Haxorus Guide

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Jesus Cruz, Lifelong Pokémon Fan

It all started in 2010 when Jesus was 10 years old. His dad gifted him a Nintendo DS and let him choose a game for it. A weird, enormous, and grey serpent caught my attention on the box art for Pokémon Platinum, and since that moment he's been hooked! He can only thank his 10 years old self for choosing the game that he loves the most in the series

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Haxorus, the Axe Jax Pokémon, is a Dragon-type Pokémon introduced in Gen 5, and it’s the evolution of Axew and Fraxure. 

Haxorus is based on a dinosaur clade named Theropods. The Theropods were bipedal dinosaurs with strong back legs and tiny forelimbs, hence Haxorus’ shape. But as you might know, Haxorus has a special characteristic, its fangs, which resemble the battle axe blades. 

Haxorus is a bipedal, lizard-like Pokémon. It is mostly yellow, but its face, legs, the tip of the tail, and chest are grey, while its hand and feet claws are red. It also has red eyes, and its ax-shaped fangs are grey and red. 

Its fangs are very sharp and capable of slashing everything. Therefore, Haxorus uses them to attack and protect itself. In addition, the fangs are very strong so that they won’t break. Nonetheless, Haxorus needs to maintain its fangs by constantly licking the ground and eating minerals to keep them strong. 

Haxorus is a kind Pokémon, but, as a great Dragon-type, if it gets angry, it’ll cause an outburst, so it’s better to keep it calm. Haxorus is very territorial and can kill everyone that gets into its vicinity. Also, it is constantly protecting its hatchlings, the Axews, and can destroy anything if one of its babies gets hurt or lost. 

Lastly, Haxorus’ name is a combination of “Axe” and “Saurus,” a common Greek term to refer to the dinosaurs. 

Haxorus Summary of Appearances in Pokémon Versions and Media (Games, Anime, Movies)

Games

In the games, you can find Haxorus in the following places: 

Gen 5: To get Haxorus in Black and White, you have to evolve it from Fraxure. You can find Fraxure on Victory Road and can find Axew, which is Haxorus’ first evolution stage, in the Mistralton Cave. 

You can get a Haxorus in Black 2 and White 2 in the Nature Preserve, there’s only one, and it’s shiny. If you want the regular one, you need to evolve it from Fraxure, and you can find both Fraxure and Axew in the same places as Black and White. 

Gen 6: To get Haxorus in XY, you have to evolve it from Fraxure. Fraxure can be found in the Dragon-type Friend Safari, and Axew can be found in the Connecting Cave. 

To get Haxorus in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, you’ll have to evolve it from Axew, which can be found in the Granite Cave as a hidden Pokémon. 

Gen 7: To get Haxorus in Sun & Moon and Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, you’ll have to evolve it from Axew, which can be obtained in Mount Hokulani but only if you use the Island Scan. 

Gen 8: In Sword & Shield, Haxorus can be found as a wild Pokémon in Axew’s Eye and Lake of Outrage, while you can find it in Rolling Fields and Axew’s Eye as Max Raid Battles but only in Sword. 

Haxorus can’t be obtained in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl and Legends: Arceus.

Anime

In the anime, Haxorus’ most known appearance was as Iris’ Axew, which evolved into Haxorus in the chapter Thrash of the Titans!

But Haxorus’s debut in the anime was in Dreams by the Yard Full! There, Iris’ Axew dreams about evolving into a Haxorus. 

The following Haxorus’ appearances were in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! As a flashback where Iris remembers when her Excadrill got defeated by Drayden’s Haxorus. Then, Drayden’s Haxorus appears again in Drayden Versus Iris: Past, Present, and Future! where it battles against Iris’ Excadrill again.

Manga

In the Manga, Haxorus appeared in Pokémon Adventures, in One Way or Another, where Iris’ Fraxure evolved into Haxours when battling against Black in the Pokémon League. 

It also appeared in Pokémon – The Legend of the Dragon King and in Pocket Monsters BW: The Heroes of Fire and Thunder. 

TCG

In the TCG, Haxorus has cards in the following expansions: 

• Noble Victories (Rare Holo)
• Dark Explorers (Rare Holo)
• Dragon Vault and BW Black Star Promos as Promo cards
• Plasma Blast (Rare Holo)
• BREAKthrough (Rare Holo)
• Unified Minds (Rare Holo)
• Brilliant Stars (Rare)

In Noble Victories and Dark Explorers, Haxorus appears as a Colorless Pokémon, while in the rest of the expansions, Haxorus is a Dragon-type Pokémon. 

Haxorus Evolution Line: When does Haxorus Evolve?

Haxorus is the last stage of Axew’s evolution line. Axew evolves to Fraxure at Level 38, while Fraxure evolves into Haxorus at level 48. 

Haxorus Stats

Haxorus is a common Pokémon in the UU (Under Used) tier, the second tier behind OU (Over Used). Haxorus is an outstanding Physical Sweeper and Wallbreaker because of its Speed, Attack, and the great moves it can learn. Nonetheless, compared to other Dragon-Type Pokémon, it fell a bit behind those bulkier and faster dragons of OU. 

Now that we are in Gen 8, Haxorus has slowly made a name in OU, but it’s not common to see it there, as there are better Dragon-type options. It’s very OP in RU (Rarely Used), but it’s very weak in OU, so it’s common to see it in UU. 

Let’s take a look at its stats!

As you can see, Haxorus’ best stat is its Attack, which is OU-worth, but the problem with Haxorus is its poor HP and Defense. Dragon-types on OU are normally bulkier and faster, or at least they have a more interesting type combination; we can see examples like Dragonite, Dragapult, Garchomp, and many more with better stats than Haxorus. So, I define Haxorus as a glass cannon. 

With its outstanding Attack, it’s obvious that Haxorus will be the Physical Sweeper of your team; its job will be getting rid of those Walls that you can constantly see in OU and UU. I’m sure only a few Pokémon will be capable of withstanding Close Combat from a Haxorus with some Sword Dances. 

So, it’s time to develop a strategy for Haxorus, so let’s start from scratch by checking on its possible abilities. 

Abilities

Haxorus can have the following abilities: 

• Rivalry: Rivalry will increase the user’s Attack if the enemy has the same gender as the user. 
• Mold Breaker: This ability makes the user’s moves ignore all those abilities that would protect the enemy. As an example, a Pokémon with Mold Breaker can land a Water-type attack on a Pokémon with Dry Skin or can land a Sleep Spore on a Pokémon with Insomnia. 
• Unnerve (Hidden Ability): An user with this ability will make the enemy nervous enough to make them not capable of eating a held berry. 

Rivalry would be a decent option, but it relies a lot on luck. It’s hard to control Rivalry in competitive matches. Also, Unnerve is a bad ability for Haxorus because the berries aren’t as common as other objects in the OU and UU meta and because Haxorus isn’t a Pokemon you should have out on the field for extended periods, and as soon as it leaves the battlefield, the enemy will eat its berry as usual. 

This leaves us with the best option, Mold Breaker. With Mold Breaker, you will sweep all of those possible advantages your enemy can have from the start of the Pokémon battle. For example, I love to land an Earthquake on Pokémon with Levitate thanks to Mold Breaker!

Now that we have chosen an ability let’s pick a Nature for Haxorus!

Natures

We want Haxorus to be fast and capable of landing strong hits, and if we check the moves it can learn and its Special Attack, it’s obvious that we don’t need Special Attack, so these are the possible Natures for Haxorus: 

• Adamant (Increases Attack, Decreases Special Attack)
• Impish (Increases Defense, Decreases Special Attack)
• Jolly (Increases Speed, Decreases Special Attack)
• Careful (Increases Special Defense, Decreases Special Attack)

If you want a more defensive Haxorus, you can choose Impish or Careful, but I feel Haxorus works better as a Sweeper, so we need to increase its Attack or its Speed. 

I’ll go with Jolly because its Attack is more than enough, and Haxorus’ Speed needs a boost, but if you don’t mind attacking last, go for Adamant! 

As we decided its ability and nature, it’s time to talk about its moveset.

Moves Per Level (Gen 8)

Haxorus can learn the following moves by leveling up: 

Moves per TM/TR (Gen 8)

Haxorus can learn the following moves through the usage of a TM or TR: 

Lastly, Haxorus can learn a very interesting Dragon-type move in Sword and Shield Expansion Pass but only by tutoring, Scale Shot. You’ll be able to teach Haxorus Scale Shot at The Isle of Armor in the Master Dojo after completing Mustard’s first trial, but you need five Armorite Ores to do it. 

It’s time to talk about Haxorus’ main Strengths and Weaknesses. 

Haxorus Strengths

Haxorus is a Dragon-type Pokémon, meaning that it can resist moves from the following types: 

• It only gets 1/2 of the damage against Water, Electric, Fire, and Grass-type attacks. 

Haxorus only has the Dragon-type, which is a very defensive type, so it will not be affected by most of the attacks on the meta as most of them are Water, Fire, or Grass. Also, Haxorus is a great attacker against a heavy Dragon-type Pokémon. 

Its Dragon-type attacks will deal the normal damage against almost any type in the game, so Haxorus’ Dragon-type attacks will do much against the 95% of the OU and UU meta. 

But let’s talk about Haxorus’ weaknesses, as there are some points I have to address. 

Haxorus Weaknesses

As a Dragon-type, Haxorus is susceptible to the moves from the following types: 

• It takes x2 damage against Dragon, Ice, and Fairy-type moves. 

Haxorus has severe problems with these three types, but the most problematic ones are Dragon and Fairy types, which are very common in OU. These two types appear in almost every team composition you’ll see in OU and UU, so be prepared to face Pokémon like Dragonite, Alolan Ninetales, Clefable, Grimmsnarl, and Garchomp, and many more that can learn Ice-type attacks like almost any Water-type Pokémon. 

Also, Haxorus’ Dragon-type moves will not be effective against the following types: 

• It inflicts only 1/2 of damage against Steel-type Pokémon. 
• Fairy types are immune to its attacks. 

Haxorus relies on having alternatives against Fairy-types as a good Poison-type attack, which is great as Haxorus will be faster than most of the Fairy-types. 

Haxorus Best Moveset

Haxorus can work with the following moveset: 

• Scale Shot
• Close Combat
• Poison Jab
• Swords Dance (or any other move you like)

With Mold Breaker as its ability, Life Orb as its item, and Jolly as its Nature.

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Let’s start talking about Haxorus’ moveset. 

Scale Shot is a new Dragon-type multi-attack, so you’ll land between 2 to 5 hits to your opponent. With a Power of only 25, you might think that there are better and stronger Dragon-type attacks, but you’ll be landing more than one hit, so you’ll be dealing 25 of damage multiplied by the times you land a hit.

I like to combine Scale Shot with objects like King’s Rock, as you’ll have a lot of chances to make your opponent flinch. Lastly, after successfully landing a Scale Shot, Haxorus will reduce its Defense by one point and increase its Speed by one point. So, don’t get scared by its Defense reduction; remember that Haxorus is a Sweeper, so it’s not likely for it to receive a hit. 

Close Combat works to protect itself from any Ice-type Pokémon. I commonly use this move when I know I’ll be switching Haxorus afterward, as this move’s Defense and Special Defense reduction is very noticeable. 

Poison Jab is the defense method Haxorus has against Fairy-types; it is a very strong Physical attack with a 30% chance of poisoning the target, which is great if you face a Wall. 

Lastly, the last move spot is reserved for any other move you want to add. I’ll go with Swords Dance as increasing Haxorus’ Attack is always nice, but you can use any other Status move, like Roar, Substitute, or even Swagger, and combine it with a Lum Berry to avoid getting confused. It’s a matter of seeing what your team needs. 

I chose Mold Breaker as Haxorus’ ability as it’s basically the best it can have. It can eliminate all the possible advantages a rival can have on you through their abilities. 

Life Orb will buff Haxorus’ Attack, but it’ll lose some HP after every turn. It’s a fitting item for Haxorus as the plan is not to have it on the battlefield for a long time, but you can use any other Offensive item, like Choice Band, which is also a great option. 

Lastly, the EV spread enhances the stats we want for Haxorus. The EVs I recommended are the simple Physical Sweeper configuration. 

Haxorus fits in every team that needs a Physical Sweeper. It is fast, it is strong, and it’s a reliable option in almost every team composition. 

Haxorus in a Video

I’m always a fan of seeing different compositions for a single Pokémon; it is great because you can do a lot with the same Pokémon. Haxorus isn’t the exception, so let’s check some videos where professional competitors give Haxorus some great usage. 

This video shows a Haxorus with almost the same composition I recommended, but with a twist, as this Haxorus has Lum Berry and Earthquake. The Lum Berry is to avoid getting confused (so you can use it with Swagger or Outrage), and the Earthquake instead of Poison Jab is to cover Haxorus from Pokémon like Magearna. 

This video shows another Haxorus, this time with Dragon Claw (as this video is before the Expansion Pass for Sword and Shield) and with Earthquake and Poison Jab. I like this video as it explains the proper usage of Haxorus with almost any build.

FAQs

Haxorus Guide: Conclusion

Haxorus is a wonderful Sweeper, and I’m sure it’ll fit in any of your teams. But be careful; if it gets outspeed and receives a strong hit, Haxorus will faint. 

Haxorus is a fan-favorite Pokémon, and it deserves it as it is a great Pokémon; it’s very strong and fun to play, and I hope you’ll enjoy having it on your team!