[OVERVIEW]
Hypno holds a niche in the tier as the fastest viable Pokemon that has access to both a sleep-inducing move and a paralysis-spreading move. This allows Hypno to outspeed and put Exeggutor to sleep with Hypnosis as well as paralyze faster foes such as Tauros, Gengar, and Zapdos and attempt to brute-force them with STAB Psychic. Hypno's biggest strength is its role compression, being a jack-of-all-trades lead that covers many matchups at least neutrally, with Thunder Wave being one of the main reasons to use it over Jynx. Thunder Wave even gives Hypno a slight edge over Exeggutor, which has to use the inaccurate Stun Spore; Submission also gives it a better time against Chansey. Hypno has decent bulk, being able to survive a couple stray hits from foes such as Tauros and Zapdos with relative ease. Hypno's mono-Psychic typing also grants it no common weaknesses, unlike Exeggutor, which has weaknesses to Jynx and Mewtwo's Blizzard and Zapdos' Drill Peck. It also has much better physical bulk than Jynx, which is incredibly physically frail.
While Hypno does fill many roles decently, it fails to do any of these roles particularly well: it's fast enough to outspeed Exeggutor and Lapras but not fast enough to outspeed any other relevant threats, being outsped and completely shut down by Jynx. It's bulky enough to tank a few hits from foes such as Tauros and Zapdos, but it has little staying power due to its lack of recovery. Hypno also has to rely on Hypnosis to put something to sleep, making it somewhat unreliable in getting sleep off. Hypno has heavy competition as a Psychic-type lead, with Exeggutor being the objectively better sleeper, Jynx being faster than it and having STAB Blizzard, and Alakazam and Starmie having Recover. Finally, while Hypno has effectively no weaknesses, it also lacks many of the resistances that Exeggutor has, taking neutral damage from Rhydon's Earthquake, Gengar's Thunderbolt, and Slowbro and Starmie's Surf, making it much worse at switching into those threats.
[SET]
name: Lead Sleeper
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Hypnosis
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Seismic Toss / Submission / Counter
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Psychic is Hypno's main STAB move, notably 2HKOing Gengar while also doing decent damage to other common leads such as Tauros and Zapdos. Hypnosis is Hypno's only sleep-(AH)inducing move, letting it put foes to sleep and notably doing so before Exeggutor can do the same to Hypno. However, it is quite unreliable due to its low accuracy, and Hypno would rather paralyze most faster foes such as Tauros and Gengar with Thunder Wave and attempt to KO them with Psychic. Thunder Wave is a pivotal tool for Hypno, letting it come out victorious in many situations it may not have otherwise. For example, if Gengar misses its Hypnosis, Hypno can paralyze it and 2HKO it with Psychic, while Gengar is either forced to switch out, use Explosion, or attempt to land a second Hypnosis through paralysis, which only hits 44.8% of the time. Seismic Toss deals consistent damage to all foes, notably 4HKOing Exeggutor and Jynx, while Psychic and Submission do paltry damage to them. Submission 3HKOes Chansey, which switches into Hypno with ease if it lacks the move. The recoil from Submission can also be used in your favor, as Hypno can use it to knock itself out before Chansey can heal off the damage with Soft-Boiled, making it easily revenge killed by one of Hypno's teammates such as Snorlax or Tauros. Counter can be used to help against Tauros, as a countered Body Slam followed by a Psychic KOes it, letting Hypno beat Tauros in the one-on-one if it attacks with Body Slam, which Hypno can fail to do without Counter. It's worth noting that Tauros can still beat Hypno with Counter if it goes for Earthquake or flinches it with Stomp. Hypno without Counter also benefits from the mere threat of Counter, with Tauros being wary of using Body Slam on it. A Hypno with a Defense stat of 154 can OHKO Tauros with a countered Body Slam; this is achieved with a Defense DV of 1 and 29 IVs, although a critical hit Body Slam has a 59% chance to OHKO a Hypno with 154 Defense, and Earthquake followed by Hyper Beam KOes Hypno with this reduction in bulk. Hypno is the best anti-lead against lead Mewtwo and also a good anti-lead against the uncommon lead Lapras. Jynx is also a good anti-lead to Mewtwo, but it is OHKOed by Mewtwo's Self-Destruct and 2HKOed by the very rare Fire Blast.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Meditate can be used in place of Psychic to reapply the Speed drop from paralysis and make Hypno's Submission more powerful, with +1 Submission 2HKOing Chansey and +2 Submission 2HKOing Snorlax 75.4% of the time. However, this set is walled by Gengar and does next to nothing to opposing Psychic-(AH)types such as Exeggutor and Mewtwo. Headbutt can be used over Submission on Meditate sets to attempt to paraflinch foes. Headbutt also has higher accuracy than Submission and does more than Submission to Psychic-types but does much less to Chansey and Snorlax and is incredibly unreliable due to only having a 47.5% chance to immobilize a paralyzed foe with Headbutt. Rest can be used in Hypno's fourth moveslot to try and stall out Chansey, Alakazam, and Exeggutor if Sleep Clause is activated, but this is easily exploitable, as Hypno is extremely vulnerable during its sleep turns, becoming setup fodder for Mewtwo, Mew, and Slowbro. Psychic can be dropped in favor of running Submission and Seismic Toss on the same set, as it deals with common Chansey and Exeggutor variants within the same build. It also forces Psychic-types with Rest to use Rest more predictably, which can provide safer switch-in opportunities for Hypno's teammates, although it has a much worse time against Gengar, Tauros, and Zapdos.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Sleepers**: Jynx and Gengar both outspeed and put Hypno to sleep with relative ease, with Jynx having the opportunity to attempt to freeze something with Blizzard as Hypno switches out. Gengar is less reliable at putting Hypno to sleep than Jynx, and it can be paralyzed and 2HKOed by Psychic if it misses Hypnosis, but it nevertheless is still favored to beat Hypno.
**Pokemon with Recovery**: Pokemon with recovery moves, such as Alakazam, Starmie, Mew, and Mewtwo,(AC) sit on Hypno and exploit its lack of recovery to KO it with ease. However, these Pokemon hate paralysis and will usually avoid a one-on-one interaction with Hypno. Chansey also checks Hypno if it lacks Submission.
**Physical Attackers**: Most physical attackers beat Hypno one-on-one, such as Snorlax and Mew if Sleep Clause is activated and Tauros if Hypno lacks Counter.
**Psychic-types with Rest**: Slowbro can switch into Hypno with ease if Sleep Clause is activated, set up on it with Amnesia or paralyze it, and shrug off damage with Rest. Jynx outspeeds Hypno and 3HKOes it with Blizzard, Exeggutor with Rest also walls Hypno, although it can'(AA)t do much damage to Hypno in return. Opposing Hypno with Rest also walls Hypno without Rest. Slowbro, Jynx, Exeggutor, and Hypno all avoid 3HKOes from Seismic Toss Hypno, letting them Rest loop Hypno and stall it out. However, these Rests are easy to exploit by Hypno switching out as the Rest Psychic-type sleeps.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/enigami.233818/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/torchic.43049/
Grammer checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/stupidflandrs48.633500/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
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