A Wild Pokemon Appeared - Week 17: Hydreigon

Hydreigon



Brutal Pokemon


Overview

With a fantastic movepool, wonderful mixed attacking stats, and nice base 92 / 90 / 90 defenses, Hydreigon is a Pokemon to watch out for. It can switch in easily using its good defenses and Levitate, and then punch holes in the opponent's team. It is also one of the few Pokemon who can effectively counter the common Ferrothorn Jellicent defensive core. However, Hydreigon is severely hampered by its odd 98 base Speed, which leaves it outsped by a host of Pokemon. Dark / Dragon is not a great defensive typing either, as it gives Hydreigon unwanted weaknesses to Fighting- and Bug-type attacks. Still, underestimate Hydreigon at your own peril, as it can easily plough through entire teams if given even the slightest chance to do so.


Ability: Levitate

Base Stats:

HP: 92
Atk: 105
Def: 90
SpA: 125
SpD: 90
Spe: 98

Weight: 160 kg 352.7 lb
Low Kick and Grass knot hit for 100 BP

Type(s): &



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fun facts: Zweillous evolves at level 64 from his previous form, which is later than any other Pokemon – this means you probably won’t have him ready for the Elite Four. You also find his first form on Victory Road! It has the highest SpA and lowest Atk of the pseudo-legendaries, as well as the only one not to have a base stat under 90. It’s also the only pseudo-legendary Dragon not to have 4x Ice weakness. He’s the only pseudo-legend to have more than one immunity – Psychic and Ground – thanks to his sole ability (sorry Dream World fans, no treat for this guy). And finally, as well as most obviously, the Hydreigon family are the only ones of that type combination.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let’s go to highlights:

Good:

-Attacking stats – boasting 105 Atk and a monstrous 125 SpA, Hydreigon is a great mixed attacker! Draco Meteors coming from that SpA stat are going to hurt even if resisted. You thought Specs Latias was dangerous?

-Bulk – not something generally said for a pseudo-legend. With his 92/90/90 Defenses, and access to the ever-annoying Torment, the hydra may make appearances on defensive and stall teams. Torment Heatran was made famous a few times, but Hydreigon has less exploitable weaknesses that aren’t commonly seen on the same Pokemon. He also has great resistances to common FWG core moves. He also has access to Taunt to mess with walls and boosters.

-Awesome STAB – Dark/Dragon isn’t resisted by a whole bunch of Pokemon. Even 3 of the preferred Steels (Jirachi, Metagross, and Bronzong) don’t resist it!

-U-Turn – always an awesome move to scout with, and from base 105 Attack, it’s slightly more powerful that Flygon’s. This move will be a staple on many sets, especially Scarfed ones.

-Speed – He outspeeds a great number of threats, like the new Ononokusu (Axeface), Gliscor, Lucario, Roserade, and even ubers like Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Reshiram and Zekrom!

Bad:

-Boosting – Hydreigon’s ONLY boosting move is Cheer Up, which boosts your Attack and SpA one level. This might seem good, but in testing appears to be not that great. I’ll get to that in a sec. He doesn’t get Calm Mind, and doesn’t know how to dance at all – be that with Swords or other Dragons.

-Speed – What the heck, Game Freak?? Base 98?? Now you’re just messing with us. This is why Cheer up isn’t as good as it sounds. Despite his bulk, Sazando is easily getting revenge killed, even if he is holding a Scarf (and he obviously isn’t if you’re doing Cheer Up). Flygon will remain popular cause’ of this guy, with 2 moves in U-Turn and Outrage to dispatch Hydreigon with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Movesets:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Choice Scarf

Hydreigon@Choice Scarf
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid ( Spe, -Atk) / Hasty ( Spe, -Def)

~ Draco Meteor
~ U-Turn
~ Surf/Dragon Pulse
~ Fire Blast/Flamethrower

Simple enough, right? EV’s are easy, and just pick your nature depending on what you want to do with U-Turn; if you don’t mind reduced damage, go Timid, and if you’re just crazy for it to hit as hard as possible (which without Atk EV investment, it isn’t going to anyway), go Hasty. Since most attacks he resists are Special based, Hasty is better than Naïve if you want to not reduce Attack. The extra EV goes into Special Defense so Downloaders like Porygon-Z and the new Genosekuto (which outspeeds with base 99 speed. Stupid troll numbers…). This is a great scout that mirrors the annoying horror we know as Flygon. You can pair this with other dragons, or things that don’t like physical walls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Choice Specs

Hydreigon@ Choice Specs
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spd
Timid ( Spe, -Atk) / Modest ( SpA, -Atk)

~ Draco Meteor
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Flamethrower/Fire Blast
~ Surf/Dark Pulse/U-Turn

Specs Latias on steroids. Fear this with your life. The double Dragon coverage of Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse makes this cool – one bashes holes, and the other gobbles up the mess. Pick your Fire move for accuracy of obscene power, and then your coverage move. Surf is best so Heatran doesn’t mess with you, but Dark Pulse is great STAB you can use against bulky Ghosts like Dusknoir, Dusclops (with the Evolution Stone), and Desukhan. U-Turn is always fun if you want it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special Mix

Hydreigon@Life Orb
140 Atk / 136 SpA / 232 Spe
Mild ( SpA, -Def)

~ Draco Meteor
~ U-Turn
~ Fire Blast
~ Outrage/Surf/Crunch

I’ll be using this one. The EV’s are made to make him as offensive as possible while outspeeding neutral base 95’s (Impish Gliscor for example). The moves are awesome to mess with people’s heads. This is one attacker that able to easily kill off the fat pink blob that is Blissey with Draco Meteor, Outrage, and Stealth Rock damage. With U-Turn, Spikes layers also hurt the opponent badly from their constant switching. Pairing this with Nattorei and Burungeru (the Water/Ghost jellyfish) make a nice little Defensive core that complement each other very well. Throw in a Fire like Heatran, Victini, Shandera, or something, and you’ve got the coveted FWG core.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Physical Mix

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
228 Atk / 48 SpA / 232 Spe
Adamant ( Atk, -SpA)

~ Outrage
~ U-Turn
~ Crunch
~ Fire Blast

Physical take on the above set. Residual damage will be a downer for you, much like the Special one, but Rapid Spin or Wish from Starmie, Forretress, Jirachi, or Vaporeon could remedy that. Heatran can take everything you throw at it, so have something that can easily take him on. Of you have something that really love a special wall down, pair it with this Hydreigon. Fire Blast, even with the reducing nature, will hit Steels hard enough to scare them off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wall breaker

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest ( SpA, -Atk)

~ Draco Meteor
~ Fire Blast
~ Taunt
~ U-Turn

It’s like Stallbreaker Gliscor in a way, only it scares the bajesus out of things instead of the predicted Taunt Toxic. This thing is incredibly mean, as Lee points out here. Pack this, and watch your opponent squirm!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Torment

Hydreigon @ Leftovers
252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Bold ( Def, -Atk)

~ Torment
~ Substitute
~ Protect
~ Dragon Pulse/Dark Pulse/Flamethrower

With many Pokemon only carrying one move that is super-effective on Sazando, this set could work to great effect. While Heatran boasts better Defensive stats, this has a bit more surprise value and less-exploitable weaknesses. I may have to look into this more, as I just threw the EV spread and nature together. I figure that since most of his resistances are special, Defense needed more of a boost from the nature. Pick your coverage move (I’d go with Dragon Pulse, but Flamethrower can burn things, and Dark Pulse can flinch), and have a ball. Again, I made the EV spread in 3 seconds. It probably needs some sort of Speed investment as to outspeed base 90’s like Lucario.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other Options

Hydreigon has the defenses to run a bulky support set consisting of Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Taunt, and Substitute with a defensive EV spread, but it would be a waste of its offensive potential. Moreover, such a set would face severe competition from MultiScale Dragonite, who has better defensive stats and access to Roost. However, such a set would work well with entry hazard support.

Charge Beam is an option to boost Hydreigon's Special Attack and attempt a sweep, but its inaccuracy can cause issues. Moreover, the SpA boost is not a guaranteed one. Hydreigon also has a usable base 105 Attack, along with a physical movepool consisting of Crunch, Outrage, Earthquake, and Head Smash. It can put these physical options to great effect by surprising its normal counters and running a mixed set.

Checks and Counters

Hydreigon's counters are few and far between, as with its good defensive stats, Hydreigon can take just about any neutral hit and retaliate with a strong attack. However, its weakness to common Fighting-type attacks and average Speed will ultimately be the bane of its existence. With its typing and Flash Fire, Heatran walls Hydreigon lacking Surf, and can 2HKO Hydreigon with Dragon Pulse. Special walls such as Chansey and Jellicent can easily wall the Choice sets, and wear down Hydreigon with Seismic Toss and Ice Beam, respectively.

Specially defensive Conkeldurr can take any attack which Hydreigon throws at it barring Choice Specs Draco Meteor, and KO Hydreigon with a combination of Drain Punch and Mach Punch. Speedy Fighting-types such as Infernape and Terrakion can exploit Hydreigon's average Speed and KO it with their powerful STAB attacks. However, these Pokemon have to be careful when they switch into Hydreigon, since they will take massive damage from Draco Meteor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source(s): http://teamuber.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8939