Hoopa, The Mischief/Djinn Pokémon. It gathers things it likes and pushes them through its loop to teleport them to a secret place. This troublemaker sends anything and everything to faraway places using its loop, which can warp space. In its true form, it possess a huge amount of power. Legends of its avarice tell how it once carried off an entire castle to gain the treasure hidden within. It is said to be able to seize anything it desires with its six rings and six huge arms. With its power sealed, it is transformed into a much smaller form.
Overview
Although its Confined form comes with 80 BST less than Unbound, 50 of that went into boosting physical Attack, a stat it does not need so terribly much except for mixed attacking. Confined Hoopa is generally fine sticking to attacking on the special side anyway, as its Ghost typing doesn't provide any notable physical STAB, except for perhaps Phantom Force, although it is generally too unreliable to be used. Unfortunately, its signature move, Hyperspace Hole is pretty useless with only 80 BP, its Protect-piercing capabilities outclassed by Psyshock's physical defense targeting and Psychic's higher BP. (Hyperspace Hole has some merit in doubles, ensuring Hoopa will be able to deal damage to its target.) Its unique typing also makes Confined hard to use: a 4x weakness to two very common attacking types, Ghost and Dark, make Hoopa extremely vulnerable to revenge killing, especially by Pursuit trapping.
Positives
+ It has moderate to decent stats
+ It can hit through Protect with its signature move
+ Its Special Attack of 150 is just brilliant, and physical of 110 is really solid
+ Solid Special Defense of 130 lets it shrug off many Special hits
Negatives
- It has two very common 4* weaknesses: Ghost and Dark. Ouch
- Its physical Defense is mediocre at best
- It's way too slow, and too fast to be too useful in a Trick Room.
- Its ability sucks
Abilities
Magician: The user steals the held item the target has when it's hit with a move. - Meh. It's not like you have a choice, but if you go in using Hoopa without an item, you're going to have a bad time so it's useless
Movesets
Sounds like a Load of Hoop(l)a!
- Shadow Ball
- Hyperspace Hole/Psychic/Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Trick/Destiny Bond
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Magician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
Suppose you decide to use it in Confined Forme, how would you make good use of what it has? Shadow Ball is your primary STAB to go to to handle Ghosts that threatens it. For its other STAB, Psychic has more power while Psyshock is good for bypassing special walls. Hyperspace Hole should also be taken to account with the amount of Protect users in competitive play. Focus Blast is mainly for dealing with Dark Types, but its shaky accuracy leaves much to be desired. The last slot should be used for situational counters. Trick renders stall useless, while Destiny Bond deals with sweepers that could wreck your team. Full speed investment is recommended for this set.
Other Options
Hoopa, for all its offensive prowess, still has access to a decent support movepool.
Skill Swap passes on Hoopa's mediocre ability to the enemy, and, hopefully, brings in a better ability.
Wonder Room's exchange of physical and special defensive stats can screw with an opponent's attempts to hit Hoopa on its frail physical Defense.
Dual Screens allow Hoopa to provide helpful team support.
Thunderbolt and Energy Ball are nice moves with great BP, but the coverage they bring isn't too impressive
Double & Triple Battle Options
Hoopa has some glaring weaknesses at first glance. Being x4 weak to Dark and Ghost means a stray Shadow Sneak, or perfectly timed Sucker Punch or Pursuit would end Hoopa's contribution to any battle. Base 60 defense means just about any hard hitting Physcial attack has the risk of OHKOing the Genie.
What does Hoopa bring to help mitigate these issues? Cetrainly not Speed. But Special Attack and Special Defense are the highlights here alongside Ghost going unresisted by Steel. Something all Confined Hoopa should try to capitalize on. Moreso than that, Hoopa's signature attack has an unheard of ability to break through Protect AND do decent damage. With this in mind, here are a few sets that one could expect from a Hoopa in Doubles.
Nothin but NET!
-Hyperspace Hole
-Shadow Ball
-Protect
-Substitute
Item Attached: Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
Statwise, Confined Hoopa is not too unlike Aegislash. Imagine if Aegislash stopped changing its form somewhere in the middle while favoring its special stats, but got stuck, exposing its low physical Defense. Crazy description aside, Hoopa is very capable of using a Substitute + 2 Attacks set and get similar or even stronger results than Aegislash thanks to Hypserspace Hole breaking Protect.
Scary things for this Hoopa to stare down are Sucker Punches (especially from Mega Kanghaskhan) or Snarls. Snarl, being sound based, will bypass Substitute, hit x4 Super Effectively, then lower Hoopa's Special Attack one stage. Ouch! Wide Guarding and Quick Guarding partners are never a bad idea here.
Magician of Black Chaos
The parenthesis in this set denote options that are better suited for Unbound Hoopa.
-Trick
-Fling
-Hyperspace Hole / (Hyperspace Fury)
-Protect
Item Attached: Choice Scarf / Flame Orb / Light Ball / King's Rock / (Iron Ball)
Ability: Magician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SpA (252 Atk)/ 4 HP / 252 Spe
Timid (Jolly) Nature
Either form of Hoopa can use this set, as it aims to get the most out of Magician.
In terms of disruption, Knock Off gets the job done quicker, but there are many times when a stolen Choice Scarf, Sitrus or Lum Berries have proven useful. Should you end up with an Assault Vest because of your Trickery, Fling can get rid of it due to still being an attack. Hyperspace is icing on the cake being the only attacks to break protect (besides Feint) on the turn they are used as opposed to a turn later.
Max speed is preferred to attempt to get as many attacks off as possible, hopefully disrupting the opponent beyond all reasoning.
Despite base 60 Defense being a let down, it isn't a dealbreaker for Hoopa. Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp are very common and laughably easy to fit on a team, but it's never a bad idea to consider Reflect either. Brick Break is a seldom seen move and absurd Physical attacks are something to be prepared for in general, not just for supporting Hoopa.
Countering Hoopa
Confined doesn't have much Speed, so there are a large list of notable threats that can OHKO easily with a 4x effective move. Just about anything with Sucker Punch or Knock Off threatens Hoopa. Bisharp can come in on any move that isn't Focus Blast, and threaten with Sucker Punch and/or Pursuit. Bulky variants of Scizor can take two hits from Shadow Ball and OHKO with Knock Off. Alakazam can take any hit that isn't Shadow Ball and outspeed and OHKO with its own Shadow Ball. Landorus can take any move Confined dishes out and OHKO with Knock Off.
Overview
Hoopa's Unbound form, sporting higher stats and a Dark type instead of Ghost, typically enjoys more freedom than Confined, outspeeding more threats, getting enhanced mixed attacking capabilities, and taking neutral damage from Dark and Ghost types. It only needs to watch out for powerful physical Fighting type moves, which it is no longer is immune to, and the large amount of speedy Pokemon that carry U-turn, which now easily OHKOs Hoopa. Unbound also gets to enjoy an actually viable signature move, Hyperspace Fury, which, with 100 BP, will always be stronger than Knock Off, and provide more consistent damage output. Its low PP isn't too much of a problem, since it can't be stalled out by Protect. The one stage reduction to physical defense is a bit worrisome, but all things considered, Hoopa doesn't take physical hits well anyway.
Positives
+ A fantastic Psychic-type movepool.
+ Amazing mixed attacker, with Attacking stats of 160/170 respectively. This thing hits like a truck, and being able to run mixed sets is always a good thing.
+ Good Special Defence, too, at Base 130.
+ Because it has such an expansive Psychic-type movepool, it's capable of doing some weird things like Skill Swap, Dual Screens and Trick Room
Negatives
- A whopping 0 resistances!
- Base 60 Defence is really bad. It literally faints to any X-Scissor.
- It's 4x weak to Bug. OK it has good Special Defence, but you need to have Max Special Defence and HP investment, and be at +1 Special Defence to withstand an unboosted Bug Buzz from a Volcarona. But at least it isn't 4x weak to two types, like a different form of Hoopa...
- Wishes it had better Speed.
- Horrible movepool outside of Psychic type moves (in relation to them, anyway)
- Hyperspace Fury lowers your defence. It's strong and all, but it already has really bad Defence, so that's the last thing it needs.
- Magician, as seen with Delphox, is pretty bad...
Abilities
Magician: The user steals the held item the target has when it's hit with a move. - Meh. It's not like you have a choice, but if you go in using Hoopa without an item, you're going to have a bad time so it's useless
Movesets
Jumping through the Hoopa and Unbound
- Focus Blast
- Gunk Shot
- Psychic
- Hyperspace Fury
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 88 Atk / 168 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
This set is alot of fun and one of my all time favorites after testing. As a dedicated mixed attacker Hoopa Unbound gets truly outstanding coverage, and is a terrifying force to be reckoned with for sure.
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Clefable: 382-450 (96.9 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Clefable: 346-408 (87.8 - 103.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Altaria: 242-286 (68.3 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Mega Altaria: 330-390 (107.4 - 127%) -- guaranteed OHKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Sylveon: 348-411 (88.3 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Mew: 354-421 (87.6 - 104.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 302-356 (85.7 - 101.1%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 289-341 (45 - 53.1%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO
88 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Gunk Shot vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Chansey: 355-419 (55.2 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Chansey: 304-359 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Psychic vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon: 253-298 (60.2 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Psychic vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 204-242 (57.9 - 68.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 192+ SpD Heatran: 289-341 (75 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Psychic vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W: 211-250 (69.6 - 82.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Scizor: 198-233 (70.4 - 82.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
168 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Psychic vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-T: 265-313 (69.3 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Double & Triple Battle Options
What. A. Monster.
21 feet tall, attacking stats on par with Black AND White Kyurem, Special Defense higher than Arceus, all topped off with that menacing grin. Its typing means it can't switch in on much, but when it's on the field it's presence WILL be known. It's signature STABs can't be blocked outside of type immunities. Think about that! When this Pokemon attacks from it's sky high offenses, niether Protect or Detect will stop that slot from taking damage. Unbound Hoopa is going to be a painful experience for the opponent's Pokemon.
Djiant Jinni
-Hyperspace Hole
-Hyperspace Fury
-Substitute
-Protect
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 116 Atk/ 252 SpA/ 140 Spe
Mild Nature
If Confined Hoopa's set represented Special Attacking Aegislash, Unbound Hoopa's set represents the Mixed Attacking Aegislash. No matter which attack is selected, Hoopa will be doing absurd amounts of damage. Both STABs ignore Protect, this opens up the door to mind games with the opponent, who may feel they can't Protect themselves. There is just enough Attack invested in this set to OHKO 252/4 Aegislash, and 2KO Giritina and Lugia, assuming the Lugia isn't able to Roost before Hoopa launches the second Hyperspace Fury.
Low points on this set are that the primary attacking moves are low on PP in a Pressure heavy environment. Luckily Protect won't get in that way of Damage, but running out of PP will quickly turn Hoopa into dead weight.
Knock Off gets an honorary mention for this set, as being disruptive behind a sub spells disaster for most opponents, but dealing insane unblockable damage spells disaster consistently. Knock Off actually deals less damage than Hyperspace Fury, doesn't break protect and doesn't have an animation tailored to Unbound Hoopa.
Similar to its confined cousin, Unbound Hoopa appreciates the likes of Will-O-Wisp, Intimidate and Reflect. Perhaps a Follow Me or Rage Powder too, as Hoopa takes most attacks nuetral rather than resisted.
Hoopa is great on paper, but it can't switch in on much. Base 80 speed means it's going to need to invest a good ammount of Evs to outspeed uninvested base 90s and 95s. Xerneas laugh's in Hoopa's face and Geomancies for a sweep. Genesect loves excuses to fire off Bug Buzzes, so on and so forth. Hoopa does need a little support to get going but it's well worth it. Once a substitute is up the Partner Pokemon is free to do whatever it wants. All the attention will be on stopping Unbound Hoopa's unstoppable offensive.
Countering Hoopa Unbound
Unbound is a little harder to deal with. Higher offensive and Speed stats means that it can wallbreak and outspeed Pokemon that would normally give Confined Hoopa trouble. In addition, there aren't too many things that enjoy being hit by a STAB Knock Off coming from 160 base Attack, even if not fully invested. Still, any Pokemon that can manage to take a hit and retaliate with any Bug type attack or a decently powered physical attack should make quick work of Unbound Hoopa. Since there aren't too many things that can take two hits from mixed Hoopa, it comes down to picking something that can take a predicted hit and outspeed for an easy kill. Examples include Talonflame, Garchomp, and banded Dragonite or Scizor.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Event only
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Event only
Animé Appearences
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Hoopa has made a few appearances in the anime. In its main appearance, one in its Unbound form started attacking a city with various Legendary Pokémon causing Ash to team with a Hoopa Confined to try and stop it.
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