[OVERVIEW]
Mega Heracross is one of the most powerful attackers in 1v1, owing to its sky-high base Attack along with a great set of abilities and diverse movepool. Its great offensive typing lets it muscle past common threats, including Mega Gyarados and Meloetta. Skill Link, accompanied by multi-hit moves like Pin Missile, Bullet Seed, and Rock Blast, lets Mega Heracross fire off high-Base Power attacks, allowing it to get past most Sturdy users like Donphan and Golem and Substitute users like Jumpluff and Whimsicott. Guts allows Heracross to defeat bulky Will-O-Wisp users, namely Mega Sableye and Kee Berry Mew. With investment in its excellent bulk, Mega Heracross is able to take hits from powerful attackers like Mega Gyarados, Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, and Meloetta and then retaliate with its strong attacks. Unfortunately, its typing leaves it weak to Fire-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon such as both Mega Charizard formes, Victini, and Mega Gardevoir, which are prevalent in 1v1. Its 4x weakness to Flying-type attacks can be exploited by Pokemon such as Mega Pinsir, Choice Specs Celesteela, and other Pokemon that occasionally carry Flying-type moves such as Dragonite, Landorus-T, and Archeops. Mega Heracross also cannot use any viable setup options, as its below average Speed will only open the way to it being OHKOed or 2HKOed if it does not attack immediately.
[SET]
name: Bulky Offense
move 1: Pin Missile
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat / Bullet Seed
move 4: Rock Blast / Bullet Seed / Rock Tomb
item: Heracronite
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 212 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Pin Missile is Mega Heracross's hardest-hitting move, knocking out threats like Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Greninja, Meloetta, and Serperior. Earthquake lets Mega Heracross 2HKO Aegislash and Magnezone. It can also be used to deal chip damage against Primarina to avoid activating Torrent and get it in range of a Bullet Seed KO. Close Combat is used to hit Steel- and Normal-types that cannot be dispatched with Mega Heracross's other moves, like Ferrothorn, Mega Lopunny, and Choice Band Kartana. Bullet Seed provides coverage against defensive Water-types, which would brush aside Mega Heracross's regular attacks, such as Primarina, Mega Swampert, and non-Tapunium Z Tapu Fini. It is also Mega Heracross's most reliable move against FEAR Pokemon thanks to its flawless accuracy. Rock Blast is used primarily to hit Mega Gyarados before it Mega Evolves, denying it the ability to set up with Dragon Dance, but it can also be used to threaten Bug-types such as Crustle and bulky Volcarona. Rock Tomb is used in order to beat Magnezone. This requires a slightly faster EV spread that can outspeed Magnezone before it can use Electroweb to lower Mega Heracross's Speed. Alternatively, Counter can be used to get past physical attackers that are able to take hits from Mega Heracross, like Choice Band Garchomp.
Set Details
========
252 HP and 212 Special Defense EVs allow Mega Heracross to nearly always survive a Never-Ending Nightmare and Shadow Sneak combination from Aegislash, as well as a Hyper Beam from Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, a Draco Meteor from Naganadel, and a Hydro Cannon from Choice Specs Greninja. The leftover EVs are put into Attack alongside an Adamant nature, allowing Mega Heracross to hit as hard as possible. If this set is running Rock Tomb to beat Magnezone, Mega Heracross will need to run a spread of 208 HP / 100 Atk / 144 SpD / 56 Spe and a Careful nature to allow Heracross to outspeed Modest Magnezone and break its Sturdy with Rock Tomb before Mega Evolving. This spread also allows Heracross to take a possible Gigavolt Havoc and maintains important matchups against Pokemon like Aegislash. This EV spread will unfortunately cost Mega Heracross some Attack, however. With Guts as the pre-Mega ability, Heracross can potentially take on status users like non-Iron Defense Will-O-Wisp Mew. Skill Link boosts all of Mega Heracross's multi-hit moves by making them always hit five times, thus increasing the power of its moves.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Heracross is particularly effective against most Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan, Carracosta, Sawk, and Golem, FEAR Pokemon such as Aron, and Substitute stallers such as Serperior, Jumpluff, and Whimsicott, as its Skill Link can counteract each of their strategies. Against Mega Gyarados, always use Rock Blast turn one, as this will hit it hard if it doesn't Mega Evolve and get it in range of a Bullet Seed or another Rock Blast for the next turn. If they Mega Evolve turn one to avoid the super effective Rock Blast, Pin Missile, Close Combat, or Bullet Seed can be used to pick them off next turn. Against Primarina, use Earthquake turn one to avoid putting it in range of Torrent, and then follow up with a Bullet Seed turn two. Beware of the rarer Encore Primarina, which can lock Mega Heracross into Earthquake and proceed to knock it out with a Torrent-boosted Z-Move. If you choose to run Rock Tomb for Magnezone, assuming you are running the correct EV spread, do not Mega Evolve, as Heracross will naturally outspeed Modest Magnezone and be able to break its Sturdy, survive Gigavolt Havoc, maintain the higher Speed stat, and finish it off with Earthquake afterwards. Earthquake will also OHKO uninvested Zeraora; however, Bulk Up variants will still beat Mega Heracross. Against Will-O-Wisp users like Kee Berry Mew and Mega Sableye, do not Mega Evolve; instead, stay in base forme to gain an Attack boost, if they choose to use Will-O-Wisp. Counter, if it is being run, should be used against physical attackers that Mega Heracross cannot KO with its other moves such as Zen Headbutt Mega Metagross, Choice Band Garchomp, and Durant.
Team Options
========
Mega Tyranitar makes a good teammate for Mega Heracross with its capability of taking on both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Pinsir, and Heatran, while Mega Heracross can handle Mega Lopunny, Donphan, Golem, and Sawk in return. Certain Fire-types like Heatran and Mega Charizard Y also work very well with Mega Heracross, as they can counter strong Fire-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon and bulkier offensive threats that threaten Mega Heracross. They can both take on Mega Metagross, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Altaria, Tapu Lele, Magearna, and offensive Mew, whereas Heatran has the edge over threats like both Mega Charizard formes, specially offensive Dragonite, and Clefable. Mega Charizard Y can better handle Normalium Z Porygon-Z and Landorus-T. In return, Heatran and Mega Charizard X appreciate the help Mega Heracross gives against powerful Water-types such as Greninja, Mega Gyarados, Mega Swampert, and Primarina as well as general offensive threats like Mega Lopunny, Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, and Sawk. Bulky Water-types like Primarina and Tapu Fini are also useful, as they can beat most Fire-types like both Mega Charizard formes, Heatran, and Mega Blaziken while enjoying Mega Heracross's positive matchup against Magnezone and Grass-types like Serperior. Mega Heracross also appreciates Pokemon that can threaten Flying-types like Dragonite and Choice Specs Celesteela, such as Zeraora, specially defensive Mega Charizard X, Mega Metagross, and Mega Sableye. In exchange, Mega Heracross can deal with bothersome Ground-types that threaten the former two, primarily Donphan and Golem, and Primarina for all but Zeraora.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Mega Heracross can run an offensive set with a spread of 244 Atk / 48 SpD / 216 Spe and an Adamant nature to beat out specific threats such as Hoopa-U, Genesect, Heatran, and Zapdos, as well as having a chance to KO slow Dragonite. However, these matchups are either too few and far between or too unreliable to justify using offensive Mega Heracross besides as a lure against these threats. Endure can be used on the offensive set in place of Bullet Seed to take on Mega Charizard Y's Blast Burn, Porygon-Z's Hyper Beam, Mega Gardevoir's Hyper Beam, and Mega Pinsir's Giga Impact; Mega Heracross can then retaliate with its own moves while they recharge. Again, though, this can only really be used as a lure set, as it is very easily played around once revealed. Swords Dance is another option that boosts Mega Heracross's Attack to a very high level, letting it grab guaranteed wins against Curse Mega Aggron and Zygarde. However, Mega Heracross cannot really afford to switch one of its other moves for Swords Dance, as it loses more important matchups than it wins.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fast Fire-types**: Both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Blaziken, and Victini outspeed Mega Heracross and can OHKO it with their powerful, super effective Fire-type moves.
**Flying-type attacks**: Mega Heracross is 4x weak to Flying-type attacks, and Pokemon carrying such attacks like Dragonite, Choice Specs Celesteela, Togekiss, Vivillon, and Archeops can use this to OHKO it with relative ease.
**Certain Fairy- and Psychic-types**: Though Mega Heracross is more than capable of defeating a decent number of Fairy- and Psychic-types, it still loses to some that either outspeed it or are able to take an attack and KO back like Magearna, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Mawile, Tapu Lele, Mega Altaria, and offensive Mew.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Pokemon such as Zygarde, Kommo-o, Necrozma, Bulk Up Zeraora, Zen Headbutt Mega Metagross, and Landorus-T that can boost their Defense to tank hits or naturally tank an attack from Mega Heracross will threaten it, as it is usually going to be outsped and have to tank a hit first before firing off something in return.
**Strong Attackers**: Powerful attacking Pokemon equipped with Z-Crystals and Choice items such as Normalium Z Porygon-Z and Choice Band Slaking are able to defeat it with their boosted attacks.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[charizard8888, 333554], [Alakazam, 276708]]
- Quality checked by: [[Chickenpie2, 305552], [Osra, 239997], [pqs, 425798]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Mega Heracross is one of the most powerful attackers in 1v1, owing to its sky-high base Attack along with a great set of abilities and diverse movepool. Its great offensive typing lets it muscle past common threats, including Mega Gyarados and Meloetta. Skill Link, accompanied by multi-hit moves like Pin Missile, Bullet Seed, and Rock Blast, lets Mega Heracross fire off high-Base Power attacks, allowing it to get past most Sturdy users like Donphan and Golem and Substitute users like Jumpluff and Whimsicott. Guts allows Heracross to defeat bulky Will-O-Wisp users, namely Mega Sableye and Kee Berry Mew. With investment in its excellent bulk, Mega Heracross is able to take hits from powerful attackers like Mega Gyarados, Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, and Meloetta and then retaliate with its strong attacks. Unfortunately, its typing leaves it weak to Fire-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon such as both Mega Charizard formes, Victini, and Mega Gardevoir, which are prevalent in 1v1. Its 4x weakness to Flying-type attacks can be exploited by Pokemon such as Mega Pinsir, Choice Specs Celesteela, and other Pokemon that occasionally carry Flying-type moves such as Dragonite, Landorus-T, and Archeops. Mega Heracross also cannot use any viable setup options, as its below average Speed will only open the way to it being OHKOed or 2HKOed if it does not attack immediately.
[SET]
name: Bulky Offense
move 1: Pin Missile
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat / Bullet Seed
move 4: Rock Blast / Bullet Seed / Rock Tomb
item: Heracronite
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 212 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Pin Missile is Mega Heracross's hardest-hitting move, knocking out threats like Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Greninja, Meloetta, and Serperior. Earthquake lets Mega Heracross 2HKO Aegislash and Magnezone. It can also be used to deal chip damage against Primarina to avoid activating Torrent and get it in range of a Bullet Seed KO. Close Combat is used to hit Steel- and Normal-types that cannot be dispatched with Mega Heracross's other moves, like Ferrothorn, Mega Lopunny, and Choice Band Kartana. Bullet Seed provides coverage against defensive Water-types, which would brush aside Mega Heracross's regular attacks, such as Primarina, Mega Swampert, and non-Tapunium Z Tapu Fini. It is also Mega Heracross's most reliable move against FEAR Pokemon thanks to its flawless accuracy. Rock Blast is used primarily to hit Mega Gyarados before it Mega Evolves, denying it the ability to set up with Dragon Dance, but it can also be used to threaten Bug-types such as Crustle and bulky Volcarona. Rock Tomb is used in order to beat Magnezone. This requires a slightly faster EV spread that can outspeed Magnezone before it can use Electroweb to lower Mega Heracross's Speed. Alternatively, Counter can be used to get past physical attackers that are able to take hits from Mega Heracross, like Choice Band Garchomp.
Set Details
========
252 HP and 212 Special Defense EVs allow Mega Heracross to nearly always survive a Never-Ending Nightmare and Shadow Sneak combination from Aegislash, as well as a Hyper Beam from Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, a Draco Meteor from Naganadel, and a Hydro Cannon from Choice Specs Greninja. The leftover EVs are put into Attack alongside an Adamant nature, allowing Mega Heracross to hit as hard as possible. If this set is running Rock Tomb to beat Magnezone, Mega Heracross will need to run a spread of 208 HP / 100 Atk / 144 SpD / 56 Spe and a Careful nature to allow Heracross to outspeed Modest Magnezone and break its Sturdy with Rock Tomb before Mega Evolving. This spread also allows Heracross to take a possible Gigavolt Havoc and maintains important matchups against Pokemon like Aegislash. This EV spread will unfortunately cost Mega Heracross some Attack, however. With Guts as the pre-Mega ability, Heracross can potentially take on status users like non-Iron Defense Will-O-Wisp Mew. Skill Link boosts all of Mega Heracross's multi-hit moves by making them always hit five times, thus increasing the power of its moves.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Heracross is particularly effective against most Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan, Carracosta, Sawk, and Golem, FEAR Pokemon such as Aron, and Substitute stallers such as Serperior, Jumpluff, and Whimsicott, as its Skill Link can counteract each of their strategies. Against Mega Gyarados, always use Rock Blast turn one, as this will hit it hard if it doesn't Mega Evolve and get it in range of a Bullet Seed or another Rock Blast for the next turn. If they Mega Evolve turn one to avoid the super effective Rock Blast, Pin Missile, Close Combat, or Bullet Seed can be used to pick them off next turn. Against Primarina, use Earthquake turn one to avoid putting it in range of Torrent, and then follow up with a Bullet Seed turn two. Beware of the rarer Encore Primarina, which can lock Mega Heracross into Earthquake and proceed to knock it out with a Torrent-boosted Z-Move. If you choose to run Rock Tomb for Magnezone, assuming you are running the correct EV spread, do not Mega Evolve, as Heracross will naturally outspeed Modest Magnezone and be able to break its Sturdy, survive Gigavolt Havoc, maintain the higher Speed stat, and finish it off with Earthquake afterwards. Earthquake will also OHKO uninvested Zeraora; however, Bulk Up variants will still beat Mega Heracross. Against Will-O-Wisp users like Kee Berry Mew and Mega Sableye, do not Mega Evolve; instead, stay in base forme to gain an Attack boost, if they choose to use Will-O-Wisp. Counter, if it is being run, should be used against physical attackers that Mega Heracross cannot KO with its other moves such as Zen Headbutt Mega Metagross, Choice Band Garchomp, and Durant.
Team Options
========
Mega Tyranitar makes a good teammate for Mega Heracross with its capability of taking on both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Pinsir, and Heatran, while Mega Heracross can handle Mega Lopunny, Donphan, Golem, and Sawk in return. Certain Fire-types like Heatran and Mega Charizard Y also work very well with Mega Heracross, as they can counter strong Fire-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon and bulkier offensive threats that threaten Mega Heracross. They can both take on Mega Metagross, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Altaria, Tapu Lele, Magearna, and offensive Mew, whereas Heatran has the edge over threats like both Mega Charizard formes, specially offensive Dragonite, and Clefable. Mega Charizard Y can better handle Normalium Z Porygon-Z and Landorus-T. In return, Heatran and Mega Charizard X appreciate the help Mega Heracross gives against powerful Water-types such as Greninja, Mega Gyarados, Mega Swampert, and Primarina as well as general offensive threats like Mega Lopunny, Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, and Sawk. Bulky Water-types like Primarina and Tapu Fini are also useful, as they can beat most Fire-types like both Mega Charizard formes, Heatran, and Mega Blaziken while enjoying Mega Heracross's positive matchup against Magnezone and Grass-types like Serperior. Mega Heracross also appreciates Pokemon that can threaten Flying-types like Dragonite and Choice Specs Celesteela, such as Zeraora, specially defensive Mega Charizard X, Mega Metagross, and Mega Sableye. In exchange, Mega Heracross can deal with bothersome Ground-types that threaten the former two, primarily Donphan and Golem, and Primarina for all but Zeraora.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Mega Heracross can run an offensive set with a spread of 244 Atk / 48 SpD / 216 Spe and an Adamant nature to beat out specific threats such as Hoopa-U, Genesect, Heatran, and Zapdos, as well as having a chance to KO slow Dragonite. However, these matchups are either too few and far between or too unreliable to justify using offensive Mega Heracross besides as a lure against these threats. Endure can be used on the offensive set in place of Bullet Seed to take on Mega Charizard Y's Blast Burn, Porygon-Z's Hyper Beam, Mega Gardevoir's Hyper Beam, and Mega Pinsir's Giga Impact; Mega Heracross can then retaliate with its own moves while they recharge. Again, though, this can only really be used as a lure set, as it is very easily played around once revealed. Swords Dance is another option that boosts Mega Heracross's Attack to a very high level, letting it grab guaranteed wins against Curse Mega Aggron and Zygarde. However, Mega Heracross cannot really afford to switch one of its other moves for Swords Dance, as it loses more important matchups than it wins.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fast Fire-types**: Both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Blaziken, and Victini outspeed Mega Heracross and can OHKO it with their powerful, super effective Fire-type moves.
**Flying-type attacks**: Mega Heracross is 4x weak to Flying-type attacks, and Pokemon carrying such attacks like Dragonite, Choice Specs Celesteela, Togekiss, Vivillon, and Archeops can use this to OHKO it with relative ease.
**Certain Fairy- and Psychic-types**: Though Mega Heracross is more than capable of defeating a decent number of Fairy- and Psychic-types, it still loses to some that either outspeed it or are able to take an attack and KO back like Magearna, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Mawile, Tapu Lele, Mega Altaria, and offensive Mew.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Pokemon such as Zygarde, Kommo-o, Necrozma, Bulk Up Zeraora, Zen Headbutt Mega Metagross, and Landorus-T that can boost their Defense to tank hits or naturally tank an attack from Mega Heracross will threaten it, as it is usually going to be outsped and have to tank a hit first before firing off something in return.
**Strong Attackers**: Powerful attacking Pokemon equipped with Z-Crystals and Choice items such as Normalium Z Porygon-Z and Choice Band Slaking are able to defeat it with their boosted attacks.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[charizard8888, 333554], [Alakazam, 276708]]
- Quality checked by: [[Chickenpie2, 305552], [Osra, 239997], [pqs, 425798]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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