Metagame - SV OU Metagame Discussion v4 [NEW TIERING RESULTS POST 11597] (2024)

Just wanna shout out Hydrapple for a moment here, been using this set and it has been super helpful

Physdef Hydrapple
Hydrapple @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 244 HP / 240 Def / 12 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Fickle Beam
- Grass Knot / Giga Drain
- Recover
Spdef is to live an Iron Valiant's Moonblast and Specs Kyurem's Earth Power after activating Tera Steel, and the speed is to outspeed Ting-Lu.
252 SpA Iron Valiant Moonblast vs. 244 HP / 12 SpD Hydrapple: 348-410 (84 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Earth Power vs. 244 HP / 12 SpD Tera Steel Hydrapple: 350-412 (84.5 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Hydrapple's an interesting mon, since it's best set is the least used. I've had way more consistent wins with physdef hydrapple than with vest and stalldrapple. It also has a ton of useful traits, namely its Grass/Dragon typing, great physical bulk, and Regenerator. Grass/Dragon is surprisingly good in this metagame, able to check mons like Rillaboom, Waterpon, Dondozo, Garganacl, Iron Boulder, and Lando (note that Band Rilla does about half to Hydrapple with U-turn, however non-Band sets can't do much). It checks a lot of other threats too, like Great Tusk and Heatran, but matchups like these require precise positioning and for Hydrapple to be at or near full health. Fickle Beam's used over other Dragon STAB options like Draco Meteor and Dragon Tail because this set's meant to stay in for prolonged periods of time to wall threats, so Draco damage weakening over time will prove to be detrimental and Dragon Tail doesn't do meaningful damage, and if you get lucky Fickle Beam will hit at base 160 power with no drawbacks. Grass Knot's ran over other Grass STAB options like Giga Drain and Leaf Storm because Leaf Storm weakens over time, same reason as Draco, and Giga Drain doesn't hit heavier threats like Great Tusk, Garganacl, and Ting-Lu as hard as Grass Knot does, however Giga Drain can be ran on this set. Some calcs listed below:

0 SpA Hydrapple Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 204+ SpD Garganacl: 152-182 (37.6 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Hydrapple Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 204+ SpD Garganacl: 242-288 (59.9 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Hydrapple Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk: 314-372 (72.3 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Hydrapple Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk: 500-590 (115.2 - 135.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

0 SpA Hydrapple Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 270-318 (53.5 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Hydrapple Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 426-504 (84.5 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

0 SpA Hydrapple Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 116-140 (22.5 - 27.2%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Hydrapple Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 188-224 (36.5 - 43.5%) -- 99.3% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Hydrapple Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Iron Boulder: 176-210 (54.8 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Hydrapple Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Iron Boulder: 236-278 (73.5 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Hydrapple Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 114-135 (29.8 - 35.3%) -- 21% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Hydrapple Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 121-144 (31.6 - 37.6%) -- 90.4% chance to 3HKO

Continuing with my explanation, Earth Power is the coverage of choice here to hit the Steels who would otherwise wall it like Gholdengo and Heatran. Recover along with Regen are the sources of Hydrapple's longevity, not much else to explain there. Boots is the item of choice to not take repeated hazards damage on switch in, which can greatly dampen Hydrapple's ability to check key metagame threats. Tera Steel is the Tera of choice to turn all of its weaknesses into resistances, and gives it a Toxic immunity. Steel lets it take on mons like Weavile and Meowscarada, who would otherwise break it in half with Triple Axel, and is good in emergency situations. Fairy can also be used to be completely immune to Dragon moves, but while laddering I've found Steel to be more helpful majority of the time. There are a bunch of other viable Tera types it can run (Water, Poison, Grass, etc.) but I won't go too in depth since they're not as good as Steel and more niche imo. Water is just a great defensive typing in general and can be used to resist Fire to better check Heatran and Gouging Fire at the cost of being weak to Grass types it wants to switch in on like Rillaboom and Waterpon. Poison can be used to keep the Toxic immunity and Fairy resistance while also gaining a new resistance to Fighting instead of being weak to it like Steel is, which is helpful in the Zamazenta matchup, but much like Steel, now loses to Ground types like Great Tusk and Lando, and unlike Steel, now loses to strong Ice type attacks from mons like choicelocked Kyurem and Weavile. Grass is a fringe option that gives it an even better Waterpon matchup by removing its weakness to Play Rough, however this rarely does anything outside of that.

A list of some of the mons it reliably checks

Pretty self-explanatory. Dondozo does absolutely nothing to Hydrapple unless running the fringe Avalanche. Dondozo's Body Presses can hurt after a few Curses, but Hydrapple will never let it setup in front of it and nuke it with Grass Knot.

Utterly useless against Hydrapple, can only Flip Turn or hope it burns with Scald, and Hydrapple couldn't care less about a burn compared to a para or Toxic. Requires Mirror Coat in order to punish Hydrapple, which it can't reveal beforehand or else the Hydrapple player will just chip it down little by little so Mirror Coat doesn't kill.

2hkod by Grass Knot unless it Tera Fairys, which leaves it vulnerable to Gholdengo and Glowking, 2 good teammates for Hydrapple. Hydrapple also doesn't care about Salt Cure chip since Recover+Regen will get it back to full.

All it can do is U-turn on it for about 25% damage, which Hydrapple heals off with Regen.

Probably my favorite Samurott check, Hydrapple takes about 25% from Sash Ceaseless Edge and hits back with Knot. Has to be carrying Knock Off in order to cripple it, or else Boots will ignore the Spiikes it sets up. Much more offensive variants can pose a threat, but they're nothing Hydrapple can't handle.

Can U-turn out but ultimately does little damage. Ogerpon can only win if it locks Hydrapple into Recover, but Hydrapple is generally gonna want to click Fickle Beam even when at around half.

All it can do is set up hazards and click Ruination, which doesn't faze Hydrapple much at all.

Bulky Cinderace does less than 33% with U-turn and Pyro Ball if it's not running Libero, and Hydrapple retaliates with Earth Power. Offensive Cinderace with Libero can do about 40% with U-turn, but this is still not a good matchup.

A list of mons it somewhat reliably checks, requires smart playing and precise positioning but are ultimately winnable matchups

Band Rillaboom does about half with U-turn, so it will chip more than Regen will heal over the course of a game. That being said, if you can get hazards up and also whittle away at Rilla, that should be fine, plus you deter it from clicking the nuclear warhead known as Wood Hammer in Grassy Terrain. Rocky Helmet users like Clefable and Corviknight pair well for this reason, you can predict the U-turn and chip it.

Iron Boulder takes a ton from Grass Knot and only does about half with Mighty Cleave at +2. Issue is it's a roll in Boulder's favor for Mighty Cleave to 2hko, but an emergency Tera Steel should be able to take care of it (not like Boulder's threatening enough to force you to Tera Steel anyway). +2 Close Combat will not kill Tera Steel from full.

Hydrapple walls both STABs, an impressive feat in this metagame. An issue arises if it's running Play Rough, which can reliably 2hko Hydrapplle at +2. Tera Steel can somewhat patch that up, but Ivy Cudgel will 2hko at +2 as a result.

Hydrapple needs to be at full to beat it. Heatran clicks Magma Storm for about 40% and traps it, and Hydrapple clicks Earth Power, which can 2hko spdef Heatran. Play super aggressively against Heatran, don't try and click Recover because if it knows you have that it will click Taunt and get a free turn of Magma Storm chip.

Mainly talking about bulky Gouging Fire, Breaking Swipe even at +1 will not 2hko, and Fickle Beam will, and Gouging does not want to keep clicking Morning Sun because Hydrapple might get lucky and get double damage with Fickle Beam. Offensive variants lacking Dragon STAB also lose since Fickle Beam does about 70%+Flare Blitz recoil will kill Gouging. That being said, do not try and wall Band in Sun, it will DEMOLISH Hydrapple.
168 Atk Choice Band Tera Fire Gouging Fire Raging Fury vs. 244 HP / 240+ Def Hydrapple in Sun: 346-408 (83.5 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Grass Knot will always nuke Tusk, the issue arises if it Teras and has Ice Spinner. Tera Steel Tusk comfortably takes Grass Knot and gets a free Bulk Up on Hydrapple. Fortunately, Ice Spinner will not ohko at +1, but Hydrapple should not be your only option to beat Tusk, there should be backup mons.

Same deal as Great Tusk except without the setup. Grass Knot 2hkos and it can be packing Ice Spinner, but should be way easier to deal with since Ice Spinner will never ohko.

after Tera Steel
Once you've Terad, it can never break you. Ofc issue is it requires you burning Tera for it.

after Tera Steel
Same deal as Meowscarada, except it can SD into Knock Off instead of pivoting around you.

This one sounds wild as hell, and it is, but this one is EXTREMELY conditional. You have to make sure it is locked into Hydro Steam, preferably by switching into Glowking and scouting it, then switch back to Hydrapple if it's locked into Hydro Steam. They'll be forced to switch and you get a free Fickle Beam, which Sun doesn't have many switch ins for.

Serp's very much a matchup fish against Hydrapple. If you can get lucky you can kill it before repeated Leaf Storms kill you, but Glare rng stacked with repeated Subs make this extremely unreliable. I'd suggest using Glowking instead, but if you have no more checks other than Hydrapple, then I'd recommend using it.

Boots sets get walled by Hydrapple since Close Combat is doing around 30%, but Ironpress sets can be scary, since Body Press can 2hko if it gets enough Iron Defense boosts.

Mons Hydrapple cannot break

By far the biggest flaw about Hydrapple in this meta is its awful Glowking mu, which is not pretty seeing Glowking is the glue that holds every balance team together. Even super effective Earth Power is only doing about 30% each time, and Glowking can then dumpster it with either Sludge Bomb or Ice Beam. Tera Steel can completely wall Glowking, however Glowking can keep switching out into a teammate who beats Hydrapple and gain Regen recovery, making most of this strategy moot. Point is, don't rely on Hydrapple to beat Glowking.

None of its moves can hit Corv hard at all, and Corv can just get to +6 and 2hko with Body Press. Same applies to Skarmory.

Immune to 2 of its moves and resists the other, and can ohko it with Moonblast.

Same deal as Glowking, except way less splashable, so you won't need to worry about this as much.

Only on stall, you won't need to worry too much.

Replays showcasing Hydrapple in action
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2095563107
In this replay I used Hydrapple to beat Heatran, Rillaboom, Roaring Moon, and Great Tusk. It did get extremely lucky this match, getting 2 full powered Fickle Beams and a crit on Heatran, but that didn't change the way I play. I went Ting-Lu instead of keeping Hydrapple in on Heatran the first time because Hydrapple took too much chip, and I needed Hydrapple that match to check everything else too, so I figured playing it safe was the correct choice. The emergency Tera Steel on Tusk is ultimately what saved me from losing that match, since it wouldn't have lived Ice Spinner and gotten an Earth Power off.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2088808326
This was a team that hard loses to Hydrapple. Hydrapple was tasked to mainly take on Waterpon and Gouging Fire this match, but the opp ended up forfeiting early because without Gholdengo they could not do anything to it. Also I know Waterpon balance teams without hazard removal is not very good, so maybe this isn't the best example, but I wanted to show it anyway.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2086339466
In this replay Hydrapple bodies all of Iron Valiant, Kingambit, Waterpon, and Iron Boulder. At the start I was in an abysmal position since Taunt Roaring Moon really messes my team up and Lando died. I also forgot Spirit Break was a physical move, so I sacked Glowking for no reason (not like I needed it for the battle anyway, tho losing Zama hurt). I knew the battle was still winnable since they only had physical attackers on their team and walling them is Hydrapple's forte. Because Spirit Break's physical, Hydrapple was able to soak up that hit and beat Val. The spat drop really hurts, as seen right after against Boulder where Grass Knot did only half. However, I wasn't worried since Boulder's weak as hell. Kingambit comes in as the final mon, the one mon who could cause me to lose this match. I predict the SD and switch in Pult to Wisp it so Kowtow does nothing to Hydrapple, and also to get rid of the spat drop. They already burned Tera on Moon so I didn't need to worry about Tera Dark nuking me into oblivion all of a sudden. Hydrapple gets extremely lucky with a crit on Earth Power, causing the King to fall. Won the battle due to good luck, but everything Hydrapple did before Kingambit came out still proves my point.

Overall, I feel people are underrating Hydrapple because they're only looking at the stall and vest sets. The stall set's meh and the vest set is ok, but I feel physdef Hydrapple is the best set. Unlike stalldrapple, it has uses outside of stall on balance teams to blanket check various physical threats, making it more splashable, and can actually beat Steel types thanks to Earth Power. Hydrapple's a mon I felt had potential early on, but after running this set I feel like I fully understand it now. There are other sets beyond stall, vest, and physdef, and I haven't tried them all, but I'm very impressed by how well this set in particular has performed.