Hisuian Avalugg Movesets & Competitive Sets

Thanks to its impressive bulk and monstrous Attack, Hisuian Avalugg finds itself a place in PU as a reliable entry hazard lead, setting itself apart from other options such as Lycanroc and Froslass by eking out extra turns through the combination of Custap Berry and Sturdy. Mountain Gale threatens a multitude of common leads such as Mudsdale and Bombirdier with high damage. Body Press capitalizes on Hisuian Avalugg's gargantuan Defense to punish Steel-types like Alolan Sandslash that it may otherwise struggle with. Alternatively, Stone Edge can be used to deal extra damage to targets like Cramorant and Coalossal while dealing considerable damage to offensive Fire-types such as Rotom-H, Arcanine, and Hisuian Typhlosion. Rapid Spin offers additional role compression and pairs well with Hisuian Avalugg's ability to victimize most common hazard setters, sometimes even letting it remove the opponent's hazards permanently at the beginning of the match. It also gives Hisuian Avalugg some utility outside of being a dedicated lead, although using Hisuian Avalugg for this purpose is generally not optimal, as the damage from opposing hazards breaks Sturdy and makes Hisuian Avalugg exceptionally more vulnerable to opposing wallbreakers. 0 Special Defense IVs in combination with a Naughty nature can be used to ensure that opposing special attackers will nearly always trigger Sturdy, although it is generally not necessary due to Hisuian Avalugg's pitiful Special Defense. Loaded Dice can be used in tandem with Icicle Spear and Rock Blast for increased reliability and getting around Focus Sash leads, though it's worse against foes like Mudsdale and Cramorant and can limit what Hisuian Avalugg gets done on average. Tera Ghost further compounds Hisuian Avalugg's utility by making it immune to Rapid Spin, allowing it to keep hazards up in a pinch against Tatsugiri and Coalossal, while also removing its crippling weaknesses to Fighting and Steel, making it much more effective against foes such as Toxicroak and Copperajah. However, this should be done sparingly, as it is often more ideal to Terastallize more offensive teammates such as Decidueye and Arcanine. Hisuian Avalugg fits exclusively on hyper offense teams that appreciate its ability to reliably set entry hazards and punish foes for attempting to do so. However, due to the nature of being a hazard lead, it will often faint rather quickly and have few — if any — opportunities to set Stealth Rock again. Therefore, Taunt users like Skuntank and Bombirdier as well as Ghost-types like Decidueye that can stop attempts at hazard removal are highly valuable. Knock Off users such as Zoroark, Skuntank, and Bombirdier are also valuable thanks to their ability to remove Heavy-Duty Boots from foes, ensuring that Hisuian Avalugg's hazards will be effective. In addition, teammates such as Arcanine and Minior appreciate Hisuian Avalugg's ability to remove hazards, allowing them to utilize items such as Leftovers and White Herb. Pokemon like Scrafty, Toxtricity, and Arcanine also greatly appreciate Hisuian Avalugg's ability to threaten and remove foes like Gligar and Mudsdale that are otherwise extreme nuisances while also being able to act as an emergency stopgap against revenge killers like Flamigo. Powerful wallbreakers such as Delphox and the Paldean Tauros formes also greatly appreciate Hisuian Avalugg's consistency in setting Stealth Rock, further lowering the number of times that Pokemon like Milotic and Florges can switch into their STAB moves.