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IMO I think BB Fletchinder just shouldn't be considered too much. It has a pretty bad Attack stat. It hits a very limited amount of Pokemon due to its low Attack stat so it isn't very spammable. I'm not saying this idea is terrible, as with 0 Attack EVs it can OHKO Hitmonlee with BB and with 252 EVs OHKOs Yanmega. The only thing is that's the only merit it gets for this, it can't exactly pull of the "Talonflame" where it just hits everything hard
IMO I think BB Fletchinder just shouldn't be considered too much. It has a pretty bad Attack stat. It hits a very limited amount of Pokemon due to its low Attack stat so it isn't very spammable. I'm not saying this idea is terrible, as with 0 Attack EVs it can OHKO Hitmonlee with BB and with 252 EVs OHKOs Yanmega. The only thing is that's the only merit it gets for this, it can't exactly pull of the "Talonflame" where it just hits everything hard
The difference beetween their base attack is a whopping 8, so it just hits as hard with its BraveBird
The big edge of Talonflame over Fletchlinder is access to a strong physical Fire attack in Flare Blitz, while Fletchlinder has to resort of the weak Flame Charge. Also high as fuck speed is nice when dealing with a threath that resists Brave Bird but not Flare Blitz.
However, the ability of holding Choice Band or Eviolite is still a godsend for Fletchlinder, and will definitely shake up the metagame to some extent, tbh it's miles more influential than the completely irrilevant Strong Jaw Sharpedo(Yes, you have a very strong Crunch, so what? Rampardos has a very strong Head Smash too).
IMO I think BB Fletchinder just shouldn't be considered too much. It has a pretty bad Attack stat. It hits a very limited amount of Pokemon due to its low Attack stat so it isn't very spammable. I'm not saying this idea is terrible, as with 0 Attack EVs it can OHKO Hitmonlee with BB and with 252 EVs OHKOs Yanmega. The only thing is that's the only merit it gets for this, it can't exactly pull of the "Talonflame" where it just hits everything hard
Actually Fletchinder's base attack stat is only 7 points lower than Talonflame's so Fletchinder's Brave Bird would only be slightly weaker here. Of course this is just a Brave Bird Fletchinder not a BB+Flare Blitz Fletchinder theorymon, but i'd say that saying Fletchinder lacks power when its actual base attack stat is so close to Talonflame is incorrect.
Anyways, i'm actually pretty damn interested in the idea of Slack Off Granbull. Fairy is a pretty solid physically defensive typing between its resistances to Dark and Fighting-type moves (these are the most important since most of the Bug-types in RU have a steel subtype anyway), as well as that immunity to Outrage etc (watch out for sheer force gunk shot and iron head., and Granbull has the combination of outright physical bulk and Intimidate to really take advantage of that. All it really needs to be a damn good defensive Pokemon is a way to recover hp, and Slack Off gives it such a method to keep itself healthy and check/counter said physical threats through the entire match. If Granbull were to obtain Slack Off, i think that the best set would be the one below.
Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Earthquake / Fire Punch
- Heal Bell / Roar
- Slack Off
This set maximizes Granbull's intimidate bolstered bulk as much as possible and allows it to check all kinds of physical attacking Pokemon including Hitmonlee, Gallade, Rhyperior, Zoroark, physical Sharpedo, Druddigon, Emboar, Virizion, and more for things such as bulky offense, balance, and possibly even full stall. All while recovering off all the damage with Slack Off whenever it gets the chance. Granbull doesn't just check physical attackers though, as it has a slot that it can use to support its team as well with either Heal Bell or Roar. Heal Bell lets Granbull turn into a solid physically defensive cleric that can remove annoying status such as Toxic, Sleep, and Thunder Wave from its entire team in one turn, making it absolutely invaluable to teams that appreciate this (think stall). If Roar is chosen, Granbull becomes one of the best bulky phazers in the tier, and can use its immense physical bulk (to put its bulk into perspective it takes physical hits just a little bit better than Alomomola with Intimidate tacked on!) with Intimidate to phaze out scary set up sweepers before they can rack up enough boosts to sweep, this also racks up hazards damage, so any team that relies on entry hazards a lot to do damage quickly (once again, think stall) will really appreciate this. Lastly, Granbull's great base 120 base attack stat means that it can do pretty considerable amounts of damage to the things that its walling, especially with an offensive type like fairy, which means that it doesn't just simply sit there until it dies like some other defensive Pokemon do.
Overall Slack Off Granbull would be quite the excellent defensive Pokemon, and i'd imagine it to see a lot of use on all kinds of defensively leaning teams.
I really like Brave Bird Fletchinder and i don't understand Strong Jaw sharpedo lol wtf
as lets it run Eviolite or Choice Band with less concerns, an Eviolite Stallbreaker set with Taunt/Brave Bird/Wisp/Roost would probably be pretty good and the Standard SD would appreciate the extra bulk and Power. CB has like Return and U-Turn as offensive moves bar its STABS (and Flame Charge is balls) but i think something like Brave Bird/U-Turn/Sleep Talk/Flame Charge|Return will be viable
Actually Fletchinder's base attack stat is only 7 points lower than Talonflame's so Fletchinder's Brave Bird would only be slightly weaker here. Of course this is just a Brave Bird Fletchinder not a BB+Flare Blitz Fletchinder theorymon, but i'd say that saying Fletchinder lacks power when its actual base attack stat is so close to Talonflame is incorrect.
Anyways, i'm actually pretty damn interested in the idea of Slack Off Granbull. Fairy is a pretty solid physically defensive typing between its resistances to Dark and Fighting-type moves (these are the most important since most of the Bug-types in RU have a steel subtype anyway), as well as that immunity to Outrage etc (watch out for sheer force gunk shot and iron head., and Granbull has the combination of outright physical bulk and Intimidate to really take advantage of that. All it really needs to be a damn good defensive Pokemon is a way to recover hp, and Slack Off gives it such a method to keep itself healthy and check/counter said physical threats through the entire match. If Granbull were to obtain Slack Off, i think that the best set would be the one below.
Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Earthquake / Fire Punch
- Heal Bell / Roar
- Slack Off
This set maximizes Granbull's intimidate bolstered bulk as much as possible and allows it to check all kinds of physical attacking Pokemon including Hitmonlee, Gallade, Rhyperior, Zoroark, physical Sharpedo, Druddigon, Emboar, Virizion, and more for things such as bulky offense, balance, and possibly even full stall. All while recovering off all the damage with Slack Off whenever it gets the chance. Granbull doesn't just check physical attackers though, as it has a slot that it can use to support its team as well with either Heal Bell or Roar. Heal Bell lets Granbull turn into a solid physically defensive cleric that can remove annoying status such as Toxic, Sleep, and Thunder Wave from its entire team in one turn, making it absolutely invaluable to teams that appreciate this (think stall). If Roar is chosen, Granbull becomes one of the best bulky phazers in the tier, and can use its immense physical bulk (to put its bulk into perspective it takes physical hits just a little bit better than Alomomola with Intimidate tacked on!) with Intimidate to phaze out scary set up sweepers before they can rack up enough boosts to sweep, this also racks up hazards damage, so any team that relies on entry hazards a lot to do damage quickly (once again, think stall) will really appreciate this. Lastly, Granbull's great base 120 base attack stat means that it can do pretty considerable amounts of damage to the things that its walling, especially with an offensive type like fairy, which means that it doesn't just simply sit there until it dies like some other defensive Pokemon do.
Overall Slack Off Granbull would be quite the excellent defensive Pokemon, and i'd imagine it to see a lot of use on all kinds of defensively leaning teams.
This basically. Slack Off makes Granbull be the wall it always wanted to be. Fairy type is good defensive typing, Intimidate is cool, just watch out for Deviant/Competitive stuff.
Heal Bell is also cool to have, especially on something that looks like this.
However now that is has reliable recovery it can do this kind of stuff.
Granbull @ Leftovers/Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Earthquake
- Bulk Up
- Slack Off
Basically this works like BU Gallade. Come in on stuff like Virizion or Sharpedo and set up. Ground+Fairy is amazing coverage, only missing out on Bronzong and Moltres. Leftovers or Lum comes down to personal preference but since Granbull is quite slow, it will be catching status moves from stuff like Alomomola and Jellicent.
I was going to suggest the cleric set but Molk already stole it >:[
Brave Bird Fletchinder: This would definitely be an upgrade for Fletchinder. While the lack of a strong Fire-type STAB move is still glaring, it would be greatly appreciated if it had Brave Bird. With this, Fletchinder could hold Life Orb, Choice Band, or even Eviolite to be a much better threat. Yeah, Eviolite might not seem like the best idea, but Fire/Flying isn't that bad of a defensive typing (sans the 4x weakness to Rocks of course) and it has priority Roost to heal up when necessary. Only downside I can see is non-Eviolite sets just dying very quickly due to BB recoil. That and Choice Band would really lack a 4th move to effectively utilize (BB, U-Turn, Tailwind/Wisp, ?)
Levitate Doublade: Ultimate Rhyperior stop right here. This is definitely an upgrade from No Guard, which has no use on Doublade whatsoever. While this does nothing to help it against the likes of Delphox and Moltres, the ability to easily come in on Ground-type moves when it's normally a weakness is never a bad thing. This would make any Rhyperior think twice about using EQ since Doublade's physical bulk is insane with Eviolite and SD makes it a serious offensive threat too.
Slack Off Granbull: This is kinda needed to be perfectly honest. As it stands now, the only good defensive Fairy-type is Aromatisse, who must be EVed heavily in physical defense (196 EVs to be exact) just to avoid the 2HKO from Reckless Hitmonlee's HJK. That's kinda sad since this will make it more susceptible to special attackers in general. With Slack Off, Granbull would be a fantastic switch-in to the likes of Hitmonlee, Zoroark, and Sharpedo (watch out for mixed sets!) While Granbull would still have some issues 4MSS, the reliable recovery would be well worth the problem.
tbh I dont really like BB Fletchinder and Strong Jaw Sharpedo. Sharpedo is flavor and nothing else. Fletchinder is literally the same. iirc talonflame usually uses acro over BB anyways.
Slack Off Granbull would be cool. It has decent stats and just doesnt have reliable recovery. not much to say here.
Levitate doublade really takes the cake here. It switches from an ability that hinders it to one that helps is immensely without breaking it. I actually like Doublade a lot and it is a key member on my favorite RU team atm. Not much to say here, but I would like it a lot
Even though it really doesn't want to give up Speed Boost, I decided to give Strong Jaw Sharpedo a chance. Its base 95 speed without Speed Boost would have to relegate it to a wall-breaking role. The power boost to Crunch and Ice Fang does give it a few nice OHKOs after rocks on things like Druddigon, Durant, Gallade, Gorebyss, and Virizion. However, Durant and Virizion outspeed and OHKO themselves, so unless Sharpedo predicts right, he loses to those, and he can't really switch in on any of them. While it does have a chance to 2HKO and OHKO dominant physical walls like Alomomola and Cresselia, respectively, with Strong Jaw after rocks, the chances of doing so are only ~13% for each, not reliable enough to warrant the loss of sweeping potential imo. Not to mention that certain walls, like Tangrowth and Gligar, still take more damage from Ice Beam than a Strong Jaw Ice Fang. He does improve against slightly less common bulky pokes like Uxie, Qwilfish, and Gastrodon though, and all calcs were taken with Life Orb. There might be a niche with Choice Band, but probably not worth using over Speed Boost 95% of the time.
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Druddigon: 312-369 (87.1 - 103%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Durant: 242-285 (93.7 - 110.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Gallade: 374-442 (110 - 130%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gorebyss: 253-300 (100.3 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Virizion: 374-442 (115.4 - 136.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 220-261 (41.1 - 48.8%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 335-398 (75.4 - 89.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Brave Bird Fletchinder is kind of like Sharpedo, receiving a large boost to his main spammable attack, since Brave Bird allows you to hold an item effectively. However, Fletchinder isn't really giving anything up in return. When you're as naturally frail as Fletchinder is, you don't really care about Brave Bird recoil all that much, and I feel like Choice Band Brave Bird would turn Fletchinder into a nice revenge killer. After rocks, Fletchinder can now reliably OHKO Delphox, Escavalier, Cinccino, Zangoose, Hitmontop, Togetic, Froslass, Zoroark, and Moltres, with a chance to OHKO Gorebyss, Slurpuff, Cinccino, Exploud, Meowstic, Rotom-C, and Durant. Not the smallest list by any means. That said, he's still not getting past Rhyperior, Alomomola, or Cresselia anytime soon, and his poor bulk means Pokemon like Reuniclus can live a hit and can often OHKO back with neutral STABs like Psychic. The prevalence of these last few means he may not become a top threat, but he will become a nice panic button for many more teams with this buff.
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Delphox: 288-340 (98.6 - 116.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Flame Charge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 352-420 (102.3 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Froslass: 295-348 (104.9 - 123.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zoroark: 333-393 (127.5 - 150.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Moltres: 241-285 (74.8 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gorebyss: 211-250 (83.7 - 99.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Fletchinder Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Durant: 201-237 (77.9 - 91.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Levitate Doublade just feels weird to me, don't ask me why. Part of it may be because many of the common offensive Earthquake users bar Rhyperior and Mega-Abomasnow have other ways of getting around it, be it by Knock Off (which is ten times worse for an Eviolite user), Sucker Punch, or Fire/Dark STAB attacks. However, the real strength comes in the form of set-up opportunities. Also, many common defensive pokemon (Gligar, Bronzong, Registeel, Claydol) that only really have Earthquake to damage Doublade barely scratch him with Earthquake anyways, so while he isn't worn down as easily from these threats, it's not like he doesn't gain many set up opportunities he didn't already have. That said, even a little advantage is better than No Guard, which on Doublade is more of a weakness due to his movepool.
252+ Atk Rhyperior Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 45-53 (13.9 - 16.4%) -- possible 7HKO
252+ SpA Mega Abomasnow Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Doublade: 117-138 (36.3 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after hail damage
0 Atk Gligar Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 84-98 (26 - 30.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
4 Atk Registeel Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 56-66 (17.3 - 20.4%) -- possible 5HKO
4 Atk Bronzong Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 62-74 (19.2 - 22.9%) -- possible 5HKO
I, like many others in this thread, am really interested in Slack Off Granbull. Every defensive pokemon gets better with reliable recovery, as it can increase your longevity tenfold. He has more physical bulk than the other major Intimidate users, even more physical bulk than Alomomola factoring in Intimidate. He also has a nice defensive typing in Fairy, and a surprisingly not horrible support movepool with Heal Bell, Thunder Wave, Roar, and Reflect, so he won't be totally useless outside of taking hits. He also has a nice base 120 attack stat and great 2 move coverage in Fairy/Ground, which also allows him to play a bit more like a tank if needed. Even though not a lot of this directly changes from having recovery, being harder to wear down makes all of those roles much more effective. In particular I think Molk's set will be the standard, although full support, bulky boosting, or tank sets may also become more viable. This is harder to calc for since it basically hard walls anything that can't 2HKO it now, but that may be why it's so interesting.
tbh I dont really like BB Fletchinder and Strong Jaw Sharpedo. Sharpedo is flavor and nothing else. Fletchinder is literally the same. iirc talonflame usually uses acro over BB anyways.
It's no secret that SD is their best set right now. This is due in large part to the fact that both have to rely on Focus Blast for special sets. This would give them more versatility by allowing them to run CM sets without relying on Focus Miss, though the power nerf to Aura Sphere in XY would still mean it's harder to sweep with their CM sets than it would be their SD sets.
Anyways.... oh god Tough Claws Druddigon would be incredible. The vast majority of Druddigon's most common moves (Outrage, Dragon Claw, Sucker Punch, Fire Punch, Superpower the rare Thunderpunch, random Iron Head etc etc all get the boost off the top of my head) are Contact moves, meaning they all pretty much get the equivalent of a free Life Orb boost. Considering that Druddigon already hits pretty damn hard, this 33% boost makes even Druddigon without a boosting item absolutely devastating to face and almost impossible to safely switch into. To put this sheer power into perspective, Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon's Outrage actually outdamages Choice Band Reckless Hitmonlee's High Jump Kick by a small amount, which both already outdamage Choice Band Aggron's Head Smash (not saying you should all use CB Hitmonlee over Life Orb or anything, i just gave them the same boosting item for calcing purposes), and unlike Hitmonlee, Druddigon has great bulk on both sides and really handy resistances to Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric-type moves, making it significantly easier to get Druddigon in to fire off this Outrage. Overall a pretty straightforward buff imo. Either way, i'm going to be putting some damage calculations of CB Tough Claws Druddigon in the hide tags below, so be sure to check them out if you want to know just what feats Tough Claws Druddigon could achieve.
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 339-399 (63.4 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aromatisse: 222-262 (54.6 - 64.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 250-295 (61.8 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Registeel: 238-282 (65.3 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Registeel: 143-168 (39.2 - 46.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 160-190 (49.6 - 59%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 189-223 (56.5 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 258-304 (58.1 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Reuniclus: 351-414 (82.7 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Sceptile: 255-301 (90.4 - 106.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 195-229 (56.6 - 66.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Yanmega: 204-240 (64.9 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Recover Registeel: My god this would make Registeel so much better. The problem for all the defensive Steel-types in the tier currently is a lack of reliable recovery, so it's p. easy to overwhelm them by stacking sweepers with each other (Electric spam, stacking Barbaracle + Omastar, etc.) With Recover, Registeel becomes what would arguably be the best special wall in the entire tier, and perhaps one of the best in the entire game due to its typing and general lack of weaknesses to common SpA-based types. Lack of a Steel STAB or a status move can hurt at times, but the reliable recovery would be well worth it imo.
Flash Fire Delphox: Well, this is definitely a step up from Magician (assuming this over Magician since all Fire-type starters have Blaze as a standard ability) As neat as this would be, I'm not sure how useful it would be here in RU. The two most common Fire-types are Delphox (you have nothing on unless you have Shadow Ball) and Moltres (can very easily Hurricane) and Zoroark is the most common Pokemon that runs Fire-type coverage. I mean, I guess it would make it safer to switch into Emboar, but it could very easily be a mixed set with Sucker Punch. It's a great idea, but I'm just not too sure how useful it would be since most users of Fire-type moves have ways of beating Delphox anyway, unless they're Choiced of course.
Tough Claws Druddigon: Well, Molk covered p. much everything on this one, but I do want to add in one more bit of info here. With Tough Claws, Druddigon could also very easily run Assault Vest while still having some really powerful moves. This would ease its ability to switch-in and it would still have really good power behind its attacks thanks to Tough Claws. Also, best reasoning in the world imo.
Started this on phone so the formatting may be a bit weird.
Tough Claws Druddigon: Obligatory reasoning quip here. As Molk calcs show, this would wreck just about everything. Only defensive monsters like Steelix have can avoid being 2HKOed after rocks by the right move. Granbull might force Drudd to run Iron Head for a 2HKO/OHKO, as otherwise Granbull actually counters Drudd pretty well, being immune to Outrage and tanking 2 hits from his other coverage while potentially OHKOing back with Play Rough.
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Granbull: 144-170 (37.5 - 44.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Granbull: 306-360 (79.6 - 93.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Granbull Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Druddigon: 336-396 (93.8 - 110.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Druddigon Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Steelix: 146-174 (41.2 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Flash Fire Delphox: Obviously better than what he has, and I actually think this will affect the meta more than Delphox's viability. It stems from the fact that Delphox is already one of the most used Pokemon in the meta atm (top 3-4 depending on weighting system). Now that up to 1 in 6 teams have a Pokemon that is immune to Fire, the incentive to spam Fire type moves decreases significantly, including Phox herself. I think Delphox will end choiced Fire type moves like Nidoqueen basically ended choiced Electric type moves during her reign last gen. Ironically, this buff may kind of nerf her by limiting the effectiveness of her own Specs and Scarf sets.
Recover Registeel: I mentioned this with Slack Off Granbull, but giving any wall reliable recovery is a major improvement. In Registeel's case, it's arguably better since Steel, despite the nerf is still one of if not the best defensive types in the game with 11 resistances. It also can support the team with TWave and rocks, not amazing, but good enough to make abusing its incredible bulk worthwhile now. As I mentioned before, it's hard to calc but the biggest gain comes from the things that 3HKO it now, since it can now effectively Recover-stall them if needed.
Fur Coat Lopunny: I'm a bit skeptical on this one. Yeah her defenses are solid now, but she faces competition with Audino (who's pretty mediocre in her own right). Yeah, Lopunny wins in physical bulk (by quite a bit though), but Audino wins just about everywhere else. Their support options are almost identical, but Audino gets the amazing Wish while Lopunny only has Switcheroo. Not to mention she has to rely on RestTalk for recovery while Audino has Regenerator and the aforementioned Wish. They both have mediocre defensive typings with few resistances, so Lopunny gets worn down easily. Her only possible options (not necessarily viable) are RestTalk with Circle Throw like BW2 Poliwrath, and TrickScarf (or Band or whatever) using Switcheroo. The RestTalk set has problems since most physical boosters either have Fighting STAB or can run Fighting coverage right now. The Switcheroo sets wouldn't be all that different from the Klutz sets she already uses, since her speed was already high enough to outspeed most defensive Pokemon, and Klutz meant she could use a different move before switching items. Don't get me wrong, this is still a huge buff for her. She can live two banded Escavalier Megahorns with max defense, which is insane bulk. However, given where she started, it may not be enough to overcome her other weaknesses.
252+ Atk Choice Band Escavalier Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Lopunny: 133-157 (39.8 - 47%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Lopunny: 71-84 (21.2 - 25.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Aura Sphere Virizion: EonX's reasoning feels on point here. I don't have a mass of calcs that show exactly what OHKOs and 2HKOs are lost by the power drop, but I'm pretty sure Aura Sphere is still an upgrade. The SD set is still better from a purely offensive standpoint (120 and 90 BP STABs at +2 for SD vs 75 and 80 at +1 for CM), but now CM sets have use when Virizion needs to be more bulky since Giga Drain provides some recovery and his nice SpDef is boosted as well. It'll cut into the small niches of special attacking grass types a bit.
+1 252 SpA Virizion Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Magneton: 270-320 (88.8 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 SpA Virizion Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Magneton: 408-480 (134.2 - 157.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 SpA Virizion Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Registeel: 168-198 (46.1 - 54.3%) -- 5.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Registeel: 248-294 (68.1 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Braviary: 193-228 (47.7 - 56.4%) -- 28.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Braviary: 288-340 (71.2 - 84.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gastrodon: 180-213 (42.2 - 50%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gastrodon: 270-318 (63.3 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tangrowth: 264-312 (65.3 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA Virizion Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tangrowth: 396-466 (98 - 115.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
Recover Registeel: I mentioned this with Slack Off Granbull, but giving any wall reliable recovery is a major improvement. In Registeel's case, it's arguably better since Steel, despite the nerf is still one of if not the best defensive types in the game with 11 resistances. It also can support the team with TWave and rocks, not amazing, but good enough to make abusing its incredible bulk worthwhile now. As I mentioned before, it's hard to calc but the biggest gain comes from the things that 3HKO it now, since it can now effectively Recover-stall them if needed.
What you said there is basically the gist of why I thought recover on registeel would be good. 3hkos are now less threatening and registeel has an easier time getting up rocks and functioning as a wall throughout the entirety of a game.
Seeing as how this thread hasn't had a post in well over 8 months prior to your own, it should be evident that it died out due to inactivity. If you're interested in starting a thread like this of your own, then send a pm to the forum mods to get it approved before hand. Locking.
