[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sacred Fire
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Defog / Earthquake
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Regenerator
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Brave Bird is Ho-Oh's strongest STAB move, with a high damage output against Mega Mewtwo Y and Dragon-types like Ultra Necrozma and Rayquaza. With Choice Scarf, Ho-Oh can outspeed and 2HKO Yveltal and Primal Kyogre and cleanly OHKO Marshadow.
* Sacred Fire is a secondary STAB attack that lacks recoil and has the additional utility of spreading burns apart from threatening Steel-types like Necrozma-DM and Ferrothorn.
* Toxic, combined with Sacred Fire, makes switching into Ho-Oh safely extremely difficult, as most foes that can defensively keep Ho-Oh in check are vulnerable to residual damage. With Stealth Rock and Toxic damage, Ho-Oh can outspeed and 2HKO fast Arceus-Water and offensive Mega Salamence.
* Defog can be dangerous to be locked into, but Ho-Oh's increased offensive presence with offensive investment and Choice Scarf makes it possible to utilize on forced switches. Being able to remove entry hazards in pinch along with Ho-Oh's immunity to Sticky Web and higher Speed from Choice Scarf can potentially turn the tables against offensive teams as well.
* Earthquake hits Primal Groudon and Mega Gengar harder than Brave Bird without making Ho-Oh suffer from recoil damage. It also is also the best attacking option against Toxapex and the less common Tyranitar, Mega Diancie, and Arceus-Rock. It also deals more reliably with mixed Rock Polish Primal Groudon than Brave Bird, as two Fire Blasts from Primal Groudon and recoil damage can potentially cause an unwanted trade, while Earthquake gives Ho-Oh a higher chance to 2HKO Primal Groudon without making it take recoil damage.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Attack allows Ho-Oh to hit as hard as possible. A Jolly nature with maximum Speed investment is needed to outspeed neutral-natured Choice Scarf Xerneas and Yveltal and Deoxys-A. Adamant Rayquaza and the rarer Adamant Mega Blaziken are also vulnerable at +1 to Jolly Ho-Oh holding a Choice Scarf.
* Regenerator enables Ho-Oh to consistently pivot into weak or resisted attacks and mitigate damage from Brave Bird's recoil and potential poison.
* Choice Scarf boosts Ho-Oh's Speed, letting it outspeed faster foes like Ultra Necrozma, Marshadow, and Mega Mewtwo Y and reliably revenge kill them.
Usage Tips
========
* By forgoing defensive investment, recovery moves, and the option to switch moves, this variant of Ho-Oh trades defensive capabilities with the ability to revenge kill faster foes.
* This means Ho-Oh can more reliably take on foes like weakened Ultra Necrozma, Marshadow, and Mega Lucario, which may otherwise outspeed and OHKO Ho-Oh first with their coverage moves, but will be much less flexible as an entry hazard remover and a check to threats like mixed Rock Polish Primal Groudon or support Arceus formes, roles that require Ho-Oh to have defensive investment and Recover to effectively fulfill.
* Even with reduced defensive capabilities, Ho-Oh can more liberally pivot into weaker or resisted attacks thanks to Regenerator than other Choice Scarf users like Xerneas and Yveltal that have more concerns about their longevity. Though foes like Geomancy Xerneas can overpower Ho-Oh in one-on-one situations, Ho-Oh still has sufficient bulk to pivot into Choice Scarf Xerneas and support Arceus formes. Even foes that can hit Ho-Oh quite hard, such as Yveltal, can be scouted with Ho-Oh so that their sets may be identified.
* Take full advantage of Ho-Oh's role compression as a status absorber, a revenge killer, and a physical attacker. Ho-Oh may have to play more carefully to outlast Toxic users, but it has superior matchups against a good number of Toxic users in the tier. Making a safe switch into this set can also be extremely difficult for teams that lack specific counters to Ho-Oh like defensive Zygarde and Giratina, which Ho-Oh can still eventually force to use Rest with Toxic and repeated Brave Birds.
* Ho-Oh can make more aggressive moves once it becomes clear that an opponent will rely on blanket checks like support Arceus formes and defensive Primal Groudon that can be defeated with repeated attacks. Most blanket checks are vulnerable to Brave Bird after getting poisoned by Toxic, and the same applies to faster foes like Arceus-Water and offensive Mega Salamence, which Ho-Oh has better chance to take on with Choice Scarf.
* Entry hazard management becomes more important for Choice Scarf Ho-Oh due to its inability to remove entry hazards reliably. Ho-Oh will be reliant on forcing a switch to effectively use Defog against entry hazard setters. As Ho-Oh alone cannot prevent Stealth Rock from Primal Groudon and even Arceus formes it has superior matchup against, consider keeping other Defog users healthy until the opposing team can no longer consistently set Stealth Rock. Not only does Stealth Rock take away a half of Ho-Oh's HP on the switch, but it also forces Ho-Oh into a situation where it will have to lock itself into Defog or use another move and hope one of its teammates will get a chance to remove Stealth Rock themselves before it gets to switch in again.
Team Options
========
* Many balanced teams can benefit from Ho-Oh's ability to threaten Steel-types, perform well against offensive teams, spread various status ailments, and sponge special attacks from Xerneas and Arceus formes. Ho-Oh is somewhat of a secondary performer of these roles due to its lack of flexibility that comes from holding Choice Scarf, but it can still defeat Xerneas checks like Primal Groudon and Steel-types and fare well against support Arceus formes.
* Steel-types will mostly come in handy with their ability to pivot into Toxic and take on Arceus formes relatively well. The likes of Necrozma-DM and Magearna function as secondary Xerneas checks, and Ferrothorn can do a better job at walling Arceus-Water and set Spikes to pressure most checks to Ho-Oh apart from Mega Salamence.
* Primal Groudon can also offer similar support. Depending on the variant, Primal Groudon can status support Arceus formes and Lugia or set entry hazards against them. However, as Ho-Oh will eventually draw in support Arceus formes and can poison them with Toxic, Primal Groudon has even more options to run offensive variant and lure various foes for Ho-Oh. Hidden Power Ice will catch Zygarde and Mega Salamence, Rock Tomb will deal with opposing Ho-Oh running defensive investment, and Swords Dance-boosted attacks can take out Arceus formes more quickly.
* Support Arceus formes can deal with defensive Zygarde, which is a strong check to this set. They also provide Defog support and handle Rock-type coverage Primal Groudon reasonably well. Giratina-O can fulfill similar roles and can take out offensive Primal Groudon more quickly.
* Xerneas can also provide Defog support or run Geomancy set, as Ho-Oh is running Choice Scarf itself to threaten offensive teams and offensively check Marshadow. Aromatherapy can be used to alleviate Ho-Oh of status as well.
* Mega Gengar can benefit from Ho-Oh's ability to spread status and revenge kill Marshadow and faster threats like Mega Mewtwo Y and Deoxys-A, which will otherwise limit its activity on the field. Its ability to trap Ultra Necrozma is also notable, as Ho-Oh will lock itself into Sacred Fire before Necrozma-DM transforms via Ultra Burst.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[CKW, 289489], [Nayrz, 212134], [DMDW, 434601]]
- Quality checked by: [[Minority, 222996], [Fireburn, 29197], [Miyoka, 263887], [CKW, 289489], [Nayrz, 212134], [Cynara, 224455]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Electrolyte, 148071], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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