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Community POTW #115

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SaurusHam

Mawile w/ Fire Blast
Believe it or not, Hawlucha has a defensive option!

El Gallo Astuto
Hawlucha@Lum Berry/Leftovers
252 HP/252 Spe/4 Def
Jolly Nature
Mold Breaker
-Roost
-Encore
-FeatherDance
-U-turn


This is a defensive pivot set that allows Hawlucha to mess up the opponent and make things easy for the next pokemon incoming. Mold Breaker is the meat of this set as it allows Encore to bypass Magic Guard and Aroma Veil (i think), while allowing FeatherDance to wear down Clear Body and Hyper Cutter pokes. Oh, and U-Turn for the rare Wonder Guard. Hawlucha is meant to come in on certain physical pokes, commonly Ground types who are trigger happy with their Earthquakes, then either Encore them into submission, or Featherdance to soften them or the switchin up. Most people won't expect a defensive set like this so if the opponent is bulky enough they might stay in and take a stab at you. Once you've shown your hand, they'll likely switch into an answer, in which case U-Turn helps keep your momentum. Roost is for obvious healing but pure Fighting is an underrated defensive type, resisting Bug, Dark, and Rock, compounded further by your natural resistances to Fighting and Grass and a Ground immunity. In addition, you are immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes and you only take neutral damage from Stealth Rock, so it's very easy to switch Hawlucha in and out. Lum Berry is to help you absorb one status, usually from sets you wouldn't expect them to have status moves, but Leftovers is always nice to have.

Keep in mind that despite knowing Encore you shouldn't keep Hawlucha in on status boosters, because without an attack other than U-Turn to punish, you'll be biting off more than you can chew. An Unaware partner can help like Quagsire or Clefable. Don't forget to have a special tank as well, because you'll be U-turning out at the sight of one soon enough.
I dont see how u-turn answers wonder guard in any way (not like you need to), Im sure you meant magic bounce, no semi-decent pokemon outside of metagross, diancie, and pinsir uses clear body or hyper cutter, and you really want to have another attacking move like hjk or drain punch because featherdance is absolute trash. Also leftovers > lum always on defensive sets.

If you can show me a replay or battle where this is used effectively then I might accept this as neat gimmick but as of now it looks like it squanders hawluchas amazing late game sweeping power for a barely functional pivot that only slightly annoys ground types and boosters until they know it has encore.
 

Karxrida

Lost in the Waves
Hawlucha's bulk is marginally better than Lucario's. A pivot set sounds like a very niche OO at best, especially one like what was suggested with non-existent offensive presence.
 

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
...This is all moot point though since no Shedinja is going to stay in on Hawlucha. Since, y'know, its flying STAB rids the world of Shedinja, and even if it tries a Sash/Will-o-Wisp approach, the prevalence of Substitute is usually enough to ward that off. The most you might see is Shedinja trying to switch in to catch a High Jump Kick, but even that's a risky endeavor for both Pokemon. A 50/50, so to speak.
 

Alita54

Well-Known Member
Wouldn't focus sash be better for hawlucha over sitrus berry to guarantee survival?

Um... Rapidash isn't even remotely close to being "the fastest". It's only got a base 105 Speed Tier... Heck, Hawlucha outspeeds it even without Unburden! Unless it's running Adamant of course. That said, Rapidash isn't even the slightest bit viable so outspeeding it is not really a factor.

Is rapidash really THAT bad? It has decent attack, can't be burned, and can boost it's fire moves via flash fire.
 

SaurusHam

Mawile w/ Fire Blast
Wouldn't focus sash be better for hawlucha over sitrus berry to guarantee survival?



Is rapidash really THAT bad? It has decent attack, can't be burned, and can boost it's fire moves via flash fire.
You combine sub/sitrus cause its a more reliable way to activate your unburden cause you essentially get to decide when you to, as opposed to sash where it can get broken really easily not allowing to activate unburden and it doesnt guarantee a sword dance as well as sub.

Also, not the place to talk about rapidash but it really is that bad.
 

Karxrida

Lost in the Waves
Wouldn't focus sash be better for hawlucha over sitrus berry to guarantee survival?
You need to go down to 1 HP to trigger it, and you get boned by Stealth Rock, Sand, and Rocky Helmet/Rough Skin/Iron Barbs.

Is rapidash really THAT bad? It has decent attack, can't be burned, and can boost it's fire moves via flash fire.
Yes. Its Attack is mediocre and there are many better Fire-types to use. Infernape isn't fantastic, but already outclasses it completely with a better movepool, higher Speed, and mixed attacking stats.
 

Rocxidi

The Jim Reaper
Wouldn't focus sash be better for hawlucha over sitrus berry to guarantee survival?



Is rapidash really THAT bad? It has decent attack, can't be burned, and can boost it's fire moves via flash fire.

100 Atk and 105 Speed are useless compared to your 130 Atk mons and 110+ Speed mons. Basically Rapidash is slow in comparison and won't deal damage. It also lacks coverage.

Also in a game where Stealth Rocks are omnipresent, Focus Sash is next to useless. VGC and Doubles are a different story though.
 
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Azulart

Shiny Hunter
Why are we talking about Shedninja and Rapidash?
those are NU mons and Hawlucha is OU according to smogon so why do these mons pop up?

Your not telling me they are being used much in OU right..? sorry to continue this topic, just can't help to wonder.

Anyway, I would like to add aswell that if people want to use Hawlucha in Doubles and want to use Unburden to the fullest, White herb is also an option to directly activate its ability when Intimidate on the opponent's field is present.
 

Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
Anyway, I would like to add aswell that if people want to use Hawlucha in Doubles and want to use Unburden to the fullest, White herb is also an option to directly activate its ability when Intimidate on the opponent's field is present.

Seems to be an alright idea, particularly with Landorus Therian running around a lot back then with VGC15 but due to new rules for VGC16 which spikes up Primal Kyogre/Groudon and Mega Rayquaza usage, it would most likely won't be as effective unless the opponent brings out Salamence (then Mega Evolve it), which probably won't appear as likely as Mega Ray.

To be honest, its 78/75/63 bulk lets it down in Doubles, particularly VGC, combined with slightly below average 92 base Attack, which pretty much requires a Swords Dance boost to achieve its full potential.
 
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BorrelnootjeNL

Active Member
Ah Hawlucha, used it a few times in doubles against my brothers, and on Wi-Fi. Had mixed potential there, but may be depending on my moveset or prediciton skills XD.

Moveset I used:

Tag Switchlucha

Attack, Speed +252; Adamant;
@Power Herb
Unburden

- Ally Switch
- Sky Attack
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick

Either Launch yourself up to speed with Sky Attack and Power Herb to activate your ability, or use Ally Switch when expecting a targeted attack which could be tackeled better by your pal.

After Unburden has triggered, Use Acrobatics and High Jump Kick for great damage, while the latter may be swapped by something as Drain Punch due to the omnipresence of Protect and the like.
 

Azulart

Shiny Hunter
Seems to be an alright idea, particularly with Landorus Therian running around a lot back then with VGC15 but due to new rules for VGC16 which spikes up Primal Kyogre/Groudon and Mega Rayquaza usage, it would most likely won't be as effective unless the opponent brings out Salamence (then Mega Evolve it), which probably won't appear as likely as Mega Ray.

To be honest, its 78/75/63 bulk lets it down in Doubles, particularly VGC, combined with slightly below average 92 base Attack, which pretty much requires a Swords Dance boost to achieve its full potential.

True, I wont recommend it, just an alternative option. Focus sash is the way to go with him in doubles really
 

Rocxidi

The Jim Reaper
Why are we talking about Shedninja and Rapidash?
those are NU mons and Hawlucha is OU according to smogon so why do these mons pop up?

Your not telling me they are being used much in OU right..? sorry to continue this topic, just can't help to wonder.

Anyway, I would like to add aswell that if people want to use Hawlucha in Doubles and want to use Unburden to the fullest, White herb is also an option to directly activate its ability when Intimidate on the opponent's field is present.

Actually Shedinja has appeared several times in OU thanks to Mega Sableye's ability to control hazzards along with Dugtrio's ability to trap lots of its checks and counters. Regardless, Shedinja is irrelevant in this discussion since it gets bopped by any Flying move.
 
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