UU Metagame Analysis - When Hera Crossed Over

By Erazor and Ala. Art by ChouToshio.
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The Backdrop

It's been a long fall from grace for the Stag Beetle—it was once one of the most important Pokémon in DPPt OU, but for the past year or so, Heracross has been desperately clinging onto its OU status, hovering at about #47 in usage for quite a while. Alas, in September the inevitable could no longer be delayed, and the OU list did not have Heracross's name on it for the first time in Gen 4.

Meanwhile, in UU, speculation had been rife for months about Heracross. UU players had expected the drop for two metagames, some players even more. At the time, UU had a stable metagame; however, this wasn't to everyone's liking, and most people relished the prospect of a metagame with Heracross.

Heracross's Impact

The greatest change that Heracross brought about was the shifting of the metagame from balance-centric to being dominated by offensive teams. Stall is now nearly non-existent on the ladder, although some top-level players are continuing to use stall teams.

Weezing usage had already been on the rise, once people discovered that it made a great counter to Venusaur. After Heracross came down, Weezing usage skyrocketed, since it is one of the few Pokémon that can take two hits from Heracross and live. In August, Weezing was 29th in usage; it is reasonable to expect that it rose a few places in September.

Arcanine has always been popular in UU, due to its superb utility in checking various threats and posing a great threat itself. However, its stock has never been higher than in this metagame. Arcanine's Intimidate and STAB Flare Blitz are godsends to teams that need a way to take care of Heracross, and Arcanine seems set to break into the top 5.

In times of great danger, often ordinary people rise to the occasion and do themselves proud; apparently, this happens with Pokémon as well. In this case, the Pokémon that answered the call of duty is Gligar. Gliscor is often called the best Heracross counter in the game; its little brother Gligar does the job just as well. With great physical defense, resistance to both of Heracross's STABs, and STAB Aerial Ace, Gligar is capable of switching into any of Heracross's moves—even a Guts-boosted Facade—and scare it out, or KO it if it stays in. It also helps that Gligar has the same base Speed as Heracross.

Scyther, considered the best Bug-type in the UU metagame before Heracross showed up, has not suffered a drop in usage. In fact, UU players (coughHeysupcough) have discovered that Scyther makes a great teammate for Heracross, luring in Heracross's checks and using U-turn to both deal damage and switch out to an appropriate counter, ensuring that Heracross has an easier time later on.

One would expect Spiritomb usage to have decreased once Heracross turned up. Heracross is strengthened by Will-O-Wisp, resistant to Dark-type attacks, and doesn't take much from Shadow Sneak. Oh, yeah, did I mention that Heracross can OHKO Spiritomb with Megahorn? While Spiritomb's usage may have decreased a little, it shouldn't be too drastic, especially when you consider that Spiritomb efficiently Pursuits Rotom and Mismagius, allowing Heracross to spam Close Combat without fear later in the game.

Heracross has certainly made its presence felt. Only time will tell if it overdid it.

Analysis of Sets

Heracross @ Toxic Orb
Guts
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Facade
- Night Slash

Status Orb Heracross is one of the best Heracross sets in the metagame. The aim of this set is to activate Guts and then fire off brutally powerful attacks. A powerful Facade is one of the best things about the set, since it hits common switch-ins for large amounts of damage—Moltres, Scyther, and Weezing all come to mind. This set is really all about coming in and hurting things, sweeping be damned. Heracross really appreciates Stealth Rock support, since a Guts-boosted Megahorn can OHKO Rotom and Mismagius after Stealth Rock. This is pretty important, as otherwise your opponent can try to play around Heracross with clever switching, waiting for Toxic damage to build up.

Weezing and Arcanine are as close as you will get to counters for this set. Physically defensive Weezing takes 42% – 50% from Facade, but considerably less from Heracross's other moves, and can use Fire Blast to dent Heracross.

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Guts
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Façade / Night Slash / Sleep Talk

Choice Scarf Heracross is not as great as other Heracross sets against stall teams, but fortunately, with the inclusion of Heracross in the tier, stall is now rarely found. This Heracross set takes advantage of that fact as it is able to plow right through offensive teams late game. It is able to outspeed everything in the tier save Electrode. The best reason to use this set is its simplicity; all it really needs to do is fire off Megahorn or Close Combat to scout for counters, then switch out and wait until those counters are weakened enough that they won't be able to come in. Guts is also very effective if Heracross can switch in on Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, effectively giving it +1 Attack and Speed. Stealth Rock is important for this Heracross as it doesn't deal as much damage as the other sets, so it appreciates the entry hazards quite a lot. Scyther and Moltres, who would otherwise counter this set, fail to do so with Stealth Rock in play.

The best way to beat this set is through smart switching, which is easier to do here than against other Heracross sets. Arcanine has Intimidate and resists Megahorn. It can also take advantage of Close Combat's Defense drop to threaten with an Extremespeed. Ghost Pokémon such as Rotom, Spiritomb, and Mismagius can all switch in on Close Combat, but all take massive damage from Megahorn. Weezing can switch in on any attack and defeat Heracross.

Heracross @ Choice Band
Guts
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Façade / Night Slash / Sleep Talk

Unlike the Choice Scarf set, this definitely has the power to break through stall teams while still remaining a threat to offensive teams. If this switches in on a status move, then something is probably getting knocked out. This is a great Pokémon that gets in, knocks something out, then switches out for later use.

Examples of how strong this Heracross is:

Without Choice Scarf, some Pokémon now outspeed Heracross and can threaten it with a super effective attack. Moltres, Scyther, and Arcanine can all switch in without Stealth Rock on the field and force a switch. Weezing can force out Heracross when it hasn't activated Guts, while Dugtrio can OHKO it with Aerial Ace.

Heracross @ Leftovers
Guts
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Substitute

Using Heracross with Substitute is like playing with a Choiced Heracross but without having to predict. It is able to scout using Substitute to see the initial switch-in, and respond accordingly after. It beats would-be revenge killers such as Moltres and Dugtrio with ease. It doesn't hit nearly as hard as the Choice Band set, so it has a bit of a problem with stall. If it gets in safely against an offensive team, it can usually nab a KO.

Unfortunately the advantages of this set is also its downfall to an extent; Heracross loses valuable HP with no way to recover it. Pairing it with a Pokémon capable of learning Wish is therefore of a great benefit to this Heracross. As for counters, Weezing is probably the best out there. Arcanine with Intimidate is an effective way to check it. Gligar is an unusual but surprisingly effective counter as well.

Heracross @ Life Orb
Guts
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

The RestTalk Heracross reaps the benefits of Choice Band without being locked in on one attack, and the ability to recover HP is a huge boon for Heracross. This comes at a price, however; the Guts effect only lasts two turns and it cannot pick the correct attack guaranteed. Maximum HP gives Heracross a surprising amount of bulk and the ability to take on threats such as Weezing better. It is an effective status absorber that can dish out pain at the same time.

The drop in Speed doesn't affect Heracross too much, but anything that resists its STAB attacks, such as Moltres, Scyther, and Gligar, can switch in without problems. Predicting a Rest and switching in a Pokémon that can OHKO Heracross, such as Houndoom, is an effective way of forcing it out as well. The unreliability of Sleep Talk is this set's downfall, and can be taken advantage of.

Argument for Banning

Heracross has quite often been compared to Gallade, who was banned from UU due to its ability to decimate stall teams and, at the same time, hold its own against offensive teams. In fact, people have argued that Megahorn, superior Speed, Guts, and the absence of the detrimental Psychic-typing make Heracross a better Pokémon than Gallade, and therefore it should be banned immediately.

However, even if you ignore the fact that Heracross is similar to Gallade, there's a lot of evidence that Heracross does the same things just as well as Gallade, if not better. It can be shown by damage calculations that Heracross is better at breaking stall than Gallade (and everyone knows how good Gallade was at that), due to Guts and a STAB Megahorn. The main question to be answered is: what can Heracross do against offensive teams?

The answer is that it can do quite a bit. Scarf Heracross outspeeds and heavily damages, if not OHKOes, most members of an offensive team. Even a Choice Band or Life Orb Heracross can come in on one of the slower members of an offensive team—Venusaur or Sceptile after a drop from Leaf Storm, for example—and proceed to unleash powerful Close Combats / Megahorns. Of course, Heracross is dealt with far more easily as well, since Pokémon like Alakazam and Swellow can force it out. But Heracross is nevertheless adept at netting KOes against an offensive team.

At the end of it, Heracross doesn't really attempt to sweep. Heracross is more of a wallbreaker, and by coming in, getting a KO, switching out, and repeating it again and again, it shows us that maybe it does deserve to be banned.

Argument Against Banning

Heracross is indeed a very powerful force in the metagame, but not really any more threatening than other offensive Pokémon, such as Torterra and Rhyperior. It does have a lot more Speed than those Pokémon, but unfortunately, it is sitting at an intermediate Speed tier. Heracross outspeeds most walls but fails to outspeed the many Pokémon that sit at base 80 if it runs an Adamant nature; if it goes with a Jolly nature it loses a ton of attacking power.

Heracross also has no access to viable priority and no Speed-raising moves. This severely hinders its sweeping ability, practically forcing it to come in, get a good hit in, and then switch out again. With the prevalence of Stealth Rock and Spikes in the metagame, this becomes very taxing on Heracross, especially if it is holding a Toxic/Flame/Life Orb.

The Bulk Up sets, while powerful, possess the same problem, in that they can nab a KO well enough, but with so many powerful Fire and Psychic attackers outspeeding Heracross and threatening a KO back, Heracross cannot sweep very well at all. The Choice item sets can become set-up bait and rely greatly on prediction to work. The RestTalk set is underwhelming because it is not reliable enough to get the job done. Heracross really suffers from having no means of reliable recovery.

Players must keep Heracross in mind when building their teams but that's no different than any other major threat such as Milotic and Venusaur. It is a top-tier threat for sure, but it needs a lot of support in order to be an effective tool in a team.

As it Stands

Heracross has been on the ladder for a while now, but due to the transition from Shoddy Battle to Pokémon Lab, the testing period for Heracross hasn't officially started yet. However, people have played with and against it, and are trying out many different sets. Opinion on Heracross is split very evenly, and Heracross might just remain in UU for a while.

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