Like i said in my post its to be used as an opportunistic set with a strong core of 5 pokes and primarily late game. Its not very hard to kill a t-tar on the other team. I don't understand what you mean about dawdle around. The opponent may have planned on killing houndoom with their scarfer but that plan is now soiled because of the flame charge boost which can literally be a game winner either by from there destroying their team or hitting a poke on the opposing team hard. Like I said this set is more of a win condition.
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OU Houndoom
- Thread starter Ash Borer
- Start date
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-103554117
for those of you who were docking my set lol. Like I said its an opportunist, a rather laid back slot on your team until you find an opening. i was able to flame charge and Nasty Plot to Sweep his whole team. If i didn't have flame charge accelgor and scizor would have killed. This set makes a better niche than houndoom instead of just having a chari-y with dark pulse I make him a win condition.
for those of you who were docking my set lol. Like I said its an opportunist, a rather laid back slot on your team until you find an opening. i was able to flame charge and Nasty Plot to Sweep his whole team. If i didn't have flame charge accelgor and scizor would have killed. This set makes a better niche than houndoom instead of just having a chari-y with dark pulse I make him a win condition.
My set gives deeper niche, Chari-y can wall break already and plenty of other pokes so why use houndoom who is weak to priority. While your set and idea is good for destroying an opponents wall or killing off ONE of their pokes (by them sacking it). Mine aims to sweep the opponent or trump there would be ways of dealing with MegaDoom without flame charge. As you can see in that replay a regular houndoom wouldn't have won me the game, but since I was given the opportunity I swept his entire team.
I don't even know what to say about that replay. Its just ... terrible. The play on both sides is awful, especially on yours (even though you won), and both teams look pretty questionable too. If you want to persuade anyone using replays, you're going to need more than one, for starters, as well as at least some with competent play on both sides.
That said, the idea of using a Houndoom with flame charge is not completely awful; you're not doing it any favours at all. I don't know if houndoom is really fast enough to pull off a sweep as it is. With flame charge, it most likely is; it would require a substantial weakening of the opposing team, as you would be hard-pressed to set up an NP as well (in that game, you could have swept his whole team without an NP, so we'll forgive him for letting you set up). It would probably work decently over destiny bond on the sun set, as that is powerful enough without any setup.
That said, the idea of using a Houndoom with flame charge is not completely awful; you're not doing it any favours at all. I don't know if houndoom is really fast enough to pull off a sweep as it is. With flame charge, it most likely is; it would require a substantial weakening of the opposing team, as you would be hard-pressed to set up an NP as well (in that game, you could have swept his whole team without an NP, so we'll forgive him for letting you set up). It would probably work decently over destiny bond on the sun set, as that is powerful enough without any setup.
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 241-285 (68 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
I needed +2 and had to predict his protect so that I may OHKO him with fire blast so he cant EQ and then proceed to use his scizor's bullet punch.
And what the hell are you talking about that battle was very good play wise, I ice beamed because if he were to switch in glicor and I used stone edge i would have lost the game. I goofed with sharpedo because i wasn't even thinking of E-speed. When I switched in bisharp he predicted sucker punch and I predict his prediction. I prefer using monotype in ou for a challenge and since you criticized my team I'll have you know its undefeated along with my mono-flying(mostly 6/5/4-0s), but thats not what this thread is about. After that though I saw the opportunity to Sweep his team with houndoom, i thought he would setup rocks but instead he used protect. If i were to have your NP set his accelgor and scizor would have been able to revenge kill me. So your claim that plays on both sides are crap are completely wrong, maybe you should have examined it more >.> I do agree his team was bad but the point of the replay was to showcase how it can abuse opportunity.
Okay, no. That replay was really, really bad. Allow me to elaborate.
Team: Okay, first of all, you're using a monotype Dark team. Monotype teams on the actual OU ladder are nothing short of gimmicks. The fact that you're undefeated against bad ladder players does not impress me, especially seeing as how you weren't even past the 1300 mark yet when you began the battle in the replay. As for your opponent, he's using Accelgor, Forretress, and Arcanine, which are all pretty mediocre choices. Not to mention that (not counting Forretress itself) he's got 3 Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock and 2 neutral to it, and the best spinner he could manage to find was Forretress? On top of all that, his only Fire resist was Arcanine (who isn't a good Pokemon to begin with), and he had 4 Fire-weak Pokemon as well. The fact that you swept a team like that with any Fire-type is hardly impressive.
Turn 3: So you said that you Ice Beamed predicting the Gliscor switch. Why? You already revealed that you were leading with MixTar, which very commonly runs Ice Beam, so any competent opponent would know that Gliscor is not a safe switch-in. Not only that, but why would he waste his Atk and Spe boosts on what is later revealed to be a defensive Gliscor and would probably never sweep even with those boosts?
Turn 5: I'm guessing you were trying to go for the Aqua Jet here since a +0 Sharpedo is obviously not going to outspeed a +2 Arcanine, but you seriously forgot about Extremespeed? I'm sorry, but you can't have a turn where you unnecessarily lose a Pokemon because you completely forgot about one of Arcanine's best moves and then try to claim that the the battle "was very good play wise."
Turn 6: Why did you Brick Break here? Knock Off would have been a far better. Seeing as how you're not running Life Orb on Bisharp, a -1 4/0 Arcanine actually has a shot at surviving an Adamant Brick Break at 51% health, so Knock Off would have done more damage and ensured that Arcanine went down. He also had Gliscor on his team, a really solid answer to Bisharp in general, so Knock Off would have crippled it if it switched in by removing its Toxic Orb before it got a chance to poison itself. If the reason is that you're running Brick Break > Knock Off...lol. Either way, you lucked out here.
Also, your opponent kinda messed up by leaving Arcanine in to die. It was a pretty big threat to your team by virtue of Close Combat alone, and its Extremespeed might have helped in keeping Greninja and Mega Houndoom in check later on in the game. Heck, it was his only Fire-resist at all, so sacking it when you still had a fresh Mega Houndoom was a bad move. He could have easily switched to Gliscor, checked Bisharp, and saved Arcanine for later. I understand that there's the threat of Knock Off, but it's obvious that he predicted Sucker Punch since he went for ESpeed. If that was the case, Gliscor would have been a perfect switch-in.
Turn 7: Protect on Forretress? Just...just why? Not only is Protect generally a waste of a moveslot on Forretress, but what did your opponent have to gain from that? All it did was risk giving Bisharp a free Swords Dance or you a free switch-in. There was no reason whatsoever to use that. And again, why didn't he go to Gliscor after Arcanine died? If he was afraid of Knock Off, he could use Protect to activate the Toxic Orb. Sure, he might risk giving you a free setup or switch, but unlike with Forretress, it's well worth it when you consider how insanely crippled a Poison Heal Gliscor without its poison is.
Turn 9: This is where your opponent really messed up. Good players know to play sparingly with Protect and only use it if you really need to (i.e. the aforementioned Knock Off example), because you'll always risk giving your opponent a free turn. That's exactly what happened here. In this case, he would have been far better off just using Earthquake. 252/0 Gliscor has a great shot at surviving an unboosted Fire Blast at 78% health. Even if he mispredicted and you just attacked with Fire Blast instead of using Nasty Plot, he still had a great shot at surviving and slamming Mega Houndoom with Earthquake, maybe putting it in range for Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch depending on its EVs. Using Protect for that little bit of recovery and/or expecting the Fire Blast and having you use Nasty Plot instead was a terrible risk because it would leave his team open to a sweep, so he should not have done that.
On your side, leaving Houndoom in on Gliscor was super risky. If he had made the right play, you'd have a Houndoom with ~23% or less health left and might be at a risk of a Mega Scizor revenge kill (252+ Mega Scizor does 22.3 - 26.4% with Bullet Punch). Face it, you only got that boost so easily because your opponent made a critical misplay.
After that point, the sweep was pretty much inevitable, so there wasn't much he could have done to come back. At the very least, he could have attempted the double Protect on Scolipede to get to +2, outspeed Mega Houndoom, and at least do something with Megahorn. Who knows, depending on Scolipede's investment, it might have gotten luck with a crit and either KOed Houndoom or at least put it in range of Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch. Not super reliable, but better than nothing.
Turn 3: So you said that you Ice Beamed predicting the Gliscor switch. Why? You already revealed that you were leading with MixTar, which very commonly runs Ice Beam, so any competent opponent would know that Gliscor is not a safe switch-in. Not only that, but why would he waste his Atk and Spe boosts on what is later revealed to be a defensive Gliscor and would probably never sweep even with those boosts?
Turn 5: I'm guessing you were trying to go for the Aqua Jet here since a +0 Sharpedo is obviously not going to outspeed a +2 Arcanine, but you seriously forgot about Extremespeed? I'm sorry, but you can't have a turn where you unnecessarily lose a Pokemon because you completely forgot about one of Arcanine's best moves and then try to claim that the the battle "was very good play wise."
Turn 6: Why did you Brick Break here? Knock Off would have been a far better. Seeing as how you're not running Life Orb on Bisharp, a -1 4/0 Arcanine actually has a shot at surviving an Adamant Brick Break at 51% health, so Knock Off would have done more damage and ensured that Arcanine went down. He also had Gliscor on his team, a really solid answer to Bisharp in general, so Knock Off would have crippled it if it switched in by removing its Toxic Orb before it got a chance to poison itself. If the reason is that you're running Brick Break > Knock Off...lol. Either way, you lucked out here.
Also, your opponent kinda messed up by leaving Arcanine in to die. It was a pretty big threat to your team by virtue of Close Combat alone, and its Extremespeed might have helped in keeping Greninja and Mega Houndoom in check later on in the game. Heck, it was his only Fire-resist at all, so sacking it when you still had a fresh Mega Houndoom was a bad move. He could have easily switched to Gliscor, checked Bisharp, and saved Arcanine for later. I understand that there's the threat of Knock Off, but it's obvious that he predicted Sucker Punch since he went for ESpeed. If that was the case, Gliscor would have been a perfect switch-in.
Turn 7: Protect on Forretress? Just...just why? Not only is Protect generally a waste of a moveslot on Forretress, but what did your opponent have to gain from that? All it did was risk giving Bisharp a free Swords Dance or you a free switch-in. There was no reason whatsoever to use that. And again, why didn't he go to Gliscor after Arcanine died? If he was afraid of Knock Off, he could use Protect to activate the Toxic Orb. Sure, he might risk giving you a free setup or switch, but unlike with Forretress, it's well worth it when you consider how insanely crippled a Poison Heal Gliscor without its poison is.
Turn 9: This is where your opponent really messed up. Good players know to play sparingly with Protect and only use it if you really need to (i.e. the aforementioned Knock Off example), because you'll always risk giving your opponent a free turn. That's exactly what happened here. In this case, he would have been far better off just using Earthquake. 252/0 Gliscor has a great shot at surviving an unboosted Fire Blast at 78% health. Even if he mispredicted and you just attacked with Fire Blast instead of using Nasty Plot, he still had a great shot at surviving and slamming Mega Houndoom with Earthquake, maybe putting it in range for Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch depending on its EVs. Using Protect for that little bit of recovery and/or expecting the Fire Blast and having you use Nasty Plot instead was a terrible risk because it would leave his team open to a sweep, so he should not have done that.
On your side, leaving Houndoom in on Gliscor was super risky. If he had made the right play, you'd have a Houndoom with ~23% or less health left and might be at a risk of a Mega Scizor revenge kill (252+ Mega Scizor does 22.3 - 26.4% with Bullet Punch). Face it, you only got that boost so easily because your opponent made a critical misplay.
After that point, the sweep was pretty much inevitable, so there wasn't much he could have done to come back. At the very least, he could have attempted the double Protect on Scolipede to get to +2, outspeed Mega Houndoom, and at least do something with Megahorn. Who knows, depending on Scolipede's investment, it might have gotten luck with a crit and either KOed Houndoom or at least put it in range of Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch. Not super reliable, but better than nothing.
So no, that replay was awful. You basically got a free sweep because your opponent played badly, and you're not doing Flame Charge Mega Houndoom any justice by using that match as evidence. If you want to impress someone, then start by building a serious team around the set first of all, and then play some decent opponents on the ladder (at the very least, get out of the 1300s, lol).
Oh as for your thing that monotype is a gimmick in OU, Mono-Steel has more defensive synergy than OU teams. Infact your opponent can end up never hitting a super effective move or even attempt to do one. While steel baits super effective moves it is also very tempting to predict the obvious heatran switch. Mono-flying also has great defensive synergy and offensive force. Only real obstacle was rocks and with the advent of defog thats not much of problem. I just made that dark team because the other two weren't as challenging. But hey this thread isn't a "is monotype viable in ou" thread. Imo for some types they actually have an advantage (if prepared correctly). If you want to battle me while I use a monotype team vs your "superior" ou team I'd be delighted. Anyways.
Turn 3: I know but I thought he would make the play. +2 gliscor would destroy the rest of my team but I knew if he switched to arcanine I could just make a prediction, which is why I made that questionable dark team because it is prediction/play reliant.
Turn 5: I had my buddy next to me and this guy had a garbage team, Losing wasn't my biggest concern so yeah I derped. The reason I chose this replay was because to showcase an opportunity and how much damage you can do.
Turn 7: Bisharp was scarfed, That team needed a scarfer and its been pretty helpful. I wanted to bait out gliscor which is why I used brick break. I needed his gliscor to feel safe. but when he switched ferro. Like I said i predicted Stealth rocks even though he used protect it really wouldnt have mattered at that point.
Turn 9: Its almost common nature for people to protect with gliscor to gain hp. Idk but its almost instinct to be greedy. I know if he thought it out it would've been clear to use protect. But hey based on his patterns he really just goes by instinct(e-speed the bisharp,not predict the stone edge from t-tar) so I concluded he would protect and I was right. Oh and its not like he knew I would have flame charge + NP on my set.
Ugh I probably sound like a noob or something. As for my low points I only ladder to test teams as I usually hang on frost with my buds, but maybe I should ladder seriously with a monotype team to prove a point. That's not my best replay I assure you and I didn't say it was some super competitive battle. All I wanted to do was showcase it so people have an idea of what I mean. I do love monotyping in OU and all though I think monotype has the jump on OU most of the time. Its pretty fun poking fun at the opponent for losing to a monotype team because they are widely seen as "gimmicky". I don't want to be a negative presence though, I just usually keep my custom sets to myself and It has given me plenty of wins. I just thought I would try to get involved with the community and contribute to widen the scope of what we see in a poke.
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I hope I helped, and that you implement most of this!
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the EVs on your sets should be set up like 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, its currently in the wrong order
Attack Order
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Your analyses are very well written!
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Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's mega slot, and doesn't hit as hard as its competition without the right support. However, Houndoom is not something to brush aside. It has a fantastic Speed stat, very impressive Special Attack, respectable defenses, great offensive STABs, a useful number of utility moves, and an ability that makes it insanely strong in the sun. When used correctly, Houndoom will reduce the opponent to ashes.
Nasty Plot
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name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's sSpecial aAttack to quite impressive levels, and letting it act as a proficient wallbreaker and, sweepering against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB, its high base power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on lower base power moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is the secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in set up against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams. Destiny Bond is more suited for fighting combatting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar and TEerrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these pPokemon early game. Hidden Power Fighting is also very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar who otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable Hidden Power option, which has ving the ability to hit a good number of good checks to of Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
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Max Speed and Special aAttack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a boosting nature, a large number of important Sspeed tiers are missed. The remaining four EV's go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as because (you use "as" so much, and it's being repetitive :P. We want to have some variety!) the boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
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Specially Defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, however it is nearly powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and if Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let Houndoom set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switching out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns such as mono attack Gengar and standard Sableye, these are perhaps the best switch in opportunities. Mandibuzz is complete set up bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt; exploit this. Chansey should be taunted to prevent it from recoverying and spreading status, making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker, setting it up mid game to break down bulky pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
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Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is almost crucial option. Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-oO-Wisp and offensive Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire,. as well In addition, it is a reasonable switch into Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for set up. Houndoom is so strong that +2 Houndoom is in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground-, and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame(I would say Landorus-T would be a check to Talonflame, but it's fine), a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-Wash is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
Sun Wallbreaker
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name: Sun Wallbreaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Solarbeam
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Moves
========
Fire Blast is Houndoom's howitzer, in the sun it has a chance of 2HKOing max HP Suicune, for example. Solar Beam complements Houndoom's firestorm, easily taking care of Water- and Rock-types that try to get in its way. Dark Pulse is a great secondary STAB that gets a powerful neutral hit on opposing Fire-types and Dragons that may be able to take a Fire Blast. Destiny Bond occupies the final moveslot. It's useful for taking a defensive counter to Houndoom with it. This can be used for getting rid of Pokemon that in general counter sun teams, such as Tyranitar, defensive Politoed, defensive Dragonite, Chansey that lack Toxic, and Heatran.
Set Details
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(This is extremely similar to the first... Change it up a bit so it doesn't sound like you're repeating yourself!)Max Speed and Special Attack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is used as because without a boosting nature, a large number of important Sspeed tiers are missed. Four Defense EV's as opposed to four HP lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard and Solar Power damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the Flash Fire boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
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Fire Blast is incredibly strong in the sun, often Pokemon that resist it, even bulky ones, are cleanly 2HKOed or finished off with the correct follow up move. There is no need to over predict. Trying to use Solar Beam when an opposing Tyranitar, Hippowdon, or Politoed is alive and well is tantamount to suicide, so don't do that. Houndoom is one of the best sun wallbreakers, and as such it will be very valuable to your team. Destiny Bond should be used late game when the opponent's team has been weakened enough for other win conditions to be in sight. Destiny Bond can also be an early game backup solution to very important sun counters like Tyranitar, Specially Defensive Hippowdon, and Politoed should other ways of beating these pokemon fail. Houndoom should only be brought in on weak resisted moves, or moves that it is immune to, due to Solar Power's damaging effect, Houndoom's HP must be preserved.
Team Options
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As this set is only intended for use on dedicated sun offense teams, a mandatory partner alongside Houndoom is a Pokemon that can make the sun shine. Ninetales, unfortunately, is the best choice for this as its ability Drought lets the user retain more momentum than a Sunny Day user can. Secondary Sunny Day users are also appreciated as they can provide other utilities that Ninetales can not. Latias is capable of providing Healing Wish support, something invaluable to keeping a sun team's key members healthy, as well as crucial Defog support, and Sunny Day all in one set. Even without Sunny Day, Latias is valuable to sun teams for its support moves and ability to check opposing Dragon-types. Excadrill and Scizor are also pretty good at doing away with Hazards, luring in Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire, and dealing with opposing Dragon-types. With a Choice Scarf and Rock Slide, Excadrill can even check Talonflame. Dugtrio is one of the most important, and nearly mandatory partners for Sun Houndoom as trapping and beating Tyranitar and Heatran is incalculably valuable to Sun teams. Chlorophyll Venusaur is a very, very useful partner being able to not only cleanly beat, but safely switch in on Houndoom checks and counters such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Breloom. Naturally, Chlorophyll Venusaur capitalizes on friendly sun marvelously. Choice Scarf Heatran is a good partner for Houndoom as it easily capitalizes on the holes Houndoom can punch in the opponent's Fire-type resists, and it is capable of dealing with Talonflame and numerous Dragon- and Fire-types in general. Rhyperior deals with Talonflame, Charizard X, Thundurus, and other troublesome Pokemon and can provide Stealth Rock support. All of these Pokemon together form a rather tight knit and powerful offensive sun team.
Other Options
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Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority, and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-oO-Wisp screws with some switch ins, most prominently, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill and Terrakion, however it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill, and does the most damage to any Fairy-type Pokemon. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its sSpeed to clean up late in the game.
Checks & Counters
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**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively such as Greninja and Deoxys-S make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge, it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is Houndoom's best counter.
**Other Defensive Weather Starters**: Politoed replaces Sun with Rain nerfing Houndoom's Fire Blast to pathetic levels, though +2 Dark Pulse will do a huge chunk to it. Specially defensive hippowdon is a stop to most sets, though Fire Blast can 2HKO it with some prior damage.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if its healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's sSpecial aAttack to quite impressive levels, and letting it act as a proficient wallbreaker and, sweepering against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB, its high base power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on lower base power moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is the secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in set up against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams. Destiny Bond is more suited for fighting combatting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar and TEerrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these pPokemon early game. Hidden Power Fighting is also very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar who otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable Hidden Power option, which has ving the ability to hit a good number of good checks to of Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
========
Max Speed and Special aAttack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a boosting nature, a large number of important Sspeed tiers are missed. The remaining four EV's go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as because (you use "as" so much, and it's being repetitive :P. We want to have some variety!) the boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Specially Defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, however it is nearly powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and if Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let Houndoom set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switching out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns such as mono attack Gengar and standard Sableye, these are perhaps the best switch in opportunities. Mandibuzz is complete set up bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt; exploit this. Chansey should be taunted to prevent it from recoverying and spreading status, making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker, setting it up mid game to break down bulky pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is almost crucial option. Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-oO-Wisp and offensive Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire,. as well In addition, it is a reasonable switch into Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for set up. Houndoom is so strong that +2 Houndoom is in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground-, and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame(I would say Landorus-T would be a check to Talonflame, but it's fine), a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-Wash is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
Sun Wallbreaker
########
name: Sun Wallbreaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Solarbeam
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Moves
========
Fire Blast is Houndoom's howitzer, in the sun it has a chance of 2HKOing max HP Suicune, for example. Solar Beam complements Houndoom's firestorm, easily taking care of Water- and Rock-types that try to get in its way. Dark Pulse is a great secondary STAB that gets a powerful neutral hit on opposing Fire-types and Dragons that may be able to take a Fire Blast. Destiny Bond occupies the final moveslot. It's useful for taking a defensive counter to Houndoom with it. This can be used for getting rid of Pokemon that in general counter sun teams, such as Tyranitar, defensive Politoed, defensive Dragonite, Chansey that lack Toxic, and Heatran.
Set Details
========
(This is extremely similar to the first... Change it up a bit so it doesn't sound like you're repeating yourself!)Max Speed and Special Attack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is used as because without a boosting nature, a large number of important Sspeed tiers are missed. Four Defense EV's as opposed to four HP lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard and Solar Power damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the Flash Fire boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Fire Blast is incredibly strong in the sun, often Pokemon that resist it, even bulky ones, are cleanly 2HKOed or finished off with the correct follow up move. There is no need to over predict. Trying to use Solar Beam when an opposing Tyranitar, Hippowdon, or Politoed is alive and well is tantamount to suicide, so don't do that. Houndoom is one of the best sun wallbreakers, and as such it will be very valuable to your team. Destiny Bond should be used late game when the opponent's team has been weakened enough for other win conditions to be in sight. Destiny Bond can also be an early game backup solution to very important sun counters like Tyranitar, Specially Defensive Hippowdon, and Politoed should other ways of beating these pokemon fail. Houndoom should only be brought in on weak resisted moves, or moves that it is immune to, due to Solar Power's damaging effect, Houndoom's HP must be preserved.
Team Options
========
As this set is only intended for use on dedicated sun offense teams, a mandatory partner alongside Houndoom is a Pokemon that can make the sun shine. Ninetales, unfortunately, is the best choice for this as its ability Drought lets the user retain more momentum than a Sunny Day user can. Secondary Sunny Day users are also appreciated as they can provide other utilities that Ninetales can not. Latias is capable of providing Healing Wish support, something invaluable to keeping a sun team's key members healthy, as well as crucial Defog support, and Sunny Day all in one set. Even without Sunny Day, Latias is valuable to sun teams for its support moves and ability to check opposing Dragon-types. Excadrill and Scizor are also pretty good at doing away with Hazards, luring in Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire, and dealing with opposing Dragon-types. With a Choice Scarf and Rock Slide, Excadrill can even check Talonflame. Dugtrio is one of the most important, and nearly mandatory partners for Sun Houndoom as trapping and beating Tyranitar and Heatran is incalculably valuable to Sun teams. Chlorophyll Venusaur is a very, very useful partner being able to not only cleanly beat, but safely switch in on Houndoom checks and counters such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Breloom. Naturally, Chlorophyll Venusaur capitalizes on friendly sun marvelously. Choice Scarf Heatran is a good partner for Houndoom as it easily capitalizes on the holes Houndoom can punch in the opponent's Fire-type resists, and it is capable of dealing with Talonflame and numerous Dragon- and Fire-types in general. Rhyperior deals with Talonflame, Charizard X, Thundurus, and other troublesome Pokemon and can provide Stealth Rock support. All of these Pokemon together form a rather tight knit and powerful offensive sun team.
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority, and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-oO-Wisp screws with some switch ins, most prominently, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill and Terrakion, however it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill, and does the most damage to any Fairy-type Pokemon. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its sSpeed to clean up late in the game.
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively such as Greninja and Deoxys-S make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge, it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is Houndoom's best counter.
**Other Defensive Weather Starters**: Politoed replaces Sun with Rain nerfing Houndoom's Fire Blast to pathetic levels, though +2 Dark Pulse will do a huge chunk to it. Specially defensive hippowdon is a stop to most sets, though Fire Blast can 2HKO it with some prior damage.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if its healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.
Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's mega slot, and doesn't hit as hard as its competition without the right support. However, Houndoom is not something to brush aside. It has a fantastic Speed stat, very impressive Special Attack, respectable defenses, great offensive STABs, a useful number of utility moves, and an ability that makes it insanely strong in the sun. When used correctly, Houndoom will reduce the opponent to ashes.
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack to quite impressive levels, letting it act as a proficient wallbreaker, sweeping against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB, its high base power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on lower base power moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is the secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in set up against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams. Destiny Bond is more suited for combatting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar and Terrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these Pokemon early game. Hidden Power Fighting is also very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar who otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable option, having the ability to hit a good number of checks of Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
========
Max Speed and Special Attack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a boosting nature, a large number of important speed tiers are missed. The remaining four EV's go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability because the boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Specially Defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, however it is nearly powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and if Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let Houndoom set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switching out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns such as mono attack Gengar and standard Sableye, these are perhaps the best switch in opportunities. Mandibuzz is complete set up bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt; exploit this. Chansey should be taunted to prevent it from recovering and spreading status, making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker, setting it up mid game to break down bulky pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is almost crucial. Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-O-Wisp and Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire. In addition, it is a reasonable switch in to Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for set up. Houndoom is so strong that +2 Houndoom in the sun OHKOes Blissey. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground-, and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame, a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-Wash is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
Sun Wallbreaker
########
name: Sun Wallbreaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Solarbeam
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Moves
========
Fire Blast is Houndoom's howitzer, in the sun it has a chance of 2HKOing max HP Suicune, for example. Solar Beam complements Houndoom's firestorm, easily taking care of Water- and Rock-types that try to get in its way. Dark Pulse is a great secondary STAB that gets a powerful neutral hit on opposing Fire-types and Dragons that may be able to take a Fire Blast. Destiny Bond occupies the final moveslot. It's useful for taking a defensive counter to Houndoom with it. This can be used for getting rid of Pokemon that in general counter sun teams, such as Tyranitar, defensive Politoed, defensive Dragonite, Chansey that lack Toxic, and Heatran.
Set Details
========
Max Speed and Special Attack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is used because without a boosting nature, a large number of important speed tiers are missed. Four Defense EVs as opposed to four HP lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard and Solar Power damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the Flash Fire boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Fire Blast is incredibly strong in the sun, often Pokemon that resist it, even bulky ones, are cleanly 2HKOed or finished off with the correct follow up move. There is no need to over predict. Trying to use Solar Beam when an opposing Tyranitar, Hippowdon, or Politoed is alive and well is tantamount to suicide, so don't do that. Houndoom is one of the best sun wallbreakers, and as such it will be very valuable to your team. Destiny Bond should be used late game when the opponent's team has been weakened enough for other win conditions to be in sight. Destiny Bond can also be an early game backup solution to very important sun counters like Tyranitar, Specially Defensive Hippowdon, and Politoed should other ways of beating these pokemon fail. Houndoom should only be brought in on weak resisted moves, or moves that it is immune to, due to Solar Power's damaging effect, Houndoom's HP must be preserved.
Team Options
========
As this set is only intended for use on dedicated sun offense teams, a mandatory partner alongside Houndoom is a Pokemon that can make the sun shine. Ninetales, unfortunately, is the best choice for this as its ability Drought lets the user retain more momentum than a Sunny Day user can. Secondary Sunny Day users are also appreciated as they can provide other utilities that Ninetales can not. Latias is capable of providing Healing Wish support, something invaluable to keeping a sun team's key members healthy, as well as crucial Defog support, and Sunny Day all in one set. Even without Sunny Day, Latias is valuable to sun teams for its support moves and ability to check opposing Dragon-types. Excadrill and Scizor are also pretty good at doing away with Hazards, luring in Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire, and dealing with opposing Dragon-types. With a Choice Scarf and Rock Slide, Excadrill can even check Talonflame. Dugtrio is one of the most important, and nearly mandatory partners for Sun Houndoom as trapping and beating Tyranitar and Heatran is incalculably valuable to Sun teams. Chlorophyll Venusaur is a very, very useful partner being able to not only cleanly beat, but safely switch in on Houndoom checks and counters such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Breloom. Naturally, Chlorophyll Venusaur capitalizes on friendly sun marvelously. Choice Scarf Heatran is a good partner for Houndoom as it easily capitalizes on the holes Houndoom can punch in the opponent's Fire-type resists, and it is capable of dealing with Talonflame and numerous Dragon- and Fire-types in general. Rhyperior deals with Talonflame, Charizard X, Thundurus, and other troublesome Pokemon and can provide Stealth Rock support. All of these Pokemon together form a rather tight knit and powerful offensive sun team.
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority, and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-O-Wisp screws with some switch ins, most prominently, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill and Terrakion, however it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill, and does the most damage to any Fairy-type Pokemon. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its Speed to clean up late in the game.
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively such as Greninja and Deoxys-S make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge, it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is Houndoom's best counter.
**Other Defensive Weather Starters**: Politoed replaces Sun with Rain nerfing Houndoom's Fire Blast to pathetic levels, though +2 Dark Pulse will do a huge chunk to it. Specially defensive hippowdon is a stop to most sets, though Fire Blast can 2HKO it with some prior damage.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if its healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack to quite impressive levels, letting it act as a proficient wallbreaker, sweeping against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB, its high base power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on lower base power moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is the secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in set up against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams. Destiny Bond is more suited for combatting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar and Terrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these Pokemon early game. Hidden Power Fighting is also very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar who otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable option, having the ability to hit a good number of checks of Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
========
Max Speed and Special Attack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a boosting nature, a large number of important speed tiers are missed. The remaining four EV's go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability because the boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Specially Defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, however it is nearly powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and if Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let Houndoom set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switching out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns such as mono attack Gengar and standard Sableye, these are perhaps the best switch in opportunities. Mandibuzz is complete set up bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt; exploit this. Chansey should be taunted to prevent it from recovering and spreading status, making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker, setting it up mid game to break down bulky pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is almost crucial. Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-O-Wisp and Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire. In addition, it is a reasonable switch in to Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for set up. Houndoom is so strong that +2 Houndoom in the sun OHKOes Blissey. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground-, and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame, a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-Wash is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
Sun Wallbreaker
########
name: Sun Wallbreaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Solarbeam
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Moves
========
Fire Blast is Houndoom's howitzer, in the sun it has a chance of 2HKOing max HP Suicune, for example. Solar Beam complements Houndoom's firestorm, easily taking care of Water- and Rock-types that try to get in its way. Dark Pulse is a great secondary STAB that gets a powerful neutral hit on opposing Fire-types and Dragons that may be able to take a Fire Blast. Destiny Bond occupies the final moveslot. It's useful for taking a defensive counter to Houndoom with it. This can be used for getting rid of Pokemon that in general counter sun teams, such as Tyranitar, defensive Politoed, defensive Dragonite, Chansey that lack Toxic, and Heatran.
Set Details
========
Max Speed and Special Attack EVs are to optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is used because without a boosting nature, a large number of important speed tiers are missed. Four Defense EVs as opposed to four HP lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard and Solar Power damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the Flash Fire boost persists after mega evolution, and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Fire Blast is incredibly strong in the sun, often Pokemon that resist it, even bulky ones, are cleanly 2HKOed or finished off with the correct follow up move. There is no need to over predict. Trying to use Solar Beam when an opposing Tyranitar, Hippowdon, or Politoed is alive and well is tantamount to suicide, so don't do that. Houndoom is one of the best sun wallbreakers, and as such it will be very valuable to your team. Destiny Bond should be used late game when the opponent's team has been weakened enough for other win conditions to be in sight. Destiny Bond can also be an early game backup solution to very important sun counters like Tyranitar, Specially Defensive Hippowdon, and Politoed should other ways of beating these pokemon fail. Houndoom should only be brought in on weak resisted moves, or moves that it is immune to, due to Solar Power's damaging effect, Houndoom's HP must be preserved.
Team Options
========
As this set is only intended for use on dedicated sun offense teams, a mandatory partner alongside Houndoom is a Pokemon that can make the sun shine. Ninetales, unfortunately, is the best choice for this as its ability Drought lets the user retain more momentum than a Sunny Day user can. Secondary Sunny Day users are also appreciated as they can provide other utilities that Ninetales can not. Latias is capable of providing Healing Wish support, something invaluable to keeping a sun team's key members healthy, as well as crucial Defog support, and Sunny Day all in one set. Even without Sunny Day, Latias is valuable to sun teams for its support moves and ability to check opposing Dragon-types. Excadrill and Scizor are also pretty good at doing away with Hazards, luring in Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire, and dealing with opposing Dragon-types. With a Choice Scarf and Rock Slide, Excadrill can even check Talonflame. Dugtrio is one of the most important, and nearly mandatory partners for Sun Houndoom as trapping and beating Tyranitar and Heatran is incalculably valuable to Sun teams. Chlorophyll Venusaur is a very, very useful partner being able to not only cleanly beat, but safely switch in on Houndoom checks and counters such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Breloom. Naturally, Chlorophyll Venusaur capitalizes on friendly sun marvelously. Choice Scarf Heatran is a good partner for Houndoom as it easily capitalizes on the holes Houndoom can punch in the opponent's Fire-type resists, and it is capable of dealing with Talonflame and numerous Dragon- and Fire-types in general. Rhyperior deals with Talonflame, Charizard X, Thundurus, and other troublesome Pokemon and can provide Stealth Rock support. All of these Pokemon together form a rather tight knit and powerful offensive sun team.
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority, and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-O-Wisp screws with some switch ins, most prominently, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill and Terrakion, however it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill, and does the most damage to any Fairy-type Pokemon. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its Speed to clean up late in the game.
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively such as Greninja and Deoxys-S make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge, it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is Houndoom's best counter.
**Other Defensive Weather Starters**: Politoed replaces Sun with Rain nerfing Houndoom's Fire Blast to pathetic levels, though +2 Dark Pulse will do a huge chunk to it. Specially defensive hippowdon is a stop to most sets, though Fire Blast can 2HKO it with some prior damage.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if its healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.
Your analyses are very well written!
Last edited by a moderator:
Setting up a nasty plot would be better than setting up a sun.
Deletions
Additions / Corrections
Comments
GP 1 / 2
Additions / Corrections
Comments
Overview
########
Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's mega Mega Evolution slot, doesn't hit as hard as its stiffest competition, and has its ability is mostly wasted on by how poor sun is. However, (add comma) Houndoom is not something to brush aside. It has a fantastic Speed stat, very impressive Special Attack, respectable defenses, great offensive STABs, and a useful number of utility moves. When used correctly, Houndoom will reduce the opponent to ashes.
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack to quite impressive levels, (add comma) letting it act as a proficient wall breaker and, (remove comma) even as a sweeper against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB; (semi-colon) its high Base Power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on lower base power less powerful moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in setup against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams. Destiny Bond is more suited for fighting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar, (add comma) and Terrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these Pokemon early-game. Hidden Power Fighting is a very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar, which otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable Hidden Power which has the ability to hit a number of good checks to Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Special attack optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a boosting nature a large number of important Speed tiers are missed. The remaining four EVs go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the boost persists after mega evolution even when Houndoom is Mega-Evolved, and gives Houndoom it a free switch-in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Specially defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, however but it is nearly powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let Houndoom it set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switch out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns, (add comma) such as mono-attack Gengar and standard Sableye; these are perhaps the best switch-in opportunities for it. Mandibuzz is complete setup bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt, so exploit this. Chansey should be Taunted to prevent recovery and status, (add comma) making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target for preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker, setting it up mid-game to break down bulky Pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar, and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is a crucial option. Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-O-Wisp and offensive Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire; as well, it is also a reasonable switch into Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a Defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for setup. Houndoom is so strong +2 Houndoom is so strong in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground-, (remove comma) and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame, a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, (remove comma) and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-W is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame, (add comma) and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch-ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority, (remove comma) and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, (add comma) it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-O-Wisp screws with some switch-ins, most prominently, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill, (add comma) and Terrakion, however but it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard-hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill, (remove comma) and does the most damage to any Fairy. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its Speed to clean up late in the game late-game. An offensive sun set is feasible, however but independent Sunny Day use is easy to shut down for opposing weather starters, the recoil incurred is not worth the effort, (add comma) and a fully dedicated sun team struggles far too much against common threats to be worth the trouble.
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively, (add comma) such as Greninja and Deoxys-S, (add comma) make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge; (semi-colon) it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is thus Houndoom's best counter.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if it's healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.
**General Specially Defensive Tanks**: Specially Defensive Hippowdon can take +2 Fire Blast and KO with Earthquake in response, while bulky Assault Vest users like Conkeldurr can take a +2 Attack and KO back. In general, (add comma) dedicated specially defensive Pokemon that Houndoom can't hit super effectively will be able to respond to it pretty effectively.
########
Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's mega Mega Evolution slot, doesn't hit as hard as its stiffest competition, and has its ability is mostly wasted on by how poor sun is. However, (add comma) Houndoom is not something to brush aside. It has a fantastic Speed stat, very impressive Special Attack, respectable defenses, great offensive STABs, and a useful number of utility moves. When used correctly, Houndoom will reduce the opponent to ashes.
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack to quite impressive levels, (add comma) letting it act as a proficient wall breaker and, (remove comma) even as a sweeper against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB; (semi-colon) its high Base Power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on lower base power less powerful moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in setup against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams. Destiny Bond is more suited for fighting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar, (add comma) and Terrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these Pokemon early-game. Hidden Power Fighting is a very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar, which otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable Hidden Power which has the ability to hit a number of good checks to Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Special attack optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a boosting nature a large number of important Speed tiers are missed. The remaining four EVs go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the boost persists after mega evolution even when Houndoom is Mega-Evolved, and gives Houndoom it a free switch-in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Specially defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, however but it is nearly powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let Houndoom it set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switch out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns, (add comma) such as mono-attack Gengar and standard Sableye; these are perhaps the best switch-in opportunities for it. Mandibuzz is complete setup bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt, so exploit this. Chansey should be Taunted to prevent recovery and status, (add comma) making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target for preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker, setting it up mid-game to break down bulky Pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar, and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is a crucial option. Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-O-Wisp and offensive Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire; as well, it is also a reasonable switch into Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a Defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for setup. Houndoom is so strong +2 Houndoom is so strong in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground-, (remove comma) and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame, a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, (remove comma) and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-W is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame, (add comma) and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch-ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority, (remove comma) and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, (add comma) it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-O-Wisp screws with some switch-ins, most prominently, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill, (add comma) and Terrakion, however but it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard-hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill, (remove comma) and does the most damage to any Fairy. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its Speed to clean up late in the game late-game. An offensive sun set is feasible, however but independent Sunny Day use is easy to shut down for opposing weather starters, the recoil incurred is not worth the effort, (add comma) and a fully dedicated sun team struggles far too much against common threats to be worth the trouble.
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively, (add comma) such as Greninja and Deoxys-S, (add comma) make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge; (semi-colon) it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is thus Houndoom's best counter.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if it's healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.
**General Specially Defensive Tanks**: Specially Defensive Hippowdon can take +2 Fire Blast and KO with Earthquake in response, while bulky Assault Vest users like Conkeldurr can take a +2 Attack and KO back. In general, (add comma) dedicated specially defensive Pokemon that Houndoom can't hit super effectively will be able to respond to it pretty effectively.
GP 1 / 2
Last edited:
Ash Borer
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nicely done ash.
GP 2/2
add or change
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comments
Overview
########
Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's Mega Evolution slot, doesn't hit as hard as itsstiffest competition, and has its ability is mostly wasted by how poor sun is. However, Houndoom is not something to brush aside. It has a fantastic Speed stat, very impressive Special Attack, respectable defenses, great offensive STABs, and a useful number of useful utility moves. When used correctly, Houndoom will reduce the opponent to ashes.
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack to quite impressive levels, letting it act as a proficient wallbreaker (one word) and even as a sweeper against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB; its high Base Power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on less powerful moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is a secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids insetup setting up against phazers that can't damage Houndoom otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows Houndoom to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging it otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran lacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering, letting Houndoom more easily wear down defensive teams more easily. Destiny Bond is more suited for fighting offensive teams as Houndoom has trouble muscling past some offensive staples such as Keldeo, Tyranitar, and Terrakion. Destiny Bond can make short work of these Pokemon early-game. Hidden Power Fighting is a very good option as it can deal considerable damage to Tyranitar, which otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a second viable Hidden Power which has the ability to hit a number of good checks to Houndoom such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance set, letting Houndoom boost its Speed to clean up late-game.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Special Attack EVs optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without aboosting Speed-positive nature a large number of important Speed tiers are missed. The remaining four EVs go into Defense as opposed to HP as it lets Houndoom take more favorable less entry hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the boost persists when Houndoom is Mega-Evolved and gives it a free switch-in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
========
Specially defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, but it is nearly powerless if it lacks Earth Power and Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let it set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switch out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns, such as mono-attack Gengar and standard Sableye; these are perhaps the best switch-in opportunities for it. Mandibuzz is complete setup bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt, so exploit this. Chansey should be Taunted to prevent recovery and status, making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target for preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker; setting it up mid-game to break down bulky Pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar,(AC) and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey if it is dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support isa crucial option (crucial means vital, so it can't be an option). Scizor performs in this role relatively well as it lures Will-O-Wisp and offensive Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire; it is also a reasonable switch into Tyranitar, one of Houndoom's best counters. Latios as a Defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for setup. +2 Houndoom is so strong in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey*. Landorus-T is excellent at absorbing strong Ground- and Fighting-type moves aimed at Houndoom, while also taking some Rock-type moves comfortably. Landorus-T also can counter Talonflame, a good offensive check to Houndoom. Dugtrio is an incredibly valuable trapping partner as it is capable of trapping and KOing two of Houndoom's biggest adversaries: Tyranitar and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as Greninja and Keldeo. Rotom-W is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame, and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt Switch for Houndoom to come in safely. Tangrowth and Ferrothorn are good Azumarill switch-ins, and as such are useful alongside Houndoom.
*+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Sun: 657-774 (92 - 108.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Sun: 657-774 (92 - 108.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Sun: 657-774 (92 - 108.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
I'd say replace it with either '+2 Houndoom is strong in the sun that it has a chance to OHKO Blissey at full health.' or '+2 Houndoom is so strong in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey after a bit of prior damage.'
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-O-Wisp screws with some switch-ins, most prominently,(RC) Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill, and Terrakion, but it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard-hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill and does the most damage toany Fairy-types. An offensive sun set is feasible, but independent Sunny Day use is easy to shut down for opposing weather starters, the recoil incurred is not worth the effort,(AC) and a fully dedicated sun team struggles far too much against common threats to be worth the trouble.
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on the field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively,(RC) such as Greninja,(RC) and Deoxys-S make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge; it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is thus Houndoom's best counter.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if it's healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, although this is rather rare.
**General Specially Defensive Tanks**: Specially defensive Hippowdon can take a +2 Fire Blast and KO withEearthquake Earthquake in response, while bulky Assault Vest users like Conkeldurr can take a +2 attack and KO back. In general, dedicated specially defensive Pokemon that Houndoom can't hit super effectively will be able to respond to it pretty effectively.
########
Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's Mega Evolution slot, doesn't hit as hard as its
Nasty Plot
########
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Taunt / Destiny Bond
ability: Flash Fire
item: Houndoominite
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
========
Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack to quite impressive levels, letting it act as a proficient wallbreaker (one word) and even as a sweeper against slower teams. Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary STAB; its high Base Power with negligible drawbacks makes Houndoom a very fierce attacker compared to Pokemon that rely on less powerful moves as their main attack. Dark Pulse is a secondary STAB that offers reliable accuracy, a handy flinch chance, and reasonably good neutral coverage with Fire Blast. Taunt is a useful move that aids in
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Special Attack EVs optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is mandatory, as without a
Usage Tips
========
Specially defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a counter to Houndoom, but it is nearly powerless if it lacks Earth Power and Houndoom has Taunt. Scouting for Heatran's moveset before deploying Houndoom may let it set up for free on Heatran. The easiest way to accomplish this is to switch Houndoom into Heatran as it uses Lava Plume, then switch out. Houndoom's typing is convenient for beating Ghost-types that like to throw around burns, such as mono-attack Gengar and standard Sableye; these are perhaps the best switch-in opportunities for it. Mandibuzz is complete setup bait for Houndoom should Houndoom have Taunt, so exploit this. Chansey should be Taunted to prevent recovery and status, making it easy to wear down and switch into. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target for preventing Leech Seeds and Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into, or outright beat. Houndoom functions quite well as a wallbreaker; setting it up mid-game to break down bulky Pokemon for the rest of your team is where it is most effective. Destiny Bond's primary targets are Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar,(AC) and basically anything slower than Houndoom that it can't beat and will probably respond with an OHKO. It can also be used to take down Chansey if it is dumb enough to KO Houndoom with Seismic Toss.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock is a serious issue for Houndoom, and Defog or Rapid Spin support is
*+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Sun: 657-774 (92 - 108.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Sun: 657-774 (92 - 108.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Sun: 657-774 (92 - 108.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
I'd say replace it with either '+2 Houndoom is strong in the sun that it has a chance to OHKO Blissey at full health.' or '+2 Houndoom is so strong in the sun, it OHKOes Blissey after a bit of prior damage.'
Other Options
########
Sucker Punch is Houndoom's only option for priority and can mitigate issues against opposing priority and Choice Scarf users. However, it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-O-Wisp screws with some switch-ins, most prominently,(RC) Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill, and Terrakion, but it is contrary to Houndoom's fast and hard-hitting nature. Sludge Bomb is a mildly useful move that can break through Azumarill and does the most damage to
Checks & Counters
########
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, and Terrakion make easy offensive checks or counters, depending on the field condition. Strong priority users such as Breloom, Talonflame, and Azumarill are also good checks or counters. Pokemon that naturally outspeed Houndoom and can hit it super effectively,(RC) such as Greninja,(RC) and Deoxys-S make good checks as well.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar replaces sun with sand, resists Houndoom's dual STAB, and has the bulk to take anything else while retaliating with Stone Edge; it really only fears Destiny Bond. Tyranitar is thus Houndoom's best counter.
**Chansey**: This blob sponges anything from Houndoom if it's healthy and cripples it with status. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, although this is rather rare.
**General Specially Defensive Tanks**: Specially defensive Hippowdon can take a +2 Fire Blast and KO with
GP 2/2