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Sun

Who cares if one more light goes out? Well I do...
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mega Metagross is one of the most powerful and versatile wallbreakers of the tier, with a large movepool phenomenal and statistics, as well as having an excellent typing, has a decent speed, amazing bulk, this mechanical beast covers very important roles in a team is a great and unexpected pursuit trapper, is a great revenge killer, good and perhaps the best fairy killer of ou, is controlled by mega Scizor, jirachi (except earthquake uses), slowking, Skarmory (if you do not run T.punch), slowbro and mega slowbro , Ferrothorn and Heatran (if you have not hammer harm or earthquake in this case for Heatran); However, despite having many controls, it is still a very dangerous pokemon, because many builds you dimenticanmo totlamente of its existence; good teammate for mega Metagross are in a nutshell: Wallbreakers with a large movepool, Manaphy, Thundurus, Nidoking, Hydreigon, are all great partners who threaten the common counters of gross, using their large movepool can threaten many threats, so this makes it easy to build up mega Metagross around; other good partners for mega Metagross are Keldeo, Volcanion, raikou, Rotom-W, Tang, Serperior, some pursuit trapper as Band Weavile, Bisharp, band Ttar, that threaten bulky psychic as slowking and slowbro;
Once Metagross was the best pokemon of the tier, in early Oras to be clear, I now think that the metagame is in his favor, because it is a threat underestimated because it is still uncommon, also thanks to the drop of Hippo is even more easy to show BoltBeam the set and make out tankchomp / lando-t + bulky water, moreover at a time when clef is the best pokemon of the moment i think Metagross is the best choice to send him out, Metagross loves volturn support, as indeed they love it all wallbreakers, volturn helps metagross to put pressure on the offensive team and balance.
the most common sets are: BoltBeam, this set runs meteormash, more powerful stab that Metagross owns, but iron head is a good replacement if you do not want to risk the mash miss, but you lose power, Thunder punch, very useful against slowking, SPD skarm, manaphy, Keldeo, ice punch, more important move for this set is capable of threatening Landorus and tankchomp incoming, it is a good move to eliminate latios, mega Latias, Dragonite finally pursuit, useful to trap latios, Latias; AoA, this is the typical set of Metagross, runs meteor mash, zen headubutt, useful stab move to eliminate mega venu, Breloom, Keldeo, mega lopunny, and it is good to use against rotom-w failing to have a good chance of 2HKO after rocks, hammer harm, useful as I said before beating Excadrill, Heatran, Ferrothorn, grass knot, very beneficial move against hippo, Gastrodon, seismitoad, mega swampert, Quagsire; Rock polish, this set is aimed to eliminate offensive teams, usually you run the nature adamant to have a lot of strength, and using this set: meteor mash, zen headbutt, hammer arm, but a variant could be meteor mash, thunder punch / ice punch, hammer arm, and indfine rock polish, Metagross that leads to an impressive speed, which overcomes Excadrill in the sand and Kingdra in the rain (just to give an example), this set looks very scary.

in a while I will present mega Metagross + Nidoking bulky offense, later ^^
 
dun.

the posts being added to archive are this post on sylveon by King Sun, this post on mega metagross by CrystalRam, and this post on gliscor by Dr Ciel.

thanks paper dreams for helping me pick the posts to archive. remember: the archived posts are simply the posts that best summarize the pokemon for future reference. not every post needs to summarize the pokemon; some people may just want to center their posts around one aspect, and that's totally okay. you don't need to follow the guidelines perfectly to post here; they're just there to guide you a bit if you're unsure of what to post.

~​

week #18

raikou | mega houndoom | cobalion
bipedal week :3c. raikou was chosen due to it's recent drop in viability and overall effectiveness. a lot of people view raikou as pretty bad now when it used to be a really nice offensive electric. is raikou still good, or are these criticisms correctly placed? mega houndoom was chosen because i'm running low on megas to pick from ;~;. in all seriousness, there really isn't a particular reason to choose mega houndoom, but it's a fun, albeit it mediocre, mega to play around with... i hope to see some cool mega doom builds / team frameworks because i can never build with this thing lol. finally, cobalion was chosen because AM recently beat me with a lot of hax + RP cobalion :(. coba's a pretty cool pokemon with a variety of set options ranging from more defensive utility ones to more offensive ones. also, it does a solid job at checking the annoying darks of the meta when they aren't carrying fighting coverage, among other things.

REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want :p) and post here saying which one you're taking. also, you can use any set you want!

the discussion period will start on 5/19 (at night in EST); those of you who want to participate have between now and then to play around with these pokemon.

happy posting ^^
 

Eclipse

Like a chimp with a machine gun
is a Contributor Alumnus
I'll take Cobalion to show you guys how good SubSD is (base 90 Attack is still balls though >.>)
 

HailFall

my cancer is sun and my leo is moon
ill try mega doom

Edit: alright, I got this I should be able to write about it
 
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Sun

Who cares if one more light goes out? Well I do...
is a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Reserving these 3 ;) if starry is agree
 
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with AM's sass i will close this.


thanks everyone that signed up! you guys have between now and monday (5/23) night EST to write up your posts about whichever pokemon you took (raikou / mega houndoom / cobalion). as a reminder:
If you take a test subject, it is expected that you'll post. Your posts don't need to be super lengthy & detailed, but they shouldn't be super short and simple. I'm not gonna put some arbitrary regulation on how many sentences you should have, but you should have at least a small paragraph.
and as a reminder to those unsure of what to post:
Things you can post include (but are not limited to):
  • strategies used
  • how you went about building with this Pokemon
  • general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon
  • if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not
  • sets you used with the Pokemon
remember: you aren't limited to these guidelines; they're just here to help in case you aren't sure what to post. if you'd prefer to focus on 1 specific aspect of the pokemon you selected rather than a broad overview, that's totally okay! if you're still lost, try checking out this post by Infernal.

if you didn't sign up but you'd like to post, feel free to do so, but just don't post if you haven't used the pokemon in awhile / at all. also, if you signed up, but you cannot find the time to post, don't worry about it! just please don't do it regularly :x
 

HailFall

my cancer is sun and my leo is moon
Mega Houndoom




Strengths and Weaknesses

Mega Houndoom is an interesting sweeper that has good offensive typing in dark along with acceptably good secondary typing in fire. It has an interesting movepool, giving it few options outsides its STABs offensively, but giving it a variety of support options as well as moves that allow it to cripple switchins such as Will-O-Wisp and Super Fang. Mega Houndoom has a great 115 Speed tier allowing it to outspeed common threats such as Latios and Latias, Mega Metagross, and Serperior while its decent 140 Special Attack stat lets it bring decent damage output to the table. After one Nasty Plot boost Mega Houndoom is truely a fearsome beast, outright beating or severely denting anything that tries to come in on it. However, Mega Houndoom has several problems that keep it D rank on the viability rankings. Firstly, Houndoom is revenge killed by most common scarfers and priority users besides Scizor fairly easily. Its bulk isn't amazing and its also susceptible to stealth rock making it worn down easily over the course of a match. Furthermore current metagame trends are most certainly not in Mega Houndoom's favor, with the high usage of pokemon like Keldeo, Tyranitar, and Mega Diancie all of which give Mega Houndoom major problems. Mega Houndoom's ability is also questionably useful, as it wears it down exceedingly fast and that OU's only viable Drought user takes up a mega slot, meaning only in matchups against opposing Mega Charizard Y teams will Mega Houndoom typically be able to make use of its ability. All that said, Mega Houndoom is still capable of being effective with the right team support, even if the current metagame hasn't been too kind to it.

Set Used
Houndoom-Mega @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Taunt / Hidden Power [Grass] / Will-O-Wisp / Super Fang

The first three slots of this set are fairly simple. Nasty Plot is a setup move to boost Mega Houndoom's special attack stats to very high levels, while Dark Pulse and Fire Blast are powerful STAB moves that hit like a truck. The last slot has several options, all of which have their own uses. Taunt shuts down defensive pokemon so that Mega Houndoom can boost with Nasty Plot on them. +2 Hidden Power Grass has a very high chance to OHKO Keldeo after rocks, and OHKOes Mega Diancie regardless while also chunking plenty of mons Houndoom can't afford to stay in on on the switch. Will-O-Wisp can cripple Tyranitar and Azumarill on the switch, and whittles down most of Mega Houndoom's other switchins. Finally Super Fang is an option that does the most, consistent damage of any move Mega Houndoom has to Tyranitar and Chansey while also being able to discourage switchins with other pokemon as well. 40 HP EVs allow Houndoom to avoid the 3HKO by Chansey's Seismic Toss.


Building Around Mega Houndoom

Houndoom-Mega @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Taunt

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Stun Spore

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Stone Edge

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Knock Off


I'm very happy with how this team turned out! I started with the Mega Houndoom + Azumarill core which is fairly simple. Azumarill rips apart the Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-types that can be annoying for Mega Houndoom, while Mega Houndoom eradicates the fat Grass- and Steel-types that spell trouble for Azumarill. From here I added Amoonguss which checks a lot of things that can be frustrating for this core such as opposing Azumarill, Keldeo, and Thundurus. I made Amoonguss Stun Spore as that's a set I've really been loving recently, as most people think their mons are safe from status after Amoonguss has fired off its spore. That is, until their Tornadus-T or Talonflame catches a para they cant afford to take. Next I added Latias for Defog and Healing Wish support as well as the ability to check Volcanion which can be quite a pest to these three. Then I added Rotom-W and Defensive Landorus-T, but realized that made me absurdly weak to Latis and backtracked. I decided to go with Heatran in the next spot which can check Scizor and Latis better than Mega Houndoom while also giving me a Talonflame check and Stealth Rock setter. I'm running Taunt and Stone Edge in the last moveslot because Taunt+Wisp Talon is a bitch but feel free to run Toxic if you so please. I decided that the last slot should be Scarf Landorus-T which gives me a solid momentum generator and revenge killer, while also giving me a secondary check to sand, Mega Lopunny, etc. which can wear this team down otherwise if played correctly. Feel free to try out this team if you want to get some first hand experience with Mega Houndoom in OU!


Partners and Cores

  • +

    Pretty simple offensive core I used in the team. More info in the description there.
  • +

    Serperior wallbreaks for Houndoom, eradicating the Water- and Rock-types that frustrate Houndoom to no end such as Keldeo, Azumarill, and Suicune while also being able to wear down pokemon like chansey for Houndoom to come in and break. In return Houndoom breaks common fat Grass-types like Amoonguss to let Serperior set up and sweep more easily.
  • +
    /

    Latios/Latias checks Volcanion and Keldeo for Houndoom while Houndoom breaks or dents most common Latios/Latias checks like Ferrothorn, Bisharp, Scizor, and Heatran. In addition, Latios/Latias can defog for Mega Houndom to maximize its longevity. If you run Latias you get the added bonus of Healing Wish support which can be invaluble at times at the expense of a little power.
  • +

    Amoonguss is a good pivot to pair with Mega Houndoom, coming in on most of the Water- and Fighting-types that give it problems. It can come in on pokemon like Keldeo and force them out, forcing the team to take repeated hazard damage and give Mega Houndoom the best possible chance of getting a sweep late game.
Using Mega Houndoom
Mega Houndoom is best used as an offensive pivot early game, wearing down its checks by clicking its STABs. After dealing damage, Houndoom can be brought back in and pivoted out again when the need arises. When you do this it is important that hazards say off the field so Houndoom has as much HP as possible to initiate a late game sweep by setting up Nasty Plot. Giving Houndoom free switches through the use of U-turn/Volt Switch users such as Landorus-T or Rotom-W is also beneficial to help minimize the damage Houndoom has to take over the course of a match. When you feel it is time, set up a Nasty Plot and sweep.

Verdict

Unfortunately the rise of sand and the opportunity cost of using Mega Houndoom over another, more viable mega is a large problem. However, with the right support, Mega Houndoom can certainly be effective. That being said, I think that unfortunately the metagame is not in favor of Mega Houndoom. It's certainly not bad as its stats are excellent and its movepool is above average (and honestly I think its a bit underrated overall as a mon), but there's just not enough common mons Mega Houndoom can take advantage of in OU right now for it to be exceedingly effective. I had fun building with it and using it though!
 

Sun

Who cares if one more light goes out? Well I do...
is a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus


Houndoom mega is a great Wallbreaker, has a great offensive typing, is a pretty good movepool, has a nice base speed 115, which allows it to be faster than latios, and going by speed tier with Starmie. his weakness to the hazards forcing the presence of hazard removal in build to optimize its capabilities and longevity in the battle; its counters in Ou are chansey, Keldeo, tyranitar, defensive Infernape, diancie mega, mega gyarados and gyarados spd, spd also Tran checks well enough doom if he runs earth power; Houndoom mega is a threat to balance teams, and can even be dangerous in some stall builds, as Shedinja stall, the most common is moveset nasty plot attacks + 3 or a version with a taunt + 3 attacks, we analyze per move move; Fire blast, stab emorme of power, combined with the powerful 140 basis spa Doom and nasty plot boost become unstoppable, dark pulse, another stab, able to strike hard Volcanion, Rotom-W, Manaphy after an NP boost, Sludge bomb, this move is simply divine, allows more safety when hitting pokemon as Serperior, without risking a miss also the main reason is because it hits hard Clefable, also fire blast hits hard this fairy, but we want our Doom is paralyzed because of a miss finally nasty plot, excellent move that Boosta special attack of doom, taunt is a good alterantiva if you want to cope better chansey, preventing to heal. Good teammates are latios, Terrakion, both scarf that band, Azumarill, Keldeo, healing wish Latias, that help him beat his counters, Houndoom appreciates momentum generators as rotom-w, Landorus, helping him to get free switch, so as to put the opponent under pressure.

This is a simple Bulky offense built around the core MDoom + band Terrakion + latios.

Houndoom-Mega @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Defog
- Psyshock

Terrakion @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split

Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Outrage

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Whirlwind


This team is really fun and dangerous, and Terrakion latios helps doom to beat keld, chansey, low kick weavile, mega lop (if Terrakion has scarf), Rotom-w generates momentum that helps the core to move in putting pressure finally I chose Garchomp + skarmory hazard stacking core, to help Terrakion and doom to eliminate their counters thanks to hazards, such as slowbro, or Keldeo, but also chansey , I put Yache berry sd chomp because it seems a very good answer to Thund, raikou, mega mane, also is also good to beat 1VS 1 Starmie, finally i put spd skarm because i was very weak to mega garde and mega diancie. i hope you like this team ^.^
 

Natan

...
is a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus

Cobalion

Overall

Cobalion is a useful option of Pivot, with Taunt Support or Stealth Rock

Strenghts
  • Is a good pivot with an awesome Defense base, 1 immunity (Poison) and 8 weaknesses Bug(4x), Dark, Dragon, Grass, Ice, Normal, Rock(4x), Steel and a good speed tier, a no bad attack base;
  • Have access to Volt Switch, Close Combat, Stealth Rocks, Iron Head and Taunt, awesome moves to an Offensive Pivot;
  • Have a good coverage in its STABs, Fighting being able to hit many types and Steel can pass through any Fairy, being able to 2HKO defensive threats like Heatran and Clefable (however won't be able to take any damage of then due to lack recovery and take more than 30% of Moonblast);
  • Can check some Dark types like Bisharp and Support Tyranitar thanks to it typing, and can endure a Weavile's Low Kick and Excadrill's Earthquake (if not Life Orb) at full HP, OHKOing them with Close Combat in return.
Weaknesses
  • Have a low Special Defense;
  • Won't switch on almost any Special Offensive pokémon;
  • 3 very common weaknesses (Ground, Fire and Fighting);
  • Can be defeated by many common threats like Garchomp, Keldeo and Landorus-Therian.
  • Don't have access to reliable recovery;
  • Is really easy to check, principally with Ground-type bulky pokémon that are immune to Volt Switch and won't allow it to switch with this.
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 144 HP / 112 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Iron Head
- Taunt / Stealth Rock
Its EVs allows it to OHKO Mega Gardevoir with Iron Head and 2HKO both Ferrothorn and Heatran with Close Combat, and endure a Scarf / Sand Rush Excadrill's Earthquake (if not Life Orb Excadrill) and OHKO it with Close Combat.

Coba against the meta
Cobalion is a interessting Pivot option, its useful partners are Bulky Pokémon like Landorus-T Defensive (a switch to Excadrill, Zard X, Garchomp while Cobalion is a switch to Bisharp, forming a solid VoltTurn) or TankChomp and good Wallbreakers like Latios that appreciate Cobalion's ability to check threats like Bisharp and Tyranitar. Bulky Water types like Gastrodon and Slowbro are good options due to its ability to check Water, Fire and Ground types. However, Cobalion isn't so good in the meta due to the most common threats in meta are able to deal with, like Landorus-T, Garchomp, Keldeo, and isn't a switch to almost any Special Attacker, which is also not good. Otherwise its ability to check many things and access to Volt Switch still is really useful and Cobalion is a interessting option, being able to take down Ferrothorn thanks to resist its STABs, access to Taunt and Close Combat is known, being able to easily 2HKO it taking less than 35% with Gyro Ball even after a Defense drop.

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 144 HP / 112 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Iron Head
- Taunt

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Mach Punch

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Focus Blast
- Solar Beam

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Healing Wish
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
 
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Sun

Who cares if one more light goes out? Well I do...
is a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus


Cobalion is an interesting defensive pivot, has an excellent typing that allows him to check fairy and dark pokemons as Clefable and mega garde, Bisharp, Weavile and tyranitar, and also some steel type as Excadrill, Heatran. its excellent ability to put the rocks in the field and learn volt switch, enabling you to create momentum for wallbreakers, make it very usable in the battle, is able to play diffenrenti roles, like sd sweeper, defensive pivot, double dance (although very rare); good teammates are Latias(mega) and Latios, which controls charizard Y, and a hand to beat Keldeo and other types struggle as mega lopunny, another teammate is Weavile, this pokemon manages to trap latios & Latias also it puts pressure on bulky psychic as slowbro, another great teammate is Manaphy, its ability to beat stall builds and balance, makes the most simple life for Cobalion; the most common set of Cobalion is the pivot defensive, this set will usually runs leftovers as item, but schuca berry is a great alternative to better control Excadrill, mega lopunny, and Weavile's low kick, volt switch, perhaps the most important move for Cobalion thanks to this puts in your Wallbreaker & sweepers safely on the field, Iron head, not much to say, good stab that helps eliminate fairy, Close combat, another solid stab, with good power, as I've said before is useful for checking dark, steel and rock type, another alternative is to run taunt, taunt is a good move to deal with fatty teams, and helps the team to prevent defog, or hazards.


Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Calm Mind

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 144 HP / 112 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Atk / 224 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Taunt
- Stone Edge

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower

Chesnaught @ Salac Berry
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Rock Slide
- Drain Punch
- Substitute

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance

This is a funny BO built by me around Latios+ Sd Cobalion and CB azu, this is a pretty interesting core, next i put heatran, because i need a rocker and a Zard X check, i put stone edge on tran for having a better match up against sd Talon and zard Y If Latios is down, so i want my FWG core, so i put BD ches, really antimeta set, this is a really solid set, with salac berry can be fast enought to outspeed stuff like Latios, finally i need a mega slot and a mega Garde and Azu checks, so i put offensive mega Scizor, this set helps me to deal better with my bad my match up against Rotom-w + pursuit trapper builds, also mega Scizor is a excellent revenge killer. i hope you like this team :toast:

This was my 200th post in the forum ou, I'm really glad to have achieved, you are a great meeting place to learn and improve, thanks ^^
 
Nobody's doing Raikou so here


Raikou is pretty much the textbook definition of offensive electric type; fast, slightly strong, and no real coverage outside of Hidden Power. Basically, Raikou is a worse Mega Manectric, but it's still usable on teams that are already packing a Mega Pokemon. Outside of it's movepool, Raikou is a solid offensive mon, with a solid Speed tier, a workable offensive stat, and enough bulk to take a hit or two. Mono Electric typing isn't briliant, but it's enough to work with, as it allows Raikou to check some threatening mons such as Tornadus-T and Mega Pinsir.

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch / Substitute

Standard Calm Mind set. Raikou is relatively powerful at +1 and can put a fair amount of pressure onto defensive cores after boosting up. Volt Switch is used to wear down checks and counters in conjunction with hazards, while Substitute is better against passive stuff that can't punch through at +1. This is really the only set you should be using right now.

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Ice
- Shadow Ball

More power immediately. Good against teams that don't have an electric immunity, but being locked into HP Ice is a terrible experience.

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Ice
- Shadow Ball

Used to be used to check Tornadus-T and other electrics, but it really isn't that good. Weak as hell and gets worn out quite quickly. Basically, you're giving up a lot in order to gain very little when using this.

Raikou @ Leftovers / Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Toxic / Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunderbolt

Basically all of Raikou's luring options. Toxic is nice against things like Mega Latias, Hippowdon, and Gastrodon, which you would normally never even dent. HP Fire is an option against Ferrothorn, who's normally a pain in the behind to deal with, and it actually hits Excadrill so that's something. Signal Beam + HP Grass gives Raikou a way of getting around Gastrodon, Seismitoad, and the like while still maintaining coverage on Latios. Most of these options are going to be worse than the standard sets, but can have some use on specific teams.


YUGYEOM (Aerodactyl-Mega) (M) @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- Ice Fang
- Pursuit

BAMBAM (Keldeo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 24 HP / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Secret Sword

JAEBUM (Heatran) (M) @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

MARK (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 104 HP / 216 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

JACKSON (Raikou) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

YOUNGJAE (Mew) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
Careful Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt

You can forget about getting a teambuilding explanation cause I didn't make this, but it's bulky offense. Pursuit Mega Aero + Keldeo is a pretty nice offensive core, with RestTalk LO Keld being run here for a little extra staying power against Bisharp and Tyranitar. Heatran's the rocker, with Power Herb Solarbeam in order to trap Slowbro and the like. Double Dance Lando-T provides a win-con against offensive and defensive teams alike, while Stallbreaker Mew helps out against fat cores. Raikou's role here is mainly for pivoting around with Volt Switch, being able to bring in Mega Aerodactyl against something like Latios helps to eliminate Keldeo's checks.

<3 paper dreams

Meta Call: Unfavored
Sand is incredibly common at the moment, which is terrible for Raikou. Excadrill is a huge roadblock and basically turns Raikou into a total liability for the entire match, granting it nearly free switch ins on Electric STABs and HP Ice alike. Tyranitar also bodies it, taking very little from its attacks and can Pursuit it on the way out. There's also stuff like Mega Latias and Amoonguss that have become more common over the last little while, which have both made non-CM sets pretty awful (SubCM is nice against both of these, especially BoltBeam MLatias, but I wouldn't go without Volt Switch right now). There are a couple nice things, like Physically Defensive Tangrowth becoming more popular as opposed to Amoonguss or Venusaur, but ultimately being an offensive Electric-type is not a good thing in OU right now, and Raikou suffers because of it.
 

MANNAT

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Things you can post include (but are not limited to):
  • strategies used
  • how you went about building with this Pokemon
  • general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon
  • if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not
  • sets you used with the Pokemon
Question 1:
Volturn:
Raikou is a pretty solid volt switching pivot that can offer teams the incredibly valuable role of offensively checking electrics, so it obviously does well on volturn teams and can cause a huge momentum loss for your opponent. One mon in particular that I found a good partner for raikou was landorus-t. Raikou is obviously very susceptible to ground attacks and sand teams trouble it in particular with excatar both being huge probems for it, and landot by virtue of its ground typing and immunity to ground with its flying typing makes a great teammate for raikou since it checks so many of the mons that threaten Raikou. Volturn is really nice because it not only lets the Raikou user momentum, but it also gives raikou plenty of chances to get in safely since most u-turners are annoyed by bulky waters and they can just u turn out when bulky waters switch in and give raikou a great opportunity to switch in and either set up or fire off an attack if specs.

Raikou+Wallbreaker:
As mentioned earlier, Raikou is a great pivot that can just volt switch out when your opponent can't afford to sack their lando/chomp that a lot of teams run as their sole electric immunity lol and come into a powerful breaker like medi or gross or something like that. With raikou having the ability to get your breaker in so easily, they can fire off powerful attacks and put dents into your opponent's team so that a cleaner like weavile or scarf lando can win later in the game, which is a legitimately good strategy for a lot of matchups vs offense. Also, having safe opportunisties to get breakers in is also really nice vs bulkier builds since you need your breakers to stay healthy vs those kinds of teams and you avoid unnecessary damage vs those builds.

Question 2: Here's a standard offense build that I made with Raikou in it combining both of the strategies that I discussed above

This is a cool little team that I made that centered around the volturn core of raikou+landot. Raikou offers a mon that can threaten plenty of mons on offense like keld, azu, torn, etc. and fire off volt switches to wear down mons standing in the way of my cleaners and breakers and also check bulky waters that are annoying for the rest of the team to deal with. Lando-T checks grounds and sand for raikou while giving the team another pivot and making a nice little volturn core with Raikou. Also, Lando-T provides rocks support for the team and in tandem with Raikou, ensures that the team isn't bird weak. Keldeo was a nice breaker for the core to pivot into and could punch holes in balance teams that relied on mons like latios and starmie to check it while also helping with the team's inability to deal with kyu-b, which is really nice. Also, it made sure that darkspam (primarily bisharp) wouldn't get too out of hand whlie facing this team. Mega Metagross was the mon that came next since I had no real lati switch ins, was really annoyed by mega venu and amoong, while offering an all-around good mon that could blanket check a lot of the stuff that the team was weak to at that point. At this point, the team didn't have nearly as many holes to patch up as it initially had with the original core and seemed kinda weak to hazard stacking, especially since it was centered around a volturn core, so I decided to add Latios to the build to provide hazard removal and a more consistent Keld switch in then Raikou lol. Additonally, lati also helps checking zardy, who the team couldn't switch into for shit. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the thing can come into lando since stone edge is like lando's least used move and most lando players don't try making plays like that since they don't just wanna give the opponent a free turn. The team seemed really weak to zam and serp at this point and it also lacked a fast cleaner to have as a potential wincon vs offense, so scarf jirachi seemed like a great option since it can switch into zam and serp both pretty well and has both iron head and heart stamp to use in the back as an emergency button and really nice wincon lategame vs a lot of offenses after they lose their steel/psychic resists. Overall, this build is really fun and showcases how raikou can be used effectively in the current meta.
Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
- Ice Punch

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog
Question 3:
Pros
  • Solid electric check
  • Can check birds like talon, tornt, and pinsir
  • Can form potent volturn cores
  • Helps break bulky waters for offensive cores
  • Threatens common offensive teams that use lando as their elec check
  • Doesn't take up a mega slot
  • Has shadow ball to eliminate lati that try to switch in
  • Nice 115 speed tier
Cons
  • Weak to sand
  • Outclassed in a lot of roles by mmane
  • Really weak without specs
  • Low Physical bulk
  • Walled by most sturdy special tanks
  • Has hard time breaking bulky dragons and grasses
Question 4:
Place in Metagame: Sand is running rampant right now, and bulkier teams with mons like amoong and mega latias skyrocketing in usage lately really sucks for Raikou as an offensive electric type in general, which isn't really nice. This thing is pretty much setup bail for sd excadrill and pursuit trapped by scarftar, so Raikou is dominated by sand teams and it not quite having enough punch to break most bulky grass types is really depressing. As with mega latias, the thing can get one cm up and pretty much ruin raik's life, which really sucks for it. Obviously the fact that a lot of standard offenses still run lando+lati as their counterplay for electrics is really nice, but overall the metagame doesn't really favor Raikou right now.

Question 5:


Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

The main set that I experimented with and used a lot was the specs set since it's just so nice. With sand running amok and wasting a turn on setting up when 9 times out of ten you won't be sweeping is kind annoying. 90% of the time when using this set you will be either clicking volt switch and pivot out immediately from my experience. HP Ice is for killing grounds obviously is the main coverage move for this set, but you should seldom use it unless you are 100% sure that your opp is going into a bulky ground since otherwise Raikou's mediocre bulk can really backfire. Shadow ball is pretty spammable vs offense since offense's best ghost resist is like bisharp lol, but volt switch is generally a bit nicer to spam since most people dislike sacking their landos and it lets you get your breakers in a lot easier. Tbolt is obviously just STAB for lategame when you've eliminated your opp's elec resists and all you need to clean up with electric STAB.

I also tried using cm, but I really didn't find any opportunities to set up and the power was way too underwhelming for me to really like.

Hope you guys enjoyed n_n
 
closing!

the posts being added to archive are this post on raikou by littlelucario, this post on mega houndoom by HailFall, and this post on cobalion by King Sun.

thanks paper dreams for helping me pick the posts to archive. remember: the archived posts are simply the posts that best summarize the pokemon for future reference. not every post needs to summarize the pokemon; some people may just want to center their posts around one aspect, and that's totally okay. you don't need to follow the guidelines perfectly to post here; they're just there to guide you a bit if you're unsure of what to post.

~​

week #19

victini | mega alakazam | politoed
victini was honestly picked because it's cute and not really used much ;3c. to justify it: pursuit (ttar) and sand (ttar again lol) have both been a bit more common than before for awhile now, and victini hates both of those things. also, bulky offensive teams with rotom-w / whatever slow pivot + breaker are popular, and victini fits nicely on those with CB / specs / w.e. mega alakazam dropped in the VR thread revamp, and i'm running low on megas to pick from. as for politoed, rain as a whole has really declined in usage. this one really isn't about politoed itself, but it's about rain as an archetype and how it fares as of now. that doesn't mean you shouldn't mention politoed sets or w.e; you can post about whatever you want pertaining to poli. however, poli's relevance is because of rain, and posting about poli alone would be pretty boring imo :x.

REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want :p) and post here saying which one you're taking. also, you can use any set you want!

the discussion period will start on 5/27 (at night in EST); those of you who want to participate have between now and then to play around with these pokemon.

happy posting :3c
 

Sun

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Tini and zam,this week I don t have time for the 3rd pokemon :)
 
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