Hydreigon
[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Outrage
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 104 Atk / 240 SpA / 164 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Hydreigon is almost always seen running a fully special set, a mixed one is quite viable and effective, not to mention unpredictable and surprising due to Hydreigon's huge movepool. One might think Salamence is the better mixed Dragon-type, but this is not the case as Hydreigon has amazing mixed attacking stats, coupled with access to a plethora of wonderful moves. Hydreigon also manages to take hits just as easily as it would on the other sets because of its great 92 / 90 / 90 defenses. Draco Meteor is a powerful STAB move that takes advantage of Hydreigon's wonderful base 125 Special Attack; outside of Ferrothorn and the pink eggs, almost nothing in OU can take a Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteor from Hydreigon. Even 252/0 Scizor and Skarmory lose at least 50% of their health to Draco Meteor. With Earthquake, Hydreigon no longer needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast to 2HKO specially defensive Heatran, as it now OHKOes Heatran; specially defensive Jirachi is also swiftly 2HKOed. Outrage destroys physically bulky foes such as Reuniclus and Jellicent, while Fire Blast nets easy OHKOs on the likes of Ferrothorn, Forretress, and any other Steel-type that tries to switch in.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hydreigon's EV spread lets it hit hard and maintain a good Speed stat. 104 Attack EVs give it the ability to 2HKO Blissey and Chansey with Outrage after Stealth Rock; a layer of Spikes is also needed for the latter. 164 Speed EVs and a Speed-boosting nature allow Hydreigon to outpace all neutral-natured base 100 Speed foes, and the remaining 240 EVs are poured into Hydreigon's other offense and its best stat. Crunch can be used as a secondary STAB move to hit Reuniclus, Jellicent, and Espeon hard, but all three are destroyed by Outrage, so it isn't advised. Taunt can prevent walls such as Blissey and Chansey from recovering health or inflicting status on Hydreigon, shutting them down so that Hydreigon can have an easier time sweeping. Focus Blast can be used over Earthquake if the chance of OHKOing non-Chople Berry Tyranitar is important for your team, but standard 252/0 Tyranitar is always 2HKOed by Earthquake anyway. An alternative, speedier spread can be used by taking away Special Attack EVs; 192 and 228 Speed EVs give Hydreigon the ability to check Jolly Lucario and Jolly Gliscor, respectively, but the drop in power is very noticeable and undesirable.</p>
<p>Hydreigon is a great addition to any team as it can easily counter many threats in the OU metagame, such as Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Lucario, Gliscor, Blissey, Heatran, and Rotom-W. Even with its decent Speed, Hydreigon is still outsped by key threats such as Infernape, Terrakion, Latias, and Latios. Mienshao, Infernape, and Terrakion all outspeed Hydreigon as well and easily finish it with their powerful STAB Fighting-type attacks. Jellicent and Hydreigon share excellent type synergy, resisting all elemental types the other is weak to; additionally, Jellicent can easily take care of Terrakion and Infernape. Gengar is also a great partner as it can come in freely on Fighting-type moves aimed at Hydreigon, as well as taking out Latias and Latios.</p>
<p>Opposing Dragon-types, such as Latias, Latios, and Salamence, can outspeed and destroy Hydreigon; Mamoswine can check them with its priority Ice Shard. Air Balloon Heatran is a decent check to this set as it can take any move with its Air Balloon intact and cripple Hydreigon with Dragon Pulse or Hidden Power Ice; Rotom-W and Air Balloon Terrakion make for good switch-ins to Heatran. After Hydreigon has taken out many walls and has finished breaking through the opponent's core, amazing mixed sweepers such as Infernape or Salamence can continue the destruction.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Outrage
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 104 Atk / 240 SpA / 164 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Hydreigon is almost always seen running a fully special set, a mixed one is quite viable and effective, not to mention unpredictable and surprising due to Hydreigon's huge movepool. One might think Salamence is the better mixed Dragon-type, but this is not the case as Hydreigon has amazing mixed attacking stats, coupled with access to a plethora of wonderful moves. Hydreigon also manages to take hits just as easily as it would on the other sets because of its great 92 / 90 / 90 defenses. Draco Meteor is a powerful STAB move that takes advantage of Hydreigon's wonderful base 125 Special Attack; outside of Ferrothorn and the pink eggs, almost nothing in OU can take a Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteor from Hydreigon. Even 252/0 Scizor and Skarmory lose at least 50% of their health to Draco Meteor. With Earthquake, Hydreigon no longer needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast to 2HKO specially defensive Heatran, as it now OHKOes Heatran; specially defensive Jirachi is also swiftly 2HKOed. Outrage destroys physically bulky foes such as Reuniclus and Jellicent, while Fire Blast nets easy OHKOs on the likes of Ferrothorn, Forretress, and any other Steel-type that tries to switch in.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hydreigon's EV spread lets it hit hard and maintain a good Speed stat. 104 Attack EVs give it the ability to 2HKO Blissey and Chansey with Outrage after Stealth Rock; a layer of Spikes is also needed for the latter. 164 Speed EVs and a Speed-boosting nature allow Hydreigon to outpace all neutral-natured base 100 Speed foes, and the remaining 240 EVs are poured into Hydreigon's other offense and its best stat. Crunch can be used as a secondary STAB move to hit Reuniclus, Jellicent, and Espeon hard, but all three are destroyed by Outrage, so it isn't advised. Taunt can prevent walls such as Blissey and Chansey from recovering health or inflicting status on Hydreigon, shutting them down so that Hydreigon can have an easier time sweeping. Focus Blast can be used over Earthquake if the chance of OHKOing non-Chople Berry Tyranitar is important for your team, but standard 252/0 Tyranitar is always 2HKOed by Earthquake anyway. An alternative, speedier spread can be used by taking away Special Attack EVs; 192 and 228 Speed EVs give Hydreigon the ability to check Jolly Lucario and Jolly Gliscor, respectively, but the drop in power is very noticeable and undesirable.</p>
<p>Hydreigon is a great addition to any team as it can easily counter many threats in the OU metagame, such as Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Lucario, Gliscor, Blissey, Heatran, and Rotom-W. Even with its decent Speed, Hydreigon is still outsped by key threats such as Infernape, Terrakion, Latias, and Latios. Mienshao, Infernape, and Terrakion all outspeed Hydreigon as well and easily finish it with their powerful STAB Fighting-type attacks. Jellicent and Hydreigon share excellent type synergy, resisting all elemental types the other is weak to; additionally, Jellicent can easily take care of Terrakion and Infernape. Gengar is also a great partner as it can come in freely on Fighting-type moves aimed at Hydreigon, as well as taking out Latias and Latios.</p>
<p>Opposing Dragon-types, such as Latias, Latios, and Salamence, can outspeed and destroy Hydreigon; Mamoswine can check them with its priority Ice Shard. Air Balloon Heatran is a decent check to this set as it can take any move with its Air Balloon intact and cripple Hydreigon with Dragon Pulse or Hidden Power Ice; Rotom-W and Air Balloon Terrakion make for good switch-ins to Heatran. After Hydreigon has taken out many walls and has finished breaking through the opponent's core, amazing mixed sweepers such as Infernape or Salamence can continue the destruction.</p>
