Entry Hazards in OU

By Albacore.
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Introduction

Entry hazards are among the most important and influential aspects of Pokémon battling and are some of the first things that people consider when teambuilding. It's easy to see why: the ability to indirectly damage or cripple a Pokémon before it even enters the playing field is a boon for any offensive threat. This is even more true nowadays, when entry hazards are more popular than they have been in OU since Gen V, and a few Pokémon have risen in usage and viability just for their ability to set them up or remove them. This article will showcase which Pokémon in OU are used for their ability to lay down entry hazards, which ones are used for their ability to remove entry hazards, and which are used because they hold a role in preserving or discouraging entry hazards.

Entry Hazard Setters

Stealth Rock

By far the most important entry hazard, Stealth Rock is considered by many to be an absolute necessity on any team, offensive or defensive; the ability to deal up to 50% damage to any Pokémon without Magic Guard, thereby dissuading excessive switching and turning many 3HKOs into 2HKOs, is absolutely priceless. Some offensive teams even dedicate an entire Pokémon to setting up Stealth Rock on the first turn and nothing else. Stealth Rock is so dominant that Stealth Rock damage is always considered when doing damage calculations and building EV spreads. In short, Stealth Rock is amazing, and these next Pokémon are its most relevant users in the OU tier.

Garchomp

Garchomp is arguably the best Stealth Rock setter in the tier, and near the beginning of ORAS, its previously unused physically defensive set became extremely common, catapulting it to #1 usage near the top of the OU ladder. Garchomp has a lot of tools that make it so good at setting up Stealth Rock: solid physical and special bulk, Dragon Tail to phaze foes, the combination of Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin to put a huge dent in physical attackers and heavily punish Rapid Spinners, and Swords Dance, which, when combined with a Lum Berry, enables it to break past Mega Sableye. Its only real flaws are that it's forced out by Latios and Latias, the most common Defoggers, and that it lacks Taunt, which prevents it from shutting down opposing Stealth Rock setters. But its combination of bulk and offensive prowess makes it a great Stealth Rock setter for offensive and defensive teams alike.

Heatran

Heatran has always been a very popular Stealth Rock setter. Its unique typing enables it to force out a good number of Pokémon, giving it many opportunities to lay down its entry hazards. Heatran's ability to check Fire-, Flying-, Ice-, and Bug-types, all of which are weak to Rock, enables it to force these Pokémon out and ensure that they will have to take Stealth Rock damage if they want to come back in. Its typing also enables it to beat almost every relevant Defogger with the exception of Earthquake Latias and Empoleon; however, it has a harder time against Rapid Spinners. In addition to these strengths, Heatran's access to Taunt can prevent opposing Pokémon from setting up their own entry hazards, although many are Ground-types and thus can easily dispatch of it, while others outspeed it anyway. However, Heatran can also run an offensive set with an Air Balloon, which forces far more switches and gives it the ability to set Stealth Rock against many Pokémon.

Hippowdon

Hippowdon's gargantuan bulk makes it a prime choice on a lot of teams, where it also serves as the designated Stealth Rock setter. Thanks to its great mixed bulk and access to reliable recovery, it can easily set up Stealth Rock multiple times over the course of the battle. It also has access to both phazing and Sand Stream, giving it the ability to chip away at its foes over the course of the battle. Although it competes with Garchomp's increased offensive presence, which enables it to to fit on offense teams much more easily, Hippowdon doesn't suffer from a 4x weakness to Ice, enabling it to handle Electric-types that often use Hidden Power Ice for coverage, and it is far more reliable overall and will almost always be able to get up its Stealth Rock, as very few Pokémon are able to OHKO it.

Landorus-T

Landorus-T also has heavy competition from Garchomp and Hippowdon as Stealth Rock setter. In fact, it's more often seen running a Choice Scarf or Double Dance set. However, it has a few traits to set itself apart from them. Intimidate gives it a huge amount of initial physical bulk, enabling it to take very little damage from most physical attacks. Its secondary Flying typing also gives it an immunity to Ground-type moves, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes. U-turn enables it to act as a slow pivot, which enables it to get another Pokémon in safely after setting up Stealth Rock. And, much like Garchomp, it's not bound to defensive sets: its offensive Earth Plate set enables it to 2HKO Mega Sableye, not only luring it in but also forcing it out on the second turn so that it can set Stealth Rock up without it getting bounced back.

Clefable

Clefable may seem like an unlikely Stealth Rock setter. It doesn't even look like one, with most of them being big, burly Rock-, Ground-, or Steel-types. But Clefable is actually quite a good Stealth Rocker for multiple reasons. First of all, it has a very good typing coupled with very good abilities, enabling it to handle a large portion of the metagame and to find many opportunities to set up Stealth Rock. It also beats Latios, Latias, and Starmie, the three most common entry hazard removers. Secondly, it benefits from the element of surprise: for example, if you have both Clefable and Heatran, your opponent will naturally assume that Heatran is the Stealth Rock setter and that Clefable is running something else, so they can very easily be caught off guard by the fact that Heatran was Choice Scarf and that Clefable was the Stealth Rock setter.

Azelf

Azelf is the purest incarnation of a suicide lead there is. It is there for three things: setting up Stealth Rock, preventing the opponent from setting up theirs, and then KOing itself, generating offensive momentum for the rest of the team. Naturally, it only fits on hyper offense teams, which can afford to waste an entire teamslot just on a Stealth Rock setter, provided that it is very good at it. Azelf certainly is: it's very fast, has Taunt to shut down opposing Stealth Rock setters and Defoggers, has Skill Swap to enable it to set Stealth Rock up against Mega Sableye, and has Explosion to generate momentum and make any Rapid Spin or Defog fail on that turn. Unless the opponent leads with Mega Lopunny, which can break its Focus Sash with Fake Out and then outspeed and KO it, Azelf will always get its Stealth Rock up.

Spikes

At the beginning of XY, when Deoxys-D and Aegislash were rampant, offensive teams loved using Spikes as a way to force even more damage on grounded Pokémon, especially given the great synergy with Stealth Rock, which, on the contrary, hit most airborne Pokémon quite hard. After Aegislash's ban, Spikes were rarely seen up until the late stages of XY, when Greninja's Spikes set became very popular. Then Greninja got banned too, and although the release of Sablenite and Diancite made people initially think that Spikes were officially dead, they did make a resurgence, but instead of being used almost exclusively on offense like in XY, they were mainly used on balance and stall with bulkier setters such as the following ones.

Skarmory

Up until very recently, Skarmory was almost exclusively used as a physically defensive Defogger for stall teams, though it was occasionally used as a Stealth Rock setter. However, it's now known primarily for its specially defensive Spikes set with Iron Head, used both as a Spiker and as a check to Fairies, particularly Mega Diancie, for which it is one of the best counters. It also has access to Roost, giving it reliable recovery, as well as Whirlwind, enabling it to force foes to take repeated damage from Spikes and Stealth Rock. While this set doesn't handle physical attackers as well as the physically defensive set, which makes it usually a poorer choice on stall, its mixed bulk lets it check a wider range of threats, making it a better fit on more balanced teams and giving it many opportunities to lay down Spikes.

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn is often considered more as Stealth Rock user than a Spiker; in fact, Stealth Rock is more common than Spikes on Ferrothorn on most of the OU ladder. However, Ferrothorn is a better Spiker than it is a Stealth Rock setter because a lot of Pokémon weak to Rock (Talonflame, Charizard, Volcarona) can switch in on it easily before it can set Stealth Rock up. However, most grounded and therefore Spikes-vulnerable Pokémon dislike switching into it, making Spikes a safer move to use than Stealth Rock, as it's less likely for a grounded Pokémon to switch in on Ferrothorn while it's laying down entry hazards. In general, Ferrothorn's great bulk and typing, access to Leech Seed, and ability to beat Latios, Latias, Starmie, and Excadrill, the four most popular entry hazard removers, make it a very solid Spikes setter.

Klefki

Klefki's notoriety as one of, if not the, best utility Pokémon in Ubers can make it seem comparatively underwhelming in OU, but it's still a very good Spikes setter, if not the best in the tier. Much like Skarmory and Ferrothorn, it's a good check to Fairies and Latios lacking Hidden Power Fire. But, unlike these two, it actually fits on offensive teams, thanks to the ability to blanket check a large number of threats via Prankster Thunder Wave. Its lack of reliable recovery is mitigated by the fact that it has an incredible typing - even more so when paired up with Magnet Rise, which gives it a temporary Ground immunity. And, thanks to Prankster, it is always guaranteed to lay down at least one layer of Spikes, and at least two if it's not sent in against a Pokémon that can OHKO it.

Chesnaught

Chesnaught is a much more obscure Spiker than its Steel-type counterparts. It faces major competition from Ferrothorn both as a Spikes setter and as a bulky Grass-type with access to Leech Seed, as Ferrothorn has higher special bulk, a far larger number of resistances, and fewer weaknesses. However, Chesnaught has a couple of tricks up its sleeves. Its secondary Fighting typing enables it to act as a fantastic Knock Off absorber and Bisharp counter. It also has access to Spiky Shield, which can rack up chip damage against physical attackers. Drain Punch is also a terrific asset, as it gives a good chunk of health back. Finally, it has a Ground resistance, which Ferrothorn desperately wishes it had, enabling it to deal with the likes of Landorus-T and Excadrill more reliably.

Toxic Spikes

For the entirety of the XY OU metagame, Toxic Spikes were extremely rare, and it's easy to see why: none of its setters were considered viable in that metagame. However, once the ORAS OU metagame stabilized, Toxic Spikes gained a massive rise in popularity, mainly due to the rise of balance teams teams, which were too offensive to be able to afford passive hazard removers (instead resorting to more offensive ones, which are easier to wear down and trap), and defensive enough to be severely crippled by Toxic Spikes. Because, while Stealth Rock and Spikes can cripple defensive Pokémon by cutting down their HP, Toxic Spikes goes the extra mile by rendering any grounded non-Steel- or Poison-type completely unable to operate, making it excellent support for the likes of Mega Charizard X and Mega Metagross.

Dragalge

With the release of Adaptability in ORAS, Dragalge quickly carved itself a small niche in OU as a very hard-hitting Choice Specs user. However, shortly afterwards, people realized that its greatest niche was not as a wallbreaker, but rather as a Toxic Spikes setter. In fact, it is considered by many to be the best Toxic Spiker in OU. Dragalge's good defensive typing and solid special bulk give it the ability to force switches against the likes of Keldeo and Gengar, giving it ample opportunities to lay down Toxic Spikes. This is backed up even more by Adaptability, which gives it a ton of firepower in its STAB attacks, preventing it from just being a passive utility Pokémon. Its combination of defensive and offensive prowess makes it an excellent fit on balanced teams, which often thrive on Toxic Spikes support.

Scolipede

Scolipede is much more well-known as a Baton Passer or as a Life Orb cleaner than as a Toxic Spikes setter. However, it is still quite good at that role. While Dragalge is both better defensively and more powerful than Scolipede, it lacks something Scolipede has, which is Speed. Scolipede's access to Speed Boost makes it very easy for it to get two layers of Toxic Spikes up if it isn't facing a priority user such as Talonflame. This makes it a good suicide lead for offensive teams looking for a Toxic Spikes setter. It also has access to Spikes, Endeavor - which, when combined with a Focus Sash, enables it to severely weaken any Pokémon that can otherwise OHKO it - and, of course, Baton Pass, enabling it to pass Speed to an offensive threat once its job is done.

Hazard Removers

Defoggers

Entry hazard removal is not common by any means, and this was especially true in Gen V, where spinners were scarce and entry hazard-stacking teams were omnipresent as a result. Rapid Spin was such in high demand that people were willing to run otherwise mediocre Pokémon, such as Forretress and Donphan, just for their access to Rapid Spin. However, in XY, Defog mechanics were changed, and what was once a useless move that removed entry hazards on the opponent's side of the field now removes entry hazards on both sides, expanding the amount of viable entry hazard removers. Though the payoff may not seem great, many teams rely on Pokémon weak to Stealth Rock and therefore would rather have no entry hazards at all than some on both sides, and these Defoggers are happy to provide this.

Latios

Latios is, alongside his sister Latias, the most viable and most well-known Defogger in OU. It sets itself apart from most Defoggers in two major ways: firstly, it is not weak to Stealth Rock itself, which most Defoggers are, given that Defog is a Flying-type move; and secondly, it has a ton of offensive presence, being able to launch extremely strong Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteors and Psyshocks. It also has access to great resistances, reliable recovery in Roost and Recover, and an invaluable Ground immunity. However, there are a few entry hazard setters that it has a hard time against; in particular, Heatran and Ferrothorn. However, Latios can afford to run coverage to bypass them; specifically, it has Earthquake for Heatran and Hidden Power Fire for Ferrothorn.

Latias

Latias is very similar to Latios: both have the same typing and ability, very similar stats, and almost the exact same movepools. However, there are a few subtle differences between the two. Latios is the more powerful of the two siblings, being able to get crucial KOs that Latias does not and making better use of its coverage moves. However, Latias sports higher bulk, making it a more reliable entry hazard remover. It also has access to Healing Wish, which can bring weakened teammates back to full health, and Reflect Type, which enables it to avoid being Pursuit trapped. Furthermore, while Mega Latios is severely outclassed, Latias has a very bulky Mega Evolution, which serves as a great support Pokémon, especially given its immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes.

Mew

Mew is mostly known for its stallbreaking set; however, it still makes for a very solid Defog user. Mew's very solid bulk and access to reliable recovery enables it to Defog against various attackers, while its amazing movepool gives it all the tools it needs to use Defog safely. Specifically, its access to Will-O-Wisp lets it avoid being Pursuit trapped, which Latios and Latias have a harder time doing without resorting to otherwise subpar moves such as Hidden Power Fighting and Reflect Type. Taunt can prevent Stealth Rock users from repeatedly setting up entry hazards in order to stall out Defog's PP (since Stealth Rock's PP is higher than that of Defog). Finally, Mew has access to offensive moves that can heavily damage Stealth Rock setters, such as Ice Beam for Garchomp and Earthquake for Heatran.

Rapid Spinners

Rapid Spin is the original form of entry hazard removal, and it was the only option before Gen VI. With the introduction of Defoggers in Gen VI, Rapid Spin took a hit with Defog having much better distribution, generally better users, and the ability to hit Ghost-types (though Pokémon used specifically for spinblocking are rare in OU nowadays outside of Mega Sableye, with the only good examples being the very uncommon Gourgeist-XL and Jellicent). However, Rapid Spin's ability to preserve the user's entry hazards gives it a huge advantage over Defog. Furthermore, Rapid Spin is neither stopped by Taunt nor dissuaded by Defiant. As such, even if they are not as common as they once were, Rapid Spinners are still very relevant and important in the ORAS OU metagame.

Starmie

Starmie was once a rather poor Pokémon by OU standards. However, the bannings of Aegislash (which spinblocked it) in mid XY and Greninja (a great check to it as well as fierce competition for it) in early ORAS caused a huge rise of viability and usage for Starmie. While Starmie may seem like a purely offensive Pokémon, it can actually pull off a very good bulky set thanks to its access to fast recovery, Natural Cure, and a good defensive typing enabling it to check the likes of Heatran, Keldeo, and Metagross, allowing it to act as a reliable spinner. However, an offensive Life Orb set is still very deadly, thanks to Starmie's excellent Speed, great coverage, and Analytic, which gives it a 30% power boost against Pokémon that switch into it. Despite its rocky start in early XY, Starmie is arguably the premier OU spinner.

Excadrill

Excadrill, unlike Starmie, has always been a very good spinner. However, it has recently been somewhat surpassed by Starmie as a standalone spinner, as it lacks one thing that Starmie has a lot of: Speed. This is a very important aspect for offensive spinners, as this enables them to guarantee a safe Rapid Spin against fast foes. However, while Excadrill is initially slow, if provided with Sand support, it becomes incredibly fast thanks to Sand Rush, as well as very offensively threatening, giving it ample opportunities to spin entry hazards away. It can also run a specially defensive set, which acts as a good check to Fairies (which Starmie tends to struggle against), and can use Toxic and Stealth Rock, both of which, thanks to Mold Breaker, bypass Magic Bounce and hit Mega Sableye.

Tentacruel

Tentacruel is a rather niche spinner and, unlike its main competitors in Starmie and Excadrill, it is completely bound to defensive sets, which is unfortunate given its lack of recovery. However, it does have a few advantages over these two. Firstly, its great special bulk and typing enable it to switch into the likes of Gengar and Azumarill. Tentacruel combines Starmie's status as a bulky Water-type and Excadrill's ability to check Fairy-types, and thanks to Acid Spray it can break past defensive Pokémon such as Clefable and Mega Sableye. It also has access to the coveted Toxic Spikes, making it a solid addition on entry hazard-stacking teams in need of a spinner, and also has access to Knock Off, which can further cripple Pokémon and provide useful utility.

Other entry hazard-related Pokémon

Magic Bouncers

Magic Bounce is one of the most powerful methods of entry hazard prevention. Not only does it protect a team from entry hazards without any Pokémon having to use a single move, but it also turns the tables on the opponent by sending said entry hazards towards their side of the field. However, until ORAS, this ability had very little impact in OU due to the mediocrity of its users: Espeon is too frail to be good defensively, too lacking in coverage to be good offensively, and unable to beat most relevant Stealth Rock setters, and while Xatu is better defensively than Espeon, it still has poor bulk and is very lacking in power. However, ORAS gave the OU tier two very powerful Magic Bounce users, both of which are great tools for dissuading entry hazards and major obstacles for entry hazard setters.

Mega-Sableye

Mega Sableye has already been mentioned many times on this article, and for good reason. Its great typing, bulk, access to reliable recovery, and great utility movepool featuring Will-O-Wisp, Knock Off, Calm Mind, and Foul Play make it not only a great Magic Bounce user, but a great wall in general. Very few Pokémon have ever had as much impact on entry hazard setting in general as Mega Sableye: the ability to beat Sableye is a huge advantage for any entry hazard setter, and most defensive ones are completely shut down by it and need support to handle it. Some Pokémon, such as Terrakion and Mew, have even lost popularity as Stealth Rock setters because of their inability to deal with it. Mega Sableye is arguably the best way to protect a team from the threat of entry hazards.

Diancie

As a pure entry hazard preventer, and Magic Bounce user in general, Diancie isn't quite as good as Mega Sableye: its Rock typing prevents it from reliably switching into the most common entry hazard setters, most of which are Ground- or Steel-types. And even when faced with an entry hazard setter it beats, such as Heatran, it cannot switch into it repeatedly due to its lack of reliable recovery. However, what it lacks in defensive prowess, it makes up for in offensive prowess. It fits quite well on offensive teams, which can make great use of its solid Speed, great coverage, and fantastic mixed offenses, where losing it to a Garchomp's Earthquake can be worth it just to keep entry hazards off the field, and where it can support entry hazard-weak Pokémon such as Talonflame or Dragonite, all while conserving offensive momentum.

Pursuit Trappers

Pursuit has always been a very good tool for getting rid of certain Pokémon, specifically Psychic- and Ghost-types, and the fact that it causes damage even when the foe switches out makes it unique and very tricky to play around. Even so, Pursuit trappers may not seem like the most obvious choice for entry hazard-reliant teams until you realize what the most popular entry hazard removers are: of the four most popular entry hazard removers (Latios, Latias, Starmie, and Excadrill), three are Psychic-types and are therefore vulnerable to being Pursuit trapped. As a result, Pursuit trappers are able to get rid of the entry hazard removers of most teams outright, making them excellent ways of guaranteeing that your team's entry hazards will stay up for the rest of the battle.

Tyranitar

Tyranitar, specifically Choice Scarf Tyranitar, is one of the most reliable ways of getting rid of Latios and Latias. It seems almost designed for Pursuit trapping: it just outpaces Starmie and the Special Defense boost from sand prevents it from being 2HKOed by Life Orb Latios's Draco Meteor from full health. It also acts as a good check to Fire-types such as Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y and X, and can run a defensive Smooth Rock or Chople Berry set which can both Pursuit trap and set up Stealth Rock. However, it can't reliably trap Starmie, and being locked into Pursuit can cause real problems for it; for instance, enabling Pokémon such as SubCM Keldeo to set up on it. Despite that, it is still a good Pursuit trapper and provides nice utility in general.

Weavile

Weavile is a relatively fresh face in OU, having very recently seen a huge rise in popularity. Its main selling points are its amazing Speed and access to the fastest STAB Knock Off in the entire game, making it a big threat for offensive teams as well as bulkier teams. But it also acts as a Pursuit trapper, and while it lacks Tyranitar's ability to switch into common entry hazard removers (or any Pokémon, for that matter), it makes up for it by not needing a Choice Scarf, which both prevents it from being setup fodder for Pokémon that resist Dark and gives it the ability to hold a Life Orb, increasing the power of its Pursuit. While Tyranitar is more commonly used on balanced teams that rely on entry hazards, Weavile is the Pursuit trapper of choice for entry hazard-stacking offensive teams.

Defiant Users

Just as there are ways to prevent entry hazards from being set, there are ways to stop them from being removed, or at least dissuade their removal. And with the new Defog mechanics, people quickly found a new way to preserve entry hazards: Defiant. While Defiant does not actually prevent Defog from removing entry hazards from both sides of the field, the fact that Defog reduces the evasiveness of the opposing Pokémon triggers Defiant and doubles the Defog recipient's Attack. This causes a win-win situation for the team with the Defiant user: it gets to either preserve hazards or potentially sweep the opposing team without needing a turn to set up. While this is far from a perfect way to preserve entry hazards, it was one of the main factors that led to the Deoxys bans in mid-XY.

Bisharp

Bisharp is the most common Defiant abuser in OU. It has great STAB coverage, good physical Attack, access to Knock Off to heavily cripple defensive Pokémon, and Sucker Punch, which enables it to clean offensive teams. One of Bisharp's main draws as a method of entry hazard conservation is its ability to switch into Latios and Latias, the most common entry hazard removers in OU, given that it survives at least one hit from both of them (with the exception of the uncommon Hidden Power Fighting) and can OHKO them back with Sucker Punch. Bisharp also doubles up as a Pursuit trapper, but it's less reliable than Weavile and Tyranitar, due to it lacking both Weavile's Speed and Tyranitar's bulk, which means that Latios can avoid being trapped by it by 2HKOing it with Draco Meteor.

Thundurus

Thundurus isn't usually seen as a Defiant user, with Prankster being a much more popular ability. In fact, it's generally not used as a physical or mixed attacker, either, preferring fully special sets. However, Thundurus can work as a decent mixed attacker, and a rather unexpected one at that. It has access to both Knock Off and Superpower, giving solid coverage, and it is backed up by a solid base 115 Attack. Although it cannot switch into Latios and Latias at all, it can act as a decent lure to them via Knock Off, removing them from play. Unfortunately, its only physical STAB moves are the weak Thunder Punch, the recoil-inducing Wild Charge, and Fly, which requires Power Herb to be used. But despite all that, it's still a decent Defiant user, that benefits from a far better Speed tier than Bisharp.

Spinblockers

Gourgeist-XLCofagrigusJellicent

Spinblockers used to be very important back in Gens IV and V. However, in Gen VI they saw a massive decline, not only due to Defog, but also because the prevalence of Knock Off made life much harder for Ghost-types. Gengar, the premier Ghost-type in OU, loses to all three relevant spinners besides Excadrill outside of sand, and while Mega Sableye can spinblock, it struggles against Life Orb Excadrill and Starmie, and spinblocking is not what it's generally used for. However, some Pokémon are still used as spinblockers: Gourgeist-XL and Jellicent effectively spinblock Excadrill and Starmie respectively, while Cofagrigus holds a niche as a Toxic Spikes setter with spinblocking capabilities. However, all three of these Pokémon are very uncommon and mostly irrelevant in ORAS OU.

Poison-types

Mega-VenusaurAmoongussToxicroak

There are a few teams, mostly defensive ones, that can deal with both Stealth Rock and Spikes quite well; however, they cannot handle Toxic Spikes at all. These teams will often resort to a Poison-type as a way of soaking up Toxic Spikes. This Poison-type is often a Toxic Spikes setter itself, such as Dragalge, Scolipede, or Tentacruel. But it can easily be any Poison-type, such as Mega Venusaur, a very good tank, Amoonguss, a Regenerator wall, or Toxicroak, a more offensive Poison-type. Unfortunately, the first two are walled by Dragalge, the most relevant Toxic Spiker in OU, so it can effectively lay down Toxic Spikes against them and prevent them from absorbing them. Strangely enough, the most common Poison-type in OU, Gengar, cannot absorb Toxic Spikes due to Levitate.

Conclusion

Entry hazards come in various shapes and sizes, as do ways of removing them, keeping them up, and even preventing them from ever going up in the first place. In teambuilding, it's important to be well-versed in all of these entry hazard-related tactics, both to potentially employ them and to be prepared against them. During battle, the entry hazard advantage should be one of your top priorities. After all, many battles are won or lost depending on who can keep their entry hazards up for the longest, and many teams that seem good in theory can fail in practice for their weakness to entry hazards, their inability to remove them, or their weakness to popular strategies employed to gain the upper hand in the entry hazard war. Entry hazards are a defining aspect of the OU tier and should be treated as such.

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