Gen 2 Rhydon (done)

[wyc2333]

[OVERVIEW]
Rhydon is a physical juggernaut capable of dismantling an opposing team's defenses with its powerful STAB attacks. Not only is it powerful, but it also fills the valuable defensive niches of Normal-resistant phazer and Electric-immune Pokemon capable of threatening both Zapdos and Raikou. However, its physical Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses and many special weaknesses can hold it back. Moreover, it faces competition with other Normal-resistant Pokemon, namely Golem, Steelix, and Tyranitar, each of which fulfills the same primary defensive role—checking Snorlax—while offering defensive and team support capabilities that Rhydon lacks: Golem has access to Rapid Spin and Explosion; Steelix lacks double weaknesses, lacks an Ice-type weakness, is immune to Toxic, and also has access to Explosion; and Tyranitar can check Exeggutor, lacks an Ice-type weakness, and offers Pursuit support. Nonetheless, as a recipient rather than a provider of team support, Rhydon uniquely blends potent wallbreaking ability with defensive role-playing capabilities.

[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Curse
move 4: Roar
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
With this set, Rhydon threatens to break walls and can even function as a late-game sweeper. Earthquake and Rock Slide form an unresisted combination of moves that, when both are backed by STAB and Rhydon's high Attack stat, deals high damage to most Pokemon in the tier. Rhydon can boost its Attack stat even further with Curse, which can help it to break particularly resilient physical walls such as Skarmory. With Roar, Rhydon can guarantee that no foe will be slower than it after a Curse, meaning as long as Rhydon uses Roar, it won't be phazed out by Pokemon such as Skarmory. In addition, it can prevent opposing Curse users such as Snorlax from setting up, in fact even allowing Rhydon to threaten to counter-sweep if an opposing Snorlax foolishly engages in a Curse war. The Defense boosts coupled with Rhydon's naturally high physical bulk can even make Rhydon effective against Earthquake variants of Snorlax, provided Snorlax is switching into Rhydon and not the other way around. In addition, Roar allows Rhydon to perform vital defensive duties such as phazing Mean Look Umbreon and Misdreavus.

Team Options
========
Rhydon fits well on teams that want an offensive phazer that can at least temporarily check opposing Snorlax.

Paralysis support is very effective alongside Rhydon, as it allows Rhydon to outspeed checks such as Umbreon, Miltank, Suicune, Vaporeon, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Skarmory then threaten them with boosted Earthquake or Rock Slide. Paralysis also makes it more difficult for Pokemon such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Snorlax to make Rhydon's job complicated with the appropriate coverage moves. Pokemon such as Snorlax, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Starmie, and Porygon2 can use Body Slam, Stun Spore, and Thunder Wave toward this end. Note, however, that paralyzing Skarmory renders it slower than Rhydon even after a Curse and, therefore, able to phaze. However, Rhydon is compensated by the damage output and flinch potential of boosted Rock Slide coupled with the chance of full paralysis, which together affords Rhydon a decent chance to KO Skarmory should it attempt to phaze.

Starmie is a particularly potent teammate, as it also carries Rapid Spin, which can be useful because Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly by Spikes; its numerous special weaknesses often force it to switch out before it can heal too much damage with Leftovers, and its defensive role as a check against Snorlax will force it to switch in and take chip damage quite frequently. Other spinners whose typings do not overlap with Rhydon's, such as Cloyster, are also effective teammates for this reason.

Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Cloyster can help Rhydon use Roar to whittle down an opposing team. Cloyster can also use Explosion to remove a Rhydon check, such as Starmie, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Vaporeon, Suicune, Umbreon, or even opposing Cloyster. Machamp can chip down Exeggutor with Hidden Power Bug and Skarmory with Fire Blast or a critical hit Cross Chop. Tentacruel can take advantage of some of Rhydon's Water-type checks, such as Cloyster and Suicune, to help it put pressure on Zapdos and Raikou. Vaporeon can similarly help Rhydon apply pressure to the aforementioned Electric-types and can handle threats like Jynx.

An effective team with Rhydon also needs teammates that can absorb hits typically aimed at its numerous weaknesses. For instance, Electric-types are good teammates that can handle Water-types. In particular, Raikou, by virtue of its Ice-type neutrality, also offers insurance against opposing Electric-types and Gengar, which can be important because Rhydon takes a lot of damage from their coverage moves. Snorlax works similarly, and, as with all Ground-types, it synergizes well with Rhydon against Zapdos and Raikou; Rhydon goads the Electric-types into using Hidden Power, thereby allowing Snorlax more opportunities to switch into the low-damage coverage move rather than the high-damage STAB move. In addition, Water-types, Exeggutor, and Heracross are good teammates for Rhydon, as they cover the Ground-types to which Rhydon itself is weak. Exeggutor and Starmie are also solid checks to Machamp, whose Cross Chop targets another of Rhydon's physical weaknesses. The additional offensive synergy of Exeggutor and Starmie has been discussed earlier, whereas Heracross can use Seismic Toss to bait Skarmory into taking chip damage, or even a potential 4HKO if either Rhydon or Heracross has forced it to Rest. Additionally, Skarmory itself can check threats such as Exeggutor, Machamp, and Marowak and counters Snorlax with Earthquake coverage to complement Rhydon's ability to check Snorlax with Fire-type coverage.

Pokemon that use Heal Bell, such as Blissey and Miltank, are also welcomed teammates, as they allow Rhydon to risk taking a potential Toxic without being put on an inevitable timer. Blissey additionally offers a more reliable Electric-type check to use alongside Rhydon, thereby relieving it of its duty to dissuade Thunder usage so that Snorlax can switch in safely. However, both Heal Bell users are weak to Fighting-type moves, which can often make it difficult to build the rest of the team in a manner that is not too weak to Machamp.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
With Zap Cannon, Rhydon itself can inflict paralysis and thereby support teammates such as Machamp and Charizard. Thunder is also a worthwhile alternative, since it 2HKOes Cloyster and 3HKOes Skarmory a lot more consistently than Zap Cannon, and it has a decent chance of inflicting paralysis to assist with wallbreaking. Counter can deal heavy damage against Snorlax using Earthquake or Zapdos using Hidden Power Ice, although Hidden Power Water threatens to OHKO, and an opponent can switch out instead of attacking. Rhydon is one of the most effective users of Counter against Curse + Earthquake Snorlax, as the fear of being phazed and losing boosts for nothing tends to encourage them to attack once Rhydon shows its face. Rest provides Rhydon with longevity to shrug off damage and poison. This allows Rhydon to fit on a defensive lineup and play the role of an answer to opposing Snorlax that have Fire-type moves, as well as accompany Belly Drum Snorlax in offensive duties, although it competes with Curse Tyranitar, which is less easily forced out by special attackers. Being able to use Rest makes Rhydon a much more reliable long-term check to Curse Snorlax that lack Earthquake, but it can fail to actually KO a boosted Snorlax if it fails to score a critical hit, potentially even losing to Snorlax in a Struggle-off if it comes down to that. Dropping Roar for Rest also leaves Rhydon without a tool it can use to break through sturdy walls such as Skarmory. Hidden Power Bug targets Exeggutor, which can be problematic for standard Rhydon sets. Fire Blast is a decent surprise option that has some merits against Exeggutor and pressures Forretress and Skarmory. Substitute not only helps block status afflictions while Rhydon uses Roar or attacks potential threats such as Snorlax, but it also provides a way to get around Umbreon and Miltank. It is effective with a wide variety of options, including the aforementioned Electric-type moves, and also synergizes with the paralysis inflictions that are a common theme on teams featuring Rhydon. However, it must be kept in mind that in order to use these options, Roar or Curse must be replaced. These moves are not entirely mandatory on Rhydon, but replacing Roar limits Rhydon's defensive capabilities, takes away its ability to use a slower Roar to beat Skarmory, and, barring a critical hit or timely flinch from Rock Slide, actually makes a Curse war against Snorlax a losing proposition. Meanwhile, replacing Curse causes it to struggle to do enough damage to paralyzed or sleeping Umbreon, Suicune, Miltank, and Skarmory, thereby limiting Rhydon's wallbreaking capabilities and forcing it to rely on Spikes and its teammates to avoid being PP stalled.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Although Cloyster, Suicune, Starmie, and Vaporeon don't resist Rhydon's attacks, they threaten an OHKO with Surf. Cloyster can set Spikes or spread Toxic against Rhydon teams. However, it should be noted that Rhydon is often chosen partly because of its ability to punish switches to Cloyster with its powerful Rock Slide. Suicune has mammoth-like defensive stats, making it an especially reliable check to Rhydon, especially if it is using its RestTalk set. Starmie can predict switch-ins and spread Thunder Wave against Rhydon teams or use Substitute.

**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor resists Earthquake and can use status moves against Rhydon teams. Its STAB moves also deal heavy damage to Rhydon.

**Skarmory**: Skarmory with Toxic can put Rhydon on a timer. Without Toxic, Skarmory struggles against Rhydon, whose slower Roar makes it impossible to phaze and neutral Rock Slide with Curse boosts threatens heavy damage. However, even without Toxic, Skarmory's immunity to Earthquake and neutrality to Rock Slide still make it a fairly safe option to switch into Rhydon in the event that one must PP stall it or attempt to get a Water-type dragged in by Roar without letting it take a boosted Earthquake on the switch.

**Umbreon and Miltank**: Umbreon can use Charm and Miltank can use Growl to stall out Rhydon. Amusingly, however, Rhydon can check Mean Look variants of Umbreon.

**Machamp**: Machamp can 2HKO Rhydon with Cross Chop or set up Curse against it, but it should be wary of taking Earthquake from Rhydon too often.

**Jynx**: Jynx cannot switch into either of Rhydon's attacking moves and does not bait Rhydon into switching into its super effective STAB Ice Beam. However, if it switches into Curse or is dragged in by Roar, it can threaten an OHKO and can guarantee one if Rhydon has taken chip damage that has left it at 86% health or less, thereby forcing Rhydon to switch out.

**Pure Ground-types**: Thanks to STAB Earthquake and higher Speed, Marowak can take advantage of Rhydon, although it struggles to switch directly into Rhydon's Earthquake. Alternatively, Donphan is sturdier and can check Rhydon effectively even if it needs to switch into Earthquake, although it naturally poses less of an offensive threat.

**Residual Damage**: Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Snorlax and Misdreavus can wear Rhydon down before it can deal too much damage. This can also open a lane for Snorlax to deal heavy damage to an opposing team.

**Super Effective Coverage**: Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type coverage moves allow Pokemon otherwise threatened by Rhydon to 2HKO or even OHKO it in return. Common examples include Hidden Power Water or Ice from Raikou and Zapdos, Ice Punch from Gengar, Surf or Ice Beam from Tyranitar, Ice Beam from Dragonite, Surf from Snorlax, and Giga Drain from Forretress. Snorlax and Forretress can even switch into Rhydon with minimal prediction if they are carrying the appropriate coverage move, whereas Zapdos and Dragonite can attempt to switch into an Earthquake. To a lesser extent, Ground-type coverage moves such as Earthquake from Snorlax and Tyranitar can also chip away quickly at Rhydon's health in matchups that it would normally relish.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [Jorgen, 53302]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jorgen, 53302], [Earthworm, 15210]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [Estronic, 240732]]

 

[Wenderz]

Good start.

If you're going to make the comparison with Golem in the intro (which you rightfully intended to), I think you might want to name the advantages Golem has over Rhydon to make clear why it competes with Rhydon for a teamslot. Due to Golem's current popularity, I think it's important to point out why you would use one over the other. Steelix is another competitor you might want to touch upon. You could say that Steelix part Steel typing makes it more reliable against HP Ice Raikou and most Gengar, Explosion, Toxic immunity, and the significantly better bulk (unlikely to get OHKOed by EQ Lax vs unlikely to 3HKOed for Rhydon, maybe getting into details is not necessarily needed) versus Rhydon better offensive presence and Rock STAB that allows it to 2HKO Zapdos and do significantly more to Cloyster, for instance. Speaking of Zapdos, you probably should mention the Electric immunity. Tyranitar could get a mention as well as a competitor Normal-resisting phazer, since it provides other form of utility (Pursuit mainly, not bothered as much by Eggy and better versus Gar most of the time) versus that Electric immunity and EQ STAB. Rhydon suffers from its exploitable weaknesses.

Some general truths about the move that should still be explained in my opinion:
- Curse gives you a chance to 1v1 non EQ Curselax on a last Pokemon scenario when you can't phaze it anymore. Maybe drop some numbers such as the 2HKO on Lax at +1 after Spikes, 2HKO on Zapdos unboosted, etc.
- Roar also gives you some insurancxe against Perishtrap Missy and Mean Pass Umbreon.

When talking about Exeggutor as a teammate, you could touch on the ability to offensively check Champ, Ground-, and Water-types. Rhydon fits well on offensive teams that want a phazer not too passive that can check Snorlax at least temporarily. Raikou and ST Lax offer some better insurance against electrics, which can be important since Rhydon isn't super reliable against these. Heracross helps against Machamp and opposing Ground as well.

HP Bug could warrant a mention in OO to target Eggy. Fire Blast also has some merits against it, Skarmory, and Giga Drain Forretress. I'm not sure if HP Ice should be mentioned when talking about Counter since the prime users are the Electrics and you would simply use your STABs, though it can come handy against Zapdos.

Perhaps make a "super effective coverage" section in C&C and talk about HP Water from Electric and sometimes Gengar, especially since the rise of Golem. Giga Drain Forretress, Jynx, EQ Lax, etc. are also bothersome. Maybe Seismic Toss Hera deserves a mention as well, up to you.

Once again, good job.

 

[Jorgen]

Seems good. A couple additional points:

I think Starmie might be an especially important teammate to mention. Without spin support, Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly, and Starmie is an especially reliable spinner to use alongside Rhydon.

It seems extremely risky to suggest using Zap Cannon when Starmie is active. You probably just want to try and catch it (and e.g. Exeggutor and Suicune) on the switch.

Substitute also isn't a terrible OO mention as a way to get around Miltank and Umbreon.

 

[wyc2333]

Seems good. A couple additional points:

I think Starmie might be an especially important teammate to mention. Without spin support, Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly, and Starmie is an especially reliable spinner to use alongside Rhydon.

It seems extremely risky to suggest using Zap Cannon when Starmie is active. You probably just want to try and catch it (and e.g. Exeggutor and Suicune) on the switch.

Substitute also isn't a terrible OO mention as a way to get around Miltank and Umbreon.

implemented. can this analysis get qc 1/2?

 

[Jorgen]

Hey,

I went through and did a more thorough check. Which means I made revisions and attached my suggested edits. Unfortunately it isn't a markup of the original, but rather just the revised version that I had written.

Revision

[OVERVIEW]

Rhydon is not only a Normal-resistant phazer but also a physically offensive Pokemon immune to Electric-type moves. However, its physical Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses and many special weaknesses can hold it back. Moreover, it faces competition with other Normal-resistant Pokemon, namely Golem, Steelix, and Tyranitar, each of which fulfills the same primary defensive role &mdash checking Snorlax &mdash while offering defensive and team support capabilities that Rhydon lacks: Golem has access to Rapid Spin and Explosion; Steelix lacks double weaknesses, lacks an Ice weakness, is immune to Toxic, and also has access to Explosion; and Tyranitar can check Exeggutor, also lacks an Ice weakness, and offers Pursuit support. Nonetheless, as a recipient rather than provider of team support, Rhydon uniquely blends potent wallbreaking ability with defensive role-playing capabilities.



[SET]

name: Curse
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Curse
move 4: Roar
item: Leftovers


[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description

=========

With this set, Rhydon threatens to break walls and even function as a win condition. Earthquake and Rock Slide form an unresisted combination of moves which, when both are backed by STAB and Rhydon’s high Attack stat, deals high damage to most Pokemon in the tier. Rhydon can boost its Attack stat even further with Curse, which can help it to break particularly resilient Physical walls such as Skarmory. With Roar, Rhydon can guarantee that no opponent will be slower than him after a Curse, meaning as long as Rhydon uses Roar, he won't be phazed out by Pokemon such as Skarmory. In addition, it can prevent opposing Curse users such as Snorlax from setting up, in fact even allowing Rhydon to threaten to counter-sweep should the opposing Snorlax foolishly engage in a Curse war. The defense boosts coupled with Rhydon's natually high Physical bulk can even render Rhydon effective against Earthquake variants of Snorlax, provided Snorlax is switching into Rhydon and not the other way around. In addition, Roar allows Rhydon to perform vital defensive duties, such as Phazing Mean Look Umbreon and Misdreavus and being able to switch into and Phaze a Curse Snorlax.


Team Options

========

Rhydon fits well on teams that want an offensive phazer that can at least temporarily check opposing Snorlax.

Paralysis support is very effective alongside Rhydon, as it allows Rhydon to outspeed checks such as Umbreon, Miltank, Suicune, Vaporeon, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Skarmory and threaten them with boosted Earthquake or Rock Slide. Paralysis also makes it more difficult for Pokemon such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Snorlax to make Rhydon’s life complicated with the appropriate coverage moves. Pokemon such as Snorlax, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Porygon2, and Starmie can use Body Slam, Stun Spore, and Thunder Wave toward this end. Note, however, that paralyzing Skarmory renders it slower than Rhydon even after a Curse and therefore able to Phaze. However, Rhydon is compensated by the damage output and flinch potential of boosted Rock Slide, coupled with the chance of full paralysis, which together afford Rhydon a decent chance to KO Skarmory should it attempt to Phaze.

Starmie is a particularly potent teammate as it also carries Rapid Spin, which is important because Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly by Spikes: its numerous Special weaknesses often force it to switch out before it can heal too much damage with Leftovers, and its defensive role as a check against Snorlax will force it to switch in and take chip damage quite frequently. Other Rapid Spinners whose typings do not overlap with Rhydon's, such as Tentacruel, are also effective teammates for this reason.

Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Cloyster can help Rhydon use Roar to whittle down an opposing team. Cloyster can also use Explosion to remove a Rhydon check such as Starmie, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Vaporeon, Suicune, Umbreon, or even opposing Cloyster. Machamp can chip down Exeggutor with Hidden Power Bug, and Skarmory with Fire Blast or a critical hit Cross Chop.

An effective team with Rhydon also needs teammates that can absorb hits typically aimed at its numerous weaknesses. For instance, Electric-types are good teammates that can handle Water-types. In particular, Raikou, by virtue of its Ice neutrality, also offers better insurance against opposing Electric-types and against Gengar, which can be important since Rhydon takes a lot of damage from their coverage moves. Snorlax works similarly, and as with all Ground-types, it synergizes well with Rhydon against Zapdos and Raikou: Rhydon goads the Electric-types into using Hidden Power, thereby allowing Snorlax more opportunities to switch into the low-damage coverage move rather than the high-damage Electric STAB. In addition, Water-types, Exeggutor, and Heracross are good teammates for Rhydon, as they cover the Ground-types to which Rhydon itself is weak. Exeggutor, Starmie, and Machamp are also solid checks to Machamp, whose STAB targets another of Rhydon's physical weaknesses. The additional offensive synergy of Exeggutor and Starmie has been discussed earlier, whereas Heracross can use Seismic Toss to bait Skarmory into taking chip damage or even a potential 4HKO if one of Rhydon or Heracross has forced it to Rest. Additionally, Skarmory itself can check threats such as Exeggutor, Machamp, and Marowak, and additionally counters Snorlax with Earthquake coverage to complement Rhydon’s ability to check Snorlax with Fire coverage.

Pokemon that use Heal Bell, such as Blissey and Miltank, are also welcome teammates, as they allow Rhydon to risk taking a potential Toxic without being put on an inevitable timer. Blissey additionally offers a more reliable Electric check to use alongside Rhydon, thereby relieving it of its duty to dissuade Thunder usage so that Snorlax can switch in safely. However, both Heal Bell users are weak to Fighting, which can often make it difficult to build the rest of the team in a manner that is not too weak to Machamp.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options

=============

Zap Cannon allows Rhydon to paralyze the foe on the switch and gain an otherwise rare Speed advantage. Counter can deal heavy damage against Snorlax using Earthquake or Zapdos using Hidden Power Ice, although Hidden Power Water threatens to OHKO and an opponent can switch out instead of attacking. Rest provides Rhydon with longevity to shrug off damage and poison. Being able to use Rest makes Rhydon a much more reliable check to Snorlax, although it aims to simply PP stall rather than counter-sweep Snorlax if Rest is used over Roar, and loses much of its wallbreaking potential if Rest is used over Curse. Hidden Power Bug targets Exeggutor, which can be problematic for standard Rhydon sets. Fire Blast not only has some merits against Exeggutor but also pressures Forretress and Skarmory. Substitute not only helps block status afflictions from while Rhydon uses Roar or attacks potential threats such as Snorlax but also provides a way to get around Umbreon and Miltank. All of these options, however, must replace either Roar or Curse, each of which comes with steep opportunity costs. Replacing Roar limits Rhydon’s defensive capabilities, takes away its ability to use a slower Roar to beat Skarmory, and in most cases actually makes a Curse war against Snorlax a losing proposition (although if Rhydon is using Rest it ends up "trading" via PP stall, and in any case Rhydon can still handle non-Curse Snorlax without Roar). Meanwhile, replacing Curse causes it to struggle to do enough damage to paralyzed or asleep Umbreon, Suicune, Miltank, and Skarmory, thereby limiting Rhydon’s wallbreaking capabilities.


Checks and Counters

===================

**Water-types**: Although Cloyster, Suicune, Starmie, and Vaporeon don't resist Rhydon's attacks, they threaten an OHKO with Surf. Cloyster can set up Spikes or spread Toxic against Rhydon teams. Suicune has mammoth defensive stats, making it an especially reliable check to Rhydon, especially if it is using its RestTalk set. Starmie can predict switch-ins and spread Thunder Wave against Rhydon teams or use Substitute.


**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor resists Earthquake and can use status moves against Rhydon teams, Giga Drain for an OHKO, or Psychic for much damage.


**Skarmory**: Skarmory with Toxic can put Rhydon on a timer. Without Toxic, Skarmory struggles against Rhydon, whose slower Roar makes it impossible to Phaze and whose neutral Rock Slide with numerous Curse boosts threatens heavy damage. However, even without Toxic, Skarmory’s immunity to Earthquake and neutrality to Rock Slide still make it a fairly safe option to switch into Rhydon in the event that one must PP stall it or attempt a chain switch to a Water-type without letting it take a boosted Earthquake on the switch.


**Umbreon and Miltank**: Umbreon can use Charm and Miltank can use Growl to stall out Rhydon. Amusingly, Rhydon also checks Mean Look variants of Umbreon.

**Machamp**: Machamp can 2HKO Rhydon with Cross Chop or set up Curse, but it should be wary of taking Earthquake from Rhydon too often.


**Jynx**: Jynx cannot switch into either of Rhydon’s attacking moves, and does not bait it into switching into its super-effective STAB Ice Beam. However, if it switches into Curse or is dragged in by Roar, it can threaten to OHKO, and can guarantee an OHKO from at most 359 HP, which corresponds to 86% or 41/48 pixels, thereby forcing Rhydon to switch out.


**Pure Ground-types**: Thanks to STAB Earthquake, higher Speed, and a lack of mutual weakness, Marowak can take advantage of Rhydon, although it struggles to switch directly into its Earthquake. Alternatively, Donphan is defensively sturdier and can check Rhydon effectively even if it needs to switch into Earthquake, although it naturally poses less of an offensive threat.


**Residual Damage**: Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Snorlax and Misdreavus can wear Rhydon down before it can deal too much damage. This can also open a lane for Snorlax to deal heavy damage to an opposing team.


**Super Effective Coverage**: Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type coverage moves allow Pokemon otherwise threatened by Rhydon to 2HKO or even OHKO it in return. Common examples include Hidden Power Water, Grass, or Ice from Raikou and Zapdos; Ice Punch from Gengar; Surf or Ice Beam from Tyranitar; Ice Beam from Dragonite; Surf from Snorlax; and Giga Drain from Forretress. Snorlax and Forretress can even switch into Rhydon with minimal prediction if they are carrying the appropriate coverage move, whereas Zapdos and Dragonite can attempt to switch into an Earthquake with the proper coverage. To a lesser extent, Ground-type coverage moves such as Earthquake from Snorlax and Tyranitar can also chip away quickly at Rhydon’s health in matchups that it would normally relish.

I can't help myself so I pretty much rewrote everything (text-wise, but content- and flow-wise, it's pretty similar). Conceptually, the biggest things I did were:

• Reorganized the Team Options section to talk about paralysis support and rapid spin separately and more generally, rather than just in the context of snorlax-egg-starmie, and added some more examples of teammates that would work well & of Pokemon that Rhydon would like to see paralyzed
• Added Heal Bell support to Team Options
• Went into more depth on the Skarmory-vs-Rhydon matchup wherever it was discussed. Most notably in the checks-and-counters section. That matchup is tricky, because Rhydon's Curse + Roar set beats Skarm in theory, but in practice Skarm (even without Toxic) still makes its life difficult by making it harder to target the enemy Water with Earthquake.
• Added some more details about Rest in Other Options, given a brief discussion of the strength of the move with other QC members. I kept it in OO though, given it's still a seldom-used set.
• Added a note about the opportunity costs of the Other Options: they're OO for a reason after all.
• Added a note about Jynx to checks & counters; it can't switch in, but it threatens to OHKO! This matters when evaluating how weak / strong your team is against Rhydon.
• Changed the language to be a little more "positive": Rhydon is an effective Pokemon in GSC OU, and parts of the old draft made it seem as though this were not the case.

Look through it, make sure there isn't anything you disagree with (or any deletions of suggestions from the other QC check), and implement (i.e. copy-paste, barring disagreements). QC 1/2 pending that.

EDIT: I guess this actually makes me co-author now. Idk if it's cool for me to give QC on top of co-authorship, though.

 

[wyc2333]

implemented. i can't help myself so i give jorgen a co-author. ready for the second qc

 

[Earthworm]

Team Options
========
Starmie is a particularly potent teammate as it also carries Rapid Spin, which is important because Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly by Spikes: its numerous Special weaknesses often force it to switch out before it can heal too much damage with Leftovers, and its defensive role as a check against Snorlax will force it to switch in and take chip damage quite frequently. Other spinners whose typings do not overlap with Rhydon's, such as Tentacruel, are also effective teammates for this reason.

I think the emphasis on the importance of Rapid Spin should be decreased a bit (e.g. instead of "is important" you could say "can be useful") as Rhydon is most effective on offensive teams and Rapid Spin is far more common on defensive teams (with the exception of Golem, which has very bad defensive synergy with Rhydon). Tentacruel should also be removed as a teammate; Cloyster can potentially be listed though.

However, Substitute SD Tentacruel could be mentioned as a potential good partner for Rhydon as they target some of the same Pokemon (Zapdos) and Tentacruel can set up on several Water-types.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Zap Cannon allows Rhydon to paralyze the foe on the switch and gain an otherwise rare Speed advantage.

Rhydon is very often paired with teammates that inflict paralysis so I think the sentence should focus on the idea that Rhydon itself can inflict the paralysis and thereby support itself and teammates such as Machamp and Charizard. Thunder is also worth mentioning as an alternative here since it 2HKOes Cloyster / 3HKOes Skarmory a lot more consistently than Zap Cannon and still has a decent chance of inflicting paralysis.

Counter can deal heavy damage against Snorlax using Earthquake or Zapdos using Hidden Power Ice, although Hidden Power Water threatens to OHKO and an opponent can switch out instead of attacking.

Also mention that it tends to be unexpected and that Rhydon is one of the most effective users of Counter against Curse EQ Snorlax because the opponent will usually anticipate Roar and therefore want to deal as much damage as possible before losing boosts.

Rest provides Rhydon with longevity to shrug off damage and poison. Being able to use Rest makes Rhydon a much more reliable check to Snorlax, although it aims to simply PP stall rather than counter-sweep Snorlax if Rest is used over Roar, and loses much of its wallbreaking potential if Rest is used over Curse.

In my opinion this is not strictly accurate; while it can lose or go to a Struggle-off, Rhydon has good odds to win through attacking Snorlax due to how heavily it hits with critical hit Earthquake. You could also mention that this allows Rhydon to fit on a defensive lineup and play the role of answer to Firelax + accompany Drumlax in offensive duties, although it competes with Curse Tyranitar for this role, and Curse Tyranitar is less easily forced out by special attackers.

Substitute not only helps block status afflictions while Rhydon uses Roar or attacks potential threats such as Snorlax but also provides a way to get around Umbreon and Miltank.

Can also be used alongside the Electric move options and/or to take advantage of paralysis.

All of these options, however, must replace either Roar or Curse, each of which comes with steep opportunity costs. Replacing Roar limits Rhydon’s defensive capabilities, takes away its ability to use a slower Roar to beat Skarmory, and in most cases actually makes a Curse war against Snorlax a losing proposition (although if Rhydon is using Rest it ends up "trading" via PP stall, and in any case Rhydon can still handle non-Curse Snorlax without Roar). Meanwhile, replacing Curse causes it to struggle to do enough damage to paralyzed or asleep Umbreon, Suicune, Miltank, and Skarmory, thereby limiting Rhydon’s wallbreaking capabilities.

I don't like how negative this is towards Rhydon's OOs, I think the steepness of the opportunity cost is exaggerated. We have seen numerous instances where non-standard Rhydon sets have been very successful recently and in the past.

Overall looking very good!

 

[wyc2333]

I think the emphasis on the importance of Rapid Spin should be decreased a bit (e.g. instead of "is important" you could say "can be useful") as Rhydon is most effective on offensive teams and Rapid Spin is far more common on defensive teams (with the exception of Golem, which has very bad defensive synergy with Rhydon). Tentacruel should also be removed as a teammate; Cloyster can potentially be listed though.

However, Substitute SD Tentacruel could be mentioned as a potential good partner for Rhydon as they target some of the same Pokemon (Zapdos) and Tentacruel can set up on several Water-types.

Rhydon is very often paired with teammates that inflict paralysis so I think the sentence should focus on the idea that Rhydon itself can inflict the paralysis and thereby support itself and teammates such as Machamp and Charizard. Thunder is also worth mentioning as an alternative here since it 2HKOes Cloyster / 3HKOes Skarmory a lot more consistently than Zap Cannon and still has a decent chance of inflicting paralysis.

Also mention that it tends to be unexpected and that Rhydon is one of the most effective users of Counter against Curse EQ Snorlax because the opponent will usually anticipate Roar and therefore want to deal as much damage as possible before losing boosts. In my opinion this is not strictly accurate; while it can lose or go to a Struggle-off, Rhydon has good odds to win through attacking Snorlax due to how heavily it hits with critical hit Earthquake. You could also mention that this allows Rhydon to fit on a defensive lineup and play the role of answer to Firelax + accompany Drumlax in offensive duties, although it competes with Curse Tyranitar for this role, and Curse Tyranitar is less easily forced out by special attackers. Can also be used alongside the Electric move options and/or to take advantage of paralysis.

I don't like how negative this is towards Rhydon's OOs, I think the steepness of the opportunity cost is exaggerated. We have seen numerous instances where non-standard Rhydon sets have been very successful recently and in the past.

Overall looking very good!

reworked. can this analysis get qc 2/2?

 

[Earthworm]

QC 2/2

 

[Plague von Karma]

Got some free time to amcheck this! This is pretty well-written; a lot of my edits are either spelling or comma misuse. I do have a lot of comments on potentially subjective changes to sentences, though.

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Come back to OU in Gen 8 pls I miss spamming you on every team even when you weren't necessary

[OVERVIEW]
Rhydon is not only a Normal-resistant phazer, (AC) but also a physically offensive Pokemon immune to Electric-type moves. However, its physical Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses and many special weaknesses can hold it back. Moreover, it faces competition with other Normal-resistant Pokemon, namely Golem, Steelix, and Tyranitar, each of which fulfills fulfils (spelling) the same primary defensive role &mdash checking Snorlax &mdash while offering defensive and team support capabilities that Rhydon lacks: Golem has access to Rapid Spin and Explosion; Steelix lacks double weaknesses, lacks an Ice-type weakness,(You could possibly merge these two bits, though you don't have to: "Steelix lacks a 4x weakness and is neutral to Ice" or something like that) is immune to Toxic, and also has access to Explosion; and Tyranitar can check Exeggutor, also lacks an Ice-type weakness, and offers Pursuit support. Nonetheless, as a recipient rather than a provider of team support, Rhydon uniquely blends potent wallbreaking ability with defensive role-playing capabilities.

[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Curse
move 4: Roar
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
With this set, Rhydon threatens to break walls and can even function (either add "can" or change "function" to "functions", either can work) as a win condition. Earthquake and Rock Slide form an unresisted combination of moves which, when both are backed by STAB and Rhydon’s high Attack stat, deals high damage to most Pokemon in the tier. Rhydon can boost its Attack stat even further with Curse, which can help it to break particularly resilient physical walls, (AC) such as Skarmory. With Roar, Rhydon can guarantee that no opponent will be slower than him it (Pokemon aren't people) after a Curse, meaning as long as Rhydon uses Roar, he it won't be phazed out by Pokemon such as Skarmory. In addition, it can prevent opposing Curse users such as Snorlax from setting up, in fact even (Not sure if "in fact" is 100% necessary here) allowing Rhydon to threaten to counter-sweep should the opposing Snorlax foolishly engage in a Curse war. The defense boosts coupled with Rhydon's natually naturally high physical bulk can even render Rhydon effective against Earthquake variants of Snorlax, provided Snorlax is switching into Rhydon and not the other way around. In addition, Roar allows Rhydon to perform vital defensive duties, such as phazing Mean Look Umbreon and Misdreavus and being able to switch into and phaze a Curse Snorlax.(This sentence reads a bit weirdly. Could be remedied by splitting off at the Misdreavus bit, and making the part about phazing Snorlax its own sentence.)

Team Options
========
Rhydon fits well on teams that want an offensive phazer that can at least temporarily check opposing Snorlax.

Paralysis support is very effective alongside Rhydon, as it allows Rhydon to outspeed checks such as Umbreon, Miltank, Suicune, Vaporeon, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Skarmory and (Repetition of "and" could be remedied by saying ", then" in place of it, but it's a subjective edit) threaten them with boosted Earthquake or Rock Slide. Paralysis also makes it more difficult for Pokemon such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Snorlax to make Rhydon’s life complicated (Could possibly increase clarity here) with the appropriate coverage moves. Pokemon such as Snorlax, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Starmie, and Porygon2 can use Body Slam, Stun Spore, and Thunder Wave toward this end. Note, however, that paralyzing Skarmory renders it slower than Rhydon even after a Curse and, (AC) therefore, (AC) able to phaze. However, Rhydon is compensated by the damage output and flinch potential of boosted Rock Slide, coupled with the chance of full paralysis, which together affords ("works to afford" could also be used, but reads worse in the context of the sentence length) Rhydon a decent chance to KO Skarmory should it attempt to phaze.

Starmie is a particularly potent teammate, (AC) as it also carries Rapid Spin, which can be useful because Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly by Spikes: its numerous Special weaknesses often force it to switch out before it can heal too much damage with Leftovers, and its defensive role as a check against Snorlax will force it to switch in and take chip damage quite frequently. Other spinners whose typings do not overlap with Rhydon's, such as Cloyster, are also effective teammates for this reason.

Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Cloyster can help Rhydon use Roar to whittle down an opposing team. Cloyster can also use Explosion to remove a Rhydon check, (AC) (You could instead put a semicolon at "such as", but the previous bits seem to make this the play) such as Starmie, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Vaporeon, Suicune, Umbreon, or even opposing Cloyster. Machamp can chip down Exeggutor with Hidden Power Bug and Skarmory with Fire Blast or a critical hit Cross Chop.(Really think this could be worded better. Tried changing and to ", or" but that still doesn't seem cohesive. Maybe split the sentence?) Tentacruel can take advantage of some of Rhydon's Water-type checks, (AC) such as Cloyster and Suicune, (AC) and to help it to put pressure on Zapdos and Raikou. (The context of the sentence makes the "and" really unnecessary, especially considering the sentence after.) Vaporeon can similarly help Rhydon to apply pressure to the Electric-types, (AC) and can handle threats like Jynx.

An effective team with Rhydon also needs teammates that can absorb hits typically aimed at its numerous weaknesses. For instance, Electric-types are good teammates that can handle Water-types. In particular, Raikou, by virtue of its Ice-type neutrality, also offers better (There's not any comparison being made here, so "better" is just fluff here) insurance against opposing Electric-types and Gengar, which can be important since Rhydon takes a lot of damage from their coverage moves. Snorlax works similarly, and as with all Ground-types, it synergizes well with Rhydon against Zapdos and Raikou: Rhydon goads the Electric-types into using Hidden Power, thereby allowing Snorlax more opportunities to switch into the low-damage coverage move rather than the high-damage STAB move. In addition, Water-types, Exeggutor, and Heracross are good teammates for Rhydon, as they cover the Ground-types to which Rhydon itself is weak. Exeggutor and Starmie are also solid checks to Machamp, whose Cross Chop targets another of Rhydon's physical weaknesses. The additional offensive synergy of Exeggutor and Starmie has been discussed earlier, whereas Heracross can use Seismic Toss to bait Skarmory into taking chip damage, (AC) or even a potential 4HKO if either Rhydon or Heracross has forced it to Rest. Additionally, Skarmory itself can check threats such as Exeggutor, Machamp, and Marowak, and additionally counters Snorlax with Earthquake coverage to complement Rhydon’s ability to check Snorlax with Fire-type coverage.(Pretty sure this is a run-on sentence, it kind of reads weirdly too. Try splitting it off after "Marowak" and seeing if it reads better.)

Pokemon that use Heal Bell, such as Blissey and Miltank, are also welcome teammates, as they allow Rhydon to risk taking a potential Toxic without being put on an inevitable timer. Blissey additionally offers a more reliable Electric-type check to use alongside Rhydon, thereby relieving it of its duty to dissuade Thunder usage so that Snorlax can switch in safely. However, both Heal Bell users are weak to Fighting-type moves, which can often make it difficult to build the rest of the team in a manner that is not too weak to Machamp.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
With Zap Cannon, Rhydon itself can inflict the paralysis and thereby support itself and (You already said Rhydon itself can inflict paralysis, so it doesn't need to be noted twice) teammates such as Machamp and Charizard. Thunder is also a worthwhile alternative, since it 2HKOes Cloyster and 3HKOes Skarmory a lot more consistently than Zap Cannon, (AC) and has a decent chance of inflicting paralysis to assist with wallbreaking. (Commas may need to be moved or something, but it definitely should not be without them.) Counter can deal heavy damage against Snorlax using Earthquake or Zapdos using Hidden Power Ice, although Hidden Power Water threatens to OHKO and an opponent can switch out instead of attacking. It tends to be unexpected and (Could be moved somewhere else, but it shouldn't be here given how the sentence reads thereafter)Rhydon is one of the most effective users of Counter against Curse Earthquake Snorlax, (AC) as the fear of being phazed and losing boosts for nothing tends to encourage them to attack once Rhydon shows its face. Rest provides Rhydon with longevity to shrug off damage and poison. This allows Rhydon to fit on a defensive lineup and play the role of an answer to opposing Snorlax that have Fire moves, (AC) as well as accompany Belly Drum Snorlax in offensive duties, although it competes with Curse Tyranitar, which is less easily forced out by special attackers. Being able to use Rest makes Rhydon a much more reliable long-term check to Curse Snorlax that lack Earthquake, although but (Removes repetition of "although" to make it better to read) it can fail to actually KO a boosted Snorlax if it fails to score a critical hit, potentially even losing to Snorlax in a Struggle-off if it comes down to that. Dropping Roar for Rest also leaves Rhydon without a tool it can use to break through sturdy walls, (AC) such as Skarmory. Hidden Power Bug targets Exeggutor, which can be problematic for standard Rhydon sets. Fire Blast is a decent surprise option that has some merits against Exeggutor and pressures Forretress and Skarmory. Substitute not only helps block status afflictions while Rhydon uses Roar or attacks potential threats such as Snorlax, (AC) but also provides a way to get around Umbreon and Miltank. It is effective with a wide variety of options, including the aforementioned Electric-type moves, and also synergizes with the paralysis inflictions that are a common theme on teams featuring Rhydon. However, it must be kept in mind that in order to use these options, Roar or Curse must be replaced. These moves are not entirely mandatory on Rhydon, but replacing Roar limits Rhydon’s defensive capabilities, takes away its ability to use a slower Roar to beat Skarmory, and barring a critical hit or timely flinch from Rock Slide, actually makes a Curse war against Snorlax a losing proposition. Meanwhile, replacing Curse causes it to struggle to do enough damage to paralyzed or sleeping Umbreon, Suicune, Miltank, and Skarmory, thereby limiting Rhydon’s wallbreaking capabilities and forcing it to rely on Spikes and its teammates to avoid being PP stalled.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Although Cloyster, Suicune, Starmie, and Vaporeon don't resist Rhydon's attacks, they threaten an OHKO with Surf. Cloyster can set up Spikes or spread Toxic against Rhydon teams. However, it should be noted that Rhydon is often chosen partly because of its ability to punish switches to Cloyster with its powerful Rock Slide. Suicune has mammoth-like (Mammoth isn't an adjective) defensive stats, making it an especially reliable check to Rhydon, especially if it is using its RestTalk set. Starmie can predict switch-ins and spread Thunder Wave against Rhydon teams or use Substitute.

**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor resists Earthquake and can use status moves against Rhydon teams, Giga Drain for an OHKO, or Psychic for much damage.(Exeggutor's Giga Drain is being used against Rhydon, I'm assuming, but you haven't actually specified it as a target, only Rhydon teams. Split off after the status moves are mentioned to talk about Giga Drain and Psychic against Rhydon specifically.)

**Skarmory**: Skarmory with Toxic can put Rhydon on a timer. Without Toxic, Skarmory struggles against Rhydon, whose slower Roar makes it impossible to phaze and whose (Repetition) neutral Rock Slide with numerous Curse boosts threatens heavy damage. However, even without Toxic, Skarmory’s immunity to Earthquake and neutrality to Rock Slide still make it a fairly safe option to switch into Rhydon in the event that one must PP stall it, (AC) or attempt a chain switch to a Water-type without letting it take a boosted Earthquake on the switch.

**Umbreon and Miltank**: Umbreon can use Charm and Miltank can use Growl to stall out Rhydon. Amusingly, Rhydon also checks Mean Look variants of Umbreon.

**Machamp**: Machamp can 2HKO Rhydon with Cross Chop or set up Curse, but it should be wary of taking Earthquake from Rhydon too often.

**Jynx**: Jynx cannot switch into either of Rhydon’s attacking moves, (RC) and does not bait it into switching into its super-effective STAB Ice Beam. However, if it switches into Curse or is dragged in by Roar, it can threaten to OHKO, (RC) and can guarantee an OHKO one (Unnecessary repetition) if Rhydon has taken chip damage that has left it at 359 HP or less, which corresponds to 86% or 41/48 pixels, thereby forcing Rhydon to switch out.

**Pure Ground-types**: Thanks to STAB Earthquake, higher Speed, and a lack of mutual weakness, Marowak can take advantage of Rhydon, although it struggles to switch directly into its Earthquake. Alternatively, Donphan is defensively sturdier and can check Rhydon effectively even if it needs to switch into Earthquake, although it naturally poses less of an offensive threat.

**Residual Damage**: Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Snorlax and Misdreavus can wear Rhydon down before it can deal too much damage. This can also open a lane for Snorlax to deal heavy damage to an opposing team.

**Super Effective Coverage**: Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type coverage moves allow Pokemon otherwise threatened by Rhydon to 2HKO or even OHKO it in return. Common examples include Hidden Power Water or Ice from Raikou and Zapdos; Ice Punch from Gengar; Surf or Ice Beam from Tyranitar; Ice Beam from Dragonite; Surf from Snorlax; and Giga Drain from Forretress. (Semicolons are not used in this fashion. They are used to precede the list in this context, so you would place it after "include", and then use commas to separate each move citation.) Snorlax and Forretress can even switch into Rhydon with minimal prediction if they are carrying the appropriate coverage move, whereas Zapdos and Dragonite can attempt to switch into an Earthquake with the proper coverage. To a lesser extent, Ground-type coverage moves such as Earthquake from Snorlax and Tyranitar can also chip away quickly at Rhydon’s health in matchups that it would normally relish.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [Jorgen, 53302]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jorgen, 53302], [Earthworm, 15210]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[wyc2333]

done. thx

 

[Rabia]

add remove comments

gp

[OVERVIEW]

Rhydon is not only a Normal-resistant phazer (RC) but also a physically offensive Pokemon immune to Electric-type moves. However, its physical Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses and many special weaknesses can hold it back. Moreover, it faces competition with other Normal-resistant Pokemon, namely Golem, Steelix, and Tyranitar, each of which fulfills the same primary defensive role—checking Snorlax—while offering defensive and team support capabilities that Rhydon lacks: Golem has access to Rapid Spin and Explosion; Steelix lacks double weaknesses, lacks an Ice-type weakness, is immune to Toxic, and also has access to Explosion; and Tyranitar can check Exeggutor, lacks an Ice-type weakness, and offers Pursuit support. Nonetheless, as a recipient rather than a provider of team support, Rhydon uniquely blends potent wallbreaking ability with defensive role-playing capabilities.

[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Curse
move 4: Roar
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

With this set, Rhydon threatens to break walls and can even function as a win condition late-game sweeper. Earthquake and Rock Slide form an unresisted combination of moves which that, when both are backed by STAB and Rhydon's high Attack stat, deals high damage to most Pokemon in the tier. Rhydon can boost its Attack stat even further with Curse, which can help it to break particularly resilient physical walls, such as Skarmory. With Roar, Rhydon can guarantee that no opponent foe will be slower than it after a Curse, meaning as long as Rhydon uses Roar, it won't be phazed out by Pokemon such as Skarmory. In addition, it can prevent opposing Curse users such as Snorlax from setting up, in fact even allowing Rhydon to threaten to counter-sweep if an opposing Snorlax foolishly engages in a Curse war. The Defense boosts coupled with Rhydon's naturally high physical bulk can even render make Rhydon effective against Earthquake variants of Snorlax, provided Snorlax is switching into Rhydon and not the other way around. In addition, Roar allows Rhydon to perform vital defensive duties such as phazing Mean Look Umbreon and Misdreavus.

Team Options
========

Rhydon fits well on teams that want an offensive phazer that can at least temporarily check opposing Snorlax.

Paralysis support is very effective alongside Rhydon, as it allows Rhydon to outspeed checks such as Umbreon, Miltank, Suicune, Vaporeon, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Skarmory (RC) then threaten them with boosted Earthquake or Rock Slide. Paralysis also makes it more difficult for Pokemon such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Snorlax to make Rhydon's life complicated with the appropriate coverage moves. Pokemon such as Snorlax, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Starmie, and Porygon2 can use Body Slam, Stun Spore, and Thunder Wave toward this end. Note, however, that paralyzing Skarmory renders it slower than Rhydon even after a Curse and, therefore, able to phaze. However, Rhydon is compensated by the damage output and flinch potential of boosted Rock Slide (RC) coupled with the chance of full paralysis, which together affords Rhydon a decent chance to KO Skarmory should it attempt to phaze.

Starmie is a particularly potent teammate, as it also carries Rapid Spin, which can be useful because Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly by Spikes;(colon -> semicolon) its numerous special weaknesses often force it to switch out before it can heal too much damage with Leftovers, and its defensive role as a check against Snorlax will force it to switch in and take chip damage quite frequently. Other spinners whose typings do not overlap with Rhydon's, such as Cloyster, are also effective teammates for this reason.

Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Cloyster can help Rhydon use Roar to whittle down an opposing team. Cloyster can also use Explosion to remove a Rhydon check, such as Starmie, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Vaporeon, Suicune, Umbreon, or even opposing Cloyster. Machamp can chip down Exeggutor with Hidden Power Bug and Skarmory with Fire Blast or a critical hit Cross Chop. Tentacruel can take advantage of some of Rhydon's Water-type checks, such as Cloyster and Suicune, to help it put pressure on Zapdos and Raikou. Vaporeon can similarly help Rhydon to apply pressure to the Electric-types (RC) and can handle threats like Jynx.

An effective team with Rhydon also needs teammates that can absorb hits typically aimed at its numerous weaknesses. For instance, Electric-types are good teammates that can handle Water-types. In particular, Raikou, by virtue of its Ice-type neutrality, also offers insurance against opposing Electric-types and Gengar, which can be important since because Rhydon takes a lot of damage from their coverage moves. Snorlax works similarly, and,(AC) as with all Ground-types, it synergizes well with Rhydon against Zapdos and Raikou: Rhydon goads the Electric-types into using Hidden Power, thereby allowing Snorlax more opportunities to switch into the low-damage coverage move rather than the high-damage STAB move. In addition, Water-types, Exeggutor, and Heracross are good teammates for Rhydon, as they cover the Ground-types to which Rhydon itself is weak. Exeggutor and Starmie are also solid checks to Machamp, whose Cross Chop targets another of Rhydon's physical weaknesses. The additional offensive synergy of Exeggutor and Starmie has been discussed earlier, whereas Heracross can use Seismic Toss to bait Skarmory into taking chip damage, or even a potential 4HKO if either Rhydon or Heracross has forced it to Rest. Additionally, Skarmory itself can check threats such as Exeggutor, Machamp, and Marowak (RC) and additionally counters Snorlax with Earthquake coverage to complement Rhydon's ability to check Snorlax with Fire-type coverage.

Pokemon that use Heal Bell, such as Blissey and Miltank, are also welcome teammates, as they allow Rhydon to risk taking a potential Toxic without being put on an inevitable timer. Blissey additionally offers a more reliable Electric-type check to use alongside Rhydon, thereby relieving it of its duty to dissuade Thunder usage so that Snorlax can switch in safely. However, both Heal Bell users are weak to Fighting-type moves, which can often make it difficult to build the rest of the team in a manner that is not too weak to Machamp.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

With Zap Cannon, Rhydon itself can inflict the paralysis and thereby support teammates such as Machamp and Charizard. Thunder is also a worthwhile alternative, since it 2HKOes Cloyster and 3HKOes Skarmory a lot more consistently than Zap Cannon, and it has a decent chance of inflicting paralysis to assist with wallbreaking. Counter can deal heavy damage against Snorlax using Earthquake or Zapdos using Hidden Power Ice, although Hidden Power Water threatens to OHKO,(AC) and an opponent can switch out instead of attacking. Rhydon is one of the most effective users of Counter against Curse Earthquake Snorlax, as the fear of being phazed and losing boosts for nothing tends to encourage them to attack once Rhydon shows its face. Rest provides Rhydon with longevity to shrug off damage and poison. This allows Rhydon to fit on a defensive lineup and play the role of an answer to opposing Snorlax that have Fire-type moves, as well as accompany Belly Drum Snorlax in offensive duties, although it competes with Curse Tyranitar, which is less easily forced out by special attackers. Being able to use Rest makes Rhydon a much more reliable long-term check to Curse Snorlax that lack Earthquake, but it can fail to actually KO a boosted Snorlax if it fails to score a critical hit, potentially even losing to Snorlax in a Struggle-off if it comes down to that. Dropping Roar for Rest also leaves Rhydon without a tool it can use to break through sturdy walls, such as Skarmory. Hidden Power Bug targets Exeggutor, which can be problematic for standard Rhydon sets. Fire Blast is a decent surprise option that has some merits against Exeggutor and pressures Forretress and Skarmory. Substitute not only helps block status afflictions while Rhydon uses Roar or attacks potential threats such as Snorlax, but it also provides a way to get around Umbreon and Miltank. It is effective with a wide variety of options, including the aforementioned Electric-type moves, and also synergizes with the paralysis inflictions that are a common theme on teams featuring Rhydon. However, it must be kept in mind that in order to use these options, Roar or Curse must be replaced. These moves are not entirely mandatory on Rhydon, but replacing Roar limits Rhydon's defensive capabilities, takes away its ability to use a slower Roar to beat Skarmory, and,(AC) barring a critical hit or timely flinch from Rock Slide, actually makes a Curse war against Snorlax a losing proposition. Meanwhile, replacing Curse causes it to struggle to do enough damage to paralyzed or sleeping Umbreon, Suicune, Miltank, and Skarmory, thereby limiting Rhydon's wallbreaking capabilities and forcing it to rely on Spikes and its teammates to avoid being PP stalled.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Water-types**: Although Cloyster, Suicune, Starmie, and Vaporeon don't resist Rhydon's attacks, they threaten an OHKO with Surf. Cloyster can set up Spikes or spread Toxic against Rhydon teams. However, it should be noted that Rhydon is often chosen partly because of its ability to punish switches to Cloyster with its powerful Rock Slide. Suicune has mammoth-like defensive stats, making it an especially reliable check to Rhydon, especially if it is using its RestTalk set. Starmie can predict switch-ins and spread Thunder Wave against Rhydon teams or use Substitute.

**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor resists Earthquake and can use status moves against Rhydon teams. It can also choose Giga Drain for an OHKO or Psychic for much more (not very clear what you meant here) damage against Rhydon specifically.

**Skarmory**: Skarmory with Toxic can put Rhydon on a timer. Without Toxic, Skarmory struggles against Rhydon, whose slower Roar makes it impossible to phaze and neutral Rock Slide with numerous Curse boosts threatens heavy damage. However, even without Toxic, Skarmory's immunity to Earthquake and neutrality to Rock Slide still make it a fairly safe option to switch into Rhydon in the event that one must PP stall it (RC) or attempt a chain switch to a Water-type without letting it take a boosted Earthquake on the switch.

**Umbreon and Miltank**: Umbreon can use Charm and Miltank can use Growl to stall out Rhydon. Amusingly, Rhydon also checks Mean Look variants of Umbreon.

**Machamp**: Machamp can 2HKO Rhydon with Cross Chop or set up Curse against Rhydon, but it should be wary of taking Earthquake from Rhydon too often.

**Jynx**: Jynx cannot switch into either of Rhydon's attacking moves and does not bait it Rhydon into switching into its super effective(RH) STAB Ice Beam. However, if it switches into Curse or is dragged in by Roar, it can threaten to an OHKO and can guarantee one if Rhydon has taken chip damage that has left it at 359 HP or less, which corresponds to 86% health or 41/48 pixels less (all the rest felt very unnecessary to communicate the health threshold you need Rhydon at), thereby forcing Rhydon to switch out.

**Pure Ground-types**: Thanks to STAB Earthquake, higher Speed, and a lack of mutual weakness (unsure what this means), Marowak can take advantage of Rhydon, although it struggles to switch directly into its Rhydon's Earthquake. Alternatively, Donphan is defensively sturdier and can check Rhydon effectively even if it needs to switch into Earthquake, although it naturally poses less of an offensive threat.

**Residual Damage**: Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Snorlax and Misdreavus can wear Rhydon down before it can deal too much damage. This can also open a lane for Snorlax to deal heavy damage to an opposing team.

**Super Effective Coverage**: Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type coverage moves allow Pokemon otherwise threatened by Rhydon to 2HKO or even OHKO it in return. Common examples include: Hidden Power Water or Ice from Raikou and Zapdos, Ice Punch from Gengar, Surf or Ice Beam from Tyranitar, Ice Beam from Dragonite, Surf from Snorlax, and Giga Drain from Forretress. Snorlax and Forretress can even switch into Rhydon with minimal prediction if they are carrying the appropriate coverage move, whereas Zapdos and Dragonite can attempt to switch into an Earthquake with the proper coverage (implied by both the section and the earlier sentence). To a lesser extent, Ground-type coverage moves such as Earthquake from Snorlax and Tyranitar can also chip away quickly at Rhydon's health in matchups that it would normally relish.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [Jorgen, 53302]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jorgen, 53302], [Earthworm, 15210]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

removed some curly apostrophes, gp 1/2 when done

 

[wyc2333]

thx for the check. this is now ready for the second gp

 

[Astra]

add remove (comments)

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[OVERVIEW]
Rhydon is not only a Normal-resistant phazer but also a physically offensive Pokemon immune to Electric-type moves. However, its physical Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses and many special weaknesses can hold it back. Moreover, it faces competition with other Normal-resistant Pokemon, namely Golem, Steelix, and Tyranitar, each of which fulfills the same primary defensive role—checking Snorlax—while offering defensive and team support capabilities that Rhydon lacks: Golem has access to Rapid Spin and Explosion; Steelix lacks double weaknesses, lacks an Ice-type weakness, is immune to Toxic, and also has access to Explosion; and Tyranitar can check Exeggutor, lacks an Ice-type weakness, and offers Pursuit support. Nonetheless, as a recipient rather than a provider of team support, Rhydon uniquely blends potent wallbreaking ability with defensive role-playing capabilities.

[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Curse
move 4: Roar
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
With this set, Rhydon threatens to break walls and can even function as a late-game sweeper. Earthquake and Rock Slide form an unresisted combination of moves that, when both are backed by STAB and Rhydon's high Attack stat, deals high damage to most Pokemon in the tier. Rhydon can boost its Attack stat even further with Curse, which can help it to break particularly resilient physical walls, (RC) such as Skarmory. With Roar, Rhydon can guarantee that no foe will be slower than it after a Curse, meaning as long as Rhydon uses Roar, it won't be phazed out by Pokemon such as Skarmory. In addition, it can prevent opposing Curse users such as Snorlax from setting up, in fact even allowing Rhydon to threaten to counter-sweep if an opposing Snorlax foolishly engages in a Curse war. The Defense boosts coupled with Rhydon's naturally high physical bulk can even make Rhydon effective against Earthquake variants of Snorlax, provided Snorlax is switching into Rhydon and not the other way around. In addition, Roar allows Rhydon to perform vital defensive duties such as phazing Mean Look Umbreon and Misdreavus.

Team Options
========
Rhydon fits well on teams that want an offensive phazer that can at least temporarily check opposing Snorlax.

Paralysis support is very effective alongside Rhydon, as it allows Rhydon to outspeed checks such as Umbreon, Miltank, Suicune, Vaporeon, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Skarmory then threaten them with boosted Earthquake or Rock Slide. Paralysis also makes it more difficult for Pokemon such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Snorlax to make Rhydon's life job complicated with the appropriate coverage moves. Pokemon such as Snorlax, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Starmie, and Porygon2 can use Body Slam, Stun Spore, and Thunder Wave toward this end. Note, however, that paralyzing Skarmory renders it slower than Rhydon even after a Curse and, therefore, able to phaze. However, Rhydon is compensated by the damage output and flinch potential of boosted Rock Slide coupled with the chance of full paralysis, which together affords Rhydon a decent chance to KO Skarmory should it attempt to phaze.

Starmie is a particularly potent teammate, as it also carries Rapid Spin, which can be useful because Rhydon tends to get worn down pretty quickly by Spikes; its numerous special weaknesses often force it to switch out before it can heal too much damage with Leftovers, and its defensive role as a check against Snorlax will force it to switch in and take chip damage quite frequently. Other spinners whose typings do not overlap with Rhydon's, such as Cloyster, are also effective teammates for this reason.

Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Cloyster can help Rhydon use Roar to whittle down an opposing team. Cloyster can also use Explosion to remove a Rhydon check, such as Starmie, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Vaporeon, Suicune, Umbreon, or even opposing Cloyster. Machamp can chip down Exeggutor with Hidden Power Bug and Skarmory with Fire Blast or a critical hit Cross Chop. Tentacruel can take advantage of some of Rhydon's Water-type checks, such as Cloyster and Suicune, to help it put pressure on Zapdos and Raikou. Vaporeon can similarly help Rhydon to apply pressure to the aforementioned Electric-types and can handle threats like Jynx.

An effective team with Rhydon also needs teammates that can absorb hits typically aimed at its numerous weaknesses. For instance, Electric-types are good teammates that can handle Water-types. In particular, Raikou, by virtue of its Ice-type neutrality, also offers insurance against opposing Electric-types and Gengar, which can be important because Rhydon takes a lot of damage from their coverage moves. Snorlax works similarly, and, as with all Ground-types, it synergizes well with Rhydon against Zapdos and Raikou; (colon -> semicolon) Rhydon goads the Electric-types into using Hidden Power, thereby allowing Snorlax more opportunities to switch into the low-damage coverage move rather than the high-damage STAB move. In addition, Water-types, Exeggutor, and Heracross are good teammates for Rhydon, as they cover the Ground-types to which Rhydon itself is weak. Exeggutor and Starmie are also solid checks to Machamp, whose Cross Chop targets another of Rhydon's physical weaknesses. The additional offensive synergy of Exeggutor and Starmie has been discussed earlier, whereas Heracross can use Seismic Toss to bait Skarmory into taking chip damage, or even a potential 4HKO if either Rhydon or Heracross has forced it to Rest. Additionally, Skarmory itself can check threats such as Exeggutor, Machamp, and Marowak and counters Snorlax with Earthquake coverage to complement Rhydon's ability to check Snorlax with Fire-type coverage.

Pokemon that use Heal Bell, such as Blissey and Miltank, are also welcomed teammates, as they allow Rhydon to risk taking a potential Toxic without being put on an inevitable timer. Blissey additionally offers a more reliable Electric-type check to use alongside Rhydon, thereby relieving it of its duty to dissuade Thunder usage so that Snorlax can switch in safely. However, both Heal Bell users are weak to Fighting-type moves, which can often make it difficult to build the rest of the team in a manner that is not too weak to Machamp.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
With Zap Cannon, Rhydon itself can inflict the paralysis and thereby support teammates such as Machamp and Charizard. Thunder is also a worthwhile alternative, since it 2HKOes Cloyster and 3HKOes Skarmory a lot more consistently than Zap Cannon, and it has a decent chance of inflicting paralysis to assist with wallbreaking. Counter can deal heavy damage against Snorlax using Earthquake or Zapdos using Hidden Power Ice, although Hidden Power Water threatens to OHKO, and an opponent can switch out instead of attacking. Rhydon is one of the most effective users of Counter against Curse + (plus sign) Earthquake Snorlax, as the fear of being phazed and losing boosts for nothing tends to encourage them to attack once Rhydon shows its face. Rest provides Rhydon with longevity to shrug off damage and poison. This allows Rhydon to fit on a defensive lineup and play the role of an answer to opposing Snorlax that have Fire-type moves, as well as accompany Belly Drum Snorlax in offensive duties, although it competes with Curse Tyranitar, which is less easily forced out by special attackers. Being able to use Rest makes Rhydon a much more reliable long-term check to Curse Snorlax that lack Earthquake, but it can fail to actually KO a boosted Snorlax if it fails to score a critical hit, potentially even losing to Snorlax in a Struggle-off if it comes down to that. Dropping Roar for Rest also leaves Rhydon without a tool it can use to break through sturdy walls, (RC) such as Skarmory. Hidden Power Bug targets Exeggutor, which can be problematic for standard Rhydon sets. Fire Blast is a decent surprise option that has some merits against Exeggutor and pressures Forretress and Skarmory. Substitute not only helps block status afflictions while Rhydon uses Roar or attacks potential threats such as Snorlax, but it also provides a way to get around Umbreon and Miltank. It is effective with a wide variety of options, including the aforementioned Electric-type moves, and also synergizes with the paralysis inflictions that are a common theme on teams featuring Rhydon. However, it must be kept in mind that in order to use these options, Roar or Curse must be replaced. These moves are not entirely mandatory on Rhydon, but replacing Roar limits Rhydon's defensive capabilities, takes away its ability to use a slower Roar to beat Skarmory, and, barring a critical hit or timely flinch from Rock Slide, actually makes a Curse war against Snorlax a losing proposition. Meanwhile, replacing Curse causes it to struggle to do enough damage to paralyzed or sleeping Umbreon, Suicune, Miltank, and Skarmory, thereby limiting Rhydon's wallbreaking capabilities and forcing it to rely on Spikes and its teammates to avoid being PP stalled.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Although Cloyster, Suicune, Starmie, and Vaporeon don't resist Rhydon's attacks, they threaten an OHKO with Surf. Cloyster can set up Spikes or spread Toxic against Rhydon teams. However, it should be noted that Rhydon is often chosen partly because of its ability to punish switches to Cloyster with its powerful Rock Slide. Suicune has mammoth-like defensive stats, making it an especially reliable check to Rhydon, especially if it is using its RestTalk set. Starmie can predict switch-ins and spread Thunder Wave against Rhydon teams or use Substitute.

**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor resists Earthquake and can use status moves against Rhydon teams. It can also choose Giga Drain for an OHKO or Psychic for much more damage against Rhydon teams specifically.

**Skarmory**: Skarmory with Toxic can put Rhydon on a timer. Without Toxic, Skarmory struggles against Rhydon, whose slower Roar makes it impossible to phaze and neutral Rock Slide with numerous Curse boosts threatens heavy damage. However, even without Toxic, Skarmory's immunity to Earthquake and neutrality to Rock Slide still make it a fairly safe option to switch into Rhydon in the event that one must PP stall it or attempt a chain switch to a Water-type without letting it take a boosted Earthquake on the switch.

**Umbreon and Miltank**: Umbreon can use Charm and Miltank can use Growl to stall out Rhydon. Amusingly, however, (AC) Rhydon also checks can check Mean Look variants of Umbreon.

**Machamp**: Machamp can 2HKO Rhydon with Cross Chop or set up Curse against Rhydon it, but it should be wary of taking Earthquake from Rhydon too often.

**Jynx**: Jynx cannot switch into either of Rhydon's attacking moves and does not bait Rhydon into switching into its super effective STAB Ice Beam. However, if it switches into Curse or is dragged in by Roar, it can threaten an OHKO and can guarantee one if Rhydon has taken chip damage that has left it at 86% health or less, thereby forcing Rhydon to switch out.

**Pure Ground-types**: Thanks to STAB Earthquake and higher Speed, Marowak can take advantage of Rhydon, although it struggles to switch directly into Rhydon's Earthquake. Alternatively, Donphan is sturdier and can check Rhydon effectively even if it needs to switch into Earthquake, although it naturally poses less of an offensive threat.

**Residual Damage**: Spikes and Toxic from Pokemon such as Snorlax and Misdreavus can wear Rhydon down before it can deal too much damage. This can also open a lane for Snorlax to deal heavy damage to an opposing team.

**Super Effective Coverage**: Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type coverage moves allow Pokemon otherwise threatened by Rhydon to 2HKO or even OHKO it in return. Common examples include: (remove colon) Hidden Power Water or Ice from Raikou and Zapdos, Ice Punch from Gengar, Surf or Ice Beam from Tyranitar, Ice Beam from Dragonite, Surf from Snorlax, and Giga Drain from Forretress. Snorlax and Forretress can even switch into Rhydon with minimal prediction if they are carrying the appropriate coverage move, whereas Zapdos and Dragonite can attempt to switch into an Earthquake. To a lesser extent, Ground-type coverage moves such as Earthquake from Snorlax and Tyranitar can also chip away quickly at Rhydon's health in matchups that it would normally relish.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[wyc2333, 336830], [Jorgen, 53302]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jorgen, 53302], [Earthworm, 15210]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [, ]]

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[wyc2333]

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