Reuniclus (Analysis)

[sax king]

Great sets

But I think there should be a tank set. Rankurusu gets Magic Guard, meaning that it can do a Trick Flame Orb pretty well and is immune to SS, Toxic, entry hazards, and all other things that walls don't like. Rankurusu also has great mixed defenses and instant recovery. It has a great support movepool (TWave, Toxic, Trick Room, Psych Up, Acid Armor). There should be a mention of a defensive set.

Also, there aren't OU QC checks yet

 

[Jamesb8]

Psychic is your main STAB taking out bulky Fighting Types like Roobpushin and Arceus-Fighting.

For an OU anyalysis Arceus-Fighting probably doesn't deserve a mention, unless your really confident he's gunna drop a tier. lol

As mentioned in other sets you acn run Hidden Power fighting over Focus Blast but usally the power drop is not worth it. You could also Trick a Flame orb or Toxic orb

Also found this with inncorect spelling of can and missing a full stop after Toxic Orb

 

[Plusle]

Thanks, that's left over from when this was for Ubers.

Sax King: There was a defensive Thunder Wave set, but it was not very good as it loses to Tyranitar, the most common pokemon in the tier.
Also
http://www.smogon.com/forums/calendar.php?do=getinfo&day=2010-12-1&e=15&c=2

 

[Legacy Raider]

Plusle please address my earlier post.

 

[Megan_Fox]

Obviously, the EVs should be changed to the stats mentioned in LRs post as they result in superior stats.

Also minor, but i guess give thunder wave an OC mention as it can paralyze the opponents pokemon; you still will get outsped by certain stuff but it could work to support the team

 

[Plusle]

Sorry Legacy Raider missed that. Will add thunder wave

 

[Plusle]

BumP ready for qc

 

[BurningMan]

I've used CM + Recover Rankurusu extensively and I can say that Bold, 252 HP / 252 Def, Leftovers is by far the best option. Psycho Shock is completely pointless when its only use (outside of something far fetched like beating CM Suicune in a CM war) is to beat Blissey. Blissey can do absolutely nothing to you due to Magic Guard while you can 2HKO with +6 Psychic (50.6% - 59.7%). Shadow Ball should be the primary option in the fourth slot (to hit other Rankurusu, Latios, Latias, etc.) followed by Hidden Power Fighting and Focus Blast. This set should also be the first one in the analysis.

I agree with altering the EV spread to 252 HP/252 Def Bold however i think LO really deserves a mention for more initial Power since 30% more damage for free is just too appealling.
Shadow Ball as a primary option in the forth slot is questinable you would loose out on steel and Dark Types and those are argueably more common than Psychic types/Sableye/Spiritomb.
However i think Shadow Ball+Focus Blast/HP Fighting could be slashed in since it gets perfect coverage, but looses the valuable psychic stab to counter Fighting Types.
I agree with Psycho Shock as it makes it harder for you to OHKO Bulk Up Roobushin after a boost and he is one of the premier fighting types this set should counter.

 

[Plusle]

Seiously TR is better than Cm Recover

 

[Lazyboy0337]

Seiously TR is better than Cm Recover

You stupid? Magic Guard, Recover, and good defensive stats allow Rankurusu to easily get to +2 or +3 with CM, or even +6 if allowed. Rankurusu then can plow through teams with Psycho Shock/Psychic or Focus Blast/HP Fighting. CM Recover should at least get mentioned.

 

[Ice-eyes]

Trick Room is, and probably always will be, a gimmick in OU. Calm Mind + Recover is a horrifyingly efficient stallbreaker that can pull its weight by getting kills and acting as a pivot against an offensive team. Psycho Shock needs to be the main slash because part of Rankurusu's utility is in winning Calm Mind wars. With it, it can beat just about every variant of Lati@s (one of its more common switchins) barring Roar or Trick as well as almost all other Calm Mind users.

I am of the belief that you need Focus Blast, really. HP Fighting requires you to invest in Special Attack - I'm not sure if you can take Scizor U-Turns anymore - and doesn't hit Skarmory hard enough. It's especially important as a powerful special option if you run Psycho Shock.

 

[Plusle]

Fine I will change it

 

[Delta 2777]

Trick Room is, and probably always will be, a gimmick in OU. Calm Mind + Recover is a horrifyingly efficient stallbreaker that can pull its weight by getting kills and acting as a pivot against an offensive team.

I completely disagree with this. Offensive TR Bronzong was an unexpected, dangerous threat in Gen IV OU (I remember PttP won an OU tour with that on his team), and TR Rankurusu is just that on steroids. The ability to "outspeed" and 2HKO at the very worst every Pokemon commonly seen (with the exception of Chansey and Blissey) is awesome. I got to a rating of 1522 on PO with a TR Rankurusu team and I have to say it is the MVP of the team. Just because you can only abuse TR for 4 additional turns doesn't matter - that's a potential 4-Pokemon sweep.

CM Rankurusu does better against stall and semistall teams, meanwhile offense is far more common in this metagame. I think that the TR set is superior.

Just my $0.02

 

[Elevator Music]

I've also been using TR Rankurusu with good success.

We have 4 cents now

 

[Ice-eyes]

That said, is Trick Room going to be a metagame-shaping force? I strongly doubt it.

 

[Plusle]

That said, is Trick Room going to be a metagame-shaping force? I strongly doubt it.

It is.
This metagame is a speed creep *cough* Doryuzzu *cough*

 

[GameMaster0000]

I just see that this guy can learn Thunder it can be use on coverage move too. But problem is sand and sun is everywhere.

 

[Bloo]

Setsuna and I were discussing this on IRC and came up with a few suggestions for you.

I'd like to see a Life Orb + 3 attacks Rankurusu mention somewhere, most likely in Optional Changes. Thanks to Magic Guard, Rankurusu doesn't take any recoil from Life Orb, entry hazards, and weather, making it a fantastic Pokemon to utilize LO + 3 attacks. Rankurusu doesn't always need Calm Mind to plow through teams, so giving it the option to run an extra coverage move is a good idea, IMO. The set would likely contain the following: Psychic, Recover, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, with a Modest nature and 252 HP / 252 SpA to take advantage of Rankurusu's reasonable bulk and amazing offensive capabilities.

I'm glad you added Thunder Wave as option here. Though, I'd like you to explain its use better. Currently, you only say "Rankurusu can run a Bulky set which sets up Dual Screens or Thunder Wave but with it's typing is much better suited to having a more offensive role." I would much rather see you say that Thunder Wave can help slow down opposing Pokemon, which helps Rankurusu since he's as slow as can be. You also should mention that Thunder Wave makes Rankurusu a great team supporter, as it can slow down some of your opponent's 'mons for your other team members to take advantage of.

• Scizor and Blissey will not appreciate Choice Specs limiting their options.

Please get rid of the Scizor mention. Plenty of Scizor run Choice Band as an item, and if you Trick your Choice Specs onto it, you'll be locked into a move, giving Scizor an ample opportunity to Pursuit you to death.

Lastly:

I've used CM + Recover Rankurusu extensively and I can say that Bold, 252 HP / 252 Def, Leftovers is by far the best option. Psycho Shock is completely pointless when its only use (outside of something far fetched like beating CM Suicune in a CM war) is to beat Blissey. Blissey can do absolutely nothing to you due to Magic Guard while you can 2HKO with +6 Psychic (50.6% - 59.7%). Shadow Ball should be the primary option in the fourth slot (to hit other Rankurusu, Latios, Latias, etc.) followed by Hidden Power Fighting and Focus Blast. This set should also be the first one in the analysis.

This is a great post and you really should take it into consideration and make a mention in your OP of what stellar outlined in his post. Anyway, I love using this guy on PO with Trick Room in play, since it can be very deadly under the right conditions (I'd even go as far to say that it's better than CM). I couldn't find anymore problems, so I'll approve this once these changes are amended.

 

[Setsuna]

Confirming. I'll approve of this analysis when these changes are made.

 

[panamaxis]

Plenty of Scizor run Choice Band as an item, and if you Trick your Choice Specs onto it, you'll be locked into a move, giving Scizor an ample opportunity to Pursuit you to death.

I could be wrong but I think the mechanics changed (or in any case they are different on PO) and you are not locked into trick if you trick another choice user. This is just going off of personal experience on the ladder.

 

[Noble Cactus]

I believe that's true. I think the BW research thread found out that you're free to choose another move after Tricking a Choice item (making Trickscarf more effective this gen).

 

[Paradox]

I could be wrong but I think the mechanics changed (or in any case they are different on PO) and you are not locked into trick if you trick another choice user. This is just going off of personal experience on the ladder.

His point was that nothing you have will do too much to Scizor, especially without Specs (Focus Blast does 49% - 57.7%, if it hits), leaving you outsped and complete Pursuit/U-turn bait.
At least that's what I gather since he wrote "you'll be locked into a move" rather than "you'll be locked into Trick".

 

[Plusle]

Sorry I forgot about this. I'll start writing now

 

[Ice-eyes]

Slash Focus Blast as the main option (you need to hurt phazers like Skarm) and make 252 / 252 Bold the main spread on the Calm Mind set. It's not 'easy to counter', either; outside of Scizor and Tyranitar most things can't switch in and take it.

Shadow Ball is worth AC but Psychic and Ghost has pretty woeful coverage; you can't hit Steels and a lot of phazers can easily come in pretty much for free.

 

[Rhys DeAnno]

I find that running Psycho Shock over Psychic can be really important on the CM set, because you often get into CM Wars with other Rankuruusu or even Latias, and Psycho Shock will give you the win in that war unless the Latias has Roar. Also, I think the power of LO and the tankyness of 252/252 Bold is probably the best compromise. All this leaves you pretty walled by Gliscor but aside from that it works pretty well, and additionally lets Rank be a good switch in to random physical threats like Terakion.

As for Trick + 3 Attacks, I would probably do it with a Flame Orb and try to put Rank in after a poke dies to mask the activation. Then you would use Trick hoping the opponent instantly brings in Tyranitar or Scizor (or a fresh Gliscor not yet Toxiced). Even if Rank ends up with a Choice Band, it might be able to escape the burned Scizor in decent health and trick that to something else later. It's pretty gimmicky but if you catch the opponent with it the target is totally ruined.