Dark
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Hydreigon can act as a stallbreaker thanks to its access to Taunt, Roost, and Devastating Drake, allowing it to prevent walls such as Toxapex and Mantine from recovering off damage and severely weakening them.
[SET]
name: Stallbreaker (Dark)
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Roost
move 4: Taunt
item: Dragonium Z / Dread Plate / Life Orb
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Draco Meteor is Hydreigon's strongest STAB attack and allows it to take on a variety of different Pokemon such as Kommo-o and Rotom-W as well as use Devastating Drake. Dark Pulse is its most spammable STAB attack due to its flinch chance, consistent power, and ability to hit Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Heatran that resist Draco Meteor for decent damage. Roost allows Hydreigon to stay healthy through the match, allowing it to continually act as a stallbreaker. Taunt allows Hydreigon to prevent walls such as Chansey from recovering off damage, prevents infliction of status, and forces them to use their weak attacks, allowing Hydreigon to easily take them on.
Set Details
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Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment alongside a Timid nature allows Hydreigon to be as fast as possible and to hit as hard as possible, outspeeding Pokemon such as Kyurem-B. The 4 remaining EVs are dumped into Special Defense to give Download users such as Porygon2 a boost in Attack rather than Special Attack. Dragonium Z allows Hydreigon's Draco Meteor to become Devastating Drake, which can help it take on walls such as Toxapex and Hippowdon with minor chip damage and outright OHKO Pokemon such as Diggersby. Levitate grants Hydreigon a Ground immunity and prevents it from being affected by entry hazards such as Spikes and Sticky Web. Dread Plate is an item option that gives Hydreigon's Dark Pulse a nice boost in power, allowing it to guarantee the 2HKO on Pokemon like specially defensive Jellicent without Stealth Rock damage, while Life Orb allows Hydreigon to boost the power of both of its attacks, allowing it to pick up the OHKO on Pokemon like Diggersby with Draco Meteor; however, the extra 10% chip damage at the end of each turn makes walls much harder to break for Hydreigon, since it will need to rely on Roost more to stay healthy.
Usage Tips
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Hydreigon should only Roost against Pokemon that do not threaten it, such as Toxapex, allowing it to stay healthier through the game. Hydreigon should save Devastating Drake for when opposing threats such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur are weakened and can be KOed. Taunt should be used to keep walls at bay by preventing them from using their recovery, allowing Hydreigon to break them with more ease, as well as to stop bulky setup Pokemon such as Suicune from boosting, as they are easily able to overwhelm the team otherwise. On top of this, Hydreigon should stay healthy through the game so it can continually switch in on walls and break them. Hydreigon should try to avoid status such as Toxic poisoning and paralysis as much as possible, as the former prevents it from staying healthy through the game, while the latter prevents it from outspeeding threats such as Porygon-Z and Diggersby. This Hydreigon set, however, lets in Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny fairly easily, which can be a pain for Dark to face, especially since Mega Lopunny can 2HKO Mandibuzz after Stealth Rock chip. Hydreigon should be wary of Pokemon like that and decide whether it is better to Taunt and Roost or predict the switch and attack to take them out with Devastating Drake. Hydreigon should be wary when trying to take on a wall with an attack that can inflict a status effect, such as Zapdos's Discharge, as the Speed loss makes Hydreigon's job of stallbreaking much harder.
Team Options
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All of its teammates appreciate Hydreigon's ability to break walls with Taunt and Roost, as well as its ability to take care of threats such as unboosted Kommo-o. Tyranitar provides Hydreigon with much-needed chip damage, as both Stealth Rock and Sand Stream weaken opposing Pokemon, allowing Hydreigon to take on walls such as Hippowdon with Devastating Drake. In return, Tyranitar appreciates Hydreigon's ability to check walls that can easily beat it such as Toxapex. Due to Tyranitar's great natural Special Defense, which is increased under sand, it can take on many special attackers for Hydreigon such as Latios, Nihilego, and Volcarona. Mandibuzz provides Hydreigon with a much-needed neutrality to Fighting-type attacks, allowing it to switch into attacks such as Choice Scarf Terrakion's Close Combat and Keldeo's Secret Sword while also being able to Defog away entry hazards. Mandibuzz can also check physical setup sweepers such as Mega Scizor with Foul Play. Mega Sableye and Hydreigon form a very solid stallbreaking core, as walls can not touch Mega Sableye thanks to its Magic Bounce and Recover. Mega Sableye can also spread status such as Will-O-Wisp and Toxic, further chipping Hydreigon's switch-ins as well as crippling other Pokemon such as Chansey by removing their Eviolite with Knock Off. Greninja is a way of keeping faster foes in check and acts as a check to Fairy-type Pokemon such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu because of Gunk Shot. Because Greninja also forces many switches and has access to U-turn, it can pretty safely bring Hydreigon into battle. Alolan Muk is a solid and much-needed special wall with Assault Vest that can switch into a plethora of attacks for Hydreigon such as Latios's Draco Meteor and Mega Diancie's Moonblast. Alolan Muk also can act as a setup sweeper with access to Curse and a somewhat reliable form of recovery in Iapapa Berry allowing it to clean through Fairy-type teams with ease. Bisharp appreciates Hydreigon's ability to beat walls that it struggles with such as Toxapex and Hippowdon, allowing it to clean late-game. Bisharp also provides the team with a priority attack in Sucker Punch, allowing it to pick off weakened Pokemon such as Mega Gallade. If Hydreigon decides not to use a Z-Move, Bisharp can use Darkinium Z and provide a one-time nuke to take down walls such as Chansey and Suicune, especially since it can boost its Attack with Swords Dance.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Dark
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Leftovers can be run over Dragonium Z to allow Hydreigon to better deal with residual damage such as from a burn or Stealth Rock. However, not using Dragonium Z results in a huge loss in power, as Hydreigon cannot as easily break walls such as Toxapex and Hippowdon without it.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Dark analysis by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Quality checked by: [[Eien, 100418], [Moosical, 215618], [Havens, 391540]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Electrolyte, 148071], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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