Mega Heracross

This analysis was written by User:charizard8888
Mega Heracross is one of the most powerful attackers in the 1v1 metagame owing to its sky high base 185 Attack along with a great set of abilities and perfect movepool combination. Its great offensive typing lets it muscle past meandering threats including Kyurem-B, Mega Gyarados, and Snorlax. Skill Link accompanied by a great movepool including multi-hit moves like Pin Missile, Bullet Seed, and Rock Blast lets it fire high base power moves. Moreover, multi-hit moves allow Mega Heracross to get past most of the Pokemon with the ability Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, Substitute users like Jumpluff, Dragonite's Multiscale and they get the better of Counter and Metal Burst. Low Kick as Fighting-type STAB which comes without any negative effects and more often than not has enough base power to KO the foes that lose to Close Combat. Guts as the ability in the regular forme allows Heracross to defeat bulky Will-O-Wisp users namely Mega Sableye and Defensive Mew. Mega Heracross' decent bulk allows it to take hits from powerful attackers like Mega Gyarados, Kyurem-B, and Durant and then retaliate with its strong attacks. It can run multiple sets, a fast offensive set aims at dealing maximum damage while taking the least number of attacks as possible allowing it to always pick up the win against Primarina, Tapu Fini, Psychium Z Tapu Lele, and Mega Venusaur while a bulky set can take on other Pokemon which the former can't including Aegislash, Tapu Koko, Porygon-Z, and Fast Icium Z Kyurem-B leaving the opponent double-minded when sending these Pokemon from the team preview. With these gizmos under its belt, Mega Heracross is capable of defeating common threats such as Mega Gyarados, most Kyurem-B, SubSeeders such as Whimsicott and Jumpluff, Sturdy Pokemon like Golem and Donphan, and bulky Pokemon including Snorlax and Mega Slowbro, allowing it to fit in a wide range of teams with ease. Unfortunately its typing leaves it weak to Fire-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon such as both Mega Charizard formes, Blaziken, and Mega Gardevoir which are prevalent in the 1v1 metagame. Although it can defeat fairly a decent amount of Fairy-type Pokemon but loses to Mimikyu, Magearna, Mega Altaria, and Mega Mawile. Its 4x weakness to Flying-type attacks can be exploited by Pokemon such as Mega Pinsir, Offensive Celesteela, and other Pokemon which occasionally carry Flying-type moves such as Dragonite, Landorus-T, and Archeops. Its subpar Speed leaves it outsped by Charizard, Mega Pinsir, and Latios which can KO it. To add to this, its Speed gets further lowered upon mega evolving.
=QuickCross=
Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Pin Missile
- Low Kick
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast
==Set Comments==
===Moves===
Pin Missile is Mega Heracross' most powerful attack with 125 Base Power and deals loads of damage while hitting the maximum number of times thanks to its ability Skill Link and can be used to defeat Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, Psychium Z Tapu Lele most of the time, and Mega Slowbro. Low Kick as the Fighting STAB takes out most of the Steel-, Normal-, Rock-, and Ice-type Pokemon such as Heatran, Snorlax, Mega Tyranitar, and Kyurem-B. Bullet Seed is another multi-hit move in Mega Heracross' star-studded movepool which can be used to eliminate Primarina, Tapu Fini, Mega Swampert, Golem, and Donphan. Finally Rock Blast, another multi-hit move, completes its colorful coverage allowing it to hit Pokemon weak to it, to name a few Crustle, Dragonite, and Alolan Marowak.
===Set Details===
252 Speed EVs maximize Mega Heracross' Speed and lets it outspeed Meloetta, Psychium Z Tapu Lele, and Bulky Kyurem-B while 252 Attack EVs for maximum damage output lets it hit as hard as possible. A Jolly nature makes sure that it outspeeds even the rare Timid Heatran in the regular forme all the time while coupled with an Adamant nature, it gets a better chance of one-shotting Bulky Kyurem-B, Psychium Z Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini. Guts as the pre-mega ability allows it to take on status users like Mega Sableye. Skill Link makes sure that all its multi-hit moves hit the maximum number of times which lets it deal more damage and lets it get past Sturdy and other such Pokemon.
===Usage Tips===
Pick Mega Heracross if you predict the opponent to send their Sturdy Pokemon, SubSeeders, or bulky offensive Pokemon such as Kyurem-B, Snorlax, and Mega Gyarados. Avoid sending it against threats like Mega Charizard, Mega Mawile, Garchomp, and Mimikyu as they'll mostly defeat it. Use the Jolly nature if your team lacks a Heatran check otherwise it is recommended to go for Adamant for the power that it provides to Mega Heracross' attacks. Pick the appropriate coverage move to hit the foe and if all of them have the same effectiveness, then proceed to use Pin Missile for getting the maximum damage but if the foe can be KOed by Bullet Seed then that should be used over Pin Missile as it has perfect accuracy. When facing Heatran, do not mega evolve it and use Low Kick so as to outpace it and pick up the win. Similarly, when against Pokemon that carry Will-O-Wisp like Mega Sableye and Defensive Mew, refrain from mega evolving so as to pick up the Attack boost when they use their status-inflicting move. When matched up against Mega Gyarados, always start with Rock Blast, follow it up with Bullet Seed if they did not mega evolve on the first turn and if they did on the first turn, use Low Kick to pick up the victory against it. Use Pin Missile over Low Kick against Chansey as despite of the type advantage, it will do more damage.
===Team Options===
Mega Heracross is a potent wallbreaker and can defeat a wide variety of Pokemon. Pokemon vulnerable to Sturdy and defensive Pokemon pair up well with Mega Heracross as it covers up for their weakness. Mega Metagross is one such Pokemon which appreciates Mega Heracross' capability of defeating the aforementioned threats and in turn checks most Fairy-, Flying- and Psychic-type Pokemon like Mega Altaria, Mega Diancie, Magearna, Mega Pinsir, and Mega Mawile. Mega Charizard X is the perfect teammate for Mega Heracross as it can defeat Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Magearna, Magnezone, and Mega Metagross which trouble Mega Heracross while Mega Heracross can mostly defeat Bulky Tapu Lele, Snorlax, Mega Slowbro, SubSeeders, and Sturdy Pokemon like Golem and Donphan which can be problematic for Mega Charizard X. Mega Aggron can check both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Pinsir, Porygon-Z, most Fairy- and Psychic-Type Pokemon and turns out to be a great partner for Mega Heracross. Special Kyurem-B with Groundium Z can be paired with Mega Heracross to lure in and defeat Magearna, Mega Mawile, Aegislash, and Mega Metagross all of which defeat Mega Heracross and at the same time, Mega Heracross can check Pokemon like Mega Gyarados, Mega Slowbro, Mega Lucario, and Snorlax for supporting Kyurem-B.
=ToughCross=
Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 SpD
Impish Nature
- Pin Missile
- Low Kick
- Bullet Seed
- Earthquake / Counter
==Set Comments==
===Moves===
Skill Link boosted STAB Pin Missile is Mega Heracross' hardest-hitting move. Low Kick is its Fighting-type STAB move which mostly picks up good base power in the 1v1 metagame and even if its doesn't, its high Attack stat still lets it deal massive damage and mostly pick up the KO. Bullet Seed provides coverage against Pokemon that resist its other moves and is its most reliable move against FEAR thanks to its flawless accuracy. Earthquake lets Mega Heracross defeat Tapu Koko and Aegislash by OHKOing the former and 2HKOing the latter. It also hits Magnezone but it can defeat Mega Heracross with by the combination of Electroweb and Gigavolt Havoc but Mega Heracross would be able to defeat all the other Magnezone sets namely Choice Specs and Air Balloon. Alternatively, Counter can be used to get past physical attackers that are able to take hits from Mega Heracross. This move also has a very high success rate with Mega Heracross as most Pokemon with Substitute don't use it due to the fear of multi-hit moves.
===Set Details===
248 HP maximize Mega Heracross' mixed bulk and with 108 Def EVs along with an Impish nature, it can always take a Subzero Slammer from 252 Atk Kyurem-B and other physical hits like Gigavolt Havoc from Wild Charge from Tapu Koko. 152 SpD investment along with 248 HP lets it take a Modest Hyper Beam from Scarf Porygon-Z, Specs Hydro Cannon from Greninja as well as a Special Gigavolt Havoc from Tapu Koko. The mixed bulk also allows it to take a Never Ending Nightmare from Shadow Ball and Shadow Sneak combination from Aegislash. With Guts as the pre-mega ability, Burn actually increases its Attack by 1 stage instead of halving which allows it to take on status users. Skill Link boosts all of its multi-hit moves by making them hit always hit five times thus increasing the power of its moves.
===Usage Tips===
This set can defeat offensive Pokemon such as Aegislash, Garchomp, Porygon-Z, and Tapu Koko which the offensive one cannot which comes at the cost of trading away guaranteed win against some Pokemon to name a few Heatran, Meloetta, and Psychium Z Tapu Lele. It also has a decent chance of defeating Non-Fairium Z Mimikyu. Even without any attack investment, Bulky Mega Heracross is still an offensive powerhouse, its high attack helps in dealing loads of damage making its offensive presence known. Use Counter against physical attackers that Mega Heracross cannot KO with its moves such as Mega Metagross, Dragonite without Fly, Durant and Bulky Kyurem-B. When up against Pokemon whose attacks might not be enough for Counter to KO like Garchomp, do not mega evolve Heracross and use Counter as they might be running Choice Scarf which won't do enough damage for Counter to OHKO. If Counter has done enough damage for Mega Heracross to KO the foe next turn with one of its moves then they should be picked over using Counter again. Some Kyurem-B are also equipped with Substitute and may block Counter so go for Low Kick if you predict them to use Substitute. Instead of using Low Kick use Pin Missile against Porygon-Z and Chansey for dealing more damage.
===Team Options===
Mega Tyranitar with Rock Tomb makes a good teammate for Mega Heracross with its capability of taking on both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Pinsir, Mimikyu, Tapu Lele, and Heatran while Mega Heracross can handle Mega Lopunny, Donphan, Golem, and Sawk for it in return. Fast Offensive Mega Charizard Y can be paired with Mega Heracross as all the Pokemon for which Mega Charizard Y mainly runs bulk, namely Mega Gyarados, Scarf Kyurem-B, Porygon-Z are covered by Bulky Mega Heracross so Mega Charizard Y can opt to go for the fast offensive set and with that, it can take on Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, Magearna, and Mew with ease. Since Mega Charizard X is generally used with Offensive Mega Heracross, this can leave the opponents perplexed about Charizard's mega forme whose advantage should be used. Checks to both Mega Charizard formes, Fairium Z Mimikyu, and Mega Pinsir like Scarf Porygon-Z, Heatran with Rock Tomb, and Gigalith pair up well with Mega Heracross as its vulnerable to them.
=Strategy Comments=
Do not be afraid to use multi-hit moves against bulky Pokemon with Counter/Metal Burst such as Donphan, Aggron, Blastoise, Bastiodon, etc. as Counter and Metal Burst will only double the damage of a single Bullet Seed or Pin Missile. 
==Other Options==
Arm Thrust as the multi-hit Fighting STAB can be used over Low Kick to defeat Magnezone but its base power is significantly weaker than Low Kick which costs Mega Heracross' victory against others such as Kyurem-B and Snorlax which seems to largely outweigh its benefits. Endure can be used on the offensive set in place of Bullet Seed to take on Mega Charizard Y's Blast Burn, Porygon-Z's Hyper Beam, Mega Pinsir's Giga Impact and such attacks, Mega Heracross can then retaliate with its own moves while they recharge. This strategy further gets backed by the fact that the aforementioned Pokemon wouldn't mostly use Substitute despite having it because of the fear of multi-hit moves. Close Combat can be used over Low Kick as it has a consistent high-base powered which lets Mega Heracross always defeat Chansey, Genesect, and Durant but it comes with Defense drop on use which allows Substitute users such as Steelium Z Kartana and faster Kyurem-B to take advantage of it. Swords Dance is another option which boosts Mega Heracross' attack to a very high level, letting it grab guaranteed win against Curse Mega Aggron and Chansey set even from the Bulky Attacker set. Rock Tomb on the bulky set would allow it to defeat Magnezone which can KO it by executing a combination of Electroweb and Gigavolt Havoc while on the offensive set, Rock Tomb followed by either Bullet Seed or Rock Blast lets it defeat Non-Fairium Z Mimikyu.
==Checks and Counters==
*Fire-types: Both Mega Charizard formes, Blaziken, and Victini outspeed and can OHKO Mega Heracross with their powerful super-effective Fire-type moves.
*Flying-type attacks: Mega Heracross is 4x weak to Flying-type attacks and Pokemon carrying such attacks like Mega Pinsir, Dragonite, Mega Pidgeot, and Archeops can use this advantage and OHKO it with relative ease.
*Selective Fairy- and Psychic-types: Alhough Mega Heracross is more than capable of defeating a decent amount of these Pokemon but still loses out to some which either outspeed it or are able to take an attack and KO back like Magearna, Mega Mawile, Fast Tapu Lele, Fairium Z Mimikyu, Mega Altaria, and Latios.
*Strong Attackers: Powerful Attacking Pokemon equipped with Z-Crystals and Choice Specs such as Faster Choice Specs Porygon-Z, Electrium Z Magnezone with Electroweb, Choice Specs Genesect are able to defeat it with their boosted attacks.
Category:Analyses