Other Good Cores (V2)

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This core is pretty cool:



Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Psychic


Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge/Rock Slide
- Superpower


Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder

This core revolves around RP lando, an often overlooked threat with serious sweeping potential. Once at +2 landorus outspeeds the entire meta (except positive nature weather abusers, but who on earth run those?). The fact that it is immune to t-wave is a great plus, seeing as many offensive teams rely heavily on prankster thundurus to stop sweepers. landorus is bulky enough to survive at least one priority attack, so if it gets a free turn late game the chances are high it's a wrap.

Latis suck when running rp lando. Scarftar deals with them every single time. Not to mention the pursuit support is useful even for random things like celebi. It also acts as a check to birdspam, most importantly it can revenge megasir and SD talon, which would otherwise threaten this core greatly. Scarftar is in general a solid teamplayer and will always pull its own weight plus more.

Offensive megasaur is such a beast holy f**k. It's mainly there to handle azumarill and keldeo for landorus but it often does much more than that. With sleep powder you have a powerful weapon against key threats. With special attack investment this does so much work. Thanks to scarftar the latis are a non-factor, meaning you can tear up the opposition freely. Now you might think "what about heatran?" I say just bring tran out and be setup fodder for lando, nothing could make me happier.

Good team mates for this core include heatran which have great synergy with venu and can set up rocks. AV azu is also great as it further patches up weaknesses and synergizes well with mega venu. For a more offensive approach one might consider keldeo because it also appreciates the pursuit support. For a way to remove hazards healing+defog latias is a good option as the healing wish is greatly appreciated for bulky offensive mons. There is definitely room for experimentation here.
 
I had a team with that core (+ Talonflame / Excadrill / Keldeo (with SR Chople Ttar)) and Venusaur + sand is definitely weird because you need Synthesis on Venu if you really wanna check Azu & Keld.

edit : I think Bisharp > Tyranitar is better because you still have a pursuiter, it can check (more or less) lati and of course you can use Synthesis on Venusaur
 
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Don't worry. Venu does its job adequately even without synthesis. Remember, this is a not meant to be a defensive team that can switch in on top threats all day.

As I said, there is room for experimentation. If you really want synthesis for a more defensive approach you can always try another pursuit trapper. Sucks that aegis gone for that (not really). Maybe bisharp? Maybe even SCARF bisharp? I gotta try that out! Just gotta find another bird spam check.

Anyway, I think you agree that RP lando has potential and is worth to teambuild around.
 
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Venusaur: 114-135 (31.3 - 37%)
+ Stealth Rock : 43,8 - 49,5%
+ Sandstorm : 49,8 - 55,5%

nice! so your keld check becomes useless after one single hit... venusaur is not a pokemon you can play like any all-out sweeper because its slow and has, in every team, a defensive job. its probably one of the single viable offensive mon in OU which can check Azumarill (considering mawile as banned) so playing it w/o synthesis is a joke to me.
 
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Adding on what boudouche said, you really should run some speed on your Venusaur. On offensive Venusaurs I usually run 60 EVs in Speed to outspeed Adamant Mawile, Adamant Azumarill and Suicune with little investiment in speed, in order to beat it in the 1v1. You could also try EQ somewhere on your Tyranitar (probably replacing Superpower) to revenge-kill weakened Mawiles, but since it'll probably get banned soon, it doesn't really matter.
 
Okay, I'm a bad battler, but I tested this to the best of my ability. Let me know if this core has any crippling weaknesses. Someone probably thought of this before me, but it's neither in this thread nor the Victory Road one.

Here's a cool offensive core:
+

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sticky Web
- Encore
- Knock Off
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Gravity
- Focus Blast
- Earth Power
- Psychic

Landorus is very powerful (as we know) and decently fast, but it's weak to being revenge killed and is annoyed by airborne Pokémon, who are immune to it's devastating STAB. Shuckle comes in as a very nice hazard lead that slows down fast mons, but cannot slow down airbornes. Gravity and Sticky Web compliment each other very much.
On Shuckle, stealth rock is to break sashes and weaken switch-ins. Sticky Web is the focus of the core, slowing down big threats to Landorus. Encore stops the enemy from setting up, and knock off can chip damage and remove items. Item and ability guarantee at least one layer of hazards.

Landorus has gravity to drop flying switch-ins and slow them down with webs. Earth Power is a devastating STAB with excellent coverage under Gravity. Focus Blast hits Ferrothorn and Tyranitar and benefits from the accuracy boost from gravity. Psychic is only there for Mega Venusaur and Conk, so sludge wave may be better for those with fairy troubles.

Threats to this core are threats to Landorus, namely Mamoswine and Weavile. Ice Shard will probaby OHKO. The core also needs it's hazards up, so bulky defoggers are dangerous. Both members of the core are weak to water, and the rare scarf Keldeo can tear it apart. Landorus is also very annoyed by non-ice priority, and needs Pokémon to absorb it. Magic Bouncers just nullify Shuckle, but they are weak to pursuit users and can be dealt with by other team members. Another problem is that Gravity does not last very long, but Landorus forces enough switches for it to not be a great issue. Finally, pretty much all Azumarill are bad for this core, stopping it dead in it's tracks.

This core absolutely needs anti-defog support and a way to stop the opponent from spinning. Because of it's trouble with Mamoswine, Weavile, and Magic Bouncers, as well as powerful water-types, it may pair well with Mega Venusaur, Bisharp / Thundurus, and/or Conkeldurr. It also wants somethind physically bulky to soak up priority moves, and I found Zapdos to work fairly well, healing with roost and keeping momentum with volt switch. I also found this core very good at removing or nullifying Mega Pinsir's checks, as Rotom, Skarmory, and Zapdos are all weak to gravity earthquake and earth power. As this core is hazard reliant, it is better to use a spinner as hazard control than defog, and be warned, hazards will go up on your side because of Shuckle's lack of taunt. A second gravity setter may be useful, but I found it difficult to fit on a team.

Despite this core's glaring defensive weaknesses, I think it's sheer offensive prowess can be very useful.

Sorry if this core sucks. Please delete if it does.
 
Presenting, GardeTran!

Gardevoir (F) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt


Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon

HOW THE CORE WORKS: The main goal of the core is to ensure a Mega Gardevoir sweep by removing all of its most reliable checks and counters. Offensive Air Balloon Heatran happens to dismantle almost all of Mega Gardevoir's checks and counters, namely: Talonflame, Jirachi, Excadrill, Mega Scizor, Doublade, and Victini by either flat-out getting screwed by one of its moves or wall them with ease but at the cost of the removal of Air Balloon. Heatran also provides an immunity to Poison-type moves, a quadruple resistance to Steel-type moves, and doesn't mind going toe to toe with OU's premier Ghost Type, Gengar. It also provides an ever-useful hazard in Stealth Rock. Mega Gardevoir also appreciates Heatran's ability to force an insane amount of switches, which generates more opportunities for safe entrance in battles.

THREATS TO THE CORE: Since Heatran's defensive prowess isn't showcased in the core too much, a general threat to the team are hard-hitting Physical attackers. A good example of this threat is CB Terrakion, who flat-out outruns and OHKO's both Mega Gardevoir and Heatran if given the opportunity yet cannot switch in to both of them. Mega Heracross also OHKO's both, but is clearly outspeed with proper speed investment (with the Speed EVs on Heatran, you outrun most variants of Mega Heracross), and has the same case of Terrakion: It can't properly switch in. Generally, the main threat to the core is giving Physical Attackers a chance to strike you, which you otherwise murder on the switch-in and can be dealt with proper plays.

POKEMON THAT CAN SUPPORT THE CORE: In order for this core to work, you would want a very sturdy Physical Wall. Examples of these are SubToxic Gliscor who can also supply countless status switch-ins, soak random Knock-Offs once Poison Heal has activated, and can wear down a myriad of Pokemon. Ferrothorn is a decent choice too, it can: lure in Fire-type moves, provide Thunder Wave support which greatly helps speed issues, Leech Seed as another form of recovery, and can wall problematic Pokemon like Azumarill and Crawdaunt. Hazard removers which can double as a decent defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz and Bulky Reflect Type Starmie can work too.
 
I'm surprised that this core wasn't brought up.

Landorus-I @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Earth Power
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Sludge Wave/Knock Off

Thundurus-I @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Nasty Plot
-ThunderBolt
-Hidden Power Flying/HP Ice
-Thunder Wave

How this core works: Here is the oh-so common Genie Spam core that has been used by many players. This core is very good wallbreaking core that let's another pokemon to sweep. Landorus and Thundurus have similar checks, so together they can wore down their checks and making it more easy for one to sweep. This is one of the core's that Stall teams will really need to watch out for as some special walls won't want to take a hit. Knock Off is slashed with Sludge wave if you want to handle Stall better and HP Ice is slashed with HP flying if you want to revenge kill dragon types or lando/gliscor.

Threats: The main threat to this core is the Latitwins. They don't mind taking a hit from Lando (barring Knock Off) or unboosted HP Ice. More threats include AV Azumarill and SpDef clefable. Azumarill can take a hit from Thundurus and use Play Rough+ Aqua Jet to KO. SpDef unaware Clefable ignores the fact that Thundurus is at +2 and can sponge it's attacks. Chansey could be very troublesome, but it will get pressured from Knock Off Landorus.

Good Teammates: Physical sweepers are great teammates for Landorus and Thundurus and they appreciate the sheer power that the genies can bring. SD Mega Scizor and Mega Mawile are very good as they both like the support that the genies brings and can check the threats to this core. Another Wallbreaker would be very nice. Specs Keldeo does a really good job at that. Defog would be really nice since these will be switching out often. The Latitwins are really good offensive Defogers. Since this core is usually on HO teams, an offensive SR user such as Terrakion and Garchomp, are great partners.
 
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verbatim

[PLACEHOLDER]
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I'd previously considered posting this in a lower tier since neither pokemon is OU, but their primary function is to act as a defensive core against prime ou mons, so it'd have been weird to anyways.



Tangrowth (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]




Alomomola (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Mirror Coat
- Wish
- Protect


Originally Rotom-H/Tangrowth/Slowbro, this core has been a mainstay in my experimentation into stall. The main purpose of this core is to provide my team with hard checks to a wide variety of powerful pokemon that can act as a check more than just once (they both have regenerator and Alo has wish protect). Specifically, Tangrowth with mixed assault vest doesn't really care about any of the genies (barring boosted sludge wave from Landorus) or any water type in general (bar Substitute / Bounce Gyara), most notably Greninja and Keldeo, and throwing out Knock Off's as they switch into something to take the Leaf Storm/predicted Sleep Powder. Alo rounds out the coverage by not caring about Talonflame/Charizard-Mega-X/Pinsir at full health with toxic. Mirror Coat is there to take advantage of the fact that none of Thundurus/Rotom Forme's/Manectric can ohko her with Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. Against Thundurus I usually Toxic because they like to T-wave, but with the other two Mirror Coating on a Volt Switch is just about an insta KO on the switch in. It's worth noting that by running Mirror Coat over Scald neither mon can directly pressure Gliscor (HP Ice puts some pressure).

The biggest threat to this core is status, so I pair them with Unaware Cleric Clefable who, apart from using Heal Bell, also provides secondary Wish support for the team.


As expected, the biggest threat to this stall core is Mega-Heracross. As of now, my battle strategy is to hope it doesn't have Bullet Seed (it usually doesn't) so Alo can tank a hit and Toxic, setting up for my 2 other protect users and Tangrowth to keep it guessing.
 
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Possible defensive core:

Donphan @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Defense / 4 Sp. Defense
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth rock

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixelate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp. Defense / 4 Sp. Attack
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect

Basically just a physical wall and a special wall. Both pokemon are used as support, Donphan to set up rocks and spin away hazards, and sylveon to pass wishes and heal status. Donphan is able to resist sylveons poison weakness and take out steel types with its earthquake. Sylveon can sponge special attacks aimed at donphan. This core may compliment Charizard-Y well, as Donphan can spin away rocks and charizard's drought lowers the power of water attacks for Donphan.
 
Well Sylveon can pass bigger wishes and hits harder with Hyper Voice but that's it, Clefable can beat some of its counters/checks with Flamethrower and Stored Power (which makes it a good stall-breaker too), has access to Calm Mind and Stealth Rock, and has 2 helpful in Unaware and Magic Guard. In few words it's basically more consistent than Sylveon and it's more flexible as well, being able to supporting lot of teams. Although Sylveon can be better than Clefable in certain teams because of its niches, Clefable is generally much better than it.
 
What's the standard way to play Tyranitar/M. Venusaur? Is an AV variant on the former viable? I'd prefer the greater special bulk - but in that case, you have EQ threatening to chip away at both of them, and M Venusaur is hampered in recovery because it's goofy to run synthesis while anticipating switching into Tyranitar all the time.
 
Regular Tyranitar is usually used either with Choice Scarf to perform as a good revenge-killer or as support of Excadrill in sand offense teams. It has a lot of cool moves like Fire Blast, Ice Beam, Crunch, Pursuit, Stone Edge and Earthquake so the choice depends on the team really, however the "standard" in sand offense teams is Stealth Rock / Crunch / Pursuit and Earthquake to not being setup fodder of things like Mawile and Bisharp but yeah Ice Beam and Fire Blast are viable options as well for example.

Venusaur has basically two sets, the offensive pivot and the defensive one. They both usually run Giga Drain / HP Fire / Sludge Bomb / Synthesis (Earthquake can be helpful to hit Heatran as well, but HP Fire is much more useful because it hits things like Mawile, Scizor and Skarmory which are more common than Heatran which is a pokèmon easily to wear down anyway since it lacks a recovery move) and they only difference in the EV spread and the Nature they carry, of course the offensive pivot one is more common in balanced teams and acts like a bulky and poweful attacker while the defensive one is common in some stall teams and it's much bulkier but weaker.

That isn't the right section for these kind of questions anyway, here you should post good cores or comment at the already posted ones. The next time check that : http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-simple-questions-simple-answers-read-the-op-first.3489309/
 
Hey guys, I'm here with a funny defensive core :

Ampharos (M) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dragon Pulse
- Volt Switch

Skarmory (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind

Talonflame (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Taunt
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Overheat / Will-O-Wisp

This defensive core is just amazing against the classic VolTurn : Rotom-W / Landorus-T or Rotom-W / (Mega) Scizor.

MAmpharos just walls Rotom, too funny to see this, and the Rocky Helmet on Skarmory is just too powerfull...
Pokemons with high SpA or Atq are a problem to this core, such as Specs Keldeo, Gardevoir, Medicham and Heracross, plus pokemon such as Ferrothorn... and guess what ? Talonflame just destroys all of them. For the moveset, i prefer Overheat over Flareblitz cause i don't really like the damage recoil. Don't worry if you don't want to use Overheat, WoW can work too. Taunt is specially for the CM Clefable and Mew (bye bye..)
I can just recommend Ferrothorn to add on this core, specially for the Lati@s and Tyranitar...
Tell me what you think guys, hope you like it ! (Sad that I reveal my stall team but nevermind...)
 
Why Relaxed Nature and then have Speed Investment?

0- SpA Talonflame Overheat vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 304-360 (86.3 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO (43.8% with SR)

0- SpA Talonflame Overheat vs. 248 HP / 100 SpD Mega Scizor: 360-424 (104.9 - 123.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0- SpA Talonflame Overheat vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Scizor: 280-336 (81.3 - 97.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

The targets you'd really use Overheat on pretty much get roasted even with a negative SpA nature, so why not lower that instead of lowering your speed and then putting speed EVs on it?
 
With this speed investment Talonflame just outspeed Bisharp and Mew, then we can use WoW or Taunt, but yeah you're right in your analyze! I will fix that: put an Impish nature and some speed investisment to outspeed Adamant Mamoswine or even Jolly Mamoswine. Neutral Talonflame outspeed Mamo without any speed invest, so we can put some atq invest.
 
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Well Sylveon can pass bigger wishes and hits harder with Hyper Voice but that's it, Clefable can beat some of its counters/checks with Flamethrower and Stored Power (which makes it a good stall-breaker too), has access to Calm Mind and Stealth Rock, and has 2 helpful in Unaware and Magic Guard. In few words it's basically more consistent than Sylveon and it's more flexible as well, being able to supporting lot of teams. Although Sylveon can be better than Clefable in certain teams because of its niches, Clefable is generally much better than it.
To the set that he quoted in particular and it's usage, it is safe to say that Clef definitely does it's job better than Sylv. Clef can suck up status if you run Magic Guard (Meaning he can block sleep as well, which is honestly very very nice if you ask me) and it can also set rocks. Being able to set Rocks and do what Sylv wanted to do (Which is to basically Wishpass and the Status support) and having access to a more stable Calm Mind set due to instant recovery (Correct me if I am wrong but Sylv can only get Wish) and the lack of immediate need to heal off status if statused (Toxic/Burn would be highly annoying on Slyv and applies pressure on the Sylv user to Heal Bell which is momentum killing) immediately puts Clef on a tier that is higher than Sylv. Sylveon's real niche (IMO. I could be wrong) is having Pixilate Hyper Voice to hit through subs (Coupled with Specs and this thing hits like a beast) and having Baton Pass to be able to soft pass to other mons without having that mon in particular take butt ton of damage due to Slyv's amazing SpDef bulk. Both mons are definitely good, but Clef outclasses Sylv in this manner.

Hence conclusion:
Yes.
Clefable >>>>>>>> Slyveon

Edit: Just to add on. Clef gets Flamethrower/Fire Blast. Which maims it's steel type switch ins in the Sun. (Using the team member @smashbroski77 provided other than Donphan -who is severely outclassed by Excadrill.)
 
To the set that he quoted in particular and it's usage, it is safe to say that Clef definitely does it's job better than Sylv. Clef can suck up status if you run Magic Guard (Meaning he can block sleep as well, which is honestly very very nice if you ask me) and it can also set rocks. Being able to set Rocks and do what Sylv wanted to do (Which is to basically Wishpass and the Status support) and having access to a more stable Calm Mind set due to instant recovery (Correct me if I am wrong but Sylv can only get Wish) and the lack of immediate need to heal off status if statused (Toxic/Burn would be highly annoying on Slyv and applies pressure on the Sylv user to Heal Bell which is momentum killing) immediately puts Clef on a tier that is higher than Sylv. Sylveon's real niche (IMO. I could be wrong) is having Pixilate Hyper Voice to hit through subs (Coupled with Specs and this thing hits like a beast) and having Baton Pass to be able to soft pass to other mons without having that mon in particular take butt ton of damage due to Slyv's amazing SpDef bulk. Both mons are definitely good, but Clef outclasses Sylv in this manner.

Hence conclusion:
Yes.
Clefable >>>>>>>> Slyveon

Edit: Just to add on. Clef gets Flamethrower/Fire Blast. Which maims it's steel type switch ins in the Sun. (Using the team member @smashbroski77 provided other than Donphan -who is severely outclassed by Excadrill.)
Your problem here is that "Clefable >>>>>>>> Sylveon" is a generalization. Clefable can perform many roles (CM sweeper, SR, Rocker, Offensive), but the go-to Wishpasser/Cleric is Sylveon because of it's amazing defenses when running Phys. defensive set. Also, keep in mind this is a core, so your Cleric doesn't have to have SR and a Fire move, these moves can be on the other 4 members of the team. Sylveon commonly runs Hyper Voice/Heal Bell/Protect/Wish btw. Sylveon's "niche" is not Pixilate Hyper Voice.
 
Your problem here is that "Clefable >>>>>>>> Sylveon" is a generalization. Clefable can perform many roles (CM sweeper, SR, Rocker, Offensive), but the go-to Wishpasser/Cleric is Sylveon because of it's amazing defenses when running Phys. defensive set. Also, keep in mind this is a core, so your Cleric doesn't have to have SR and a Fire move, these moves can be on the other 4 members of the team. Sylveon commonly runs Hyper Voice/Heal Bell/Protect/Wish btw. Sylveon's "niche" is not Pixilate Hyper Voice.
Go-to Wish passer is definitely Sylveon but not because it is bulkier with regards to PDef. In actual fact it is more so because Sylveon has insane SDef bulk. Clef (95/73/90) with Defense investments > Sylv (95/65/130) with Def investments. Just so we get this clear, Slyv and Clef at max HP pass the same Wish HP value. AND Clef ALSO gets Heal bell so your whole Sylveon is the go to Wishpasser/Cleric point is moot. The thing about Slyv that makes people want to play it, is that it hits like a truck with Pixilate Hyper Voice (which you do not need Calm Mind for it hit hard), which Clef doesn't get. If that isn't Slyv's niche then I don't know what is because it would be outclassed by Clef as a whole.
 
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Thugly Duckling

I play TCG now


~Why this core function ?
-Mega Heracross is the one of the most stallbreaker now, with the ban of aegi, he can destroy everything, the best treaths of mega-hero are Talonflame and Pinsir and Raikou can check both.




@ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Hidden Power [Ice]

Volt Switch is for momentum, thunderbolt is the stab, shadow ball is for latwins and you can choose HP Grass for quag or HP Ice for lando.

@ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Rock Blast

INSANE POWER, after the dance he can destroy everything and with close combat he can 2ohko quag, the best stallbreaker of this meta after the ban of aegi.
Respectful. you core stealer, HeraKou was my idea. Look at the date comparison of your message and my original post. Jeezus no one comes up with their own ideas these days...

My original post
 

Jacks0n

formerly grassycow

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

and/or


Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake


and


Magnezone @ Choice Scarf or Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature or Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon

How this Core Works: Both scarf landorus therian and Mega Pinsir are devastating cleaners and sweepers. Both, however have trouble with bulky steels such as ferro, skarm and defensive mega scizor. This is were magnezone comes in, it is able to come in on all three steels, trap them and take them out. Leaving landorus therian and/or mega pinsir to clean/sweep a lot more easilier. Both dislike flying attacks, ice attacks and electric attacks, and magnezone can switch in on them and either foce the users out, or KO them or pivot to another pokemon. This core has become extremely popular on the High OU ladder and has also seen some tour usage.

Threats: There are a few threats to this core. Firstly, rotom wash is a devastating pokemon that can beat all of these pokemon 1 v 1. Bulky grounds like hippo and opposing landorus therian are also very dangerous. Birds are also dangerous, mainly t-flame as it can flare blitz magnezone. Heatran, keldeo and thundurus w/ focus blast can also be a big pain to switch into.

Good Teammates: This core loves both bulky grass pivots and bulky water pivots. Both rotom wash and baton pass celebi work amazingly with the team, covering pretty much all of the threats while being able to provide momentum (and in celebi's case provide stealth rock if necessary). Those two pokemon along cover the rotom wash, bulky ground, bird, heatran, keldeo and thundurus problems with themselves.
 
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Landorus-T @ Choice-Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP/ 252 Atk / 232 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
- U-Turn
- Knock Off / Stealth Rocks



Starmie @ Assault Vest
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 24 HP/ 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 228 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk IVs
- Hydro Pump / Scald
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock / Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

I've been experimenting with this core on my HO Team and it worked pretty well so far and since it got me back to the Top 500 after I took a long break from OU, I figured it should be good enough to post it here. I always wanted to use Scarf Lando-T on HO because of its revenge-killing qualities and ability to check sand offense and bird spam (both can be pretty troublesome to deal with on HO) but I always had trouble finding a spot for it. With ScarfDrill I already had a ground type and a scarfer and there simply wasn't an other similarly viable spinner which would fit on a HO team. But now that Aegi is gone, it seemed like giving Starmie a go wouldn't be a bad idea. I know that Starmie is outclassed offensively by Greninja and by the Lati-twins as an offensive hazard remover but Greninja can't spin and Defog removes your own hazards as well and on HO you always want your hazards to stay.

What makes this core valuable is that it can take some hits from both the physical (Lando-T) and special side (Starmie) while maintaining offensive pressure thanks to their speed and power(Lando)/coverage(Starmie) and providing very useful utility in pivoting and harzard control plus having decent defensive synergy (Starmie takes care of Lando's Water/Ice-weaknesses). Not having a Life Orb and Analytic does take its toll on Starmie's offensive presence (like only a 25% chance to OHKO Thundurus-I after SR damage with Ice Beam :-/) but it also has some pretty useful advantages like avoiding OHKOs from defensive Zapdos, Lati@s, Greninja without Dark Pulse, Lando-I without Knock Off or MegaGardevoir and no LO recoil (especially from spinning, I always hated that lol), which makes it way easier to switch Starmie in and get off a spin in case that's neccassary. Natural Cure to sponge up status, especially burns for your physical attackers, can also be very helpful and combined with AV it makes Starmie a great switch-in for Heatran, Keldeo and standard Greninja and especially the latter two can be very threatening for HO teams. The defensive set with Reflect Type and Recover isn't really a good option on HO since it takes away too much momentum, IMO at least. Because of their lack of recovery the switch-ins you can make with these two are limited but since this core was made for a HO team, it's not that big of a deal, having safe switch-ins on HO without sacking a team member isn't exactly common afterall.

Spreads and sets can be changed depending on the rest of the team, if you don't want to dedicate a team slot for a reliable SR setter, you can slap SR on Lando-T, although I don't consider this a good option tbh and Rock Slide can be used over Stone Edge for better accuracy. 232 Speed EVs ensure you always outspeed ScarfDrill, the remaining EVs can be used for either HP or Defense.
On Starmie I use 228 Speed EVs to always outspeed Thundurus and to speed-creep Raikou, which usually runs 224 and has the same base, the remaining 28 are pretty much optional. Scald is also an option for getting burns but Hydro Pump's is more useful IMO. T-bolt is an other option for Azumarill (Psyshock does more damage though if Azu is AV), (Mega)Gyarados and other water-types.

Main threats to this core are Azumarill, which is a pain in the ass for pretty much any HO team, Ferrothorn, which completely walls both and pursuit trappers. If I'm missing something feel free to let me know.

Specific support isn't really required, since the core itself is doing the supporting for the rest of the team by allowing you to switch out your sweepers/wallbreakers to safe them for later, soften up opposing teams and provide the already mentioned utility. Thus good teammates are basically any Pokemon which fit on HO and appreciate Rapid Spin support like Dragonite, Talonflame, Charizard, Thundurus or Pinsir.
 
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