Titled, "Yesterday", because it seems like only yesterday that Heracross was one of the most feared Pokemon in the fourth generation of Pokemon. Also a Beatle's Song! Despite losing his former glory in OU, the beetle still has plenty of uses in Ubers, and that is what I want to share, discuss, and explore with you today.
Heracross's "best" set in ubers may simply be the Choice Scarf set, which packs enough Speed to outspeed Mewtwo and anything slower than him (which includes Timid Shaymin-s, Timid Darkrai, etc.), while packing enough punch to kill many top Uber threats.
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 56 HP/216 Atk/232 Spd/4 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge / Sleep Talk / Pursuit
The Speed EVs give Heracross 396 Speed, enough to outspeed Timid, 252 Spe Mewtwo, and enough attack to ... well, look for yourself:
Close Combat to 120 HP/0 Def Quiet Dialga (standard mixed):
94%-112%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock.
Megahorn to 40 HP/0 Def Timid Mewtwo (Standard):
123%-145%
This is always a guaranteed OHKO.
Now, this obviously isn't much surprised, 120 BP, super-effective attacks should be killing their intended targets. But how about threats such as Kyogre, Groudon, and Palkia?
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 4 HP/0 Def Hasty Palkia (standard):
71%-83%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock and two layers of Spikes.
Megahorn/Close Combat to 4 HP/0 Def Timid Kyogre (standard):
65%-78%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock and three full layers of Spikes.
Megahorn/Close Combat to 112 HP/8 Def Adamant Groudon (standard):
41%-49%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO. This is only a Guaranteed 2HKO with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes.
Now truth be told, this wouldn't be that impressive, as most Pokemon can hit hard enough to deal this kind of damage. But things get interesting when you take Heracross's unique ability into the mix.
GUTS:
Guts is a very good ability on Choice Scarf Heracross, especially if Heracross can successfully predict a Burn or can get in on one layer of Toxic Spikes. Guts boosts your attack x1.5, should you be inflicted by status.
Using X-Act's Uber statistics, 4.8% of Pokemon used Toxic, 3.06% used Toxic Spikes, and Will-o-Wisp was used 1.64% of the time. But don't let these statistics discourage you. Collectively, 9.5% of Pokemon in ubers would have used one of these attacks. And it gets better. Forretress, an Uber Pokemon use 25% of the time (courtesy of Doug's uber detailed uber statistics), used Toxic Spikes on 68.5% of its movesets.
Even though bringing in Heracross on Toxic Spikes is easy, its hard to plan when they will use any other sort of status. Lucky for you, you can build your team around Heracross getting statused, simply by adding in Pokemon sure to draw those attacks. This is the concept of luring at its finest. An example would be Lugia, a Pokemon that is used to wall a plethora of attacks and Pokemon in ubers. Unfortunately for Lugia though, Rest is rarely used and if it becomes Toxiced, Lugia's usefulness drops down significantly. But with Heracross, you can easily lure in Toxic that you suspect and receive your boost.
Now why is Guts so useful for Scarf Heracross? I bring your attention back to the damage calcs, this time with Guts included:
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 4 HP/0 Def Hasty Palkia (standard):
106%-125%
This is always a guaranteed OHKO.
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 4 HP/0 Def Timid Kyogre (standard):
98%-115%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock.
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 112 HP/8 Def Adamant Groudon (standard):
62%-72%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO, but there is a chance of OHKO with Stealth Rock and three full layers of Spikes.
This increase in power allows Heracross to easily kill almost every Pokemon in Ubers, provided he is given necessary support. Now let's see how well Heracross fares against some of the premiere Uber walls.
Close Combat to a 248 HP/0 Def Careful Forretress (standard):
65-76%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO, but there is an extreme chance of OHKO with Stealth Rock and three full layers of Spikes.
Megahorn to 252 HP/52 Def Bold Lugia (standard):
51%-60%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO. There is a 10% chance Lugia can survive a 2HKO with Leftovers. This is a guaranteed 2HKO with Stealth Rock.
Night Slash to 4 HP/0 Def Giratina-o:
54%-64%
Guaranteed 2HKO.
The third move of doom (and Night Slash???)
Megahorn and Close Combat are obviously the two best moves of the set, and will likely be the only moves used the entire game. However, you still have two more slots to fill. Oh dear!
Stone Edge, Pursuit, and Sleep Talk all have different uses for the set. Stone Edge provides a guaranteed 2HKO on Lugia, as long as Guts are active, regardless of Stealth Rock, and can OHKO Rayquaza with Stone Edge, provided he has Stealth Rock support. Pursuit can be useful for picking off a pesky Blissey, Wobbuffet, or other defensive Pokemon that will never want to switch into Heracross. The obvious downside of this is the next Pokemon sent out will likely be able to set up easily on Heracross. Sleep Talk is great if you find yourself mispredicting and being slept by Darkrai. It will activate Guts and give Heracross one shot of killing something with Megahorn or Close Combat.
In the last slot, I generally use Night Slash, as it will be the best attack to hit Rotom-A and Giratina with, especially with the latter being so common.
While using this set, a friend told me of an "idea", that could take advantage of the opponent with some great prediction, while still allowing Heracross to handle the same amount of threats. The idea is to use the Choice Scarf set, but with Rest and Sleep Talk in the last slots. When Heracross is ever getting too weak, maybe from you mispredicting or just having to take hits, Rest can give you a full healing, as well as activating Guts. This means that you do have to switch out. The good thing is that you can easily come back in and will be guaranteed two straight turns of using Sleep Talk, hopefully picking Close Combat or Megahorn. Having shown Rest and Sleep Talk, you may be able to fake an actual rest-stalk set, which could create more effectiveness.
Sample Team:
Deoxys-e @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 136 Atk/252 Spd/120 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Signal Beam
- Extremespeed
- Fire Punch / Spikes
---
Giratina-o @ Platinum Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 60 Atk/196 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Shadow Sneak
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Outrage
---
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 56 HP/216 Atk/232 Spd/4 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Night Slash
- Sleep Talk
---
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/56 Def/204 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Ice Beam
- Reflect
---
Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 216 Atk/252 Spd/40 SAtk
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Extremespeed
- Dragon Dance
- Overheat
- Outrage
---
Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP/8 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes / Light Screen
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
---
This team has a little of everything in it, and it's goal is to get Heracross out there and smashing through things. The basic premise is to get Stealth Rock and Spikes out as early as possible, which is precisely what Forretress and Deoxys-e will do. I prefer Fire Punch on Deoxys-e, simply because I can catch Scizor, who can really hurt Heracross, off guard. However, if you do opt for Spikes, Forretress can use Light Screen in place of Spikes. With Light Screen from Forretress and Reflect from Lugia, you should constantly have a screen or two up, which can really help Heracross and Rayquaza take hits to sweep.
I like the priority here on Rayquaza and Giratina-o, as it can ensure things are either weakened enough for Heracross, or that they can finish weakened things off.
One of the major problems for the team can be a Darkrai. Sleep Talk is on Heracross to make sure I still have a chance to beat it, even if put to sleep.
WHAT TO DISCUSS:
1.) Does Scarf Heracross have room for your team? Have I convinced you to try him out?
2.) What other Heracross sets could be viable in Ubers? There have been talk of MoPCross, pure SD Sweeper, and even Choice Band Heracross being effective. Be sure to share these with us so we can discuss.
3.) What are your general opinions on Heracross in ubers?
4.) How do you best defend against Heracross?
Heracross's "best" set in ubers may simply be the Choice Scarf set, which packs enough Speed to outspeed Mewtwo and anything slower than him (which includes Timid Shaymin-s, Timid Darkrai, etc.), while packing enough punch to kill many top Uber threats.
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 56 HP/216 Atk/232 Spd/4 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge / Sleep Talk / Pursuit
The Speed EVs give Heracross 396 Speed, enough to outspeed Timid, 252 Spe Mewtwo, and enough attack to ... well, look for yourself:
Close Combat to 120 HP/0 Def Quiet Dialga (standard mixed):
94%-112%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock.
Megahorn to 40 HP/0 Def Timid Mewtwo (Standard):
123%-145%
This is always a guaranteed OHKO.
Now, this obviously isn't much surprised, 120 BP, super-effective attacks should be killing their intended targets. But how about threats such as Kyogre, Groudon, and Palkia?
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 4 HP/0 Def Hasty Palkia (standard):
71%-83%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock and two layers of Spikes.
Megahorn/Close Combat to 4 HP/0 Def Timid Kyogre (standard):
65%-78%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock and three full layers of Spikes.
Megahorn/Close Combat to 112 HP/8 Def Adamant Groudon (standard):
41%-49%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO. This is only a Guaranteed 2HKO with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes.
Now truth be told, this wouldn't be that impressive, as most Pokemon can hit hard enough to deal this kind of damage. But things get interesting when you take Heracross's unique ability into the mix.
GUTS:
Guts is a very good ability on Choice Scarf Heracross, especially if Heracross can successfully predict a Burn or can get in on one layer of Toxic Spikes. Guts boosts your attack x1.5, should you be inflicted by status.
Using X-Act's Uber statistics, 4.8% of Pokemon used Toxic, 3.06% used Toxic Spikes, and Will-o-Wisp was used 1.64% of the time. But don't let these statistics discourage you. Collectively, 9.5% of Pokemon in ubers would have used one of these attacks. And it gets better. Forretress, an Uber Pokemon use 25% of the time (courtesy of Doug's uber detailed uber statistics), used Toxic Spikes on 68.5% of its movesets.
Even though bringing in Heracross on Toxic Spikes is easy, its hard to plan when they will use any other sort of status. Lucky for you, you can build your team around Heracross getting statused, simply by adding in Pokemon sure to draw those attacks. This is the concept of luring at its finest. An example would be Lugia, a Pokemon that is used to wall a plethora of attacks and Pokemon in ubers. Unfortunately for Lugia though, Rest is rarely used and if it becomes Toxiced, Lugia's usefulness drops down significantly. But with Heracross, you can easily lure in Toxic that you suspect and receive your boost.
Now why is Guts so useful for Scarf Heracross? I bring your attention back to the damage calcs, this time with Guts included:
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 4 HP/0 Def Hasty Palkia (standard):
106%-125%
This is always a guaranteed OHKO.
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 4 HP/0 Def Timid Kyogre (standard):
98%-115%
This is a guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock.
Megahorn/Close Combat to a 112 HP/8 Def Adamant Groudon (standard):
62%-72%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO, but there is a chance of OHKO with Stealth Rock and three full layers of Spikes.
This increase in power allows Heracross to easily kill almost every Pokemon in Ubers, provided he is given necessary support. Now let's see how well Heracross fares against some of the premiere Uber walls.
Close Combat to a 248 HP/0 Def Careful Forretress (standard):
65-76%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO, but there is an extreme chance of OHKO with Stealth Rock and three full layers of Spikes.
Megahorn to 252 HP/52 Def Bold Lugia (standard):
51%-60%
This is never a guaranteed OHKO. There is a 10% chance Lugia can survive a 2HKO with Leftovers. This is a guaranteed 2HKO with Stealth Rock.
Night Slash to 4 HP/0 Def Giratina-o:
54%-64%
Guaranteed 2HKO.
The third move of doom (and Night Slash???)
Megahorn and Close Combat are obviously the two best moves of the set, and will likely be the only moves used the entire game. However, you still have two more slots to fill. Oh dear!
Stone Edge, Pursuit, and Sleep Talk all have different uses for the set. Stone Edge provides a guaranteed 2HKO on Lugia, as long as Guts are active, regardless of Stealth Rock, and can OHKO Rayquaza with Stone Edge, provided he has Stealth Rock support. Pursuit can be useful for picking off a pesky Blissey, Wobbuffet, or other defensive Pokemon that will never want to switch into Heracross. The obvious downside of this is the next Pokemon sent out will likely be able to set up easily on Heracross. Sleep Talk is great if you find yourself mispredicting and being slept by Darkrai. It will activate Guts and give Heracross one shot of killing something with Megahorn or Close Combat.
In the last slot, I generally use Night Slash, as it will be the best attack to hit Rotom-A and Giratina with, especially with the latter being so common.
While using this set, a friend told me of an "idea", that could take advantage of the opponent with some great prediction, while still allowing Heracross to handle the same amount of threats. The idea is to use the Choice Scarf set, but with Rest and Sleep Talk in the last slots. When Heracross is ever getting too weak, maybe from you mispredicting or just having to take hits, Rest can give you a full healing, as well as activating Guts. This means that you do have to switch out. The good thing is that you can easily come back in and will be guaranteed two straight turns of using Sleep Talk, hopefully picking Close Combat or Megahorn. Having shown Rest and Sleep Talk, you may be able to fake an actual rest-stalk set, which could create more effectiveness.
Sample Team:
Deoxys-e @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 136 Atk/252 Spd/120 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Signal Beam
- Extremespeed
- Fire Punch / Spikes
---
Giratina-o @ Platinum Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 60 Atk/196 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Shadow Sneak
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Outrage
---
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 56 HP/216 Atk/232 Spd/4 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Night Slash
- Sleep Talk
---
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/56 Def/204 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Ice Beam
- Reflect
---
Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 216 Atk/252 Spd/40 SAtk
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Extremespeed
- Dragon Dance
- Overheat
- Outrage
---
Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP/8 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes / Light Screen
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
---
This team has a little of everything in it, and it's goal is to get Heracross out there and smashing through things. The basic premise is to get Stealth Rock and Spikes out as early as possible, which is precisely what Forretress and Deoxys-e will do. I prefer Fire Punch on Deoxys-e, simply because I can catch Scizor, who can really hurt Heracross, off guard. However, if you do opt for Spikes, Forretress can use Light Screen in place of Spikes. With Light Screen from Forretress and Reflect from Lugia, you should constantly have a screen or two up, which can really help Heracross and Rayquaza take hits to sweep.
I like the priority here on Rayquaza and Giratina-o, as it can ensure things are either weakened enough for Heracross, or that they can finish weakened things off.
One of the major problems for the team can be a Darkrai. Sleep Talk is on Heracross to make sure I still have a chance to beat it, even if put to sleep.
WHAT TO DISCUSS:
1.) Does Scarf Heracross have room for your team? Have I convinced you to try him out?
2.) What other Heracross sets could be viable in Ubers? There have been talk of MoPCross, pure SD Sweeper, and even Choice Band Heracross being effective. Be sure to share these with us so we can discuss.
3.) What are your general opinions on Heracross in ubers?
4.) How do you best defend against Heracross?