Help with Mold Breaker Hawlucha

[Disableye]

Hey everyone!

So, I've received a shiny Hawlucha as a gift. It has Adamant nature and Mold Breaker ability. As it looks awesome, has neat IVs and a solid nature for a physical sweeper, I decided to use it. But perhaps most important is the fact that it was a gift from a very special person, so it also carries a lot of meaning for me.

The thing is, I have searched the web and saw that the most common setup is using Unburden with Flying Gem (or while it's not obtainable, Power Herb for Sky Attack, or Focus Sash and so on, not the point). I've had a hard time finding any examples of a successful Mold Breaker build. So, long story short, I would like you to post your suggestions for an Adamant Mold Breaker Hawlucha build.

For reference, the setup I'm currently using is this:

Hawlucha @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Mold breaker
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
~ High Jump Kick
~ Stone Edge
~ Swords Dance
~ U-turn

Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated, except the ones that include ditching it for an Unburden Hawlucha or ditching Hawluchas altogether.

 

[SharKing]

Well, with a Nature that doesn't affect Speed, 31 IVs, and 252 EVs, Hawlucha's Speed reaches 335, which is enough to troll Jolly Garchomp, so that's something. With an Adamant Nature and the whole shebang, Hawlucha's Attack hits 311, essentially 404 with the Life Orb; with a Swords Dance, that goes up to a powerful 808. Unfortunately, I don't see Mold Breaker doing an awful lot for you, especially since Hawlucha can't learn Earthquake. The only major advantage I see in Mold Breaker is KO'ing a full-HP Dragonite (Multiscale this!). Still, the set you have might be an interesting late-game sweeper; if it finds itself out earlier than it wants to be, it can cause some pain with U-turn before getting out of there.

 

[Disableye]

Thanks for the comment!

I was thinking about using Roost, but I don't think I'd have the chance to use it efficiently. And Roost + Substitute would make me lose Swords Dance, besides also restricting my coverage. Any ideas on how to make that work, or if that would be better than what I already have? I'm just a big fan of Roost so sometimes I try to use it in places it doesn't fit.

They really hurt Hawlucha when they didn't give it Earthquake. It'd have made so much sense if it got that move... But oh well.

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

Hawlucha is too frail to use Roost effectively. Personally I'd use Choice Band with HJK/Stone Edge/U-Turn and either Flying Press, Aerial Ace, or Poison Jab.

 

[Disableye]

Would you mind elaborating why you'd go for a Choice Band set instead of a Life Orb one (since Orb provides the opportunity to use Swords Dance, which is not too unrealistic to set up after I force a switch)?

This is a legitimate question, not meant to sound offensive at all.

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

It provides immediate power as there are very few things Hawlucha can actually set up on, as pretty much everything in OU can O or 2HKO it. Players expecting a SD (most of them) will just take you out immediately.

 

[Disableye]

I might go for a band set with Aerial Ace as my flying move of choice. I was indeed worried about not having a chance to setup SD, but I was counting on forcing a switch with Hawlucha against Rock/Ground opponents. But maybe a band set would indeed be better, with HJK, Stone Edge and U-Turn. I really love using U-Turn with choice items anyway.

What about Sky Drop for the flying move slot? I considered using it. It's gimmicky, but who knows? Any suggestions concerning that?

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

Sky Drop is exactly the same as Aerial Ace except it has more chances to fail. In Doubles, it might be worth looking into, but in Singles Aerial Ace is just plain better.

 

[Disableye]

Thank you so much for the help. I agree on your comments and will indeed test a band set.
I hope it does well!