Rhydon [QC 1/3]



[OVERVIEW]
  • A high Attack stat alongside powerful EdgeQuake STABs make Rhydon a potent offensive threat in the NU metagame.
  • Alongside its offensive prowess, Rhydon is also an excellent user of Stealth Rock as it can pressure common Defog users such as Golbat and Braviary, as well as Magic Bounce Xatu.
  • Rhydons Ground / Rock-typing in conjunction with tremendous bulk when boosted by Eviolite allows for it to check Normal- and Fire-type Pokemon such as Tauros, Braviary, and Delphox.
  • Although its typing does grant it a myriad of useful resistances, it is also rather exploitable with a 4x weakness to both Water- and Grass-type attacks. Rhydon must beware of coverage moves such as Grass Knot from Delphox and Aqua Tail from Kangaskhan.
  • Rhydon is also incredibly slow, still being outsped by Accelgor and most Choice Scarfers even after a Rock Polish boost. Rhydon's subpar Speed can often put it in an awkward position after KO'ing an opposing Pokemon, as most wallbreakers outspeed it before a Rock Polish and can force it out.
  • Finally, Rhydon lacks any form of recovery and is susceptible to all forms of hazards, making it rather easy to wear down throughout a battle especially when it is tasked with checking multiple foes.

[SET]
name: Tank
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Blast / Stone Edge
move 4: Megahorn / Swords Dance
item: Eviolite
ability: Rock Head
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD


[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Stealth Rock is needed on all competitive teams, and Rhydon is an excellent user due to its ability to pressure Xatu and common Defog users with its Rock-type STAB attacks.
  • Earthquake is powerful, reliable Ground-type STAB that hits more neutral targets for solid damage.
  • Rock Blast complements Earthquake very well, and is also useful for breaking Substitutes from the likes of Vivillon and Braviary, as well as bypassing Focus Sashes from Pokemon like Sigilyph and Archeops.
  • Stone Edge is also a viable option that is usually more powerful than Rock Blast, however it has much shakier accuracy and does not have the aforementioned added benefits of Rock Blast.
  • Megahorn is useful for nailing Psychic-type Pokemon such as Slowbro, Meloetta, and Mesprit for super effective damage, and also prevents Xatu from stalling Rhydon with Roost. Megahorn also OHKO's Grass-type Pokemon like Rotom-C and Sceptile that threaten Rhydon.
  • Swords Dance is acceptable in this slot, better allowing Rhydon to break through very bulky teams.
  • Dragon Tail can also be used in this slot to phaze out the opponent. This is especially effective when paired with a Spiker like Garbodor.
  • Toxic is another decent option for this last slot, mostly targeting bulky Water-types such as Seismitoad, Vaporeon, and Jellicent that typically switch-in on Rhydon.

Set Details
========
  • 16 Attack EV's with an Adamant nature hit a jump point for Rhydon, while the rest of the EV's are poured into HP and then Special Defense in order for Rhydon to better check powerful special attackers such as Meloetta, Vivillon, and Houndoom.
  • Eviolite boosts Rhydon's bulk significantly, making it one of the sturdiest defensive Pokemon in the tier.
  • Rhydon's ability is largely irrelevant, however in the case Rhydon is traced, it will usually be better for the opponent to gain Rock Head over Lightning Rod or Reckless.

Usage Tips
========
  • Send Rhydon out vs Pokemon that it can naturally check such as Tauros, Garbodor, and Meloetta locked into Hyper Voice.
  • Beware of coverage moves like Focus Blast from Meloetta and Bloom Doom from Delphox, however.
  • Rhydons lack of any form of recovery means it can be chipped rather easily, with this considered, it is usually suboptimal to task Rhydon with checking too many foes over the course of a battle.
  • Rhydon can also prevent Volt Switch users such as Rotom-C and Lanturn from gaining momentum, but this will always come at the risk of fainting to a 4x super effective Leaf Storm or Scald, so only make this play when absolutely necessary or when you are sure the opponent is using an Electric-type attack.
  • Rhydons impressive bulk even when uninvested grants it setup opportunities versus many prominent NU Pokemon, some good examples being Garbodor, Emboar locked into Flare Blitz, and most variants of Braviary.

Team Options
========
  • Grass-type Pokemon like Vileplume, Whimsicott, and Virizion make for great partners alongside Rhydon, as they can combat opposing Grass- and Water-types that naturally threaten Rhydon. Conversely, Rhydon does a good job at taking on the Fire- and Flying-type Pokemon that threaten them.
  • Water-type Pokemon such as Slowbro, Jellicent , and Vaporeon also pair well with Rhydon, as they can similarly combat opposing Water-types that threaten Rhydon. These bulky Water-types also ease the load off of Rhydons shoulders by checking Fire-types as well. Slowbro and Jellicent have particularly nice synergy with Rhydon, as they also stop Fighting-types such as Hitmonlee and Sawk cold. Vaporeon on the other hand, is completely immune to Water-type moves, making it an excellent choice as well.
  • Spikers such as Garbodor and Qwillfish form solid hazard stacking cores with Rhydon and as such, make for logical and effective teammates.
  • Lastly, Wish users such as Audino, Aromatisse, and Vaporeon can all restore Rhydon's HP with their large Wishes, extending its longevity greatly over the course of a battle.

[SET]
name: Dancing Dino
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Swords Dance / Megahorn
item: Eviolite
ability: Rock Head
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Rock Polish boosts Rhydon's Speed by two stages, allowing for it to clean up weakened teams in the later-stages of a battle.
  • Earthquake is Rhydons main STAB attack and does very solid damage to any neutral target.
  • Stone Edge complements Earthquake well, as the two moves have near perfect coverage together.
  • Swords Dance is useful for breaking through bulkier teams, however Megahorn is also an option to do more damage to Grass- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Virizion and Meloetta.

Set Details
========
  • Maximum Attack and Speed investment with a Jolly nature allow Rhydon to hit as hard and as fast as possible. Without a Jolly nature, Rhydon cannot outspeed threatening Pokemon such as Whimsicott and Sceptile.
  • Eviolite boosts Rhydon's defenses tremendously, making it difficult to revenge kill even with super effective priority.
  • Rhydons ability is nonimportant, however in the rare case your opponent copies Rhydons ability, it is usually less problematic to deal with Rock Head rather than Lightning Rod or Reckless.

Usage Tips
========
  • This variant of Rhydon is less adept at checking powerful Normal- and Fire-type Pokemon, however can still do so in a pinch.
  • When vs slower bulky teams, try to break through the opponents defensive core with Swords Dance.
  • When vs faster offensive teams try to sweep in the late-game with Rock Polish after Rhydon's checks and counters have been sufficiently weakened or removed.
  • It should be noted that even at +2 Speed Rhydon is still outran by Pokemon such as Accelgor and base 70 Choice Scarfers and above, so do not attempt to sweep until they have been removed.

Team Options
========
  • Rhydon greatly appreciates Stealth Rock and Spikes support from Pokemon such as Uxie, Garbodor, and Accelgor.
  • Grass-type Pokemon such as Sceptile and Virizion are extremely valuable teammates for Rhydon both offensively and defensively, as they can smack bulky Water-types in the way of Rhydon's sweep, and can also check opposing Grass-types.
  • Machamp works very well with Rhydon as the two can easily pressure common defensive cores such as Golbat + Steelix + Slowbro and pave the way for a cleaner to sweep late-game.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • Rhydon can make use of a Choice Band to increase its already solid damage output and spammable STAB moves, however the loss of bulk from Eviolite hinders it greatly in checking Pokemon like Meloetta, Drapion, and Tauros.
  • Rhydon can also opt for a Rest + Sleep Talk set in order to extend it longevity, however this means dropping Stealth Rock which will often result in stacking weaknesses when teambuilding.
  • Double Edge may seem like an appealing option in conjunction with Rock Head, however it provides almost no notable coverage over other options like Megahorn.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Grass-types**: Grass-type Pokemon such as Sceptile, Whimsicott, Virizion, and Rotom-C all resist Rhydon's Ground-type STAB and can OHKO it with their powerful Grass-type attacks. Choice Scarf Rotom-C can also outrun Rhydon even at +2 and is immune to Earthquake, making it particularly annoying to deal with.

**Water-types**: Bulky Water-type Pokemon such as Slowbro, Jellicent, Vaporeon, and Seismitoad can all survive multiple attacks from Rhydon and threaten it with a 4x super effective STAB Water-type attack.

**Lures**: Rhydon's 4x weakness to Grass- and Water-type attacks make it a very easy target to lure with coverage moves. Pokemon such as Grass Knot Delphox, Energy Ball Sigilyph, and Bloom Doom Rotom-C are all examples of effective and somewhat common lures for Rhydon. As a general note, Bloom Doom makes Rhydon a fairly shaky check to Fire-types as most are able to easily adapt their moveset to add it.

**Wallbreakers**: Powerful wallbreakers like Choice Band Emboar are Guts Machamp are very threatening to Rhydon as they can outspeed it and threaten it out with their powerful STAB attacks. Special Attacking wallbreakers such as Choice Specs Sceptile and Meloetta are especially difficult for Rhydon to deal with as they target its significantly lower Special Defense stat.
 
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This is ready. There really aren't any other decently viable options for rhydon rn to put in oo. Placing either of Dragon Tail or Toxic there probably makes the most sense instead of moves?
 

erisia

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"it is also rather exploitable with a 4x weakness to both Water- and Ground-type attacks" in the Overview. The latter should obviously be Grass-type attacks. Also mention here that most wallbreakers outspeed Rhydon pre-boost, which can put it in an awkward position after it gets a KO.

In tank set details you can probably come up with a better example than Magmortar.

In tank usage tips you should describe opportunities where Rhydon can set up Rocks safely (it 1v1s Steelix pretty well, especially if you have cleric support).

In tank team options mention that Vaporeon also absorbs Water-type attacks for you.

In DD set details emphasise that Jolly is necessary for a good Speed tier after a boost.

LOL what other options, basically just shoot down Choice Band / Rest-Talk / Double Edge like the XY analysis does for now.

In checks and counters you could mention in **Lures** that Bloom Doom in general makes Rhydon a shaky check to Fire-types (and Aggron kek). You also need a section for powerful special attackers and wallbreakers in general.

QC 1/3
 
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etern

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NU Leader
Moves:
  • mention that Swords Dance also helps Rhydon break through BU Braviary which can potentially beat Megahorn Rhydon 1v1.
Team Options:
  • Ghost-types are pretty great partners as well for Tankdon, deal with Fighting-types + Keep rocks up vs spinners.
Other Options:
  • I've played around with Metal Burst and its decent, nice 1-time way to remove something that you wouldn't be able to OHKO like SR Seismitoad, Jellicent, Hariyama, Virizion (If it Leaf Blade's before SDing) and some other cool stuff. Prob worth a mention at least.
nice, QC 2/3
 

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