Competitive Pokemon History - Ho-Oh Quiz

Answer: 154

A special defense stat of 154 was easily the highest special defense stat in the whole game, eclipsing that of renowned special walls and tanks such as Blissey and Snorlax- though Ho-Oh's base 106 HP stat was far shorter than theirs. Because of this, Ho-Oh could serve as an excellent special tank itself- sponging special attacks all day and retaliating with strong attacks off of its great 130 Attack or usable 110 Special Attack stat.

Answer: Ho-Oh suffered from four moveslot syndrome, and couldn't run enough options to be truly elite

Ho-Oh was far from a bad overall Pokémon, but with stiff competition from the likes of Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia and Celebi, Ho-Oh just didn't quite stand out as being as amazing as they all were. Ho-Oh didn't boast the sweeping potential of Mew, the sheer movepool and unlimited options to do just about anything Mewtwo had, couldn't quite cut it as a wall like Lugia could, and didn't insta-delete stall and heavy offensive teams like Celebi could.

Again, Ho-Oh was still far from a bad Pokémon. In fact, there's a very good reason it was never even slightly considered to be allowed in standard play, and that reason stems further beyond simply having overpowering base stats. Ho-Oh's movepool, while not Mewtwo-esque, was still pretty great. It had instant healing in Recover, a useful signature move in Sacred Fire, and excellent options to run alongside it such as Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Earthquake, and it could even go the generic Curse route with a set of Recover/Curse/Return/coverage move. While generally outclassed by Lugia and Mewtwo, the set distanced itself from them ever so slightly by being unpredictable- Skarmory and Steelix would not stay in to contest it and risk catching a Sacred Fire, leaving Ho-Oh free to boost.

Still, Ho-Oh only had four move slots for these options, and its two best sets would've probably been meta defining if Ho-Oh could have had just one more moveslot to include a crucial move. For example, its Curse set would love to fit Earthquake and Sacred Fire instead of having to choose between the two, while its Specially offensive set of Sacred Fire/Thunderbolt/Recover/Earthquake would love to include Shadow Ball to take out Mewtwo and Mew with. This was ultimately why Ho-Oh was the worst- and not the best- Pokémon in Ubers during its debut generation.

Answer: Choice Band

Given that the Choice Scarf and Specs didn't yet exist, while Sacred Ash did absolutely nothing in battle, Choice Band was the correct answer. With an obscene Base 130 Attack stat, trailing only Groudon, Rayquaza and Deoxys-Attack for highest in the game, while being significantly bulkier overall than they were, Ho-Oh made for an amazing wallbreaker that could double as a special tank.

A simple set of Hidden Power Flying/Sacred Fire/Shadow Ball/Earthquake would rip apart any defensive Pokémon in the game. HP Flying was the spammable attack for neutral situations, doing genuinely great damage to Pokémon who didn't resist it- even denting those that did. Sacred Fire made sure Skarmory and Metagross didn't get cheeky trying to switch into HP Flying, Earthquake kept Rock types at bay, while Shadow Ball turned Ho-Oh into the most consistent Mewtwo check in the game, while also smacking Lugia and Deoxys-Defense for huge damage as well.

There were no truly safe switch-ins to Ho-Oh, and this solidified its stance as a top level contender in the much more bountiful Uber metagame.

Answer: No

Ho-Oh's viability, on the contrary, rose significantly despite this major setback. The physical/special split allowed Ho-Oh's signature Sacred Fire to become a physical attack instead of a special one, meaning it now worked off of Ho-Oh's much higher Attack stat as opposed to its Special Attack stat. Additionally, the move Brave Bird was introduced, a huge upgrade to Hidden Power Flying in terms of damage output. With Ho-Oh's amazing bulk and access to instant healing in Recover, it could fire off Brave Bird without too much fear of its recoil inducing side effect.

While Stealth Rock could clip Ho-Oh's wings and stop it from being the best Pokémon in the tier, it was still ludicrously amazing at wallbreaking and shrugging off special attacks.

As a point of reference, the feared and revered Darkrai cannot OHKO Ho-Oh with Dark Pulse even if it has boosted with Nasty Plot twice, essentially quadrupling its already massive Special Attack stat, if Ho-Oh is at full health. This would allow Ho-Oh to easily check unboosted Darkrai under those conditions, as well as switching into unboosted Darkrai and coming out on top as well. Staking a claim as being able to hard counter a Pokémon like that is no small feat.

Answer: Pressure

Pressure had its moments, and Ho-Oh's excellent bulk did enable it to get some value out of the ability. Unfortunately, Ho-Oh's nasty 4x weakness to Stone Edge meant it couldn't stall the move out of PP quite like other users, such as Lugia and Zapdos, could.

Answer: Regenerator

Regenerator heals 33% of Ho-Oh's HP every time it switches out of play. While Stealth Rock was still a huge problem, Ho-Oh's ability to moderately mitigate its effects single handedly catapulted its viability. Beyond that, Regenerator allowed Ho-Oh to fire off Brave Birds even more fearlessly, since it could just switch out to entirely negate the recoil damage suffered. Additionally, Substitute sets were a possibility, and Ho-Oh could even run a Life Orb on such builds.

While Life Orb + Substitute sets tend to heavily hinder a Pokémon's longevity, Ho-Oh could just switch out to render this deficiency entirely irrelevant. With Recover, Regenerator and humungous Special bulk, Ho-Oh could endlessly switch into special attackers which lacked Rock type moves.

In fact, Ho-Oh was easily the best pivot/scout in the entire game. Ho-Oh could switch into something, and either trade blows with it or switch right back out to scout the opposing trainer's reaction to it. The opposing trainer would either switch out themselves, or reveal a coverage move designed specifically to hit Ho-Oh with, which would errantly hit one of Ho-Oh's teammates and uncover the ruse at a poor time. Through this, Ho-Oh was essentially the reason why Uber balance teams could function, as its offensive and defensive value enabled these types of builds to create win-conditions significantly easier than without it.

Answer: Yes

Many Pokémon who could potentially switch into Ho-Oh and come out on top, such as Tyranitar and Kyogre, ran the possibility of being burned and rendered useless by Sacred Fire, or simply eating a ton of damage from a drawback-free Brave Bird. As such, switching into Ho-Oh was pretty much never risk free and would enact a huge consequence.

That is, unless you're attempting to switch Arceus-Rock into Ho-Oh. As a special attacker, Arceus-Rock cares little for Sacred Fire burns, and actually benefits off of being immune to the more troubling Toxic poison. Even if the Ho-Oh user predicted the switch and used Earthquake, Arceus-Rock could not be OHKOed even if this move critically hit from full HP. Once in, Arceus-Rock could outspeed and OHKO Ho-Oh with a Rock type Judgment, even through Ho-Oh's massive special bulk. Arceus-Rock could also, at times, run Stealth Rock, and could lay the entry hazard to make Ho-Oh's life harder.

That said, Arceus-Rock was an extremely niche threat for the tier; other more practical and consistent Arceus formes were usually chosen. Still, the fact that Arceus-Rock did indeed hard counter Ho-Oh made it valuable on teams which needed such countermeasures to Ho-Oh, but couldn't afford to run other checks to it, such as Kyogre, Tyranitar or Palkia.

Answer: Mega Sableye

The other three options do not have any way of removing Stealth Rock from the field, though Tyranitar and Primal Groudon were definitely Uber viable in other ways- the latter being the king of the entire tier itself. Mega Sableye's Magic Bounce ability meant it could punish Stealth Rock users by littering their field with the entry hazard instead. Simply by existing, Mega Sableye could deter trainers from clicking Stealth Rock.

When paired with a formidable Defog user, such as a support form of Arceus, Latios, Latias or Giratina-Origin, Stealth Rock could pretty easily be kept off the field. Predictably, this was welcome news for Ho-Oh, who was free to do what it had done before in the fifth generation with greater ease and consistency.

Answer: Utility wall

With an EV spread emphasizing physical Defense, Ho-Oh could adequately wall non-Rock type threats on both sides. It could also spread burns with Sacred Fire, Toxic poison with Toxic, and it could opt to act as a phazer with Whirlwind or even attempt to Defog away entry hazards, even Stealth Rock. For the latter, Ho-Oh could effortlessly switch into Stealth Rock setters, such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, non-Stone Edge Primal Groudon and most support formes of Arceus, watch as Stealth Rock got set in its face, too late to damage Ho-Oh itself, and simply Defog the hazard out of play.

Overall, Ho-Oh's new set raised its viability once again by making it more unpredictable.

Answer: Ho-Oh was removed from the game entirely

Sadly, Ho-Oh was left behind as the Galar region opened for business. One could only hope that the golden phoenix rises again in the ninth generation.