Articles

Published on July 7th, 2012 | by makiri

0

History Lesson: Hitmontop and Why You Use It Now

Welcome to the first of hopefully many history “lessons” written by myself and Huy detailing the history of Pokémon. Our first subject is one of the most used Pokémon: Hitmontop. You know Hitmontop is good, but was it always such a go-to Pokémon?

The short answer is no. If we travel back in time to the first two VGC years, 2008 and 2009, we will find a format very similar to our current 2012 metagame. Metagross, Latios, Cresselia, and Zapdos are all top ten threats. Goodstuff, Rain, and Trick Room are the three dominant team styles with various other rogue strategies that performed well thrown in. One Pokémon that is almost never used is the subject of this article, Hitmontop.

Hitmontop has not changed from 2008 to 2012 very much. Its stats have remained the same, it still has Technician and Intimidate, and it only gained two really significant moves — Quick Guard and Wide Guard. Nearly every other defining characteristic has remained the same. So how did Hitmontop go from one of the least used Pokémon to one of the defining Pokémon of the current metagame?

2010 and the Rise of TopOgre

Hitmontop’s popularity can be traced back to its integral part in one of the most influential teams in VGC history, the infamous TopOgre, which vaulted Hitmontop from afterthought to superstar. TopOgre defined the VGC 2010 metagame starting with the very first Regional that year in Seattle. You either found a way to counter that team without losing to other teams, or you used TopOgre yourself. Along with winning the Seattle Regional, a carbon copy won the Dallas Regional and placed well at several other Regionals, making it one of the most successful teams ever in the history of VGC.

TopOgre combined the best Restricted Pokémon, Kyogre, with our good pal Hitmontop to create a devastating attacking combination. Scarf Kyogre is one of the best attackers in the game as very few Pokémon can withstand Water Spout, and those that do cannot withstand it while also taking a Technician Life Orb Mach Punch from Hitmontop.

When putting TopOgre together, it is important to note that we actually didn’t start with Kyogre and then looked for something to partner with. Instead, we noticed that Hitmontop was seen in a few Japanese videos and decided to look it up to see why anyone would even consider using it. Looking at its learnset, you’ll be quick to see that what sets Hitmontop apart from many other Pokemon is its access to priority. Hitmontop has by far the largest pool of priority altering attacks to abuse. Combined with Technician, Hitmontop proved to be effective offense both in and out of Trick Room and was also able to neuter opposing Water Spouts. It wasn’t long after testing out Hitmontop before its best friend Kyogre was invited to the party, and Hitmontop was paired with the best Scarf attacker at the time.

TopOgre:

hitmontop Hitmontop (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Technician EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Fake Out - Detect - Mach Punch - Sucker Punch
kyogre
Kyogre @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Water Spout
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Blizzard

Of course there were other Pokémon on the team, but this was the core that thrust Hitmontop into the public eye. That Hitmontop used with TopOgre is very different from the modern Hitmontop, but it set the stage for Hitmontop to become one of the most used Pokémon. While very much a support Pokémon, it utilized Fake Out to get easy knock outs for Kyogre. After turn one, Hitmontop was still dangerous using Technician, Life Orb and Mach Punch to quickly add damage onto Pokémon like Dialga, allowing Kyogre to finish them off. This wasn’t the only set and EV options for Hitmontop and as the season went on people began to tweak it even more and more, adding even more speed to beat other Hitmontops and Aerial Ace to beat what became one of the more popular anti-Hitmontop Pokémon, Toxicroak.

Season’s end:

hitmontop
 Hitmontop (M) @ Life Orb
 Trait: Technician
 EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
 Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
 - Fake Out
 - Aerial Ace
 - Mach Punch
 - Sucker Punch

The final Hitmontop for that season usually looked pretty similar to this at its most extreme, removing its bulk for speed, and adding a 4th attacking move to beat one of the most popular TopOgre counters as well as opposing Hitmontop.

2012 and Top’s Triumphant Return

Hitmontop was a threat for the rest of that VGC season, and if you were unprepared for it, it could spell your doom. VGC 2011 introduced new rules that banned any non-Unova Pokémon, forcing our hero to sit out for a season. Hitmontop was able to return in VGC 2012 and again returned to prominence but now in a very different incarnation. Toward the end of the 2010 season, Intimidate Hitmontop began showing up. Despite the primarily special attack based offense of the 2010 metagame, Intimidate found its niche by helping teams deal with Giratina, Groudon and Hitmontop. This version dropped the Speed because it didn’t need to win the Speed war with Technitops, and began to run Close Combat in order to severely damage Blissey and Dialga, who had both become huge forces.

As opposed to the 2010 Technician Life Orb build, the 2012 version now opts to be even more of a team player by using Intimidate, Wide Guard and even Helping Hand. Without an obvious partner like Kyogre, Hitmontop is now almost strictly a support Pokémon. However, that does not mean it is any worse than it previously was.

Top ’12:

hitmontop
 Hitmontop (M) @ Fight Gem
 Trait: Intimidate
 EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
 Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
 - Fake Out
 - Wide Guard
 - Close Combat
 - Sucker Punch

As you can see, the EVs and Nature aren’t different at all, but this Hitmontop plays very differently. With Intimidate it becomes much bulkier at almost no expense to its damage output. Even though it loses Technician Mach Punch, Close Combat is twice the power, and the addition of a Fighting Gem makes it even stronger for its first use. The last major change from the 2010 Hitmontop is Wide Guard. Wide Guard protects the user’s teams from some very popular moves like Rock Slide, Earthquake, and Heat Wave.
However, these aren’t the only options for Hitmontop now. Hitmontop has a myriad of support and attacking moves like Helping Hand and Quick Guard. You can easily tailor your Hitmontop to do what you want it to do. Even though I mentioned that Hitmontop no longer has an obvious partner like Kyogre, Volcarona is a very good Pokémon to pair with.

Not quite Kyogre:

volcarona
 Volcarona (F) @ Focus Sash
 Trait: Flame Body
 EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
 Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
 - Quiver Dance
 - Heat Wave
 - Bug Buzz
 - Hidden Power [Ground]

This set is very similar to the old Kyogre:  a powerful STAB spread move combined with great speed. Unlike Kyogre, however, Volcarona requires a set up. Hitmontop provides the support and almost guarantees the Quiver Dance with Fake Out. From there however, Volcarona is 4x weak to one of the most popular attacks: Rock Slide. Hitmontop continues to provide support with Wide Guard preventing Rock Slide from hitting Volcarona.

Final Thoughts

As of now, Hitmontop is considered one of the most popular VGC Pokemon, but this was not always the case. Hitmontop used to be a VGC afterthought, but has quickly taken its place as a VGC stud. Hitmontop is a prime Pokémon rags to riches story, utilizing its strong movepool and niche attacking abilities to cement itself as a staple on almost every team. So, for those of you looking at straying from the norm for your next team, don’t be afraid to take a chance on some of those niche unknown Pokemon. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something new that will help propel you into the TOP Cut.

Class dismissed.


About the Author

started playing VGC in 2008 and has been an advocate for VGC play since then. With three Regional Championship victories and multiple other high placings, makiri is a seasoned competitor ready to impart knowledge of the game to others.



Back to Top ↑