Oh right. I was using it in RU lol. Small Geist is probably a better user in NU since it's not Taunt bait and has that higher speed, but Super is still a viable user because of its better power and bulk. I need sleep.
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Metagame NP: NU (beta): Welcome to the NU Age (Combusken Banned)
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So any opinions on this set:
Lanturn @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb / Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 40 HP / 216 SDef
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt / HP Grass
I'm not sure if this is standard or anything but I didn't see it posted so... Yeah I've been liking this set a lot. Lanturn never had the best move set for a pure wall but has an excellent offensive move pool so it's a good candidate for an AV set.
40 Evs in HP is enough to give it 401 Hp and the rest is dumped into SpDef to bulk out harder Special attacks like Specs Pyroar Hyper Voice or anything Magmortar can do.
Lanturn @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb / Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 40 HP / 216 SDef
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt / HP Grass
I'm not sure if this is standard or anything but I didn't see it posted so... Yeah I've been liking this set a lot. Lanturn never had the best move set for a pure wall but has an excellent offensive move pool so it's a good candidate for an AV set.
40 Evs in HP is enough to give it 401 Hp and the rest is dumped into SpDef to bulk out harder Special attacks like Specs Pyroar Hyper Voice or anything Magmortar can do.
Hey guys, I'm working on an NU team right now and I really want to use this guy. Any team ideas, perhaps a good solid core that he works well with. I know his x4 weakness to SR means I need a defogger that or I could run Xatu. Here's the current set I have thought up for him.
Articuno @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 SpD / 252 HP/ 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Freeze Dry
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Toxic
Articuno @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 SpD / 252 HP/ 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Freeze Dry
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Toxic
One immediate suggestion is to run 248 HP EVs rather than 252. With 248 you can switch in on rocks twice, assuming you don't take any actual damage, and live with 1 HP. 252 will make you die on second switch-in if rocks are up.Hey guys, I'm working on an NU team right now and I really want to use this guy. Any team ideas, perhaps a good solid core that he works well with. I know his x4 weakness to SR means I need a defogger that or I could run Xatu. Here's the current set I have thought up for him.
Articuno @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 SpD / 252 HP/ 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Freeze Dry
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Toxic
I think Sandslash would be a decent SR user and Spinner since it doesn't add an additional SR weakness and gets Knock Off to deal with Spinblockers (except for Spiritomb I guess) and Xatu that try to switch in to bounce back your rocks.
Sandslash can also take Electric and Rock type moves for Arcticuno, while Arcticuno can take Grass moves for Sandslash and threaten out Water types by using Freeze-Dry.
Can't really recommend much more without knowing anything else your want on your team or what style of team you want to build.
Probably a team strategy where Articuno shines the strongest. I'm not too familiar on team types outside of Stall, Hyper Offense, Weather, and VoltTurn.
I've had more success with Toxic > Knock Off on my semi-stall team. The toad man is a bit lacking offensively. So far Seismitoad is the only mon I've been impressed with other than the ones that are obviously getting banned (Venomoth and Virizion, mostly).
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
use the FCK out of this guy. 10/10 poke. consistent in every single match, gets rocks up all the time. great doublade check, also beats boosting waters. probably my favorite SR user currently.
use him.
Other stuff I've tried (most of them unsuccessfully):
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Freeze-Dry
Positive: Titanic special bulk, reliable recovery, Spin, great speed for a wall/support mon.
Cons: Unbelievable physical frailty, bad typing, shallow movepool.
This thing just did not pull it's weight. It's bad typing combined with it's horrible physical bulk made it basically dead weight. It does have absolutely amazing special bulk though, along with a good ability and reliable recovery. If you need a spinner and a special wall, this guy does the trick I guess. Wouldn't recommend it.
Togetic @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Heal Bell / Toxic / Wish
- Dazzling Gleam
Positive: Crazy bulk, reliable recovery, great movepool for Cleric duty or Defog support.
Cons: Typing is meh, Abilities are useless, very slow, almost no offensive presence, 4mss
I loved this thing as a Defog wall, but it certainly wasn't putting many dents in the enemy. I ran with Heal Bell, but I think if you can do without it Toxic would be better. Dazzling Gleam has mediocre coverage (especially with all the Pyroars and Flareons running around) and hits like a wet noodle. He does hit 508 SpD though, which is pretty lolz. You could opt to go Physically defensive if you want, but I needed a special wall at the time.
Really having a hard time finding a team I like in this tier. I love Seismitoad and Virizion, but other than those 2 I'm at a loss. Just kinda throwing darts at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Are you sick and tired of all the quiver dancers, speed boosters and shell smashers running around?
Yeah, me too. So here's the best solution I've found so far:
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Taunt
Basically, when you know your opponent is going to lead a dancer, smasher or booster, send this little guy out to meet them.
For dancers, taunt first turn to avoid being put to sleep, then either brave bird or t-wave if you predict a switch. Brave bird will OHKO Venomoth, Vivillon, Mothim, Lilligant and whoever else you might encounter that likes to sleep powder dance like assholes.
As for the speed boosters like Ninjask, Combusken and Whirlipede, simply Brave Bird on the turn they protect, and then taunt so they can't SD or BPass out. If they're suicidal you can just kill them with 1 or 2 Brave Birds (depending on if they're sashed) or just t-wave on the obvious switch-out.
Shell smashers are a little more tricky, unless you can somehow predict their switch-in, you can double into Krow and taunt, or if you know they're going to smash on your forced switch-out, just send in Murkrow and at the very least you can cripple them by t-waving after they've smashed and then go in to your preferred counter (A fast and powerful Electric or Grass type works well teamed with Krow for the smashers)
Obviously almost any damage Murkrow takes during this can be roosted off.
Tl;Dr: Use this guy to completely check and counter Quiver Dancers and Speed Boosting Passers, and to cripple Shell Smashers.
Yeah, me too. So here's the best solution I've found so far:
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Taunt
Basically, when you know your opponent is going to lead a dancer, smasher or booster, send this little guy out to meet them.
For dancers, taunt first turn to avoid being put to sleep, then either brave bird or t-wave if you predict a switch. Brave bird will OHKO Venomoth, Vivillon, Mothim, Lilligant and whoever else you might encounter that likes to sleep powder dance like assholes.
As for the speed boosters like Ninjask, Combusken and Whirlipede, simply Brave Bird on the turn they protect, and then taunt so they can't SD or BPass out. If they're suicidal you can just kill them with 1 or 2 Brave Birds (depending on if they're sashed) or just t-wave on the obvious switch-out.
Shell smashers are a little more tricky, unless you can somehow predict their switch-in, you can double into Krow and taunt, or if you know they're going to smash on your forced switch-out, just send in Murkrow and at the very least you can cripple them by t-waving after they've smashed and then go in to your preferred counter (A fast and powerful Electric or Grass type works well teamed with Krow for the smashers)
Obviously almost any damage Murkrow takes during this can be roosted off.
Tl;Dr: Use this guy to completely check and counter Quiver Dancers and Speed Boosting Passers, and to cripple Shell Smashers.
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Pivot Liepard is definitely more reliable than this as it possesses Prankster Encore -- only Jolly Carracosta stops pivotpard from doing its work. Thunder Wave or Taunt aren't very good ways especially if the opponents use Lum Berry, which isn't uncommon on Carracosta and Barbaracle. Also, Gorebyss forces Murkrow into a mind game between Baton Pass after the smash or straight out attacking. Meanwhile Liepard can easily spam Encore and U-turn / Knock Off and beat most setup sweepers and hits harder too. tennisace posted this 1-2 pages ago, so do check it out!Are you sick and tired of all the quiver dancers, speed boosters and shell smashers running around?
Yeah, me too. So here's the best solution I've found so far:
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Taunt
Basically, when you know your opponent is going to lead a dancer, smasher or booster, send this little guy out to meet them.
For dancers, taunt first turn to avoid being put to sleep, then either brave bird or t-wave if you predict a switch. Brave bird will OHKO Venomoth, Vivillon, Mothim, Lilligant and whoever else you might encounter that likes to sleep powder dance like assholes.
As for the speed boosters like Ninjask, Combusken and Whirlipede, simply Brave Bird on the turn they protect, and then taunt so they can't SD or BPass out. If they're suicidal you can just kill them with 1 or 2 Brave Birds (depending on if they're sashed) or just t-wave on the obvious switch-out.
Shell smashers are a little more tricky, unless you can somehow predict their switch-in, you can double into Krow and taunt, or if you know they're going to smash on your forced switch-out, just send in Murkrow and at the very least you can cripple them by t-waving after they've smashed and then go in to your preferred counter (A fast and powerful Electric or Grass type works well teamed with Krow for the smashers)
Obviously almost any damage Murkrow takes during this can be roosted off.
Tl;Dr: Use this guy to completely check and counter Quiver Dancers and Speed Boosting Passers, and to cripple Shell Smashers.
The cool thing (ahaha) about Cryogonal is that it has a really good Speed stat and great special bulk, like you mentioned. One day my team was in need of a glue that could take hits and Cryogonal was something I tried. I didn't try out specially defensive sets because I felt they weren't that useful in such a hyper offensive meta so I used an offensive set that could take advantage of its Speed and Freeze Dry:Other stuff I've tried (most of them unsuccessfully):
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Freeze-Dry
Positive: Titanic special bulk, reliable recovery, Spin, great speed for a wall/support mon.
Cons: Unbelievable physical frailty, bad typing, shallow movepool.
This thing just did not pull it's weight. It's bad typing combined with it's horrible physical bulk made it basically dead weight. It does have absolutely amazing special bulk though, along with a good ability and reliable recovery. If you need a spinner and a special wall, this guy does the trick I guess. Wouldn't recommend it.
Cryogonal @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Hidden Power [Fire]
So basically offensive Cryogonal can be used as a spinner when needed on teams that don't want to be weak to Sticky Web, and at the same time don't want to lose too much offensive momentum. Cryogonal fits the bill pretty well as it does threaten a lot of opponents with good Speed and decent special attack. Freeze-Dry is STAB, chosen over Ice Beam so that it doesn't need to cover Water-types separately (I'm p sure you can use beam if you want to get some KOs, not sure if there are any). Recover allows it to keep hopping in and out and keep healthy from all the residual damage. Rapid Spin is not exactly mandatory but it is extremely useful either way, given that it's the only fast spinner we have aside from Armaldo in rain. Helps a great deal vs Sticky Web teams. The last HP allows Cryogonal to 2HKO Doublade on the switch-in (not too hard to predict because Cryo is huge Doublade bait). Ground nabs Fire-types; the only Fire-type faster than it is Pyroar. Meanwhile Fire allows Cryo to KO Durant on the switch-in and beat opposing offensive Cryogonal and Rotom-F.
Unfortunately HP Fire reduces Cryogonal's Speed IV so it can no longer speed tie with Kadabra and Cryognal, but I don't think the former can touch it much (without Psyshock) and you'll beat opposing Cryogonal anyway if they don't run HP Fire or Toxic.
So yeah if your team needs a way to sponge slightly weaker special hits that's also fast, or just need a spinner that isn't slow as shit, give Cryo a try!
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Doesn't Murkrow get Haze? I think that would be an easier way of doing it. Haze then T-Wave.Are you sick and tired of all the quiver dancers, speed boosters and shell smashers running around?
Yeah, me too. So here's the best solution I've found so far:
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Taunt
Basically, when you know your opponent is going to lead a dancer, smasher or booster, send this little guy out to meet them.
For dancers, taunt first turn to avoid being put to sleep, then either brave bird or t-wave if you predict a switch. Brave bird will OHKO Venomoth, Vivillon, Mothim, Lilligant and whoever else you might encounter that likes to sleep powder dance like assholes.
As for the speed boosters like Ninjask, Combusken and Whirlipede, simply Brave Bird on the turn they protect, and then taunt so they can't SD or BPass out. If they're suicidal you can just kill them with 1 or 2 Brave Birds (depending on if they're sashed) or just t-wave on the obvious switch-out.
Shell smashers are a little more tricky, unless you can somehow predict their switch-in, you can double into Krow and taunt, or if you know they're going to smash on your forced switch-out, just send in Murkrow and at the very least you can cripple them by t-waving after they've smashed and then go in to your preferred counter (A fast and powerful Electric or Grass type works well teamed with Krow for the smashers)
Obviously almost any damage Murkrow takes during this can be roosted off.
Tl;Dr: Use this guy to completely check and counter Quiver Dancers and Speed Boosting Passers, and to cripple Shell Smashers.
Kadabra has Psyshock... idk, I think that does quite a number on Cryogonal.
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Cryogonal: 395-465 (115.1 - 135.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Didn't expect it to OHKO, but calcs don't lie.
With 0 HP EV's... ugh... it just dies to everything that has STAB priority after taking Stealth Rocks only once. It also dies to Pikachu's Extremespeed.
Also, Sandslash exists, which is not that slow either, especially not if you run Speed investment. However, the more speed investment you run on 'Slash, the weaker it becomes, either in bulk or offensive presence.
I'm not a fan of Cryogonal, though I see it definately having a niche.
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Swellow is going to be just as amazing this gen as it was last gen, except with that extra bit of unpredictability that it has had sinse X/Y's release due to the addition of Boomburst. I can see the analysis for it already...
Guts Attacker
########
name: Guts Attacker
move 1: Facade
move 2: Brave Bird
move 3: U-Turn
move 4: Protect / Quick Attacker
ability: Guts
item: Toxic Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Choice Specs
########
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Boomburst
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: U-turn
ability: Scrappy
item: Choice Specs
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
and Luxray is going to be as good as ever (can't be bothered to write full sets on this, so will bullet point them):
Guts Attacker
########
name: Guts Attacker
move 1: Facade
move 2: Brave Bird
move 3: U-Turn
move 4: Protect / Quick Attacker
ability: Guts
item: Toxic Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Choice Specs
########
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Boomburst
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: U-turn
ability: Scrappy
item: Choice Specs
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
and Luxray is going to be as good as ever (can't be bothered to write full sets on this, so will bullet point them):
- Guts Attacker
- Wallbreaker
- Choice
oh no u didn't
even with 140 bp boomburst is a terrible move on swellow. 50 special attack can only get you so far
Absolutely my favourite tier, so happy they're actually doing this :P
But... ok, even though english is not my first language, i get everything everyone told here but there's something i couldn't understand...
What about charizard?
I mean, in the first page here it's not in the NU losses but when i try to use my regular NU team in the alpha tier on PS it sais that charizard is OU.
OU?
I mean... ok he got x and y versions now... but what if i don't want to use megas? He's OU anyway? 'Cause that's my case. XD
"Why do you even bother? Charizard got megas!"
Well... i dislike megas... too digimon-like to me :\
I made the same question in the NU chat on PS and someone said charizard was still in. Now... i admit i tend to miss something in chats... too chatoics for me since i'm not english, so sorry if YOU're reading this again XD
Anyways i found this:
https://www.smogon.com/smog/issue31/nu
And actually charizard IS in the losses :\
Can't this be a scene similiar to gengar's? His mega's uber but the "base form" is still in OU.
It's just because we're still in an alpha version? Can charizard be brought back in the NU tier?
But... ok, even though english is not my first language, i get everything everyone told here but there's something i couldn't understand...
What about charizard?
I mean, in the first page here it's not in the NU losses but when i try to use my regular NU team in the alpha tier on PS it sais that charizard is OU.
OU?
I mean... ok he got x and y versions now... but what if i don't want to use megas? He's OU anyway? 'Cause that's my case. XD
"Why do you even bother? Charizard got megas!"
Well... i dislike megas... too digimon-like to me :\
I made the same question in the NU chat on PS and someone said charizard was still in. Now... i admit i tend to miss something in chats... too chatoics for me since i'm not english, so sorry if YOU're reading this again XD
Anyways i found this:
https://www.smogon.com/smog/issue31/nu
And actually charizard IS in the losses :\
Can't this be a scene similiar to gengar's? His mega's uber but the "base form" is still in OU.
It's just because we're still in an alpha version? Can charizard be brought back in the NU tier?
No, because Charizard, Pinsir and Mawile got in OU because they were used a lot, admittely because of the stone, but tiering the stones separately leads to a case like "why not allowing leftovers chansey in UU"?
The banning of Gengarite and all the other uber/bl stones is quite different since the item Gengarite was broken and then was removed from the metagame, unlike the item, say, Pinsirite, which just allowed a Pokémon to get OU worthy stats and so be used enough to make into OU.
It's quite hard to explain, admittely.
Besides, you can use Typhlosion or Pyroar which are better than normal Charizard.
The banning of Gengarite and all the other uber/bl stones is quite different since the item Gengarite was broken and then was removed from the metagame, unlike the item, say, Pinsirite, which just allowed a Pokémon to get OU worthy stats and so be used enough to make into OU.
It's quite hard to explain, admittely.
Besides, you can use Typhlosion or Pyroar which are better than normal Charizard.
Ok, now i get it :P
It's a pity thoug... basically now "normal charizards" will disappear :\
Thank you for the reply btw! :D
It's a pity thoug... basically now "normal charizards" will disappear :\
Thank you for the reply btw! :D
while it's not optimal and ~generally~ inferior to physical, it's legit.
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Doublade: 111-131 (34.4 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Qwilfish: 307-363 (91.9 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Carracosta: 135-159 (46.5 - 54.8%) -- 66% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Weezing: 255-301 (76.3 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dusknoir: 147-174 (50 - 59.1%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 134-158 (37.8 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
it bops the shit out of some traditional bird switch-ins making it a fantastic partner to other physical sweepers, has more longevity than physical sets (since you don't get owned by status dmg / SR as much) and can still be a great cleaner with boomburst. i paired it with variants of durant and wrecked shit on the ladder with it in an otherwise mediocre team under the alt STR8 GARB if any of you played me. the matches i lost in involved five straight durant misses and a critical hit + three flinches with a scarf zen headbutt mesprit. this is the set i used:
Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- U-turn
- Defog
- Air Slash
boomburst is the only move you should usually click. u-turn is alright if you predict certain switch-ins; it's helpful when you're playing against stuff that swellow can't really break through, like probopass. i use defog over hidden power ground - hp ground is literally only useful for the 4x resists like probopass and until those are more common i really can't justify using it whereas you can defog stuff like sticky web away for your partner if that's more important than getting off a boomburst at that point in time. air slash is literally only for virizion (boomburst only 2hkoes) and the flinch chance.
modest also catches everything up to durant (not archeops, sceptile) and provides a decent chunk of power and pushes a few 3HKOes to 2HKOes. examples of modest:
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Sigilyph: 252-297 (88.1 - 103.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Feraligatr: 244-288 (78.2 - 92.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gourgeist-Super: 264-312 (70.5 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Durant: 186-219 (72 - 84.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
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I've tried Liepard out, and it's just way too frail and unreliable for me. Basically any unresisted base 80+ move OHKO's it. Murkrow can take SE hits and has recovery which in my eyes makes it better.
Yes, Haze can work if you want to get rid of Roost or Brave Bird, but I had a hard time finding a set that could fit Haze on it. I like t-wave to neuter scarfers (especially typhlosion and archeops), taunt to prevent being put to sleep by the butterflies and also on occasion to prevent hazards, roost to keep it alive longer and Brave Bird to OHKO any dancers and also that OP Virizion.
The tier is brand new so obviously there are some very broken pokes running around, Murkrow is the best check I've found to the brokenness so far. When the tier gets sorted, I could see Liepard becoming more useful, but as it stands, I'll take the bird over the cat for now.
My only issue with your set is that Scrappy + Defog is illegal. Furthermore, you don't want to be using Defog on such a frail 'mon: let alone be locked into it. That is why I have HP Ground to hit Rock- and Steel-types which resist Boomburst and Air slash.while it's not optimal and ~generally~ inferior to physical, it's legit.
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Doublade: 111-131 (34.4 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Qwilfish: 307-363 (91.9 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Carracosta: 135-159 (46.5 - 54.8%) -- 66% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Weezing: 255-301 (76.3 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dusknoir: 147-174 (50 - 59.1%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Steelix: 134-158 (37.8 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
it bops the shit out of some traditional bird switch-ins making it a fantastic partner to other physical sweepers, has more longevity than physical sets (since you don't get owned by status dmg / SR as much) and can still be a great cleaner with boomburst. i paired it with variants of durant and wrecked shit on the ladder with it in an otherwise mediocre team under the alt STR8 GARB if any of you played me. the matches i lost in involved five straight durant misses and a critical hit + three flinches with a scarf zen headbutt mesprit. this is the set i used:
Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- U-turn
- Defog
- Air Slash
boomburst is the only move you should usually click. u-turn is alright if you predict certain switch-ins; it's helpful when you're playing against stuff that swellow can't really break through, like probopass. i use defog over hidden power ground - hp ground is literally only useful for the 4x resists like probopass and until those are more common i really can't justify using it whereas you can defog stuff like sticky web away for your partner if that's more important than getting off a boomburst at that point in time. air slash is literally only for virizion (boomburst only 2hkoes) and the flinch chance.
modest also catches everything up to durant (not archeops, sceptile) and provides a decent chunk of power and pushes a few 3HKOes to 2HKOes. examples of modest:
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Sigilyph: 252-297 (88.1 - 103.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Feraligatr: 244-288 (78.2 - 92.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gourgeist-Super: 284-336 (75.9 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Durant: 186-219 (72 - 84.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
defog is an egg move for taillow
nope. you can get it as an egg move in gen six
you don't want to be locked into a non-stab 60 bp move either (especially one that has immunities), and defog has more utility. boomburst hits 1x resists nearly as hard.
Defog's an EM for Swellow.
Besides, most of the time you're just going to click Boomburst, it doesn't really lose that much power (107.5 vs 120)
edit: ermahgerd greninjas
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