Haxorus [QC 0/2]

[Spoopy]

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Haxorus is a servicable wallbreaker in the tier thanks to its ridiculous power, good type coverage, and above average speed tier. However, it faces stiff competition from other wallbreakers such as Aegislash, Conkeldurr, and Obstagoon. Outrage is used over Dragon Claw or Dual Chop for its absurd power; though getting locked into Outrage is admittedly very annoying. Swords Dance is used to allow Haxorus to break past its checks such as Corviknight and Hippowdon, making it even more terrifying to switch into. Close Combat allows Haxorus to 2HKO Corviknight and Ferrothorn after a Swords Dance. It also comes with the benefit of not being forced into Outrage against Kyurem. Earthquake is the preferred move in the last slot to avoid being hard countered by Aegislash. It also allows Haxorus to muscle past Clefable after a Swords Dance, as well as OHKO Rotom-H thanks to Mold Breaker ignoring Levitate. A Jolly nature is used as Adamant's power boost is quite negligible, while Jolly allows Haxorus to outspeed Rotom-H and Kyurem. Life Orb is the most useful item as it increases Haxorus' power to astronomical levels, notably allowing it to OHKO Clefable and Toxapex after Swords Dance. Mold Breaker is the best ability for Haxorus as it allows it to pierce through Unaware and Levitate users.

Late game cleaners such as Zeraora, Dragapult, and Sand Rush Excadrill highly appreciate Haxorus cutting holes in the opponents defensive Pokemon for them to take advantage of. Pokemon that can check Togekiss, Haxorus's one true counter, are essential. Zeraora and Rotom-H can force out Togekiss with their super effective STAB moves, while specially defensive Corviknight is a good defensive check to Togekiss. Lastly, Haxorus decidedly average speed tier leaves it vulnerable to faster Pokemon users such as Dragapult, Hydreigon, and Zeraora. Pokemon that can pivot into them such as Clefable, Hippowdon, and Mandibuzz can all protect Haxorus from being revenge killed. Clefable can also provide Wish to keep Haxorus healthy throughout the match.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Spoopy, 511359]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

 

[Spoopy]

This is QC ready.

 

[ImperialGamer517]

AM check. Add what you agree on.

other set up sweepers such as Gyarados, Necrozma, and Hawlucha

I don’t think Necrozma is the best choice of a l sweeper. Try expanding on this part by adding late game wincons like Bulk Up Zeraora.

hit Aegislash, Toxapex, and Excadrill

Try adding Tyranitar to the list. Haxorus 2HKOes or OHKOs Tyranitar

+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Earthquake vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 330-390 (90.1 - 106.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Earthquake vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 220-260 (60.1 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Mold Breaker is the best ability for Haxorus as it allows it to pierce through Unaware and Levitate users.

Merge with the previous paragraph.

While Haxorus is very powerful offensively, it will need strong wallbreakers to tear holes in the opponents team to facilitate a sweep. Conkeldurr, Choiced Aegislash, and Obstagoon are good choices as they can pressure or check Pokemon that can give Haxorus trouble such as Clefable, Corviknight, and Toxapex.

Merge with the last paragraph, since these are team options.

Dracozolt, Choice Band Aegislash, and Zeraora

I don’t think Dracozolt is one of the best choices. Try Rotom-H instead, since it is a more viable option that resists both of Corviknight’s STAB.

Hope I helped!

 

[curiosity]

Hey man, sorry for the wait. We brought this up a few weeks ago but, QC has finally decided that we'd rather you write around this set:

name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Speaking from experience here, Dragon Dance is generally far too weak to get anything done, and is generally just unreliable as a late game cleaner, whereas Swords Dance is actually quite a neat breaker that resolves many of haxorus' movepool problems and lets it muscle past a lot of its previous checks. If you could update the analysis accordingly that would be great.

 

[Spoopy]

This analysis has been updated for the new Swords Dance set.