[OVERVIEW]
With its monstrous stats and access to the coveted Rapid Spin, Hisuian Avalugg towers over ZU as a great offensive entry hazard remover as well as an excellent hazard lead for offensive teams. It distinguishes itself from fellow Ice-types Glastrier and Sneasel with its wider movepool, including Stealth Rock, Recover, and Rock-type STAB moves. Rapid Spin lets it be a great team player, especially for teammates like Porygon2 or Typhlosion that can't afford to run Heavy-Duty Boots but hate taking hazard chip damage. Hisuian Avalugg's offensive presence distinguishes it from other hazard setters and removers. However, Hisuian Avalugg has many flaws holding it back. Its sky-high Defense is overshadowed by a horrendous Special Defense, making it fold to any Special Attack. Hisuian Avalugg's horrible typing also offsets its huge Defense, leaving it with near no resistances and a mountain of weaknesses to common offensive types like Grass, Fighting, and Water. Hisuian Avalugg is also glacially slow, meaning nearly everything outruns it. Glastrier is far bulkier on the special side and hits far harder with its colossal Attack stat, while Sneasel is far faster and has powerful Dark-type STAB attacks like Knock Off to complement its Ice-type attacks. Hisuian Avalugg still faces competition as hazard removal, as it lacks the utility that Sandslash and Lurantis have, such as Spikes and Knock Off.
Hazard Lead (Avalugg-Hisui) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Ghost
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Mountain Gale
- Rock Blast
[SET COMMENTS]
Rapid Spin keeps entry hazards off the field, which helps teammates stay healthy, especially those weak to hazards like Typhlosion, Oricorio-P, and Braviary. Rock Blast breaks past Focus Sash leads like Vikavolt and Froslass as well as threatening Rock weak Pokemon like Charizard. Sturdy guarentees Hisuian Avalugg survives one attack from full HP, which in conjunction with Custap Berry, allows Hisuian Avalugg to peform at least two moves before going down against foes that would otherwise OHKO it, giving it more flexibility in when to set hazards Tera Ghost lets Hisuian Avalugg spinblock, as well as provide a last-ditch Fighting-immunity, but Terastillization shouldn't be burned on it unless absolutely necessary.
Custap Berry Hisuian Avalugg fits exclusively on hyper offense teams. Almost all offensive Pokemon such as Swords Dance Qwilfish, Double Dance Farigiraf, and Booster Energy Brute Bonnet all appreciate the extra entry hazard chip provided by Hisuian Avalugg (don't forget to remove this part!) (all Pokemon enjoy their foes getting chipped, so specify Pokemon made worse by entry hazards and partners for Havalugg that benefit from that). Hisuian Avalugg denying early hazards lets sweepers weak to Stealth Rock, such as Braviary, Glastrier, and Sneasel be more free to run an item other than Heavy-Duty Boots. On sun teams, Hisuian Avalugg makes for a great lead, as many sun abusers like Scovillain, Charizard and Typhlosion are weak to Stealth Rock and prefer holding items besides Heavy-Duty Boots. Grassy Terrain teams similarly can run Stealth Rock-weak threats like Oricorio formes, which use Grassy Seed to enable their setup attempts, so hazards being off the field gives them much more flexibility. Vikavolt provides Sticky Webs for Avalugg-Hisui's offensive teammates like Sneasel and Qwilfish. Defog deterrents such as Passimian and Braviary and spinblockers like Spiritomb make opponents think twice about trying to remove Stealth Rock.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Hisuian Avalugg can run minimum Special Defense on its lead set to ensure it drops into Custap Berry range from special attacks, such as Volt Switch from non-Choice Specs Jolteon and Rotom-C. Earthquake can be used over Body Press to heavily damage Qwilfish but leaves Hisuian Avalugg unable to touch Orthworm.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Special Attackers**: Any decently strong special attack will utterly crush Hisuian Avalugg. This is especially problematic against Volt Switch users like Rotom-C, Vikavolt, and Jolteon, which can easily force progress against Hisuian Avalugg's team and break its Sturdy. Other special attackers like Whimsicott, Shaymin and Mismagius don't appreciate switching into Hisuian Avalugg but likewise threaten it greatly. Even weak special attacks from the likes of Hattrem and defensive Mesprit can 2HKO Hisuian Avalugg.
**Fighting-types and Fighting-type Coverage**: Hisuian Avaluggs horrendous typing leaves it extremely weak to Fighting-type attacks. Any of Passimian, Hisuian Sneasel, and Hitmontop can easily destroy it with their STAB attacks. However, none of these Pokemon enjoy switching in directly in fear of Mountain Gale, and Sturdy allows Hisuian Avalugg to at least trade with them if necessary. Fighting-type coverage, from the likes of Brute Bonnet, Glastrier and Regirock, also threaten to heavily damage Hisuian Avalugg
**Water-types**: Floatzel, Qwilfish, and Clawitzer all wield powerful super-effective STAB attacks and resist Mountain Gale, making them difficult for Hisuian Avalugg to deal with.
**Grass-types**: While Grass-types have no business switching into Mountain Gale, all of Shaymin, Brute Bonnet, and Arboliva threaten to OHKO Hisuian Avalugg.
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sinnabyss.626095/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Grammar checked by:
With its monstrous stats and access to the coveted Rapid Spin, Hisuian Avalugg towers over ZU as a great offensive entry hazard remover as well as an excellent hazard lead for offensive teams. It distinguishes itself from fellow Ice-types Glastrier and Sneasel with its wider movepool, including Stealth Rock, Recover, and Rock-type STAB moves. Rapid Spin lets it be a great team player, especially for teammates like Porygon2 or Typhlosion that can't afford to run Heavy-Duty Boots but hate taking hazard chip damage. Hisuian Avalugg's offensive presence distinguishes it from other hazard setters and removers. However, Hisuian Avalugg has many flaws holding it back. Its sky-high Defense is overshadowed by a horrendous Special Defense, making it fold to any Special Attack. Hisuian Avalugg's horrible typing also offsets its huge Defense, leaving it with near no resistances and a mountain of weaknesses to common offensive types like Grass, Fighting, and Water. Hisuian Avalugg is also glacially slow, meaning nearly everything outruns it. Glastrier is far bulkier on the special side and hits far harder with its colossal Attack stat, while Sneasel is far faster and has powerful Dark-type STAB attacks like Knock Off to complement its Ice-type attacks. Hisuian Avalugg still faces competition as hazard removal, as it lacks the utility that Sandslash and Lurantis have, such as Spikes and Knock Off.
Hazard Lead (Avalugg-Hisui) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Ghost
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Mountain Gale
- Rock Blast
[SET COMMENTS]
Rapid Spin keeps entry hazards off the field, which helps teammates stay healthy, especially those weak to hazards like Typhlosion, Oricorio-P, and Braviary. Rock Blast breaks past Focus Sash leads like Vikavolt and Froslass as well as threatening Rock weak Pokemon like Charizard. Sturdy guarentees Hisuian Avalugg survives one attack from full HP, which in conjunction with Custap Berry, allows Hisuian Avalugg to peform at least two moves before going down against foes that would otherwise OHKO it, giving it more flexibility in when to set hazards Tera Ghost lets Hisuian Avalugg spinblock, as well as provide a last-ditch Fighting-immunity, but Terastillization shouldn't be burned on it unless absolutely necessary.
Custap Berry Hisuian Avalugg fits exclusively on hyper offense teams. Almost all offensive Pokemon such as Swords Dance Qwilfish, Double Dance Farigiraf, and Booster Energy Brute Bonnet all appreciate the extra entry hazard chip provided by Hisuian Avalugg (don't forget to remove this part!) (all Pokemon enjoy their foes getting chipped, so specify Pokemon made worse by entry hazards and partners for Havalugg that benefit from that). Hisuian Avalugg denying early hazards lets sweepers weak to Stealth Rock, such as Braviary, Glastrier, and Sneasel be more free to run an item other than Heavy-Duty Boots. On sun teams, Hisuian Avalugg makes for a great lead, as many sun abusers like Scovillain, Charizard and Typhlosion are weak to Stealth Rock and prefer holding items besides Heavy-Duty Boots. Grassy Terrain teams similarly can run Stealth Rock-weak threats like Oricorio formes, which use Grassy Seed to enable their setup attempts, so hazards being off the field gives them much more flexibility. Vikavolt provides Sticky Webs for Avalugg-Hisui's offensive teammates like Sneasel and Qwilfish. Defog deterrents such as Passimian and Braviary and spinblockers like Spiritomb make opponents think twice about trying to remove Stealth Rock.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Hisuian Avalugg can run minimum Special Defense on its lead set to ensure it drops into Custap Berry range from special attacks, such as Volt Switch from non-Choice Specs Jolteon and Rotom-C. Earthquake can be used over Body Press to heavily damage Qwilfish but leaves Hisuian Avalugg unable to touch Orthworm.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Special Attackers**: Any decently strong special attack will utterly crush Hisuian Avalugg. This is especially problematic against Volt Switch users like Rotom-C, Vikavolt, and Jolteon, which can easily force progress against Hisuian Avalugg's team and break its Sturdy. Other special attackers like Whimsicott, Shaymin and Mismagius don't appreciate switching into Hisuian Avalugg but likewise threaten it greatly. Even weak special attacks from the likes of Hattrem and defensive Mesprit can 2HKO Hisuian Avalugg.
**Fighting-types and Fighting-type Coverage**: Hisuian Avaluggs horrendous typing leaves it extremely weak to Fighting-type attacks. Any of Passimian, Hisuian Sneasel, and Hitmontop can easily destroy it with their STAB attacks. However, none of these Pokemon enjoy switching in directly in fear of Mountain Gale, and Sturdy allows Hisuian Avalugg to at least trade with them if necessary. Fighting-type coverage, from the likes of Brute Bonnet, Glastrier and Regirock, also threaten to heavily damage Hisuian Avalugg
**Water-types**: Floatzel, Qwilfish, and Clawitzer all wield powerful super-effective STAB attacks and resist Mountain Gale, making them difficult for Hisuian Avalugg to deal with.
**Grass-types**: While Grass-types have no business switching into Mountain Gale, all of Shaymin, Brute Bonnet, and Arboliva threaten to OHKO Hisuian Avalugg.
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sinnabyss.626095/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Grammar checked by:
Last edited:
