Pokémon Iron Hands

[Jaspie]

Iron Hands

One of the new Paradox Pokémon exclusive to Violet. Boasting a huge HP and Attack stat with an incredible STAB combo in Electric and Fighting. This will likely be an offensive staple and/or a defensive powerhouse throughout this generation.

Stats:
HP: 154
Attack: 140
Defence: 108
Sp Attack: 50
Sp Defence: 68
Speed: 50

Here is a set I have been using so far in OU:
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Fake Out
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake

Fake Out really helps to make up for the lack of speed, a +3 priority move to chip down opponents and possibly gain that little more damage via status conditions already applied by its teammates. Drain Punch is great for recovering small chunks of health and forcing out threats such as Cyclizar and Meowscarada, which may be faster but will simply supply health if they opt to stay in. Running AV helps Iron Hands take bullying from huge special threats like Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, Chi-Yu and Iron Moth (See calculations below). Tera Type Flying is to help it take on opposing Ground types like Great Tusk and Iron Treads, making you immune to all Ground moves and dealing rather well with Fighting and Steel STABs to return damage, forcing them out; on the contrary, flying can make you weak to their Rock type coverage of Stone Edge and Rock Slide, Tera Type Grass is an alternative as you still resist Ground and being a physical wall will allow you to accomplish the same job!

252+ SpA Choice Specs Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 354-416 (78.8 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Iron Hands Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Flutter Mane: 229-271 (91.2 - 107.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Flutter Mane is now a banned threat, which simply makes Iron Hands an even stronger presence
———
252+ SpA Choice Specs Iron Bundle Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 128-151 (28.5 - 33.6%) -- 39.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Iron Hands Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Bundle: 254-302 (100.3 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
———
252 SpA Choice Specs Chi-Yu Overheat vs. -1 0 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 331-390 (73.7 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(Beads of Ruin is not coded into the calculator)
252+ Atk Iron Hands Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chi-Yu: 306-360 (121.9 - 143.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Iron Hands Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chi-Yu: 342-404 (136.2 - 160.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
———
252+ SpA Choice Specs Iron Moth Overheat vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 247-292 (55 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Iron Moth Psychic vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 230-272 (51.2 - 60.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Iron Hands Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Moth: 768-904 (255.1 - 300.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I hope these cases help to show the strength of Iron Hands! Any suggestions or additions to this please add below and I will try to answer any queries.

Manchester Magneton out!

 

[TheDraugr]

I've been using Iron Hands for the past few days and I love it! Here is the set I've been running:

Iron Hands @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Punch
- Whirlwind

Whirlwind is nice as Shed Tail is running rampant and the availability of spikes. Volt switch is cool in general. Dual STABs for obvious reasons. Tera Fighting comes in clutch as there are times where Electric typing is a liability as Earthquake is quite common and CC hits for even more damage. Max Defense is for Mega Weavile and Roaring Moon. I haven't had issues with special bulk.

I would amend the AV set to include Volt Switch.

 

[Jaspie]

I've been using Iron Hands for the past few days and I love it! Here is the set I've been running:

Iron Hands @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Punch
- Whirlwind

Whirlwind is nice as Shed Tail is running rampant and the availability of spikes. Volt switch is cool in general. Dual STABs for obvious reasons. Tera Fighting comes in clutch as there are times where Electric typing is a liability as Earthquake is quite common and CC hits for even more damage. Max Defense is for Mega Weavile and Roaring Moon. I haven't had issues with special bulk.

I would amend the AV set to include Volt Switch.

Volt Switch will always be a great option, I opted not to run it since Iron Hands risks alot of it's bulk due to it's low speed tier, though it is extremely useful to sponge a hit to get a more frail sweeper in! I love Whirlwind here for the same reason as you, phasing is super good since HO and setup sweepers like Palafin-Hero are rampant. Love this set!

 

[Gekokeso]

Volt Switch will always be a great option, I opted not to run it since Iron Hands risks alot of it's bulk due to it's low speed tier, though it is extremely useful to sponge a hit to get a more frail sweeper in! I love Whirlwind here for the same reason as you, phasing is super good since HO and setup sweepers like Palafin-Hero are rampant. Love this set!

Volt switch, even if weak and uninvested, is still a great pivoting option, even better thanks to Iron Hands' low speed making it a slow pivot that enables other stuff to come in easily.

Nothing much to add other than this Mon is stupid bulky. My max hp Iron Hands lived a Magearna Fleur cannon without SPD or assault vest so I think purely defensive investment Assault Vest sets can be a really good pivot.

 

[Xenavar]

On the AV set, wouln't you want to max SDef instead of HP? Generally you want to max the lowest stat, hp being gargantuan and sdef being abysmal.

And also, with Assault Vest, every point of investment in SDef is worth 1.5x more. Running some calcs, the difference in boost that you get in both defenses combined (added together) when investing purely SDef instead of HP is higher.

But I can see if the point is to be more bulky on the physical side. I think both spreads should be slashed together.

 

[furyofyuriy]

The more I use this thing, the greater I appreciate Tera Type fighting with Drain Punch. Even though Close combat does more damage, I find in most cases the increased healing usually lets me get off one more attack before it goes down, outvaluing Close Combat.

 

[Karxrida]

Love this thing.

Like Xenavar said, unless you're trying to hit some sort of specific benchmark for taking physical hits, investing in Special Defense over HP might be more EV efficient for the AV set since Iron Hands has such a high HP stat.

252 SpA Mew Psychic vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 111-132 (21.7 - 25.8%) -- 2% chance to 4HKO

252 SpA Mew Psychic vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 84-99 (18.7 - 22%) -- possible 5HKO

Probably don't need full SpD investment, though, and you can dump some excess points into Def.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

This pokemon is a absolute tank. Can take most physical hits like nothing and has outstanding Attack. Checks many powerful threats such as King Gambit, Chien-Pao, Scizor and Baxcalibur. Also can break though many common stall cores. It's weakness to Earthquake hampers It's effectiveness a bit but still a beast

 

[McGrrr]

There is a cluster of significant Mons that try to creep Corviknight's speed tier (Kingambit, Azumarill, Scizor, Pelipper) so I think there is a lot of merit in running ~173 speed on Iron Hands, especially because it threatens all of them. I would recommend AV with Adamant / 252 Att / 112 SpD / 144 Spe to other people, but actually use 104 SpD / 152 Spe

 

[Karxrida]

There is a cluster of significant Mons that try to creep Corviknight's speed tier (Kingambit, Azumarill, Scizor, Pelipper) so I think there is a lot of merit in running ~173 speed on Iron Hands, especially because it threatens all of them. I would recommend AV with Adamant / 252 Att / 112 SpD / 144 Spe to other people, but actually use 104 SpD / 152 Spe

I personally don't think it's necessary. Kingambit already loses to Iron Hands, while Azumarill will win the Speed creep war due to a higher base stat and OHKOs if you don't Tera (requires chip but not unreasonable). You do clap Scizor and Pelliper, but Scizor will probably hard switch depending on the situation and I'd hope someone running Pelliper would try to preserve it.

 

[McGrrr]

I personally don't think it's necessary. Kingambit already loses to Iron Hands, while Azumarill will win the Speed creep war due to a higher base stat and OHKOs if you don't Tera (requires chip but not unreasonable). You do clap Scizor and Pelliper, but Scizor will probably hard switch depending on the situation and I'd hope someone running Pelliper would try to preserve it.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, because all of the standard/expected EV spreads for the listed Pokemon run 166-172 speed, while Hands is expected to be min speed, especially without Leftovers. I facetiously "recommended" 172 speed, but claimed that I'd actually run 174. There's no speed creep war because all those mons need to invest in bulk to perform their roles. Besides, it's a much less significant loss for Hands to run even 176 than for e.g. Azumarill to sacrifice more HP.

Anyway, it's not about whether Kingambit is already a favourable match up or not; it's about being surprisingly faster and avoiding a hit, which is important vs last mon Kingambit e.g. if your opponent's only remaining win con is Iron Head flinch.

 

[Flarowak]

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, because all of the standard/expected EV spreads for the listed Pokemon run 166-172 speed, while Hands is expected to be min speed, especially without Leftovers. I facetiously "recommended" 172 speed, but claimed that I'd actually run 174. There's no speed creep war because all those mons need to invest in bulk to perform their roles. Besides, it's a much less significant loss for Hands to run even 176 than for e.g. Azumarill to sacrifice more HP.

Anyway, it's not about whether Kingambit is already a favourable match up or not; it's about being surprisingly faster and avoiding a hit, which is important vs last mon Kingambit e.g. if your opponent's only remaining win con is Iron Head flinch.

Kingambit is just a bad example because hands isn't even a check it's a full on counter unless it happens to have the rare tera blast flying or fairy. (It is an option, but most gambits aren't gonna like having to get +4 before being able to handle garg.) I don't think a whole lot of speed is really necessary for a mon that can eat as much as hands does. You aren't staying in on most of the stuff that's doing major damage to you anyway. Scizor and pelliper know that they aren't winning that war and more times than not are deucing. Azu is really the big reason to do it, but I'm not sure it's worth losing all that bulk just for azu. There's six mons on a team for a reason. Pick an azu counter and go to it. Also, I'm not against putting in the speed lemme say that too, it's still an option. Just don't think it's optimal.

 

[Karxrida]

Besides, King needs to be at +2 with 5 dead teammates to potentially win.

+2 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Hands: 207-244 (46.1 - 54.3%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO

If you're that concerned about flinch hax, I'd rather use a fast Dark resist than comprise Hand's bulk. Or burn King with Rotom-W or something.

 

[McGrrr]

Kingambit is just a bad example because hands isn't even a check it's a full on counter unless it happens to have the rare tera blast flying or fairy... Just don't think it's optimal.

Of course Kingambit is a bad example, which is precisely why I addressed it i.e. in the most extreme case where the other guy was trying to invalidate the suggestion, the speed EVs provide non-zero utility. I agree with your point that it's likely generally sub-optimal, but my point is that there's a lot of merit to creep that cluster of 5 popular mons who typically expect to be faster than Iron Hands i.e. there are builds where speed investment is arguably/demonstrably optimal.

Look, I'll spell it out for you; Corv/Pelipper/Scizor can't U-Turn for free chip/momentum, nor can they finish off a near dead Hands, Corv can't last ditch Defog before dying, Kingambit has zero win cons, at least we all agree that Azumarill cries.

Besides, King needs to be at +2 with 5 dead teammates to potentially win.

+2 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Hands: 207-244 (46.1 - 54.3%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO

If you're that concerned about flinch hax, I'd rather use a fast Dark resist than comprise Hand's bulk. Or burn King with Rotom-W or something.

This isn't my argument. See above; I responded to your choice of picking the worst match up example to demonstrate that running speed isn't worthless. Besides, any reasonable amount of battling experience will make you realise that +2 last mon Kingambit isn't uncommon at all; I mean, it's notorious for precisely this endgame.

 

[Flarowak]

Of course Kingambit is a bad example, which is precisely why I addressed it i.e. in the most extreme case where the other guy was trying to invalidate the suggestion, the speed EVs provide non-zero utility. I agree with your point that it's likely generally sub-optimal, but my point is that there's a lot of merit to creep that cluster of 5 popular mons who typically expect to be faster than Iron Hands i.e. there are builds where speed investment is arguably/demonstrably optimal.

Look, I'll spell it out for you; Corv/Pelipper/Scizor can't U-Turn for free chip/momentum, nor can they finish off a near dead Hands, Corv can't last ditch Defog before dying, Kingambit has zero win cons, at least we all agree that Azumarill cries.



This isn't my argument. See above; I responded to your choice of picking the worst match up example to demonstrate that running speed isn't worthless. Besides, any reasonable amount of battling experience will make you realise that +2 last mon Kingambit isn't uncommon at all; I mean, it's notorious for precisely this endgame.

I'm not saying the speed isn't an option I can acknowledge the mons you're wanting to outgun are worth it for if you need it, but those mons are just as easily handled by the bulky variant, or you can just pair it with something like rotom if you don't want to eat the damage. Again, this isn't to say the speed isn't a viable option. If it works for you run that joints.

 

[Venduria]

I think if you're running speed EVs 167 Spe is probably where I'd stop. Outspeeding Corviknight seems nice in theory but in practice being slower means you can slow Volt Switch on it or Drain Punch on Roost, which is pretty cool. Iron Hands also needs to run a TON of EVs out of HP to get to that threshold, so it can be tough to justify throwing away that much bulk to outspeed something you don't really need to. I think outspeeding Orthworm and Pelipper is worthwhile though.

Iron Hands @ Leftovers / Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe OR 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Volt Switch / Fire Punch / Earthquake

This is what I currently run. Tera Steel Heavy Slam lures Iron Valiant specifically which is seemingly every 2 or 3 matches. Last slot is for whatever your team wants, like slow Volt Switch on a predicted Amoongus switch in (which most Iron Hands hate facing), Fire Punch is to hit Grass types and Gholdengo, Earthquake is for Skeledirge/Gholdengo.

EDIT
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1777384308 Shows what Iron Hands can do, Tera Steel also does wonders against Espartha. KOs on Espartha, Grafaiai, and Toxapex with some Wish support.

 

[fly casanova]

Iron Hands @ Leftovers / Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe OR 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Volt Switch / Fire Punch / Earthquake

What moves/mons do you find yourself switching into most?

with chien essentially forcing a dedicated ice and dedicated dark answer on every team, curious if hands reliably helps with the latter

 

[Venduria]

What moves/mons do you find yourself switching into most?

with chien essentially forcing a dedicated ice and dedicated dark answer on every team, curious if hands reliably helps with the latter

You can switch into Chien Pao with Iron Hands and win barring Icicle Crash flinch. Its my current check into it at least. Iron Hands is usually pretty free into mons like Corviknight and other weaker resisted moves, and when it gets in it usually can take a mon down.

Also EQ has been very helpful into Clodsire for me, which otherwise can be annoying with Toxic and its own EQ. It thinks its safe into Iron Hands STABs then gets cleanly 2HKOd with Earthquake. I see a lot of teams running some combination of Skeledirge/Clodsire/Gholdengo and EQ is VERY good into them since they all think they can switch in safely.