[Overview]
Hydreigon's high Special Attack and wide movepool give it unique power to punch holes by threatening common defensive Pokemon such as Slowking, Heatran, and defensive Landorus-T. This is further complemented by its decent Speed allowing it to outpace common offensive Pokemon such as offensive Landorus-T, Kyurem, and Tapu Lele. On top of all this, Hydreigon's defensive typing, ability, and Roost let it check Heatran extremely effectively and come in on slower defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Slowking with ease. However, although Hydreigon has passable Speed, it is still outpaced and OHKOed by common Pokemon such as Dragapult, Weavile, and Tapu Koko. It will also often be checked by some Pokemon such as Fairy-types, which it struggles to break through without Flash Cannon, and Blissey, which it can't do much to without Nasty Plot boosts.
[SET]
name: Three Attacks
move 1: Dark Pulse
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Flash Cannon
move 4: Roost
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Dark Pulse's acceptable power and overall solid coverage let Hydreigon consistently pressure Pokemon such as Slowking and Ferrothorn and consistently damage the majority of the tier. Earth Power OHKOes Heatran, hits Toxapex and Melmetal for super effective damage, and hits most Dark-resistant Pokemon neutrally. Flash Cannon provides coverage for Clefable while still hitting Tyranitar for super effective damage. Roost is mandatory to consistently pivot into Pokemon such as the aforementioned Heatran, Toxapex, and Slowking. Draco Meteor can be used over Flash Cannon or Earth Power to heavily dent most Pokemon, better pressure Mandibuzz as well as defensive Dragonite, and OHKO Urshifu, although the Special Attack drop usually forces Hydreigon to switch out after. Flamethrower can also be used over either coverage move to better pressure Corviknight. Life Orb is the best item for this set, as it allows Hydreigon to OHKO Heatran as well as 2HKO Clefable and Slowking. However, if your team needs Hydreigon's defensive capabilities, Leftovers lets it stay around longer, pivot into Heatran's Magma Storm more consistently, and negate burn damage from Pokemon such as Toxapex and Slowbro.
Grass-types such as Rillaboom and Kartana put both Ferrothorn and Corviknight in 2HKO range of Dark Pulse by using Knock Off as they switch in; in return, Hydreigon offers a consistent switch-in to Heatran, which can be especially helpful if either one of them is Choice locked into a Grass-type move. Zeraora and Dragapult, when paired with Hydreigon, can overwhelm shared checks such as Clefable and Ferrothorn. Steel-types such as Corviknight, Scizor, and Heatran can check Fairy-types and appreciate Hydreigon checking Heatran; Scizor also has the added benefit of checking Kyurem, while Heatran can help overwhelm Tyranitar and Hippowdon. Pivots that can bring Hydreigon safely are solid teammates as well; Tapu Koko can lure in Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon and use U-turn to bring Hydreigon in. Corviknight is another U-turn pivot that can lure in Rotom-W and Toxapex for Hydreigon. Slowking and Blissey can also pivot with Teleport, and Slowking can help overwhelm foes with Future Sight in combination with Hydreigon's attacks; the two also have decent defensive synergy with Hydreigon. Toxapex has good defensive synergy with Hydreigon and appreciates it stopping Heatran from trapping it. Clefable appreciates Hydreigon checking Heatran and can even heal status effects from it, like Toxic poison from Heatran and Toxapex, with Aromatherapy.
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Earth Power / Flash Cannon
move 4: Roost
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Nasty Plot grants Hydreigon absurd wallbreaking capabilities, allowing it to fully overwhelm Pokemon such as Scizor and Corviknight. Dark Pulse is the primary attack thanks to its decent coverage and power, hitting Pokemon such as Corviknight, Zapdos, and Landorus-T. Earth Power is a coverage option that immediately threatens Heatran and lets Hydreigon break through Tyranitar after a Nasty Plot boost, although Flash Cannon can potentially OHKO Clefable after a Nasty Plot boost and still hit Tyranitar super effectively. Roost is crucial to help Hydreigon better function as a stallbreaker as well as pivot into Heatran, Toxapex, and Slowbro consistently. Life Orb gives Hydreigon a noticeable boost to its power, allowing it to OHKO Corviknight and Clefable with one boost. However, Leftovers is a viable choice to improve its longevity, as Hydreigon still has decent power after a boost and may appreciate pivoting better and possibly setting up on the aforementioned Heatran and Slowbro. Hydreigon can opt for a Modest nature for more power, hitting benchmarks such as a guaranteed OHKO on Clefable with +2 Flash Cannon, although it loses out on the ability to outpace many notable Pokemon such as Kyurem. Draco Meteor is an option over Earth Power or Flash Cannon, as it has absurd power after a Nasty Plot boost, although its Special Attack drops and lack of coverage hinder it as an option. Focus Blast and Flamethrower are also viable options in that third moveslot to better pressure Ferrothorn as well as either Tyranitar and Blissey or Corviknight, respectively, although they have little use outside of this.
Pivots such as Landorus-T and Slowking can lure in Corviknight and Ferrothorn, respectively, to pivot out and bring Hydreigon in. Depending on whether Hydreigon forgoes Earth Power or Flash Cannon, it will be fully checked by either Tapu Koko or Clefable; this makes Galarian Slowking a decent teammate, as it can stomach attacks from these Pokemon. Galarian Slowking can also use Future Sight to punish Steel-type switch-ins such as Corviknight and Ferrothorn. Ironically, Corviknight and Skarmory make for decent teammates, as they can check Garchomp and Kartana; Corviknight, once again, can lure in Pokemon such as Zapdos and bring in Hydreigon with U-turn, while Skarmory can provide Spikes to wear down Hydreigon's checks such as Tapu Fini. Cleaners such as Rillaboom and Weavile appreciate Hydreigon pressuring and softening up common defensive cores such as Corviknight + Slowking early-game.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Hydreigon's movepool has options to cover certain defensive Pokemon at the cost of the neutral coverage its listed options provide; for instance, Superpower lets Hydreigon lure in Blissey and 2HKO it. Choice Scarf Hydreigon is a decent offensive pivot with U-turn and can also function as a revenge killer, but it oftentimes doesn't want to be locked into any of its attacks. Substitute improves Hydreigon's matchup versus offensive teams, as it eases prediction when forcing switches, as well as scouting Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T. Substitute also allows Hydreigon to shield itself from status effects from Pokemon such as Toxapex. A bulkier set with Defog is a viable option to check Heatran even better, as well as other Pokemon such as Blacephalon, but it is passive and overall very niche.
Checks and Counters
====
**Fairy-types**: Hydreigon's 4x weakness to Fairy makes Pokemon of this type solid checks to it. Clefable and Tapu Fini can survive any attack from full health and OHKO or heavily damage Hydreigon in return; however, Clefable is OHKOed by +2 Flash Cannon, and Tapu Fini can become too worn down to be able to pivot into Hydreigon's attacks. Rarer Unaware Clefable sets tend to check it better. Tapu Koko easily outspeeds Hydreigon and OHKOes it, although it can't pivot into Earth Power. The rarer Choice Scarf Tapu Fini also outpaces Hydreigon and OHKOes it.
**Blissey**: Blissey can tank just about any attack Hydreigon uses, up to a +4 Life Orb Draco Meteor, and cripple it with status or use Teleport to gain momentum.
**Faster Revenge Killers**: Faster Pokemon such as Kartana and Tornadus-T can easily outpace Hydreigon and pick it off if it is chipped a little bit. Weavile can outpace and OHKO Hydreigon, while Zeraora can also pick off a chipped Hydreigon. Common Dragon-types such as Dragapult, Sand Rush-boosted Dracozolt, and Garchomp all outpace Hydreigon. The former two can easily OHKO with Draco Meteor, while Garchomp can potentially OHKO it with Life Orb-boosted Scale Shot.
**Passive Damage**: Hydreigon is prone to being worn down by status effects from Pokemon it commonly pivots against, such as Toxapex and Slowbro. This is also compounded by how often in can pivot into Heatran's Magma Storm. Because of this damage, Hydreigon can be pressured into using Roost too often.
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Urshifu-R, Hawlucha, and Galarian Zapdos can all pivot into Hydreigon's attacks due to the rarity of Draco Meteor and OHKO it. Pokemon that run Fighting-type coverage, such as Rillaboom and Aegislash, which Hydreigon should be otherwise able to pivot into, threaten it as well.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[bb skarm, 235692]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [curiosity, 443485]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [Finland, 517429]]
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