Heracross (Part 2) (GP 2/2)

[vapicuno]

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Brick Break / Focus Punch
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Hidden Power Ghost / Focus Punch
item: Choice Band
ability: Swarm / Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Choice Band Heracross primarily seeks to use its boosted STAB moves to overwhelm the opponent after its most resilient checks such as Skarmory and Gengar have been removed. Megahorn OHKOes Celebi and Claydol, but with the boost from Choice Band, it also OHKOes Tyranitar and bulkless offensive Swampert and threatens to OHKO Blissey. The boost significantly shortens the lifespan of physical walls, allowing Megahorn to 2HKO Metagross and defensive Swampert with certainty and do likewise against defensive Suicune with good odds. Boosted Megahorn's ability to 2HKO Zapdos also allows Heracross to stay in, take a Thunderbolt, and finish off its check. As Megahorn can fall just shy of OHKOing Blissey and Snorlax, Brick Break is run to KO them more reliably. If Magneton is not used on Heracross's team, Heracross can run Focus Punch for a 25% chance to OHKO Skarmory. Rock Slide OHKOes Aerodactyl and Moltres, 2HKOes Salamence, and is likely to OHKO offensive Zapdos. Hidden Power Ghost OHKOes Gengar. The damage output of these boosted coverage moves allows for a high-risk, high-reward play where a prediction is all that is needed to take out a check.

An Adamant nature increases the odds that many of Heracross's targets are taken out with one less hit and is the preferred nature because Choice Band Heracross operates in a hit-and-run manner, pivoting in on slower threats and switching out after. However, Jolly allows Heracross to outspeed slower variants of Salamence, Modest Zapdos, and Modest Moltres.

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently, and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos and Swampert. Guts can be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.

Team Options
========

Choice Band Heracross prefers support from trappers to remove its sturdiest checks. Magneton traps Skarmory, letting Heracross drop Focus Punch, and Forretress, which resists Megahorn. Pursuit Tyranitar wears down hovering threats that resist Megahorn such as Gengar, Choice Band Salamence, and Aerodactyl; with some prediction, it also chips Zapdos and Moltres. Porygon2 removes Dugtrio, which can revenge kill Heracross; Porygon2 can get the opportunity to do so when Dugtrio KOes Magneton or Tyranitar.

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones compared to its other sets. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by Choice Band Brick Break with proper prediction. Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass, especially against Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres, and Charizard with Recover and can slowly chip Zapdos.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

With Chesto Berry and Hidden Power Ghost, Heracross can lure and wear down Hypnosis Gengar. Chesto Berry can also be used alongside Rest for extra longevity. Endure or Substitute + Reversal sets can be really powerful, but sand limits their viability. Still, these sets can be used with weather changers like Charizard and Kingdra, and even without Reversal, Heracross pairs well with them anyway, exploiting their Dugtrio synergy and acting as an offensive pivot into special walls. Hidden Power Rock doesn't have accuracy issues compared to Rock Slide, and Rock Tomb might help Heracross overcome hovering threats by lowering their Speed or even deter Salamence or Gyarados from setting up with Dragon Dance. Hidden Power Flying can be used on teams weak to opposing Heracross. Thief potentially steals Leftovers from Salamence and Gengar, which are notoriously difficult to lure and remove entirely. A Bulk Up set with three attacks is an interesting prospect for Heracross. Although it is generally outclassed by its Swords Dance counterpart, with Salamence and Gyarados still OHKOing it even at +1 Defense anyway, Bulk Up allows Heracross to survive Dugtrio's Aerial Ace. Earthquake is a reliable option for Metagross and Jirachi, but Megahorn usually does enough to them. Body Slam, with some luck, can be used to paralyze and disable almost all hovering threats.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Flying-types**: Salamence and Gyarados resist Heracross's STAB attacks, have Intimidate to reduce damage, and can OHKO back with Hidden Power Flying or threaten to take the opportunity to set up with Dragon Dance. Mixed Salamence also has Fire Blast for Heracross. Still, Rock Slide hits both of them hard. Skarmory resists Megahorn, takes about 30% from Brick Break, hits Heracross hard with Drill Peck, and can take the opportunity to lay Spikes. However, it is unreliable because it can be severely damaged by Focus Punch and trapped by Magneton. Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can 2HKO it with Thunderbolt or OHKO it with Drill Peck, but it is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by successive hits of Megahorn and Rock Slide. Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will not survive Focus Punch or boosted Rock Slide.

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion to trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross to sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting Heracross with status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.

**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can trap and take out Heracross with Aerial Ace. However, it's not going to take hits bar Rock Slide and Hidden Power Ghost and is very prone to allowing Salac Berry variants to set up.

**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard resist STAB moves from Heracross and can OHKO uninvested variants, but they are OHKOed by Rock Slide. Houndoom outspeeds Heracross and OHKOes it with Fire Blast.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [BKC, 52012]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [CryoGyro, 331519]]

 

[Plague von Karma]

Giving this an amcheck since I did Part 1 before. Tagging wyc2333 too since they wrote the initial bit iirc. Good work!


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Heracross is p cool

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Brick Break / Focus Punch
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Hidden Power Ghost / Focus Punch
item: Choice Band
ability: Swarm / Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Choice Band Heracross primarily seeks to use its boosted STAB moves to overwhelm an opposing team, (AC) after its most resilient checks such as Skarmory and Gengar are removed. As with the Standard (Not sure if this should be capitalized, the context here seems to be using it as a word, rather than the name.) offensive set, Megahorn OHKOs Celebi and Claydol, but with the boost OHKOs Tyranitar and bulkless offensive Swampert, and threatens to OHKO Blissey; Importantly, (Split off here into two sentences. Otherwise, this sentence is way too long.) the boost significantly shortens the lifespan of physical walls, allowing Megahorn to 2HKO Metagross and defensive Swampert with certainty, and do likewise against defensive Suicune with good odds. Boosted Megahorn's ability to 2HKO Zapdos also allows Heracross to stay in and eat a Thunderbolt and finish off its check. As Megahorn can be just shy of OHKOing Blissey and Snorlax, Brick Break KOes them more reliably. If Magneton is not used, Heracross can run Focus Punch to nail Skarmory, which has a 25% chance to OHKO. Rock Slide OHKOes Aerodactyl and Moltres and is also likely to OHKO offensive Zapdos, while 2HKOing Salamence. Hidden Power Ghost OHKOs Gengar. The damage output of these boosted coverage moves allows for a high-risk (AH) high reward play where a prediction is all that is needed to take out a check.

As with the Standard (Similar thing to before: is this being used in a naming sense, or wording sense?) set, an Adamant nature increases the odds that many of Heracross's targets are taken out with one less hit, and is the preferred nature because Choice Band Heracross operates in a hit-and-run manner, pivoting in on slower threats and switching out after., (RC AP) but Jolly, (AC) again, (AC) (There was no real reason to have these sentences combined at all, it was just a run-on) allows Heracross to outspeed slower variants of Salamence, Modest Zapdos, and Modest Moltres.

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently (You sure something like "Choice Band Heracross gets worn down pretty easily" wouldn't suffice here?), and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in Sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton, as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos, and Swampert. Guts can also be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.

Team Options
========

Choice Band Heracross prefers support from trappers to remove its most sturdy checks. Magneton traps Skarmory, and if so, (AC) lets Heracross drop Focus Punch. It also traps Forretress, which resists Megahorn. Pursuit Tyranitar wears down hovering threats that resist Megahorn such as Gengar, Choice Band Salamence, and Aerodactyl; with some prediction, it also chips Zapdos and Moltres. Porygon2 removes Dugtrio, which can revenge-kill Heracross; it can obtain get ("Obtain" isn't really the right word here) the oppotunity opportunity (spelling) to do so when Dugtrio KOs Magneton or Tyranitar.

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross, when compared with the other sets, tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by a predicted Choice Band (Maybe Band-boosted instead here? It's already established that Choice Band is being used though, so you could probably remove this and nobody would tell the difference.) Brick Break. Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass especially into Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from Sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres and Charizard with Recover, while it can slowly chip Zapdos.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

With Chesto Berry and Hidden Power Ghost, Heracross can lure and wear down Hypnosis Gengar. Chesto Berry can also be used alongside Rest for extra longevity. Endure or Substitute + Reversal can be really powerful, but sand limits its viability. Still, these sets can be used with a weather changers like Charizard or Kingdra, and even without Reversal, Heracross pairs well with them anyway, exploiting their Dugtrio synergy and acting as an offensive pivot into special walls. Hidden Power Rock doesn't have accuracy issues compared to Rock Slide, and Rock Tomb might help Heracross overcome hovering threats by lowering their speeds Speed, (RC) or even deter Salamence or Gyarados from setting up with Dragon Dance. Hidden Power Flying can be used on teams weak to opposing Heracross. Thief potentially steals Leftovers from Salamence and Gengar, which are notoriously difficult to lure and remove entirely. A Bulk Up set with three attacks is an interesting prospect for Heracross. Although it is generally outclassed by its Swords Dance counterpart, with Salamence and Gyarados still OHKOing even at +1 Defense anyway, Bulk Up allows Heracross to survive Dugtrio's Aerial Ace. Earthquake is a reliable option for Metagross and Jirachi, but Megahorn usually does enough to them. Body Slam, with some odds, can be used to paralyze and disable almost all hovering threats.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Flying-types**: Salamence and Gyarados resist STAB attacks from Heracross, have Intimidate to reduce damage, and can OHKO back with Hidden Power Flying, (AC) or threaten to take the opportunity to set up with Dragon Dance. (Don't use "and" in this context unless you're ending the list. In this case, "or" makes more sense though.) Mixed Salamence also has Fire Blast for Heracross. Still, Rock Slide hits both of them hard. Skarmory resists Megahorn, takes about 30% from Brick Break, has Drill Peck against Heracross, and can take the opportunity to lay Spikes, but (This starts to run on a bit too much given the prior list, so I think you could split this off. You could go "However, it's unreliable because..." for example.) is unreliable because it can be severely damaged by Focus Punch and trapped by Magneton. Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can either 2HKO with Thunderbolt or OHKO with Drill Peck, but is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by Megahorn + or Rock Slide. Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. (Are you sure you need to more Megahorn or Rock Slide, and then say Zapdos can be OHKOed by the latter after? Perhaps you could merge these) Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will neither not survive Focus Punch nor boosted Rock Slide / or Brick Break. (Unwieldy wording choices, I'm pretty sure it created a double-negative or something. The edits here simplify it in a way that makes it easier on the reader.)

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion (Maybe say "explode" instead? It would make it a bit easier to read.) for a trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross into sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.

**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can trap and take out Heracross with Aerial Ace. However, it's not going to take hits bar Rock Slide and HP Hidden Power Ghost, and is very susceptible to allowing Salac Berry variants to set up.

**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard resist STAB moves from Heracross and can OHKO uninvested Heracross (Bit subjective, but you could change this to "variants" or "ones" to remove repetition.), but they are OHKOed by Rock Slide. Houndoom outspeeds Heracross and OHKOs with Fire Blast.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [BKC, 52012]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[vapicuno]

Plague von Karma

my comments on your amgp check in black

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Brick Break / Focus Punch
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Hidden Power Ghost / Focus Punch
item: Choice Band
ability: Swarm / Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Choice Band Heracross primarily seeks to use its boosted STAB moves to overwhelm an opposing team, after its most resilient checks such as Skarmory and Gengar are removed. As with the Standard offensive set, Megahorn OHKOs Celebi and Claydol, but with the boost OHKOs Tyranitar and bulkless offensive Swampert, and threatens to OHKO Blissey; Importantly, the boost significantly shortens the lifespan of physical walls, allowing Megahorn to 2HKO Metagross and defensive Swampert with certainty, and do likewise against defensive Suicune with good odds. Boosted Megahorn's ability to 2HKO Zapdos also allows Heracross to stay in and eat a Thunderbolt and finish off its check. As Megahorn can be just shy of OHKOing Blissey and Snorlax, Brick Break KOes them more reliably. If Magneton is not used, Heracross can run Focus Punch to nail Skarmory, which has a 25% chance to OHKO. Rock Slide OHKOes Aerodactyl and Moltres and is also likely to OHKO offensive Zapdos, while 2HKOing Salamence. Hidden Power Ghost OHKOs Gengar. The damage output of these boosted coverage moves allows for a high-risk high reward play where a prediction is all that is needed to take out a check.

As with the Standard set (naming sense), an Adamant nature increases the odds that many of Heracross's targets are taken out with one less hit, and is the preferred nature because Choice Band Heracross operates in a hit-and-run manner, pivoting in on slower threats and switching out after. Jolly, again, allows Heracross to outspeed slower variants of Salamence, Modest Zapdos, and Modest Moltres.

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently (feel like low HP should be emphasized because some Pokemon are worn down to mid-HP through hazards and then taken out with a blow, but really the point is exploiting Swarm here), and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in Sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton, as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos, and Swampert. Guts can also be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.

Team Options
========

Choice Band Heracross prefers support from trappers to remove its most sturdy checks. Magneton traps Skarmory, and if so, lets Heracross drop Focus Punch. It also traps Forretress, which resists Megahorn. Pursuit Tyranitar wears down hovering threats that resist Megahorn such as Gengar, Choice Band Salamence, and Aerodactyl; with some prediction, it also chips Zapdos and Moltres. Porygon2 removes Dugtrio, which can revenge-kill Heracross; it can get the opportunity to do so when Dugtrio KOs Magneton or Tyranitar.

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross, when compared with the other sets, tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by a predicted Choice Band Brick Break (Choice Band refers to Salamence, not Heracross). Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass especially into Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from Sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres and Charizard with Recover, while it can slowly chip Zapdos.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

With Chesto Berry and Hidden Power Ghost, Heracross can lure and wear down Hypnosis Gengar. Chesto Berry can also be used alongside Rest for extra longevity. Endure or Substitute + Reversal can be really powerful, but sand limits its viability. Still, these sets can be used with a weather changers like Charizard or Kingdra, and even without Reversal, Heracross pairs well with them anyway, exploiting their Dugtrio synergy and acting as an offensive pivot into special walls. Hidden Power Rock doesn't have accuracy issues compared to Rock Slide, and Rock Tomb might help Heracross overcome hovering threats by lowering their Speed or even deter Salamence or Gyarados from setting up with Dragon Dance. Hidden Power Flying can be used on teams weak to opposing Heracross. Thief potentially steals Leftovers from Salamence and Gengar, which are notoriously difficult to lure and remove entirely. A Bulk Up set with three attacks is an interesting prospect for Heracross. Although it is generally outclassed by its Swords Dance counterpart, with Salamence and Gyarados still OHKOing even at +1 Defense anyway, Bulk Up allows Heracross to survive Dugtrio's Aerial Ace. Earthquake is a reliable option for Metagross and Jirachi, but Megahorn usually does enough to them. Body Slam, with some odds, can be used to paralyze and disable almost all hovering threats.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Flying-types**: Salamence and Gyarados resist STAB attacks from Heracross, have Intimidate to reduce damage, can OHKO back with Hidden Power Flying, or threaten to take the opportunity to set up with Dragon Dance. Mixed Salamence also has Fire Blast for Heracross. Still, Rock Slide hits both of them hard. Skarmory resists Megahorn, takes about 30% from Brick Break, has Drill Peck against Heracross, and can take the opportunity to lay Spikes. However, it is unreliable because it can be severely damaged by Focus Punch and trapped by Magneton. Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can either 2HKO with Thunderbolt or OHKO with Drill Peck, but is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by successive hits of Megahorn and Rock Slide (I don't really know the best way to phrase this; the point is to Megahorn on the switch into Zapdos, and then take it out with Rock Slide). Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will not survive Focus Punch or boosted Rock Slide.

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion (feel like I want to keep this as a noun for parallelism) for a trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross into sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.

**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can trap and take out Heracross with Aerial Ace. However, it's not going to take hits bar Rock Slide and Hidden Power Ghost, and is very susceptible to allowing Salac Berry variants to set up.

**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard resist STAB moves from Heracross and can OHKO uninvested variants, but they are OHKOed by Rock Slide. Houndoom outspeeds Heracross and OHKOs with Fire Blast.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [BKC, 52012]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[Plague von Karma]

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently (feel like low HP should be emphasized because some Pokemon are worn down to mid-HP through hazards and then taken out with a blow, but really the point is exploiting Swarm here), and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in Sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton, as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos, and Swampert. Guts can also be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.
Maybe you could go with "Choice Band Heracross easily gets worn down to Swarm range" for emphasis, or is that too specific? It's probably fine as you've said, but maybe it could be clarified?

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross, when compared with the other sets, tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by a predicted Choice Band Brick Break (Choice Band refers to Salamence, not Heracross). Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass especially into Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from Sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres and Charizard with Recover, while it can slowly chip Zapdos.
Ahh, ok. Sorry for misunderstanding.

Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can either 2HKO with Thunderbolt or OHKO with Drill Peck, but is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by successive hits of Megahorn and Rock Slide (I don't really know the best way to phrase this; the point is to Megahorn on the switch into Zapdos, and then take it out with Rock Slide). Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will not survive Focus Punch or boosted Rock Slide.
I'd say the clarity could be increased then, something like: "but is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by a Megahorn followed by Rock Slide on switch-in". Then follow up with the Choice Band quote.

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion (feel like I want to keep this as a noun for parallelism) for a trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross into sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.
It could definitely be kept as a noun in hindsight, yeah.

 

[vapicuno]

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently (feel like low HP should be emphasized because some Pokemon are worn down to mid-HP through hazards and then taken out with a blow, but really the point is exploiting Swarm here), and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in Sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton, as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos, and Swampert. Guts can also be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.
Maybe you could go with "Choice Band Heracross easily gets worn down to Swarm range" for emphasis, or is that too specific? It's probably fine as you've said, but maybe it could be clarified?

The problem with mentioning Swarm there is that while it is technically correct, the emphasis should not be on Swarm, but the strategy of stalling Heracross out in sand.

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross, when compared with the other sets, tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by a predicted Choice Band Brick Break (Choice Band refers to Salamence, not Heracross). Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass especially into Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from Sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres and Charizard with Recover, while it can slowly chip Zapdos.
Ahh, ok. Sorry for misunderstanding.

Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can either 2HKO with Thunderbolt or OHKO with Drill Peck, but is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by successive hits of Megahorn and Rock Slide (I don't really know the best way to phrase this; the point is to Megahorn on the switch into Zapdos, and then take it out with Rock Slide). Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will not survive Focus Punch or boosted Rock Slide.
I'd say the clarity could be increased then, something like: "but is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by a Megahorn followed by Rock Slide on switch-in". Then follow up with the Choice Band quote.

Good call

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion (feel like I want to keep this as a noun for parallelism) for a trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross into sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.
It could definitely be kept as a noun in hindsight, yeah.

 

[Plague von Karma]

Probably best to leave the HP thing as-is then.

 

[Lumari]

remove add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 1/2

check

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Brick Break / Focus Punch
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Hidden Power Ghost / Focus Punch
item: Choice Band
ability: Swarm / Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Choice Band Heracross primarily seeks to use its boosted STAB moves to overwhelm an opposing team, after its most resilient checks such as Skarmory and Gengar are have been removed. As with the Standard offensive set, Megahorn OHKOes Celebi and Claydol, but with the boost from Choice Band, it also OHKOes Tyranitar and bulkless offensive Swampert (RC) and threatens to OHKO Blissey. (AP) Importantly, the boost significantly shortens the lifespan of physical walls, allowing Megahorn to 2HKO Metagross and defensive Swampert with certainty (RC) and do likewise against defensive Suicune with good odds. Boosted Megahorn's ability to 2HKO Zapdos also allows Heracross to stay in and eat while taking a Thunderbolt and finish off its check. As Megahorn can be just shy of OHKOing Blissey and Snorlax, Brick Break KOes is run to KO them more reliably. If Magneton is not used on Heracross's team, Heracross can run Focus Punch to nail Skarmory, which has for a 25% chance to OHKO with Skarmory. Rock Slide OHKOes Aerodactyl and Moltres, 2HKOes Salamence, and is also likely to OHKO offensive Zapdos, while 2HKOing Salamence. Hidden Power Ghost OHKOs OHKOes Gengar. The damage output of these boosted coverage moves allows for a high-risk, (AC) high-reward (AH) play where a prediction is all that is needed to take out a check.

As with the Standard set, An Adamant nature increases the odds that many of Heracross's targets are taken out with one less hit (RC) and is the preferred nature because Choice Band Heracross operates in a hit-and-run manner, pivoting in on slower threats and switching out after. However, Jolly, again, allows Heracross to outspeed slower variants of Salamence, Modest Zapdos, and Modest Moltres.

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently, and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton (RC) as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos, and Swampert. Guts can also be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.

Team Options
========

Choice Band Heracross prefers support from trappers to remove its most sturdy checks. Magneton traps Skarmory, and if so, lets letting Heracross drop Focus Punch. It also traps Forretress, which resists Megahorn. Pursuit Tyranitar wears down hovering threats that resist Megahorn such as Gengar, Choice Band Salamence, and Aerodactyl; with some prediction, it also chips Zapdos and Moltres. Porygon2 removes Dugtrio, which can revenge kill (RH) Heracross; it can get the opportunity to do so when Dugtrio KOs KOes Magneton or Tyranitar.

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross, when compared with the other sets, tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by a predicted Choice Band Brick Break with proper prediction. Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass especially into Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres and Charizard with Recover, while it and can slowly chip Zapdos.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

With Chesto Berry and Hidden Power Ghost, Heracross can lure and wear down Hypnosis Gengar. Chesto Berry can also be used alongside Rest for extra longevity. Endure or Substitute + Reversal sets can be really powerful, but sand limits its their viability. Still, these sets can be used with a weather changers like Charizard or and Kingdra, and even without Reversal, Heracross pairs well with them anyway, exploiting their Dugtrio synergy and acting as an offensive pivot into special walls. Hidden Power Rock doesn't have accuracy issues compared to Rock Slide, and Rock Tomb might help Heracross overcome hovering threats by lowering their Speed or even deter Salamence or Gyarados from setting up with Dragon Dance. Hidden Power Flying can be used on teams weak to opposing Heracross. Thief potentially steals Leftovers from Salamence and Gengar, which are notoriously difficult to lure and remove entirely. A Bulk Up set with three attacks is an interesting prospect for Heracross. Although it is generally outclassed by its Swords Dance counterpart, with Salamence and Gyarados still OHKOing it even at +1 Defense anyway, Bulk Up allows Heracross to survive Dugtrio's Aerial Ace. Earthquake is a reliable option for Metagross and Jirachi, but Megahorn usually does enough to them. Body Slam, with some odds, can be used to paralyze and disable almost all hovering threats.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Flying-types**: Salamence and Gyarados resist STAB attacks from Heracross, have Intimidate to reduce damage, and can OHKO back with Hidden Power Flying (RC) or threaten to take the opportunity to set up with Dragon Dance. Mixed Salamence also has Fire Blast for Heracross. Still, Rock Slide hits both of them hard. Skarmory resists Megahorn, takes about 30% from Brick Break, has Drill Peck against hits Heracross hard with Drill Peck, and can take the opportunity to lay Spikes. However, it is unreliable because it can be severely damaged by Focus Punch and trapped by Magneton. Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can either 2HKO it with Thunderbolt or OHKO it with Drill Peck, but it is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by successive hits of Megahorn and Rock Slide. Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will not survive Focus Punch or boosted Rock Slide.

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion for a trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross into to sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.

**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can trap and take out Heracross with Aerial Ace. However, it's not going to take hits bar Rock Slide and Hidden Power Ghost (RC) and is very susceptible prone to allowing Salac Berry variants to set up.

**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard resist STAB moves from Heracross and can OHKO uninvested variants, but they are OHKOed by Rock Slide. Houndoom outspeeds Heracross and OHKOs OHKOes it with Fire Blast.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [BKC, 52012]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[vapicuno]

implemented. thanks!

 

[CryoGyro]

GP 2/2

Hide

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Brick Break / Focus Punch
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Hidden Power Ghost / Focus Punch
item: Choice Band
ability: Swarm / Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Choice Band Heracross primarily seeks to use its boosted STAB moves to overwhelm an opposing team, the opponent after its most resilient checks such as Skarmory and Gengar have been removed. Megahorn OHKOes Celebi and Claydol, but with the boost from Choice Band, it also OHKOes Tyranitar and bulkless offensive Swampert and threatens to OHKO Blissey. Importantly, The boost significantly shortens the lifespan of physical walls, allowing Megahorn to 2HKO Metagross and defensive Swampert with certainty and do likewise against defensive Suicune with good odds. Boosted Megahorn's ability to 2HKO Zapdos also allows Heracross to stay in, (comma) take while taking a Thunderbolt, (comma) and finish off its check. As Megahorn can be fall just shy of OHKOing Blissey and Snorlax, Brick Break is run to KO them more reliably. If Magneton is not used on Heracross's team, Heracross can run Focus Punch for a 25% chance to OHKO with Skarmory. Rock Slide OHKOes Aerodactyl and Moltres, 2HKOes Salamence, and is also likely to OHKO offensive Zapdos. Hidden Power Ghost OHKOes Gengar. The damage output of these boosted coverage moves allows for a high-risk, high-reward play where a prediction is all that is needed to take out a check.

An Adamant nature increases the odds that many of Heracross's targets are taken out with one less hit and is the preferred nature because Choice Band Heracross operates in a hit-and-run manner, pivoting in on slower threats and switching out after. However, Jolly allows Heracross to outspeed slower variants of Salamence, Modest Zapdos, and Modest Moltres.

Choice Band Heracross gets worn down to low HP pretty frequently, and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to stall it out in sand. Thus, getting the extra power on the last few hits with Swarm can go a long way, OHKOing Aerodactyl, non-defensive Metagross, and bulkless Magneton as well as nearly OHKOing Zapdos, (comma) and Swampert. Guts can also be used to exploit status moves from Blissey and allows Heracross to stay in on Gengar.

Team Options
========

Choice Band Heracross prefers support from trappers to remove its most sturdy sturdiest checks. Magneton traps Skarmory, letting Heracross drop Focus Punch.,(comma) and It also traps Forretress, which resists Megahorn. Pursuit Tyranitar wears down hovering Ground-immune (this can change depending on why 'hovering' is significant) threats that resist Megahorn such as Gengar, Choice Band Salamence, and Aerodactyl; with some prediction, it also chips Zapdos and Moltres. Porygon2 removes Dugtrio, which can revenge kill Heracross; it Porygon2 can get the opportunity to do so when Dugtrio KOes Magneton or Tyranitar.

To mitigate the momentum lost from being locked into a move, Choice Band Heracross, (comma) when compared with the other sets, tends to be used on more balanced teams with defensive backbones compared to its other sets. Porygon2 nullifies most of what Salamence tries to throw at Heracross, though it can be taken out by Choice Band Brick Break with proper prediction. Celebi can force switches with Leech Seed and pivot to Heracross safely through Baton Pass, (comma) especially into against Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar, either during an expected switch or by utilizing Leech Seed's recovery. Leech Seed's recovery can be important for mitigating damage from sand, which Heracross cannot compensate for due to its lack of Leftovers. Celebi also checks Zapdos. Milotic shrugs off damage from Salamence, Moltres, (comma) and Charizard with Recover and can slowly chip Zapdos.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

With Chesto Berry and Hidden Power Ghost, Heracross can lure and wear down Hypnosis Gengar. Chesto Berry can also be used alongside Rest for extra longevity. Endure or Substitute + Reversal sets can be really powerful, but sand limits their viability. Still, these sets can be used with weather changers like Charizard and Kingdra, and even without Reversal, Heracross pairs well with them anyway, exploiting their Dugtrio synergy and acting as an offensive pivot into special walls. Hidden Power Rock doesn't have accuracy issues compared to Rock Slide, and Rock Tomb might help Heracross overcome hovering Ground-immune threats by lowering their Speed or even deter Salamence or Gyarados from setting up with Dragon Dance. Hidden Power Flying can be used on teams weak to opposing Heracross. Thief potentially steals Leftovers from Salamence and Gengar, which are notoriously difficult to lure and remove entirely. A Bulk Up set with three attacks is an interesting prospect for Heracross. Although it is generally outclassed by its Swords Dance counterpart, with Salamence and Gyarados still OHKOing it even at +1 Defense anyway, Bulk Up allows Heracross to survive Dugtrio's Aerial Ace. Earthquake is a reliable option for Metagross and Jirachi, but Megahorn usually does enough to them. Body Slam, with some odds luck, can be used to paralyze and disable almost all hovering Ground-immune threats.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Flying-types**: Salamence and Gyarados resist Heracross's STAB attacks from Heracross, have Intimidate to reduce damage, and can OHKO back with Hidden Power Flying or threaten to take the opportunity to set up with Dragon Dance. Mixed Salamence also has Fire Blast for Heracross. Still, Rock Slide hits both of them hard. Skarmory resists Megahorn, takes about 30% from Brick Break, hits Heracross hard with Drill Peck, and can take the opportunity to lay Spikes. However, it is unreliable because it can be severely damaged by Focus Punch and trapped by Magneton. Offensive Zapdos outspeeds Heracross, can use Roar to prevent it from setting up, and can 2HKO it with Thunderbolt or OHKO it with Drill Peck, but it is not a reliable check at all, as it can get taken out by successive hits of Megahorn and Rock Slide. Furthermore, Choice Band Heracross can OHKO Zapdos with Rock Slide. Aerodactyl can pivot into unboosted attacks and OHKO Heracross with Hidden Power Flying, but it will not survive Focus Punch or boosted Rock Slide.

**Poison-types**: Gengar can use Fire Punch to 2HKO Heracross, Explosion for a to trade, or Hypnosis to put Heracross to sleep. It can also burn Swarm Heracross with Will-O-Wisp. Weezing resists Megahorn and can eliminate Heracross with Fire Blast, Flamethrower, or Sludge Bomb. Especially with Gengar, one might want to avoid inflicting Heracross with status through Will-O-Wisp for fear of activating Guts.

**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can trap and take out Heracross with Aerial Ace. However, it's not going to take hits bar Rock Slide and Hidden Power Ghost and is very prone to allowing Salac Berry variants to set up.

**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard resist STAB moves from Heracross and can OHKO uninvested variants, but they are OHKOed by Rock Slide. Houndoom outspeeds Heracross and OHKOes it with Fire Blast.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [BKC, 52012]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [CryoGyro, 331519], [, ]]

 

[vapicuno]

very much appreciated! implemented.