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With Rhyperior being called up to UU, those of us who play RU have to make do with this. Luckily, it's almost as good as its armored upgrade, thanks to Eviolite. To give some idea of how bulky it is, a 0 HP 0 Def neutral natured Eviolite Rhydon survives a neutral 4 ATK Tangrowth Power Whip even after SR, albeit just barely. Rhydon can take almost any hit from a physical attacker and hit back hard; most notably, this includes any physical Entei not carrying strange moves like HP Grass.
Some useful sets:
Substidon
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/92 Def/164 Spe
Substitute
Earthquake
Stone Edge/Rock Blast
Megahorn
Switch in on something that can't hurt Rhydon and Sub on the switch, then use the appropriate move to hit the switch-in hard. Simple, yet extremely effective. The Speed EVs allow for outspeeding any Clefable that don't invest in Speed. An alternate EV spread of 172 Def/84 Spe can be used to outspeed minimum-speed Tangrowth with a neutral nature.
CBDon
Rhydon @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/92 Def/164 Spe
Earthquake
Rock Blast/Stone Edge
Megahorn
Hammer Arm/Crunch/Dragon Tail
Trades bulk for much greater initial power, and stats of 105 HP/120 Def mean it's still plenty bulky on the physical side. Requires prediction to run well, but can be very devastating if played right.
Rhypolish
Rhydon @ Eviolite/Life Orb
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Rock Polish
Earthquake
Stone Edge/Rock Blast
Megahorn/Swords Dance
Boosts Rhydon's Speed to give it sweeping potential. The EVs may look lazy, but all of those 252 Speed EVs are needed to outspeed max speed Choice Scarf Adamant Medicham. If Rhydon is using Adamant, you can use 240 Speed EVs to outspeed Jolly Archeops, which is the fastest Pokemon Adamant Rhydon can outspeed after a Rock Polish that you are likely to encounter.
Rhino Tank
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/176 Def/84 Spe
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Tail
Rock Slide/Focus Punch
Takes advantage of Rhydon's natural bulk, six resistances, Rest recovery, and Eviolite to phaze and tank hits. Works best on a stall team with cleric support; Altaria is very useful in this role, resisting four of Rhydon's weaknesses, though the shared Ice weakness can be troubling. It should be noted that Sleep Talk cannot select Focus Punch, so using it as your fourth move increases the risk of Sleep Talk. The EVs are used to outspeed minimum Speed Tangrowth while maximizing Rhydon's physical bulk.
Some miscellaneous other notes:
- Rhydon can use Rock Slide in place of either Rock Blast or Stone Edge on any of the above sets, if both Rock Blast's potential low power and Stone Edge's potential miss are troubling
- Rhydon has access to every weather-starting move except Hail which those teams don't need anyway, and so can be used as an unorthodox weather starter
- Rhydon can use Counter for a surprise kill, though most opponents would be using special attacks on Rhydon anyway
- Rhydon, surprisingly enough, has a special movepool Alakazam would kill for, but it's not doing much with those stats unless you run something like Baton Pass Tail Glow Prankster Volbeat
Your thoughts?
Base Stats:
HP: 105
Atk: 130
Def: 120
Sp. A: 45
Sp. D: 45
Spe: 40
Abilities:
Lightningrod
Rock Head
Reckless
Notable Moves (an asterisk indicates the move is illegal with Reckless)
Aqua Tail*
Avalanche*
Body Slam*
Brick Break
Bulldoze
Counter
Crunch
Curse
Double-Edge*
Dragon Tail
Earthquake
Fire Punch*
Focus Punch*
Frustration
Hammer Arm
Ice Punch*
Megahorn
Payback
Rain Dance
Reversal
Roar
Rock Blast
Rock Polish
Rock Slide
Sandstorm
Shadow Claw
Stealth Rock*
Stone Edge
Sunny Day
Superpower*
Swords Dance
Thunder Punch*
HP: 105
Atk: 130
Def: 120
Sp. A: 45
Sp. D: 45
Spe: 40
Abilities:
Lightningrod
Rock Head
Reckless
Notable Moves (an asterisk indicates the move is illegal with Reckless)
Aqua Tail*
Avalanche*
Body Slam*
Brick Break
Bulldoze
Counter
Crunch
Curse
Double-Edge*
Dragon Tail
Earthquake
Fire Punch*
Focus Punch*
Frustration
Hammer Arm
Ice Punch*
Megahorn
Payback
Rain Dance
Reversal
Roar
Rock Blast
Rock Polish
Rock Slide
Sandstorm
Shadow Claw
Stealth Rock*
Stone Edge
Sunny Day
Superpower*
Swords Dance
Thunder Punch*
With Rhyperior being called up to UU, those of us who play RU have to make do with this. Luckily, it's almost as good as its armored upgrade, thanks to Eviolite. To give some idea of how bulky it is, a 0 HP 0 Def neutral natured Eviolite Rhydon survives a neutral 4 ATK Tangrowth Power Whip even after SR, albeit just barely. Rhydon can take almost any hit from a physical attacker and hit back hard; most notably, this includes any physical Entei not carrying strange moves like HP Grass.
Some useful sets:
Substidon
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/92 Def/164 Spe
Substitute
Earthquake
Stone Edge/Rock Blast
Megahorn
Switch in on something that can't hurt Rhydon and Sub on the switch, then use the appropriate move to hit the switch-in hard. Simple, yet extremely effective. The Speed EVs allow for outspeeding any Clefable that don't invest in Speed. An alternate EV spread of 172 Def/84 Spe can be used to outspeed minimum-speed Tangrowth with a neutral nature.
CBDon
Rhydon @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/92 Def/164 Spe
Earthquake
Rock Blast/Stone Edge
Megahorn
Hammer Arm/Crunch/Dragon Tail
Trades bulk for much greater initial power, and stats of 105 HP/120 Def mean it's still plenty bulky on the physical side. Requires prediction to run well, but can be very devastating if played right.
Rhypolish
Rhydon @ Eviolite/Life Orb
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Rock Polish
Earthquake
Stone Edge/Rock Blast
Megahorn/Swords Dance
Boosts Rhydon's Speed to give it sweeping potential. The EVs may look lazy, but all of those 252 Speed EVs are needed to outspeed max speed Choice Scarf Adamant Medicham. If Rhydon is using Adamant, you can use 240 Speed EVs to outspeed Jolly Archeops, which is the fastest Pokemon Adamant Rhydon can outspeed after a Rock Polish that you are likely to encounter.
Rhino Tank
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/176 Def/84 Spe
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Tail
Rock Slide/Focus Punch
Takes advantage of Rhydon's natural bulk, six resistances, Rest recovery, and Eviolite to phaze and tank hits. Works best on a stall team with cleric support; Altaria is very useful in this role, resisting four of Rhydon's weaknesses, though the shared Ice weakness can be troubling. It should be noted that Sleep Talk cannot select Focus Punch, so using it as your fourth move increases the risk of Sleep Talk. The EVs are used to outspeed minimum Speed Tangrowth while maximizing Rhydon's physical bulk.
Some miscellaneous other notes:
- Rhydon can use Rock Slide in place of either Rock Blast or Stone Edge on any of the above sets, if both Rock Blast's potential low power and Stone Edge's potential miss are troubling
- Rhydon has access to every weather-starting move except Hail which those teams don't need anyway, and so can be used as an unorthodox weather starter
- Rhydon can use Counter for a surprise kill, though most opponents would be using special attacks on Rhydon anyway
- Rhydon, surprisingly enough, has a special movepool Alakazam would kill for, but it's not doing much with those stats unless you run something like Baton Pass Tail Glow Prankster Volbeat
Your thoughts?