OU: Pokémon Hoopa-Unbound

Uralya

*ponders everything*
Member
hoopa-unbound.gif

Hoopa-Unbound
Psychic/Dark
Ability: Magician
80 / 160 / 60 / 170 / 130 / 80
Hyperspace Fury (Dark 100 BP, 5 PP, never misses and lowers Hoopa's Defense)
Knock Off
Dark Pulse
Psyshock
Zen Headbutt
Trick
Focus Blast
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Thunder Wave
Toxic
Taunt
Magic Coat
Drain Punch
Ice Punch
Focus Punch
Fire Punch

Discovered through intricate hacking, we now know everything about Hoopa-Unbound and how to get it, so discussion is possible. Put simple, Hoopa-U almost completely outclasses its previous forme and has attack stats higher than many Ubers. Unlike Kyurem-B, it has an expansive movepool, and unlike Mega Pokemon, it can hold an item to augment its phenomenal power. Despite this, Hoopa-U still has terrible typing, defenses and speed. It has no resistances, a huge vulnerability to priority and less special bulk than one would initially think.

So, what will it be for Hoopa-U? Is it the ultimate stallbreaker? Does a Choice Scarf compensate for its middling speed? Is it Uber material? Let's see.
 

MegaBeedrill

This isn't even my final form!
Member
Yeah it's definitly OP. It's speed is a let down.. but surely it will make an impact reguardless with it's very large coverage movepool, huge offensive stats (not that far off from Mega rayquaza's actually), and holding items to boost those stats.. Nothing on stall can wall it, and nothing on hyper offense can switch into it.

I don't believe Soopa Doopa Hoopa will be staying in OU for long after release to say the least..

It also gets gunk shot to bonk fairies.
 

DdogTheKing

On the surfside.
Member
I like Hoopa-U. However, that 60 base defense is just horrid.

I was trying a Trick Room Hoopa-U the other day since with no speed, and a hindering nature it was a good threat to many of the faster pokemon in OU. Espically with megas and the speed creep that they have. I don't think it's going to be banned but it does have a unpredictable factor as it can run alot of great moves as Uralya posted.

I think Bisharp , M-Beedrill, Clefable will be it's biggest counters / checks.
 

Chaos Jackal

Legend of the Past
Member
It can function in OU, but it's nowhere near broken. Defense is terrible, typing doesn't help, and Speed is at that grey zone where it's too slow compared to most Pokemon but a bit faster than you'd like from a Pokemon that can function in TR. Its BST hits 680, but let's not forget that Kyurem-B hits 700 and yet dwells in OU still. It can break through the majority of defensive teams, that's for sure, but that's about all it has going for it. Its great offenses are greatly hindered by its lack of Speed, bulk and the fact that the only thing it can handle are Psychic moves.
 

MegaBeedrill

This isn't even my final form!
Member
DdogTheKing said:
I think Bisharp , M-Beedrill, Clefable will be it's biggest counters / checks.

Hoopa gets drain punch for bisharp, and M-beedrill should never be switching in on it.

252 Atk Hoopa-U Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Beedrill: 250-295 (92.2 - 108.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

Jolly Mega beedril does outspeed choice scarf hoopa by 1 point but reguardless he's just a revenge killer.. he handles hoopa as well as he handled greninja, which didn't stop him from being broken.

as for clefable..

252 Atk Hoopa-U Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 270-318 (68.5 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

This thing can run special, mixed, physical, trick room, whatever it wants to. Honestly.. it's a slower mega lucario, nothing can reliably wall it.

Chaos Jackal said:
Its BST hits 680, but let's not forget that Kyurem-B hits 700 and yet dwells in OU still.

The reason kyurem is OU is because his physical movepool is nearly nonexsistant outside 3 or 4 viable moves (dragon claw, fusion bolt, and outrage) which are horribly walled by pokemon with resistances and immunities to his STABs. Ice typing is, quite frank, awful which makes his ok bulk pretty meh when his only resistance is electric, water, and grass.. while being hit by rock, fighting, steel, dragon, and fairies hard. He has counters that keep him pretty limited in the metagame. Hoopa-U I'm not seeing any reliable counters to.
 

Chaos Jackal

Legend of the Past
Member
He slashed checks.

And I never said that Kyurem-B is in OU for the same reasons as Hoopa-U. I know why Kyurem is in OU. I just brought the example of another Pokemon with remarkably high BST as a showcase that stats aren't all that matters.

Hoopa may not have many counters, if any, due to its very high offenses on both ends of the spectrum, however it has a good deal of checks due to its bad bulk, Defense, typing and Speed. Let me remind you that CB Terrakion was almost the same last Gen, with nearly no reliable counters and much fewer checks, most notably Scizor, due to Terrakion having 108 Speed. It's a slower Mega Lucario, yes, but a MUCH slower Mega Lucario (although with remarkably more power). The fact that Hoopa can hold an item is what still makes me wary though; a Hoopa with any Choice Item or Life Orb seems like an absolute terror to face, and that alongside its unpredicatbility may easily overwhelm all of my arguments about its many drawbacks just because of sheer power, but that remains to be seen.
 

PG24

<Pride> I'm my wildest fantasy
Advanced Member
Member
Sets like mixed LO, Nasty Plot, or a stallbreaking set consisting of Knock Off, Toxic, and Taunt / Magic Coat can possibly be effective against slow stall teams. The 80 base speed is pretty shitty, but just enough that it outspeeds most relevant walls. As powerful as these sets are, they're held back by major 4mss (lack of room for Gunk Shot makes Fairy-types a pain, but you really can't fit it in on most sets) and its inability to do much against more offensive teams because it can't switchin or outspeed. These sets will probably still be used, but I doubt they'll be effective outside of complimenting another sweeper by removing stall.

The sets that sound more relevant are the varying scarf sets (physical, special, and mixed). These are the only sets, outside of a SubPunch set, that fix its most crippling weakness in speed. With increased speed, its weakness to more offensive teams is limited, while it still can wreck some stall teams with its access to Trick, The major problem I see is a lack of firepower compared to other sets since you're forced to run a +speed nature. Too lazy to pull up calcs, but I assume you'll miss out on a few important KOs the other sets would normally net.

I don't know if it's broken by just theorymoning what it can do. Going by history, there's never really been something as offensive with low speed and defense banned (inb4 wobbufett family). It reminds me a lot of pre-OU Black Kyurem where it looked good on paper but ultimately was less threatening when put into practice. I think there's way too many grey areas where we can just claim it as broken just by looking at the statistics and intangibles.

Daily reminder that speed is the only stat in Pokemon that is arguably the most simplistic yet important in terms of viability.
 

DdogTheKing

On the surfside.
Member
Assault Vest Hoopa-U might be something cool to try as well. Seeing as it has that beautiful 130 SDef stat.

It also has Drain Punch which allows it to at least get some recovery. That's better than no recovery at all. Overall, Hoopa (both formes) are pretty verstaile. Which is good it can run alot of sets, and or move variations. Which as I said earlier makes it unpredictable.

I can see scarf being the most common set on Hoopa-U. But the move selection would be something to scout for which is annoying to deal with.
 

AlexanderTheAwesome

Go! Chandelure!
Member
DdogTheKing said:
Assault Vest Hoopa-U might be something cool to try as well. Seeing as it has that beautiful 130 SDef stat.

It also has Drain Punch which allows it to at least get some recovery. That's better than no recovery at all. Overall, Hoopa (both formes) are pretty verstaile. Which is good it can run alot of sets, and or move variations. Which as I said earlier makes it unpredictable.

I can see scarf being the most common set on Hoopa-U. But the move selection would be something to scout for which is annoying to deal with.

But if it has good SpDef why would you run assault vest?
 

DdogTheKing

On the surfside.
Member
The same reason why people ran AV Tyranitar?

I mean 100 base SDef + Sand Stream + AV. It's basically coming in at like +4.

Hoopa-U can use it to help with it's fairy weaknesses in the least. And for it to take special hits better. For example.

Clefable two shots Hoopa-U with Moonblast.

Meanwhile, If I was AV. I end up having a extra chance to live for a extra turn.
 

PG24

<Pride> I'm my wildest fantasy
Advanced Member
Member
DdogTheKing said:
The same reason why people ran AV Tyranitar?

Except Tyranitar has great physical defense, HP, and RESISTANCES, making Assault Vest a good choice for an item. Hoopa-U has one immunity, no resistances, subpar HP, and lackluster physical defense. One good defensive stat does not dictate you are a tank and can effectively run AV.

Your example of defeating Clefable with boosted defense is moot when I can instead opt to kill it by running a Life Orb set with Gunk Shot while avoiding unnecessary damage. If Clefable is switching in to check, which is the only logical and likely scenario, it will never even have a chance to get off a Moonblast.

0 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 296-351 (75.1 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 351-413 (89 - 104.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 437-515 (110.9 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 512-603 (129.9 - 153%) -- guaranteed OHKO

AV might help in some cases, like improving your advantages over the Lati twins, but overall Hoopa just lacks the typing and physical bulk to actually take advantage of the item.
 
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