Blaziken
04-13-2008, 08:45 PM
I've just got a small quesion you, do you care about the stats that are usually shown at the end of a POTW?
Hippowdon
Hippowdon is arguably one of the best physical walls in the standard OU game if not the best. Boasting a ton of defense and hp, Hippowdon can basically wall almost any physical attack. With it’s ability Sandstream, Hippowdon is also used as another Sandstorm starter other than Tyranitar. However Hippowdon is used mainly as a physical wall and it has great potential as one. Just remember most of the following sets are basically novelty ones and Hippowdon’s forte is physical walling.
Physical Wall
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Attacks:
Earthquake
Slack Off
Roar/ Stealth Rock/ Ice Fang
Roar/ Stealth Rock/ Ice Fang
When you’ve got a pokemon with an 108 base HP stat and an 118 base defence stat, it’s no wonder why Hippowdon is such a great physical wall. Another reason why Hippowdon is such a great wall is because of Slack Off, an instant recovery move. Hippowdon also makes a good Phazer so Roar is a good choice but it’s also a wonderful Stealth Rock setter making that a good choice as well. In saying that, Hippowdon is about one of the only pokemon who can stand up to dragons who can use physical movesets like Garchomp and Salamence so Ice Fang does some pretty good damage here. Just be careful that you’re absolutely sure it’s completely physical because Hippowdon doesn’t have the greatest of all special defence. Nevertheless Hippowdon was built for walling physical attacks and that it does well. It’s a great addition for any Sandstorm team.
Rating: 9.5/10
Staller
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish/ Careful
Attacks:
Stockpile
Toxic
Slack Off
Earthquake/ Roar
Unfortunately, Hippowdon doesn’t make that great of a stalling pokemon in this way. Stockpile in the 4th generation raises both your defenses like Cosmic Power so Hippowdon will gain some survivability with Toxic saps health from your opponent. Slack recovers any lost hp while Earthquake is for steel and poison pokemon while Roar forces away those who resist both Toxic and Earthquake. However this set is easy walled and then phased by many pokemon so it isn’t really that great of a choice to use this set.
Rating: 6/10
Choice Band
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Ice Fang
Crunch/ Fire Fang
It’s actually quite hard to ignore Hippowdon’s attack stat of 112 base meaning that a Choice Band set was possible. However there are pokemon who can pull this off better, pokemon who have a higher attack and a bit more speed. Nevertheless Hippowdon still makes a decent physical attacking pokemon and definitely has the movepool to pull it off. Earthquake for STAB power and Stone Edge for Gyarados and Salamence. Ice Fang for dragons while it’s last move is for more coverage.
Rating: 7.5/10
Curser/ Tank
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Earthquake
Stone Edge/ Fire Fang/ Ice Fang
Curse
Slack Off
Again Hippowdon isn’t the best user of this kind of set however it does have Slack Off to recover lost health without having to go to sleep. Curse as much as you can then do your best to sweep. However because of Hippowdon’s poor special defence, pokemon like Starmie can easily come in an wash away all your efforts to set up a sweep. However this set can be quite devastating for late game but then again, pokemon like Swampert can pull this off better.
Rating: 7.5/10
Physical Sweeper
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Earthquake
Slack Off
Ice Fang
Fire Fang/ Stone Edge
I don’t know why I keep making these novelty sets for Hippowdon but this will be the last one. With Slack Off to recover health lost through Life Orb, Hippowdon can keep on sweeping for longer. Just choose your moves and sweep. Basically the same as before except with Life Orb. Remember to recover health, even when you don’t think you need to because damage from Life Orb can really add up if you’re not paying attention.
Rating: 7.5/10
Contests
Contest Type: Tough
Moves:
Stockpile
Stone Edge
Water Pulse
Protect
It’s the basic Swords Dance set again with Stockpile this time acting as Swords Dance. Use it then choose a move that will hopefully earn you 8 hearts. Before anyone asks me why I didn’t put in Earthquake or Crunch, which are two perfectly useable moves, Water Pulse replaced them. When using Stockpile, you’ll almost always be going first so Water Pulse is good here. Stone Edge can be used anywhere while Protect is basically another filler move. There are already two tough moves there and that’s as many as you should have. Three means that you might make a horrible mistake can give someone else voltage points and when you’re in the appeal stage, since it’ quite low scoring, giving your opponent voltage points can be disastrous. Basically what I’m saying is that there’s really no need for Crunch or Earthquake.
Rating: 9.5/10
Type:
Hippowdon is a pure ground pokemon so a powerful special attack can take it out. In saying that, any powerful volley of special attacks like repeated Dragon Pulse attacks from Salamence will mean trouble for Hippowdon. It’s quite disappointing that Hippowdon isn’t a rock type before automatically, it’ll receive a x1.5 boost to its special defence. This makes Hippowdon a target especially for mixed sweepers like Infernape and Salamence, despite both not being able to resist Sandstream. This brings me to another downside about Hippowdon. Despite being an awesome physical wall, Hippowdon’s Sandstream ability is pretty much the main thing that’s keeping it out of many sides. Sandstream starts up a permanent Sandstorm and previously only Tyranitar had this ability. Sandstorm basically neutralizes Leftovers making walls like Blissey and Cresselia more vulnerable to being knocked out. Also it’s not very handy to take Sandstorm damage each turn if you’re a Choice Bander who’s not immune to it like Heracross. As mentioned before, Hippowdon is a great starter of Sandstorm however it often finds itself completing with Tyranitar for a spot in Sandstorm teams. This is mainly because Tyranitar can easily sweep sides with that extra x1.5 boost to its special defence while Hippowdon tries to wall things without it. The lack of an extremely powerful physical attack besides Earthquake hurts Hippowdon, making Tyranitar a choice over Hippowdon for some people. Also Hippowdon isn’t immune to Spikes unlike Skarmory or Gliscor who are also physical walls. Pokemon such as Gyarados can come in to a physical walling Hippowdon, Taunt it and set up Dragon Dance. Cresselia can also set up with something however without Taunt, it does get blow away. Bronzong can Grass Knot it while Swampert can take Hippowdon’s Earthquake easily and respond with Hydro Pump. Basically any pokemon with and decent special attack stat and attack can penetrate through Hippowdon. Taunt is also a good idea.
Ability- Sandstream:
Sandstream basically starts up a permanent sandstorm and is because of this ability are some teams based off Sandstorm. However many people think that Tyranitar does it better, mainly because it keeps people guessing how it’s going to try and sweep. This has also been the problem that’s keeping Hippowdon away from some teams.
Overall Rating for Hippowdon: 9/10
Hippowdon
Hippowdon is arguably one of the best physical walls in the standard OU game if not the best. Boasting a ton of defense and hp, Hippowdon can basically wall almost any physical attack. With it’s ability Sandstream, Hippowdon is also used as another Sandstorm starter other than Tyranitar. However Hippowdon is used mainly as a physical wall and it has great potential as one. Just remember most of the following sets are basically novelty ones and Hippowdon’s forte is physical walling.
Physical Wall
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Attacks:
Earthquake
Slack Off
Roar/ Stealth Rock/ Ice Fang
Roar/ Stealth Rock/ Ice Fang
When you’ve got a pokemon with an 108 base HP stat and an 118 base defence stat, it’s no wonder why Hippowdon is such a great physical wall. Another reason why Hippowdon is such a great wall is because of Slack Off, an instant recovery move. Hippowdon also makes a good Phazer so Roar is a good choice but it’s also a wonderful Stealth Rock setter making that a good choice as well. In saying that, Hippowdon is about one of the only pokemon who can stand up to dragons who can use physical movesets like Garchomp and Salamence so Ice Fang does some pretty good damage here. Just be careful that you’re absolutely sure it’s completely physical because Hippowdon doesn’t have the greatest of all special defence. Nevertheless Hippowdon was built for walling physical attacks and that it does well. It’s a great addition for any Sandstorm team.
Rating: 9.5/10
Staller
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish/ Careful
Attacks:
Stockpile
Toxic
Slack Off
Earthquake/ Roar
Unfortunately, Hippowdon doesn’t make that great of a stalling pokemon in this way. Stockpile in the 4th generation raises both your defenses like Cosmic Power so Hippowdon will gain some survivability with Toxic saps health from your opponent. Slack recovers any lost hp while Earthquake is for steel and poison pokemon while Roar forces away those who resist both Toxic and Earthquake. However this set is easy walled and then phased by many pokemon so it isn’t really that great of a choice to use this set.
Rating: 6/10
Choice Band
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Ice Fang
Crunch/ Fire Fang
It’s actually quite hard to ignore Hippowdon’s attack stat of 112 base meaning that a Choice Band set was possible. However there are pokemon who can pull this off better, pokemon who have a higher attack and a bit more speed. Nevertheless Hippowdon still makes a decent physical attacking pokemon and definitely has the movepool to pull it off. Earthquake for STAB power and Stone Edge for Gyarados and Salamence. Ice Fang for dragons while it’s last move is for more coverage.
Rating: 7.5/10
Curser/ Tank
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Earthquake
Stone Edge/ Fire Fang/ Ice Fang
Curse
Slack Off
Again Hippowdon isn’t the best user of this kind of set however it does have Slack Off to recover lost health without having to go to sleep. Curse as much as you can then do your best to sweep. However because of Hippowdon’s poor special defence, pokemon like Starmie can easily come in an wash away all your efforts to set up a sweep. However this set can be quite devastating for late game but then again, pokemon like Swampert can pull this off better.
Rating: 7.5/10
Physical Sweeper
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Earthquake
Slack Off
Ice Fang
Fire Fang/ Stone Edge
I don’t know why I keep making these novelty sets for Hippowdon but this will be the last one. With Slack Off to recover health lost through Life Orb, Hippowdon can keep on sweeping for longer. Just choose your moves and sweep. Basically the same as before except with Life Orb. Remember to recover health, even when you don’t think you need to because damage from Life Orb can really add up if you’re not paying attention.
Rating: 7.5/10
Contests
Contest Type: Tough
Moves:
Stockpile
Stone Edge
Water Pulse
Protect
It’s the basic Swords Dance set again with Stockpile this time acting as Swords Dance. Use it then choose a move that will hopefully earn you 8 hearts. Before anyone asks me why I didn’t put in Earthquake or Crunch, which are two perfectly useable moves, Water Pulse replaced them. When using Stockpile, you’ll almost always be going first so Water Pulse is good here. Stone Edge can be used anywhere while Protect is basically another filler move. There are already two tough moves there and that’s as many as you should have. Three means that you might make a horrible mistake can give someone else voltage points and when you’re in the appeal stage, since it’ quite low scoring, giving your opponent voltage points can be disastrous. Basically what I’m saying is that there’s really no need for Crunch or Earthquake.
Rating: 9.5/10
Type:
Hippowdon is a pure ground pokemon so a powerful special attack can take it out. In saying that, any powerful volley of special attacks like repeated Dragon Pulse attacks from Salamence will mean trouble for Hippowdon. It’s quite disappointing that Hippowdon isn’t a rock type before automatically, it’ll receive a x1.5 boost to its special defence. This makes Hippowdon a target especially for mixed sweepers like Infernape and Salamence, despite both not being able to resist Sandstream. This brings me to another downside about Hippowdon. Despite being an awesome physical wall, Hippowdon’s Sandstream ability is pretty much the main thing that’s keeping it out of many sides. Sandstream starts up a permanent Sandstorm and previously only Tyranitar had this ability. Sandstorm basically neutralizes Leftovers making walls like Blissey and Cresselia more vulnerable to being knocked out. Also it’s not very handy to take Sandstorm damage each turn if you’re a Choice Bander who’s not immune to it like Heracross. As mentioned before, Hippowdon is a great starter of Sandstorm however it often finds itself completing with Tyranitar for a spot in Sandstorm teams. This is mainly because Tyranitar can easily sweep sides with that extra x1.5 boost to its special defence while Hippowdon tries to wall things without it. The lack of an extremely powerful physical attack besides Earthquake hurts Hippowdon, making Tyranitar a choice over Hippowdon for some people. Also Hippowdon isn’t immune to Spikes unlike Skarmory or Gliscor who are also physical walls. Pokemon such as Gyarados can come in to a physical walling Hippowdon, Taunt it and set up Dragon Dance. Cresselia can also set up with something however without Taunt, it does get blow away. Bronzong can Grass Knot it while Swampert can take Hippowdon’s Earthquake easily and respond with Hydro Pump. Basically any pokemon with and decent special attack stat and attack can penetrate through Hippowdon. Taunt is also a good idea.
Ability- Sandstream:
Sandstream basically starts up a permanent sandstorm and is because of this ability are some teams based off Sandstorm. However many people think that Tyranitar does it better, mainly because it keeps people guessing how it’s going to try and sweep. This has also been the problem that’s keeping Hippowdon away from some teams.
Overall Rating for Hippowdon: 9/10