Aurora
seven years here and i finally figure out how to d
- 859
- Posts
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- Age 25
- Amsterdam
- Seen Oct 27, 2020
Hello! I'm Aurora. Rather than explore Pokemon that are simply not appreciated in a particular metagame, these blogs aim to inform you of Pokemon that are, instead, complete garbage. Some blogs, like this one, will attack specific sets rather than a Pokemon in general. Today, I will be focussing on the atrocity that is Offensive Hitmontop in ORAS RU.
The Set
Hitmontop @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Close Combat / Rapid Spin / Bulk Up
Its Appeal
Hitmontop has a potent offensive movepool full of weak moves just begging to be boosted with Technician. Technician boosts the power of moves that have a Base Power of 60 or lower by 1.5x, meaning Fake Out and Bullet Punch suddenly become 60 BP priority moves while Mach Punch increases in strength to a fairly decent 90. This, coming off an Attack stat of 317 with a Life Orb boost, gives the impression that Hitmontop can function as a decent revenge killer in RU. Fake Out guarantees chip damage on every foe with the exception of Ghost-types, while Mach Punch gets STAB and, critically, takes out the ever-present Sharpedo, which would otherwise crush this Hitmontop. Bullet Punch chips away at Aromatisse switch-ins, doing critical damage that could mean a crucial 2HKO or OHKO is scored on it by a different Pokemon on your team. Close Combat is a powerful Fighting-type move that nails Scrafty, Mega Steelix, Tyrantrum, and Aggron. Rapid Spin lets it pull off an offensive spinning role, but it leaves Hitmontop with no powerful STAB move, while Bulk Up, while letting Hitmontop set up, has the same opportunity cost. Hitmontop's passable 50 / 90 / 110 bulk means that it can take weaker neutral hits and strong resisted hits and do damage, unlike the physically frail Hitmonlee and Gallade and the all-around frail Medicham.
Why It Sucks
There is a reason why Smogon's analysis only features a defensive Rapid Spin set with Intimidate for Hitmontop. That is because it is a terrible offensive Pokemon that is outclassed in this role by literally every other Fighting-type in the tier. Hitmonlee packs far more power with Reckless- and Life Orb-boosted High Jump Kicks coming off a much meatier base 120 Attack; it also gets Mach Punch, allowing it to do pretty much the exact thing Hitmontop does with far more perks. Medicham gets Pure Power, making it extremely strong, and can afford to run Choice Scarf, allowing it to revenge kill much more potently than Hitmontop. Gallade is faster, stronger, and has a much better attacking movepool. Gurdurr is extremely bulky by virtue of Eviolite, can set up with Bulk Up, and, like Hitmonlee, gets Mach Punch. Hitmontop is also completely helpless against anything that resists Fighting in the tier, with its only coverage move being Bullet Punch. This does not bode well for it when Amoonguss is a very common defensive pivot that can safely come in on pretty much everything Hitmontop has and force it out with the threat of Spore, Qwilfish can come in and set up Spikes (which this Hitmontop cannot remove unless it is running the utterly awful Rapid Spin), and every Psychic-type, such as Calm Mind Slowking or Delphox, can use Hitmontop as setup fodder. Running Technician Hitmontop leaves your team with a wasted teamslot that could very easily be filled by something far better at no cost.
What You Should Use Instead
Hitmontop's niche in RU is as a physically defensive spinner with Intimdate that can spin against Ghost-types using Foresight multiple times during a match and check dangerous physical attackers such as Tyrantrum, physical Sharpedo, and Drapion. I promise you that it is a good spinner, even with Flygon and Blastoise providing competition; it has a sufficiently well-defined niche to earn it places on teams that need it, such as balance teams with Fletchinder and defensive teams that do not appreciate being worn down by entry hazard damage.
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
- Close Combat
- Toxic
If you want an offensive Fighting-type, use Hitmonlee, Gallade, Gurdurr, Medicham, Sawk or Virizion. All of them are far more useful and completely eclipse Hitmontop in general offensive prowess.
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I hope you enjoyed this Terrible Pokemon blog entry! Next time, I will be talking about Mega Mawile in ORAS Ubers.
The Set
Hitmontop @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Close Combat / Rapid Spin / Bulk Up
Its Appeal
Hitmontop has a potent offensive movepool full of weak moves just begging to be boosted with Technician. Technician boosts the power of moves that have a Base Power of 60 or lower by 1.5x, meaning Fake Out and Bullet Punch suddenly become 60 BP priority moves while Mach Punch increases in strength to a fairly decent 90. This, coming off an Attack stat of 317 with a Life Orb boost, gives the impression that Hitmontop can function as a decent revenge killer in RU. Fake Out guarantees chip damage on every foe with the exception of Ghost-types, while Mach Punch gets STAB and, critically, takes out the ever-present Sharpedo, which would otherwise crush this Hitmontop. Bullet Punch chips away at Aromatisse switch-ins, doing critical damage that could mean a crucial 2HKO or OHKO is scored on it by a different Pokemon on your team. Close Combat is a powerful Fighting-type move that nails Scrafty, Mega Steelix, Tyrantrum, and Aggron. Rapid Spin lets it pull off an offensive spinning role, but it leaves Hitmontop with no powerful STAB move, while Bulk Up, while letting Hitmontop set up, has the same opportunity cost. Hitmontop's passable 50 / 90 / 110 bulk means that it can take weaker neutral hits and strong resisted hits and do damage, unlike the physically frail Hitmonlee and Gallade and the all-around frail Medicham.
Why It Sucks
There is a reason why Smogon's analysis only features a defensive Rapid Spin set with Intimidate for Hitmontop. That is because it is a terrible offensive Pokemon that is outclassed in this role by literally every other Fighting-type in the tier. Hitmonlee packs far more power with Reckless- and Life Orb-boosted High Jump Kicks coming off a much meatier base 120 Attack; it also gets Mach Punch, allowing it to do pretty much the exact thing Hitmontop does with far more perks. Medicham gets Pure Power, making it extremely strong, and can afford to run Choice Scarf, allowing it to revenge kill much more potently than Hitmontop. Gallade is faster, stronger, and has a much better attacking movepool. Gurdurr is extremely bulky by virtue of Eviolite, can set up with Bulk Up, and, like Hitmonlee, gets Mach Punch. Hitmontop is also completely helpless against anything that resists Fighting in the tier, with its only coverage move being Bullet Punch. This does not bode well for it when Amoonguss is a very common defensive pivot that can safely come in on pretty much everything Hitmontop has and force it out with the threat of Spore, Qwilfish can come in and set up Spikes (which this Hitmontop cannot remove unless it is running the utterly awful Rapid Spin), and every Psychic-type, such as Calm Mind Slowking or Delphox, can use Hitmontop as setup fodder. Running Technician Hitmontop leaves your team with a wasted teamslot that could very easily be filled by something far better at no cost.
What You Should Use Instead
Hitmontop's niche in RU is as a physically defensive spinner with Intimdate that can spin against Ghost-types using Foresight multiple times during a match and check dangerous physical attackers such as Tyrantrum, physical Sharpedo, and Drapion. I promise you that it is a good spinner, even with Flygon and Blastoise providing competition; it has a sufficiently well-defined niche to earn it places on teams that need it, such as balance teams with Fletchinder and defensive teams that do not appreciate being worn down by entry hazard damage.
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
- Close Combat
- Toxic
If you want an offensive Fighting-type, use Hitmonlee, Gallade, Gurdurr, Medicham, Sawk or Virizion. All of them are far more useful and completely eclipse Hitmontop in general offensive prowess.
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I hope you enjoyed this Terrible Pokemon blog entry! Next time, I will be talking about Mega Mawile in ORAS Ubers.
