Hoopa-Unbound

[Dragon]

Yeah, so, I'm thinking Hoopa-U is more used than regular Hoopa in OU, so, thought I could make a discussion about that form in particular. Now, what do you guys think about Hoopa Unbound?

Offensive wise, this pokemon has really, really great stats - we're looking at base 160 and 170 stats for attack and special attack respectively (yikes) which makes him a pretty good wallbreaker! I believe people like to use him with a Choice Scarf more because his speed honestly isn't the best, and just spam Hyperspace Fury? Personally if I ever tried him, that's what I'd go for, but, he's also really good with Life Orb, and Assault Vest isn't too bad on him because he gets Drain Punch for recovery with his really amazing attack stat, but yeah.

So, again, what do you guys think of him in this metagame right now? Is he too strong? Maybe he's easy to work around? Team building wise, what sort of play style do you think he can fit in to?

 

[Sirfetch’d]

It's a bit overbearing right now in my opinion. I've faced it quite a few times now on the ladder and due to it's myriad of coverage moves and sheer power, it's....really hard to deal with. It's a bit frail, although with Assault Vest it becomes decently specially bulky. Nothing can really switch into it and it's signature move is so easily spammed. I have only tested it once myself and enjoyed it, though it did feel a bit unfair using it. Not sure if I'd vote to ban or not right now but yeah it's really strong.

 

[2Fruit]

Hoopa's a nightmare to switch into. It often goes mixed, meaning that physically defensive pokemon like Mega slowbro get hit by dark pulse and specially defensive pokemon like Chansey get stomped by drain punch.

Speaking of which, Hoopa's defences are it's biggest weakness, but it isn't THAT weak. Life orb Scizor bullet punch is only a 2hko, same with Banded Azumarill aqua jet and Megagross bullet punch.

 

[Anti]

i find hoopa unbound to be a very intriguing mon b/c i personally find it pretty impossible the build around because its defensive utility is THAT poor. it's not just the lack of resists and bad physical bulk (and uninvested special bulk) and tendency to wear down b/c of hazards, sand, and potential lo recoil, but its poor speed also sucks b/c it can't rk any relevant threats w/o a scarf which really neuters its offensive capabilities. other frail mons like mega lop have defensive utility in that they can force out mons/push tempo in clutch situations, usually against weakened offensive mons (keld, char y, serp, manaphy, among like twenty others) which is something hoopa can't do. in facing it, i've found that i usually have to sac something when it comes in, and yet i'd estimate that my winrate vs. hoopa is around 75% b/c i've never actually faced a good hoopa team, so it's "the noise before defeat" in a sense. (also, getting 2 kills can be less impactful than you'd think b/c you get to choose what to sac so you can afford it once or maybe twice before it really begins to cost you, and it struggles a ton to get into games as it is...)

all that said, i still can't shake the feeling that someone will achieve a breakthrough w/ this mon and perfectly support it and then it'll seem amazing again. but yeah, i feel like it's a bizarre combo of op as **** and...well, ****. it's kinda cool!

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

Hoopa-U is really one of those dudes who can kill at least 2 Pokemon per match, and often does. He's ridiculously hard to switch into, due to his retarded mixed stats of 160/170, Life Orb, excellent coverage and access to Nasty Plot. He's also able to switch into mid-powered special attacks and unleash hell. I don't think he's broken though. He's easy to wear down, has low speed and Weavile-like physical bulk plus the fact that it offers no defensive utility whatsoever.

 

[Sweep]

It's kind of match-up reliant in my eyes. Unless it runs a Choice Scarf (and forfeits the ability to bust Stall in exchange for doing a better job vs. Offense), you're basically banking on your opponent bring a slow, bulky team. Because of Hoopa's lackluster Speed, bulk, and defensive typing, the wallbreaking set will often fail to pull its own weight. Other wallbreakers, such as Keldeo and Crawdaunt, either have excellent speed or priority to ensure they can be productive vs. any team archetype. With Hoopa, its performance will be lackluster if you're facing a well-constructed heavy offensive team, no matter how well you play it...it'll simply get pressured to death before doing anything. There's no question it can bust open stall cores, though! This makes it great for tournament play if you're typing to coutnerstyle someone known for using really fat defensive teams, but it's too inconsistent to justify using on the ladder IMO.

The Choice Scarf set lacks a pivoting move, so I'm not a huge fan of that either (although it's not terrible).