I don't use scarfers for a late-game sweep. I use them to check faster threats. You can't revenge a Weavile with CB Victini, nor can you essentially guarantee that slower scarfers (Cross, Krook) won't sweep you. Victini is particularly awesome for this because V-Create is absurdly powerful and it gets U-Turn, allowing it to preserve momentum even if the opponent switches. Plus it's a bulky fucker (66% from LO Hitmontop Sucker Punch, lol).I've never actually understood that. Why the hell would you give a Choice Scarf to something whose best move lowers its speed? V-create immediately disqualifies you from doing any kind of lategame sweeping.
If you're at the point where every time your Victini comes on the field one of your opponent's pokes dies from V-Create then you've really got the battle made already. In the case that the Nidoking was the answer your opponent had to your Victini only because the speed drop (for instance they also had a defensive Arcanine ready to wall you), then there never was a potential second kill.I dunno, I appreciate being able to stay in after a kill as opposed to being forced to switch out of a potential second kill, like Nidoking or w/e. Both sets play way differently.
OK I stand corrected then I definitely did not extend my thinking along the lines of this and seeing as how this scenario seems very plausible I think Scarf is a usable set for Victini then.I see the point you're making, but that isn't necessarily true. Lets say the battle has winded down to my 75% Scarf Victini and 35% Bronzong vs. your 94% LO Nidoking, 14% Roserade, 45% Deoxys-D, and say... 30% Snorlax. If I was using CB Victini, I could only get one kill, then be forced out by Nidoking and have to sac my Bronzong to get Victini back in safely. This means I would lose. With Scarf Victini, I have the battle won because I can get two kills in before I'm forced out by Nidoking.
This is the type of situation I'm referring to, not your scenario.
Arcanine can go either specially or physically defensive max hp and about max in the desired defense with intimidate makes arcanine quite a bulky pokemonWhat kind of ev spread are we talking about with a defensive Arcanine anyway.
I don't know at what ranking you stand, but I never see any Durant not to mention no decent player will lead of with Deoxys-D, apart from the obvious suicide you let your opponent set up on you...durant is amazing in uu, holy hell
I love all the folks who see durant in preview and still stubbornly lead with deo-d, thanks for the free hone claws suckers
Well I am pretty sure a Scarfgon is unable to KO it without using a Fire move but yeah it is pretty easily revenge killed by a scarfer. Outside of scarfers though its not exactly easy to revenge seeing as it has huge Speed trolling Cobalion by one point but getting trolled by Froslass by one point. Iron Head flinch rate comes in handy when dealing with Cobalion too since a boosted Iron Head scores around 45% from experience. Steel means Durant takes Fake Out and Sucker Punch nicely if for some reason it can't set up on the Sucker Punch.Too bad Hone Claws is a mediocre boosting move and anything Scarfed will still RK the very average Durant and it's bad defenses.
Hone Claws is not even an issue. Quite the opposite. It is even better than SD, because alongside with Hustle, a Hone Claws gives you a 2,25 attack boost, while also fixing your accuracy problem. The issues of Durant are the inability to get past steels and its non existent special defense.Too bad Hone Claws is a mediocre boosting move and anything Scarfed will still RK the very average Durant and it's bad defenses.
252 Atk Jolly Life Orb +0 Hustle Durant X-Scissor does 48.8-57.5% to 252/252+ Bisharp, which is a potential 2HKO and an assured one with one layer of Spikes even if Bisharp is holding leftovers. Furthermore, assuming there are no hazards on the field, Bisharp needs to run 252/84+ to avoid the chance of being OHKO'd by +1 Durant with the same spread, at which point Stone Edge (its most powerful move to counter it other than a gimmicky HP Fire) with 172 Atk EV's and a neutral nature is doing 35.0-41.6%, a 3HKO. Durant does have problems, but the bug neutrality Bisharp's dark typing gives it means it isn't really one of them. I suppose Bisharp could run Thunder Wave (and I'll admit I don't know how common that is), but then you have to hope Durant Hone Claw's turn one and hope it isn't running a set with substitute, and, even if that all goes your way, you're still basically sacrificing your Bisharp to stop Durant as, at this point, you have at most a third of your health left if you run fully physically defensive with leftovers.The problem with Durant is its lack of coverage. It can easily be walled by other Steel types, most notably Registeel and Bisharp. Durant also has very laughable Special Defense and HP, so most special attackers have no problem taking out Durant, assuming it hasn't set up too many Hone Claws yet.
You know I honestly have to say I think this whole thing is irrelevant. Nobody with an IQ above 60 runs a defensive Bisharp or Thunder Wave Bisharp. You are going way to conservative if you assume Bisharp are going to be defensive.252 Atk Jolly Life Orb +0 Hustle Durant X-Scissor does 48.8-57.5% to 252/252+ Bisharp, which is a potential 2HKO and an assured one with one layer of Spikes even if Bisharp is holding leftovers. Furthermore, assuming there are no hazards on the field, Bisharp needs to run 252/84+ to avoid the chance of being OHKO'd by +1 Durant with the same spread, at which point Stone Edge (its most powerful move to counter it other than a gimmicky HP Fire) with 172 Atk EV's and a neutral nature is doing 35.0-41.6%, a 3HKO. Durant does have problems, but the bug neutrality Bisharp's dark typing gives it means it isn't really one of them. I suppose Bisharp could run Thunder Wave (and I'll admit I don't know how common that is), but then you have to hope Durant Hone Claw's turn one and hope it isn't running a set with substitute, and, even if that all goes your way, you're still basically sacrificing your Bisharp to stop Durant as, at this point, you have at most a third of your health left if you run fully physically defensive with leftovers.
Sry for nitpicking but Suicune has a little better physical bulk. Not getting into any arguement or whatever, just stating facts.hilarious is right, don't use Suicune.
CM Slowbro is kind of better. It gets reliable recovery, ability to go "mixed" with Psyshock, resistance to Fighting-type moves, and better Physical bulk. It's not setup bait with Rest unlike Suicune, and can hit harder too. Suicune is generally not that great in this metagame. It also has hardcore 4-moveslot syndrome.
Suicune has a few advantages, but it's generally not that great in this metagame. Honestly, it hasn't been good since before the Hippowdon metagame as far as I'm concerned but that's a different story. Milotic and Blastoise are better Bulky Waters and Slowbro is a better Calm Minder in my opinion.
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Also, I want to bring up a new Pokemon that's really gaining popularity in this metagame, Choice Band Flygon. Flygon is still pretty fast, even with Adamant. It outspeeds non-Scarf Rotom-A and slower, and can pack a serious punch. It's the perfect momentum grabber in a hazard dominated metagame because it resists or is immune to every hazard. It really appreciates Stealth Rock or a layer of Spikes so it can beat up Bulky Waters.