Competitive Information for Ho-oh [Sword/Shield]
Fire / Flying
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Ho-oh? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Ho is a fabulous Fire and Flying-typed Pokemon. Ho are common Pokemon to see in the SS metagame. Ho is considered strong enough to compete with Uber tiered Pokemon. Ho is weak to Electric, Rock, and Water-typed attacks.
Item: Charti Berry / Shell Bell
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Brave Bird / Sky Attack
- Flare Blitz / Sacred Fire
- Double-Edge / Strength
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
Physical Sweeper Ho-Oh (Pressure)
Ho is an interesting Physical Sweeper for single battles. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. The Shell Bell item option is to help Ho recover from the recoil damage it may take from Double-Edge, Flare Blitz and Brave Bird. With Pressure, if Ho is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp. With a Charti Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective rock-type attack then the Charti Berry gets consumed.
◆ Sky Attack is a physical STAB-boosted 140-base power Flying-type move (charges, then hits turn 2. 30% flinch. High crit).
◆ Flare Blitz is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Fire-type move (has 33% recoil. 10% chance to burn. Thaws Ho).
◆ Sacred Fire is a physical STAB-boosted 100-base power Fire-type move (50% chance to burn the target. Thaws Ho).
◆ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Strength is a physical 80-base power Normal-type move that deals a great amount of damage.
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Bulldoze is a physical 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent Pokemon speed by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10afa
Item: Charti Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Burn Up / Overheat
- Air Cutter / Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
Special Sweeper Ho-Oh (Pressure)
Ho is an extraordinary Special Sweeper for single battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Ho's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Pressure, if Ho is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp. With a Charti Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective rock-type attack then the Charti Berry gets consumed.
◆ Overheat is a special STAB-boosted 130-base power Fire-type move (lowers your Ho's special attack by 2 stages).
◆ Air Cutter is a special STAB-boosted 60-base power Flying-type move (high critical hit ratio. Hits adjacent foes).
◆ Air Slash is a special STAB-boosted 75-base power Flying-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Earth Power is a special 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is11afa
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Ho-oh? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Weakness Policy
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 156 Hp / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 84 Spe
Moveset:
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
- Protect
Doubles Physical Tank Ho-Oh (Popular VGC)
Ho is a remarkable Physical Tank for double battles. This particular build was popular during recent competitions. It tries to take a substantial amount of physical hits while dealing some decent damage. Weakness Policy activates if Ho is hit by a super effective move. The Weakness Policy is consumed and its Attack and Special Attack are increased by two stages each. With Regenerator, Ho restores 1/3 of its maximum hp rounded down when it switches out.
◆ Brave Bird is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Flying-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Ho this turn).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10afa
Item: Charti Berry / Shell Bell
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Brave Bird / Sky Attack
- Flare Blitz / Sacred Fire
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Double-Edge / Strength
Doubles Physical Sweeper Ho-Oh (Pressure)
Ho is an interesting Physical Sweeper for double battles. It is meant to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. The Shell Bell item option is to help Ho recover from the recoil damage it may take from Double-Edge, Flare Blitz and Brave Bird. With Pressure, if Ho is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp. With a Charti Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective rock-type attack then the Charti Berry gets consumed.
◆ Sky Attack is a physical STAB-boosted 140-base power Flying-type move (charges, then hits turn 2. 30% flinch. High crit).
◆ Flare Blitz is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Fire-type move (has 33% recoil. 10% chance to burn. Thaws Ho).
◆ Sacred Fire is a physical STAB-boosted 100-base power Fire-type move (50% chance to burn the target. Thaws Ho).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Bulldoze is a physical 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent Pokemon speed by 1 stage).
◆ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Strength is a physical 80-base power Normal-type move that deals a hefty amount of damage.
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id11afa
Item: Charti Berry / Throat Spray
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Heat Wave / Burn Up
- Air Cutter / Air Slash
- Hyper Voice
- Thunderbolt
Doubles Special Sweeper Ho-Oh (Pressure)
Ho is an extraordinary Special Sweeper for double battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Throat Spray activates when a Pokemon uses a sound-based move (in this case Hyper Voice) and boosts Ho's special attack stat by 2 stages. With Pressure, if Ho is the target of a foe's move that move loses one additional pp. With a Charti Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective rock-type attack then the Charti Berry gets consumed.
◆ Burn Up is a special STAB-boosted 130-base power Fire-type move (Ho's fire type becomes typeless; must be fire).
◆ Air Cutter is a special STAB-boosted 60-base power Flying-type move (high critical hit ratio. Hits adjacent foes).
◆ Air Slash is a special STAB-boosted 75-base power Flying-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Hyper Voice is a special 90-base power Normal-type move (no additional effect. Hits adjacent foes).
◆ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id12afa
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Ho-oh learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Ho-oh can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Ho-oh
- Moves: Sunny day + Solar beam
- Moves: Mimic + Imprison
- Moves: Swagger + Psych up
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Zap Cannon
- Moves with Priority: Detect, Endure, Protect, Helping Hand
- Moves that Break Screens: Defog
- Moves that inflict status: Thunder Wave, Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, Scorching Sands
Moves that boost Ho-oh's stats
- Ancient Power
- Calm Mind
- Charge Beam
- Curse
- Flame Charge
- Steel Wing
Most notable and possible best moves for Ho-oh
- Earthquake
- Light Screen
- Protect
- Reflect
- Rest
- Roost
- Toxic
Common Effort Values for Ho-oh in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Ho-oh's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Ho-oh. Top rated Ho-oh Sword/Shield movesets. You can find Ho-oh builds Sword/Shield. Ho-oh movesets Sword/Shield are listed here. VGC Ho-oh Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Ho-oh in Sword/Shield along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution