Hawlucha
QC: [3/3] - Kreme / Bouff /dodmen
GP: [1/1] - CryoGyro
[OVERVIEW]
* With the combination of its Unburden ability and Swords Dance, Hawlucha can double both its Attack and Speed over the course of only a few turns, making it one of the most potent sweepers in the UU tier.
* Possessing blistering 118 Speed, Hawlucha outpaces a majority of Pokemon in the UU tier, including the likes of Whimsicott, Raikou, and Starmie even without an Unburden boost.
* However, Hawlucha has a shallow movepool, and any other options that are not focused on it sweeping are largely outclassed. Also, if Hawlucha fails to clean through a team on its first attempt, it will not get another chance to sweep.
* Hawlucha faces a fair amount of competition as a sweeper, as there are a plethora of more reliable Fighting-types and sweepers that can be useful with less support.
[SET]
name: Power Herb
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sky Attack
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Acrobatics
item: Power Herb
ability: Unburden
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Swords Dance boosts Hawlucha's middling base 92 Attack to sky-high levels, making a deadly combination with the Speed boost from Unburden.
* Sky Attack in conjunction with Power Herb gives Hawlucha an extremely powerful Flying-type STAB attack to use once and activate Unburden.
* High Jump Kick is Hawlucha's most powerful STAB move and gives it the best chance to OHKO opposing Pokemon while sweeping.
* Acrobatics is Hawlucha's secondary STAB move and increases in power from both Swords Dance and Hawlucha losing its item. However, Acrobatics is extremely weak prior to Hawlucha activating Unburden.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature ensures that Hawlucha outpaces the likes of Whimsicott, Raikou, Starmie, and Gengar even before the Speed boost from Unburden.
* Maximum Attack investment gives Hawlucha the most powerful offensive presence possible.
* A Power Herb allows Hawlucha to use Sky Attack in a single turn, giving it an extremely powerful STAB move that also consumes its item.
* Unburden will instantly double Hawlucha's Speed once its Power Herb is consumed.
Usage Tips
========
* Hawlucha should only attempt to sweep in the later stages of a game once its checks and counters are removed or weakened. However, its high Speed can be utilized mid-game to grab a few useful revenge kills.
* As it carries little to no defensive utility, Hawlucha should only be brought in for free and when it threatens a sweep.
* As Power Herb Hawlucha lacks a way to intercept status moves, Pokemon that can afflict it with status conditions such as Klefki and Slowbro should be removed prior to attempting to sweep.
Team Options
========
* Pursuit users such as Bisharp and Krookodile make incredible partners for Hawlucha, as they can trap and do massive damage to bulky checks to Hawlucha such as Slowbro and Doublade.
*A large variety of wallbreakers such as Hydreigon and Metagross can support Hawlucha by muscling past a plethora of bulky Pokemon that would seek to wall it such as Hippowdon and Slowbro.
* Poison- and Steel-type Pokemon such as Nidoqueen and Scizor make for good teammates for Hawlucha, as they can break down bulky Fairy-type Pokemon that can potentially take a hit and stop its sweep.
* Spike users such as Klefki, Frosslass, and Roserade can set entry hazards that Hawlucha can utilize to be more likely to OHKO its targets.
* Dedicated Stealth Rock users such as Nidoqueen and more niche options like Mega Aerodactyl and Bisharp can make entry hazards extremely difficult for common removers like Empoleon, Latias, and Starmie to clear from their field without being heavily punished, which greatly assists Hawlucha's sweeping potential.
[SET]
name: Substitute + Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Substitute
move 3: High Jump Kick
move 4: Acrobatics
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Unburden
nature: Jolly
evs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Swords Dance sharply raises Hawlucha's Attack, giving it incredible sweeping potential in conjunction with Unburden.
* Substitute allows Hawlucha to control how much HP it loses to activate Unburden and avoid troublesome status and priority moves.
* High Jump Kick is Hawlucha's main STAB move to use, as its incredibly high 130 Base Power gives Hawlucha the best chance at scoring KOs.
* Acrobatics is Hawlucha's secondary STAB move and increases in power both from boosting with Swords Dance and not having an item. Note that Hawlucha's Acrobatics will be quite weak prior to using its item.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature ensures that Hawlucha outpaces anything below its base 118 Speed tier, including the likes of Raikou, Zygarde-10%, and Starmie, even before activating Unburden.
* Holding a Sitrus Berry allows Hawlucha to use Substitute to activate its item and gives it a fair amount of HP back upon consuming it.
* 12 EVs in HP gives Hawlucha an even 300 HP, allowing it to only need to use Substitute twice to activate its Sitrus Berry.
* Unburden will instantly double Hawlucha's Speed once its Sitrus Berry is consumed.
Usage Tips
========
* Hawlucha can only effectively sweep once its checks and counters, (comma) such as Doublade and Slowbro, are eliminated or severely weakened.
* Hawlucha's defensive capabilities are quite poor, so bringing it directly in on strong attackers should be done at minimum. Hawlucha should be brought in only when it can directly threaten the opposing Pokemon or acheive a sweep.
* Hawlucha should only attempt to set up on Pokemon slower than it, as strong and fast offensive Pokemon such as Talonflame can easily pick it off prior to activating Unburden.
Team Options
========
* Pursuit users such as Bisharp and Krookodile are incredibly helpful to Hawlucha since they can inflict massive damage on Pokemon that wall Hawlucha such as Doublade and Slowbro.
*(space)Wallbreakers with diverse movepools such as Nidoqueen, Hydreigon, and Metagross can make effective lures for many of Hawlucha's standard checks, making it easier for Hawlucha to sweep.
* Poison- and Steel-type Pokemon such as Nidoking and Bisharp assist Hawlucha by breaking down bulky Fairy-type Pokemon such as Clefable.
* Spike users such as Klefki, Frosslass, and Roserade will help Hawlucha greatly, (comma) since entry hazards are useful in racking up damage to score significant KOs that Hawlucha could usually not get.
* There are a number of specific Stealth Rock users that are extremely difficult to remove hazards against, such as Nidoqueen, and even niche options like Bisharp and Mega Aerodactyl. These entry hazard setters make it simple to keep Stealth Rock on the opponent's side of the field or heavily punish common removers such as Latias and Starmie.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
*(space)Hawlucha has access to Encore, which can potentially lock phazers like Suicune and Hippowdown into a move, stopping them from being able to force it out with Roar or Whirlwind. This can make Hawlucha more vunerable to being revenge killed with priority moves and crippled by status, however.
* Hawlucha can use Flyinium Z with Sky Attack and Mold Breaker to lure and OHKO Unaware Pokemon like Clefable and Quagsire. However, Hawlucha will be left with a largely unusable Flying-type STAB move after using Supersonic Skystrike. In addition, Mold Breaker Hawlucha is usually unable to sweep faster offensive teams, as it has no way of boosting its Speed.
* Since it already possesses an excellent Speed tier, Hawlucha can use Choice Band fairly well to boost its somewhat underwheming Attack without being reliant on its checks being removed. Keep in mind that Hawlucha is much easier to take advantage of when locked into a single move.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Pokemon that outpace Hawlucha such as Talonflame and Mega Aerodactyl can threaten to OHKO Hawlucha before it sets up. However, most lose to a Hawlucha that has set up Swords Dance and activated Unburden.
**Doublade**: Doublade is the best answer to Hawlucha available, being immune to High Jump Kick, taking minimal damage from even boosted Acrobatics, and being able to cleanly 2HKO Hawlucha with Shadow Claw or Iron Head.
**Crobat**: Crobat 4x resists Hawlucha's High Jump Kick and denies it a sweep by hitting it with Infiltrator Brave Bird even through Substitute.
**Bulky Psychic-types**: Slowbro, Mew, and Cresselia can take on Hawlucha with relative ease by switching into its unboosted moves and threatening to OHKO with super effective Psychic-type moves. All of them should avoid switching into boosted Acrobatics, however.
**Unaware Walls**: Clefable and Quagsire ignore Hawlucha's boosts from Swords Dance and will therefore wall its moves, which are only backed up by a below average 92 Attack.
**Bulky Phazers**: Defensive Pokemon with Whirlwind or Roar such as Suicune and Hippowdon can take a boosted hit from Hawlucha and force it out, ending its sweep.
Last edited:
