by Houndstone is a Pokémon that is so broken that it has been banned from OU and the truth is that I totally agree with it because it has an extremely good kit and if you perform its combo well (which is not even complicated) you will be able to sweep everything at your step.
In this post I will explain little by little what makes this Pokémon a devastating machine and of course I will explain in detail how to perform its annihilating combo. To sum it up a bit, it has a way to have a STAB move with 300 power (madness) and on top of it a Heart-stopping Speed; Come on, what every sweeper would like.
? HOUNDSTONE STATS
His statistics add up to a total of 488 points , so from the start he is a little below the 500 that we usually recommend.
- Health: 72.
- Attack: 101.
- Defense: 100.
- Special Attack: 50.
- Special Defense: 97.
- Speed: 68.
Offensively he is quite good with those 101 Attack, although it is true that that Speed limps a lot; however, you will soon see that this Pokémon has an ace up its sleeve to deal with this.
Defensively he is also quite good since he is well covered on the physical side and also on the special side. Life is not very much, but hey, as you can see, it is a pretty good cast, especially taking into account the issue of Speed that we have already discussed.
TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES
Armarouge is a unitary Ghost-Type just like Dusclops and has these weaknesses and resistances:
- He is immune to Normal and Fighting. Also highlight the Surprise movement.
- It is resistant to Bug and Poison.
- It is weak to Dark and Ghost.
Ghost has always been a very good Defensive Type, it stands out above all for having those 2 interesting Normal Types (important against Maushold ) and Fighting. 2 immunities that are greatly appreciated, especially in the ninth generation.
Regarding weaknesses, there are only 2 and they are not excessively dangerous:
- Sinister : It is not too dangerous, but you will have to be careful with it. Be careful against Pokémon like Kingambit , Meowskarada or Krookodile .
- Ghost : A weakness that usually wasn’t too dangerous, but in gen 9 it’s very dangerous due to the high presence of powerful ghosts like Dragapult , Armarouge , or Annihilape .
HOUNDSTONE ABILITIES
These are their abilities, we will tell you which one is the most recommended; in this case there is little doubt.
ARENA MOMENTUM
An ability that we usually associate with the Pokémon Excadrill since it is a very relevant Pokémon that uses it. What it does is immunize us from the damage caused by the sand in Sandstorm and it will also double our Speed in this weather . That’s why we commented that this Pokémon could solve its Speed problems.
This together with a Tyranitar or a Hippowdon so that they put the weather just for entering the field (and you assure it that way) is amazing.
IVS, EVS AND NATURE
The Iv’s perfect as usual; regarding EV’s and Nature…
- EV’s : 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Special Defense.
- Nature : Cheerful (+Speed, –Special Attack).
RECOMMENDED ITEM
These are the items I highly recommend for Houndstone:
- Choice Tape : Increases our physical damage by 50%, but when we use a movement we will be forced to continue using it to return the Pokémon to its Poké Ball.
- Vidasfera : Increases our damage by 30% with the downside of losing 10% of health when making an offensive attack.
- Assault Vest : Increases our Special Defense by 50%, but prevents us from using status moves (it has a pretty interesting one that we won’t be able to use, but it’s still a good option).
- Wow Ziuela : It removes the altered states, it only has one use. It is to combo with Rest. It will also be useful in case we get burned with Wildfire or whatever.
POSTHUMOUS TRIBUTE: HIS SIGNATURE MOVE
- STAB Ghost.
- Special.
- 50 Power.
- 100 Accuracy.
- Its Power is increased by 50 for each Pokémon on your team that has been KOed.
I think it goes without saying what a stupid movement it is, in the event that we leave Houndstone as the last Pokémon on our team (the typical thing a Sweeper does) it will have an attack with 300 power and on top of that with STAB Ghost. Add to this the Sandstorm that will double our Speed and ale, unless the opponent has a Normal Type Pokémon, the victory will be yours. Now you understand the reason why he is banned from OU.
Even assuming you don’t save it for last, it’s still a Brutal Attack.
BEST MOVES FOR HOUNDSTONE
The movements that I recommend the most for Houndstone:
- Posthumous Tribute : Of course, it is his key movement, it is very broken. Remember that Ghost is very effective against Psychic and other Ghosts, but come on, with our combo you practically wipe everything out.
- Fel Shadow : STAB Ghost, 40 power, 100% accuracy and has +1 priority. In case we are facing a faster Pokémon (complicated in Arena Climate, but it can happen) or to finish off Pokémon that have run out of life.
- Body Iron : Fight, 80 power, 100% precision and calculates its damage taking into account our Defense as a statistic (which is not exactly low, although obviously it would be better for it to scale with Attack for EVs, but it does not have another Fighting thing ). Essential coverage movement since it covers us against our two weaknesses, which are Normal and Sinister. It will be great for Pokemon like Ceruledge , Gholdengo , or Maushold.
- Carantoña : Fairy, 90 power, 90 precision and a 10% chance to reduce the opponent’s Attack by a stadium. For coverage, although if we do the destructive combo we will generally continue to hit better with Posthumous Tribute. Fairy is effective against Dragon, Fighting, and Dark.
- Rest : We will restore all our health, but our Pokémon will fall asleep. Very good combo with the Ziuela Berry.
- Same Fate : We will die, but we will take the rival Pokémon ahead. Useful in critical situations, if you see that a Pokémon is going to annoy the whole game.
- Cancellation : We will cancel the last movement used by the opposing Pokémon for 4 turns. In case someone gets heavy healing himself (assuming he can stand us, which is not easy) or something like that.
HOUNDSTONE STRATEGIES
We show you the strategies we have created for this Pokémon.
HOUNDSTONE SAND SWEEPER (SINGLES AND DOUBLES VGC)
- IVs: Perfect.
- EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Special Defense.
- Nature: Cheerful.
- Item: Assault Vest / Ziuela Berry / Life Orb
- Ability: Arena Impetus.
- Movements:
- Posthumous Tribute.
- Body Iron.
- Same Fate / Vile Shadow
- Nullification / Rest (with Ziuela Berry) / Protection
The idea is clear, we must gradually weaken our rival with the other Pokémon and reserve the one that sets the Arena climate as the penultimate Pokémon (and see sticking with it until they weaken it). Once the weather is set we will have a Pokémon with a STAB attack with 300 power and a dizzying Speed in the Sandstorm, so it will be easy to sweep the opposing team as long as you have eliminated Normal-Type Pokémon that could previously annoy you.
Even with these we have Body Iron for this type of Pokémon, Same Fate if things get tricky and you need to urgently eliminate a Pokémon from the rival and see that there is no other way and Cancellation or Rest to preference. Rest + Ziuela Berry is a very good combo to heal us for a lifetime and for our opponent to hate us a lot.
HOUNDSTONE TERACRYSTALLIZATION
- Phantom Teracrystallization .
With Ghost Teracrystallization you will have double STAB in the movements of Ghost Type… so if a STAB with 300 power was already beast enough, imagine with double STAB, not even God will put up with that except for Normal Types that are immune.
- Teracrystallization Fight .
It is very worth it in case we have to deal with a Normal Type to hit much harder with Body Iron. Also, by doing so we would lose our weaknesses and that will surely surprise our rival.
HOW TO DEFEAT HOUNDSTONE AND COUNTERS
The truth is that if he uses the strategy that we have discussed, he will be quite unstoppable, but this is the best thing you could try to do against him:
- Faster Pokémon that hit a weakness : The thing is complicated because in Sandstorm it is very fast, but very fast Pokémon with a Scarf will be able to with it. See Dragapult.
- Priority Moves : Pokemon that hit hard with priority moves such as Talonflame , Weavile , or Kingambit.
- Burn : Burn will slow him down quite a bit, but certainly… even if we cut his damage in half, it’s still a hell of a lot of damage and might not be enough.
- Remove the Weather : Pokémon that change the weather and that can then hit you very hard like Torkoal.
