Research Week: SM Edition [Done]

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ehT

:dog:
is a Contributor Alumnus
Week 13 is over. Congratulations to Amane Misa for winning this week!

Drought Ninetales thoroughly impressed Amane Misa, the only person to research it this week. Sun boost, Z-Moves, and access to Nasty Plot make all make it deceptively powerful despite its subpar Special Attack stat, making it a nice method of helping, say, Celebi by breaking through Scizor or softening up Latias with a boosted Inferno Overdrive.
Heracross saw very good results. Its Speed and access to Swords Dance, which both A Cake Wearing A Hat and Amane Misa used this week, makes it far more immediately threatening as a balance / wallbreaker than its closest analogue in Conkeldurr. The lack of bulk and longevity, however, makes it burn much faster and much brighter than the much sturdier Conkeldurr, who has drastically more bulk, access to recovery, and a much easier matchup versus offense, meaning Heracross is a limited resource that must be played carefully to make the most of.
Choice Specs Swellow proved to be a simple, straightforward fast wallbreaker. U-turn and Sleep Talk are great utility options for something so fast, especially in conjunction with the obscenely powerful Boomburst. Coverage options and Scrappy also mean that Steel- and Ghost-types can't come in completely for free like they can with most fast and frail offensive Pokemon, making it quite a nuisance for teams lacking a dedicated special wall to switch in to.

Here is week 14's selection:

Crawdaunt @ filler item
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
filler nature
-
-
-
-

Terrakion @ Salac Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Substitute
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

Crobat @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
-
-
-


We decided again to focus on some relatively unexplored wallbreakers this week. Crawdaunt carves a niche for itself over the tier's plethora of other offensive Water-types with its ridiculous power, Dark STAB, and Knock Off, making its switch-ins both few in number and easy to account for. In many ways, it operates similarly to last week's Heracross, with an incredible matchup versus stall and balance, but a shaky matchup versus offense that can be somewhat mitigated by VolTurn support and aggressive play. A Choice Band or Life Orb can be used for consistent power, but Waterium Z provides it with a nuke of unrivaled power, doing upwards of 70% to Keldeo and Hydreigon with an unboosted Z-Crabhammer. Substitute + Swords Dance Terrakion is a powerful cleaner thanks to its Speed and incredible STAB's, but can have a lot of trouble setting up versus something that isn't very passive. The ubiquity of priority, most of which it is weak to, doesn't do it any favors either. However, these are very easy factors to account for, and not much can stop Terrakion if it's acquired both an Attack and a Speed boost. Lastly, Choice Band Crobat works very similarly to Choice Specs Swellow, in that it's a fast Flying-type wallbreaker and anti-offense Pokemon all in one. However, Crobat offers significantly more defensive utility that helps it take Fairy- and Fighting-types head on, as well as a better Speed tier, meaning that you don't have to be as careful with it as other Flying-types, though hazard control is recommended for obvious reasons.

As always, sign up with a fresh RW alt, and post your results, as well as your own thoughts on the Pokemon in question. You are free to edit your signup post if your post count is a concern. This week's deadline will be Saturday, May 20th, at 11:59 pm GMT+2. My co-host Ark or I will check everyone's ladder scores then and decide the winner. Good luck everyone!
 
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RW14 Roseguardin. Now that finals are over I might be productive. Testing Crobat and Terrakion.

Early thoughts: Bandbat is actually pretty nasty because Flying is really under-prepared for as an attacking type, most teams don't have a way to handle Brave Bird spam because their resists aren't physically bulky (Raikou or even Empoleon) or don't actually resist Flying (Cobalion) so Crobat gets a lot of mileage out of just Brave Bird. Which is good because its offensive movepool is ass, Cross Poison barely KOs relevant Fairies and opens up a route in for mons like Scizor to set up. U-turn is great for momentum. I am currently using Sleep Talk for the last slot because I honestly didn't know what else to put. I might try Super Fang though and see how it goes. So far it has been fun to play with but I prefer Crobat's access to its great support movepool and its ability to switch moves easily and Roost off Brave Bird recoil.

Terrakion is kind of hit or miss, it only has one chance to clean and without a boost or boosting item it needs a lot of support to remove common stops like Hippo and Gliscor. That being said, it's typing does allow opportunities to get into Salac range quickly if you can get in on a coverage move from a choice locked mon or Sub on status moves.

Gonna be unable to get on Showdown for a couple of days so final thoughts:

Bandbat: Something of a surprise for most teams who I guess were anticipating a utility set. It's really strong and U-turn helps provide good momentum and is something its main competitors Talonflame and Aero can't really do. My main problem is that in my humble opinion Sky Plate is superior, it preserves the Brave Bird boost while also giving Crobat access to its fantastic utility movepool including Taunt, Toxic, Defog, Roost, Super Fang etc. Its offensive movepool is garbage, super-effective Cross Poison barely outdamages Brave Bird and Poison is a shitty type to be locked into anyways. As A Cake Wearing A Hat said in his post Crobat really likes being able to Roost off SR damage and it is unable to with the Band. However, this thing also makes for a decent cleaner when Scarfers and priority is gone.

SubSalac Terrak: It's a good idea but it needs way more support to sweep than should be considered viable. It needs scarfers gone or at least neutered in some way, it needs priority gone, it needs an opportunity to set up and even then it is far too hard to reliably sweep especially if it cannot get a boost, which is more than likely considering its bad defensive typing. If I were going for a sweep SD or Double Dance Terrak with Rockium Z would be my first choice because it can at least give something back to the team if conditions aren't favorable. That said, pulling off a sweep with this is satisfying if norhting else.

Still attempting to get good replays. Here's the team so far:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-576412355: Terrakion actually couldn't do too much, mostly because I played too cautiously around Whimsicott (and totally did not expect Encore Hawlucha). Bandbat, however, proved its merit as a backup cleaner, spamming Brave Bird mindlessly to finish off his team. Misplayed a bit early on but that thing has power.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-576472209: Bandbat saves the day again, as unfortunately I couldn't get rid of Latias and Terrakion needs that gone if it wants to set up. I think one of my problems is that I'm not confident about whipping out Terrakion mid-game to soften up teams and I'm playing it like it's Sharpedo or something. This was one of 2 room tour battles I managed to save, although unfortunately I had to go before I could finish it out.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-576476013: Subgoat gets his first real sweep, although I doubt a setup opportunity like Togdemaru provided will come along all the time. Overall kind of a weird battle (I completely forgot Decidueye has its own Z-Move) but Terrakion shows that even without boosts that it's still very threatening, especially behind a sub. By the way, what does Togdemaru actually do? (room tour battle 2 out of 2)


Terrakion @ Salac Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Substitute
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

Crobat @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Cross Poison
- Sleep Talk

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Torrent
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Rapid Spin

Latias @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Facade
- Ice Punch


Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Crunch
 
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OK, so I'm testing Crawdaunt and Terrakion and so far the team's been doing pretty well. I've passed 1400 with 20 battles and only 2 losses.

Crawdaunt

Doesn't get the chance to come in that much, but when it does it can do an awful lot of damage. 120 base Attack with Adaptability and STABs only resisted by Hydreigon, Primarina and Keldeo, none of which have particularly good physical bulk, and Crawdaunt is a great wallbreaker. Unfortunately its low Speed and average bulk make it very difficult to switch in. Ultimately it was good, but as wallbreakers go I still prefer Primarina and Hydreigon. This was the set I ran:

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Switcheroo / Superpower

Terrakion

A decent set in all - at +2 Terrakion can flatten all but the bulkiest of walls, and Substitute gives it a safe window against foes that rely on status to beat it, like defensive Mew that run Knock Off instead of Psychic. However I didn't find myself getting into Salac Berry range very often, and it was tough to set up both a Substitute and a Swords Dance due to Terrakion's average bulk. It is viable, but personally I still prefer the standard Rockium Z + SD set.

Replays

Crawdaunt smashes some stuff up
Terrakion pulls off a late game sweep

Screen Shot 2017-05-14 at 18.00.30.png
 

A Cake Wearing A Hat

moist and crusty
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Community Leader
Time for me to finally compile my thoughts on this odd mon.

Choice Banded Crobat is a quite decent option for a cleaner/breaker of weaker walls. Bandbat is capable of outspeeding most of the unboosted meta and OHKOing or severely chunking several offensive mons, including Latias (after rocks), Gengar, Celebi, and the like. Its respectable bulk and typing also allow it to easily revenge the likes of Conkeldurr and to 2hko the standard Bulky Scizor while surviving a bullet punch. The surprise factor of Bandbat is also not to be overlooked, as people will often attempt to switch in the likes of Cobalion and SpD Gliscor, only to take >60% damage. For all of these reasons, Bandbat often performs excellently against Bulky Offense, often either busting the opponent's fattest mon, or cleaning several offensive mons in one go by clicking Brave Bird repeatedly.

However, Bandbat's primary issues are as follows:

-Weakness to Rocks: Being a choiced mon, Crobat will often be switching in and out. In order to do its job well, Crobat will need solid hazard removal support (Although, it is possible to run defog in the fourth slot on Bandbat if you really can't fit it anywhere else)

-Maero Exists: Although Bandbat deals a good 50% or so to Mega Aerodactyl, it is still capable of switching in once (or twice if rocks aren't up) and OHKOing or Pursuit trapping it.

-It Struggles as a Wallbreaker vs Balance/Stall: Although Bandbat is capable of hitting hard under the proper circumstances, it just isn't powerful enough to do excellently as a wallbreaker. It is still countered by common balance staples Hippowdon and Mandibuzz, as well as Alomomola, Bulky Mew, and practically any steel type that resists Flying. It also uses Brave Bird as its primary STAB, which means that it will often kill itself via recoil damage before it can wreak too much havoc, and it also means that mons like Blissey can 1v1 Bandbat by simply clicking their recovery move a few times.


Overall, Bandbat has difficulty fitting itself on teams. It works best on pure Hyper Offense (In fact, this is the only playstyle that I could see it fitting on), as that playstyle can afford to run a wallbreaker/cleaner that uses a recoil move as its primary STAB. I personally most recommend Bandbat on Bird-spam hyper offense, as it provides one of the strongest single-turn, reusable, and 100% accurate flying type attacks in the tier. It performs its role excellently for my team, and I wouldn't use anything in its place the way the team is right now. For this reason, I'm gonna say that I had a lot of success with Bandbat for the playstyle that I used.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-577349130 -Crobat busts an offensive (?) mew and a decidueye
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-578724266 -Crobat busts a blastoise
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-578754389 -Crobat OHKOs a latias after rocks
 

Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
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Gonna do this short, I am tired as hell and my brain is turned off.

Crawdaunt: A very powerful wallbreaker. The only reason it's so good is because of its ability, Adaptability. It has a very few switch-ins, all of which doesn't appreciate a Knock Off. I have used two sets: Choice Band and Swords Dance + Life Orb.

Choice Band is for immediate power. It is a wallbreaker but can also be a late game cleaner. It fits the best on Bulky Offensive teams, especially with VoltTurn support. Great partners are Amoonguss and Scizor.
Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Switcheroo


SD + LO is mostly for Hyper Offensive teams. It serves both as a wallbreaker, wincon
and cleaner. It loves Bisharp and Cobalion as all three share pretty similar checks.
Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet


CB Crobat: In my opinion, Choice Band Crobat is the best set for Crobat right now. I outspeeds almost the entire unboosted metagame and has enough power to 2HKO most of the Pokémon. It is best used as a revenge killer because its bulk is meh.

Crobat @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Cross Poison / Sleep Talk
- Sleep Talk / Defog


SubSalac Terrakion:
Substitute make it easier to set up an SD. However, the lack of Z-move is pretty bad so Terrakion struggles to break Slowbro and Hippowdon. Also having to rely on Stone Edge's accuracy is bad. You are also forced to a speedtie with Choice Scarf Keldeo. I think that DD Terrakion is superior to this set but regardless, it's a really fun set. Works like a charm on hazard stacking teams.
Terrakion @ Salac Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Substitute
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
 
CRAWDAUNT


I primarily used one set that i think is one of its better sets

Crawdaunt @ Splash Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance

pretty self explanatory, splash plate is preferred for several reasons
-can bluff choice sets as well as focus sash
-boosts water moves, which are much better at wrecking clefable, cobalion, strengthens aqua jet priority
-already had a Z-move on dif mon on the team
-no life orb recoil can allow crawdaunt to survive some neutrral physical hits

This set alone can almost single handedly beat most stall (unless they have a freaking tangela!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( ) Especially without life orb recoil, it won't kill itself before breaking a core or two

Some Calcs
252+ Atk Splash Plate Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 218-258 (55.4 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Splash Plate Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 238-282 (60.4 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 40 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 364-430 (75.6 - 89.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 432-510 (100.2 - 118.3%)

Adamant is preferred bc what are you really outspeeding with jolly u feel

crawdaunt pairs really well with sweepers like Mega Sharpedo, scarf hydreigon, mons that appreciate alomololoalalal crippled to an extent, cobalion weakened, physical walls in general weakened, water spam in general

If you're looking for a wallbreaker with priority, look no further
(definitely bring some bulky pivots or just HO bc the lobster will be forced out rather frequently :/ )

also i peaked at like 1450 or something like that
 

ehT

:dog:
is a Contributor Alumnus
So sorry for the delay, everyone :( Congratulations to bsu for winning this week!

It seems that everybody liked Crawdaunt this week. Despite sorely lacking defensive utility, which teams generally need out of their offensive Water-type, this can be compensated for with standard measures to alleviate offensive pressure, allowing Crawdaunt to support the likes of Cobalion by smashing through Hippowdon, Slowbro, etc. It's also really nice for significantly denting bulky attackers like Primarina (which you need Jolly for, but Choice Band Crabhammer puts it at 30% anyway) and Mega Blastoise. This applied to both Swords Dance and Choice Band sets, both of which can, in many cases, break through defensive teams almost singlehandedly.

Substitute + Salac + Swords Dance Terrakion was hit or miss. As a cleaner, it can abuse the sheer number of switches it forces by virtue of being Terrakion, giving it some decent opportunities to get into Salac range, making it pretty punishing to teams that rely on Choice Scarf Krookodile as their Speed control. That said, there's a lot going against it, making it far less self-sufficient than you might like your Fighting-type to be. The three main things standing in Terrakion's way are priority, bulky Ground-types, and tanks, e.g. Mega Blastoise and Conkeldurr, the latter of which are a massive nuisance to the gung-ho offensive teams this set fits best on. But these things give Terrakion a very straightforward path to victory, which is further aided by its ability to bluff, say, a Z-Move, coaxing opponents into letting their Speed control go down prematurely.

Choice Band Crobat proved to be a neat revenge killer and wallbreaker than capitalizes on a good number of metagame trends, namely people neglecting to run good Flying resists, which it can abuse with U-turn and and Pokemon that struggle with physical walls. Like all Flying-types, Mega Aerodactyl shuts it down quite convincingly, though, making its offense matchup not always as good as it'd like, and Brave Bird recoil + Stealth Rock weakness cut significantly into its defensive utility.

Here is week 15's selection:

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
filler ability
filler evs
filler nature
-
-
-
-

Lucario @ filler item
filler ability
filler evs
filler item
-
-
-
-

Rotom-Mow @ filler item
Ability: Levitate
filler evs
filler nature
-
-
-
-


We decided to make this week very open-ended. Porygon2 was a popular blanket check in XY, with its bulk, coverage, and utility options making it a massive headache for most offensive teams to deal with, but the addition of Clefable, Scizor, and Hippowdon has made it mostly obsolete. However, it still has those same aforementioned assets while being bulkier than Clefable, meaning EV spreads and movesets can be catered to take on practically anything it wants. Trace is almost always the preferred Ability, since being able to copy Magic Guard, Intimidate, Levitate, etc can be very effective, but Download has its merits here and there. Lucario is yet another Fighting-type that has fallen to the wayside in the transition to SM due to stiff competition, primarily from Cobalion in this case, but it definitely has its perks. Nasty Plot has the most defined niche over the tier's plethora of other Fighting-types, but Swords Dance sets distinguish themselves with Lucario's access to Extreme Speed. Z-Moves aren't out of the question, either. Rotom-Mow has a small niche that distinguishes itself from Raikou with its ability to punish teams that rely on Ground-types to check Raikou, thanks to Levitate and Leaf Storm. In exchange, however, it loses its ability to set up or hurt Dragon-types. The sky's the limit here; the goal is to see if and how this Pokemon works.

As always, sign up with a fresh RW alt, and post your results, as well as your own thoughts on the Pokemon in question. You are free to edit your signup post if your post count is a concern. This week's deadline will be SUNDAY, May 28th, at 11:59 pm GMT+2. My co-host Ark or I will check everyone's ladder scores then and decide the winner. Good luck everyone!
 
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RW15 Roseguardin, with Lucario.

Overview:

Swords Dance Lucario is definitely a threat when set up, but it requires a fair bit of support due to its frailty and the fact that its speed tier is no longer what it once was. However, its access to Extreme Speed and its ridiculous power when set up means that Lucario can be a good check to fast offensive teams while tearing defensive ones apart, a niche that sets it apart from other Fighting-types in the tier, which require a Scarf to keep up with offense.

Lucario works excellently with hazard stack, so I paired it with Magnet Rise Klefki and Swampert to get the necessary chip damage. Klefki also carries Thunder Wave which aids Lucario by crippling certain fast threats that can't be picked off by Extreme Speed, like Cobalion and Mega Aerodactyl. FightSpam is a really good strategy to try with Lucario, as many Fighting-types share common checks with it, most notably Gliscor and Hippowdon. Mixed LO Infernape and Guts Conkeldurr with Facade have proven excellent partners. Infernape in particular lures a lot of Ground-types such as Swampert, Hippo and Gliscor and eliminates them with Grass Knot or Fire Blast. Since my Lucario runs Iron Tail, a partner to deal with bulky Ghost-types was necessary, and Scarf Hydreigon helped while also checking scarfed Krookodile locked into Earthquake and providing useful momentum with U-turn.

Against offensive teams, Lucario rarely has a chance to set up, but it works great as a revenge killer against threats like Talonflame, Venomoth and speed-boosted Mega Sharpedo. One interesting thing is that Latias that have used Draco Meteor recklessly are a great opportunity for set-up, as none of Latias' common moves can deal significant damage to Lucario at -2.

-2 252 SpA Latias Shattered Psyche (160 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lucario: 154-183 (54.8 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-2 252 SpA Latias Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 78-93 (27.7 - 33%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
-2 252 SpA Latias Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lucario: 87-103 (30.9 - 36.6%) -- 67.4% chance to 3HKO
-2 252 SpA Latias Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lucario: 169-201 (60.1 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (this one stings I admit)
-2 252 SpA Latias Hidden Power Fire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lucario: 78-94 (27.7 - 33.4%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO
-2 252 SpA Latias Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lucario: 119-141 (42.3 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO


So sometimes against offense if I thought Lucario needed a boost to clean, I would sacrifice Infernape/Hydreigon/Swampert to D-Meteor and set up Lucario from there.
 
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Been playing some TR in OU so I'll try my hand with it here.

RW15 Beep Boop, going with P2 rn but I might try all three
 
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Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
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Lucario has pretty good mixed stats which allow it to either run a physical or a special set. It also has access to both Nasty Plot and Swords Dance which make it even further surprising.

In one hand, I find the special set more threatening to bulkier and slower teams, especially stall. At +2, Lucario is capable of 2HKOing even the fattest of them, Blissey. I find two item options to be viable - either Life Orb or Fighitinum Z. Despite that, Lucario has a hard time against offense. It is extremely vulnerable to Latias, as it outspeeds Lucario and resists Vacuum Wave. Even most of the time, at +2, Lucario isn't capable of OHKOing most faster Pokémon from full.

In the other hand, the physical set is way more threatening against offensive teams. Lucario was blessed with arguably the best priority in the game, Extreme Speed, which allow it to hit the faster threats it couldn't with the special set way harder. It also got Bullet Punch as a secondary priority, further boosted by STAB, which allows it to hit Mega Aerodactyl. I find Close Combat mandatory in its physical set and as a secondary STAB option you got Iron Tail or Bullet Punch. This is one of the things I dislike about Lucario, having its strongest steel STAB being 75% accurate.
Lucario also got a toy in High Jump Kick but I really don't recommend using this high risk move, especially when you got Close Combat.

Lucario @ Life Orb / Fightinium Z
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere / Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave / Dark Pulse

Lucario @ Life Orb / Fighitinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Tail / Bullet Punch



I said I will only do Lucario but I was tempted to use Rotom-C, especially after I read TDK's post regarding it. Rotom-C is a pretty good offensive pivot for offensive teams. It faces competition with Raikou, as Raikou is stronger and faster but over Raikou, Rotom-C got Levitate and a way to punish special walls - Trick. I used the Choice Scarf variant as an offensive pivot on a hyper offense team but Choice Specs is as viable, if not more.

Rotom-Mow @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Trick


btw you may wanna change the thread's title and selection to match week 15 ^^'
 
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Porygon2 has been working decently for me. I used it to set up Trick Room on a team I'm not going to post because it's bad :v I ran Download and some SpAtk investment, with near max HP and Eviolite to offset the defensive difference. When it worked, it worked well, being able to take damage and deal some of its own with 440+ SpAtk. But it's also hugely weak to Knock Off, and being so slow, there isn't much to prevent that from happening. Of course, Download is an inconsistent boost as well. Overall, I'd say there are better TR users than P2, though its bulk and the chance to get a free 1.5x do give it a niche.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 248 HP / 156 Def / 104 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Thunderbolt
- Tri Attack
- Recover


I also used NP Lucario a bit and wasn't very impressed. It's slow and too weak to do damage without a boost. The opportunities to do so are rare, since Lucario is also extremely frail. I do agree with SkywardSword that a good time to do so is after a Draco Meteor drop. Didn't try SD Luc, so this is just theorymon, but the higher base power of its moves feel like it'd make it more threatening than special Luc.
 
Unfortunately I didnt find the time to test rowtom as extensively as I´d have liked to, I´ll still share a few thoughts on its place in the meta right now:

Due to a decent defensive typing and bulk mowtom is capable of taking on quite a few common threats decently (read prim,cune,sciz), but does face heavy competition as a defensive grass type. Another notable flaw is the incapability to hit mons like lati or even other grasstypes for significant dmg. So while it definitely has some use defensively its main merits lie in its offensive capabilities.

The most common argument brought up when talking about tom offensively, is that its outclassed by other electrics and therefor shouldnt be used. While that is true to some extent, Rotom is reasonably better at dealing with grounds than other electrics. Actually its quite hard to switch into, especially when used alongside pokemon that punish the momentum created by volt switch. Seeing as people cant really go into their ground types on the predicted volt switch, they mostly have to resort to lati/celebi, which makes pursuit support really threatening (or basically any other wallbreaker) and can actually create a lot of breathing room for other members on your team.

So while rotom definitely has flaws, its actually decent in my opinion and a lot of people undervalue it right now.
 
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ehT

:dog:
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That's it for Week 15! Congratulations for Amane Misa for winning the week!

Porygon2 served Rawbi well, according to her research, wherein they used it as a Trick Room setter with Download, and showed that even without 100% defensive investment, it can act as a decent blanket check and tank. However, a fully defensive set with Trace has a lot of freedom thanks to its well-rounded stats to run a virtually infinite number of EV spreads to check exactly what it needs to, although its passivity and lack of useful status moves outside of Thunder Wave and Recover mean it can be quite easily be taken advantage of compared to other blanket checks.

Lucario proved divisive. Rawbi utilized a Nasty Plot set and wasn't very impressed, citing its frailty and tough matchup versus offence as reasons why they struggled to find success with it. However, Amane Misa appreciated Nasty Plot's ability to be extremely threatening to bulkier teams, achieving impressive OHKOes at +2, such as Blissey. They found Swords Dance to have a much easier time versus offence, but the choice between Bullet Punch and Iron Tail, they've found, is an excruciating one, since you effectively have to choose between beating Mega Aerodactyl and reliably beating Fairies, respectively. A similar dilemma applies to all of Lucario's coverage options, as well. All in all, it's a tough Pokemon to use, offering small niches over Cobalion in exchange for drastically less defensive capability and lower Speed, but it plays to them very well.

Rotom-Mow was quite well-liked by Miven^ and Amane Misa, who both appreciated the unique traits it has over Raikou, those being its Grass typing, Levitate, and utility moves (Trick was the only one discussed, but I think Will-o-Wisp has lots of merit, as well). The ability to pivot into Ground-types and punish special walls with these traits on top of being an Electric-type proved really useful to offensive teams, providing consistent support to Pokemon shut down by such threats, like Mega Aerodactyl and Krookodile. Raikou is generally a better choice due to its Speed, bulk, and ability to viably run Z-Moves, but that doesn't stop Rotom-Mow from carving a distinct niche for itself.

This week we (and by we I mean me because user Ark is currently out of commission) are focusing on Dragon-types. Here is week 16's selection:

Kommo-o @ Choice Specs
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
filler nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower

Hydreigon @ filler item
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
filler nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
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-
-

Flygon @ filler item
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
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-
-


Choice Specs Kommo-o is, to be frank, mostly outclassed as a special Dragon-type. However, it has some very useful and very unique defensive niches thanks to its Ability, typing, and exceptional bulk that make it worth considering. These things together allow to soft-check a good number of things that Hydreigon, Kyurem, or Latias can't, such as Scizor and Bisharp, while still maintaining usable power and Speed and giving it a defined niche as a bulky attacker.

Tailwind Hydreigon is a rarely seen tech, usually forgone for all-out attacking / Choice sets or sets utilizing a different utility move. But Tailwind is a very effective method for both early-game wallbreaking and for late-game cleaning, and can be used either for itself or another threat that's held back by its Speed, such as Nidoking or Bisharp, while not sacrificing Hydreigon's ability to wallbreak with the best of them.

Dragon Dance Flygon is the only viable Dragon Dance user besides Haxorus, but tends to be forgotten due to its lack of power, despite being the faster of the two. That doesn't mean that Flygon can't be an effective cleaner, though, especially when you consider the variety of Z-Moves it can choose from. But it is generally limited to pretty much that role, since it cannot wallbreak anywhere near as proficiently as Haxorus can due to its subpar stats.

As always, sign up with a fresh RW alt, post your results, and your own thoughts on the Pokemon in question. You are free to edit your signup post if your post count is a concern. This week's deadline will be SUNDAY, June 4th, at 11:59 pm GMT+2. My co-host Ark or I will check everyone's ladder scores at the end of the week and decide the winner. Good luck everyone!
 
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I've used Specs Kommo-o in RU and it's very hard to switch into. Steels have to fear Focus Miss and Flamethrower, and Fairies take huge chunks from Flash Cannon (unless your name is Florges). It'll be interesting to see how it fares against UU threats.

RW16 Night Siren, will probably try all three.

and I'm actually a chick, for future reference :v
 
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