Shadow Hariyama
Fast
Charge
PvE Analysis
At long, long last, Hariyama has finally surpassed Machamp in terms of Fighting Type DPS! Too bad Shadow Machamp is a thing.
Just like the way that Hariyama is a slightly worse Machamp, Shadow Hariyama is a slightly worse Shadow Machamp. But being a slightly worse Shadow Machamp is still a very strong position to be in, making it worth raising in the absence of the Champ.
Best PvE Offensive Moveset
Force Palm or Counter + Dynamic Punch | Best |
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- Force Palm is Shadow Hariyama’s optimal fast move, while Counter falls behind a bit.
- Dynamic Punch is the clearly superior Fighting-type charge move, contributing the most damage and being flexible to use.
- Superpower is a step below, and Close Combat is a further step down.
- Bullet Punch and Heavy Slam are almost never ideal on an offensive Shadow Hariyama, even in the snow.
Best PvE Defensive Moveset
Bullet Punch or Counter + Heavy Slam or Dynamic Punch | Best |
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- Bullet Punch and Heavy Slam counter Hariyama’s Fairy-type weakness and hit Flying and Psychic-types with neutral damage.
- Counter is a decent alternative to Bullet Punch, but it's resisted by Shadow Hariyama's usual counters.
- Force Palm falls behind on defense.
- Dynamic Punch is better than Superpower on defense, but neither provides any coverage against Shadow Hariyama's weaknesses.
- Close Combat takes too long to access, being a 1-bar move.
PvP Analysis
Counter + Close Combat and Heavy Slam or Superpower | Best |
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Counter is one of the best fast moves in PvP, and Hariyama takes advantage of it with STAB. Bullet Punch is a good move stat-wise, but Steel typing isn't very meta-relevant.
Close Combat is one of the most powerful charge moves in the game, and doesn't cost a lot of energy to use. The downside is a significant DEF debuff on the user, which makes it risky to use. Superpower performs similarly with less damage output and 5 less energy cost. However, a -1 ATK debuff (and -1 DEF debuff) can put Hariyama in a very bad spot since it could reduce its potential to finish off the opponent. Heavy Slam isn't particularly exciting, but does offer extra coverage, especially against Fairy-types.
Great League | / 5 |
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Hariyama is a mono-Fighting type featuring average bulk, and a very narrow but powerful moveset. Access to both Superpower and Close Combat give Hariyama two strong choices to threaten significant damage to anything that doesn't resist Fighting-type attacks, but also makes Hariyama a risky choice due to the debuffs applied on the user. Unfortunately competition with Toxicroak and Medicham makes it difficult for Hariyama to stand out among them, but it does have niches against certain Pokemon like Skarmory. | |
Ultra League | / 5 |
Hariyama acts as an excellent bodyguard for Giratina, being able to overcome almost every Dark-type eligible, and also sporting wins over every Steel-type in this league. However, Hariyama stands a little below other Fighters like Machamp because of its lesser coverage, and it has little hope of fighting back against Giratina or Psychic-types in this league. | |
Master League | / 5 |
With a max CP of 3198, Hariyama lacks sufficient stats compared to many other Pokemon in this league. However, with its powerful moveset it can still manage to win against several meta picks that are weak to Fighting. Being able to outspeed Machamp and narrowly beating Dialga are definitely perks, but the risks from its self-debuffs makes it difficult to use. |