[OVERVIEW]
Hariyama is the premier Knock Off user of ADV OU, being more reliable defensively than other frail Knock Off users like Armaldo and Alakazam. Knock Off is Hariyama's biggest selling point because it's a a way to punish sand weak Pokemon that rely on Leftovers to survive in sand, but it's also useful at denying recovery from sand immune Pokemon that abuse Leftovers in sand, finally it can also get rid of a Choice Band or a boosting Berry from a powerful sweeper reducing drastically its offensive potential. Its Fighting type also allows it to fit defensively on teams as a Rock-type check.
Hariyama typically runs a defensive set mainly focused on knocking off Leftovers from the opposing Pokemon, but sometimes it runs a more offenisive set that can threaten immediate damage thanks to its high Attack stat and the powerful coverage provided by Focus Punch, Rock Slide and Hidden Power Bug. For this versatility Hariyama is really hard to switch into due to the threat of Knock Off from the defensive set or a powerful Focus Punch from the offensive set. Additionally, Hariyama has access to two great abilities: Guts to absorb status from the likes of Blissey, Gengar, Porygon2, and Thick Fat to tank Special and Mixed attackers that rely on Fire and Ice-type coverage.
Stat wise, Hariyama is the bulkiest Fighting-type in ADV due to its very high base HP stat that allows it to take little damage when switching into Seismic Toss from Blissey, additionally, due to its good bulk and not being 4x weak to Aerial Ace Hariyama is not terribly afraid of being trapped by Dugtrio. However, its 50 base Speed stat means it’s the slowest of all fully evolved fighters so it really doesn't have any chance at sweeping without extreme paralysis support, additionally, it's low Defense and Special Defense stat means it has a difficult time in choosing between putting EVs in bulk in both areas or pumping out its Attack stat.
[SET]
name: Defensive Knock Off
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Brick Break
move 3: Rest / Hp Bug
move 4: Whirlwind / Hp Bug
item: Leftovers
ability: Thick Fat / Guts
nature: Impish
evs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Defensive Hariyama is excellent at forcing progress against bulky balance and stall teams thanks to Knock Off, additionally, it's a good check to Tyranitar thanks to its Rock resisting typing and its good bulk, and it is also a decent check to Snorlax thanks to its ability to threaten it with Brick Break or phaze it with Whirlwind. However, its weakness to sand and lack of a form of instant recovery means that Hariyama is prone to being worn down with repeated attacks and its good but not great defenses are exposed when taking big hits from a Choice Band Tyranitar or a +1 Attack Snorlax.
Knock Off is what makes Hariyama really hard to switch into because usual checks like Gengar, Celebi, Starmie, Gyarados, Salamence, Zapdos and Moltres really hate losing Leftovers due to their weakness to sand, while sand immune checks like Swampert, Claydol, Flygon, Metagross, Forretress and Skarmory, still dislike losing their only form of recovery. Brick Break is the STAB attack of choice because it OHKOes bulkless Tyranitar and max HP Tyranitar after a Spike, additionally, it can pressure Blissey and Snorlax decently while having higher PP and better accuracy than Cross Chop. Rest is useful to shrug off status moves like Toxic and Will-O-Wisp and generally helps in boosting Hariyama's longevity. Whirlwind can phaze boosting threats like Curse Snorlax and Calm Mind Suicune, as well as racking up damage on the opposing team with Spikes up.
Thick Fat is generally the preferred ability over Guts because it allows defensive Hariyama to check mixed Tyranitar and Fire Blast + Ice beam Blissey. An Impish nature with maximum Defense investment allows it to check non Choice Band physical Tyranitar and switch into Snorlax a few times without being forced to use Rest, while the Special Defense investment allows it to take a hit from special attackers in order to Knock Off, additionally the Special Defense helps in being a more reliable Phazer to Calm Mind users such as Suicune.
Team Options
========
Defensive Knock Off Hariyama is generally found on Stall and Balance teams and it's exceptionally good at forcing progress vs other Stall and Balance teams. Despite it being a Rock resisting Tyranitar switchin it cannot completely fullfill the role of Physical check by itself due to it being weak to Metagross and Salamence, for this reason it is always paired with a bulky Water type like Milotic, Suicune, Swampert or Starmie. Defensive Hariyama's passivity often invites strong special attackers like Zapdos, therefore a sturdy special wall like Blissey, Celebi or Jirachi is a common partner. A very common pairing with Hariyama is a spinner to have better insurance against Spikes: Forretress and Claydol do a fine job, but even more common is defensive Starmie because it can check Salamence and Metagross and can also provide paralisys support with Thunder-Wave which allows Hariyama to shine against faster threats.
In order to abuse the power of Knock Off to the fullest it is recommanded to pair Hariyama with Tyranitar to make sure the sand will slowly chip all the non Rock, Steel and Ground-types that are missing Leftovers; however, Hariyama can be effective even outside of sand with Knock Off's ability to negate recovery and it having an increased longevity due to not taking sand chip. Stall teams featuring defensive Hariyama often have a Spiker like Skarmory, Forretress or less commonly Cloyster in order to pile up the residual damage of sand and Spikes with the effectiveness of Knock Off at negating Leftovers recovery; additionally, Forretress and Cloyster deserve a special mention as they can also act as spinners with dedicated Pursuit Support from Tyranitar or Umbreon. Defensive Hariyama on stall really enjoys Wish support from the likes of Blissey, Jirachi or Vaporeon, additionally it enjoys Leech Seed support from Celebi or Venusaur as well as paralisys support from Thunder-Wave users like Blissey, Starmie and Zapdos or Body Slam users like Jirachi and Snorlax.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Cross Chop / Brick Break
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Knock Off / Rock Slide
move 4: HP Bug / HP Ghost / Whirlwind
item: Leftovers
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 228 Def / 28 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Offensive Hariyama gives up the longevity of the defensive set for more offensive coverage and two stronger STAB fighting moves in Cross Chop and Focus Punch. Cross Chop is a very powerful move coming from Hariyama's max invested Attack stat, it makes up for it's low accuracy with a high critical hit ratio that helps in breaking past Salamance and Gyarados's Intimidate as well as the Defense boosts of Curse Snorlax. Focus Punch is an even more powerful and accurate move that can be used somewhat safely when expecting a switch from Pokemon that are threatened by Cross Chop such as Blissey, Snorlax, Porygon2 and Tyranitar, additionally it can be used against sleeping threats like Snorlax or Suicune when they are going through their Rest cycles. Knock Off is still very useful on offensive Hariyama as it allows it to severely cripple Gengar who otherwise would be a pain to wear down, additionally it cripples hard to break defensive walls like Rest Suicune, Rest Zapdos and Wish Jirachi. Alternatively, Rock Slide can be used instead to cover Flying types like Zapdos, Moltres, Salamence and Gyarados and to slightly chip Gengar. In the fourth slot Hidden Power Bug is the most common choice as it allows Hariyama to punish Psychic types like Celebi, Starmie and Claydol; alternatively, Hidden Power Ghost can be used instead to deal the most damage to Gengar despite losing some damage against Celebi compared to Hidden Power Bug. Whirlwind is an alternative fourth slot that is useful to phaze grounded switch-ins like Celebi while racking up Spikes damage.
Guts is considered the best ability on offensive Hariyama as Thick Fat is not as useful without the Special Defense investment, meanwhile, when Guts is increasing the already maxed out Attack stat of offensive Hariyama the results can be devastating. Additionally, Guts makes Hariyama an even better switch-in to Blissey and Porygon2 for the ability to not fear their status moves and also prevents Gengar from crippling it with Will-O-Wisp. Max Attack investment is mandatory to make sure that Hariyama is hitting as hard as possible, meanwhile, the Defense investment is helpful for the ability to switch into Physical Tyranitar and Snorlax, while the small Speed investment is to outspeed Relaxed Swampert and -0 Speed Tyranitar, however, more Speed can be invested to outspeed 0 Speed Blissey, 0 speed Tyranitar and even standard specially defensive Skarmory at the cost of a lower Defense stat.
Team Options
========
Offensive Hariyama is featured on more aggressive offense and balance teams that are looking to conquer the initiative rather than stalling the game out. This means that usual defensive Hariyama partners like Blissey, Skarmory and Forretress are no longer common here, however, some other parners like defensive Starmie, Leech Seed Celebi and Wish Jirachi are still very common. A different partner that is commonly seen with offensive Hariyama is Porygon2, not only it makes the team better against Dugtrio but it also checks the Dragon Dance users Salamence and Gyarados that often setup on Hariyama, additionally, it provides paralysis support for the team with Thunder-Wave. Another partner worth mentioning is offensive Zapdos with Thunder-wave and Baton Pass: first Zapdos can pivot on the Flying attacks from Salamence and Gyarados that threaten Hariyama, second it can procede to paralyse them or use Baton Pass to catch the switch to Blissey or Snorlax, therefore letting Hariyama in safely. Pursuit Tyranitar is also a common partner because it makes defensive Starmie's life easier at spinning against Gengar which is especially useful if Hariyama isn't packing Knock Off or Hidden Power Ghost.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Bulk Up Hariyama is a terrifying sweeper against bulky stall teams with the help of paralisys support, however it is worth noting that Machamp can do the same job just as well if not better due to its higher Speed and Attack stat. Counter can be an interesting surprise move on Hariyama that is useful when facing strong physical attackers like Metagross, Heracross or Aerodactyl, however, it is quite prediction reliant and only works if Hariyama is at full health. Belly Drum Hariyama is the final gimmick that is worth mentioning, while it can sweep some slow teams combined with Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos or extreme paralysis support, it is generally considered very inconsistent and not worth trying.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types **: Salamence and Gyarados can switch into Hariyama's attacks thanks to Intimidate and their Fighting resisting type, meanwhile they can hit Hariyama back with a super-effective Hidden Power Flying, but they hate to lose their item to Knock Off and they don't love to switch into Rock Slide. Other Flying-types without Intimidate like Zapdos and Moltres simply have a hard time switching into Focus Punch in sand, meanwhile Skarmory is even worse at switching into attacks as it doesn't even resist Fighting although it doesn't mind losing Leftovers too much due to its sand immunity.
**Gengar **: Gengar hates to lose Leftovers to Knock Off but it can be a good pivot into Fighting-type attacks and shurgs off most other attacks barring Hidden Power Ghost; however Gengar struggles to meaningfully threaten Hariyama as Will-O-Wisp is negated by Guts and its attacks bar Explosion do very little damage.
**Psychic-types **: Celebi and bulky Starmie can switch into Fighting-type attacks all day and Recover off the damage taken while threatening Hariyama with a STAB Psychic, however, they hate to lose their item to Knock Off and they are also weak to coverage moves like Hidden power Bug and Hidden Power Ghost.
**Heracross**: Heracross resists Fighting-type attacks and threatens Hariyama back with its powerful Megahorn, despite it not being a long term solution sometimes is the best answer to Hariyama a team can offer.
**Revenge killers**: Aerodactyl, Metagross, Jirachi with Psychic and offensive Starmie all hate to switch into Hariyama's attacks but they can do a decent job at revenge killing it if they are at full HP.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[mikmer, ]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
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