Hippowdon @ Eject Button
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD or 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake / Body Press
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
Hippowdon is a mandatory pick on sand-based Ground teams for its access to Sand Stream, which allows it to enable one of the type's most dangerous offensive threats in Sand Rush Excadrill; in addition, its amazing bulk lets it further support its team as a mixed wall and entry hazard setter. Earthquake is the default attacking move for its STAB-boosted damage, but Body Press can also be useful to harness Hippowdon's huge Defense, letting it KO Pokemon like Air Balloon Heatran and Hisuian Samurott and put more pressure on some hazard removers, most notably Terapagos and Air Balloon Iron Treads. Stealth Rock is an excellent support move that Hippowdon's teammates will enjoy not having to fit into their movesets, and the chip damage it provides is invaluable to make Excadrill and other offensive teammates like Landorus and Mamoswine more threatening. Whirlwind makes for an excellent pairing with Stealth Rock and Sand Stream, letting Hippowdon rack up chip damage at random against the opposing team; it's also excellent for stopping setup sweepers like Swords Dance Gliscor and Dragon Dance Dragonite before they can overwhelm Hippowdon with multiple boosts. With Eject Button as its item, Hippowdon can switch in, set up Sandstorm, take a powerful hit for a teammate, and get Excadrill or another offensive threat onto the field all in the same turn, generating ridiculous amounts of momentum. However, Leftovers is a solid alternative to give Hippowdon extra recovery, reducing the need to spend turns using Slack Off. A physically defensive EV spread is the default, taking advantage of Hippowdon's incredible HP and Defense to let it survive such staggeringly strong hits as Choice Band Meowscarada's Flower Trick after Stealth Rock damage. This spread also notably lets it avoid a 2HKO from Ogerpon-H's Horn Leech and Choice Band Hoopa-U's Hyperspace Fury after Leftovers recovery. Alternatively, a more balanced spread of 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD can help Hippowdon deal with mixed attackers like Iron Valiant and Psyshock users like Latios more effectively, the latter being especially important since Hippowdon's favorite specially defensive teammate, Clodsire, is extremely vulnerable to the move. This spread also has great synergy with Eject Button, since it lets Hippowdon soak up powerful special hits like Choice Specs Latios's Draco Meteor for the benefit of its teammates.
As a sand setter, it makes sense that Sand Rush Excadrill is the quintessential offensive teammate for Hippowdon; its Choice Band set provides excellent speed control and wallbreaking power in one teamslot, and its Steel typing also lets it offensively check some attackers that can overwhelm Hippowdon, such as Latios and Meowscarada. The pairing of Hippowdon and Excadrill is extremely threatening on its own, but it's best complemented by other offensive pieces that can threaten Ground-immune Pokemon which don't care about Iron Head, as well as bulky Grass-types like Amoonguss. Mamoswine checks all of these boxes, 2HKOing Corviknight and OHKOing Amoonguss with Choice Band-boosted Icicle Crash. Thanks to Thick Fat, Mamoswine is also a great switch-in to Ice-type attacks that Hippowdon doesn't enjoy taking from powerful attackers like Kyurem. Gliscor and Landorus are welcome additions to Hippowdon's team, providing useful support with a crucial Grass neutrality and support options like Spikes and Gravity, respectively, the former of which especially synergizes with Hippowdon's focus on passive damage. Landorus isn't as useful as Gliscor defensively, but it's a powerful attacker that's enabled nicely by Hippowdon's entry hazard support and potentially Eject Button, and it also makes an excellent check to common physical walls such as Skarmory and Defensive Great Tusk. Great Tusk is an incredibly versatile partner, backing up Hippowdon against physical attackers while running a massive variety of sets, letting it fill the role of Rapid Spin support, revenge killer, or setup sweeper with Bulk Up. On the defensive side, Clodsire is an excellent special wall that complements Hippowdon's physical hit-taking ability perfectly, and it can also stack Toxic Spikes to make Whirlwind even more threatening; Clodsire is especially great thanks to its Water immunity and Grass neutrality, letting it stop major threats like Keldeo, Meowscarada, and Ogerpon-W in their tracks. It's worth noting that Clodsire can make the team weak to offensive Psychic-types like Latios; this weakness can be patched up by Hippowdon alongside other teammates like Excadrill. Garchomp is a great addition to sand teams, thanks to its mixed attacking capabilities letting it lure annoying physical walls like Skarmory and Archaludon; it can also go on the offensive with a Swords Dance set if these foes are covered by other means. Garchomp is also capable of providing entry hazard support in the form of Spikes, giving Excadrill an easier time sweeping.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/royalreloaded.246753/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD or 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake / Body Press
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
Hippowdon is a mandatory pick on sand-based Ground teams for its access to Sand Stream, which allows it to enable one of the type's most dangerous offensive threats in Sand Rush Excadrill; in addition, its amazing bulk lets it further support its team as a mixed wall and entry hazard setter. Earthquake is the default attacking move for its STAB-boosted damage, but Body Press can also be useful to harness Hippowdon's huge Defense, letting it KO Pokemon like Air Balloon Heatran and Hisuian Samurott and put more pressure on some hazard removers, most notably Terapagos and Air Balloon Iron Treads. Stealth Rock is an excellent support move that Hippowdon's teammates will enjoy not having to fit into their movesets, and the chip damage it provides is invaluable to make Excadrill and other offensive teammates like Landorus and Mamoswine more threatening. Whirlwind makes for an excellent pairing with Stealth Rock and Sand Stream, letting Hippowdon rack up chip damage at random against the opposing team; it's also excellent for stopping setup sweepers like Swords Dance Gliscor and Dragon Dance Dragonite before they can overwhelm Hippowdon with multiple boosts. With Eject Button as its item, Hippowdon can switch in, set up Sandstorm, take a powerful hit for a teammate, and get Excadrill or another offensive threat onto the field all in the same turn, generating ridiculous amounts of momentum. However, Leftovers is a solid alternative to give Hippowdon extra recovery, reducing the need to spend turns using Slack Off. A physically defensive EV spread is the default, taking advantage of Hippowdon's incredible HP and Defense to let it survive such staggeringly strong hits as Choice Band Meowscarada's Flower Trick after Stealth Rock damage. This spread also notably lets it avoid a 2HKO from Ogerpon-H's Horn Leech and Choice Band Hoopa-U's Hyperspace Fury after Leftovers recovery. Alternatively, a more balanced spread of 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD can help Hippowdon deal with mixed attackers like Iron Valiant and Psyshock users like Latios more effectively, the latter being especially important since Hippowdon's favorite specially defensive teammate, Clodsire, is extremely vulnerable to the move. This spread also has great synergy with Eject Button, since it lets Hippowdon soak up powerful special hits like Choice Specs Latios's Draco Meteor for the benefit of its teammates.
As a sand setter, it makes sense that Sand Rush Excadrill is the quintessential offensive teammate for Hippowdon; its Choice Band set provides excellent speed control and wallbreaking power in one teamslot, and its Steel typing also lets it offensively check some attackers that can overwhelm Hippowdon, such as Latios and Meowscarada. The pairing of Hippowdon and Excadrill is extremely threatening on its own, but it's best complemented by other offensive pieces that can threaten Ground-immune Pokemon which don't care about Iron Head, as well as bulky Grass-types like Amoonguss. Mamoswine checks all of these boxes, 2HKOing Corviknight and OHKOing Amoonguss with Choice Band-boosted Icicle Crash. Thanks to Thick Fat, Mamoswine is also a great switch-in to Ice-type attacks that Hippowdon doesn't enjoy taking from powerful attackers like Kyurem. Gliscor and Landorus are welcome additions to Hippowdon's team, providing useful support with a crucial Grass neutrality and support options like Spikes and Gravity, respectively, the former of which especially synergizes with Hippowdon's focus on passive damage. Landorus isn't as useful as Gliscor defensively, but it's a powerful attacker that's enabled nicely by Hippowdon's entry hazard support and potentially Eject Button, and it also makes an excellent check to common physical walls such as Skarmory and Defensive Great Tusk. Great Tusk is an incredibly versatile partner, backing up Hippowdon against physical attackers while running a massive variety of sets, letting it fill the role of Rapid Spin support, revenge killer, or setup sweeper with Bulk Up. On the defensive side, Clodsire is an excellent special wall that complements Hippowdon's physical hit-taking ability perfectly, and it can also stack Toxic Spikes to make Whirlwind even more threatening; Clodsire is especially great thanks to its Water immunity and Grass neutrality, letting it stop major threats like Keldeo, Meowscarada, and Ogerpon-W in their tracks. It's worth noting that Clodsire can make the team weak to offensive Psychic-types like Latios; this weakness can be patched up by Hippowdon alongside other teammates like Excadrill. Garchomp is a great addition to sand teams, thanks to its mixed attacking capabilities letting it lure annoying physical walls like Skarmory and Archaludon; it can also go on the offensive with a Swords Dance set if these foes are covered by other means. Garchomp is also capable of providing entry hazard support in the form of Spikes, giving Excadrill an easier time sweeping.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/royalreloaded.246753/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:
