[OVERVIEW]
Thanks to its solid bulk, excellent Special Attack stat, unique typing, and amazing signature move in Magma Storm, Heatran finds itself as one of the best Pokemon in the tier. Heatran fits on an extremely wide variety of teams due in large part to its role compression as a defensive piece, entry hazard setter, and stallbreaker all in one package. Its ability to hard wall metagame staples like Scizor and Clefable as well as check the likes of Weavile, Mew, and the many Grass- and Steel-types in the tier make it incredibly valuable for the defensive backbone of many teams. Heatran's classic Magma Storm + Taunt combination ensures that very few Pokemon can safely switch into it, and those that do will often take a lot of damage thanks to the move's residual damage. Additionally, its Flame Body ability is extremely useful for punishing the many contact moves in the tier, namely Scizor's U-turn and Weavile's Throat Chop. Heatran's typing, however, leaves it vulnerable to common attacking types such as Ground, Water, and Fighting, and its lack of recovery outside of Leftovers means it can be worn down over the course of a game.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Magma Storm
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Earth Power / Flash Cannon
move 4: Stealth Rock / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Flame Body
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Defensive Heatran is a staple of many team's defensive cores, with it being able to fit onto bulky offense, balance, and even stall teams with ease. Fire / Steel is an excellent defensive typing that enables Heatran to answer a myriad of foes such as Scizor, Clefable, Weavile, Togekiss, and many more. It also allows Heatran to pivot in on resisted attacks such as Garchomp's Dragon-type moves, Azumarill's Play Rough, and Alakazam's Psychic, all of which are foes Heatran has otherwise poor matchups against. Heatran's typing also makes it an excellent counter to Roserade, which lets it act as one of the best switch-ins to Roserade's Sleep Powder. Magma Storm gives Heatran a respectable offensive presence even without any investment thanks to its high Base Power and residual damage, while its trapping effect lets Heatran punish defensive switch-ins as well as let it switch out without fear of the opponent doing the same. Taunt pairs beautifully with Magma Storm, as it denies trapped foes the ability to use their recovery moves, making Heatran an excellent stallbreaker. Earth Power threatens Fire-types like opposing Heatran and Infernape as well as hitting Water-types for neutral damage, whereas Flash Cannon targets Fairy-types such as Clefable and Togekiss while also hitting foes like Latias for neutral damage. Because of Heatran's impressive defensive capabilities, it is often able to find many free turns to set Stealth Rock, making it one of the tier's best, most reliable entry hazard setters; this is despite its poor matchups against common hazard removal options such as Defog Gliscor and Rapid Spin Starmie. If another teammate is setting Stealth Rock, Heatran can instead run Protect in order to accumulate more Leftovers recovery as well as scout moves from common Choice item users such as Infernape, Garchomp, and Rotom-W. Flame Body lets Heatran punish contact moves such as Scizor's U-turn, Weavile's Throat Chop, and Garchomp's Outrage with a potential burn. The listed EV spread allows Heatran to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Weavile's Throat Chop after Stealth Rock while also outspeeding offensive Scizor, which would otherwise OHKO it with a +2 Life Orb Brick Break.
Team Options
========
Ground-immune Pokemon such as Rotom-W, Latias, and Gliscor as well as most other Flying-types make for excellent Heatran partners, since it is often the target of such moves. Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Celebi can also answer Ground-type foes for Heatran while also being able to check Water-types like Rotom-W, Crawdaunt, and Azumarill, which can threaten Heatran greatly. Roserade is a particularly good partner for Heatran, as it is able answer the aforementioned Water-types while also being able to set Spikes. This makes Heatran + Roserade an excellent entry hazard stacking core, with Heatran setting Stealth Rock extremely consistently, while Roserade can lay down multiple layers of Spikes as well as answer Rapid Spin Starmie, which otherwise removes Heatran's hazards easily. Defensive Starmie also pairs well with the aforementioned core, as its Rapid Spin can remove opposing hazards while still keeping Heatran's and Roserade's own hazards up. Starmie can also check and revenge kill Ground-types that threaten to OHKO Heatran such as Garchomp and Gliscor. Other bulky Water-type Pokemon such as Milotic, Rotom-W, and Suicune make for valuable teammates for similar reasons, as they can stomach strong Water-type moves as well as check Ground-types that would threaten Heatran out. Clefable is an excellent partner for Heatran because it can make up for Heatran's lack of recovery with Wish support while also being able to check Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Latias, and Dragonite that would give Heatran issues. Clefable can also help answer threats such as Weavile, giving Heatran more room to breathe. In return, Heatran threatens Steel-types such as Scizor, Skarmory, and Magnezone that can either wall or threaten out Clefable as well as Roserade, which threatens it with a STAB Sludge Bomb. The previously mentioned Dragon-types appreciate Heatran answering Fairy-types and Weavile, while they can threaten problematic walls such as Gliscor and various bulky Water-types that would give Heatran issues. Special wallbreakers such as Latias, Starmie, and Alakazam appreciate Heatran's stallbreaking capabilities, which primarily includes luring in and removing Blissey with Magma Storm + Taunt, as well as its ability to answer Scizor and Weavile, punishing them with a Flame Body burn. Scizor appreciates Heatran's defensive capabilities, since it takes the pressure off of it to answer foes such as Weavile and Roserade. In return, Scizor can check the likes of Latias and Alakazam that can threaten Heatran out or use it as setup fodder. Lastly, special walls such as Blissey, specially defensive Mew, and Celebi can check many of the aforementioned special attackers that would take advantage of their positive matchups against Heatran.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Magma Storm
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Earth Power / Flash Cannon
move 4: Stealth Rock / Flash Cannon / Overheat
item: Leftovers
ability: Flame Body / Flash Fire
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Offensive Heatran utilizes its solid defensive profile to hit the field and fire off powerful attacks that can be difficult for opposing teams to withstand over the course of a game. The combination of Magma Storm + Taunt allows Heatran to break past bulkier Pokemon that switch into its attacks such as Blissey, specially defensive Mew, and Calm Mind Latias. Magma Storm's sheer strength and residual damage also allows it to muscle past would-be Heatran answers like slower variants of Gliscor and non-specially defensive Rotom-W. Earth Power targets opposing Heatran as well as dealing decent damage to Water-type Pokemon like Crawdaunt, Starmie, and Milotic, whereas Flash Cannon hits Fairy-types like Clefable and Togekiss for super effective damage on top of being a reliable neutral hit against targets like Garchomp, Staraptor, and Azumarill. Heatran can find many opportunties to set up Stealth Rock thanks to the many switches it forces due to its strength; no entry hazard removal wishes to switch into offensive Heatran bar defensive Starmie, as even the likes of Gliscor can be 2HKOed by Magma Storm on the switch if it isn't faster than Heatran. Overheat can offer Heatran a large burst of damage if it wants to be able to pick up KOs from higher ranges; for example, it can KO physically defensive Clefable from around 60% HP and guarantee a KO on specially defensive Gliscor after it has switched into Stealth Rock and Magma Storm. The move's higher accuracy can make it more appealing to use than Magma Storm on occasion as well. Coverage moves like Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse can be considered in order to threaten Starmie and Dragon-types, respectively; however, it is often very difficult to justify running these moves over other, more consistent, options. A Timid nature is preferred because it lets Heatran outspeed base 70s that are using a Speed-boosting nature, namely lead Skarmory, as well as base 80 and base 85 foes that are running a Speed-neutral nature. If the extra Speed is not needed, a Modest nature can be chosen to increase Heatran's damage output. Flame Body is the preferred ability, since it lets Heatran punish Scizor's U-turn, Weavile's Throat Chop, and Azumarill's Play Rough while even being able to punish Garchomp's Outrage in a pinch. Flash Fire can be run in order to provide Heatran with extra switch-in opportunities on moves such as Choice-locked Infernape's Flare Blitz, opposing Heatran's Magma Storm, and Flamethrower from the likes of Mew and Togekiss. In addition, the extra damage on Fire-type moves further augments Heatran's offensive capabilities, such as allowing Modest variants to OHKO non-specially defensive Gliscor with Magma Storm after Stealth Rock damage. The given EV spread maximizes Heatran's Special Attack and Speed.
Team Options
========
Grass-types like Celebi, Roserade, and Breloom make for good teammates, since they can threaten Water-types such as Milotic and Suicune that would otherwise hard wall Heatran; the former two can also set up entry hazards for Heatran, freeing up its move slots. Fellow Fire-type Infernape can pair up with Heatran in order to overwhelm shared checks such as Gliscor, Rotom-W, Garchomp, and Latias. Infernape also provides a soft check to Weavile, which Heatran cannot check as effectively without bulk investment. Teammates that can check Ground-types are appreciated immensely, since Heatran is deathly afraid of the STAB moves; defensive checks can include Gliscor, defensive Mew, Rotom-W, and more, while offensive checks include the likes of Weavile, Mamoswine, offensive Starmie, Latias, and many more. Garchomp is a solid partner for Heatran, as it can set up Stealth Rock while threatening Gliscor for Heatran; in return, it appreciates Heatran being able to check Fairy- and Steel-types like Clefable, Togekiss, and Skarmory as well as Weavile. Wallbreakers such as Latias, Alakazam, and Weavile that are checked by Scizor and Clefable appreciate Heatran threatening them out, while in return, they offer Heatran some much-needed speed control. Scizor makes for a solid partner because it can check Weavile, which Heatran cannot do as well when not running any bulk investment, as well as threats such as Alakazam and Latias. Clefable is a good partner for similar reasons, but it can also offer Wish support to keep Heatran healthy as well as answer the likes of Garchomp and Dragonite.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Heatran can wield a devastatingly powerful Choice Specs set, which turns it into an extremely dangerous wallbreaker that is capable of OHKOing or 2HKOing nearly the entire metagame. In a similar vein, a Choice Scarf set allows Heatran to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame; notably, this lets it get the jump on offensive checks such as Nidoking and Mamoswine, letting it OHKO them before they would be able to do the same. Choice Scarf Heatran is also an effective revenge killer against Swords Dance Lucario thanks to its Normal resistance letting it tank a boosted Extreme Speed. Heatran can choose to run a Power Herb + Solar Beam set in order to lure in and greatly threaten Water-types that would otherwise answer it with ease. However, all of these sets forego Leftovers; this not only cuts greatly into Heatran's longevity, meaning it is unable to perform its defensive duties as well as it would like, but also reveals to the opponent that Heatran is running a more aggressive set once it is shown to not receive Leftovers recovery, giving them the opportunity to play around it. A specially defensive spread that mirrors the defensive set can be run to withstand foes such as Togekiss, Latias, Starmie, and Alakazam more effectively; however, the aforementioned Pokemon are often able to greatly threaten Heatran despite the special defense investment, with only Togekiss fearing the possibility of Heatran carrying Flash Cannon to threaten it. Defensive sets have many additional moveset options to choose from that are only seen on occasion. Lava Plume gives Heatran an accurate Fire-type move with a solid chance to burn foes on the switch, but the lack of power and valuable residual damage compared to Magma Storm makes it much easier to switch into Heatran; Gliscor, most notably, is completely unafraid of Lava Plume Heatran, whereas even uninvested Magma Storm can prove troublesome for it to switch into. Roar can be used to punish switch-ins when entry hazards are set by immediately forcing them out; it can also let Heatran phaze Calm Mind users that it cannot answer such as Latias and Suicune in a pinch. Roar is extremely difficult to slot onto Heatran, however, and although the ability to phaze can be useful, it is oftentimes not needed. The aforementioned specially defensive sets can choose to run Payback in order to punish foes such as Calm Mind Latias and defensive Starmie that would otherwise try to exploit their positive matchups against Heatran. Lastly, Will-O-Wisp can be run to cripple switch-ins such as Garchomp, unpoisoned Gliscor, and Suicune with a burn that greatly limits their effectiveness in a game. Like all the other options mentioned, however, it is extremely difficult to fit onto Heatran.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: The myriad of Water-types in the tier, both bulky and offensive, give Heatran many issues, as they are often able to pivot into it freely and threaten it out. Additionally, certain foes such as Starmie and Suicune are able to nullify Magma Storm's secondary effects thanks to Rapid Spin and Substitute, respectively. All of these Pokemon must be wary of the occasional Power Herb + Solar Beam sets, however.
**Ground-type Pokemon and Coverage**: Common Ground-type foes such as Garchomp, Gliscor, Mamoswine, and Nidoking can threaten to outspeed and OHKO Heatran with their Ground-type STAB moves. Furthermore, the former two are able to reliably switch into most Heatran sets thanks to their Fire resistance and incredible longevity, respectively. Pokemon such as Dragonite, Tangrowth, and offensive Mew can opt to run Earthquake as a coverage option in order to greatly threaten Heatran.
**Fighting-type Pokemon and Coverage**: Infernape, Lucario, and Jolly Heracross can outspeed and OHKO Heatran with Close Combat, while Breloom can threaten slower Heatran variants with Force Palm and faster ones with Mach Punch. Togekiss can opt to run Aura Sphere on Nasty Plot sets in order to target Heatran, while Staraptor and Alakazam always carry Fighting-type coverage in Close Combat and Focus Blast, respectively.
**Dragon-types**: Garchomp, Dragonite, and Latias all resist Magma Storm and threaten Heatran out with their common move sets; Garchomp and Dragonite threaten it with Earthquake, while Latias opts for Surf instead. However, only Garchomp likes to switch into Heatran consistently, as Dragonite prefers to keep its Multiscale intact, while Latias can be denied the chance to use Recover with Taunt.
**Chip Damage**: Despite Heatran's incredible bulk and defensive profile, its lack of recovery outside of Leftovers leaves it prone to being worn down by weak attacks such as Mew's Volt Switch as well as chip damage from entry hazards.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user1.100/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.101/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user6.105/
Thanks to its solid bulk, excellent Special Attack stat, unique typing, and amazing signature move in Magma Storm, Heatran finds itself as one of the best Pokemon in the tier. Heatran fits on an extremely wide variety of teams due in large part to its role compression as a defensive piece, entry hazard setter, and stallbreaker all in one package. Its ability to hard wall metagame staples like Scizor and Clefable as well as check the likes of Weavile, Mew, and the many Grass- and Steel-types in the tier make it incredibly valuable for the defensive backbone of many teams. Heatran's classic Magma Storm + Taunt combination ensures that very few Pokemon can safely switch into it, and those that do will often take a lot of damage thanks to the move's residual damage. Additionally, its Flame Body ability is extremely useful for punishing the many contact moves in the tier, namely Scizor's U-turn and Weavile's Throat Chop. Heatran's typing, however, leaves it vulnerable to common attacking types such as Ground, Water, and Fighting, and its lack of recovery outside of Leftovers means it can be worn down over the course of a game.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Magma Storm
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Earth Power / Flash Cannon
move 4: Stealth Rock / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Flame Body
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Defensive Heatran is a staple of many team's defensive cores, with it being able to fit onto bulky offense, balance, and even stall teams with ease. Fire / Steel is an excellent defensive typing that enables Heatran to answer a myriad of foes such as Scizor, Clefable, Weavile, Togekiss, and many more. It also allows Heatran to pivot in on resisted attacks such as Garchomp's Dragon-type moves, Azumarill's Play Rough, and Alakazam's Psychic, all of which are foes Heatran has otherwise poor matchups against. Heatran's typing also makes it an excellent counter to Roserade, which lets it act as one of the best switch-ins to Roserade's Sleep Powder. Magma Storm gives Heatran a respectable offensive presence even without any investment thanks to its high Base Power and residual damage, while its trapping effect lets Heatran punish defensive switch-ins as well as let it switch out without fear of the opponent doing the same. Taunt pairs beautifully with Magma Storm, as it denies trapped foes the ability to use their recovery moves, making Heatran an excellent stallbreaker. Earth Power threatens Fire-types like opposing Heatran and Infernape as well as hitting Water-types for neutral damage, whereas Flash Cannon targets Fairy-types such as Clefable and Togekiss while also hitting foes like Latias for neutral damage. Because of Heatran's impressive defensive capabilities, it is often able to find many free turns to set Stealth Rock, making it one of the tier's best, most reliable entry hazard setters; this is despite its poor matchups against common hazard removal options such as Defog Gliscor and Rapid Spin Starmie. If another teammate is setting Stealth Rock, Heatran can instead run Protect in order to accumulate more Leftovers recovery as well as scout moves from common Choice item users such as Infernape, Garchomp, and Rotom-W. Flame Body lets Heatran punish contact moves such as Scizor's U-turn, Weavile's Throat Chop, and Garchomp's Outrage with a potential burn. The listed EV spread allows Heatran to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Weavile's Throat Chop after Stealth Rock while also outspeeding offensive Scizor, which would otherwise OHKO it with a +2 Life Orb Brick Break.
Team Options
========
Ground-immune Pokemon such as Rotom-W, Latias, and Gliscor as well as most other Flying-types make for excellent Heatran partners, since it is often the target of such moves. Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Celebi can also answer Ground-type foes for Heatran while also being able to check Water-types like Rotom-W, Crawdaunt, and Azumarill, which can threaten Heatran greatly. Roserade is a particularly good partner for Heatran, as it is able answer the aforementioned Water-types while also being able to set Spikes. This makes Heatran + Roserade an excellent entry hazard stacking core, with Heatran setting Stealth Rock extremely consistently, while Roserade can lay down multiple layers of Spikes as well as answer Rapid Spin Starmie, which otherwise removes Heatran's hazards easily. Defensive Starmie also pairs well with the aforementioned core, as its Rapid Spin can remove opposing hazards while still keeping Heatran's and Roserade's own hazards up. Starmie can also check and revenge kill Ground-types that threaten to OHKO Heatran such as Garchomp and Gliscor. Other bulky Water-type Pokemon such as Milotic, Rotom-W, and Suicune make for valuable teammates for similar reasons, as they can stomach strong Water-type moves as well as check Ground-types that would threaten Heatran out. Clefable is an excellent partner for Heatran because it can make up for Heatran's lack of recovery with Wish support while also being able to check Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Latias, and Dragonite that would give Heatran issues. Clefable can also help answer threats such as Weavile, giving Heatran more room to breathe. In return, Heatran threatens Steel-types such as Scizor, Skarmory, and Magnezone that can either wall or threaten out Clefable as well as Roserade, which threatens it with a STAB Sludge Bomb. The previously mentioned Dragon-types appreciate Heatran answering Fairy-types and Weavile, while they can threaten problematic walls such as Gliscor and various bulky Water-types that would give Heatran issues. Special wallbreakers such as Latias, Starmie, and Alakazam appreciate Heatran's stallbreaking capabilities, which primarily includes luring in and removing Blissey with Magma Storm + Taunt, as well as its ability to answer Scizor and Weavile, punishing them with a Flame Body burn. Scizor appreciates Heatran's defensive capabilities, since it takes the pressure off of it to answer foes such as Weavile and Roserade. In return, Scizor can check the likes of Latias and Alakazam that can threaten Heatran out or use it as setup fodder. Lastly, special walls such as Blissey, specially defensive Mew, and Celebi can check many of the aforementioned special attackers that would take advantage of their positive matchups against Heatran.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Magma Storm
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Earth Power / Flash Cannon
move 4: Stealth Rock / Flash Cannon / Overheat
item: Leftovers
ability: Flame Body / Flash Fire
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Offensive Heatran utilizes its solid defensive profile to hit the field and fire off powerful attacks that can be difficult for opposing teams to withstand over the course of a game. The combination of Magma Storm + Taunt allows Heatran to break past bulkier Pokemon that switch into its attacks such as Blissey, specially defensive Mew, and Calm Mind Latias. Magma Storm's sheer strength and residual damage also allows it to muscle past would-be Heatran answers like slower variants of Gliscor and non-specially defensive Rotom-W. Earth Power targets opposing Heatran as well as dealing decent damage to Water-type Pokemon like Crawdaunt, Starmie, and Milotic, whereas Flash Cannon hits Fairy-types like Clefable and Togekiss for super effective damage on top of being a reliable neutral hit against targets like Garchomp, Staraptor, and Azumarill. Heatran can find many opportunties to set up Stealth Rock thanks to the many switches it forces due to its strength; no entry hazard removal wishes to switch into offensive Heatran bar defensive Starmie, as even the likes of Gliscor can be 2HKOed by Magma Storm on the switch if it isn't faster than Heatran. Overheat can offer Heatran a large burst of damage if it wants to be able to pick up KOs from higher ranges; for example, it can KO physically defensive Clefable from around 60% HP and guarantee a KO on specially defensive Gliscor after it has switched into Stealth Rock and Magma Storm. The move's higher accuracy can make it more appealing to use than Magma Storm on occasion as well. Coverage moves like Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse can be considered in order to threaten Starmie and Dragon-types, respectively; however, it is often very difficult to justify running these moves over other, more consistent, options. A Timid nature is preferred because it lets Heatran outspeed base 70s that are using a Speed-boosting nature, namely lead Skarmory, as well as base 80 and base 85 foes that are running a Speed-neutral nature. If the extra Speed is not needed, a Modest nature can be chosen to increase Heatran's damage output. Flame Body is the preferred ability, since it lets Heatran punish Scizor's U-turn, Weavile's Throat Chop, and Azumarill's Play Rough while even being able to punish Garchomp's Outrage in a pinch. Flash Fire can be run in order to provide Heatran with extra switch-in opportunities on moves such as Choice-locked Infernape's Flare Blitz, opposing Heatran's Magma Storm, and Flamethrower from the likes of Mew and Togekiss. In addition, the extra damage on Fire-type moves further augments Heatran's offensive capabilities, such as allowing Modest variants to OHKO non-specially defensive Gliscor with Magma Storm after Stealth Rock damage. The given EV spread maximizes Heatran's Special Attack and Speed.
Team Options
========
Grass-types like Celebi, Roserade, and Breloom make for good teammates, since they can threaten Water-types such as Milotic and Suicune that would otherwise hard wall Heatran; the former two can also set up entry hazards for Heatran, freeing up its move slots. Fellow Fire-type Infernape can pair up with Heatran in order to overwhelm shared checks such as Gliscor, Rotom-W, Garchomp, and Latias. Infernape also provides a soft check to Weavile, which Heatran cannot check as effectively without bulk investment. Teammates that can check Ground-types are appreciated immensely, since Heatran is deathly afraid of the STAB moves; defensive checks can include Gliscor, defensive Mew, Rotom-W, and more, while offensive checks include the likes of Weavile, Mamoswine, offensive Starmie, Latias, and many more. Garchomp is a solid partner for Heatran, as it can set up Stealth Rock while threatening Gliscor for Heatran; in return, it appreciates Heatran being able to check Fairy- and Steel-types like Clefable, Togekiss, and Skarmory as well as Weavile. Wallbreakers such as Latias, Alakazam, and Weavile that are checked by Scizor and Clefable appreciate Heatran threatening them out, while in return, they offer Heatran some much-needed speed control. Scizor makes for a solid partner because it can check Weavile, which Heatran cannot do as well when not running any bulk investment, as well as threats such as Alakazam and Latias. Clefable is a good partner for similar reasons, but it can also offer Wish support to keep Heatran healthy as well as answer the likes of Garchomp and Dragonite.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Heatran can wield a devastatingly powerful Choice Specs set, which turns it into an extremely dangerous wallbreaker that is capable of OHKOing or 2HKOing nearly the entire metagame. In a similar vein, a Choice Scarf set allows Heatran to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame; notably, this lets it get the jump on offensive checks such as Nidoking and Mamoswine, letting it OHKO them before they would be able to do the same. Choice Scarf Heatran is also an effective revenge killer against Swords Dance Lucario thanks to its Normal resistance letting it tank a boosted Extreme Speed. Heatran can choose to run a Power Herb + Solar Beam set in order to lure in and greatly threaten Water-types that would otherwise answer it with ease. However, all of these sets forego Leftovers; this not only cuts greatly into Heatran's longevity, meaning it is unable to perform its defensive duties as well as it would like, but also reveals to the opponent that Heatran is running a more aggressive set once it is shown to not receive Leftovers recovery, giving them the opportunity to play around it. A specially defensive spread that mirrors the defensive set can be run to withstand foes such as Togekiss, Latias, Starmie, and Alakazam more effectively; however, the aforementioned Pokemon are often able to greatly threaten Heatran despite the special defense investment, with only Togekiss fearing the possibility of Heatran carrying Flash Cannon to threaten it. Defensive sets have many additional moveset options to choose from that are only seen on occasion. Lava Plume gives Heatran an accurate Fire-type move with a solid chance to burn foes on the switch, but the lack of power and valuable residual damage compared to Magma Storm makes it much easier to switch into Heatran; Gliscor, most notably, is completely unafraid of Lava Plume Heatran, whereas even uninvested Magma Storm can prove troublesome for it to switch into. Roar can be used to punish switch-ins when entry hazards are set by immediately forcing them out; it can also let Heatran phaze Calm Mind users that it cannot answer such as Latias and Suicune in a pinch. Roar is extremely difficult to slot onto Heatran, however, and although the ability to phaze can be useful, it is oftentimes not needed. The aforementioned specially defensive sets can choose to run Payback in order to punish foes such as Calm Mind Latias and defensive Starmie that would otherwise try to exploit their positive matchups against Heatran. Lastly, Will-O-Wisp can be run to cripple switch-ins such as Garchomp, unpoisoned Gliscor, and Suicune with a burn that greatly limits their effectiveness in a game. Like all the other options mentioned, however, it is extremely difficult to fit onto Heatran.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: The myriad of Water-types in the tier, both bulky and offensive, give Heatran many issues, as they are often able to pivot into it freely and threaten it out. Additionally, certain foes such as Starmie and Suicune are able to nullify Magma Storm's secondary effects thanks to Rapid Spin and Substitute, respectively. All of these Pokemon must be wary of the occasional Power Herb + Solar Beam sets, however.
**Ground-type Pokemon and Coverage**: Common Ground-type foes such as Garchomp, Gliscor, Mamoswine, and Nidoking can threaten to outspeed and OHKO Heatran with their Ground-type STAB moves. Furthermore, the former two are able to reliably switch into most Heatran sets thanks to their Fire resistance and incredible longevity, respectively. Pokemon such as Dragonite, Tangrowth, and offensive Mew can opt to run Earthquake as a coverage option in order to greatly threaten Heatran.
**Fighting-type Pokemon and Coverage**: Infernape, Lucario, and Jolly Heracross can outspeed and OHKO Heatran with Close Combat, while Breloom can threaten slower Heatran variants with Force Palm and faster ones with Mach Punch. Togekiss can opt to run Aura Sphere on Nasty Plot sets in order to target Heatran, while Staraptor and Alakazam always carry Fighting-type coverage in Close Combat and Focus Blast, respectively.
**Dragon-types**: Garchomp, Dragonite, and Latias all resist Magma Storm and threaten Heatran out with their common move sets; Garchomp and Dragonite threaten it with Earthquake, while Latias opts for Surf instead. However, only Garchomp likes to switch into Heatran consistently, as Dragonite prefers to keep its Multiscale intact, while Latias can be denied the chance to use Recover with Taunt.
**Chip Damage**: Despite Heatran's incredible bulk and defensive profile, its lack of recovery outside of Leftovers leaves it prone to being worn down by weak attacks such as Mew's Volt Switch as well as chip damage from entry hazards.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user1.100/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.101/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.102/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user6.105/
Last edited: