Haxorus: That Nigga with the Blades on His Face
Overview
Ah, yes, Haxorus, an interesting case of a Pokemon. Its high attack, access to Dragon Dance and Swords Dance, two excellent boosting options, a useful ability in Mold Breaker, and a decent movepool with a few viable options, all paint Haxorus as a fearsome wallbreaker. Although Haxorus does have access to Dragon Dance, I find Swords Dance to be the superior option in most instances to break through stall and bulkier teams much easier, and Swords Dance + Mold Breaker separates Haxorus from its heavy competition, which includes Mega Charizard X, Garchomp, Dragonite, and Mega Altaria. Swords Dance + Mold Breaker allows Haxorus to easily punish Unaware users like Quagsire and Clefable and Mega Sableye's Magic Bounce, allowing Haxorus to deal maximum damage with its boosted attacks and use Taunt, respectively, against these targets, shutting down these pathways to stop Haxorus from demolishing their team.
What moves does/can it use?
Haxorus @ Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Taunt / Poison Jab
This set is pretty straight forward. Basically get of things that can wall / revenge kill Haxorus, like Skarmory and Mega Diancie, respectively, and go to town. Since I recommended using Swords Dance, that's what this set utilizes over Dragon Dance, even though Dragon Dance is still usable (a bit outclassed though). Your choice of Dragon STAB depends on the item choice and your boldness as a player. Outrage + Lum Berry is a nice combo, as Lum Berry snaps you out of confusion and aids in setting up on status users, like Quagsire. If you
are a pussy prefer the reliability of Dragon Claw, then Life Orb is the recommended item to make for the pretty big loss in power. Earthquake is there to provide coverage for Steel-types, like Jirachi, and Heatran, although Superpower is also usable to smash Skarmory and Air Balloon users. The move choice in the final slot are both solid but accomplish different goals. Taunt allows Haxorus to set up vs. status users, phazers, and set up sweepers, allowing Haxorus to become an even better stallbreaker. Poison Jab allows Haxorus to have super effective coverage against Fairies, like Clefable and Togekiss, and provide a heavier against Tangrowth without locking yourself into Outrage. Another viable move is Substitute, which protect Haxorus from revenge killing and status. Lum Berry protects Haxorus from status, while Life Orb grants a huge power boost. Roseli, Yache, and Haban Berries help Haxorus survive attacks from Fairies, Ice types, and Dragon types, respecively. Leftovers can be used with Substitute to provide a source from recovery, a useful function while setting up and taking chip damage from Substitute and hazards. A Jolly nature is usable to outspeed Naive Kyurem, but its mediocre speed tier makes this less useful.
What are some good teammates?
Magnezone and Magneton are wonderful teammates for Haxorus, getting rid of Skarmory for the beast, creating a DragMag core. Keldeo checks Ice types, like Weavile, and appreciates the elimination and weakening of Grass, Water, and Fairy types. LandoT provides a slow U-Turn, Stealth Rock, and spreads Intimidates, allowing Haxorus to set up easier. Other Dragon types, like Mega Altaria and Dragonite, combine with Haxorus to create a DragMag team, weakening each other's checks to overwhelm the opponent's team.
What are Haxorus's faults?
Its poor bulk allows the opponent to KO Haxorus without too much effort. Its awkward base 97 speed falls short of the crowded base 100 speed tier, leaving it outsped by Mega Gardevoir, Mega Charizard X, and Mega Medicham. Ice types, like Weavile and Mamoswine, can revenge kill Hax with their powerful Ice Shards. Fairies, like Mega Diancie and Togekiss, its poor bulk. They must be wary of Earthquake and Poison Jab, however. Revenge killers can stop a Haxorus sweep early due to Haxorus's frailty and awkward 97 speed tier. Even with Taunt and Lum Berry, status is still a major thorn in Haxorus's side, as they reduce its offensive potential.
Wrap-Up
While Haxorus does have some crippling flaws, Haxorus's positive qualities allow it to become a legitimate threat to slower, bulkier teams and makes you look like you want to have fun unlike like the tryhards spamming Specs Keldeo and TWave Clefable on the ladder, and actually try it out before you say it's ass.
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