Question

Should I use Houndoom or Ninetales for competitive play?

Comments

At least in singles, Volcarona is much better than both of them.

Answer 1

Ninetales all the way. With its hidden ability, Drought, and moves like Nasty Plot, Solar Beam etc Ninetales can be a formidable sweeper. Invest in Sp. Atk and Speed EVs and you should be fine.

Do something like:

Ninetales@Leftovers
Ability: Drought
Nature: Timid (+Spe/-Atk)
EVs: 252 Sp.Atk/252 Spe/4 HP

Moves:

• Flamethrower/Fire Blast (AMAZING STAB + Sun boost)
• Solar Beam (All weaknesses covered + No charge in Sun)
• Nasty Plot (Boost that Sp. Atk for sweeping)
• Psyshock/Dark Pulse/Protect (Coverage or Leftover healing)

Comments

I agree with this answer. Houndoom is not very good without its mega, but using its mega is a waste of the mega slot.

Of course, Ninetales should be used not only as a sweeper, but must be preserved in battle to keep the Sun up.

And if you're running an all attack moveset, then a Specs is better. If not, Protect + Heat Rock / Leftovers is also cool.

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Most people now prefer Torkoal for sun support because it can also learn a bunch of other good support moves.

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I've seen Volcorona be used quite often with Sunny Day.
 I find Torkoal to be too slow and too weak to special attacks. I've always liked Ninetales for some reason. Oh yeah, that episode where a Ninetales creates all those illusions because Brock looks like her old master.

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Why is it amazing stab and not just stab?

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As in like, a strong Fire type move like Fire Blast getting a good boost. It's just a form of expression. -_-

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Volcarona and Reshiram are better than Ninetales in terms of being special attacks, even if they don't have drought.

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Why would you run Protect? The only coverage you need is between Fire Blast and Solar Beam, giving you near-perfect neutral coverage. In your last slot you should run Morning Sun, for augmented healing under the Sun.

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If flamethrower and solar beam were its only attacks, then it would be almost useless against most fire Pokemon and dragon Pokemon.

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Thanks for the answer.