Heatran (Fire)

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[OVERVIEW]

Fire
========
* Heatran shines on Fire by virtue of its great typing and great bulk.
* It can function as a great special pivot, giving it the ability to check extremely problematic Pokemon such as Nihilego with its Ground coverage, which is otherwise a large threat.
* Heatran has access to many utility options including Taunt, Toxic, and Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to support the team and wear down opposing Pokemon with status.
* Heatran’s Steel typing gives it an useful neutrality to Stealth Rock as well as resistances to common Dragon, Psychic, and Normal moves.
* Heatran’s solid Special Attack stat gives it an useful offensive presence while still being able to check a variety of special attackers thanks to its bulk and typing.
* Air Balloon helps negate its giant weakness to Ground and allows Heatran to check Ground type Pokemon such as Excadrill as long as it is intact.
* Despite this, Heatran still has a crippling weakness to Ground outside of Air Balloon, and while it has numerous resistances, Heatran will struggle to come in on common offensive types such as Water and Fighting.
* Heatran lacks any kind of reliable recovery, making it very easy to wear down throughout the course of a match, and limiting its ability to serve as a special wall.
* Its Speed leaves a lot to be desired as well, failing to outspeed just about any offensive Pokemon. Heatran’s low Speed also allows opposing Pokemon to revenge kill it with ease.
* Despite its great Special Attack, it can be underwhelming without any investment, failing to do significant damage to Pokemon such as Toxapex and Tyranitar with Earth Power.


[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Lava Plume
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Taunt
move 4: Toxic
item: Air Balloon
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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* Lava Plume is Heatran’s STAB of choice and can be very useful in punishing switch-ins thanks to its high chance to burn.
* Earth Power offers great coverage and allows Heatran to hit problematic Rock- and Fire-types such as Nihilego and opposing Heatran, respectively.
* Taunt is useful for blocking the opponent’s recovery and ability to use entry hazards. This can be useful against Pokemon like Chansey attempting to set up Stealth Rock, or against Toxapex using Recover.
* Toxic allows Heatran to wear down opposing walls that can beat it otherwise, such as Mantine and Porygon2.


Set Details
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* The given EVs alongside a Calm nature allow Heatran to fulfill its role as a special pivot while still being able to outspeed Azumarill and any Pokemon attempting to outspeed it as well, such as Mega Venusaur.
* Air Balloon is the item of choice as it is very useful in making Heatran immune to Ground moves as long as it is active. This can be crucial in the Ground matchup, as it can check very problematic Pokemon such as Excadrill and Hippowdon.
* Flash Fire is appreciated as it gives Heatran a useful immunity to Fire that can allow it to deal with Pokemon such as Victini and opposing Heatran.


Usage Tips
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* Being the greatest special pivot on Fire, it is recommended to bring out Heatran on special attackers that the rest of the team is unable to check, especially Nihilego.
* However, do not let Heatran take unnecessary damage as it has no way of recovering it off.
* In matchups like Ground where it’s important, conserve Heatran’s Air Balloon as much as possible, as it will appreciate the temporary immunity in these matchups.
* Heatran can utilize the combination of Taunt and Toxic to serve as a stallbreaker that can deal with opposing walls such as Zapdos and Cradily by wearing them down with status and preventing them from recovering HP.
* There is generally little downside to spamming Lava Plume, as it can punish most switch-ins with its high burn chance. Use Lava Plume especially when the player might switch in a physical attacker such as Garchomp, as a potential burn will severely weaken them. With this in mind, however, try to avoid burning defensive Pokemon that can be statused with Toxic instead, as Toxic will wear them down more efficiently.


Team Options
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* Mega Charizard X is a solid teammate that can check Pokemon such as Tapu Koko as well as provide much needed offensive presence thanks to Dragon Dance in conjunction with its largely unresisted Dragon STAB.
* Mega Charizard Y is another great teammate that can provide instant wallbreaking power as well as a very useful immunity to Ground. Heatran can also switch into Pokemon like Nihilego for it.
* Victini’s Psychic typing and offensive coverage in Bolt Strike allows it to deal with problematic Water types such as Toxapex.
* Rotom-Heat provides a very useful Ground immunity as well as another great check to Toxapex. It can also provide much needed momentum with Volt Switch and can cripple problematic walls such as Chansey with Trick.
* Volcanion can reliably take on Pokemon such as Azumarill after a Belly Drum thanks to Water Absorb and above average bulk.
* Torkoal is invaluable to every Fire team, offering Drought support while being able to set up Stealth Rock and remove problematic hazards with Rapid Spin.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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* A more offensive set with Choice Scarf and Magma Storm, Earth Power, Stone Edge, and Flash Cannon could be run to lure Pokemon like Mega Diancie and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu, but this set tends to find itself outclassed by Infernape as Heatran’s role is mainly checking Nihilego.
* Leftovers on the specially defensive set grants Heatran a form of passive recovery which it normally lacks. However, it misses out on the important Ground immunity that Air Balloon provides while intact.
* Another offensive set utilizing Grassium Z alongside Solar Beam, Magma Storm, Earth Power, and Taunt is an option that can stallbreak while packing a strong Z Move that can surprise the likes of Hippowdon.


Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground Types**: Outside of Air Balloon, Heatran’s quadruple weakness to Ground can be taken advantage of by just about any Ground type that can manage to outspeed it, such as Nidoking and Excadrill.

**Water Types**: Heatran’s weakness to Water and inability to severely damage them means Pokemon such as - can reliably check Heatran.
 
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Heatran is much different in USUM and thisnever got finished, so I'm going to lock this for now. Feel free to reserve it again when we start.
 
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