Pokemon of the Month - February 2015 - Haxorus

About Haxorus
They are kind but can be relentless when defending territory. They challenge foes with tusks that can cut steel. Their sturdy tusks will stay sharp even if used to cut steel beams. These Pokémon are covered in hard armor.

Stats
HP - 76
Attack - 147
Defense - 90
Sp. Atk - 60
Sp. Def- 70
Speed - 97

Abilities
Rivalry - Base Power of a move rises 25% if opponent is the same gender, but, falls 25% if the opponent is a different gender.
Mold Breaker - ignores the effects of Abilities that could potentially affect the damage or effects of a move that its user executes.
Unnerve (HA) - Makes it so the opponent can't eat held berries.  

Haxorus in competitive battling
When you're using Haxorus you're going to be using it for one thing. Hitting stuff extremely hard. It's speed is decent but it's defenses are lacking. What is left is an outstanding attack stat. So that is what you should be making the most of. It's a dragon type which is good and bad. Good because it has a few resistances to help out with its lower defenses. Bad because it faces competition from other dragon types for a spot on the team that can do what it can do arguably better. Also doesn't help that gen 6 added the fairy type. Still Haxorus is a Pokemon you should always consider for a slot on the team.

Example Sets

Picky Dragon
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
Evs: 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Outrage
Dragon Claw
Poison Jab
Earthquake

A choice band set will allow you to get the most power you can get from a Haxorus. Outrage is your most powerful move but the confusion can really hurt and it will cost you a turn if the opponent sends out a fairy type. Dragon claw is there if you don't feel you need the extra power at that time and don't want to risk the confusion. Poison Jab is for fairy types. Earthquake is for steel types who resist your dragon moves and are immune to poison jab. Earthquake also works well with mold breaker. Jolly nature is used to make sure you can be as fast as possible but if you really want you can go adamant for even more devastating power.

Double Edged Dragon
Item: Life orb/Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
Evs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Dragon Dance/Sword Dance
Outrage/Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Poison Jab/Taunt/Dragon Dance/Sword Dance

Sword Dance and Dragon dance are both great set up moves just choose whether you want to raise your attack quicker by choosing sword dance or if you want to actually become quicker you can choose dragon dance. Outrage is your most powerful move but dragon claw is easier to spam without having to worry about being locked into the move or confusion. Earthquake again is for steels and works well with mold breaker. Poison Jab can be used in the final slot for fairies. Taunt can be used to make walls switch out as well as using it on other taunters that would want to taunt you to prevent you from setting up. You can also choose the set up move you didn't choose in the first slot so you can have more set up options. Life orb gives you more power but lum berry heals status which helps protect from being cripled from burn or cures the confusion caused by outrage.