Creative (and good) Movesets (READ THE OP FIRST)

[alphatron]

Wow, they gave hurricane to moltres and articuno and gave the finger to zapdos :( Is there a list of new level up moves anywhere?

Having said that though, would a similar set with moltres have merit? Near perfect stab, it could play similarly to Volc under the rain.

Zapdos learns zap cannon now. And quite frankly, he doesn't need to learn hurricane. Gamefreak has already provided him with everything to make him better than the other two birds. Higher speed, a better defensive typing, and even a better movepool. He even learns heat wave for crying out loud.

And yeah, moltres can run the same moveset pretty effectively. You may not want to choice him but the difference between 125 sp. Atk and 95 is noticeable. I'm pretty sure shrang ran moltres on his rain team a while back and had good results.

 

[Electrolyte]

I prefer this build on Articuno

Ice Beam
Bubble Beam
Hurricane
Rain Dance

With Life Orb and Timid 252 SpAtt and 252Speed

Are you trolling? Seriously dude, bubble beam is not a good move for competitive play; nor does Articuno even learn it -_- Something like HP electric would fare much better.

 

[Antihaxxer]

Are you trolling? Seriously dude, bubble beam is not a good move for competitive play; nor does Articuno even learn it -_- Something like HP electric would fare much better.

No, I'm not trolling.

Articuno learns Bubble Beam in R/B/Y with TM 11, it's 65 BP and can be boosted with Rain dance ... Rain Dance provides resistance to Fire Attack and better accuracy for Hurricane

Super effective HP electric : 70*2 = 140 dmg
Neutral Ice Beam = 142.5 dmg
Neutral Hurricane = 180 dmg
Neutral Bubble Beam with Rain = 97.5 dmg

Most of the time, you'll use Ice Beam and Hurricane. BubbleBeam is just better against Steel type ...

Go troll somebody else.


Hurricane on Moltres is more counter productive than Hurricane on Articuno who can use Ice Beam without negative effect

 

[Ames]

And what exactly does RBY have to do with BW OU? Moltres could possibly be effective because it deals with sun teams in the same way that volcarona does, as well as putting pressure on checks to rain such as ferrothorn. Articuno, as cool as it may be, is not really viable outside of gimmick use along with not even being available with the moveset you posted...

 

[G-Von]

No, I'm not trolling.

Articuno learns Bubble Beam in R/B/Y with TM 11, it's 65 BP and can be boosted with Rain dance ... Rain Dance provides resistance to Fire Attack and better accuracy for Hurricane

Super effective HP electric : 70*2 = 140 dmg
Neutral Ice Beam = 142.5 dmg
Neutral Hurricane = 180 dmg
Neutral Bubble Beam with Rain = 97.5 dmg

Most of the time, you'll use Ice Beam and Hurricane. BubbleBeam is just better against Steel type ...

Go troll somebody else.


Hurricane on Moltres is more counter productive than Hurricane on Articuno who can use Ice Beam without negative effect

Well that's good for the RBY meta-game, but it cannot be used in Gen 5 because it is impossible to bring a pokemon over from Gen 2 to Gen 3 so that Articuno of yours would be stuck in the GSC meta-game.

 

[Antihaxxer]

So put Hidden Power Water instead of BubbleBeam (I really thought that we could trade over Gen2-3-4-5) ... And most of the time, Hp electric is worst than Hp Water

 

[2sly4u]

So put Hidden Power Water instead of BubbleBeam (I really thought that we could trade over Gen2-3-4-5) ... And most of the time, Hp electric is worst than Hp Water

Okay I love Articuno, but that just isn't viable at all. First off, HP Water is pretty horrible. It's just not coverage that's important for her, and she needs a different Hidden Power to threaten things like Tyranitar. (and if you REALLY wanted unnecessary Water coverage, you could use Water Pulse). Life Orb is perhaps the worst item choice because after one attack, you can't switch into SR twice and she isn't nearly fast enough to sweep. Third, she doesn't have time to set up Rain Dance since she's easy to force out next turn, meaning you just wasted 50% of your health to set up a weather you can't abuse.

Yesterday I did some more testing with both Articuno and Moltres on a variety of teams, and I have to say that Moltres is usually a better choice. Articuno isn't terrible, but the power boost is notable, and Moltres can actually get past that whore Jirachi. That said, there were plenty of times that I missed the extra bulk Articuno has, so I'm hesitant to say she's completely outclassed. If someone does want her on their team, they need to make sure that they aren't just using an inferior Moltres/D-Nite/Volcarona as a Hurricane abuser. Use her for the massive bulk and STAB Ice moves or use something else.

@Alphatron: I'm curious as to what item you'd run on Articuno if not a choice item. She needs all the power she can get, as otherwise she can't muscle through anything, but Life Orb seems even worse than Choice Specs if SR damage is your main concern.

 

[shofly12]

Using life orb on articuno basically guarantees you're only in for one round, and there are MUCH better flying people to use for hurricane. (Say hi to Dnite).

 

[Electrolyte]

I agree with 2sly and shofly. Articuno doesn't have a place in OU, nor should it be setting up rain dance. It typing and not so good defense means that even fighting types would be able to muscle past it. Mach punch will do a number on articuno, and stealth rock is certainly not helping it at all. It's two STABs even confront each other; they both require different weathers to perform well.
I'm quite sure you guys know all of already, but rain dance articuno doesn't function well in OU. It is worth a shot in the lower tiers, however, such as NU, where there are many swift swimmers that can abuse the rain it sets up.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

It is pretty notable that Moltres has the strongest Hurricane in the game, tied with Tornadus-I. I'm curious though, what sets have some people had success with? I've been trying out a simple Specs set on a couple of teams, and it has worked out pretty well.

Moltres@Choice Specs
Timid
Pressure
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP
-Fire Blast
-Hurricane
-HP Fighting/HP Ground/HP Grass
-U-turn

This thing works pretty well on both Rain and Hail teams. In the Rain, Hurricane becomes a perfectly accurate weapon of mass destruction. Fire Blast also maintains decent power, still 2HKOing the standard specially defensive Jirachi. In Hail, Hurricane's accuracy drops, but it's still about like Focus Blast on CM Virizion. Fire Blast also remains very powerful in Hail. Moltres's collection of resistances are also nice. Its resistances to Fighting, Fire, Grass, Bug, and immunity to Ground make it a decent check to Sun abusers like Infernape, Venusaur, and Volcarona, which is great for both weather types (too bad Hurricane's accuracy drops terribly in Sun, but you win some you lose some). U-turn is also a great tool as well. Moltres's great coverage and impressive power cause quite a few switches, which can be taken advantage of with U-turn. The Hidden Power type is what I'm stuck on right now, as I've been fooling around with a number of types. Fighting tackles Tyranitar who love to switch in, while still handling Pokemon like Heatran, while Ground hit Heatran even harder. Grass can handle Rotom-W, who otherwise resists Moltres's attacks and threatens with Hydro Pump, while also hitting things like Gastrodon and Quagsire much harder.

 

[Electrolyte]

It is pretty notable that Moltres has the strongest Hurricane in the game, tied with Tornadus-I. I'm curious though, what sets have some people had success with? I've been trying out a simple Specs set on a couple of teams, and it has worked out pretty well.

Moltres@Choice Specs
Timid
Pressure
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP
-Fire Blast
-Hurricane
-HP Fighting/HP Ground/HP Grass
-U-turn

This thing works pretty well on both Rain and Hail teams. In the Rain, Hurricane becomes a perfectly accurate weapon of mass destruction. Fire Blast also maintains decent power, still 2HKOing the standard specially defensive Jirachi. In Hail, Hurricane's accuracy drops, but it's still about like Focus Blast on CM Virizion. Fire Blast also remains very powerful in Hail. Moltres's collection of resistances are also nice. Its resistances to Fighting, Fire, Grass, Bug, and immunity to Ground make it a decent check to Sun abusers like Infernape, Venusaur, and Volcarona, which is great for both weather types (too bad Hurricane's accuracy drops terribly in Sun, but you win some you lose some). U-turn is also a great tool as well. Moltres's great coverage and impressive power cause quite a few switches, which can be taken advantage of with U-turn. The Hidden Power type is what I'm stuck on right now, as I've been fooling around with a number of types. Fighting tackles Tyranitar who love to switch in, while still handling Pokemon like Heatran, while Ground hit Heatran even harder. Grass can handle Rotom-W, who otherwise resists Moltres's attacks and threatens with Hydro Pump, while also hitting things like Gastrodon and Quagsire much harder.

The problem with Moltres is that it requires a lot of help from the rest of it's team to function well. One pokemon that I've found a great partner to Moltres is Hitmontop.
Move over, Zapdos!
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Impish nature
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp Def
~Close Combat
~Rapid spin
~Toxic/foresight
~Stone Edge/Mach Punch
Moltres itself is not very scared of hazards; many of the main hazard setters of this metagame can be OHKO'd by one of it's STABs. Ferrothorn and Forretress go down to Fire Blast, as does the uncommon Frosslass, and Infernape and Terrakion go down to Hurricane. Moltres and Hitmontop work hand in hand to destroy hazard setters and erase the hazards on your side. With U-Turn, Moltres can comfortably switch to Hitmontop, who can tank a lot of hits with it's 110 Sp Def. Hitmontop then spins away hazards, and then you switch back to Moltres to sweep.

The name is because Zapdos and Hitmontop are also very good and famous partners.

 

[Ames]

I would like to try both of these:

Moltres @ Petaya berry
Sub
Agility
Hurricane
Fire Blast

Idea behind this being that stealth rocks become less of a hassle because they get you closer to activating the pinch berry (after one sub).

Moltres @ Life Orb
Agility
Hurricane
Fire Blast
HP Water

Moltres also conveniently resists both bullet punch and mach punch, along with being neutral to ice shard.

 

[preliator]

I'm a bulky star! Bulky, spinning Starmie!

- - -

- - -

Patrick loves Starmie by the way *lol* :D

I needed a Spinner for my team in OU and a Mon to take on physical hit's (specially fighting moves). So I looked around saw "that" Starmie-thing over and over again...
Looked at it's stats: 60 / 75 / 85 / 100 / 85 / 115
There I had my kind of bulky, even very fast and still damage dealing Spinner.
60 Base HP dont seam much but 85 Base DEF seam "ok" for me to I thought: "Lets try this lil star the "bulky" way... and it did damn well for me.

Here's the set I use with a lil explanation (exportable; if you want to test it) :

SIRR-01-Obstacle. (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

By the way... I replaced Jellycent for this Starmie ;)

252 EVs in HP and DEF are obvious, to take on physical hits. The last 4 EVs I put into SAtk.
Scald deals stabed damage and has a 30% to burn (which often seams like a 90% chance to me cuz It allmost allways burn's *lol*).
Icy Wind - Some of you may wonder "why Icy Wind over Ice Beam?!" Cuz it still does a shit-lot to most dragon types (OHKO's 4x once after SR Dmg), and slowers down switch-ins making them less usefull.
Rapid Spin - I dont have to explain.
Recover for alot more stayingpower.
You can run Toxic or T-Wave over Icy Wind if you are not afraid of dragons.
First for the likes of Gastrodon and other bulky stuff (to Toxic stall obviously) or Second to support your team with paralyses.
Or even use Grass Knot, Psyshock or T-Bolt, depending on your own need.

I also will also test a more "annoying" Bulky Star, but it will be completely shut down by Taunt...
Thats the Set I'll test soon (exportable; if ya want to try it as well...)

TCRR-01-Annoyer. (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder Wave
- Confuse Ray
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

 

[Jplague]

So, while playing on the sim I got really mad when using Landorus-t since I really didn't have a good answer for Skarm, which would constantly switch in and laugh at me.... T.T
In a fit of rage (and a little insanity) I had an idea. This is what came of it, and it hasn't failed me since. (Except for when Mamoswine packs it's usual Ice Shard T.T)
(It's a pretty flexible build btw.)
Landorus-T @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance / Stealth Rock / etc.
- Rock Polish
- Smack Down
- Earthquake

Even though Smack Down is only 50 base power, Landorus really, REALLY likes hitting things with EQ, so why not let it hit EVERYTHING with EQ? Swords Dance (not really needed) or Stealth Rocks for a filler move and Rock Polish to sweep.

 

[shofly12]

you could also use gravity, which would affect switch-ins as well for a certain amount of time.

 

[preliator]

So, while playing on the sim I got really mad when using Landorus-t since I really didn't have a good answer for Skarm, which would constantly switch in and laugh at me.... T.T
In a fit of rage (and a little insanity) I had an idea. This is what came of it, and it hasn't failed me since. (Except for when Mamoswine packs it's usual Ice Shard T.T)
(It's a pretty flexible build btw.)
Landorus-T @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance / Stealth Rock / etc.
- Rock Polish
- Smack Down
- Earthquake

Even though Smack Down is only 50 base power, Landorus really, REALLY likes hitting things with EQ, so why not let it hit EVERYTHING with EQ? Swords Dance (not really needed) or Stealth Rocks for a filler move and Rock Polish to sweep.

I think Gravity would be a better option.

So I would run a set like this:

Landorus-T (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Gravity
- Earthquake

SR for the obvious support.
SE + EQ=EdgeQuake combo.
Gravity to fix your Skarmory problem.

Given EV's:
252 HP to take on physical hits with indimidate
220 Spd to outspeed neutral 252 Spd EVs BP100 Mon's
The last 36 EVs I put into attack to deal a bit more damage.


When Gravity is aktive!!!
VS max def bulky Skarm:

36 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs 252 HP/252 Def Skarmory (+Def) : 52,1% - 61,98%
After entry hazards: 194 - 227 (58,08% - 67,96%)
2 hits to KO (with Leftovers)


VS max s.def bulky Skarm:

36 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs 252 HP/4 Def Skarmory: 68,26% - 80,84%
After entry hazards: 248 - 290 (74,25% - 86,83%)
2 hits to KO (with Leftovers)

 

[joshaka1]

I thought of abusing Froslass's snow cloak to some extent by using a torment set
Frosslass(f)@leftovers
Trait:snow cloak
Evs:252hp 4SpAtk 252speed
-Protect
-Substitute
-Torment
-Blizzard
As I was looking through Frosslass's moves, I noticed that she had torment, I had immediately thought of TormentTran and I thought of abusing Frosslass's ability. I have beaten a couple of gastrodons and a celebs or two and made a couple of players rage quit, but this set is supported by hail and toxic spikes due to it also being a spinblocker

 

[Superpowerdude]

That seems like an interasting froslass set but the reason tormentrwn is so succesful is because of its resistences. However disable is a good option on froslass so it is much like sub disable gengar

 

[CrackinSkulls]

IM not seeing the point of protect on that set which could easily be taunt, confuse ray or somethingmore useful

 

[preliator]

I thought of abusing Froslass's snow cloak to some extent by using a torment set
Frosslass(f)@leftovers
Trait:snow cloak
Evs:252hp 4SpAtk 252speed
-Protect
-Substitute
-Torment
-Blizzard
As I was looking through Frosslass's moves, I noticed that she had torment, I had immediately thought of TormentTran and I thought of abusing Frosslass's ability. I have beaten a couple of gastrodons and a celebs or two and made a couple of players rage quit, but this set is supported by hail and toxic spikes due to it also being a spinblocker

I would use Ice Beam over Blizzard cuz of its low PP.

 

[Buttobi]

I would use Ice Beam over Blizzard cuz of its low PP.

But blizzard is still much better. It is much more powerful and has 100% accuracy in hail. So why would you choose ice beam then?

 

[joshaka1]

Well I guess disable would be a good option also , protect with the misses snow cloak bring is very annoying

 

[Groudon ex]

Volcarona @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

It may seem like a wasted opportunity to run a Choice set on Volcarona whom has access to the second best boosting move in the game, though I can assure you that this set works and is fully viable. Although this set can't sweep a whole team, it can kill pretty much anything it well pleases with the right move. Fire Blast is the move you'll be using the most often: Fire has decent coverage, and has a high base power which is boosted further in strong sunlight. If you're doubting its power, in sunlight FB OHKOs 0/0 Dragonite 100% of the time after Stealth Rock. 4/252 Calm Blissey is always 2HKOd by sun/STAB FB after SR, and there is a decent chance of 2HKOing it without SR. Bug Buzz is a useful secondary STAB move that deals with Lati@s and Tyranitar, as well as being more reliable than FB. The two other moves are for specific coverage: Giga Drain OHKOs Keldeo and 2HKOs Jellicent, whilst HP [Ground] OHKOs Heatran and does a decent chunk of damage to Terrakion. There is almost nothing that can switch into this set reliably with or without hazard support. It requires good prediction to be effective, but when used correctly it can be a real monster; breaking up the opponents' team one by one in order to make way for another member to clean the mess left over.

Modest nature with 252 SAtk EVs allow for maximum power. 196 Spd EVs gives Volcarona 285 Speed; enough to outrun Jolly Mamoswine. The remaining EVs are in HP for a little more durability.

Note: This set ABSOLUTELY NEEDS Rapid Spin and/or Magic Bounce support, as you'll be likely bringing this in more than once.

 

[Buttobi]

Volcarona @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

It may seem like a wasted opportunity to run a Choice set on Volcarona whom has access to the second best boosting move in the game, though I can assure you that this set works and is fully viable. Although this set can't sweep a whole team, it can kill pretty much anything it well pleases with the right move. Fire Blast is the move you'll be using the most often: Fire has decent coverage, and has a high base power which is boosted further in strong sunlight. If you're doubting its power, in sunlight FB OHKOs 0/0 Dragonite 100% of the time after Stealth Rock. 4/252 Calm Blissey is always 2HKOd by sun/STAB FB after SR, and there is a decent chance of 2HKOing it without SR. Bug Buzz is a useful secondary STAB move that deals with Lati@s and Tyranitar, as well as being more reliable than FB. The two other moves are for specific coverage: Giga Drain OHKOs Keldeo and 2HKOs Jellicent, whilst HP [Ground] OHKOs Heatran and does a decent chunk of damage to Terrakion. There is almost nothing that can switch into this set reliably with or without hazard support. It requires good prediction to be effective, but when used correctly it can be a real monster; breaking up the opponents' team one by one in order to make way for another member to clean the mess left over.

Modest nature with 252 SAtk EVs allow for maximum power. 196 Spd EVs gives Volcarona 285 Speed; enough to outrun Jolly Mamoswine. The remaining EVs are in HP for a little more durability.

Note: This set ABSOLUTELY NEEDS Rapid Spin and/or Magic Bounce support, as you'll be likely bringing this in more than once.

This may seem completely irrelevant but I love the pokemon conquest sprite. Also, is this set good outside of sun or is fire blast volcarona's main move?

 

[Groudon ex]

I've yet to test it outside of sun although I imagine it plays virtually the same, albeit with some difficulties in breaking certain threats. The Hidden Power could always be changed to Rock I guess to make dealing with Dragonite/Gyarados/Salamence easier.