So far in our analysis series, we’ve looked at a few more ‘gimmicky’ options for your teams which have seen little to no success throughout the history of VGC, the same certainly can’t be said about the gigantic (seriously, who knew he’s 7’07”???) Sumo Wrestler. Hariyama has a wealth of history in VGC, having a spot on Ray Rizzo’s winning team at the 2010 world championships and having been used by many renowned players; but can Hariyama find a place in 2017?
Well, so far, the answer is a resounding yes! Hariyama has already claimed a winners spot on Gavin Michaels’ dual regional winning teams being used alongside Porygon2 to ensure a successful Trick Room set. This is almost certainly Hariyama’s best role in the meta, though you could throw him on your teams as an ‘answer’ to opposing Trick Room.
A glance at his base stats may make it a little surprising that Hariyama has such a successful history in VGC; incredibly high HP and Attack, low Speed and access to Fake Out make him a wonderful sweeper to use under Trick Room, whereas his low defences make Hariyama fairly difficult to be utilised outside of the twisted dimensions.
So far, Hariyama is the 23rd most used Pokémon on Battlespot’s Championship ladder and the above image shows almost a complete list of his ‘viable’ moves with it demonstrating a fair reflection that Fake Out and Close Combat should be on every Hariyama you find yourself using.
The item usage also shows a telling story, Flame Orb (or Toxic Orb if you’re feeling hipster) combined with the guts ability offers huge damage output or, if you’re feeling a bulkier spread, Assault Vest could be an item of choice. Whilst Fightinium Z sits third on the usage list I’d heavily advise against this as an item choice; yes, a Z powered version of Close Combat without the drops to both defences looks like an attractive option for a moment, but – alongside being a waste of a Z move – a Guts boosted Close Combat does more than enough damage by itself. Take the following calculations for example:
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Close Combat vs. 180 HP / 0 Def Celesteela: 156-184 (80 – 94.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Hariyama All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 180 HP / 0 Def Celesteela: 165-195 (84.6 – 100%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO
Is that one time slight boost in damage really worth it?
With all of the above information, you’re all but ready to go about building your own killer Hariyama spreads; however, if you need a little more guidance, take a few of the sets below as a base!
Set 1: Back on top!
Hariyama @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Fake Out
– Knock Off
– Close Combat
– Poison Jab / Feint / Heavy Slam
So, this is the Hariyama which won San José regionals. It’s also the Hariyama spread I’ve been using relentlessly since the start of the season and managed a 2nd place at a PC with. As mentioned previously, the combination of Flame Orb and Guts boosts Hariyama’s damage output to a ridiculous level, Fake Out, Close Combat and Knock Off are attacks you should expect to see on any Hariyama spread with the last attack coming down to personal preference and what your team needs; Gavin used Feint on his to ensure opponents couldn’t safely Protect to stall out turns of Trick Room. Heavy Slam guarantees a OHKO onto Tapu Lele whilst Poison Jab is the more consistent option to get damage on the four Tapu Guardians.
Maximising attack ensures you’ll be doing huge damage to almost everything in the format:
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Close Combat vs. 244 HP / 92 Def Eviolite Porygon2: 210-248 (109.9 – 129.8%) — guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Close Combat vs. 188 HP / 44 Def Muk-Alola: 189-223 (92.6 – 109.3%) — 56.3% chance to OHKO
-1 252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arcanine: 127-151 (64.4 – 76.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 158-188 (94.6 – 112.5%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 138-164 (73.7 – 87.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 140 Def Oranguru: 176-208 (89.3 – 105.5%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tapu Lele: 178-210 (100.5 – 118.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Poison Jab vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 162-192 (110.9 – 131.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Tapu Fini: 116-138 (65.5 – 77.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Guts Hariyama Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Lele: 184-218 (103.9 – 123.1%) — guaranteed OHKO
Whilst on the defensive side here are the relevant calculations:
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 92 HP / 164 Def Hariyama: 195-229 (84.4 – 99.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
252+ Atk Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. 92 HP / 164 Def Hariyama: 186-218 (80.5 – 94.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Hariyama in Electric Terrain: 183-216 (79.2 – 93.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
Set 2: Training on the Tower
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts/Thick Fat
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 220 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Fake Out
– Close Combat
– Knock Off
– Heavy Slam
Tapu Lele always tends to be a trickier Pokémon to play against whilst attempting to run a full Hariyama Trick Room team. Its ability to prevent Fake Out through Psychic Terrain and threaten the OHKO onto Hariyama is usually enough to scare it off the field at team preview, especially if you’re not running Ghostium Z Mimikyu. Even then, Choice Scarf variants can still catch Hariyama out and the prevalence of Drifblim/Lele in the meta puts people off using Hari as an alternative Trick Room check. In terms of abilities, Guts is still a solid option to take advantage of any burns, poisons etc whereas Thick Fat allows Hariyama to tank Fire and Ice attacks much better.
This spread is designed to take a Psychic (in Psychic Terrain) from a non Life Orbed Tapu Lele before attempting to KO back with Heavy Slam:
If you’re using this spread on a team solely dedicated to abusing the twisted dimensions, partnering Hariyama with a Tapu (Tapu Fini works best here) to take away the Psychic Terrain allows Hariyama to take a hit from a Life Orbed Tapu Lele:
252+ SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 28 HP / 220 SpD Assault Vest Hariyama: 174-205 (78 – 91.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Maximising the Attack stat here means that – even without the guaranteed Guts boost – you’re still hitting things for obscene amounts of damage, though the lack of physical bulk probably means you’re best off using this Hariyama as part of a team with some degree of Trick Room support.
Set 3: I don’t even need Trick Room!
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 28 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Def / 220 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Close Combat
– Bulldoze
– Fake Out
– Poison JabThis is perhaps a more optimised Assault Vest Hariyama spread than above for use as a Trick Room check. Created by my friend MellowVGC, this Hariyama helped him to victory in an MSS.His team featured a Tapu Fini so it was less likely Hariyama would be afflicted by any status conditions making Thick Fat the optimal choice. In terms of move choices, Close Combat, Fake Out and Poison Jab are all exceedingly common moves for a Hariyama; dropping Knock Off for Bulldoze however, to add an extra form of speed control, grants an ingenious way for Hariyama to create additional win conditions.
The first thing to note about the EV spread is the 124 Attack investment; without Guts and/or max investment this Hariyama won’t be OHKOing everything in its path, but it provides just enough damage output to finish off opposing threats. Importantly, it will manage to pick up the KO on Trainer Tower Snorlax without popping the 50% berry after a Fake Out:
124+ Atk Hariyama Close Combat vs. 68 HP / 188 Def Snorlax: 212-252 (86.8 – 103.2%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
124+ Atk Hariyama Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Gigalith: 156-186 (81.2 – 96.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
124+ Atk Hariyama Close Combat vs. 244 HP / 124 Def Eviolite Porygon2: 122-146 (63.8 – 76.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
124+ Atk Hariyama Bulldoze vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Nihilego: 176-208 (95.1 – 112.4%) — 62.5% chance to OHKO
Defensively, the spread picks up where Set 2 left off, boasting the same Tapu Lele Calcs only this time we have more physical bulk (and Thick Fat) calcs to show off:
252 Atk Garchomp Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 28 HP / 132 Def Hariyama: 190-225 (85.2 – 100.8%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Gyarados Hydro Vortex (160 BP) vs. 28 HP / 132 Def Hariyama: 180-213 (80.7 – 95.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO252+ SpA Charcoal Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 28 HP / 220 SpD Assault Vest Thick Fat Hariyama in Sun: 52-63 (23.3 – 28.2%) — 86.3% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 28 HP / 132 Def Thick Fat Hariyama: 63-75 (28.2 – 33.6%) — 0.2% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 28 HP / 220 SpD Assault Vest Hariyama in Electric Terrain: 90-107 (40.3 – 47.9%) — guaranteed 3HKO
84 SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 28 HP / 220 SpD Assault Vest Hariyama: 84-102 (37.6 – 45.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO
So, there you have it. Hariyama spreads, capable of winning tournaments and versatile enough to fit on almost any team! For those of you still considering Snorlax or Gigalith as your Trick Room checks after reading this – shame on you. Well… not really I guess…
GoldenrodPress 
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