Haxorus (Analysis)

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Haxorus

QC 3/3 - (Iconic)(Fireburn)(Bad Ass)
GP - To be completed


NOTES:

  • Overview pending rewrite
    Choice Scarf set pending rewrite
    Teammates and Counters to be rewritten w/detail




[Overview]
<p>"To kill, or to overkill?" - that is the question. This is what GameFreak was probably thinking when they first came up with the idea for this thing. With an aesthetically pleasing sprite and a simply epic base Attack stat of 147, there's seemingly no reason why, at first glance, that someone wouldn't put this on their team. This is only further augmented by the fact that Haxorus has the strongest Outrage since Rayquaza. However, the common saying goes, that not all that glitters is gold, and just like Haxorus' plates, this is true.<p>

<p>Despite its massive attack stat and pure-Dragon typing, along with taking neutral damage to Stealth Rock, a problem which has limited the potential of powerhouses such as Salamence in the past, Haxorus is a bit of an anomaly. When one considers its relative frailty, shallow movepool, and general lack of options, Haxorus doesn't seem as great. Like with all other powerhouses, Haxorus does have its drawbacks, but that shouldn't deplete from its standout traits. Yes, even when compared to its fellow draconic brethren, Haxorus could still be seen as a giant among drakes.</p>

[SET]

name: Choice Band
move 1: Dragon Claw/Double Chop
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Outrage
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe












Set Comments:

<p>With a Choice Band, Haxorus' massive base 147 attack stat is augmented to sky-high levels, giving it the ability to tear through more or less anything with a ridiculous Outrage or super-effective Earthquake. Dragon Claw is the crux of this set. It allows Haxorus to use a reliable STAB move with no drawbacks, unlike Outrage, which will lock it in. Double Chop can also be used since you gain the nifty ability to break Pokemon using the move Substitute. Earthquake is all but must-have, taking care of the Steels that Haxorus wouldn't be able to put a dent in via STAB move; the fourth move is your choice of filler that won't be used too often. Of the four sets, this one offers the most power right off the bat which is crucial for a Pokemon such as Haxorus. With its underwhelming 97 base Speed, Haxorus won't always have the chance to set up, especially with all the Mischievous Heart Pokemon flying about.</p>

Additional Comments:

<p>Remember that this set is a Choice variant. Despite its monstrous visage, Haxorus should be hitting and running, and not staying in for too long. There are two viable options for Haxorus' nature. With Adamant, you can 2HKO Skarmory after it has switched in twice, a feat that not everyone can boast. Jolly gives Haxorus a really helpful boost and permits it to outspeed all base 95s and under with certainty.</p>



Teammates & Counters:

<p>Where do we start? The first thing to remember with building a team with Haxorus on it, like with all other Pokemon, is to remember its purpose. Seeing as this set is built to wreck stuff, it makes sense that there should be someone to clean up the mess, no? Revenge killers are to Haxorus as hyenas are to lions, and the best one for the job is Scizor. Scizor eats up all the Dragon and Ice attacks that will undoubtedly be aimed at Haxorus, while Scizor's famed Technician Bullet Punch will be KOing any unlucky victims more often than not. Also, Haxorus doesn't fair the Fire-type moves that typically do Scizor in. When playing with Haxorus, one must remember that there are plenty of scarfed Dragons roaming around nowadays; whenever one of these shows up, Haxorus should make like Houdini and disappear.</p>







name: Choice Scarf <pending edits>
move 1: Dragon Claw/Double Chop
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Outrage
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide
item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe


Set Comments:

<p>When equipped with a Choice Scarf, Haxorus outspeeds every non-boosted, non-scarfed Pokemon in the game. When considering the majority of Pokemon that don't utilize a Choice Scarf, that is a huge boon to Haxorus. </p>

Additional Comments:

<p>At first glance, using a Scarfed Haxorus may seem odd since ScarfChomp and ScarfFlygon, the conventional scarfed dragons, both have 100 base speed or higher. Also, the two aforementioned drakes are both bulkier than Haxorus as well. However, Haxorus has a much higher damage output, a Mold Breaker Earthquake, as well as a Water resist and 2x Ice weakness (instead of 4x). Also, take into account that ScarfFlygon lacks the overall power and gamebreaking effect that ScarfChomp and Haxorus do, and that every team is prepared for the Garchomp. Haxorus is a far different threat, even if it does the same things.</p>

Teammates & Counters:

<p>Considering all of Haxorus' traits and moves, Magnezone works as a great teammate to Choice Scarf Haxorus. The two biggest threats to this set, Steel-types and scarfed dragons</p>


[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Taunt / Dragon Tail
item: Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe











Set Comments:

<p>After one Dragon Dance, Haxorus' 97 base speed allows it to outspeed every non-scarfed, non-boosted Pokemon in the game, as well as all base 95 scarfers. The fantastic ability, Mold Breaker, allows Haxorus to have perfect coverage in two moves. The only Pokemon walling this combination, Skarmory, is completely shut down by either Taunt or Dragon Tail. Haxorus is a stellar choice for a Dragon Dance set, seeing as a boosted Outrage coming off of such a great Attack stat is netting a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs.</p>


Additional Comments:

<p>With an Adamant nature, Haxorus hits even harder, but this of course, is coming at the expense of the speed in the Jolly nature. Also, this set is where Haxorus' ability, Mold Breaker comes in most handy. Mold Breaker allows Haxorus to beat Bronzong and Gengar, who would both otherwise have a field day with the set. The last slot is a toss-up between two stellar moves. Dragon Tail forces Steels to switch out, while Taunt shuts most of them down (as well as preventing status).</p>



Teammates & Counters:

<p>When considering a teammate for Haxorus, look no further than Magnezone, enough said. It kills the steels that'll try to wall Haxorus, and doesn't fear any of the things that Haxorus does, except maybe Garchomp. Taking the silver in this competition is Skarmory, who offers utility in the form of entry hazards and phazing to make Haxorus' job a lot easier. Also, when playing with this Haxorus set and any other, it cannot be stressed enough that you must always avoid other dragons. They're more likely than not going to be scarfed, and will take advantage.</p>






[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Taunt / Dragon Tail
item: Life Orb
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe











Set Comments:
<p>This set functions as a wallbreaker, not a sweeper. If you want a sweeper, consider the Dragon Dance set. Haxorus is dangerous on its own, but when you give it steroids in the form of Swords Dance, even Steels will think twice before switching in </p>

Additional Comments:

<p>On this set, speed and attack should be maxed out in order to share as much pain with your enemies as possible. Sadistic much? Dragon Tail and Taunt are both viable options. That choice specifically depends on whether you want to phaze or block status. Brick Break can be used to slap Nattorei in the face when it inveitably switches in, preventing it from walling Haxorus. Brick Break also takes care of Porygon2 without forcing you to click Outrage. Of the four sets listed, this incarnation of Haxorus is the most prone to revenge killing if them all, so take caution.</p>



Teammates & Counters:

<p>Like with the Dragon Dance set, Skarmory and Magnezone are perfect support options since they both help with Haxorus' sustainability and role in general. As always, one should watch out for Mamoswine and Weavile, the two most common users of the move Ice Shard, as well as the scarfed dragons.</p>



[Other Options]

<p>Rivalry could be used, but it is generally unreliable and extremely gimmicky.While the boost is appealing, Mold Breaker is a fantastic ability and puts the ribbon on the box. Also, there's no reason that one should trade up such a great ability for such an unreliable one. </p>

[Checks & Counters]

<p>With 147 base attack, there is no such thing as a counter for Haxorus, but that doesn't mean it is fearless. An eye should be kept out for Weavile and Mamoswine, the most common users of the priority move Ice Shard. Superstrong users of priority in general, such as Roopushin, Infernape, Scizor, and Hitmontop can all work as teammates to clean up after Haxorus. Always remember though, that if Nattorei or Forretress comes in, Haxorus should immediately bounce. Neither of those two are seriously threatened by Haxorus and can both proceed to stall it out.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Tension is near useless when compared to Mold Breaker and even Rivalry. </p>
 
My favorite set so far has been Dragon Dance + Taunt. I have not really finalized an EV spread for that yet, but the basic premise is that Skamory is the only common thing that can wall you very well, so you use Taunt to allow you to set up on it. An issue is that the metagame favors Brave Bird Skarmory at the moment, so it isn't as completely helpless as Taunt Skarm would be. Nevertheless, it is a pretty decent set.

Ononokosu @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Mold Breaker
Dragon Dance
Taunt
Earthquake
Outrage/Dragon Claw
 
Make sure you mention Magnezone as the quintessential partner for just about every set since Skarm is basically the only thing that can straight up wall this thing. Also I'm loving the OHKOsu set name.

Approved 1/2
 
Sets look fine. Probably mention Brick Break as an option over Taunt/Dragon Tail in the AC for the DD and SD sets so you don't get trolled by Gyro Ball Nattorei. It also allows you to smack Porygon2 hard without resorting to Outrage yet.

QCstamp.png
 
Personally I think CB should be the first set. While a DD Ononokusu is certainly threatening, it simply lacks the coverage to consistently sweep (lack of a fire move hurts) and its speed is lacking.(+1 base 97 is still out sped by common scarfers) Furthermore, Ononokusu is surprisingly frail and some difficult in setting up Dragon Dances. I'd like to point out that Skarmory is hardly beaten by the DD set. It takes (36.2% - 42.8%) from +1 Outrage and it deals 40.1% - 47.3% with Brave Bird. So assuming Skarmory switches into Ononokusu's Dragon Dance, it will actually beat 1 on 1.

CB is nice because it hits hard right of the bat, and IMO is the best set Ononokusu can pull off. With proper support, it's capable of netting free kills due to its sheer power. Slower bulkier teams and some stall teams have a hard time with Ononokusu due to its insane Power.

Finally, you should also make a Choice Scarf set. It's not amazing by any means, but it's useful for catching people of guard and it can sweep late game. Rilvary needs a bigger mention because it notably boosts Ononokusu's power. The SD set for example is capable of reliably 2HKOing Skarmory after a boost and if Rilvary is in effect. This comes with the flaw of being significantly weaker against Pokemon with the opposite gender but most players use the default male gender anyway.

Edit:
IMO the ordering of the sets should be:
Choice Band
Choice Scarf
Dragon Dance
Swords Dance
 
yeah CB should definitely be the first set. It's best set Ononokusu can pull-off that gives it an edge over other Dragon-types because (which should probably be mentioned) because of the obvious monstrous power that it possesses and the lack of a SR weakness, which allows it to switch-in more times than those Dragon / Flying ones.
 
Scarf set, absolutely, Jolly with Max Atk and Max Spe is a great revenge killer, and while it may be odd to use it over Garchomp, it has a couple notable advantages, such as Mold Breaker Earthquake, significantly more power, and notably only a 2x Ice weakness (among other things, like water resist compared to garchomp and no sr weakness compared to salamence). The set should be similar to Choice Band, but Rock Slide should be slashed above Brick Break due to the power issues and flinch chance.

Slash Double Chop on next to Dragon Claw... pretty much everywhere. It breaks subs (scarf jolly even breaks skymin sub, 100/75 defenses woo), has multiple hits for "increased ch rate", and is generally a useful move. Accuracy is kind of a letdown, though.

also for the love of god no retarded set names please so rename the dd set to Dragon Dance
 
You put in two full stop/periods in after quite a few sentences, I'm not sure if you meant to put one there; or if you meant to put an ellipsis (...). Either way, nicely done.
 
Question:

I've been hearing about these "Double Dragon" teams, in which a common tandem seems to be Ononokusu-Garchomp as wallbreaking partners (a bit similar to the way Salamence + Rayquaza terrorized Ubers last generation.) I don't know if it's worth it's own set, but maybe one of these sets should go in the AC?
 
Double chop needs to be slashed with dragon claw everywhere. Bar accuracy, it's superior in every way and useful for its sub, sash and sturdy breaking qualities.

I also noticed this in the CB set comments:

Dragon Claw is the crux of this set. It allows Ononokusu to use a reliable STAB move with no drawbacks, unlike Outrage, which will lock it in. Double Chop can also be used: you lose a bit of power, but gain the ability to break subs.

I initially read this as "you can use double chop instead of dragon claw, but you lose a bit of power." This is incorrect.

Double chop 40 BP, 15 pp, 90% acc
Dragon claw 80 BP, 15 pp, 100% acc

As double chop hits twice, its effective base power is identical to dragon claw. The only other difference between the moves is the accuracy. The structure of the above excerpt reads awkwardly as well. How about this:

"A choice band ononokus wields monstrous power. Its decent speed and exceptional neutral coverage make this set a massive threat to anything unfortunate enough to be slower that our axe faced dragon.

Dragon claw, Its primary STAB attack, is a reliable option that compliments this sets hit-and-run nature well. Outrage can be used when a bit of extra push is needed, or for taking down bulkier opponents.

Mold breaker is a huge boon to ononokus, negating the dragon/ground resistance of every pokemon in OU except skarmory*. This gives it perfect coverage in dragon claw + earthquake and allows the use of a secondary dragon STAB."

*citation needed.
 
Sets look as dangerous as they were thought to be. Overall, good stuff RGB.

All these sets work great in double dragon, with him being lead or not. I think im going to continue to run my "weird" "Bulky" Ono that I've used for so long, but still, good stuff.
 
Hi, I am a new member of this community, I am pretty interested in gen 5 and looking forward to it for a while now I was mainly watching narration trying to get my head around what counters what well, what I can not afford not to have a counter for cause it will sweep me easily and exactly how to be able to guess if something is choiced buffed in terms of damage or scarfed in the case it would outspeed me anyway (I have been a fan of bulk since gen 1 with snorlax (I quit playing a bit after gen 2)) so I have been looking around the forums to learn the useable sets etc etc etc anyway the reason I made an acount is really just to say this: Anachronism, you sir have the greatest sig message of all time, kudos to you sir!

I apologize for making an off topic post and I promise it won't happen again.
 
But they do completely different jobs: SD is for brute wallbreaking force, DD is for all-around handy attacking.

Edit: Never mind, hasty statement. The two are pretty similar after all.
 
I would merge the Choice Scarf and Choice Band sets as they are almost exactly the same. Include the benefits and reasons for the two like you have in the separate analyses. The same can be said for the Swords Dance and Dragon Dance sets.

Aside from that, amazing job, you have both of the 2 required approvals. Here's an animated GIF as a present.
118Ononokusu.gif

All you need to do now is combine the sets and write it up!
 
Merging the two Choice sets would make sense, though it would make more sense to do so if he had similar values between Attack and Speed. I'd say merge the two into "Choice" and clearly state how both versions play differently. Approval has been there and no other changes are needed.

Don't know why I have been holding out on using this guy though.
 
You mention rivalry as unreliable, but seriously, who bothers in making his/her pokemon female? Rivalry will almost always net you an attack boost, and i think, its as useful as mold breaker can be (and btw, i dont quite see the benefits of mold breaker; what cant you hit with EQ without MB? Rotom?)

If im wrong (maybe MB bypasses ballon too?) please tell me, but in my opinion, rivalry deserves at least a good explanation in OC
 
(and btw, i dont quite see the benefits of mold breaker; what cant you hit with EQ without MB? Rotom?)
Mosrly for Bronzong, who walls Ononokusu pretty cold with his high Defense.

Bronzong then can set up TR, SR, Dual Screen or just attack with Gyro Ball. And with Rivarly, Jolly Ononokusu can't 2HKO 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Evo Stone Chasey with Outrage, that can T-Wave / Toxic / Protect / etc.

Also, I think that Mold Breaker can bypass Sturdy.
 
Also, I think that Mold Breaker can bypass Sturdy.
Not think, it is fact. Also Mold Breaker bypass Dragonite multi scale too.

Rivalry I think it is not good option. You won't know what your oppent gender. If you is male and all of you opponent is female, you screwed.
 
if this guy gets either fire punch or aqua tail in the 3rd 5th gen game itll be a huge boon to its movepool. as of right now thats really all its begging for. still a total beast poke and very good analyses. and to whoever said double chop breaks sturdy/multiscale it has mold breaker so thats a non-issue. so in the mid-game if u can get any hazards up, all double chops merit is breaking subs. which isnt that bad and still deserves a slash imo everywhere dragon claw is for the sub breaking and 2 chances of critting.
 
You mention rivalry as unreliable, but seriously, who bothers in making his/her pokemon female?
People who play ingame rather than on a simulator. Even if the majority of Smogon players play on PO, there is still a strong wi-fi community, not to mention the many more people who visit Smogon and play on their retail carts exclusively. Sets should not be written with only a simulator in mind. They should work for actual cartridge play as well.

Also, I set some of my mons to female on simulator teams.
 
People who play ingame rather than on a simulator. Even if the majority of Smogon players play on PO, there is still a strong wi-fi community, not to mention the many more people who visit Smogon and play on their retail carts exclusively. Sets should not be written with only a simulator in mind. They should work for actual cartridge play as well.

Also, I set some of my mons to female on simulator teams.

Unfortunately, a lot of Wi-Fi players, I included, use male Pokémon. Not only are male Pokémon useful as they can breed egg moves, but they tend to look cooler, too.

But I do agree that Rivalry has its unreliable perks... More so on a simulator.

-Zane
 
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