UU Spotlight: Hydreigon

History:

Ever since its inception in Gen 5, Hydreigon has always been a threat to look out for in the tier it was placed in. In BW OU, it was considered to not have any direct counters, due to its extensive movepool, great offensive typing, and great all-around stats. This wasn't to say it was broken, however, as its Speed, while not bad by any means, was low enough that it could get revenge killed by a few offensive threats. With the advent of XY, it fell from grace due to the introduction of the Fairy-type, which does not take much damage from its STAB moves, as well as the general Speed creep in the tier, making it not as much of a prominent threat that it used to be. Now, it finds itself comfortable in UU, being voted to stay in the tier after its retest in May, as it is one of the best offensive threats in the tier. While it has a lot more answers on defensive teams, it is undoubtedly one of the most influential Pokémon in the tier and will most likely continue to be so.

Hydreigon's Qualities:

Hydreigon has a great offensive STAB combination, hitting most of the offensive Pokémon in the tier for neutral coverage and only missing out on Fairy-types. It also has a wide movepool, consisting of coverage options like Flash Cannon, Superpower, and Fire Blast, making it hard to switch into for offensive teams. It has a nice ability in Levitate, which lets it switch into Ground-type moves without fear. It also has great 105 / 125 offenses, coupled with a good base 98 Speed. It's no slouch defensively either, as 92 / 90 / 90 defenses coupled with a decent defensive typing and Levitate allow it to switch into a good portion of the tier with little trouble. Hydreigon's combination of power, bulk, Speed, and coverage makes it one of the best Pokémon in the tier.

Playing with Hydreigon:

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Fire Blast / Dragon Pulse

The most common Hydreigon set used in the tier aims to boost Hydreigon's already great Speed and make it a solid revenge killer, as Draco Meteor and Dark Pulse pressure a large portion of the offensive Pokémon in the tier thanks to its good coverage and the STAB boost. U-turn serves to keep offensive momentum against common switch-ins to Hydreigon, such as Florges, Aromatisse, and Blissey. Fire Blast is used primarily as coverage, hitting Steel-types like Lucario, Cobalion, and Forretress. Dragon Pulse can also be used for cleaning late-game, and is a more reliable Dragon-type STAB attack.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Superpower
- Iron Tail / Roost / Taunt

This set focuses less on revenge killing and more on breaking down defensive cores with its wallbreaking capabilities. A Life Orb-boosted Draco Meteor and Dark Pulse both 2HKO nearly everything that isn't a Fairy-type or Blissey. Speaking of which, the given EV spread is used to 2HKO Blissey with Superpower after Stealth Rock damage. The last slot is usually up to preference: Iron Tail is used for coverage to slam Fairy-types that try to switch into Hydreigon's STAB attacks, but has somewhat shaky accuracy, while Roost is used so Hydreigon can switch into Pokémon whose attacks it resists, like Chandelure, Houndoom, and Krookodile repeatedly without getting worn down, and Taunt is used to prevent the opponent from recovering as well as setting up, like with Suicune. Flash Cannon also deserves a mention, as it still hits the Fairy-types that Iron Tail hits for super effective damage, but is a bit more accurate and hits the somewhat uncommon Granbull for more damage at the cost of being a little less powerful against other Fairy-types. The nature is usually up to preference: Naive nature lets it tank Sucker Punch and other physical attacks it resists a little better, while a Hasty nature lets it switch into special attackers like Chandelure without taking as much damage.

Playing against Hydreigon:

Like in BW OU, Hydreigon has very few true counters (hell, it's probably safe to say that the Life Orb set has no counters given it has the right coverage), but thankfully, it's nowhere near impossible to deal with it, even on offensive teams. Fairy-types, such as Florges, Aromatisse, and Granbull, can tank Hydreigon's Dark Pulse with little trouble, and are immune to its Dragon-type moves, exploiting Hydreigon's 4x Fairy weakness in the process. However, virtually of the Fairy-types in the tier must be wary of Iron Tail and Flash Cannon. Special walls like Blissey and Umbreon can both wall Hydreigon's STAB attacks with little trouble, but must be careful of a Life Orb-boosted Superpower, which can dispose of both easily. Finally, in terms of checks that can fit on offensive teams, Fighting-types are the main Pokémon that come to mind. Assault Vest Machamp can tank a Draco Meteor from Hydreigon with little trouble, Lucario resists its STAB moves and can potentially set up on it, but can't really switch into a Draco Meteor and has to be wary of Fire Blast and Superpower, and Choice Scarf variants of Mienshao and Infernape can revenge kill Hydreigon, although they should not switch in at all to Hydreigon, unless it's locked into Dark Pulse.

Fitting Hydreigon onto Your Team:

Hydreigon can fit on most teams, depending on what your team needs. It really appreciates the removal of Fairy-type Pokémon like Florges, so Jirachi and Hydreigon make an extremely solid offensive core together. Entry hazard support is also appreciated, especially for the Life Orb sets, as it makes it much harder for defensive Pokémon to switch in; Pokémon like the aforementioned Jirachi, Swampert, Roserade, Froslass, and Chesnaught can be paired up with Hydreigon for this purpose. Hydreigon can fit on a wide variety of teams, and is either used as a revenge killer that can use its typing to its advantage, as offensive teams have few Pokémon that can switch into it more than once thanks to its great STAB combination, or as a wallbreaker that can break through defensive cores with little trouble, thanks to its coverage options, with the small drawback of not having the speed of the Choice Scarf set.

Get Out There!

While Fairy-types have affected Hydreigon's viability a fair amount, as well as the general speed creep that came with XY, Hydreigonis at home in UU. It has great all-around stats, being balanced both offensively and defensively, and its various sets make it hard to play around for most teams, although it can be predicted around fairly well depending on how the rest of the team looks, and it is one of the few Pokémon in the tier that can fit on nearly every playstyle (including stall). While times have changed for it, Hydreigon really packs a punch in UU, and should be considered when building an offensive team.

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