XY UU Beta Discussion (Read post #32)

[TM13IceBeam]

i compiled a list of pokemon that can outrun bisharp under sticky web. the trouble is, most of them are like shitmons that you shouldn't even be using (ninjask, electrode and zebstrika comes to mind) and others are stuff that pretty much dies to +2 sucker punch (jolteon, aerodactyl, noivern, latias). choice scarf subverts sticky web but the common scarfers (chandelure, darmanitan, diggersby) are all eaten alive by sucker punch, save for heracross.

literally only two pokemon in the game cannot get 2hko'd by +2 bisharp iinw, and they're cobalion and mega aggron. i think this says quite a lot (also bisharp has the option of low kick to score an easy kill on cobalion)! megastoise is a good check, but it takes a hefty ton from sucker punch and without leftovers it's very easy to wear down megastoise with hazards, status and sandstorm. the fact is that bisharp + sticky web is very easy to win, takes some skill but pretty much shits over every team that can't clear hazards, and those that can, bisharp shits all over the defoggers (latias, crobat and empoleon are the most common afaik, latias dies immediately, crobat can't do anything to bisharp, and empoleon needs very heavy physical investment to survive +2 knock off), as well as most spinners (he wins all except hitmontop, who sucks, and megastoise, who can kill him back: but megastoise is very hazards-weak and easy to wear down. normal blastoise with something else other than blastoisinite just dies like... immediately.). claydol dies to knock off obviously, and is outrun because claydol never runs speed. cryo is OHKO'd by iron head, avalugg 2hko'd, the rest are barely even viable in UU =/

let's not even mention how he pretty much shits over people who run sticky web too! screw speed drops, have fun eating +2 sucker punches! tornadus can't even pull that off because of sticky web immunity lmfao

 

[Skalaylee]

A very underrated pokemon that I can see being a big threat is Darmanitan.

Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Sheer Force 252+ Speed , 252 Atk , 4 HP

-Flare Blitz
-Earthquale
-U-Turn
-Rock Slide / Superpower

Or

Darmanitan @ Salac Berry
Sheer Force 252+ Speed , 252 Atk , 4 HP

-Belly Drum
-Substitute
-Fire Punch
-Rock Slide / Earthquake

With its base 145 attack Sheer Force STAB Flare Blitz. It makes walls seem just like cardboard.

 

[RotomPoison]

Oh no, something is good, what do I do?

Really though, Bisharp is very good, as the person above me said it 2HKOs everything (though you forgot Low Kick still beats Mega Aggron if it switches into it, as I believe it is 120 power.) I personally think the existance of faster users of Thunder Wave/Will-O-Wisp keep it from being broken, since nothing faster then Bisharp can take repeated Sucker Punches, but Sucker Punch does nothing to stop status (though Substitute on the switch to a status user is good too)

 

[TM13IceBeam]

Oh no, something is good, what do I do?

Really though, Bisharp is very good, as the person above me said it 2HKOs everything (though you forgot Low Kick still beats Mega Aggron if it switches into it, as I believe it is 120 power.) I personally think the existance of faster users of Thunder Wave/Will-O-Wisp keep it from being broken, since nothing faster then Bisharp can take repeated Sucker Punches, but Sucker Punch does nothing to stop status (though Substitute on the switch to a status user is good too)

actually i did account for mega aggron

252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Filter Mega Aggron: 131-154 (38 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(131, 131, 133, 135, 136, 138, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, 146, 148, 150, 152, 154)

230 def too strongth (earthquake OHKOes back btw so it's a bad idea to stay in)

there really aren't 'fast' users of thunder wave/wow, sableye is locked in OU and the only other pranksters around are whimsicott (who never runs max investment so you can just iron head blindly), liepard (can't do much), murkrow (see liepard), meowstic (also can't do much), banette (needs to mevolve before) and tornadus (who can't even do anything with prankster). as far as you get pranksters are at most going to just paralyse bisharp, and bisharp still dgaf because sucker punch bypasses paralysis 75% of the time anyway.

other than pranksters the people beating bisharp with sticky web are positive natured 115s and above (as well as scarfers), none of them even run wisp or twave (except for maybe jolteon? idk). without sticky web a lot more guys outrun bisharp, but +2 sucker punch is very deadly still.

rotoms are pretty much the only guys around afaik that can burn bisharp without much fear, though standard specially defensive rotoms still take massive damage from +2 burnt knock off (and outside of rotom-h none of them can threaten bisharp back, bisharp can OHKO rotom-h through a fucking burn with SR up, not that bisharp should even be staying in on rotom-h)

 

[Ununhexium]

Bisharp aside, I have been running weavile as a finisher/mid game sweeper and it has been working very well. Knock Off off of a base 120 attack is nothing to scoff at and with priority in Ice Shard and coverage in low kick, it can clean off weakened teams with ease

 

[TPO3]

Weavile is really great in this tier. I feel it gets overshadowed by Bisharp a lot, but it is really really good. Piority Ice Shard is great with things like Haxorus, Zygarde, etc. in the tier. It might not OHKO them when you're at +0, but it's a solid way to check them. I also feel like it's just anti-meta to a lot of the newer pokemon in this tier: Latias, the DD Dragons, Jellicent, Celebi, Zapdos, Thund-t before it got banned, and these are all just with its 2 STAB moves. Low Kick is icing on the cake. It's just a great mon that checks a lot of top threats. The only really frustrating part is that it's so frail, so it can be hard to get in, although Volt Switch/U-turn support would help a lot considering the pokemon it beats all pretty consistent switchins to those 2 moves.

 

[Ununhexium]

Yes but even with haxorus zygarde and hydreigon in the tier, they are still outsped and take a major chunk of damage from ice punch. Also, I have not been seeing many hazards recently so it could run a focus sash set similar to alakazam With defogs flying around everywhere, no hazards stay for long making it even easier to use.

 

[GSP]

Weavile has always been a favorite of mine and I'm glad it got a better Ice STAB in Icicle Crash. It's movepool is still rather shallow, but what items it can hold is what gives it diversity and allows it to play several different roles. With a Focus Sash, like what Unun said, Weavile becomes something of Alakazam, being able to take out faster/bulkier threats. Life Orb gives it an extra boost, while Choice Band allows it to completely wreck. With the nerf to Steel-types, Weavile now has perfect neutral coverage with its main STAB attacks(barring Azumarill, Bisharp, and a few other specific things), so Weavile now has a better chance than ever to cause some havoc in the metagame.

 

[Grimey]

In my experience so far, a Weavile + Keldeo core is absolutely phenomenal in this tier and extremely hard to deal with, factoring in the right support. Weavile completely destroys everything that Keldeo primarily struggles with (minus Florges and Mega Blastoise) and thus makes sweeping with Keldeo much easier.

Celebi,Jellicent, Lati@s, Deo-D, Slowbro etc don't appreciate an LO Knock Off from Weavile AT ALL and factoring in Sneaky Pebbles damage, it's an OHKO on almost all of them.

I'd also like to point out that Choice Banded Darmanitan is an absolute monster. Nothing is safe, haha.

 

[EonX]

Yeah, Bisharp is p. messed up. You basically get a free Knock Off as long as something is scared shitless of you and not much is going to appreciate the damage and/or the item removal. As for Weavile, the addition of Icicle Crash is pretty major. The extra power, the Knock Off buff, and that high Attack and Speed really help it to be better than you might first expect. Really overshadowed by Bisharp and not easy to get in due to its frailty, but it's got solid offensive utility between a strong Knock Off and priority STAB Ice Shard. I've actually been running something a little different on Darmanitan that's proven quite effective thus far:

Darmanitan (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant / Jolly
- Flare Blitz / Fire Punch
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- U-turn / Fire Punch

I kind of find Choice Band to just be overkill most of the time. Life Orb still gives a solid power boost, but allows Darmanitan to switch up moves to take advantage of its coverage. Flare Blitz is still a nuke. Adamant nature, STAB, Sheer Force boost, Life Orb boost. Not much is taking that too well. Rock Slide is nice for the Sheer Force boost and the ability to hit Flying- and Fire-types that may be able to tank a Flare Blitz. Superpower crushes special walls such as Snorlax, and also handles opposing Rock-types. U-turn is solid for scouting for checks and counters while building for momentum. Fire Punch can be used over Flare Blitz or U-turn, but you have to sacrifice your nuking move or your scouting move. Adamant gives you more power while Jolly gives Darmanitan the edge over non-Scarf Heracross and positive base 90s.

Tl;dr: If you think CB Darmanitan is good, try Life Orb Darmanitan. You'd be surprised at how much of a difference it can be to be able to switch moves on defensive threats.

 

[ryan]

Has anyone used SD Diggersby? It's honestly fucking stupid how much it just shits all over stall.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 378-446 (95.9 - 113.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 360-425 (85.7 - 101.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Filter Mega Aggron: 353-417 (102.6 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

It even 2HKOs one of its best "counters" at +2.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gourgeist-Super: 172-203 (45.9 - 54.2%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

._.

I've been playing full stall with Misdreavus just so that it doesn't shit all over my team. I mean, Misdreavus is on there for other reasons as well, but if Diggersby wasn't a thing, I'd almost surely be using something else in that slot. Stall legitimately just gets 6-0'd unless it's got something like defensive Mismagius (or Misdreavus ofc) or Rotom-N, which are both easily OHKO'd by +2 Stone Edge if for some reason it decides to run that over Quick Attack.

Quick Attack is obviously better though, and it makes Diggersby a huge threat against both defensive and offensive teams. Band seems really cool too, but SD is definitely the scariest set. Scarf seems like it'd be kind of trash though, but I've only played against it a couple of times.

Anyways, scary Pokemon. Thoughts? What works well with it?

 

[Smurf.]

Here is a pretty solid defensive core I've been having alot of success with recently, and I think the great thing about it is that neither mon is passsive and can sweep teams given the chance to boost.

Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 92 HP / 164 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute / Moonlight

Aggron (F) @ Aggronite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Iron Head

 

[Limitless]

Has anyone used SD Diggersby? It's honestly fucking stupid how much it just shits all over stall.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 378-446 (95.9 - 113.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 360-425 (85.7 - 101.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Filter Mega Aggron: 353-417 (102.6 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

It even 2HKOs one of its best "counters" at +2.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gourgeist-Super: 172-203 (45.9 - 54.2%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

._.

I've been playing full stall with Misdreavus just so that it doesn't shit all over my team. I mean, Misdreavus is on there for other reasons as well, but if Diggersby wasn't a thing, I'd almost surely be using something else in that slot. Stall legitimately just gets 6-0'd unless it's got something like defensive Mismagius (or Misdreavus ofc) or Rotom-N, which are both easily OHKO'd by +2 Stone Edge if for some reason it decides to run that over Quick Attack.

Quick Attack is obviously better though, and it makes Diggersby a huge threat against both defensive and offensive teams. Band seems really cool too, but SD is definitely the scariest set. Scarf seems like it'd be kind of trash though, but I've only played against it a couple of times.

Anyways, scary Pokemon. Thoughts? What works well with it?

It doesn't just destroy stall, either. I've been using it with massive success against heavy offense teams too. In regards to what works well with it, it has so much power that any team that wears down the other will suffice. It's laughable how strong it is in the metagame, yet no one really uses it.

And maybe I'm just playing bad people, but in the thirty games that I played today, I didn't see one heavy offense team with Deoxys-D. But then again, maybe I just played bad people. With how potent Diggersby and Bisharp (lol why isn't this banned) are, I just don't get why HO teams aren't used more. But as I said, maybe I just played against thirty bad people today. Also, if people actually start getting smart, I can see an increase in sticky web teams, as it completely puts a hamper on HO teams, assuming you can deal with Diggersby somehow.

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

this is probably a hilarious and stupid one but here's a replay of bisharp turning a 6-0 against the opponent

seriously though sticky web + bisharp is a joke, even defogging isn't safe due to defiant. and he turns sticky web against the opponent too!

yeaaaaa i think bisharp needs to get the hell out, if it's not moving out to OU by next week.

at adamant 252 ev in speed, bisharp hits 239 speed, so you need a grounded pokemon with 360 speed to revenge bisharp (or a 240 speed flyer/levitator). except it's not even a good 'revenge' because sucker punch LOL. and most stuff with 360 speed aren't strong enough to tank +2 dread plate sucker punch.

Lol what. So you managed to weaken its checks, setup spikes and sticky web, lure in keldeo to lock itself in a resisted move and youre trying to pass this off as ''sticky web + bisharp op''. That sounds like quite a lot of support, anything would had swept under the exact same conditions. Whats more blaffing is that bisharp literally only managed to setup because keldeo was choiced, not because it forced a switch or anything. I dont see anything with broken with bisharp and this replay certainly isnt changing my opinion.

 

[Patrick1088]

Smashbros is right on that one. It wasnt bisharp that was op it wasa combination of keldeo being locked into hp grass, no defog rapid spin support on their team (which is a big thing right there) when your only check to bisharp is hippo. I think this replay shows how effective bisharp is late game once its checks are gone but how does that separate it from any other late game cleaner like moxie heracross in gen v? Once gligar and cofagrigus were gone, it was almost impossible to check moxie hera without having a scarf shao od darmanitan...

 

[TM13IceBeam]

Lol what. So you managed to weaken its checks, setup spikes and sticky web, lure in keldeo to lock itself in a resisted move and youre trying to pass this off as ''sticky web + bisharp op''. That sounds like quite a lot of support, anything would had swept under the exact same conditions. Whats more blaffing is that bisharp literally only managed to setup because keldeo was choiced, not because it forced a switch or anything. I dont see anything with broken with bisharp and this replay certainly isnt changing my opinion.

the replay is more of comedic factor, if anything, but it should be noted that if it was say an EB keldeo instead of a specs or scarf keldeo the opponent'd have been able to 6-0 right there and then (also that was like the first time keldeo even came out so i couldn't have known if it was a choiced one or not lol). also he could've put me into a mindgame with DD haxorus at the end, which he didn't =/

also i did compile a list of pokemon that can outrun bisharp under sticky web, and needless to say, most of these are either 1. irrelevant to the meta (read: shitmons like ninjask and swoobat that probably shouldn't see any use), 2. can't do shit to bisharp (mostly overlaps with 1) or 3. get seriously maimed by +2 sucker punch (this actually is a lot of pokemon, jolteon, aerodactyl, noivern for instance, even things that would be considered decent checks such as staraptor can't do shit because they get maimed by +2 sucker punch). again, choice scarf subverts sticky web, but the common scarfers afaik get smashed by sucker punch regardless (rip chandelure victini and darmanitan).

personally speaking bisharp's support is like pretty minimal. sticky web + SR/1 spikes is enough for it to rip a few holes, and he's still shitting over all the common defoggers except for like zapdos (who's maimed pretty badly regardless by +2 knock off, can't ohko back without significant investment in SpA). also most spinners in UU are really bad and die to knock off except for hitmontop (bisharp laughs at intimidate so that can't switch in for free unless it's on an SD) and mega blastoise (not very difficult to wear down between hazards, passive damage and status).

tldr sticky web can slow non-scarfers enough for bisharp to whack them with knock off and faster opponents lack the bulk to tank sucker punch

 

[jamashawalker]

What cores are people running successfully in UU? Defensive and offensive?

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

What cores are people running successfully in UU? Defensive and offensive?

I am ''trying'' to make a staraptor+hawlucha core to work, but the majority of the time i feel hawlucha inst even there. It can most of the time fire a sky attack and thats it. If it does manage to setup sd+unburden it can easily end games but its just way too hard to do. That said i am winning the majority of the games i play, but i cant really attribute this to hawlucha. I really want someone more experienced with it to tell me how to use it to its full potential because i am honestly clueless.

 

[jamashawalker]

I am ''trying'' to make a staraptor+hawlucha core to work, but the majority of the time i feel hawlucha inst even there. It can most of the time fire a sky attack and thats it. If it does manage to setup sd+unburden it can easily end games but its just way too hard to do. That said i am winning the majority of the games i play, but i cant really attribute this to hawlucha. I really want someone more experienced with it to tell me how to use it to its full potential because i am honestly clueless.

I havent had the pleasantry of using hawlucha yet. From experience fighting against it, it needs to know all of your opponents sets and needs extra support from SR+Spikes. A really good late game sweeper, but really really late lol. Ive been swept by one once….once. Just because I was unaware of the Sky Attack+Acrobatics+ unburden. Though I wonder if Sub would be better for Hawlucha than SD. It seems to frail to be able to set up SD. Also to avoid status from walls and give them a clean 2HKO from acrobatics or hi jump kick. Im just theorizing. I would love the two attacking duo from Staraptor, as it is one of the most deadly sweepers this time around and NOT broken O_o

 

[Ernesto]

Well if you're worried Luchamon is too frail to set up an SD, you can just pair it up with SD Celebi—which is ridiculously fun to use on its own. It has the cool factor of being able to completely turn a match around with a well-timed pass. I haven't used that core in a while because my laptop died and I lost all my teams, but it worked pretty well when Mega Hera was around. I have a replay of a battle against koko (that I can only describe as ludicrous) where I'd choked real bad with Entei but ended up winning because of Celebi's amazing bulk. You'll obviously need something for Zapper and Weavile (and be careful against LO Bisharp, because Knock Off + Sucker Punch can do a real number on Lucha, having like an 80% chance to 2HKO after rocks), but you have four teamslots for that.

I'm of the opìnion that Lucha without a boost is way too weak (it needs an Adamant nature to ensure the OHKO on 4/0 Gardevoir with a 140 BP move!) to sweep consistently, but after a boost it's definitely deadly, resisting the most common priority move and only being weak to Ice Shard.

Also I still think Staraptor is way too good, but I'm not about to get into an argument about it.

 

[UnicornDemon]

Knock Off spam is getting out of control and it's almost impossible to counter. A lot of the megas still take significant damage from it even at base 65 power (Medicham, Gardy, Banette, Aero). Not to mention none of them should be switching into Weavile or Bisharp. The only thing you can really do about knock off is use Cobalion, although even then I'd rather he get to keep his held item rather than get a temporary boost in attack which won't mean anything once the opponent switches out to a counter he can't touch like Jellicent. Hawlucha might be able to make use of knock off with unburden, but to build a set around a move your opponent might have is gimmicky to say the least.

Gamefreak really dropped the balancing ball on this one; it's like Stealth Rock all over again.

 

[Ununhexium]

I agree with what SBB said about the replay. Anything with that good of support should be able to sweep as long as it isnt a defensive pokemon. Also, I didnt even know Weavile got icicle crash so thanks to all of you for pointing that out. Weavile and Bisharp though have become so much better because their reliable dark STAB was replaced with something that completely destroys the other team.

Also, this is sort of niche but I have found a Sub SD set on Hawlucha with a red card to be somewhat useful if you can get the SD off. The red card really annoys other boosters and if it had not been used yet it can force out one of its checks for later. Like I said, it can be hard to pull off but it makes a cool cleaner (especially with STAB Acrobatics and HJK with the SD and Unburden boost)

And with what UnicornDemon said, I agree. I think it would have been better if they just buffed it to 65 BP so it could replace that filthy Night Slash

 

[EonX]

Yeah, the secondary power buff to Knock Off is kind of ridiculous. Most Fighting-types get access to the move and can thus, get around or significantly damage Ghost-types that they previously couldn't dream of getting past. Going back to the Staraptor core, there's something I've found to be quite effective with it:

Manectric (M) @ Manectite
Trait: Intimidate (Lightningrod)
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt

Staraptor (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Double-Edge
- U-turn

So, yeah. Staraptor's a really cool Pokemon and certainly a very feared threat, but what is the eagle's biggest downfall? Its frailty. Raptor can almost never directly switch into any attack if it doesn't run Intimidate (which it shouldn't be since Reckless is so great on it) How do you fix that? Mega Manectric. Upon Mega Evo, Manectric gains Intimidate, allowing it to weaken physical attackers and allow Staraptor to possibly switch in on some threats that it couldn't deal with directly otherwise. The two have solid offensive synergy with Manectric being able to force in Steel-types and crushing them with Overheat while Staraptor can cover any Speed booster that attempts to take advantage of the Special Attack drop. The two form a VoltTurn core that can outspeed many of the non-boosted threats in the metagame while both can go on a late-game sweep should their counters be removed. This core can struggle with Ground-types, especially Physically Defensive Hippowdon, so using a strong special attacker such as Latias, Keldeo, or Celebi can be useful to handle them. Note that Latias and Celebi are immune (Latias) or resist (Celebi) Ground-type moves, but stack Ice-type weaknesses with Staraptor. Defog / Rapid Spin support is good since both Manectric and Staraptor like forcing out and weakening their checks and counters via Volt Switch and U-turn respectively. Latias can double as a Defog user while you can also use Empoleon to handle Ice- and Rock-types that can cause problems for Manectric and Staraptor.

 

[Arkian]

I have been using Hawlucha alongside Mega Ampharos on the ladder and have had success with it (in the 1400's, still climbing). Hawlucha can set up as it forces stuff out, for example, Hawlucha can come in after Mega Medicham gets a kill and threaten to revenge kill it, sets up a Swords Dance as the opponent switches into a physical wall like Slowbro or Hippowdon, and then proceeds to 2HKO both of them while they fail to OHKO back (Scald burn from Slowbro sucks and so does Whirlwind from Hippo ;-; but Sky Attack's high flinch and crit chance has gotten be out of that more times then I was expecting it to lol). That is pretty much the only time Hawlucha can set up, aside from on like an Umbreon or something. Mega Ampharos is there to weaken physical walls and dispose of Zapdos and Doublade, both of which Hawlucha cannot get past. Also, Staraptor works really well alongside this core as well, since it can also weaken physical walls and form a VoltTurn core with Mega Ampharos (I use a really weird Mega Amphy set that consists of Tbolt / Volt Switch / Dragon Pulse / Heal Bell since it fits in well on my team).

Also, it is worth noting that most priority moves can't OHKO Hawlucha considering it's relatively healthy, here are some calcs:

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 146-174 (48.9 - 58.3%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Ice Shard vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 198-237 (66.4 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Extreme Speed vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 164-193 (55 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Metagross Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 93-109 (31.2 - 36.5%) -- 65.5% chance to 3HKO

So once it gets rolling, Hawlucha is really hard to stop.

Also, I find that the standard SD Hawlucha set is truly its best, as SubLeichi is very easy to dispose of with priority (and also cannot fire off a strong Flying STAB as soon as it enters the field), and Red Card / Sitrus Berry / etc. are just gimmicky.

 

[DarkSlay]

Hi guys! It's been a decent while, but it's time for some more Pokemon sets that have flown under the radar. Interestingly enough, both are Grass-types, which seems to be a very valuable offensive and defensive typing in the metagame at the moment. Here are the Pokemon and the sets:

Vest Monjombo

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EV's: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Nature: Sassy
Moves:
- Power Whip / Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb
- Earthquake / Rock Slide

Tangrowth is one of those Pokemon that people just seem to forget about. It could be the fact that it looks like a garbled, disgusting mess of ugly tentacles. Valid point, but underneath that mess of tangles is a Pokemon with really under-appreciated stats, an incredible ability, and a fairly diverse movepool that makes it one of the best mixed attackers in the metagame. 100 / 110 offenses are nothing to sneeze at, and it sports a massive base 100 HP / 125 Def Physical defense. That's insane. What has always been its Achilles' Heel, however, is its Special Defense (and somewhat its Speed, but that's much less of a point). Base 50 Special Defense is extremely subpar, even though it sports a good base HP stat. That's where Assault Vest comes in. With an Assault Vest, Tangrowth essentially sports 404 HP / 314 Def / 299 SpD stats, which is very impressive. While multiplying such a small SpD stat may seem like a bad idea, here's some calcs that show just how impressive AV Tangrowth can be:

Calcs

252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tangrowth: 115-136 (28.4 - 33.6%) -- 0.5% chance to 3HKO (This does the most damage of all of Keldeo's moves)
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tangrowth: 171-202 (42.3 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Chandelure Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 282-332 (69.8 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (not even a OHKO after SR)
252 Atk Reckless Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tangrowth: 368-434 (91 - 107.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO (Yeah, a OHKO half of the time, but at zero Defense investment?)
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Mega Blastoise Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 107-126 (26.4 - 31.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 165-195 (40.8 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tangrowth: 250-296 (61.8 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Latias Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 177-211 (43.8 - 52.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

There's a ton more calcs I can show, but these are the most impressive. The ability to come in and wall/threaten the likes of Keldeo, MegaBlastoise, Latias, Whimsicott and others while having the ability to switch out and recover 30% of health is outstanding. Furthermore, it's completely customizable in 3/4 of its moveset depending on what you want. Want raw power? Power Whip. Recovery on top of Regenerator? Giga Drain. Status? Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb. Pick your poison. Coverage? EQ for Steels and Fires and Rock Slide for Flying-types and Fires have you covered. It's essentially a jack-of-all-trades kind of a Pokemon with amazing utility even without the use of non-attacking moves. Incredible bulk, deceptive power - it's a Pokemon that should be getting more usage.

The Heir of Bisharp

Shiftry @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Early Bird
EV's: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
Moveset:
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Seed Bomb
- Swords Dance / Substitute

While I have tested this and come to the obvious conclusion that Bisharp is clearly better, the next round of OU testing/shifting is upon us, which means that our Steel / Dark friend may be saying its last farewells to the metagame. In that event, there will be a scramble to find a replacement for it. Shiftry is probably one of the better candidates. Naturally, there are actually some things that Shiftry has going for it over Bisharp. Technically, it has better SpD bulk (although marginal at best). It resists Ground and is only 2x weak to Fighting. Dark / Grass is a potent combo that is only resisted by Houndoom and Whimsicott. Grass STAB gives it the upper hand against normal Physical checks or Bisharp problems, like Hippowdon, as well as things like MegaBlastoise and Keldeo (somewhat). Base 100 Atk isn't terrible - while not 125 like Bisharp, it still does enough to KO things like Latias pre-boost and smash things after a Swords Dance. Shiftry is also faster than Bisharp (Base 80), which is neat. The set is essentially the same as Bisharp's, minus Iron Head and plus Seed Bomb. Explanation shouldn't be required. As said previously, it will compete with Weavile for Bisharp's former position once the tiers have shifted, as Weavile sports higher Attack and Speed, plus has a reliable priority move, while Shiftry has a more powerful priority move and can get past different threats than Weavile, namely bulky Waters like Suicune.