Doubles Heatran

marilli

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[OVERVIEW]
Heatran is able to fit on a variety of teams in the Doubles OU metagame due to its unique Fire / Steel typing and a combination of good power and bulk. It has an excellent set of resistances and immunities due to its Steel typing and ability in Flash Fire, which allows it to check a variety of top-tier threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Salamence, and Tapu Lele. Its Fire typing, on the other hand, allows it to check Steel-types such as Aegislash and Celesteela. Furthermore, Heatran has a sizable movepool, which allows it to fulfill a variety of roles and adapt to a team's needs.

However, Heatran faces difficulty against generally specially defensive threats such as Tapu Fini, Zapdos, and Snorlax that can recover off damage dealt by Heat Wave and find opportunities to set up. In addition, Heatran's weakness to the common Water- and Ground-type attacks can allow opposing Pokemon to bypass its defensive capabilities and deal irreparable damage to it. Furthermore, a Speed stat of base 77 leaves Heatran outsped by a large portion of the metagame.

[SET]
name: Protect + 3 Attacks
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Solar Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Shuca Berry / Grassium Z
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
STAB Heat Wave provides consistent spread damage capable of denting the majority of threats. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran, as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Hidden Power Ice targets Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. On the other hand, Bloom Doom from Solar Beam allows Heatran to KO Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Protect is a staple of the Doubles OU metagame, as it provides free turns for its partner, scouts moves, and stalls out field conditions.

Set Details
========
Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive an Earth Power from opposing Heatran or a Ground-type STAB move from opposing Landorus and Zygarde. On the other hand, if Heatran has Solar Beam, Grassium Z is required in order for Heatran use Bloom Doom without wasting a turn charging Solar Beam. Firium Z is an alternative item choice for a strong Inferno Overdrive, and it has the added benefit of bypassing Wide Guard.

The given EV spread allows Heatran to survive a Superpower from standard Deoxys-A and maximize its speed and damage output, outspeeding most Zapdos and Tapu Fini. A Timid nature is used for trying to outspeed other Heatran and outspeeding most Zygarde, while a Modest nature maximizes Heatran's damage output. Bulkier EV spreads can be used in the set as well; maximum Speed is not necessary for Heatran to function, so feel free to make additional defensive investments instead of investing in Speed.

Usage Tips
========
Heatran can take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch into resisted attacks. However, it also needs to stay healthy in order to take advantage of Shuca Berry, as otherwise it will still be KOed by Ground-type moves. Thus, it is often necessary to choose between the ability to switch into resisted hits and the ability to take a Ground-type move. For instance, against an opponent that does not have much Ground-type coverage or wields Pokemon pairs like Misty Seed Zygarde and Tapu Fini that do not let Heatran make much progress on the turn it can stomach a Ground-type move, Heatran has more opportunities to switch into attacks and take advantage of its resistances, as staying healthy to use Shuca Berry is of lesser priority. In contrast, it would be inadvisable to take an Earthquake if Heatran must stay healthy to check Ferrothorn or Metagross later in the match. Offensive Shuca Berry Heatran is very effective at spreading damage, as it becomes much harder to OHKO using Ground-type attacks. This ability to wear down the opposing team can easily pave the way for another sweeper such as Dragon Dance Mega Salamance or Zygarde. However, be advised that Tectonic Rage Zygarde and Landorus-T can hit hard enough to take out a healthy Heatran in one hit, even with Shuca Berry. If using a Z-Move on Heatran, especially Bloom Doom, it is important to remember that it is one-time use, so don't waste the move too early.

Team Options
========
Heatran is quite a flexible Pokemon because it does not require specific support and is rarely dead weight. Speed control is important, as Heatran sits at a middling Speed tier. Mega Salamence and Zapdos can use Tailwind, and Zapdos in particular threatens Mega Salamence and Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic threaten common checks to Heatran such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Tyranitar. Also, Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, and Shaymin-S threaten Ground-types like Landorus-T and Water-types like Tapu Fini that beat Heatran. Tapu Bulu also provides Grassy Terrain, which halves damage taken from Earthquake.

[SET]
name: Eruption
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Protect
item: Firium Z / Shuca Berry
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 7 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
STAB Eruption provides a very strong spread attack and allows Heatran to act as a sweeper in Trick Room. As long as Heatran can stay healthy, Eruption gives Heatran the additional power to become a significantly larger threat to specially defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos, Hoopa-U, and Snorlax. Earth Power is used for hitting opposing Heatran as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Heat Wave is a more consistent Fire-type STAB move that allows Heatran to remain threatening at low health, as it will inevitably take some damage.

Set Details
========
A Quiet nature is required for Heatran to use Eruption. The given EV spread allows Heatran to maximize its bulk and damage output, and 7 Speed IVs allow Heatran to minimize its Speed while outspeeding minimum Speed Hoopa-U. This allows Hoopa-U to move first in Trick Room and break Wide Guard and Protect with its STAB moves before Heatran fires off its attack. If Hoopa-U is not used, 0 Speed IVs allow Heatran to fully minimize its Speed. Firium Z allows Heatran to use a strong Inferno Overdrive, taking advantage of Eruption's high Base Power even when it is weakened. However, remember that Inferno Overdrive can only be used once, so be careful not to waste the move too early. On the other hand, Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive Ground-type moves in an emergency.

Usage Tips
========
The additional damage from Eruption allows Heatran to be an efficient wallbreaker or a late-game Trick Room sweeper. Thus, managing Heatran's health is very important, as Eruption directly translates its health to damage output. With the extra damage, it becomes easier to KO foes before they can dent Heatran, preserving Eruption's high Base Power for more KOs. In addition, speed control becomes even more important; if Heatran moves after its foes, it becomes realistically impossible to consistently keep Heatran at full health to use Eruption. Heatran can still take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch into resisted attacks, but switching into attacks means that Heatran cannot use its full-powered Eruption, letting it miss out on KOs and costing you further resources. In general, Heatran should try to preserve its health as much as possible for the extra damage on Eruption, but it can use its defensive typing more liberally to take neutral and resisted attacks against frail Pokemon that take plenty of damage from Heat Wave.

Team Options
========
Hoopa-U is one of the best Trick Room users in the metagame; not only can it set up Trick Room for Heatran to make the best use of Eruption, but it can also break Wide Guard for Heatran. In addition, Fake Out support from the likes of Scrafty makes it much easier for Hoopa-U to set up Trick Room. Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss are great teammates for taking advantage of Trick Room, since they can take care of Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Tyranitar, paving the way for Heatran to wreak havoc. Tapu Bulu summons Grassy Terrain, which halves damage from Earthquake and keeps Heatran at higher health for Eruption. Amoonguss can outspeed most threats in Trick Room and allows Heatran to preserve its health with Rage Powder. Tapu Fini is another notable teammate, as it beats Ground- and Rock-types, has fantastic synergy with Hoopa-U, and has access to Heal Pulse to keep Heatran healthy.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Heatran has many options, but it struggles to find moveslots to use them; having a Fire-type STAB move, Earth Power, and Protect is crucial for Heatran to function, leaving only one flexible moveslot. Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Overheat are effective alternative STAB moves that bypass Wide Guard without having to use Firium Z. Due to prevalence of Wide Guard Steel-types such as Celesteela and Aegislash, ensuring that Heatran can truly check them by directly KOing them can be useful. Substitute is a great move on Heatran, usually used in conjunction with Leftovers to regain health lost by Substitute. Heatran can easily earn free turns due to its great offensive and defensive typing, but Substitute can be useless against specially defensive Pokemon such as Snorlax and Tapu Fini that can ignore it and set up. Taunt can be a useful move to stop support moves such as Tailwind, Calm Mind, and Trick Room, as well as denying Wide Guard from Celesteela. Stealth Rock is an option to check opposing Mega Charizard Y and Salamence, as Heatran usually finds a favorable position to set it against both Pokemon. Flash Cannon is a super effective STAB move against Rock- and Fairy-types such as Tyranitar, Tapu Lele, and Diancie, as well as hitting Dragon-type Pokemon for neutral damage. Finally, Stone Edge can be used to KO Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona but is quite useless outside of that. Heatran can also use Life Orb or Charcoal for consistent additional damage or use Safety Goggles on the Eruption set to become immune to Spore from Amoonguss.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Zygarde are immensely threatening because they can OHKO Heatran due to its 4x Ground weakness. Shuca Berry Heatran can take an Earthquake or Thousand Arrows, but a Tectonic Rage will KO despite the Berry. Hidden Power Ice is also not enough to get the OHKO against Zygarde and Assault Vest Landorus-T. Ground-type coverage moves such as High Horsepower from Snorlax and Earth Power from Kyurem-B, Shaymin-S, and opposing Heatran are also threatening.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Tapu Fini, Azumarill, and Milotic take negligible damage from most of Heatran's attacks and can then proceed to set up or simply attack with a super effective STAB move.

**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, Zygarde, and Hydreigon are rather threatening because they take negligible damage from Heat Wave and Earth Power. However, Mega Salamence and Zygarde take significant damage from Hidden Power Ice.

**Fighting-types and Fighting-type Coverage**: Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Fightinium Z Tapu Lele that use Fighting-type coverage moves do a lot of damage to Heatran.

**Opposing Weather**: Pelipper and Politoed cripple Heatran, as Drizzle halves the power of Heat Wave and its other Fire moves, while Swift Swim Pokemon such as Kingdra and Ludicolo threaten to OHKO Heatran with super effective Water-type moves in rain.

**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard users such as Araquanid block Heat Wave, Heatran's primary attacking move. Steel-type Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Celesteela are also threatening, although they can't switch in on Heat Wave and certainly can't take an Inferno Overdrive.
 
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GenOne

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Hey marilli! Thanks for getting this analysis moving - overall it's looking very articulate and well thought out.

I talked with some of the QC team, and Eruptran (Quiet-natured Heatran with Eruption) should be given its own standalone set; it differs quite a bit from fast Heatran in terms of the spread it runs, the Usage Tips that should accompany it, and the teammates that would support it.

On that note, the Substitute Attacker set should be moved to Other Options, as its only deviation from the All-Out Attacker set is a few HP EVs and its third move.

A few general edits/comments:
  • [OVERVIEW] Remove the third paragraph, but take some of the points you made there (e.g. how Heatran is flexible / fits on a variety of teams) and add those into the lead sentences of the overview
  • [OVERVIEW] It's not entirely accurate to say Heatran has "good stats across the board" since its speed tier is middling. Edit this to something along the lines of "good bulk and power."
  • [SET; All-Out Attacker] Remove Eruption from the move 3 slot. Remove Quiet from the nature slot. Add Solar Beam as a slash behind HP Ice on the move 3 slot. Add Grassium Z as a slash behind Shuca Berry on the item slot.
  • [SET; All-Out Attacker] Change the EV spread here to 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe. This guarantees that Heatran will live a Superpower from 4 Atk Deoxys-A, and the drop in SpA is negligible.
  • [Moves; All-Out Attacker] Remove the reference to Eruption, and add a description of how Bloom Doom lets Heatran deal with bulky Water-types like Tapu Fini and Milotic.
  • [Set Details; All-Out Attacker] Remove references to the slow, bulky Eruptran spread. Add an explanation of how 8 HP / 4 Def allows Heatran to live a Deoxys-A Superpower. Mention how Grassium Z is necessary for Solar Beam to be useful. Keep the reference to Firium Z in this section, but it comes after the Grassium Z mention.
  • [Usage Tips; All-Out Attacker] Although Heatran wants to conserve its health as much as possible for Shuca Berry defense, its solid defensive typing does make it a solid pivot into predicted resisted attacks, so that should be mentioned in this section.
  • [Usage Tips; All-Out Attacker] This section usually evaluates how well a Pokemon performs in early-game, mid-game, and late-game scenarios. That said, Heatran is pretty flexible in terms of when it can be played, but maybe mention that its typing and coverage usually make it too predictable to work as a lead, while its middling speed tier make it less effective as a late-game sweeper (although it can work as a defensive wincon if its threats are cleared out beforehand).
  • [Team Options; All-Out Attacker] This section looks great overall, just make sure references to the Eruptran set are moved out of here and into a seperate set analysis.
  • [Team Options; All-Out Attacker] When you discuss Tapu Bulu, also mention how Grassy Terrain halves the damage taken from Earthquake
  • [SET; Eruptran] Fill in this set with the commentary you see fit. In the Set Details, mention that 7 Speed IVs allow Heatran to move after minimum speed Hoopa-U, thereby allowing Hoopa-U to bypass Protects and Wide Guards prior to the Eruption Sweep. Also mention that 0 Speed IVs is preferred if not on a team with Hoopa-U. In the Usage Tips section, it should be suggested that Heatran's HP needs to be conserved as much as possible to maximize the power of Eruption. In the Team Options section, highlight how Hoopa-U makes a great partner not just for setting Trick Room, but also for breaking protection once Trick Room is set.
  • [Other Options] Remove the reference to Grassium Z as that's being moved to the main All-Out Attacker set.
  • [Checks and Counters] Add a tag for Fighting-types, mentioning Superpower Landorus-T, All-Out Pummeling Tapu Lele, Superpower Deoxys-A, and Terrakion Close Combat as offensive threats that bypass Shuca Berry to threaten a KO.
  • [Checks and Counters] Add a tag for Opposing Weather, mentioning how rain (set by Politoed or Pelipper) cripples Heatran's STAB moves making it dead weight on the battlefield.
Please implement the above changes and create a new set for Eruptran, then we'll review this one more time before moving this off to GP. Great work so far, this is shaping up to be a really solid analysis :)
 

kamikaze

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implemented.

I guess the only question remaining is what you want the item choice to be on eruption set, and where I should mention a bulky non-eruption 3 attack set. I put that in OO for now.

Memoric
firium on eruption set. it becomes a 200 base power single target fire move that can be used before and after you are weakened
 

GenOne

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implemented.

I guess the only question remaining is what you want the item choice to be on eruption set, and where I should mention a bulky non-eruption 3 attack set. I put that in OO for now.

Memoric
Good stuff - I'll take a look at this later this evening if nobody else does before then. Thanks for the quick turnaround!
 

GenOne

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This is looking really great, Marilli.

The item choices you wrote for the Eruption set work fine. Bulky non-eruption Heatran is too good/common to be shoved away in OO, but not great enough to warrant a standalone set, so let's give it a mention it in the All-out Attacker set.

QC 2/2 approved pending the following changes:
  • [SET; All-out Attacker] Rename "All-out Attacker" to "3 Attacks".
  • [Set Details; 3 Attacks] Keep the 252 Speed spread as the main set, but mention at the back of the Set Details that if 252 Speed isn't necessary, some or all of those Speed EVs may be invested into HP instead.
  • [Set Details; 3 Attacks] Your sentence regarding Grassium-Z really just needs to state that the item is required to activate Bloom Doom; you already explained in Moves why Bloom Doom is a useful move.
  • [Usage Tips; both sets] For both sets, just toss in a brief reminder that Heatrans using Z Moves need to save them for really count, as they are one-time-use attacks.
  • [SET; Eruption] The Smogon site doesn't actually have a space for IVs in this section (don't ask me why lol) so they can be removed from here; you already mention the IVs in the Set Comments so that's good enough.
  • [Set Details; Eruption] When you mention Firium Z, also mention how it allows you to make full use of Eruption's high base power even at lower HP levels.
  • [Other Options] Where you mention Substitute, mention that this move is ideally used in tandem with Leftovers. Life Orb and Charcoal are alternative items that provide more power if you don't want Shuca or a Z Crystal. Safety Goggles is a niche option for Eruption sets, allowing Heatran to avoid being slept by Amoonguss under Trick Room if its team doesn't have a Fini or Koko in the back.
  • [Checks and Counters] All of the **x-types** tags should be listed first, before Opposing Weather and Wide Guard.
 
Last edited:

Idyll

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keep the ivs on the set, that feature is gonna be there soon and having it there means we won't have to double back
 

lotiasite

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hi, amcheck, implement what you like
add remove comments
[OVERVIEW]
(add space)
Heatran is able to fit a variety of teams in the Doubles OU metagame due to its unique Fire / Steel typing and a combination of good power and bulk. It has an excellent set of resistances and immunities due to its Steel typing and ability in Flash Fire, which allows it to check a variety of top-tier (AH) threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Salamence, and Tapu Lele. Its Heatran's Fire typing, on the other hand, allows it to check Steel-types such as Aegislash and Celesteela. Furthermore, Heatran has a sizable movepool, which allows it to fulfill a variety of roles and adapt to a team's needs.

However, Heatran faces difficulty against generally specially defensive threats such as Tapu Fini, Zapdos, and Snorlax that can recover off damage dealt by Heat Wave and find opportunities to set up. In addition, Heatran's weakness to the common Water- and Ground-type attacks can bypass Heatran's defensive capabilities and deal irreparable damage to Heatran it. Furthermore, a Speed stat of 77 leaves Heatran outsped by a large portion of the metagame. Despite these significant flaws, Heatran's upsides are enough to keep it a prominent threat in DOU. (concluding sentences like these are usually fluff/discouraged)

[SET]
name: 3 Attacks
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Solar Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Shuca Berry / Grassium Z
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
(add space)
Heat Wave provides consistent STAB spread damage capable of denting a majority of threats. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran,(RC) as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Hidden Power Ice targets Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. On the other hand, Bloom Doom from Solar Beam allows Heatran to KO Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Protect is a staple of Doubles OU metagame, as it enables provides free turns for its partner, scouts moves, and stalls out field conditions.

Set Details
========
(add space)
Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive an Earth Power from an opposing Heatran, or a Ground-type STAB move from opposing Landorus (Landorus-T?) and Zygarde. On the other hand, if Heatran has Solar Beam, Grassium Z is required in order for Heatran to use a Grass-type attack without wasting a turn charging Solar Beam. Firium Z is an alternative item choice for a strong Inferno Overdrive, (RC) and has the added benefit of being a strong damage option that bypasses bypassing Wide Guard.

The given spread allows Heatran to survive a Superpower from standard Deoxys-A and maximize its Speed and damage, outspeeding most Zapdos and Tapu Fini variants. A Timid nature is used for maximum Speed to win Heatran mirrors (if this is the preferred set, you're not really winning the mirror matchups as much as youre speed tying) and outspeed most Zygarde sets, while a Modest nature maximizes Heatran's damage output. Bulkier spreads can be used in on the set as well; maximum Speed is not necessary for Heatran to function, so feel free to make additional defensive investments instead of investing in Speed.

Usage Tips
========
(add space)
Heatran can take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch and pivot into resisted attacks. However, it also needs to stay healthy in order to take advantage of Shuca Berry, as otherwise it will still be KOed by Ground-type moves. Thus, it is often necessary to choose one between the ability to switch into resisted hits, (RC) and the ability to take a Ground-type move. For instance, against an opponent foe that does not have much Ground-type coverage or wields Pokemon pairs like Misty Seed Zygarde and Tapu Fini that does not let Heatran make much progress on the turn it can stomach a Ground-type move, Heatran has more opportunities to switch into attacks and take advantage of its resistances, (AC) as staying healthy to use Shuca Berry effectively is of lesser priority. In contrast, it would be inadvisable to take an Earthquake if Heatran must stay healthy to check Ferrothorn or Metagross later in the match. Offensive Heatran is very effective at spreading damage, as it becomes much harder to OHKO using Ground-type attacks. This ability to spread damage can easily pave the way for another sweeper such as Dragon Dance Mega Salamance or Zygarde. However, be advised that Tectonic Rage Zygarde and Landorus-T can ignore the Shuca Berry hit hard enough to take out a healthy Heatran in one hit even with Shuca Berry intact. If using a Z-Move on Heatran, especially Bloom Doom, it is important to remember that it is a one-time use, (RC) and to not waste the move too early.

Team Options
========
(add space)
Heatran is quite a flexible Pokemon, because it does not require specific support and is rarely dead(add space)weight. Speed control is important, (AC) as Heatran sits at a middling Speed tier. Mega Salamence and Zapdos can use Tailwind, and Zapdos in particular threatens Mega Salamence and Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice. Water-types such as Tapu Fini or and Milotic threatens threaten common checks to Heatran such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Tyranitar. Also, Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, and Shaymin-Sky threatens threaten Ground-types like Landorus-T and Water-types like Tapu Fini that beat Heatran. Tapu Bulu also provides Grassy Terrain with its ability, which halves damage from Earthquake.

[SET]
name: Eruption
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Protect
item: Firium Z / Shuca Berry
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 7 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
(add space)
Eruption provides a very strong STAB spread damage and allows Heatran to act as a sweeper in Trick Room. As long as Heatran can stay healthy, Eruption allows Heatran the additional power to become a significantly larger threat to specially defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos, Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U, and Snorlax. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran, (RC) as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Heat Wave is a more consistent Fire-type STAB move that allows Heatran to remain threatening at low health, as Heatran will inevitably take some damage.

Set Details
========
(add space)
A
Quiet nature is required for Heatran to use Eruption. The given spread allows Heatran to maximize its bulk and damage output, and 7 Speed IVs allow Heatran to minimize its Speed while outspeeding minimum Speed Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U. This allows Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U to move first in Trick Room, (RC) and break Wide Guard and Protect with its STAB moves before Heatran fires off its attack. (im pretty sure this is what you mean; if not, change it to whatever you like but its missing a word) If Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U is not used, 0 Speed IVs allows allow Heatran to fully minimize its Speed to attack first in Trick Room. Firium Z allows Heatran to use a strong Inferno Overdrive, taking advantage of Eruption's high Base Power even when it is weakened. However, remember that Inferno Overdrive can only be used once, so be careful not waste the move too early. On the other hand, Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive Ground-type moves in an emergency.

Usage Tips
========
(add space)
The additional damage from Eruption allows Heatran to be efficient wallbreaker or an end-game (AH) Trick Room sweeper. Thus, managing Heatran's health as a resource is very important, (AC) as Eruption directly translates its health to damage output. With the extra damage, it becomes more doable to KO opponents easier to KO foes before they can dent Heatran, preserving Eruption's high Base Power for more KOs. In addition, speed control becomes even more important:;(colon->semicolon) if Heatran moves after its foes, it becomes realistically impossible to consistently keep Heatran at full health to use Eruption. Heatran can still take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch and pivot into resisted attacks, but switching into attacks means that Heatran cannot use its full-powered Eruption, letting it miss out on KOs, costing which costs (repetition) you further resources. As a general rule (this doesn't really sound like a "rule"; maybe just "in general,"), Heatran should try to preserve its health as much as possible for the extra damage, but it can use its defensive typing more liberally to take neutral and resisted attacks against frail Pokemon that take plenty of damage from Heat Wave.

Team Options
========
(add space)
Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U
is one of the best Trick Room users in the metagame. Not only can it set up Trick Room for Heatran to make the best use out of Eruption, but it can also break Wide Guard for Heatran. In addition, Fake Out support from likes of Scrafty makes it much easier for Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U to set up Trick Room. Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss are also great teammates for taking advantage of Trick Room.,(period->comma) since they can take care of Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Tyranitar, paving the way for Heatran to wreak havoc. Tapu Bulu also summons Grassy Terrain, (AC) which not only halves Earthquake damage, but it also keeps Heatran at higher health for Eruption. Amoonguss can outspeed most threats in Trick Room, (RC) and allows Heatran to preserve its health with Rage Powder. Tapu Fini is another notable teammate, as it beats Ground- and Rock-types, has fantastic synergy with Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U, and has access to Heal Pulse to keep Heatran healthy.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Heatran has many options, but it struggles to find moveslots to use them:;(colon->semicolon) having a Fire-type STAB move, Earth Power, and Protect is crucial for Heatran to function, leaving only one flexible moveslot. Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Overheat are effective alternative STAB moves that bypass Wide Guard without having to use Firium Z (RH). Due to the prevalence of Wide Guard Steel-types such as Celesteela and Aegislash, ensuring that Heatran can truly check them by directly KOing them can be useful. Substitute is a great move on Heatran, usually used in conjunction with Leftovers to regain health lost by Substitute. Heatran can easily earn free turns due to its great offensive and defensive typing, but Substitute can be useless against specially defensive Pokemon such as Snorlax and Tapu Fini that can ignore the Substitute and set up. Taunt can be a useful move to stop support moves such as Tailwind, Calm Mind, and Trick Room, as well as denying Wide Guard from Celesteela. Stealth Rock is an option to check opposing Mega Charizard Y and Salamence, as Heatran usually finds a favorable position against both Pokemon. Flash Cannon is a super effective STAB move against Rock-types and Fairy-types such as Tyranitar, Tapu Lele, and Diancie, as well as hitting Dragon-type Pokemon for neutral damage. Finally, Stone Edge can be used to KO Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona, (RC) but is quite useless outside of that checking the two. Heatran can also use Life Orb or Charcoal for consistent additional damage, or use Safety Goggles on the Eruption set to become immune to Spore from Amoonguss.

Checks and Counters
===================
(add space)
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Zygarde are immensely threatening because they can OHKO Heatran due to its quadruple 4x Ground weakness. Shuca Berry Heatran can take an Earthquake or Thousand Arrows, but a Tectonic Rage will KO despite the berry. Hidden Power Ice is also not enough to get the KO (OHKO? saying "KO" is pretty vague) against Zygarde and Assault Vest Landorus-T. Ground-type coverage moves such as High Horsepower from Snorlax or and Earth Power from Kyurem-B, Shaymin-S, and opposing Heatran are also threatening.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Tapu Fini, Azumarill, and Milotic take negligible damage from most of Heatran's attacks, (RC) and can then proceed to set up or simply attack with a super effective STAB move.

**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, Zygarde, and Hydreigon are rather threatening because they take negligible damage from Heat Wave and Earth Power. However, Mega Salamence and Zygarde take significant damage from Hidden Power Ice.

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Terrakion, (RC) or and Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Deoxys-Attack, and Fightinium Z (RH) Tapu Lele that use Fighting-type coverage moves, (RC) do a lot of damage to Heatran.

**Opposing Weather**: Pelipper and Politoed cripple Heatran, as Drizzle halves the power of Heat Wave and its other Fire-type moves, while Swift Swim Pokemon such as Kingdra and Ludicolo threaten an OHKO on Heatran with super effective Water-type moves in rain. (this section only mentions rain. either mention other weathers or rename to **Rain**)

**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard users such as Araquanid block Heat Wave - —Heatran's primary attacking move. Steel-type Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Celesteela are also threatening, although they can't switch in on a Heat Wave and certainly can't take an Inferno Overdrive.
 

Fireflame

Silksong when
is a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnus
The above amcheck was posted when I was in the middle of checking this. I used some of lotiasite's changes in my check after looking through them.
Remove Add Comments (AC)= add comma (RC)= remove comma (AH)= add hyphen (RH)= remove hyphen
[OVERVIEW]
Heatran is able to fit on a variety of teams in the Doubles OU metagame due to its unique Fire / Steel typing and a combination of good power and bulk. It has an excellent set of resistances and immunities due to its Steel typing and ability in Flash Fire, which allows it to check a variety of top-(AH)tier threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Salamence, and Tapu Lele. Its Fire typing, on the other hand, allows it to check Steel-types such as Aegislash and Celesteela. Furthermore, Heatran has a sizable movepool, which allows it to fulfill a variety of roles and adapt to a team's needs.

However, Heatran faces difficulty against generally specially defensive threats such as Tapu Fini, Zapdos, and Snorlax that can recover off damage dealt by Heat Wave and find opportunities to set up. In addition, Heatran's weakness to the common Water- and Ground-type attacks can bypass Heatran's defensive capabilities and deal irreparable damage to Heatran it. Furthermore, a Speed stat of 77 leaves Heatran outsped by a large portion of the metagame. Despite these significant flaws, Heatran's upsides are enough to keep it a prominent threat in DOU Doubles OU. (Consider removing this, though if you don't the next GP checker may)

[SET]
name: Protect + 3 Attacks
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Solar Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Shuca Berry / Grassium Z
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
STAB Heat Wave provides consistent STAB spread damage capable of denting the majority of threats. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran, as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Hidden Power Ice targets Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. On the other hand, Bloom Doom from Solar Beam allows Heatran to KO Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Protect is a staple of the Doubles OU metagame, as it enables provides free turns for its partner, scouts moves, and stalls out field conditions.

Set Details
========
Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive an Earth Power from an opposing Heatran,(RC) or a Ground-type STAB move from opposing Landorus and Zygarde. On the other hand, if Heatran has Solar Beam, Grassium Z is required in order for Heatran use a Grass-type attack Bloom Doom without wasting a turn charging Solar Beam. Firium Z is an alternative item choice for a strong Inferno Overdrive, and it has the added benefit of being a strong damage option that bypasses bypassing Wide Guard.

The given EV spread allows Heatran to survive a Superpower from standard Deoxys-A and maximize its speed and damage, outspeeding most Zapdos and Tapu Fini. A Timid nature is used for max speed to win trying to outspeed other Heatran mirrors and outspeeding most Zygarde, while a Modest nature maximizes Heatran's damage output. Bulkier EV spreads can be used in the set as well; maximum Speed is not necessary for Heatran to function, so feel free to make additional defensive investments instead of investing in Speed.

Usage Tips
========
Heatran can take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch and pivot into resisted attacks. However, it also needs to stay healthy in order to take advantage of Shuca Berry, as otherwise it will still be KOed by Ground-type moves. Thus, it is often necessary to choose one between the ability to switch into resisted hits,(RC) and the ability to take a Ground-type move. For instance, against a foe an opponent that does not have much Ground-type coverage or wields Pokemon pairs like Misty Seed Zygarde and Tapu Fini that does do not let Heatran make much progress on the turn it can stomach a Ground-type move, Heatran has more opportunities to switch into attacks and take advantage of its resists resistances,(AC) as staying healthy to use Shuca Berry is of lesser priority. In contrast, it would be inadvisable to take an Earthquake if Heatran must stay healthy to check Ferrothorn or Metagross later in the match. Offensive Heatran is very effective at spreading damage, as it becomes much harder to OHKO when not using Ground-type attacks (I'm assuming this is what you meant). This ability to spread damage can easily pave the way for another sweeper such as Dragon Dance Mega Salamance or Zygarde. However, be advised that Tectonic Rage Zygarde and Landorus-T can ignore the Shuca Berry hit hard enough to take out a healthy Heatran in one hit,(AC) even with Shuca Berry. If using a Z-Move on Heatran, especially Bloom Doom, it is important to remember that it is has a one-time use, and to not so don't waste the move too early.

Team Options
========
Heatran is quite a flexible Pokemon,(RC) because it does not require specific support and is rarely deadweight dead weight. Speed control is important,(AC) as Heatran sits at a middling Speed tier. Mega Salamence and Zapdos can use Tailwind, and Zapdos in particular threatens Mega Salamence and Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice. Water-types such as Tapu Fini or and Milotic threatens common checks to Heatran such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Tyranitar. Also, Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, and Shaymin-Sky threatens Shaymin-S threaten Ground-types like Landorus-T and Water-types like Tapu Fini that beat Heatran. Tapu Bulu also provides Grassy Terrain with its ability, which halves damage taken from Earthquake.

[SET]
name: Eruption
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Protect
item: Firium Z / Shuca Berry
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 7 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
STAB Eruption provides a very strong STAB spread damage and allows Heatran to act as a sweeper in Trick Room. As long as Heatran can stay healthy, Eruption allows gives Heatran the additional power to become a significantly larger threat to specially defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos, Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U, and Snorlax. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran, as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Heat Wave is a more consistent Fire-type STAB move that allows Heatran to remain threatening at low health, as Heatran it will inevitably take some damage.

Set Details
========
A Quiet nature is required for Heatran to use Eruption. The given EV spread allows Heatran to maximize its bulk and damage output, and 7 Speed IVs allow Heatran to minimize its Speed while outspeeding minimum Speed Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U. This allows Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U to move first in Trick Room,(RC) and break Wide Guard and Protect with its STAB moves before Heatran fires off its attack. If Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U is not used, 0 Speed IVs allows allow Heatran to fully minimize its Speed to attack first in Trick Room. Firium Z allows Heatran to use a strong Inferno Overdrive, taking advantage of Eruption's high Base Power even when it is weakened. However, remember that Inferno Overdrive can only be used once, so be careful not to waste the move too early. On the other hand, Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive Ground-type moves in an emergency.

Usage Tips
========
The additional damage from Eruption allows Heatran to be an efficient wallbreaker or an endgame a late-(AH)game Trick Room sweeper. Thus, managing Heatran's health as a resource is very important,(AC) as Eruption directly translates its health to damage output. With the extra damage, it becomes more doable easier to KO opponents foes before they can dent Heatran, preserving Eruption's high Base Power ("Base Power" is capitalized) for more KOs. In addition, speed control becomes even more important:(colon);(SC) if Heatran moves after its foes, it becomes realistically impossible to consistently keep Heatran at full health to use Eruption. Heatran can still take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch and pivot into resisted attacks, but switching into attacks means that Heatran cannot use its full-powered Eruption, letting it miss out on KOs, costing you further resources. As a In general rule, Heatran should try to preserve its health as much as possible for the extra damage on Eruption, but it can use its defensive typing more liberally to take neutral and resisted attacks against frail Pokemon that take plenty of damage from Heat Wave.

Team Options
========
Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U is one of the best Trick Room users in the metagame;(SC).(period) not only can it set up Trick Room for Heatran to make the best use out of Eruption, but it can break Wide Guard for Heatran. In addition, Fake Out support from likes of Scrafty makes it much easier for Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U to set up Trick Room for Heatran. Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss are great teammates for taking advantage of Trick Room,(AC) since.(period) they can take care of Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Tyranitar, paving the way for Heatran to wreak havoc. Tapu Bulu summons Grassy Terrain,(AC) which not only halves damage from Earthquake damage,(RC) but also and keeps Heatran at higher health for Eruption. Amoonguss can outspeed most threats in Trick Room,(RC) and allows Heatran to preserve its health with Rage Powder. Tapu Fini is another notable teammate, as it beats Ground- and Rock-types, has fantastic synergy with Hoopa Unbound Hoopa-U, and has access to Heal Pulse to keep Heatran healthy.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Heatran has many options, but it struggles to find moveslots to use them:(colon);(SC) having a Fire-type STAB move, Earth Power, and Protect is crucial for Heatran to function, leaving only one flexible moveslot. Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Overheat are effective alternative STAB moves that bypass Wide Guard without having to use Firium-(RH)Z. Due to prevalence of Wide Guard Steel-types such as Celesteela and Aegislash, ensuring that Heatran can truly check them by directly KOing them can be useful. Substitute is a great move on Heatran, usually used in conjunction with Leftovers to regain health lost by Substitute. Heatran can easily earn free turns due to its great offensive and defensive typing, but Substitute can be useless against specially defensive Pokemon such as Snorlax and Tapu Fini that can ignore the Substitute it and set up. Taunt can be a useful move to stop support moves such as Tailwind, Calm Mind, and Trick Room, as well as denying Wide Guard from Celesteela. Stealth Rock is an option to check opposing Mega Charizard Y and Salamence, as Heatran usually finds a favorable position to set it against both Pokemon. Flash Cannon is a super effective STAB move against Rock-types Rock-(AH) and Fairy-types such as Tyranitar, Tapu Lele, and Diancie, as well as hitting Dragon-type Pokemon for neutral damage. Finally, Stone Edge can be used to KO Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona,(RC) but is quite useless outside of checking the two that. Heatran can also use Life Orb or Charcoal for consistent additional damage,(RC) or use Safety Goggles on the Eruption set to become immune to Spore from Amoonguss.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Zygarde are immensely threatening because they can OHKO Heatran due to its quadruple 4x Ground weakness. Shuca Berry Heatran can take an Earthquake or Thousand Arrows, but a Tectonic Rage will KO despite the Berry. Hidden Power Ice is also not enough to get the OHKO against Zygarde and Assault Vest Landorus-T. Ground-type coverage moves such as High Horsepower from Snorlax or Earth Power from Kyurem-B, Shaymin-S, and opposing Heatran are also threatening.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Tapu Fini, Azumarill, and Milotic take negligible damage from most of Heatran's attacks,(RC) and can then proceed to set up or simply attack with a super effective STAB move.

**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, Zygarde, and Hydreigon are rather threatening because they take negligible damage from Heat Wave and Earth Power. However, Mega Salamence and Zygarde take significant damage from Hidden Power Ice.

**Fighting-types and Fighting-(AH)type Coverage**: Fighting-types such as Terrakion,(RC) or and Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Deoxys-Attack Deoxys-A, and Fightinium-(RH)Z Tapu Lele that use Fighting-type coverage moves,(RC) do a lot of damage to Heatran.

**Opposing Weather**: Pelipper and Politoed cripple Heatran, as Drizzle halves the power of Heat Wave and its other Fire moves, while Swift Swim Pokemon such as Kingdra and Ludicolo threaten a to OHKO on Heatran with super effective Water-type moves in rain.

**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard users such as Araquanid block Heat Wave,(AC) -(RH) Heatran's primary attacking move. Steel-type Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Celesteela are also threatening, although they can't switch in on a Heat Wave and certainly can't take an Inferno Overdrive.
GP 1/2
 

Lumari

empty spaces
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris an Administrator Alumnus
TFP Leader
remove add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 2/2
[OVERVIEW]
Heatran is able to fit on a variety of teams in the Doubles OU metagame due to its unique Fire / Steel typing and a combination of good power and bulk. It has an excellent set of resistances and immunities due to its Steel typing and ability in Flash Fire, which allows it to check a variety of top-tier threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Salamence, and Tapu Lele. Its Fire typing, on the other hand, allows it to check Steel-types such as Aegislash and Celesteela. Furthermore, Heatran has a sizable movepool, which allows it to fulfill a variety of roles and adapt to a team's needs.

However, Heatran faces difficulty against generally specially defensive threats such as Tapu Fini, Zapdos, and Snorlax that can recover off damage dealt by Heat Wave and find opportunities to set up. In addition, Heatran's weakness to the common Water- and Ground-type attacks can allow opposing Pokemon to bypass Heatran's its defensive capabilities and deal irreparable damage to it. Furthermore, a Speed stat of base 77 leaves Heatran outsped by a large portion of the metagame. Despite these significant flaws, Heatran's upsides are enough to keep it a prominent threat in Doubles OU.

[SET]
name: Protect + 3 Attacks
move 1: Heat Wave
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Solar Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Shuca Berry / Grassium Z
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
STAB Heat Wave provides consistent spread damage capable of denting the majority of threats. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran, as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Hidden Power Ice targets Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. On the other hand, Bloom Doom from Solar Beam allows Heatran to KO Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Protect is a staple of the Doubles OU metagame, as it provides free turns for its partner, scouts moves, and stalls out field conditions.

Set Details
========
Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive an Earth Power from opposing Heatran or a Ground-type STAB move from opposing Landorus and Zygarde. On the other hand, if Heatran has Solar Beam, Grassium Z is required in order for Heatran use Bloom Doom without wasting a turn charging Solar Beam. Firium Z is an alternative item choice for a strong Inferno Overdrive, and it has the added benefit of bypassing Wide Guard.

The given EV spread allows Heatran to survive a Superpower from standard Deoxys-A and maximize its speed and damage output, outspeeding most Zapdos and Tapu Fini. A Timid nature is used for trying to outspeed other Heatran and outspeeding most Zygarde, while a Modest nature maximizes Heatran's damage output. Bulkier EV spreads can be used in the set as well; maximum Speed is not necessary for Heatran to function, so feel free to make additional defensive investments instead of investing in Speed.

Usage Tips
========
Heatran can take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch into resisted attacks. However, it also needs to stay healthy in order to take advantage of Shuca Berry, as otherwise it will still be KOed by Ground-type moves. Thus, it is often necessary to choose between the ability to switch into resisted hits and the ability to take a Ground-type move. For instance, against an opponent that does not have much Ground-type coverage or wields Pokemon pairs like Misty Seed Zygarde and Tapu Fini that do not let Heatran make much progress on the turn it can stomach a Ground-type move, Heatran has more opportunities to switch into attacks and take advantage of its resistances, as staying healthy to use Shuca Berry is of lesser priority. In contrast, it would be inadvisable to take an Earthquake if Heatran must stay healthy to check Ferrothorn or Metagross later in the match. Offensive Shuca Berry Heatran is very effective at spreading damage, as it becomes much harder to OHKO using Ground-type attacks. This ability to spread damage wear down the opposing team (or w/e you want, as long as it's less repetitive) can easily pave the way for another sweeper such as Dragon Dance Mega Salamance or Zygarde. However, be advised that Tectonic Rage Zygarde and Landorus-T can hit hard enough to take out a healthy Heatran in one hit, even with Shuca Berry. If using a Z-Move on Heatran, especially Bloom Doom, it is important to remember that it has a is one-time use, so don't waste the move too early.

Team Options
========
Heatran is quite a flexible Pokemon because it does not require specific support and is rarely dead weight. Speed control is important, as Heatran sits at a middling Speed tier. Mega Salamence and Zapdos can use Tailwind, and Zapdos in particular threatens Mega Salamence and Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic threatens threaten common checks to Heatran such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Tyranitar. Also, Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Amoonguss, and Shaymin-S threaten Ground-types like Landorus-T and Water-types like Tapu Fini that beat Heatran. Tapu Bulu also provides Grassy Terrain, which halves damage taken from Earthquake.

[SET]
name: Eruption
move 1: Eruption
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Protect
item: Firium Z / Shuca Berry
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 7 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
STAB Eruption provides a very strong spread damage attack and allows Heatran to act as a sweeper in Trick Room. As long as Heatran can stay healthy, Eruption gives Heatran the additional power to become a significantly larger threat to specially defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos, Hoopa-U, and Snorlax. Earth Power is a great coverage move used for hitting opposing Heatran (RC) as well as Rock-types such as Tyranitar and Terrakion. Heat Wave is a more consistent Fire-type STAB move that allows Heatran to remain threatening at low health, as it will inevitably take some damage.

Set Details
========
A Quiet nature is required for Heatran to use Eruption. The given EV spread allows Heatran to maximize its bulk and damage output, and 7 Speed IVs allow Heatran to minimize its Speed while outspeeding minimum Speed Hoopa-U. This allows Hoopa-U to move first in Trick Room and break Wide Guard and Protect with its STAB moves before Heatran fires off its attack. If Hoopa-U is not used, 0 Speed IVs allow Heatran to fully minimize its Speed to attack first in Trick Room. (redundant) Firium Z allows Heatran to use a strong Inferno Overdrive, taking advantage of Eruption's high Base Power even when it is weakened. However, remember that Inferno Overdrive can only be used once, so be careful not to waste the move too early. On the other hand, Shuca Berry allows Heatran to survive Ground-type moves in an emergency.

Usage Tips
========
The additional damage from Eruption allows Heatran to be an efficient wallbreaker or a late-game Trick Room sweeper. Thus, managing Heatran's health is very important, as Eruption directly translates its health to damage output. With the extra damage, it becomes easier to KO foes before they can dent Heatran, preserving Eruption's high Base Power for more KOs. In addition, speed control becomes even more important; if Heatran moves after its foes, it becomes realistically impossible to consistently keep Heatran at full health to use Eruption. Heatran can still take advantage of its various resistances in order to safely switch into resisted attacks, but switching into attacks means that Heatran cannot use its full-powered Eruption, letting it miss out on KOs (RC) and costing you further resources. In general, Heatran should try to preserve its health as much as possible for the extra damage on Eruption, but it can use its defensive typing more liberally to take neutral and resisted attacks against frail Pokemon that take plenty of damage from Heat Wave.

Team Options
========
Hoopa-U is one of the best Trick Room users in the metagame; not only can it set up Trick Room for Heatran to make the best use of Eruption, but it can also break Wide Guard for Heatran. In addition, Fake Out support from the likes of Scrafty makes it much easier for Hoopa-U to set up Trick Room for Heatran. Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss are great teammates for taking advantage of Trick Room, since they can take care of Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Tapu Fini, Landorus-T, and Tyranitar, paving the way for Heatran to wreak havoc. Tapu Bulu summons Grassy Terrain, which halves damage from Earthquake and keeps Heatran at higher health for Eruption. Amoonguss can outspeed most threats in Trick Room and allows Heatran to preserve its health with Rage Powder. Tapu Fini is another notable teammate, as it beats Ground- and Rock-types, has fantastic synergy with Hoopa-U, and has access to Heal Pulse to keep Heatran healthy.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Heatran has many options, but it struggles to find moveslots to use them; having a Fire-type STAB move, Earth Power, and Protect is crucial for Heatran to function, leaving only one flexible moveslot. Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Overheat are effective alternative STAB moves that bypass Wide Guard without having to use Firium Z. Due to prevalence of Wide Guard Steel-types such as Celesteela and Aegislash, ensuring that Heatran can truly check them by directly KOing them can be useful. Substitute is a great move on Heatran, usually used in conjunction with Leftovers to regain health lost by Substitute. Heatran can easily earn free turns due to its great offensive and defensive typing, but Substitute can be useless against specially defensive Pokemon such as Snorlax and Tapu Fini that can ignore it and set up. Taunt can be a useful move to stop support moves such as Tailwind, Calm Mind, and Trick Room, as well as denying Wide Guard from Celesteela. Stealth Rock is an option to check opposing Mega Charizard Y and Salamence, as Heatran usually finds a favorable position to set it against both Pokemon. Flash Cannon is a super effective STAB move against Rock- and Fairy-types such as Tyranitar, Tapu Lele, and Diancie, as well as hitting Dragon-type Pokemon for neutral damage. Finally, Stone Edge can be used to KO Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona but is quite useless outside of that. Heatran can also use Life Orb or Charcoal for consistent additional damage or use Safety Goggles on the Eruption set to become immune to Spore from Amoonguss.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Zygarde are immensely threatening because they can OHKO Heatran due to its 4x Ground weakness. Shuca Berry Heatran can take an Earthquake or Thousand Arrows, but a Tectonic Rage will KO despite the Berry. Hidden Power Ice is also not enough to get the OHKO against Zygarde and Assault Vest Landorus-T. Ground-type coverage moves such as High Horsepower from Snorlax or and Earth Power from Kyurem-B, Shaymin-S, and opposing Heatran are also threatening.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Tapu Fini, Azumarill, and Milotic take negligible damage from most of Heatran's attacks and can then proceed to set up or simply attack with a super effective STAB move.

**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, Zygarde, and Hydreigon are rather threatening because they take negligible damage from Heat Wave and Earth Power. However, Mega Salamence and Zygarde take significant damage from Hidden Power Ice.

**Fighting-types and Fighting-type Coverage**: Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Fightinium Z Tapu Lele that use Fighting-type coverage moves do a lot of damage to Heatran.

**Opposing Weather**: Pelipper and Politoed cripple Heatran, as Drizzle halves the power of Heat Wave and its other Fire moves, while Swift Swim Pokemon such as Kingdra and Ludicolo threaten to OHKO Heatran with super effective Water-type moves in rain.

**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard users such as Araquanid block Heat Wave, Heatran's primary attacking move. Steel-type Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Celesteela are also threatening, although they can't switch in on Heat Wave and certainly can't take an Inferno Overdrive.
 
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