Battle Spot Hydreigon

[Theorymon]

[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Draco Meteor / Substitute / Dragon Pulse
move 4: Fire Blast / Flash Cannon / Belch
item: Haban Berry / Roseli Berry / Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Hydreigon is an excellent user of Nasty Plot, being able to break through defensive threats such as Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Corviknight with a boosted Dark Pulse. Draco Meteor gives Hydreigon a powerful attack even without setting up, but Dragon Pulse offers more consistent damage without a Special Attack drop. Substitute can also be used in place of Dragon-type coverage to set up more easily against Pokemon who spread status such as Rotom-H. Fire Blast is the primary choice for busting through bulky Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Corviknight. Flash Cannon hits Fairy-types harder, most notably Mimikyu and Togekiss, while giving Hydreigon valuable Defense boosts while Dynamaxed with Max Steelspike. For Dynamax use, consider Belch, as it becomes an 85 Base Power Max Ooze, which boosts Special Attack and can let Hydreigon potentially set up on weakened Pokemon. Haban Berry, when paired with Dynamax, makes Hydreigon difficult to revenge kill with faster Dragon-types such as Dragapult and opposing Choice Scarf Hydreigon, while Roseli Berry allows Dynamax Hydreigon to survive one unboosted Fairy-type attack while healthy. If using Substitute, Leftovers is a great option, allowing Hydreigon to set up more easily with a bit of recovery. If Life Orb isn't used by another Pokemon, Hydreigon makes an effective user of it, dealing massive damage even without set up, and notably allowing Dynamax Hydreigon to OHKO Dynamax Togekiss with a +2 Max Steelspike.

Fairy-types such as Mimikyu are the number one problem for Hydreigon, so bulky Steel-types such as Aegislash, Corviknight, and Ferrothorn make great partners against them. They also help against Dragapult, a key revenge killer against Hydreigon due to its speed. Mimikyu gets special mention for being an excellent revenge killer against Dragapult, despite not checking it directly. Paralysis support from the likes of Rotom formes, Ferrothorn, Sandaconda, and Grimmsnarl also helps Hydreigon with sweeping.

[SET]
name: Choice Attacker
move 1: Dark Pulse
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Fire Blast / Flash Cannon
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
With a Choice Scarf, Hydreigon outspeeds major threats such as Dragapult and +1 Gyarados. Dark Pulse is a bit weak, but is a reliable STAB that can potentially flinch threats. Draco Meteor is preferred over Dragon Pulse for the immediate power it provides. U-turn is great for breaking Mimikyu's Disguise without losing Hydreigon, and can allow Hydreigon to make a decent scouting lead. Fire Blast is extremely useful for roasting Steel-types that can otherwise be problematic, such as Ferrothorn and Corviknight. Flash Cannon only hits Mimikyu and Togekiss harder, but can give Hydreigon valuable Defense boosts while Dynamaxed. Dynamax in general is a great way to surprise Pokemon that attempt to take advantage of it being Choice locked, and it makes Belch a viable option to let Hydreigon boost its Special Attack, giving it an unexpected way to sweep weakened teams. While Choice Scarf is highly recommended for its revenge killing power, Choice Specs is a better option for wallbreaking, and works better against bulkier teams overall.

Checking Fairy-types is even more important than usual, especially since Hydreigon will often get chip damage against them with U-turn. Corviknight and Ferrothorn are particularly good bulky options that handle Mimikyu well, while Excadrill is a great offensive option.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Psynergy, 248085]], [marilli, 70760]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Mafeking, 122460]]

 

[Theorymon]

This is now ready for checks! Something to note: I'm consideirng slashing in Specs on Scarf Hydreigon and making it a general choice set (In fact it was that way while WIP), but I currently don't have it there because I just... haven't really seen any Specs Hydreigon, its all been either NP or Scarf (I myself used NP a lot on the cart ladder lol). However, if yall think I should add Specs back in as a slash in, I'm totally willing to do that!

 

[Psynergy]

I'm very fond of Nasty Plot Hydreigon at the moment but I think Fire moves should be the primary slash on the Nasty Plot set. In my experience having coverage for Ferrothorn is important since that thing is a major pain, and at the moment there aren't a ton of Fairy-types around to necessitate Flash Cannon. That could change but at the least I'd slash in a Fire move. Personally I wasn't fond of Belch due to Max Ooze being low BP and the fact that it's entirely useless outside of Dynamax, while an extra SpA boost is enticing I always found Max Darkness SpD drops sufficient. If I want to kill Fairies I'd rather use Steelspike and get the Defense boost.

Otherwise this pretty accurately summarizes how I've seen and used Hydreigon so far, I may have seen Specs one or twice but I don't think it necessitates a set on the preview. Nasty Plot and Choice Scarf definitely seem like the go-to sets at the moment. QC 1/2

 

[Theorymon]

Thanks Psynergy , implemented your stuff! I did leave Belch slashed in on the NP set just because of the snowball potential, and still mention Flash Cannon mostly because of the rise of Togekiss, but Fire Blast is now the primary slash on all sets!

Just need one more check! I might also consider mentioning something specfic for Togekiss, since that mon can be a massive problem and can be a real pain in the ass to check. Might just say "consider benching Hydreigon if you see Togekiss" worst case scenario.

 

[marilli]

I've also seen Substitute on NP Hydreigon, usually to set up on the common Rotom, but this looks good. I'm also tempted to make Specs a main set or Slash it on Scarf. I do like the specs set a lot, but they do work pretty differently from Scarf and we're restricted to 2 sets. Up to you, but either slash specs or mention it somewhere and I think we can call it QC 2/2

 

[Ika Ika Musume]

Just to add onto what Marilli has said above about Sub + Nasty Plot, generally these seem to be bulkier spreads on average, Ive even seen a few with leftovers. You can break through a lot of bulkier weaker stuff such as Toxapex with just Sub + Plot + Dark Pulse + Flash Cannon.

 

[Theorymon]

Alright, I added the changes. I slashed in Specs on Scarf, and I added both Substitute AND Leftovers to the first set, since yes I've seen those sub sets too, they're pretty nasty lol.

This is now ready for GP checks!

 

[Mafeking]

remove additions (comments)

pew pew

[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Draco Meteor / Substitute / Dragon Pulse
move 4: Fire Blast / Flash Cannon / Belch
item: Haban Berry / Roseli Berry / Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Hydreigon is an excellent user of Nasty Plot, being able to break through defensive threats such as Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Corviknight with a boosted Dark Pulse. Draco Meteor gives Hydreigon a powerful attack even without setting up, but Dragon Pulse offers more consistent damage without a Special Attack drop. Substitute can also be used in place of Dragon-type coverage, (remove comma) to set up more easily on status using against Pokemon who spread status such as Rotom-H. ("status using Pokemon" sounded kinda unclear imo) Fire Blast is a the primary choice for busting through bulky Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Corviknight. Flash Cannon hits Fairy-types harder, most notably Mimikyu and Togekiss, while giving Hydreigon valuable Defense boosts while Dynamaxed with Max Steelspike. For Dynamax use, consider Belch, as it becomes an 85 Base Power Max Ooze, which boosts Hydreigon's Special Attack and can let Hydreigon potentially set up on weakened Pokemon. Haban Berry, when paired with Dynamax, makes Hydreigon difficult to revenge kill with faster Dragon-types such as Dragapult and opposing Choice Scarf Hydreigon, while Roseli Berry allows Dynamax Hydreigon to survive one unboosted Fairy-type attack while healthy. If using Substitute, Leftovers is a great option, allowing Hydreigon to set up more easily with a bit of recovery. If Life Orb isn't used by another Pokemon, Hydreigon makes an effective user of it, dealing massive damage even without set up, and notably allowing Dynamax Hydreigon to OHKO Dynamax Togekiss with a +2 Max Steelspike.

Fairy-types such as Mimikyu are the number 1 one problem for Hydreigon, so bulky Steel-types such as Aegislash, Corviknight, and Ferrothorn make great partners against them. They also help against Dragapult, a key revenge killer against Hydreigon due to its speed. Mimikyu gets special mention for being an excellent revenge killer against Dragapult, despite not checking it directly. Paralysis support from the likes of Rotom formes, Ferrothorn, Sandaconda, and Grimmsnarl also helps Hydreigon with sweeping.

[SET]
name: Choice Attacker
move 1: Dark Pulse
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Fire Blast / Flash Cannon
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
With a Choice Scarf, Hydreigon outspeeds major threats such as Dragapult and +1 Gyarados. Dark Pulse is a bit weak, but is a reliable STAB that can potentially flinch threats. Draco Meteor is preferred over Dragon Pulse for the immediate power it provides. U-turn is great for breaking Mimikyu's Disguise without losing Hydreigon, and can allow Hydreigon to make a decent scouting lead by scouting chosen Pokemon. Fire Blast is extremely useful for roasting Steel-types that can otherwise be problematic, such as Ferrothorn and Corviknight. Flash Cannon only hits Mimikyu and Togekiss harder, but can give Hydreigon valuable Defense boosts while Dynamaxed. Dynamax in general is a great way to surprise Pokemon that attempt to take advantage of it being Choice locked, and it makes Belch a viable option to let Hydreigon boost its Special Attack, giving Hydreigon it an unexpected way to sweep weakened teams. While Choice Scarf is highly reccomended recommended for its revenge killing power, Choice Specs is a better option for wallbreaking (no space), and works better against bulkier teams overall.

Checking Fairy-types is even more important than usual, especially since Hydreigon will often get chip damage against them with U-turn. Corviknight and Ferrothorn are particularly good bulky options that handle Mimikyu well, while Excadrill is a great offensive option.

good stuff Tmon, GP 1/1

 

[Theorymon]

Thank you very much Mafeking, this is now done!

 

[Psynergy]

Uploaded this for Theorymon so Hydreigon is now onsite.