==General==: *Access to several support moves *Decent physical defense stat and ability to recover hp *makes a great check for physical threatsd *After the ban of sand stream it became outclassed by many other stealth rock setters *Slow and does not hold up well against the special end of the LC tier *Works well with munchlax on phasing teams ==Set 1(Support)==: Hippopotas (M) @ Eviolite Trait: Sand Force EVs: 212 HP / 20 Atk / 212 Def / 20 SDef / 20 spd Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Slack Off - Earthquake - Stealth Rocks - whirlwind / Crunch / Toxic Set Comments: *Fairly reliable Stealth Rock support *Works well on hazard stack teams that need phase support *Max HP/Def allows him to tank hits, and roar prevents him from being a set up fodder *Toxic could help work on chipping away more hp from other teams *crunch prevents ghosts like Misdreavus, and Ghastly from walling him *Earthquake takes advantage of his decent bass attack stat, and STAB boost *Tends to get outclassed by other hazard setters like Ferroseed, Dwebble, and Dribuir ==Checks & Counters== Taunt users Ferroseed who can set up hazards, kill with bullet seed, and is unaffected by toxic, and not bothered by earthquake Water and Grass types can easily come in on him Toxic Staryu as it can both kill w/ water moves, and get rid of hazards with rapid spin Any powerful special attacks Natu (or any pokemon that might run magic coat) Bronzor Snover, and its hail team minions Basically a good majority of the tier can handle this guy... ==Other Options== For the most part i cant figure out what you would use this guy for other then phase team support, but you could always run max special defense in order to make him more balanced defensively. A stockpile set could always be a nice surprise to your opponents, with reliable recovery. Rock Slide could also be a good move to use as a counter to the ever pressent Murkrow, and to help with its Natu problem. You could also try running a band set to try and throw people off, but that is about it.
hey great to see someone writing LC analysis, however this is not how LC Evs work. The Def and Hp stats are already max'd out, the leftover evs can really be helpful. The ev spread should be 212 Hp 20 Atk 212 Def 20 SDef 20 Spd. This maximizes the potential of hippo. Whirlwind is generally better for hitting through soundproof but doesnt really matter in lc. Mention Rock Slide in OO it hits flying types like natu and murkrow. Mention Natu, Bronzor and Snover in C&C. good job otherwise though. I'll give it another look after those changes are ma
I would say that for the Checks and Counters, Staryu should be mentioned beyond just being another water/grass type, as it can spin away the rocks as well as being able to kill with a water attack.
I don't think Chinchou should be listed as a check/counter for obvious reasons. I feel you give it a worse rap than it deserves, it handles a lot of more "obscure" threats like Dratini, Shell Smash Dwebble and a couple more common ones like Timburr quite well. It's just a case that it needs to run WW to not be set-up bait for most Special Attackers with any bulk. Anyway it seems alright, I'll approve this providing Stockpile is an Other Option mention.
wow didnt realize how bad i made him sound, tried to edit it a bit to specify that his problem against special users not physical. also just took out specific poke under water/ grass and just left it that water/ grass is a counter. Then added stockpile to OO.