[SET]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Sacred Fire
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Whirlwind / Brave Bird
move 4: Defog / Brave Bird
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Regenerator
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to the item Heavy-Duty Boots, Ho-Oh has established itself as a staple of the AG metagame. An immunity to Stealth Rock allows it to make full use of its fantastic ability, Regenerator, to switch into a large portion of the metagame. Ho-Oh is very effective at assisting its teammates when coupled with its solid array of support moves. Sacred Fire is an excellent STAB move due to having a high chance of inflicting a burn. Along with Toxic, this prevents a large part of the metagame from using Ho-Oh's presence as an opportunity to switch in. However, this excludes Zygarde-C, Eternatus, Rest Tyranitar, and Refresh Arceus variants. When paired with Regenerator, Toxic allows Ho-Oh to successfully stall out opposing Pokemon in a status war, such as opposing Ho-Oh and most Arceus formes. Additionally, it should be used carefully if your opponent has Mega Gengar. The last two options are more flexible. Defog is an excellent choice on Ho-Oh due to its ability to indefinitely switch in and out with no fear of entry hazards. Ho-Oh also naturally forces out premier hazard setters in Ferrothorn and Necrozma-DM to a lesser extent. Whirlwind phazes out setup sweepers that would try to take advantage of Ho-Oh's reliance on the long-term strategy of beating foes by spreading status. Such sweepers include non-Dynamaxed Xerneas, as well as non-Dragon Tail Zygarde, which can set up for free on non-Whirlwind Ho-Oh. Using Whirlwind is also one of the easiest methods available to stop sleep users, like Shell Smash Smeargle and Quiver Dance Vivillion, from accumulating boosts. Finally, Brave Bird can be used on hazard-stacking teams that don't need Defog support as a spammable STAB move that hits Pokemon like Primal Groudon, Mega Rayquaza, and Primal Kyogre for immediate damage. Brave Bird comes in handy when attempting to break Zygarde-C's Substitute before it uses Dragon Tail. Recover facilitates Toxic stalling and can be used over either Defog or Whirlwind if you don't need one of them. The EV spread maximizes Ho-Oh's physical bulk in order to better pivot into Zacian-C and Zygarde-C, while 52 Special Defense EVs guarantee that Ho-Oh is never OHKOed by +2 Xerneas's Thunder at full HP. If Ho-Oh is running Brave Bird, running 16 Speed EVs is useful to outspeed Adamant Mega Rayquaza after using Max Airstream once and Jolly Zacian-C after using it twice.
Use Ho-Oh as a universal pivot, since it is able to switch into almost every Pokemon in AG that can't hit it super effectively. It can effectively scout for moves, cripple a threat with Toxic or Sacred Fire, remove hazards from the field with Defog, phaze a setup sweeper out with Whirlwind, or just deal damage with Brave Bird. Ho-Oh is almost impossible to OHKO when healthy, which allows fairly reckless play. However, make sure to replenish its health through constant pivoting after tanking a powerful hit, such as Life Orb Mega Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent or Dynamaxed Yveltal's Max Darkness. Ho-Oh must also be wary of powerful Rock-type coverage moves, such as Primal Groudon's Stone Edge, Yveltal's Hidden Power Rock, and Rock Blast from both Necrozma-DM and Ultra Necrozma. Toxic limits Ho-Oh's effectiveness, so try not to let it get poisoned unless it gives you an opportunity to reciprocate with a burn or poison. Common scenarios include two Ho-Oh trading Toxic and Necrozma-DM using Toxic against a Ho-Oh using Sacred Fire. Ho-Oh fits best on balance teams in need of a Regenerator pivot, phazer, and hazard remover. This set is also one of the best options for dealing with support Arceus-Ground, which threatens balance cores that typically include Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Zygarde-C. Ho-Oh also offers some help with wasting the opponent's Dynamax turns by switching into powerful Dynamaxed moves, tanking them, and then pivoting out into a teammate. You can sometimes repeat this cycle twice against, for example, Xerneas's Max Starfall or Mewtwo's Max Flare. Ho-Oh is usually the one supporting its teammates, so it doesn't require much assistance. However, Ho-Oh mandates being paired with checks for Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, since both can OHKO it with Stone Edge and Origin Pulse, respectively. For this reason, Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, and either Primal Groudon or Ferrothorn all serve as solid teammates. Arceus-Water is also a great partner due to it being able to check both of them. Since Ho-Oh tends to force prominent threats such as Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde-C to set up and waste their Dynamax turns in order to break past it, Ditto, Xerneas, and Yveltal are amazing teammates that can reverse sweep with their own Dynamax. Pairing Ho-Oh with Primal Groudon, defensive Necrozma-DM, or better yet, both, is an excellent way to Imposter-proof your team if you are using Zacian-C. This is because Ho-Oh can only be taken out by Ditto's Wild Charge, whereas the other two only fear Ditto's Close Combat. Even though Ho-Oh can force them out with Whirlwind, Rest Zygarde-C and Eternatus fear little from it and can eventually beat it by stalling out PP, so having ways of pressuring them are recommended. Arceus-Ground with Ice Beam is an excellent check to both, and Zacian-C can threaten both and appreciates Ho-Oh covering its weaknesses.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Ktütverde, 286018]]
- Quality checked by: [[bigtalk, 466663], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[lotiasite, 302985]]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Sacred Fire
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Whirlwind / Brave Bird
move 4: Defog / Brave Bird
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Regenerator
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to the item Heavy-Duty Boots, Ho-Oh has established itself as a staple of the AG metagame. An immunity to Stealth Rock allows it to make full use of its fantastic ability, Regenerator, to switch into a large portion of the metagame. Ho-Oh is very effective at assisting its teammates when coupled with its solid array of support moves. Sacred Fire is an excellent STAB move due to having a high chance of inflicting a burn. Along with Toxic, this prevents a large part of the metagame from using Ho-Oh's presence as an opportunity to switch in. However, this excludes Zygarde-C, Eternatus, Rest Tyranitar, and Refresh Arceus variants. When paired with Regenerator, Toxic allows Ho-Oh to successfully stall out opposing Pokemon in a status war, such as opposing Ho-Oh and most Arceus formes. Additionally, it should be used carefully if your opponent has Mega Gengar. The last two options are more flexible. Defog is an excellent choice on Ho-Oh due to its ability to indefinitely switch in and out with no fear of entry hazards. Ho-Oh also naturally forces out premier hazard setters in Ferrothorn and Necrozma-DM to a lesser extent. Whirlwind phazes out setup sweepers that would try to take advantage of Ho-Oh's reliance on the long-term strategy of beating foes by spreading status. Such sweepers include non-Dynamaxed Xerneas, as well as non-Dragon Tail Zygarde, which can set up for free on non-Whirlwind Ho-Oh. Using Whirlwind is also one of the easiest methods available to stop sleep users, like Shell Smash Smeargle and Quiver Dance Vivillion, from accumulating boosts. Finally, Brave Bird can be used on hazard-stacking teams that don't need Defog support as a spammable STAB move that hits Pokemon like Primal Groudon, Mega Rayquaza, and Primal Kyogre for immediate damage. Brave Bird comes in handy when attempting to break Zygarde-C's Substitute before it uses Dragon Tail. Recover facilitates Toxic stalling and can be used over either Defog or Whirlwind if you don't need one of them. The EV spread maximizes Ho-Oh's physical bulk in order to better pivot into Zacian-C and Zygarde-C, while 52 Special Defense EVs guarantee that Ho-Oh is never OHKOed by +2 Xerneas's Thunder at full HP. If Ho-Oh is running Brave Bird, running 16 Speed EVs is useful to outspeed Adamant Mega Rayquaza after using Max Airstream once and Jolly Zacian-C after using it twice.
Use Ho-Oh as a universal pivot, since it is able to switch into almost every Pokemon in AG that can't hit it super effectively. It can effectively scout for moves, cripple a threat with Toxic or Sacred Fire, remove hazards from the field with Defog, phaze a setup sweeper out with Whirlwind, or just deal damage with Brave Bird. Ho-Oh is almost impossible to OHKO when healthy, which allows fairly reckless play. However, make sure to replenish its health through constant pivoting after tanking a powerful hit, such as Life Orb Mega Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent or Dynamaxed Yveltal's Max Darkness. Ho-Oh must also be wary of powerful Rock-type coverage moves, such as Primal Groudon's Stone Edge, Yveltal's Hidden Power Rock, and Rock Blast from both Necrozma-DM and Ultra Necrozma. Toxic limits Ho-Oh's effectiveness, so try not to let it get poisoned unless it gives you an opportunity to reciprocate with a burn or poison. Common scenarios include two Ho-Oh trading Toxic and Necrozma-DM using Toxic against a Ho-Oh using Sacred Fire. Ho-Oh fits best on balance teams in need of a Regenerator pivot, phazer, and hazard remover. This set is also one of the best options for dealing with support Arceus-Ground, which threatens balance cores that typically include Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Zygarde-C. Ho-Oh also offers some help with wasting the opponent's Dynamax turns by switching into powerful Dynamaxed moves, tanking them, and then pivoting out into a teammate. You can sometimes repeat this cycle twice against, for example, Xerneas's Max Starfall or Mewtwo's Max Flare. Ho-Oh is usually the one supporting its teammates, so it doesn't require much assistance. However, Ho-Oh mandates being paired with checks for Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, since both can OHKO it with Stone Edge and Origin Pulse, respectively. For this reason, Zygarde-C, Arceus-Ground, and either Primal Groudon or Ferrothorn all serve as solid teammates. Arceus-Water is also a great partner due to it being able to check both of them. Since Ho-Oh tends to force prominent threats such as Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde-C to set up and waste their Dynamax turns in order to break past it, Ditto, Xerneas, and Yveltal are amazing teammates that can reverse sweep with their own Dynamax. Pairing Ho-Oh with Primal Groudon, defensive Necrozma-DM, or better yet, both, is an excellent way to Imposter-proof your team if you are using Zacian-C. This is because Ho-Oh can only be taken out by Ditto's Wild Charge, whereas the other two only fear Ditto's Close Combat. Even though Ho-Oh can force them out with Whirlwind, Rest Zygarde-C and Eternatus fear little from it and can eventually beat it by stalling out PP, so having ways of pressuring them are recommended. Arceus-Ground with Ice Beam is an excellent check to both, and Zacian-C can threaten both and appreciates Ho-Oh covering its weaknesses.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Ktütverde, 286018]]
- Quality checked by: [[bigtalk, 466663], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[lotiasite, 302985]]
Last edited: