Houndoom is an often overlooked specially offensive threat. It takes up a team's mega, and doesn't hit as hard as its competition without the right support. However, (AC) Houndoom is not something to brush aside. It has a fantastic Speed stat, very impressive Special Attack, respectable defenses, a great offensive STAB combination, a useful number of utility moves, and an ability to 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: 252 Spe / 252 Spa / 4 Def
Moves
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Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's special attack to quite impressive levels, letting it act as a proficient wall breaker and sweeper against slower teams (Houndoom is very fast, as it mentioned. Why are you saying here it works best against slower teams. There are really only 2 common pokemon that outspeed it). Fire blast 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 its 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, letting you set up against phazers that can't (AA) damage you otherwise, such as Mandibuzz. It also allows you to set up in the face of status users that have trouble damaging you otherwise, such as Mandibuzz or Heatran Llacking Earth Power. On top of this, Taunt prevents walls such as Chansey from recovering agaisnt against Houndoom, (AC) letting it 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, (AC) and TEerrakion. 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 who otherwise easily counters Houndoom. Hidden Power Grass is a third (all you mention is Fighting and Grass. Either say "second" instead of "third" or say "option" instead of "Hidden Power" after "viable) viable Hidden Power which has the ability to hit a number of good checks to Houndoom, (AC) such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Terrakion very hard.
Set Details
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Max 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 EV's go into Defense as opposed to HP as it gives lets Houndoom take more favorable hazard damage. Flash Fire is the ideal ability as the Flash Fire boost persists after mega evolution (should this be capitalized?), and gives Houndoom a free switch in if played correctly.
Usage Tips
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Specially Defensive Heatran with Earth Power is a very good against Houndoom, however, (AC) it is nearly Heatran is otherwise powerless against Houndoom if it lacks Earth Power and Houndoom has Taunt (I tried fixing this up, but it didn't go well. This sentence just sounds awkward). 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 ghosts Ghost-types (only Fairies and Dragons can be written like that) 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 it Houndoom have Taunt,; exploit this. Chanseys and Blisseys (Blissey is unviable, just mention Chansey, not plural either) should be taunted to prevent recovery and status, (AC) thus making them easy easier to wear down and switch into. MEga Mega Venusaur is also a pretty good Taunt target, (AC) preventing it from recovering from Leech Seeds and Recovery Synthesis, again making it easy to wear down and switch into. Houndoom functions quite well as a wall breaker, 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 cant 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 a crucial option,. (AP) Mega Scizor performs this role relatively well as it lures Will-o-Wisp and offensive Fire-type moves for Houndoom's Flash Fire, as well as being Scizor is a reasonable switch in (add a space) to Tyranitar, (AC) one of Houndoom's best counters; Tyranitar. Latios as a defogger can deal with Keldeo and Breloom pretty effectively. Drought Ninetales, especially with a Heat Rock, (AC) gives Houndoom a huge amount of power without any need for to set up. To give you an idea of how strong +2 Houndoom is in the sun, it OHKOs Blissey (seems like an out of place sentence. Plus, are you allowed to say "you?" I don't think so, but I'm not positive). 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, (RC) and Heatran. Azumarill is quite capable of switching into, (RC) and beating prominent offensive checks to Houndoom such as a Greninja, (RC) and Keldeo. Rotom-Wash is a solid teammate for Houndoom as it ("It" is unclear here. I'd consider switching the order, aka starting the sentence with Houndoom to clear this up) can take on a number of Houndoom's greatest checks such as Keldeo, Talonflame, (AC) and Azumarill and generate momentum with Volt switch 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
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Fire Blast is Houndoom's primary attack,. in In the sun it hits like a howitzer; (I know you probably like how that sounds, but it's too choppy and fluffy) To put its power in perspective, it has a chance of 2HKOing max HP Suicune for perspective. Solarbeam Solar Beam (it got a name change) complements Houndoom's firestorm, easily taking care of Water- and Rock-types that try and 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 (AA) useful for taking a defensive counter to Houndoom down with it. This can be used useful for getting rid of Pokemon that in general counter sun teams, such as Tyranitar, defensive Dragonite, defensive Politoed, Defensive Dragonite, (You mention defensive Dragonite twice. Remove one, and decide whether to capitalize Defensive or not [the first dnite isn't capitalized])Chansey that lack Toxic, and Heatran.
Set Details
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Max Speed and Special attack Attack optimize Houndoom's sweeping and wallbreaking abilities. A Timid nature is used as without a boosting nature a large number of important Speed tiers are missed. Four Defense EVs (in the other set details there's an apostrophe between the v and the s. Be consistent. I think the first way is correct, but I'm not entirely sure) as opposed to Four four in HP gives 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, (RC) or finished off with the correct follow up move. There is no need to "over predict". (I'm pretty sure the period is supposed to go inside the parenthesis) Trying to Solarbeam use Solar Beam when an opposing Tyranitar, Hippowdon, or Politoed is alive and well is tantamount to suicide, 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, (RC) or moves that it is immune to,; due to Solar Power's damaging effect Houndoom's HP must be preserved due to Solar Power's damaging effect.
Team Options
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As this set is only intended for use on dedicated sun offense teams, (AC) 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, (AC) 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, (AC) 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, (RC) 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 (again, "it" is unclear. Reorder the subject and object.) easily capitalizes on the holes Houndoom can punch in the opponent's Fire-type resists, and it (same thing here) is capable of dealing with Talonflame, (RC) and numerous Dragon- and Fire-types in general. Rhyperior deals with Talonflame, Mega 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 offense 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, (RC) However, though it is quite weak without Attack investment. Will-o-Wisp screws with some switch ins, most prominently Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Azumarill and Terrakion most prominently, however it is often challenging to find a moveslot for it and 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 Fairy. Flame Charge is an option for a pseudo double dance (I think these words should be capitalized) set, letting Houndoom boost its speed to clean up late in the game.
Checks & Counters
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**Revenge Killers**: Choice Scarf Garchomp, Excadrill, Keldeo (it isn't very good), 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,. (AP) it It really only fears Destiny Bond, and as such 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 Politoed. Specially defensive hippowdon Hippowdon is a stop to most sets, though Fire Blast can 2HKO it with some prior damage.
**Blissey / (it sucks, to be honest) Chansey**: The pink Blobs blob sponge sponges almost anything from Houndoom and can cripple Houndoom with status. Chansey in particular is annoying to Houndoom as it can take 2 two Fire BLasts Blasts in the sun. Blissey on the other hand can be 2HKO'd if stealth rock is on the field. Chansey can only be dealt with if Houndoom packs a combination of Taunt and Destiny Bond, though this is rather rare.