[OVERVIEW]
Heatran is a very versatile Pokemon, being able to fill defensive, offensive, and supportive roles on a team. It particularly excels at stallbreaking thanks to its immunity to Toxic and its signature move Magma Storm. Additionally, its stats and unique typing are great defensively and mean that it often completely walls foes that can't deal super effective damage to it. This makes it an excellent check to common foes such as Talonflame and Cresselia, which are almost entirely unable to touch it. Its high Special Attack stat and access to Flash Fire also mean it can deal a lot of damage, even with neutral attacks. Its middling Speed stat does mean that it's often outsped by other Pokemon, however, and it isn't quite slow enough to take advantage of Trick Room. Finally, while Heatran is great defensively, it's weak to Ground, Water, and Fighting, types that are all common as STAB moves and as coverage. This means that ordinarily lopsided match-ups, such as against Charizard and Scizor, can be a risky proposition when Focus Blast and Superpower, respectively, are considered.
[SET]
name: Stall
move 1: Magma Storm / Lava Plume
move 2: Toxic / Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Substitute / Earth Power
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 212 HP / 44 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
The first move choice is between Heatran's STAB moves, both of which aim to deal residual damage. Magma Storm is generally preferred, as it deals a greater amount of damage and traps foes, although its accuracy is less than desirable at 75%. Lava Plume, on the other hand, has 100% accuracy and a chance to burn the foe, reducing Heatran's reliance on Will-O-Wisp. The second move aims to improve Heatran's stalling capabilities. Toxic has the higher damage potential, as the damage it deals increases over time; it's therefore most useful against foes with recovery like Porygon2 and Cresselia. Will-O-Wisp is guaranteed to burn the foe provided it hits, inflicting chip damage and importantly reducing the damage opposing physical attackers deal. The next options help Heatran to deal with foes that it would otherwise have trouble beating. Substitute prevents a number of non-damaging moves and, in combination with Leftovers, provides a safety net against super effective hits. However, Earth Power hits the majority of targets that resist Fire for good damage, such as Blaziken and opposing Heatran, reducing the chance that Heatran will be walled. Finally, Protect allows Heatran to safely stack up recovery from Leftovers and chip damage for a turn.
Set Details
========
While Heatran has no choice in the matter, Flash Fire is an excellent ability that makes it immune to and lets it gain a boost from Fire-type attacks. This therefore makes it an excellent switch-in against opposing Fire-types. The given EVs grant a 16n+1 number of HP, which is optimized for both Leftovers and consecutive use of Substitute. A Timid nature and 252 Speed EVs allow Heatran to outspeed as many foes as possible. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Defense to allow Heatran to take special attacks slightly better. Using a Calm nature and an EV spread such as 212 HP / 4 Def / 44 SpA / 156 SpD / 92 Spe is an alternative to take special hits better if outspeeding foes is less important. Leftovers is essential to provide a form of recovery, improving Heatran's stalling capabilities.
Usage Tips
========
While this set deals well with most Pokemon that can't hit it super effectively, it's best against defensive foes such as Cresselia and Porygon2. You generally won't want to lead with Heatran, and it should instead be kept in the back ready to be switched in. This can be done fairly liberally as a result of its excellent typing and defensive stats, but foes such as Volcarona that don't run Hidden Power Ground and Choice Specs Sylveon are prime targets to do so. The combination of Substitute and Protect can allow Heatran to stall out slower foes using moves with low PP, such as Hydro Pump Rotom-W. Protect also allows Heatran to safely scout for Trick Rotom-W to avoid getting itself Choice locked. (RH) Try to scout for super effective coverage on a foe's set before getting comfortable, such as against uncommon Earthquake users like Mega Charizard Y and Mega Sceptile. Protect and Substitute are great tools for helping with this, but be wary of a foe setting up on a Protect.
Team Options
========
Heatran wants teammates that can deal with foes it can't outstall, like those that resist Fire and/or hit it super effectively. Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur, Ferrothorn, and Breloom do a good job at dealing with Water-types. Mega Venusaur also resists Fighting-type attacks, making it an especially good partner defensively. Serperior is another good partner, as it can set up on foes such as Hippowdon and Rotom-W, neither of which Heatran likes. Electric-types like Thundurus and Zapdos can also deal with Water-types and commonly carry Hidden Power Ice to help them deal with opposing Ground-types. Mega Kangaskhan struggles against defensive Pokemon such as Cresselia and Porygon2 and therefore appreciates Heatran's ability to switch into them and stall them out. In the best-case scenario, opposing Porygon2 can be baited into using Hidden Power Fire to active Heatran's Flash Fire. Garchomp enjoys Heatran's resistances to attacks such as Outrage and Ice Beam that threaten to eliminate it. Flying-types such as Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Gyarados are immune to Ground and resist Fighting, and Heatran has a 4x resistance to Ice for them in return. Partners with Levitate, such as Cresselia, Gengar, and Rotom-W, are also immune to Ground and have ways to deal with Mega Kangaskhan, which Heatran can struggle with. Heracross resists both Ground and Fighting, and Heatran makes a good partner for it thanks to Flash Fire. Using both Cresselia and Heracross together with Heatran creates a strong core that has excellent type synergy.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Flamethrower / Earth Power
move 4: Earth Power / Ancient Power
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Overheat is Heatran's strongest attack and can OHKO many foes with the boost from Choice Specs, including physically defensive Thundurus, Zapdos, and Hippowdon. The following two moves provide consistent STAB attacks for when lowering Heatran's Special Attack is undesirable. Flash Cannon provides an alternative STAB move and coverage against Fairy-types such as Sylveon. Flamethrower provides a Fire-type attack that doesn't lower Heatran's Special Attack and has a decent damage output combined with reliable accuracy. The final coverage options are used to reduce the chance that Heatran will be walled. Earth Power hits the majority of foes that resist both Fire- and Steel-type attacks super effectively, such as opposing Heatran. Ancient Power is a more effective option against foes like Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. You may also opt to drop Flamethrower in exchange for running both Earth Power and Ancient Power in order to minimize the chance that Heatran will be walled.
Set Details
========
Heatran's only ability, Flash Fire, is excellent for giving it an immunity to opposing Fire-type attacks and a means to further boost its own Fire-type attacks. Choice Specs and maximum Special Attack EVs make Heatran as immediately threatening as possible. The remaining EVs are placed mostly into HP to improve Heatran's overall bulk as much as possible. If you're looking to outpace more threats, EVs that trade bulk for Speed and potentially the use of a Timid nature can allow Heatran to do so. For example, 124 Speed EVs let Heatran outspeed base 60s, 204 EVs let it outspeed base 70s, and 252 EVs let it Speed tie with opposing maximum Speed Heatran.
Usage Tips
========
This set should be used on teams that need the greatest amount of firepower to get past bulky Steel-types like Aegislash. Flamethrower and Flash Cannon will be your staple move choices; use them until you're confident about making a prediction. Try to bait Fire-type attacks to activate Flash Fire, as this will boost the power of Heatran's Fire-type attacks even further. Avoid being Choice locked into Earth Power or Ancient Power if it can be helped, as this comes with the risk of hurting momentum. Equally bear in mind that Overheat's Special Attack drops can also have a negative effect on momentum. This set has no protection against potential super effective coverage, so be safe and scout for it when necessary.
Team Options
========
Cresselia is this set's best partner, as its access to Levitate and Ice Beam lets it check Ground-types easily. Its Lunar Dance can also provide a form of recovery, which Heatran otherwise lacks but finds desirable. Heracross resists both Fighting and Ground, can handle Water-types with Bullet Seed, and creates a strong core with Cresselia and Heatran, as Heatran resists every one of Heracross's weaknesses and helps beat foes like Aegislash for it, and Cresselia provides speed control for the other two, which are otherwise fairly slow. Garchomp can be useful to set up Stealth Rock, as it helps to eliminate Focus Sash users such as Breloom. Mega Salamence also makes a good partner, as it can switch in on Fighting- and Ground-types such as Blaziken and Choice-locked Earthquake users. Facade Mega Salamence can also deal with weakened bulky Water-types that threaten Heatran, such as Suicune, Rotom-W, and Slowbro. Mamoswine makes a great partner offensively, as it's able to threaten Ground-types and Dragon-types, particularly Garchomp and Mega Salamence, thanks to Icicle Spear. Mamoswine can also provide Stealth Rock support should it be needed for nullifying Focus Sashes and aiding in picking up KOs. Conkeldurr appreciates Heatran's ability to check Talonflame.
Other Pokemon that have a hard time getting past Steel-types also enjoy this set's presence. Sylveon appreciates having Steel-types like Aegislash removed so that it can spam Hyper Voice freely. Mawile, while having some coverage against opposing Steel-types, likes Heatran's ability to KO them more efficiently. Ferrothorn can't touch Steel-types outside of Leech Seed and can switch into Water-type attacks for Heatran. It also makes excellent bait for activating Heatran's Flash Fire as a result of its 4x weakness to Fire. Breloom can do little to Steel-types other than Spore and resists both Ground and Water. Heatran can't beat opposing Water-types, so it appreciates support for that. Electric-types like Thundurus can power through them with their strong STAB moves. Grass-types like Mega Venusaur and Serperior resist Water and can hit back with their super effective STAB moves, with Mega Venusaur working especially well, as it resists Azumarill's Play Rough and takes less damage from Ice-type coverage moves thanks to Thick Fat.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
More offensive sets, in particular, have the most other options. Fire Blast is an alternative Fire-type STAB move that trades Flamethrower's accuracy for a greater damage output. Hidden Power Ice deals significant damage to common Earthquake users and Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Mega Salamence, and Landorus-T, although Heatran is still outsped by these. Dragon Pulse similarly deals with Dragon-types like Garchomp and Mega Salamence but has the benefit over Hidden Power Ice of dealing more damage to Hydreigon, Latios, and Latias. Dark Pulse provides an alternative option for foes like Cresselia and has a handy chance to flinch the target. Stone Edge is an alternative to Ancient Power that generally deals more damage and is particularly useful against specially defensive Talonflame, but it is less accurate than Ancient Power. Using Taunt on the stall set can help to prevent foes from using non-attacking moves and is particularly useful for preventing recovery. Using a set with Stealth Rock and Air Balloon is viable if your team requires an entry hazard setter, but there are usually better options than Heatran. Choice Scarf can be a good answer to Heatran's Speed problem, particularly in combination with Hidden Power Ice, as this allows Heatran to outspeed threats such as Mega Salamence. Life Orb provides Heatran with more immediate firepower, but this wears it down quickly due to its lack of recovery. Assault Vest boosts Heatran's Special Defense, but preventing it from using support moves or a boosting item inhibits its usefulness.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Landorus-T can easily KO Heatran as a result of its 4x weakness to Earthquake, even when burned if they're holding a boosting item like Life Orb. Lum Berry Garchomp has the easiest time against Heatran, as it is not concerned about being burned while switching in.
**Fighting-types**: Blaziken, Conkeldurr, and Mega Lopunny can all KO Heatran with relative ease using their STAB moves. Conkeldurr is a particularly good check as a result of its Guts ability, which allows it to benefit from burn. Mega Lucario has an easy time KOing Heatran, although it has a hard time switching in safely. Additionally, Low Kick Greninja gains a STAB boost on the move as a result of Protean and can OHKO Heatran as a result, given enough Attack investment.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Rotom-W, Azumarill, and Gyarados take little damage from Heatran's Fire-type attacks and are able to hit back with their super effective STAB moves. Politoed's Drizzle also creates problems for Heatran, as the rain halves the power of its Fire-type attacks.
**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types like Hydreigon, Latios, and Latias resist Heatran's Fire-type attacks and commonly have coverage moves to hit Heatran super effectively, such as Earth Power and Surf. However, it should be noted that the former two have a chance to be 2HKOed by Choice Specs-boosted Flash Cannon.
**Mega Kangaskhan**: Mega Kangaskhan has access to a variety of moves that can make it problematic for Heatran. Earthquake obviously deals a huge amount of damage to Heatran. Power-Up Punch can be used to negate the effects of burn, as can Facade after Kangaskhan has finished with Heatran. It can also use Substitute in order to block Will-O-Wisp.
**Trick Room**: Heatran's middling Speed stat leaves it susceptible to Trick Room set by Pokemon such as Cresselia and Porygon2, as it allows foes that normally have a poorer match-up against it, such as Mega Heracross, to outspeed and KO it.
**Utility**: The Choice Specs set is shut down by Disable users such as Gengar, as the move forces Heatran to use Struggle or switch out. The stall set doesn't appreciate Encore users such as Gardevoir and Whimsicott, as its success is generally reliant on being able to switch moves.
Heatran is a very versatile Pokemon, being able to fill defensive, offensive, and supportive roles on a team. It particularly excels at stallbreaking thanks to its immunity to Toxic and its signature move Magma Storm. Additionally, its stats and unique typing are great defensively and mean that it often completely walls foes that can't deal super effective damage to it. This makes it an excellent check to common foes such as Talonflame and Cresselia, which are almost entirely unable to touch it. Its high Special Attack stat and access to Flash Fire also mean it can deal a lot of damage, even with neutral attacks. Its middling Speed stat does mean that it's often outsped by other Pokemon, however, and it isn't quite slow enough to take advantage of Trick Room. Finally, while Heatran is great defensively, it's weak to Ground, Water, and Fighting, types that are all common as STAB moves and as coverage. This means that ordinarily lopsided match-ups, such as against Charizard and Scizor, can be a risky proposition when Focus Blast and Superpower, respectively, are considered.
[SET]
name: Stall
move 1: Magma Storm / Lava Plume
move 2: Toxic / Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Substitute / Earth Power
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Timid
evs: 212 HP / 44 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
The first move choice is between Heatran's STAB moves, both of which aim to deal residual damage. Magma Storm is generally preferred, as it deals a greater amount of damage and traps foes, although its accuracy is less than desirable at 75%. Lava Plume, on the other hand, has 100% accuracy and a chance to burn the foe, reducing Heatran's reliance on Will-O-Wisp. The second move aims to improve Heatran's stalling capabilities. Toxic has the higher damage potential, as the damage it deals increases over time; it's therefore most useful against foes with recovery like Porygon2 and Cresselia. Will-O-Wisp is guaranteed to burn the foe provided it hits, inflicting chip damage and importantly reducing the damage opposing physical attackers deal. The next options help Heatran to deal with foes that it would otherwise have trouble beating. Substitute prevents a number of non-damaging moves and, in combination with Leftovers, provides a safety net against super effective hits. However, Earth Power hits the majority of targets that resist Fire for good damage, such as Blaziken and opposing Heatran, reducing the chance that Heatran will be walled. Finally, Protect allows Heatran to safely stack up recovery from Leftovers and chip damage for a turn.
Set Details
========
While Heatran has no choice in the matter, Flash Fire is an excellent ability that makes it immune to and lets it gain a boost from Fire-type attacks. This therefore makes it an excellent switch-in against opposing Fire-types. The given EVs grant a 16n+1 number of HP, which is optimized for both Leftovers and consecutive use of Substitute. A Timid nature and 252 Speed EVs allow Heatran to outspeed as many foes as possible. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Defense to allow Heatran to take special attacks slightly better. Using a Calm nature and an EV spread such as 212 HP / 4 Def / 44 SpA / 156 SpD / 92 Spe is an alternative to take special hits better if outspeeding foes is less important. Leftovers is essential to provide a form of recovery, improving Heatran's stalling capabilities.
Usage Tips
========
While this set deals well with most Pokemon that can't hit it super effectively, it's best against defensive foes such as Cresselia and Porygon2. You generally won't want to lead with Heatran, and it should instead be kept in the back ready to be switched in. This can be done fairly liberally as a result of its excellent typing and defensive stats, but foes such as Volcarona that don't run Hidden Power Ground and Choice Specs Sylveon are prime targets to do so. The combination of Substitute and Protect can allow Heatran to stall out slower foes using moves with low PP, such as Hydro Pump Rotom-W. Protect also allows Heatran to safely scout for Trick Rotom-W to avoid getting itself Choice locked. (RH) Try to scout for super effective coverage on a foe's set before getting comfortable, such as against uncommon Earthquake users like Mega Charizard Y and Mega Sceptile. Protect and Substitute are great tools for helping with this, but be wary of a foe setting up on a Protect.
Team Options
========
Heatran wants teammates that can deal with foes it can't outstall, like those that resist Fire and/or hit it super effectively. Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur, Ferrothorn, and Breloom do a good job at dealing with Water-types. Mega Venusaur also resists Fighting-type attacks, making it an especially good partner defensively. Serperior is another good partner, as it can set up on foes such as Hippowdon and Rotom-W, neither of which Heatran likes. Electric-types like Thundurus and Zapdos can also deal with Water-types and commonly carry Hidden Power Ice to help them deal with opposing Ground-types. Mega Kangaskhan struggles against defensive Pokemon such as Cresselia and Porygon2 and therefore appreciates Heatran's ability to switch into them and stall them out. In the best-case scenario, opposing Porygon2 can be baited into using Hidden Power Fire to active Heatran's Flash Fire. Garchomp enjoys Heatran's resistances to attacks such as Outrage and Ice Beam that threaten to eliminate it. Flying-types such as Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Gyarados are immune to Ground and resist Fighting, and Heatran has a 4x resistance to Ice for them in return. Partners with Levitate, such as Cresselia, Gengar, and Rotom-W, are also immune to Ground and have ways to deal with Mega Kangaskhan, which Heatran can struggle with. Heracross resists both Ground and Fighting, and Heatran makes a good partner for it thanks to Flash Fire. Using both Cresselia and Heracross together with Heatran creates a strong core that has excellent type synergy.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Overheat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Flamethrower / Earth Power
move 4: Earth Power / Ancient Power
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Overheat is Heatran's strongest attack and can OHKO many foes with the boost from Choice Specs, including physically defensive Thundurus, Zapdos, and Hippowdon. The following two moves provide consistent STAB attacks for when lowering Heatran's Special Attack is undesirable. Flash Cannon provides an alternative STAB move and coverage against Fairy-types such as Sylveon. Flamethrower provides a Fire-type attack that doesn't lower Heatran's Special Attack and has a decent damage output combined with reliable accuracy. The final coverage options are used to reduce the chance that Heatran will be walled. Earth Power hits the majority of foes that resist both Fire- and Steel-type attacks super effectively, such as opposing Heatran. Ancient Power is a more effective option against foes like Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. You may also opt to drop Flamethrower in exchange for running both Earth Power and Ancient Power in order to minimize the chance that Heatran will be walled.
Set Details
========
Heatran's only ability, Flash Fire, is excellent for giving it an immunity to opposing Fire-type attacks and a means to further boost its own Fire-type attacks. Choice Specs and maximum Special Attack EVs make Heatran as immediately threatening as possible. The remaining EVs are placed mostly into HP to improve Heatran's overall bulk as much as possible. If you're looking to outpace more threats, EVs that trade bulk for Speed and potentially the use of a Timid nature can allow Heatran to do so. For example, 124 Speed EVs let Heatran outspeed base 60s, 204 EVs let it outspeed base 70s, and 252 EVs let it Speed tie with opposing maximum Speed Heatran.
Usage Tips
========
This set should be used on teams that need the greatest amount of firepower to get past bulky Steel-types like Aegislash. Flamethrower and Flash Cannon will be your staple move choices; use them until you're confident about making a prediction. Try to bait Fire-type attacks to activate Flash Fire, as this will boost the power of Heatran's Fire-type attacks even further. Avoid being Choice locked into Earth Power or Ancient Power if it can be helped, as this comes with the risk of hurting momentum. Equally bear in mind that Overheat's Special Attack drops can also have a negative effect on momentum. This set has no protection against potential super effective coverage, so be safe and scout for it when necessary.
Team Options
========
Cresselia is this set's best partner, as its access to Levitate and Ice Beam lets it check Ground-types easily. Its Lunar Dance can also provide a form of recovery, which Heatran otherwise lacks but finds desirable. Heracross resists both Fighting and Ground, can handle Water-types with Bullet Seed, and creates a strong core with Cresselia and Heatran, as Heatran resists every one of Heracross's weaknesses and helps beat foes like Aegislash for it, and Cresselia provides speed control for the other two, which are otherwise fairly slow. Garchomp can be useful to set up Stealth Rock, as it helps to eliminate Focus Sash users such as Breloom. Mega Salamence also makes a good partner, as it can switch in on Fighting- and Ground-types such as Blaziken and Choice-locked Earthquake users. Facade Mega Salamence can also deal with weakened bulky Water-types that threaten Heatran, such as Suicune, Rotom-W, and Slowbro. Mamoswine makes a great partner offensively, as it's able to threaten Ground-types and Dragon-types, particularly Garchomp and Mega Salamence, thanks to Icicle Spear. Mamoswine can also provide Stealth Rock support should it be needed for nullifying Focus Sashes and aiding in picking up KOs. Conkeldurr appreciates Heatran's ability to check Talonflame.
Other Pokemon that have a hard time getting past Steel-types also enjoy this set's presence. Sylveon appreciates having Steel-types like Aegislash removed so that it can spam Hyper Voice freely. Mawile, while having some coverage against opposing Steel-types, likes Heatran's ability to KO them more efficiently. Ferrothorn can't touch Steel-types outside of Leech Seed and can switch into Water-type attacks for Heatran. It also makes excellent bait for activating Heatran's Flash Fire as a result of its 4x weakness to Fire. Breloom can do little to Steel-types other than Spore and resists both Ground and Water. Heatran can't beat opposing Water-types, so it appreciates support for that. Electric-types like Thundurus can power through them with their strong STAB moves. Grass-types like Mega Venusaur and Serperior resist Water and can hit back with their super effective STAB moves, with Mega Venusaur working especially well, as it resists Azumarill's Play Rough and takes less damage from Ice-type coverage moves thanks to Thick Fat.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
More offensive sets, in particular, have the most other options. Fire Blast is an alternative Fire-type STAB move that trades Flamethrower's accuracy for a greater damage output. Hidden Power Ice deals significant damage to common Earthquake users and Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Mega Salamence, and Landorus-T, although Heatran is still outsped by these. Dragon Pulse similarly deals with Dragon-types like Garchomp and Mega Salamence but has the benefit over Hidden Power Ice of dealing more damage to Hydreigon, Latios, and Latias. Dark Pulse provides an alternative option for foes like Cresselia and has a handy chance to flinch the target. Stone Edge is an alternative to Ancient Power that generally deals more damage and is particularly useful against specially defensive Talonflame, but it is less accurate than Ancient Power. Using Taunt on the stall set can help to prevent foes from using non-attacking moves and is particularly useful for preventing recovery. Using a set with Stealth Rock and Air Balloon is viable if your team requires an entry hazard setter, but there are usually better options than Heatran. Choice Scarf can be a good answer to Heatran's Speed problem, particularly in combination with Hidden Power Ice, as this allows Heatran to outspeed threats such as Mega Salamence. Life Orb provides Heatran with more immediate firepower, but this wears it down quickly due to its lack of recovery. Assault Vest boosts Heatran's Special Defense, but preventing it from using support moves or a boosting item inhibits its usefulness.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Landorus-T can easily KO Heatran as a result of its 4x weakness to Earthquake, even when burned if they're holding a boosting item like Life Orb. Lum Berry Garchomp has the easiest time against Heatran, as it is not concerned about being burned while switching in.
**Fighting-types**: Blaziken, Conkeldurr, and Mega Lopunny can all KO Heatran with relative ease using their STAB moves. Conkeldurr is a particularly good check as a result of its Guts ability, which allows it to benefit from burn. Mega Lucario has an easy time KOing Heatran, although it has a hard time switching in safely. Additionally, Low Kick Greninja gains a STAB boost on the move as a result of Protean and can OHKO Heatran as a result, given enough Attack investment.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Rotom-W, Azumarill, and Gyarados take little damage from Heatran's Fire-type attacks and are able to hit back with their super effective STAB moves. Politoed's Drizzle also creates problems for Heatran, as the rain halves the power of its Fire-type attacks.
**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types like Hydreigon, Latios, and Latias resist Heatran's Fire-type attacks and commonly have coverage moves to hit Heatran super effectively, such as Earth Power and Surf. However, it should be noted that the former two have a chance to be 2HKOed by Choice Specs-boosted Flash Cannon.
**Mega Kangaskhan**: Mega Kangaskhan has access to a variety of moves that can make it problematic for Heatran. Earthquake obviously deals a huge amount of damage to Heatran. Power-Up Punch can be used to negate the effects of burn, as can Facade after Kangaskhan has finished with Heatran. It can also use Substitute in order to block Will-O-Wisp.
**Trick Room**: Heatran's middling Speed stat leaves it susceptible to Trick Room set by Pokemon such as Cresselia and Porygon2, as it allows foes that normally have a poorer match-up against it, such as Mega Heracross, to outspeed and KO it.
**Utility**: The Choice Specs set is shut down by Disable users such as Gengar, as the move forces Heatran to use Struggle or switch out. The stall set doesn't appreciate Encore users such as Gardevoir and Whimsicott, as its success is generally reliant on being able to switch moves.
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