax to allow Hariyama in safely. Zapdos also pivots in on the Flying attacks from Salamence and Gyarados that threaten Hariyama. Pursuit Tyranitar is a common partner because it makes defensive Starmie's life easier at spinning against Gengar, which is especially useful if Hariyama isn't packing Knock Off or Hidden Power Ghost.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Bulk Up Hariyama is a terrifying sweeper against bulky stall teams with the help of paralysis support, however it is worth noting that Machamp can do the same job just as well if not better due to its higher Speed and Attack stat. Counter can be an interesting surprise move on Hariyama that is useful when facing strong physical attackers like Metagross, Heracross or Aerodactyl, however, it is quite prediction reliant and only works if Hariyama is at full health. Belly Drum Hariyama is the final gimmick that is worth mentioning, while it can sweep some slow teams combined with Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos or extreme paralysis support, it is generally considered very inconsistent and not worth trying.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types **: Salamence and Gyarados can switch into Hariyama's attacks thanks to Intimidate and their resistance to Fighting-type moves and ability to hit Hariyama back with a super-effective Hidden Power Flying, but hate to lose their item to Knock Off or switch into Rock Slide. Other Flying-types without Intimidate like Zapdos and Moltres have a hard time switching into Focus Punch in sand, meanwhile Skarmory is even worse at switching into attacks as it doesn't even resist Fighting, despite not suffering as much from losing Leftovers due to its sand immunity.
**Gengar **: Gengar hates losing Leftovers to Knock Off, but can be a good pivot into Fighting-type attacks, and shrugs off most other attacks barring Hidden Power Ghost. Gengar does struggle to meaningfully threaten Hariyama as Will-O-Wisp is negated by Guts and its attacks bar Explosion do very little damage.
**Psychic-types **: Celebi and bulky Starmie can switch into Fighting-type attacks all day and Recover off the damage taken while threatening Hariyama with a STAB Psychic, however, they dislike losing their items to Knock Off and are also weak to coverage moves like Hidden power Bug and Hidden Power Ghost. Hariyama teams often lack the strong special attackers that Celebi is usually charged with handling, making Celebi difficult to KO if Hariyama is not carrying Hidden Power Bug. Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi, Offensive Celebi and Offensive Jirachi all immediately threaten Hairyama with STAB Psychic attacks, or by using set up moves into a more passive set. Hariyama teams are often ill equipped to deal with these threats, as Hariyama is often used over Dugtrio which would normally be capable of enabling a trade once the Celebi or Jirachi has taken some damage.
**Heracross**: Heracross resists Fighting-type attacks and threatens Hariyama back with its powerful Megahorn. Despite not being a long term solution, sometimes Heracross is the best answer to Hariyama a team can offer.
**Revenge killers**: Aerodactyl, Metagross, Jirachi with Psychic and offensive Starmie all hate to switch into Hariyama's, attacks but can do a decent job at revenge killing it if they are at full HP.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[mikmer,], [Zacpz]]
- Quality checked by: [[Vapicuno, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
Last edited by a moderator:
