Hippowdon [QC 2/2] [GP 2/2]

Infinity.Cypher

Infinity.Cypher

450.png

Hippowdon

​
[Overview]

<p>The slowest fully evolved weather inducer with a base Speed of 47, Hippowdon can typically be relied upon to set up its sandstorm, as well as function in Trick Room. While Hippowdon's support option are less useful in doubles play than in singles, the sand hippo takes physical hits like a boss thanks to its great physical bulk, and retaliates back with an above average base 112 Attack and powerful spread moves. Although Tyranitar is most often picked as the sandstorm inducer for a sand team, Hippowdon is still worth considering.</p>

[SET]
name: Physical Tank
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Protect / Slack Off
item: Sitrus Berry / Passho Berry / Leftovers
nature: Brave
ability: Sand Stream
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set utilizes Hippowdon's slow speed and strong attack to function as a bulky physical sweeper. Earthquake is Hippowdon's strongest STAB spread move, as well as its most reliable way of dealing damage. Ice Fang complements Earthquake nicely, hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Earthquake, as well as Latios. In addition, Ice Fang decimates Garchomp, which has high bulk to take Earthquake and has Sand Veil to abuse sandstorm. Crunch hits bulky Psychic-types for super effective damage and Levitate Bronzong for neutral damage. Protect is a staple for doubles, but Slack Off can be used to provide Hippowdon with recovery. Leftovers is recommended in conjunction with Slack Off in order to assist in stalling.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Sitrus Berry is the recommended item for Hippowdon due to the instant recovery it provides. However, if you already have Sitrus Berry on another Pokemon, Passho Berry is a useful alternative, allowing Hippowdon to take common Water-type attacks. However, a 252 HP / 0 SpD Hippowdon can survive even relatively strong STAB Scalds, such as from Politoed, Ludicolo, and Suicune without relying on Passho Berry.</p>

<p>252 HP EVs and 4 Def Evsgive Hippowdon more bulk, buffering it against the likes of a Dragon Claw from Garchomp and a Close Combat from Terrakion. 252 Attack EVs along with a Brave nature allow Hippowdon to hit as hard as possible. An alternative spread of 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def can be used with a Relaxed nature, to increase Hippowdon's physical bulk, although its damage is decreased significantly. Another alternative spread is 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD with a Relaxed nature; this enables Hippowdon to easily survive a max Special Attack Abomasnow's Grass Knot and Blizzard, allowing Hippowdon to survive and switch out, living to start the Sandstorm for another day. In addition, when armed with a Passho Berry, this Hippowdon can survive a rain boosted Hydro Pump from Kingdra.</p>

<p>Hippowdon appreciates Trick Room support due to its low base Speed. Therefore, partners such as Bronzong, Cresselia, and Musharna are great teammates because they not only can set up Trick Room, but are also immune to Earthquake thanks to their abilities. Furthermore, they have high bulk and access to Light Screen, which allows Hippowdon to take more special attacks. Cresselia and Musharna both have Helping Hand, increasing Hippowdon's damage output.</p>

<p>Zapdos can help Hippowdon by striking Water-types with its strong Electric-type moves and OHKO Abomasnow with a super effective Heat Wave. Conversely, Hippowdon can support Zapdos by threatening Rock-type Pokemon such as Tyranitar with Earthquake. Furthermore, Hippowdon and Zapdos can utilize the Discharge and Earthquake combo due to immunity to each other's STAB moves.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hippowdon does not have a great offensive movepool, and its great support movepool is admittedly more useful in singles than doubles. Rock Slide, Fire Fang, and Thunder Fang are options that can be used over Ice Fang and Crunch. As with Ice Fang, Rock Slide complements Earthquake well, together forming the QuakeSlide combo, which provides great neutral coverage barring Pokemon such as Breloom. Fire Fang is an option because a max Attack can OHKO a 252 HP / 0 Def Abomasnow with Fire Fang, while surviving Abomasnow's assaults. In addition, Fire Fang hits Steel-types super effectively, most notably Bronzong, which resists both Earthquake and Ice Fang. Thunder Fang alternatively, gains super effective coverage on Water-types, most notably Gyarados, which can Intimidate and wall Hippowdon. Yawn can be used over Crunch to force switches, and is especially effective due to the lack of sleep clause. Roar or Whirlwind can be used in order to phase out Trick Room setters that threaten your team.</p>

<p>A specially defensive set consisting of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Sassy nature can be used with a Sassy nature to help take on rain teams. With this EV spread, Hippowdon can survive a Rain boosted Surf without any recovery moves, and can survive two Surfs outside of rain from Kingdra. However, there is a small chance of being 2HKOed, so a Sitrus Berry or Passho Berry can be used to reliably survive. In addition, outside of rain, Hippowdon holding a Passho Berry can survive an assault of Hydro Pump followed by Surf.</p>

<p>Rindo Berry can be used to take Grass-type attacks, but Grass-type attacks are not common in VGC 2012. If you want to make absolutely sure that Hippowdon sets up Sandstorm, Iron Ball can be used. This will drop Hippowdon’s Speed to a paltry 23 than all weather starters bar the virtually nonexistent Snover, along with most Trick Room sweepers.</p>

<p>Hippowdon's Dream World ability is Sand Force, which boosts its Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks by 50% in sandstorm. This will boost Hippowdon's Earthquake and Rock Slide, but another Pokemon will have to set up sandstorm for Hippowdon to abuse this ability. In addition, this removes Hippowdon's niche in the metagame as the slowest weather inducer. On the other hand, the lack of sandstorm may be a boon to some teams that need a physically bulky Pokemon but do not appreciate the introduction of the residual damage.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Powerful special attacks such as Hydro Pump and Grass Knot can take down Hippowdon. The majority of bulky Water-types, such as Suicune and Gyarados, can shrug off Hippowdon's attacks and swiftly KO with their own STAB moves. In addition, burn hurts Hippowdon badly, depleting its health and limiting its damage output.</p>
 
Ice Fang and Rock Slide have completely overlapping coverage, and Ice Fang is more powerful and has a cool side effect, as well as hitting Latios and Latias (which is mostly what you'd want to use Crunch on outside of bulky TR users), and hits other Dragon-types harder than Rock Slide anyway. Move Ice Fang to slot two, and move Rock Slide to OO, and put Fire Fang in the third slot, with Crunch slashed, since OHKOing Abomasnow is huge and Hippo can take a Blizzard easily (and GK too if it has Rindo).

220 SpD EVs is cool for surviving Quiet Abomasnow GK (unless you use Rindo, which should also be mentioned at least in OO for this very reason) and OHKOing back with Fire Fang (although Hippo needs Lefties or Sitrus to pull this off). A fully Specially Defensive spread should also be mentioned in OO, as it allows Hippo to take two Surfs without any sort of recovery item, which is really huge. Sitrus (or Passho) Berry with this spread allows Hippowdon to take a Surf + Hydro Pump from Politoed + Ludicolo.

Sitrus is almost strictly better than Leftovers unless Hippowdon is trying to stall with Slack Off, since the immediate HP recovery helps when taking strong super effective attacks, and is quite useful against rain teams, as Hippowdon can take two Surfs with a Sitrus Berry and do good damage in return with Earthquake, or just survive to set up sand a few turns later.
 
make sure to mention yache in OO.
Double Edge in OO?
Natural gift (I dunno what type, but it may be useful)?

not much else to say.
 
Yache is useless because Hippowdon already survives Blizzard with just 252 HP, and literally any other item is more useful than it is, since Abomasnow will just Grass Knot Hippowdon instead of using Blizzard, especially if sand is up (Rindo, for example, allows Hippowdon to take Aboma's GK). Double-Edge hits nothing important noticeably harder than Ice Fang or Earthquake, and Natural Gift is useless because the elemental fangs give Hippowdon any coverage it might want with Natural Gift.

Thunder Fang, on the other hand, hits Gyarados for an easy 2HKO, and should definitely be mentioned in OO, since otherwise Gyarados easily walls and KOes Hippowdon.
 
How about sitrus berry? It gives instant recovery, which at times is way more useful than leftovers, though LO has its own perks. Also I agree on mentioning fire fang, as ice fang, and rock slide pretth much have the same coverage.
 
Honestly, using Hippo, my experiences were that Rock Slide > Ice Fang, as Rock Slide does good damage to things like Zapdos, Chandelure, Gyarados (without intimidate drop), and the like. Ice Fang was mainly used for Garchomp, who'll still survive with Yache Berry, which everyone runs.

Mention Zapdos as a great partner with Hippo. Discharge allows it to take out any Water-types that might try to KO Hippo, while Hippo can kill things like Tyranitar who'll inevitably try Rock Sliding Zapdos. Plus, two STAB spread attacks each turn are incredibly powerful.
 
Earthquake OHKOes Chandelure anyway, though, and Ice Fang does more damage to Zapdos than Rock Slide. While Rock Slide hits Gyarados for more damage than Ice Fang, it's still a 5HKO against the standard spread after an Intimidate (EDIT: it 3HKOes Gyara without Intimidate but the opponent will probably just switch Gyara out to get an Intimidate once you start using Rock Slide). Ice Fang actually 2HKOes Garchomp through Yache, while Hippowdon easily survives two Earthquakes/Dragon Claws. In addition, Ice Fang hits Latios for an easy 2HKO, and the chance to freeze is always useful.
 
I find the problem with Earthquake is, either you need a partner who can levitate/has telepathy, or protect on that turn, which can be pretty dangerous, especially if all your opponents target Hippo, as opposed to your partner. Rock Slide, while being weaker and generally more inferior on Hippodown, allows it to hit its opponents without harming your partner. The chance of flinch never hurts either, especially under Trick Room.

Of course, when team building with Hippo, planning for Earthquake is pretty crucial.
 
I personally have found this moveset most effective:

move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Ice Fang / Crunch
move 3: Slack Off
move 4: Protect

The main reason to use Hippowdon is for sand with electric immunity. Zapdos is the best teammate hands down. Fire Fang overlaps with heat wave, hippo can outlive bronzong and scizor, ferrothorn is the only thing fire fang would ever be for. Please move rock slide to OO and also add roar for beating trick room users (yes i know its roar, but it works pretty well with everyone relying on mental herb).
 
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Infinity.Cypher said:
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Hippowdon

​
[Overview]

<p>Slowest weather inducer of the five with a Base Speed of 47, Hippowdon can often set up its sandstorm, as well as function greatly in Trick Room. Unlike Singles, Hippowdon’s support options are limited because its support moves in Singles are not as useful in Doubles. However, in Doubles, with a great physical bulk of 108/118, Hippowdon can takes physical hits like a boss, and retaliate back with an above average base Attack of 112 with its spread moves. Although Tyranitar is picked as the sandstorm-inducer for a Sandstorm team, Hippowdown is still worth considering. <space></p>

[SET]
name: Physical Tank
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Protect/Slack Off
item: Sitrus Berry/Passho Berry/Leftovers
nature: Brave
ability: Sand Stream
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set utilizes Hippowdon’s slow speed and strong attack to function as a bulky physical sweeper. Earthquake is Hippowdon’s strongest STAB spread move, as well as its most reliable way of dealing damage. Ice Fang complements Earthquake, as it hits the Flying-Types that are immune to Earthquake. In addition, Ice Fang hits the common Latios, as well as Garchomp, a Pokemon that can take Hippowdon’s attack and abuse its Sand Stream. In addition, the additional chance of Freeze can helps Hippowdon. Crunch is the third attack because it can hits bulky Psychics for super effective and Levitating Bronzong for neutral. Protect is a staple for doubles, but Slack Off can be used to provide recovery for Hippowdon. Although, when using Slack Off, it is recommended to use Leftovers, which can assist in stalling with Slack Off because of HP recovery.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Sitrus Berry is the recommended item for Hippowdon due to the instant recovery it can provides. However, if you already have Sitrus Berry on another Pokemon, Passho Berry is a useful alternative. Passho Berry allows Hippowdon to take the very common Water attacks. However, it is interesting to note that a 252/0 Hippowdon can take non-boosted Max Sp.Atk STAB Scalds from Base 110 SpA 110 and below pokemon without relying on Passho Berry. <space></p>

<p>252HP EVs allows to Hippowdon to handle physical attacks better. 252 Attack EVs and a Brave nature will allow Hippowdon to do more damage. The leftover 4 EVs is are inserted in defense, to increase its defense by 1 point. An alternative spread is 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def with a Relaxed nature. This will greatly increase Hippowdon’s physical bulk, however it won’t cause deal as much damage. Another alternative spread is 252 HP/36 Def/252 SpD with a Relaxed nature. This Bulky set allows Hippowdon to easily survives a 252+ Abomasnow’s Grass Knot and Blizzard without using a Type-Resist Berry, so Hippowdon can survive and switch out, so it can and set Sandstorm for another day. In addition, coupled with a Passho Berry, Hippowdon can survive a Rain-boosted Hydro Pump from a Kingdra.</p>

<p>Hippowdon appreciates Trick Room support due to its low Base Speed. Therefore, partners such as Bronzong, Cresselia, and Musharna are great teammates because they can set up Trick Room, and they are immune to Hippowdon’s Earthquake due to their abilities. Plus, they can support Hippowdon even more due to their high bulk and access to Light Screen, which can allows Hippowdon to take more special attacks than usual. Cresselia and Musharna both have Helping Hand, which can increase Hippowdon’s damage output.</p>

<p> However, Trick Room support is not the only thing that can help benefit Hippowdon. Zapdos can help Hippowdon by striking Water-types with its strong Electric-type moves, as well as KOing Abomasnow with a super effective Heat Wave. Also, Hippowdon can support Zapdos by threatening Rock-Type pokemon, such as Tyranitar, with its Earthquake. Furthermore, Hippowdon and Zapdos can utilize the Discharge and Earthquake combo due to immunity to each other’s STAB moves.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hippowdon does not have a great offensive movepool, and although it has a great support movepool, it is admittedly more useful in Singles than Doubles. Rock Slide, Fire Fang and Thunder Fang are two options that can replace be used over Ice Fang and Crunch. Rock Slide can be used because, similar to Ice Fang, complements Earthquake. With Earthquake, it provides the Ground- and Rock-type attack QuakeSlide combo, which provides great attack coverage because it hits most pokemon for neutral damage, barring pokemon such as Breloom. Fire Fang is an option because a<space>252+ Fire Fang can net a KO against a 252/0 Abomasnow, while surviving Abomasnow’s assaults. In addition, Fire Fang can hits Steel-types, most notably Bronzong, which resist both Earthquake and Ice Fang, and deals more damage to it than Crunch. Thunder Fang hits Water-types for super effective, most notably Gyarados, which can Intimidate and wall Hippowdon. Yawn can be used over Crunch, because with no sleep clause in VGC, it will force the opponent to either switch or let their pokemon stay in and succumb to sleep. In addition, Roar can be used in order to phase out Trick Room setters that can threaten your team.</p>

<p>A special defensive set consisting of 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD with a Sassy nature can be used. This set is useful because it can help Hippowdon take on rain teams. With this EV spread, Hippowdon can survive a Rain-boosted Surf without any recovery moves, and can survive two Surf outside of rain. However, there is a small chance of being 2HKOed, so a Sitrus Berry or Passho Berry can be used to reliably survive. In addition, outside of rain, Hippowdon holding a Passho Berry can survive an assault of a Hydro Pump and Surf, providing the Hydro Pump user hits Hippowdon first.</p>

<p>Rindo Berry can be used to take Grass attacks, however, Grass attacks are not common in VGC 2012. In addition, if you want to make sure that Hippowdon sets up Sandstorm, Iron Ball can be used. This will ensure Hippowdon can set up Sandstormspace , and it will cause Hippowdon to be at 23 Speed, outslowing making it slower than most Trick Room Sweepers.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Powerful attacks, such as Hydro Pump and Grass Knot can take down Hippowdon. The majority of bulky Water-types, such as Suicune and Gyarados, can shrug off Hippowdon’s attacks and (2H)KO with their own STAB moves. In addition, burn hurts Hippowdon badly due to constant damage and limiting its offense. Furthermore, constant damage against Hippowdon can wear it down quickly.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Hippowdon gets Sand Force, which boosts its Ground, Rock, and Steel attacks by 1.5x in Sandstorm, which means Hippowdon’s Earthquake and Rock Slide will do more damage in Sandstorm. However, this removes Hippowdon’s niche in this metagame as the slowest weather inducer and Sandstorm inducer.</p> Sand Force is now released, so you could mention it in the Other Options section.
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<p>The slowest fully evolved weather inducer of the five with a base Speed of 47, Hippowdon can often typically be relied upon to set up its sandstorm, as well as function in Trick Room. Unlike Singles, Hippowdon’s support options are limited because its support moves in Singles are not as useful in Doubles. However, in Doubles, with a great physical bulk of 108/118, Hippowdon While Hippowdon's support options are less useful in doubles play than in singles, the sand hippo takes<space>physical hits like a boss thanks to its great physical bulk, and retaliates back with an above average base 112 Attack of 112 with its and powerful spread moves. Although Tyranitar is more often picked as the sandstorm- <remove, insert space>inducer for a Sandstorm sand team, Hippowdown is still worth considering.</p>

[SET]
name: Physical Tank
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Protect<space>/<space>Slack Off
item: Sitrus Berry<space>/<space>Passho Berry<space>/<space>Leftovers
nature: Brave
ability: Sand Stream
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set utilizes Hippowdon’ 's slow speed and strong attack to function as a bulky physical sweeper. Earthquake is Hippowdon’ 's strongest STAB spread move, as well as its most reliable way of dealing damage. Ice Fang complements Earthquake nicely, as it hits hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Earthquake, as well as Latios. In addition, Ice Fang hits the common Latios, as well as decimates Garchomp, a Pokemon that can take Hippowdon’s attack and abuse its Sand Stream which has high bulk to take Earthquake and has Sand Veil to abuse sandstorm. In addition, the additional chance of Freezehelps Hippowdon. Crunch is the third attack because it hits bulky Psychic-typess for super effective damage and Levitating Levitate Bronzong for neutral damage. Protect is a staple for doubles, but Slack Off can be used to provide recovery for Hippowdon with recovery. Although, when using Slack Off, it is recommended to use Leftovers, which can Leftovers is recommended in conjunction with Slack Off in order to assist in stalling with Slack Off because of HP recovery.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Sitrus Berry is the recommended item for Hippowdon due to the instant recovery it provides. However, if you already have Sitrus Berry on another Pokemon, Passho Berry is a useful alternative. Passho Berry allows , allowing Hippowdon to take the very common Water-type attacks. However, it is interesting to note that a 252 HP<space>/<space>0 SpD Hippowdon can take non-boosted Max Sp.Atk STAB Scalds from Base 110SpA and below pokemon survive even relatively strong STAB Scalds, such as from..., without relying on Passho Berry.</p>

<p>252<space>HP EVs and 4 Def EVsallow Hippowdon to handle physical attacks better give Hippowdon more bulk, buffering it against the likes of (list some common attacks and the pokemon that use them). 252 Attack EVs and along with a Brave nature will allows Hippowdon to do more damage. The leftover 4 EVs areinserted in defense to increase its defense by 1 point. An alternative spread, <comma> is 252 HP<space>/<space>4 Atk<space>/<space>252 Def , can be used with a Relaxed nature. This will greatly to increase Hippowdon’ 's physical bulk, however it won’t deal as much damage while reducing its damage output. Another alternative spread is 252 HP<space>/<space>36 Def<space>/<space>220 SpD with a Relaxed nature. This Bulky set allows ; this enables Hippowdon to easily survive a 252+ max Special Attack Abomasnow’ 's Grass Knot and or Blizzard without using a Type-Resist Berry, so allowing Hippowdon can to survive and switch out, andset Sandstorm for living to start the sandstorm another day. In addition, coupled when armed with a Passho Berry, this Hippowdon can survive a rain-boosted Hydro Pump from Kingdra.</p>

<p>Hippowdon appreciates Trick Room support due to its low base Speed. Therefore, partners such as Bronzong, Cresselia, and Musharna are great teammates because they not only can set up Trick Room, and they are but are also immune to Hippowdon’s Earthquake due thanks to their abilities. Plus, they can support Hippowdon even more due to their Furthermore, they have high bulk and access to Light Screen, which allows Hippowdon to take more special attacks than usual. Cresselia and Musharna both have Helping Hand, which can increasing Hippowdon’ 's damage output.</p>

<p> However, Trick Room support is not the only thing that can help benefit Hippowdon. Zapdos can help Hippowdon by striking Water-types with its strong Electric-type moves, as well as KOing and OHKO Abomasnow with a super effective Heat Wave. Also Conversely, Hippowdon can support Zapdos by threatening Rock-type Pokemon, such as Tyranitar, with its Earthquake. Furthermore, Hippowdon and Zapdos can utilize the Discharge and Earthquake combo due to immunity to each other’ 's STAB moves.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hippowdon does not have a great offensive movepool, and although it has a its great support movepool, it is admittedly more useful in singles than in doubles. Rock Slide, Fire Fang, <comma> and Thunder Fang are two options that can be used over Ice Fang and Crunch. Rock Slide can be used because, similar to As with Ice Fang, Rock Slide complements Earthquake well. With Earthquake, it provides The two together form the QuakeSlide combo, which provides great attack neutral coverage because it hits most pokemon for neutral damage, barring pokemon such as Breloom. Fire Fang is an option because a252+ max Attack Fire Fang Hippowdon can net a KO against OHKO a 252 HP<space>/<space>0 Def Abomasnow with Fire Fang, while surviving Abomasnow’ 's assaults. In addition, Fire Fang hits Steel-types super effectively, most notably Bronzong, which resists both Earthquake and Ice Fang, and deals more damage to it than Crunch. Thunder Fang hits Water-types for super effective alternatively, gains super effective coverage on Water-types, most notably Gyarados, which can Intimidate and wall Hippowdon. Yawn can be used over Crunch to force switches, because with no and is especially effective due to the lack of sleep clause in VGC, it will force the opponent to either switch or let their pokemon stay in and succumb to sleep. In addition, Roar can be used in order to phase out Trick Room setters that can threaten your team.</p>

<p>A specially defensive set consisting of 252 HP<space>/<space>4 Def<space>/<space>252 SpD with a Sassy nature can be used with a Sassy nature to. This set is useful because it can help Hippowdon take on rain teams. With this EV spread, Hippowdon can survive a rain-boosted Surf from who?? without any recovery moves, and can survive two Surf outside of rain. However, there is a small chance of being 2HKOed, so a Sitrus Berry or Passho Berry can be used to reliably survive. In addition, Outside of rain, Hippowdon holding a Passho Berry can survive an assault of a Hydro Pump and followed by a Surf, providing the Hydro Pump user hits Hippowdon first.</p>

<p>Rindo Berry can be used to take Grass-type attacks; however, Grass-type attacks are not common in VGC 2012. In addition, If you want to make extremely sure that Hippowdon sets up sandstorm, Iron Ball can be used. This will ensure Hippowdon can set up Sandstorm, and it will cause Hippowdon to be at 23 Speed drop Hippowdon's Speed to a paltry 23, making it slower than most Trick Room sweepers.</p>

<p>Hippowdon’ 's new Dream World ability is Sand Force, which boosts its Ground- <hyphen>, Rock- <hyphen>, and Steel-type attacks by 1.5x 50% in sandstorm. Thus, This will boost Hippowdon’ 's Earthquake and Rock Slide will do more damage in Sandstorm. However, this means that , but another Pokemon will have to set up sandstorm in order for Hippowdon to abuse this ability. In addition, this removes Hippowdon’ 's niche in this the metagame as the slowest weather inducer and Sandstorm inducer. But, the lack of setting up Sandstorm may be a good thing, because if a team needs a physical bulky pokemon, Hippowdon can be picked without fear of disrupting the team’s synergy due to the lack of setting up Sandstorm. On the other hand, the lack of sandstorm may be a boon to some teams that need a physically bulky Pokemon but do not appreciate the introduction of residual damage.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Powerful special? attacks such as Hydro Pump and Grass Knot can take down Hippowdon. The majority of bulky Water-types, such as Suicune and Gyarados, can shrug off Hippowdon’ 's attacks and (2H)KO swiftly KO with their own STAB moves. In addition, burn hurts Hippowdon badly due to constant damage , depleting its health and limiting its offense damage output. Furthermore, constant damage against Hippowdon can wear it down quickly.</p>
Click to expand...

GP Approved (1/2)

contrib_gp.png
 
[Overview]

<p>The slowest fully evolved weather inducer with a base Speed of 47, Hippowdon can typically be relied upon to set up its sandstorm, as well as function in Trick Room. While Hippowdon's(no curly apost.) support option are less useful in doubles play than in singles, the sand hippo takes physical hits like a boss thanks to its great physical bulk, and retaliates back with an above average base 112 Attack and powerful spread moves. Although Tyranitar is most often picked as the sandstorm inducer for a sand team, Hippowdon is still worth considering.</p>

[SET]
name: Physical Tank
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Protect / Slack Off
item: Sitrus Berry / Passho Berry / Leftovers
nature: Brave
ability: Sand Stream
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set utilizes Hippowdon's slow speed and strong attack to function as a bulky physical sweeper. Earthquake is Hippowdon's strongest STAB spread move, as well as its most reliable way of dealing damage. Ice Fang complements Earthquake nicely, hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Earthquake, as well as Latios. In addition, Ice Fang decimates Garchomp, which has high bulk to take Earthquake and has Sand Veil to abuse sandstorm. Crunch hits bulky Psychic-types for super effective damage and Levitate Bronzong for neutral damage. Protect is a staple for doubles, but Slack Off can be used to provide Hippowdon with recovery. Leftovers is recommended in conjunction with Slack Off in order to assist in stalling.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Sitrus Berry is the recommended item for Hippowdon due to the instant recovery it provides. However, if you already have Sitrus Berry on another Pokemon, Passho Berry is a useful alternative, allowing Hippowdon to take common Water-type attacks. However, a 252 HP / 0 SpD Hippowdon can survive even relatively strong STAB Scalds, such as from Politoed, Ludicolo, and Suicune without relying on Passho Berry.</p>

<p>252 HP EVs and 4 Def Evsgive EVs give Hippowdon more bulk, buffering it against the likes ofa Dragon Claw from Garchomp and a Close Combat from Terrakion. 252 Attack EVs along with a Brave nature allows Hippowdon to do more damage. hit as hard as possible. An alternative spread,(no comma) of 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def,(no comma) can be used with a Relaxed nature,(no comma) to increase Hippowdon's physical bulk, while reducing although its damage output is decreased significantly. Another alternative spread is 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD with a Relaxed nature(no space); this enables Hippowdon to easily survive a max Special Attack Abomasnow's Grass Knot and Blizzard,(comma) allowing Hippowdon to survive and switch out, living to start the Sandstorm for another day. In addition, when armed with a Passho Berry, this Hippowdon can survive a rain-(no hyphen)boosted Hydro Pump from Kingdra.</p>

<p>Hippowdon appreciates Trick Room support due to its low base Speed. Therefore, partners such as Bronzong, Cresselia, and Musharna are great teammates because they not only can set up Trick Room, but are also immune to Earthquake thanks to their abilities. Furthermore, they have high bulk and access to Light Screen, which allows Hippowdon to take more special attacks. Cresselia and Musharna both have Helping Hand, increasing Hippowdon's damage output.</p>

<p>Zapdos can help Hippowdon by striking Water-types with its strong Electric-type moves and OHKO Abomasnow with a super effective Heat Wave. Conversely, Hippowdon can support Zapdos by threatening Rock-type Pokemon such as Tyranitar with Earthquake. Furthermore, Hippowdon and Zapdos can utilize the Discharge and Earthquake combo due to immunity to each other's STAB moves.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hippowdon does not have a great offensive movepool, and its great support movepool is admittedly more useful in singles than doubles. Rock Slide, Fire Fang, and Thunder Fang are options that can be used over Ice Fang and Crunch. As with Ice Fang, Rock Slide complements Earthquake well.,(comma) The two together forming the QuakeSlide combo, which provides great neutral coverage barring Pokemon such as Breloom. Fire Fang is an option because a max Attack can OHKO a 252 HP / 0 Def Abomasnow with Fire Fang, while surviving Abomasnow's assaults. In addition, Fire Fang hits Steel-types super effectively, most notably Bronzong, which resists both Earthquake and Ice Fang. Thunder Fang alternatively, gains super effective coverage on Water-types, most notably Gyarados, which can Intimidate and wall Hippowdon. Yawn can be used over Crunch,(no comma) to force switches, and is especially effective due to the lack of sleep clause. Roar or Whirlwind can be used in order to phase out Trick Room setters that threaten your team.</p>

<p>A specially defensive set consisting of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Sassy nature can be used with a Sassy nature to help take on rain teams. With this EV spread, Hippowdon can survive a Rain-boosted Surf without any recovery moves, and can survive two Surfs outside of rain.(from whom?) However, there is a small chance of being 2HKOed, so a Sitrus Berry or Passho Berry can be used to reliably survive. In addition, outside of rain, Hippowdon holding a Passho Berry can survive an assault of a Hydro Pump followed by a Surf.(period, no space)</p>

<p>Rindo Berry can be used to take Grass-type attacks;,(comma) however, but Grass-type attacks are not common in VGC 2012. If you want to make extremely absolutely sure that Hippowdon sets up Sandstorm, Iron Ball can be used. This will drop Hippowdon’s Speed to a paltry 23, making it slower than all weather starters bar the virtually nonexistent Snover, along with most Trick Room sweepers.(It makes more sense to focus this sentence more on the guaranteed weather starting capabilities)</p>

<p>Hippowdon's Dream World ability is Sand Force, which boosts its Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks by 50% in sandstorm. This will boost Hippowdon's Earthquake and Rock Slide, but another Pokemon will have to set up sandstorm for Hippowdon to abuse this ability. In addition, this removes Hippowdon's niche in the metagame as the slowest weather inducer. On the other hand, the lack of sandstorm may be a boon to some teams that need a physically bulky Pokemon but do not appreciate the introduction of the residual damage.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Powerful special attacks such as Hydro Pump and Grass Knot can take down Hippowdon. The majority of bulky Water-types, such as Suicune and Gyarados, can shrug off Hippowdon's attacks and swiftly KO with their own STAB moves. In addition, burn hurts Hippowdon badly, depleting its health and limiting its damage output.(no space)</p>
I made a few more changes than I usually do but nothing drastic. This was still very good.
gpstamp

[GP 2/2]
 
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