Daily Red Houndoom set and strategy
Houndoom is C-tier on our Daily Red tier list (#23 of 30) — below average against Red. On paper it wins 3 of 6 one-on-one matchups against Red (Pikachu, Espeon, Venusaur). Play Daily Red ↗
The Houndoom set in Daily Red
Houndoom
- Fire Flamethrower Special · 95
- Dark Crunch Special · 80
- Poison Sludge Bomb Physical · 90
- Fire Fire Blast Special · 120
Every player gets this exact set when Houndoom is in the daily six: level 100, Serious nature, perfect IVs, holding Charcoal with Flash Fire. The set never changes from day to day.
Houndoom vs each of Red's Pokémon
Estimated damage at level 100 with these exact stats (Gen 3 formula, no crits, no boosts). “Wins” means it should take the one-on-one trade, counting who moves first.
| Red's Pokémon | Houndoom's best hit | Red's best hit back | Moves first | 1v1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pikachu |
Fire Blast 184–217% | Thunderbolt 72–84% | Houndoom | ✅ wins |
 Espeon |
Crunch 90–106% (super effective) | Bite 13–16% (not very effective) | Espeon | ✅ wins |
 Snorlax |
Fire Blast 34–40% | Earthquake 116–136% (super effective) | Houndoom | ❌ loses |
 Venusaur |
Fire Blast 105–124% (super effective) | Earthquake 73–86% (super effective) | Houndoom | ✅ wins |
 Charizard |
Crunch 45–53% | Earthquake 74–88% (super effective) | Charizard | ❌ loses |
 Blastoise |
Crunch 31–36% | Surf 105–124% (super effective) | Houndoom | ❌ loses |
How to use Houndoom against Red
- Save Houndoom for Pikachu, Espeon, Venusaur — those are the one-on-one trades it wins on paper.
- Avoid leaving it in against Snorlax, Charizard, Blastoise; switch to a teammate that covers them (see below).
- Snorlax's Earthquake is super effective on Houndoom (116–136%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Venusaur's Earthquake is super effective on Houndoom (73–86%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Charizard's Earthquake is super effective on Houndoom (74–88%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Blastoise's Surf is super effective on Houndoom (105–124%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Flash Fire makes it immune to Charizard's Flamethrower — a free switch-in on those moves.
- It beats Red's Pikachu lead: Fire Blast does 184–217% and it moves first.
Best partners for Houndoom
If these show up on the same day, they cover the matchups Houndoom loses:
How often Houndoom shows up
Each day's six are drawn from a fixed pool of 30 sets, so any one set appears on about 1 in 5 days. Over the first 365 days, Houndoom is in the team on 77 days (21%), and it is our suggested lead on 4 of those (5%). Its most common job in our counter plans is handling Espeon.
Days it has appeared so far:
- Daily Red #2 — Tue, Oct 13, 2026
- Daily Red #1 — Mon, Oct 12, 2026
Other Daily Red Pokémon
Gyarados · Jolteon · Flygon · Breloom · Slowbro · Arcanine · Alakazam · Machamp · Gengar · Rhydon · Starmie · Scizor · Heracross · Kingdra · Donphan · Tyranitar · Sceptile · Blaziken · Swampert · Ludicolo · Shiftry · Gardevoir · Aggron · Medicham · Manectric · Camerupt · Milotic · Salamence · Metagross