QC approvals: 3/3 [ ginganinja || PK Gaming || shrang ]
GP approvals: 2/2 [ sirndpt || Aeron Ee1 ]
[Overview]
<p>Heracross was always a potent offensive Pokemon; high base Attack combined with helpful typing and access to two ridiculously powerful STAB moves has always made Heracross hard to handle. It also has access to Guts, which is still one of the best abilities for an offensively orientated Pokemon, as it makes Heracross virtually immune to any sort of status. BW2, however, granted Heracross another great ability, Moxie. With a couple of boosts under its belt, even fewer foes will be able to stand against its powerful attacks. However, Heracross's low Speed is its downfall, and the main reason for its low usage. In addition, BW2 also introduced several new threats that give Heracross a hard time, such as the new Therian formes, Tornadus-T in particular. You'll have to keep all these factors in mind in order to make Heracross to shine; however, it isn't too hard to work with. Just let me give you a tip for your journey: Don't bug this Bug.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Megahorn
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Sleep Talk / Night Slash
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Guts / Moxie
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is one of the best, if not the best, way to use Heracross. A Choice Scarf bypasses its Speed issues by granting it a one-stage boost off the bat. Close Combat and Megahorn are the main attacking options. After factoring in the immense 120 Base Power of both moves, as well as boosts from STAB and possibly Guts, even Pokemon that resist them will think twice about switching in. For instance, the former move 2HKOes even 252/252+ Skarmory.</p>
<p>Stone Edge is virtually mandatory on any Heracross set, as it deals with most opponents that resist both Heracross's STABs, especially Flying-types such as the ever-common Tornadus-T. In the last slot, both Sleep Talk and Night Slash are viable to help Heracross to cover certain threats; your choice should depend on what your team needs. Sleep Talk enables Heracross to absorb Spore from the likes of Breloom and Amoonguss, whereas Night Slash deals with any Jellicent that dare stand in Heracross's way.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Jolly nature is the best option here as it allows Heracross to outspeed many more foes, most importantly +1 neutral-natured Haxorus. An Adamant nature can provide Heracross with even more power, but the lack of Speed will be noticeable. For instance, it will lose the ability to outrun neutral-natured Choice Scarf Rotom-A, positive natured Choice Scarf Heatran, and the (albeit rare) positive-natured +1 Dragonite. However, Heracross would gain the impressive payoff of a guaranteed OHKO on 252/0 Scizor with a boosted Close Combat after Stealth Rock. Pursuit might look tempting, but it's only really useful against Latios and Latias that have already used Draco Meteor.</p>
<p>Heracross can take advantage of both of its great abilities on this set. Guts makes it a valuable status absorber for burn, poison, and sleep, especially if using Sleep Talk. Gaining a huge power boost from status, it can act as more of a revenge killer. In contrast, Moxie transforms Heracross into a late-game cleaner that truly shines after walls have been weakened and rendered unable to sponge the next Close Combat. However, Moxie sets tend to require more team support than Guts variants do, because Heracross struggles to land KOes as easily as for example Salamence because of its lesser base Attack and typing issues. In the end, it's largely a matter of preference as both abilities have their merits and uses; pick which your team needs more.</p>
<p>Heatran makes an exceptionally good teammate for Heracross as they cover each other's weaknesses well. They can form a decent offensive core for a team, as they resist all types between them except for Water, Electric, and Rock, which Gastrodon handle easily. Even with a Guts boost, Heracross struggles against the likes of Gliscor and Landorus, which are both 3HKOed at best. Jolly Choice Scarf Heracross's Guts-boosted Stone Edge does a mere 29.1% - 34.46% to 252/184+ Gliscor and 36.36% - 42.95% to 0/0 Landorus-T, factoring in Intimidate; therefore, Ice-type attacks will obviously be helpful. For instance, the aforementioned Heatran can run Hidden Power Ice and Gastrodon can use Ice Beam. Heatran, however, might be outsped by offensive variants of the two, whereas Gastrodon needs Stealth Rock support to reliably KO Gliscor. Another great partner would be Tornadus-T, which doesn't have any problems OHKOing both Gliscor and Landorus-T.</p>
[SET]
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Megahorn
move 3: Stone Edge / Night Slash
move 4: Facade
item: Flame Orb
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>In contrast to the Choice Scarf Set, this one forgoes longevity to deal as much damage as possible within a short time. Close Combat, Megahorn and Stone Edge are Heracross's main attacking options, and give it two immensely strong STAB moves along with the best possible coverage move. If your team can take out Flying-types easily, Night Slash gives opposing Jellicent a far harder time against this set, as it easily 2HKOes even the physically bulkiest variants after Leftovers and Stealth Rock. Facade is yet another coverage move; in addition to being reliable, it can potentially 2HKO Gliscor.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is also rather straightforward: maximum Attack and Speed ensures that Heracross hits as fast and as hard as possible. The last 4 EVs are moved into Defense to give Heracross an odd HP number, which might help it out in the end keeping in mind all the residual damage it will have to take. In conjunction with an Adamant nature, Flame Orb activates Guts to grant this set all the power it wants.</p>
<p>If you plan to use Heracross to absorb status moves for your team, however, feel free to use a Life Orb over Flame Orb. With a Life Orb and Guts boost, Heracross can reliably 2HKO 252/200+ Jellicent with Stone Edge factoring in Leftovers—provided that both hit. Keep in mind, though, that this means Heracross takes even more residual damage, which greatly decreases its already low staying power. Finally, even though Adamant is needed on this set for as much power as possible, it misses the jump over neutral-natured Haxorus. A Jolly nature can fix this problem; however, the drop in damage output is very noticeable.</p>
<p>Heracross has significant Speed issues in general, so Pokemon that can provide paralysis support—such as Dragonite, Rotom-W, and Jirachi—all make favorable teammates. Jirachi also has access to Wish, which helps patch up Heracross's problem with residual damage, and gives it multiple chances to attack.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Megahorn
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Sleep Talk / Pursuit
item: Choice Band
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is probably Heracross's most fearsome set. In addition to an Adamant nature and Guts ability, this set dons a Choice Band to pump its already massive power to absurd levels. With both solid Base Power and good coverage, Close Combat devastates anything in sight, and with Megahorn and Stone Edge for coverage, there's almost no Pokemon in OU able to avoid the 2HKO from this set—except perhaps Gliscor, who is 3HKOed by any move. With Sleep Talk, Heracross gains the ability to absorb Spore for the team. It can easily take out Breloom with either of its STAB moves, and also OHKO 252/40 Amoonguss with Megahorn. Alternatively, a Guts-boosted Pursuit will OHKO 252/252+ Jellicent 70% of the time from full HP, and always OHKO it after Stealth Rock and Leftovers.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Choice Band Heracross is somewhat different from other Heracross as it doesn't really care about most status, except for freeze. While burn and poison don't bother most sets, this one also handles sleep and paralysis well, as it's not meant to work as a revenge killer, but more as a wallbreaker that decimates everything that dares switch into it. This affords Heracross plenty of opportunities to switch into status moves and non-Fire-type moves with status-inflicting secondary effects. It therefore loves bulky teammates that tend to lure in status, such as Scizor, Dragonite, Blissey, Vaporeon, and Gastrodon. Heatran also makes a great sweeping partner to hit hard on the special side as they share no weaknesses and therefore can help each other out easily. In particular, Heatran can take advantage of Heracross's tendency to lure in Fire-type moves and Scizor.</p>
[SET]
name: Substitute + 3 Attacks
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Stone Edge
item: Leftovers
ability: Moxie
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set functions entirely differently to all Heracross's other sets. Instead of relying on absurd power or the aid of Choice Scarf, this one tries to sweep with the help of Substitute. The plan is simple: switch into a resisted attack, set up a Substitute and start attacking.</p>
<p>Substitute works well with Moxie in two ways: firstly, as Substitute protects Heracross from status, Moxie is preferred to Guts for more power. Secondly, Substitute reduces the need for prediction and allows Heracross to simply hit hard from behind its Substitute, hopefully get one or two early Moxie boosts, and pull off a sweep. The classic attacks—namely Close Combat, Megahorn, and Stone Edge—deal with the majority of the current OU metagame, as always. In particular, this Heracross can deal with its biggest counter, Tornadus-T, by OHKOing it with Stone Edge after Stealth Rock.</p>
<p>This set has just one objective: to get a Moxie boost as soon as possible. It trades Speed and raw power for a safety cushion against attacks and the ability to freely choose between its moves. If it fails to earn one or two boosts quickly, however, it'll have huge problems making an impact in battle.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Night Slash can help if Jellicent is problematic; however, as this set lacks Guts, watch out for Will-O-Wisp and a potential Scald burn, which would cripple it. Furthermore, note that unboosted Heracross can only 3HKO Jellicent. Focus Punch is another option for Fighting STAB, as it gives Heracross a lot more power and has nice synergy with Substitute. However, Heracross simply lacks the bulk to maintain the Substitute for a long period of time.</p>
<p>Although this set is rather autonomous in what it does, it likes to see as many entry hazards on the field as possible to get more chances at nabbing KOes. While Stealth Rock can be used by a plethora of partners—Donphan and Focus Sash Mamoswine both also have access to Ice Shard to somewhat deal with Gliscor and Landorus-T—finding a good parter that can lay out Spikes is hard because most users of the move share Heracross's weakness to Fire-type moves. Deoxys-D, however, is excellent at this job, as it has great natural bulk, access to Taunt to prevent the opponent from setting layers as well, and most notably, the ability to lure out Tyranitar. Although Pursuit will seriously hurt Deoxys-D and sandstorm negates Heracross's Leftovers, it's still a great matchup that gives Heracross the opportunity to set up Substitute, as even Fire Blast Tyranitar won't risk getting OHKOed by an incoming Close Combat. Roserade and Forretress might just work as well to handle rain teams somewhat, and can especially deal with Jellicent. Toxic Spikes are a double-edged sword; they help Heracross deal with walls and wear down bulky Pokemon that aren't immune to them, but they might also take them out and deny Heracross of Moxie boosts.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Heracross has access to some other interesting options. For instance, Swords Dance is a great setup move that can give it a nice power boost, and turns many 3HKOs into 2HKOs and some 2HKOs into potential OHKOs. A mono-attacking Bulk Up + RestTalk set can be used; however, not many attacking options are viable on such a set. With STAB and no negative side effects, Megahorn the only worthwhile option, despite its terrible accuracy. Heracross can use a Salac Berry in conjunction with Substitute or Endure for a 200 Base Power Reversal. If using Substitute, make sure to run no HP investment for a stat of 301 HP and a full-powered Reversal after four Substitutes. This is largely just a gimmick in OU though, as the prevalence of residual damage and priority don't do Heracross any favors.</p>
<p>In terms of offensive options, Heracross has access to a nice number of alternatives. Low Kick and Brick Break are decent Fighting STAB moves; the former has generally high power in OU, while the latter helps Heracross to break through dual screeners. Furthermore, neither inflicts the defense drops that come with Close Combat. However, the pure power that Close Combat offers is usually worth its drawback. Earthquake is a great coverage move that helps to break through Jirachi and Metagross, who might otherwise be troublesome. Rock Slide is an option over Stone Edge, that trades power for accuracy; the Choice Scarf set might even be able to take advantage of its small flinch chance. Bulldoze is a neat move that drops the opponent's Speed stat, but Flying-types and Levitate users are immune to it, so it's not as usable as Low Sweep—which Heracross doesn't receive—would have been. Heracross has access to Return and Retaliate, two other Normal-type moves, but they're mostly inferior to Facade.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Heracross absolutely hates Flying-types. In particular, Tornadus-T, Gliscor and Skarmory can trouble it if it is Choice-locked into the wrong move. In addition to a handy Flying typing, Landorus-T even has Intimidate to survive multiple hits. Physically defensive Forretress has a good chance to survive the 2HKO from Close Combat, and can seize the opportunity to set up hazards, deal a lot of damage with Gyro Ball, or gain momentum with Volt Switch. Jellicent is problematic for variants that lack Night Slash as it can shrug off Heracross's STAB moves and capitalize on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. While Choice Scarf and Substitute sets can afford a 3HKO at best, Choice Band reliably 2HKOes with Pursuit, while the All-Out Attacker is able to 2HKO with Stone Edge when a Life Orb attached; else it can 3HKO at best.</p>
<p>Good checks for Heracross, on the other hand, include anything that can outspeed it—which is at least half of the current OU metagame—or that have access to a priority move not named Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave. Examples of such Pokemon are Jirachi, Scizor, both Landorus formes, both Tornadus formes, Volcarona, and even Tentacruel.</p>
