NationalDex
houndoom
#229

Houndoom

Dark Pokémon

DarkFire

If you are burned by the flames it shoots from its mouth, the pain will never go away.

Base Stats

HP 75
Attack 90
Defense 50
Sp. Atk 110
Sp. Def 80
Speed 95
Total 500

Type Effectiveness

Evolution Chain

Moves

Details

Category Dark Pokémon
Height 1.4 m
Weight 35.0 kg
Base Exp 175
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 35
Gender 50% ♂ / 50% ♀
Habitat Rough Terrain
Egg Groups Ground

Sprites

houndoom Front Front
houndoom Back Back
houndoom Front Shiny Front Shiny
houndoom Back Shiny Back Shiny
houndoom Front ♀ Front ♀
houndoom Back ♀ Back ♀
houndoom Front Shiny ♀ Front Shiny ♀
houndoom Back Shiny ♀ Back Shiny ♀
houndoom Official Art Official Art
houndoom Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

ou Usage: 6.0%
Pursuit Trapper
Moves
Roar / Counter
Item
Leftovers
SunnyBeam
Item
Leftovers

Strategy Overview

Houndoom is the proud owner of the strongest Pursuit in the entire GSC metagame, with enough coverage and firepower to truly take advantage of Pursuit's utility. While other Pursuit users fail to do notable damage or even force out their targets for said Pursuit, Houndoom's strength forces Ghost- and Psychic-types to choose between getting 2HKOed by a STAB attack or potentially fainting to such a strong Pursuit. Combined with good neutral coverage in its STAB types, good Speed, and even better Special Attack, Houndoom is very difficult to switch into and out of overall. Houndoom's typing also makes it the best offensive check to Jynx and Exeggutor by resisting both of their STAB moves and having a pick of super effective STAB attacks to hit back. It can even run a Sunny Day set to become even stronger. However, Houndoom's low Defense stat means that even neutral hits can 2HKO the poor dog. Houndoom is also walled by very common Pokemon, most notably Snorlax and Tyranitar, and can struggle to achieve proper 2HKOs against some of its more valuable targets. Regardless, Houndoom's combination of utility and power makes it an addition worth considering.

Most Used Moves

Crunch
55.9%
Pursuit
55.1%
Sunny Day
53.1%
Thief
41.5%

Most Used Items

Nothing
36.0%
Leftovers
21.7%

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc