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Jernmax I obviously know that Psyshock and Secret Sword hit on the physical side, but the point is, conk can't even do the role of special tank well if it can't switchin to the dominant special attackers in the tier. There's really not much use to it if it can't do its role well because it can't even switchin to these things.
Conk wouldn't switch into any of those anyways so that's a moot point at best. I'm neutral on Conk but at the very least make accurate arguments. Strong Special attackers like Thundy, Raikou, Mega Mane, and Manaphy are beaten by Conk 1v1 so saying that he can't beat the dominant special attackers in the tier is false anyways because the ones I listed are everywhere (bar mane but w/e).
The tgrd set is really really a huge pain for stall to face. You say that other wallbreaker such Mhera and Mzard y just need 1 free turn and fire off a powerful attack and watch something die, and this is most of the time true, but it's the same way easy for manaphy to get in against stall and set up. It cannot be taken down by status thanks to hydratation and rain dance and his bulk is enough against stall to set up cm and rain dance and start killing stuff. It also has the ability to beat the two unaware mons we usually find on stall because Quagsire is easily weared down and in rain Clefable can't win because scald burn and enough damage of scald in rain. The real thing is that it can be phazed thanks to whirlwind/roar and mons such as amoonguss easily click clear smog and stop the sweep. Amoonguss anyway isn't that common and the ability of manaphy to beat stall is very notable
Tg + 3attacks is a pain for balance to deal with and it can easily dismantle balance build with low team support. Yes it wishes it could have tg, scald, hp fire, energy ball and ice beam in just 1 set but if it lacks ice beam of hp fire is not a big issue because here the other team members come to play.
Sorry for some english mistakes and have a good day! :]
Clone conk is heavily crippled by thundurus knock off (and less common hp flying which has a 99.6% chance to 2hko) meaning it can only switch in on it once.
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Conkeldurr: 196-231 (55.8 - 65.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (with knock off removing AV showing that it cant switch in multiple times)
Furthermore, manaphy isn't even that strong and it needs +3 to do any damage at all regardless so I wouldn't say it's as dominant as mons like latios etc.
also manaphy isn't even that good against quite a few archetypes so another reason why it's not as dominant
yeah it can beat mons like raikou and mana 1v1, but it's not hard to wear down at all since drain punch isn't very reliable recovery. Also drain punch is resisted by quite a few mons and so mons like clef can wall and set up on it if no pjab, or lando t can eq it if no ice punch etc. the metagame defining mons such as altaria and meta can beat it and like bludz said, there are more torn t and kazams coming up which beat conk
the calcs in the other post were a bit unnecessary, but i still support the drop to b-.
One thing I don't see people bringing up when talking about conkeldurr dropping is that guts allows it to absorb burns and get a massive attack boost when afflicted by any status.
Honestly, I'm a shaky writer at arguments, but something really irritated my eye when I looked over the Viability Rankings.
Houndoom-Mega B- -> B/B+(Probably B.)
Why is this monster only in B-?
It has an excellent speed tier of 115, and a godly Special Attack stat of 140, while boasting a semi good movepool with Fire Blast, Dark Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Destiny Bond, and Taunt to name some of its moves.
Let's take a look at some of its pros.
Excellent speed tiering, in this 110 packed tier.
Excellent special attack, hits hard without boosts and access to a coveted boosting move.
Taunt for offensive teams to take better care of stall.
Destiny Bond to make people regret wildly attacking this thing.
Sludge Bomb to hit fat fairies hard, namely Mega Altaria, as it resists Fire/Dark STABS.
It checks Mega Metagross, the premier S rank at this moment.
Access to Flash Fire pre mega evolution to have two immunities, giving it some room to switch in.
Resists Dark, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Steel, giving it some good resistances to decent hits, it doesn't like strong attacks like Meteor Mash from Mega Metagross, sadly.
Now lets look at the cons of this thing.
The not-so-great defenses of 75/90/90.
Hates priority, especially from things like Crawdaunt, Diggersby, Conkeldurr, Breloom, and Talonflame. That's to name a few.
Opportunity cost, I use this mega, I can't use another mega.
Since it's bulk is very meh, it's hard to find a switch in opportunity for it, although it's an offensive mon.
Weaknesses to Fighting, Water, Ground, and Rock, some super common types.
Wishes it had a slightly better special movepool.
Has slight 4MSS.
This thing hits so damn hard it's surprising it isn't used more than it is, it simply can destroy so much stuff and Nasty Plot + Taunt makes it stalls bane. Nasty Plot lets it plow through the slow nature of stall teams, Taunt keeps them from their coveted utility. It can even sweep balance after strong priority is gone. Destiny Bond allows it to make things think twice about hitting it wildly, and coming off of it's great speed tier, not Mega Lopunny great, but it outspeeds so many 110s it's useful, is pretty useful. Sadly, if you run dual STABS + Taunt/DBond and Nasty Plot, you are walled by Mega Altaria, three attacks + NP/Taunt/DBond is a good way to get through Altaria. Not to mention that Altaria needs to be mega before it can reliably switch in, as it takes a chunk from Dark Pulse pre mega evolution.
This Mega has a good place alongside offensive teams, pairing it with a Ghost type is nice to become immune to Mach Punch, although Knock Off still hurts. You also require a birdspam check, since it takes a huge chunk, threatening KOing with Brave Bird on certain Talonflame sets. Stallbreaker Talonflame's is pitifully weak, sadly, only securing the 3HKO without rocks.
0 Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 118-139 (40.5 - 47.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 186-220 (63.9 - 75.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 255-301 (87.6 - 103.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Talonflame: 126-148 (35 - 41.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 120 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 187-222 (57.1 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 187-222 (62.9 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Mega Houndoom absolutely loves hazard support, to be able to secure more OHKOs and 2HKOs, as every offensive mon wants to do, instead of taking hits, which this thing does not do. Pairing it with the standard Suicide Leads like Azelf and Skarmory is nice, and Skarmory could potentially get up Spikes which is extremely good, making some Pokemon take about 30%+ on switch in, crippling their tankiness heavily.
Mega Houndoom does have 4MSS, it wants to run Nasty Plot, it wants to run Dual STABS, but the last slot is contended for, it wants Destiny Bond to not die in vain, it wants Sludge Bomb to hit Mega Altaria and bulky Fairies like Unaware Clefable harder, and it wants Taunt to have a better match up against stall. While Taunt isn't neccessary, it stills wants 5 moves with Destiny Bond and Sludge Bomb, since Nasty Plot by itself already completely breaks stall, Taunt is just for those moments where you don't want to get Toxic used on you, or you don't want them to PP stall with a recovery move.
Overall this thing is a beast, an excellent glass cannon and a check to Megagross, able to OHKO it with Fire Blast, it hates priority, but most glass cannons do, so that's just common. The excellent speed tier is very nice, while it doesn't beat things like Mega Lopunny, Mega Pidgeot, Mega Sceptile, Mega Beedrill to name a few, it still does outspeed most non mega threats and actually speed ties with Azelf, which you shouldn't be staying in on. It's threatened by fat special walls like Chansey and mostly things that can resist both of its STABS, like Mega Altaria if you lack Sludge Bomb.
I don't have any replays to give, because I don't ladder much, sadly.
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 200-236 (65.1 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 200-236 (56.4 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Houndoom: 204-241 (70.1 - 82.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 133-157 (37.5 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 133-157 (43.3 - 51.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 133-157 (45.5 - 53.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
192+ Atk Mega Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 222-262 (76.2 - 90%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Pixilate Mega Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Houndoom: 150-177 (51.5 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon: 216-255 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 258-306 (88.6 - 105.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 195-229 (30.3 - 35.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 133-157 (37.8 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 265-313 (75.4 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 168-198 (57.7 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 250-296 (68.6 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Assault Vest Azumarill: 164-194 (40.8 - 48.3%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 88 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 250-296 (68.8 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 174-206 (59.7 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 260-308 (89.3 - 105.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 175-207 (49.7 - 58.8%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 224-266 (76.9 - 91.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Metagross: 350-414 (116.2 - 137.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Meteor Mash vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 115-136 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. Mega Houndoom: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- aim for the horn next time
252 Atk Mega Metagross Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 258-304 (88.6 - 104.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Hammer Arm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Houndoom: 342-404 (117.5 - 138.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Clefable: 186-220 (47.2 - 55.8%) -- 22.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Houndoom Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 226-268 (57.3 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Houndoom: 108-127 (37.1 - 43.6%) -- 96.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
welp dazzling gleam on gengar is used,for Dark types.Focus Blast is a little bit weaker.Also prior to rock damage skarm gets lower dmg than mandi,which is important in this metagame.Also having sturdy does guarantee defog/rocks/spikes/tspikes any hazards and hazard removal.Also Diancie does completely outbreaks mandibuzz with his typing as both of his stabs being strong againts mandi,while skarm having iron head and putting a dent in Diancie if not OHKOing it.While i know it has taunt and all those moves and can deal with some pokemon i think mandi should go to C+.There are better replacements for mandi in my opinion.
Volcarona to A
I will have to disagree.This is a great pokemon in my opinion and i love using it but...SR weakness is just too primal in this metagame and having mediocre,bulk and defenses it has a bad matchup againts most pokemon.Also his typing isnt very promising,it does get rid of his fire weaknesses while getting a ground neutrality is bad because,EQ,it also gives her/him idk,a 4 times weakness to rock typing and a water weaknesses as the most used move is scald.It has mediocre defensive stats with not too shabby of 105 base special defense but it is rarely invested,4 invested in Spdef isnt that promising.
252 Atk Flygon Outrage vs. 96 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 232-274 (69.2 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
now imagine if this came from a salamence or a garchomp.
You're providing calcs for a Dragon Type Pokemon,something Volcarona shouldn't stay in on.Stealth Rock weakness,I'm not sure this is a good reason for it to drop,Talonflame and Charizard are X4 weak to Stealth Rocks too.Every pokemon needs support and that's why they are paired with the mons to do so.In Volcarona's case it is a spinner/defogger.
A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are fantastic in the OU metagame, and can sweep, support, or wall significant portions of the metagame. These Pokemon require less support than most others to be used effectively and have few flaws that can easily be compensated for when compared to their positive traits. These Pokemon exert a strong presence in the metagame.
This is the definition of an A Rank mon.
"These pokemon require less support than others", this is what I am talking about.It only needs hazard control.Volcarona is great against balanced teams,if you look at Tesung's game vs PDC in SPL,you'll see how one mon managed to 6-0 his whole team after a Quiver Dance.
No Volcarona runs Max Speed Max SpA.They normally run some HP investment if I'm not wrong.Most water types in OU are Specially biased,take Keldeo for example.It invests in enough HP investment to take a Scald or runs a Passho berry which reduces the SE Damage by 50℅.
Bad matchup against most pokemon?Not at all,the only bad matchup that it has is against Talonflame I think.It's the only mon that can reliably revenge kill without having to have any boosts.
I disagree with the Mega Houndoom nomination to B/B+. It needs a bunch of team support to not be deadweight, or a good match-up - a match-up that is getting more difficult to get in the recent meta. One of its niches was demolishing Mega-Sableye stall teams, but Mega-Sableye stall teams have not been increasing in usage lately - there has been an increase in the use of the other megas for stall. There is not much niche I can see for Mega Houndoom besides checking Mega Metagross - a Pokemon that Mega Houndoom cannot even switch in on reliably, and even takes up a Mega slot. Even though it has a base 115 speed, I don't see it being more useful than, say, Sylveon, or any of the other B- ranks.
Houndoom's problem is bad defensive typing, weakness to Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, decent speed tier but outsped by a ton of things like Mega Man, Mega Lop, Torn-T, just about every Scarfer, etc. and with bad defensive stats it's not living them very well. It really can't take on Talonflame unless rocks are up and any Talonflame team will have ways to remove those. It's weak to rocks itself so it can't fill the hit and run role very well. That Chansey calc sort of means it's walled by it, relying on a move with shaky accuracy to 3HKO when it can just Soft-Boiled up and Toxic/Thunder Wave.
Compare it to other glass cannons and you'll see its speed just isn't good enough. Beedrill and Sceptile (not necessarily a Glass Cannon but whatever) blow it away with speed, as does both Mega and regular Alakazam, Weavile, Mega Sharpedo after the boost, and so on. Houndoom also isn't truly a glass cannon either.
Being a great check to Metagross is cool before you realise it's not outspeeding if it hasn't Mega evolved yet so it's not checking 100% of the time and the fact that it has to rely on Fire Blast to land, or get absolute max on Dark Pulse, which is deterring. If there's a better option available than risking hax, that option will be taken every time.
Basically, Mega Houndoom is decent but it's not fast enough for how frail it is, it's weak to rocks, it's weak to a lot of common priority. Its ability is a double edged sword which most people won't opt to use. It's walled by Heatran and Chansey. It should stay in B-.
Jernmax did you hope to achieve anything from that? All that did for me was show your immaturity and awful analogies. At no point in time did I mention a conkeldurr using special attacks with a -nature (this is what you did for keldeo, reversed) and regardless of Mega Garde being a nuke with super-effective STABs on conk, at least those calcs were relevant to the tier. Please try and make a valid argument against the point without sheer stupidty.
His point was that using Mega Gardevoir, a Pokemon that blatantly obviously hits Conkeldurr for super effective damage, is not doing anything to help your argument. The fact of the matter is that you shouldn't try to use Conkeldurr to beat Mega Gardevoir, it's obviously not going to be a check or counter to something like Mega Garde.
Regardless, what Clone said about Conk is absolutely true, it does take on many of OU's special attackers pretty well, even if it's fallable to some others like M-Garde. It does take on Raikou, Thundurus, Mega Mane, and more well which is is pretty neat. Yeah Thundurus does run Knock Off somethimes, but it doesn't always run Knock off, and being able to still live one T-Bolt after a Knock off is pretty impressive if you ask me.
I don't really care where Conkeldurr goes, but the points that are being made here are that you need to make arguments that are more reflective of Conkeldurr's real capabilities. Cherrypicking at mons that it obviously won't beat is just kind of not convincing and doesn't really reflect what Conkeldurr usually does in this meta.
I disagree with a raise for houndoom to B+. I'm pretty sure this argument was brought up before and it was shot down.
Keldeo, mega altaria, mega diancie and Tyranitar have recently been increasing in popularity and mega sableye stall teams have decreased a bit. Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, and nasty plot are pretty much mandatory, so you only have one slot to fit sludge bomb, destiny bond, will-o-wisp, and taunt in. It's poor defensive typing is also something that needs to be considered. Every time it switches in on SR it loses 1/4 of its health and this is only compounded by its meh defensive typing and bulk. Mega Houndoom really requires lots of support since it has a ton of common checks and counters that needs to be removed before it can sweep while hazard removal is also pretty important. Itt is also really match up based. The main reason it was that high in the first place was because it could beat mega sableye teams, and those are decreasing in popularity. Mega Houndoom really shouldn't go over B, and even then B is a little bit too high. imo Mega Houndoom is fine at B-.
Lol, uhh, since when is Houndoom walled by Heatran? Most Houndoom carry Taunt, and even if they don't, +2 Dark Pulse 2HKOs even Specially Defensive Heatran after Rocks. Obviously Heatran can't do anything back without having Earth Power, which I know is growing in popularity, but even that can't OHKO Houndoom back.
+2 252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 192+ SpD Heatran: 201-237 (52.2 - 61.5%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Houndoom: 178-210 (61.1 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
So Heatran can't switch in on a Nasty Plot. At all.
Anyways, to be honest, Houndoom is a massively under-rated threat and is extremely anti-meta right now. People are right, on paper it really doesn't look good. In practice however, it tears through unprepared teams with very little effort. It's got a great Speed tier, great dual STABs and good Special Attack. Do you know how hard Flash Fire boosted / Nasty Plot boosted Fire Blast actually hits? Combine that with some sort of Sun support, maybe Sunny Day Klefki, and you have a monster that can tear down even the sturdiest of Special walls.
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 546-643 (77.5 - 91.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
I mean holy crap lol
Overall, yes Houndoom needs team support. Yes, Houndoom has plenty of flaws, but it's not going to S or anything. It defiantly deserves a bump up for its ability to single-handily destroy stall and most balance teams.
Sorry for short post, on mobile. Will add more in a minute.
Edit: lol rocks don't even have to be up on Heatran's side for a huge chance to 2HKO
Let me address that I mentioned that it hates priority and that it's walled by fat special walls like Chansey. You act like I never touched the subject, when I actually did and I mentioned most of those in my post. B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are great in the OU metagame. These Pokemon have more notable flaws than those above them that affect how they function in the tier. Their positive traits still outshine their negatives, but they require a bit more team support to bring out their full potential. These Pokemon exert an above average presence in the metagame.
Houndoom hates priority, it requires some team support, a bit more than the A ranks+, I'm not nominating this thign as a perfect mon, just to B or B+, and I even said in my post, probably B, which is what I think this thing deserves. It can destroy many teams and it has a good speed tiering, and good stats, and surprisingly, it can survive some decent hits. This thing needs team support, it needs a birdspam check, it needs a fighting check, it needs a water check, we know. It requires team support, we aren't nomming this thing for A+ because it can destroy every team in existence, it can be used and used well under the right hands, I pointed out 4MSS, I pointed out weakness to priority, I just never got too in depth with the team support. Also what special attacker, unboosted, can touch Chansey that doesn't have Psyshock/Secret Sword? None, that's what. Heatran is bopped by NP Dark Pulse, as said in the last post.
To start off I deleted the sheer stupidity previously going on between Jernmax and AllAttack. If you're gonna make an argument don't be a dick head about it.
The tgrd set is really really a huge pain for stall to face. You say that other wallbreaker such Mhera and Mzard y just need 1 free turn and fire off a powerful attack and watch something die, and this is most of the time true, but it's the same way easy for manaphy to get in against stall and set up. It cannot be taken down by status thanks to hydratation and rain dance and his bulk is enough against stall to set up cm and rain dance and start killing stuff. It also has the ability to beat the two unaware mons we usually find on stall because Quagsire is easily weared down and in rain Clefable can't win because scald burn and enough damage of scald in rain. The real thing is that it can be phazed thanks to whirlwind/roar and mons such as amoonguss easily click clear smog and stop the sweep. Amoonguss anyway isn't that common and the ability of manaphy to beat stall is very notable
Tg + 3attacks is a pain for balance to deal with and it can easily dismantle balance build with low team support. Yes it wishes it could have tg, scald, hp fire, energy ball and ice beam in just 1 set but if it lacks ice beam of hp fire is not a big issue because here the other team members come to play.
As far as this whole discussion of Manaphy goes and people bringing up another 4mss argument or w/e the hell we're calling it this day I'd like to address that the TG / 3 attack set of Scald, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Tail Glow pretty much has no consistent switch ins barring stuff like M-Gyarados and Crawdaunt who are all burn susceptible and never really want to risk the chances of staring down Manaphy anyways. I think the argument about its matchup against offense is pretty valid if we're talking about it maintaining its placement but as far as sets goes this set alone can pretty much take a dump on a lot of the meta and overall makes fat cores a complete liability.
Lol, uhh, since when is Houndoom walled by Heatran? Most Houndoom carry Taunt, and even if they don't, +2 Dark Pulse 2HKOs even Specially Defensive Heatran after Rocks. Obviously Heatran can't do anything back without having Earth Power, which I know is growing in popularity, but even that can't OHKO Houndoom back.
+2 252 SpA Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 192+ SpD Heatran: 201-237 (52.2 - 61.5%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Houndoom: 178-210 (61.1 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
So Heatran can't switch in on a Nasty Plot. At all.
Anyways, to be honest, Houndoom is a massively under-rated threat and is extremely anti-meta right now. People are right, on paper it really doesn't look good. In practice however, it tears through unprepared teams with very little effort. It's got a great Speed tier, great dual STABs and good Special Attack. Do you know how hard Flash Fire boosted / Nasty Plot boosted Fire Blast actually hits? Combine that with some sort of Sun support, maybe Sunny Day Klefki, and you have a monster that can tear down even the sturdiest of Special walls.
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 546-643 (77.5 - 91.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
I mean holy crap lol
Overall, yes Houndoom needs team support. Yes, Houndoom has plenty of flaws, but it's not going to S or anything. It defiantly deserves a bump up for its ability to single-handily destroy stall and most balance teams.
Sorry for short post, on mobile. Will add more in a minute.
M-Houndoom doesn't destroy stall what so ever and everything it handles well is in a lot of cases pretty specific and puts an enormous amount of emphasis to mega evolve in the first place. There's a ton of situations where M-Houndooms speed tier prior to mega evolving becomes an enormous hindrance and in some matches it will become total dead weight.
I'd argue that in practice it's even worse than on paper if I'm going to be completely honest to the point that its ranking is totally justified and should not be rising any higher with the amount of megas to choose from and the overrated aspect of beating stuff that is based on a lot of circumstantial scenarios. The idea of unprepared teams becomes a moot point when we consider that we're talking about teams that are focused on the whole idea of preparation in the first place. I don't understand why you put rocks on Heatrans side of the field in those calcs yet forgot to put the one for M-Houndoom putting it in range of any priority user and probably a dead M-Houndoom, which barring Bisharp it's susceptible to every form of priority offense will have due to its typing. M-Houndoom isn't anti-meta more so it's trying to find some legitimate niche when its usage is more or less team specific and a luxury these days. We're also acting like Chansey is some sort of absurd threat in the meta where it becomes a selling point of M-Houndoom in its ability to handle it, hint it's really not that serious and Chansey isn't actually posing some huge amount of threat level in the meta anyways. M-Houndoom needs more team support than people are giving it credit for with all the fat waters, Scarftars, fast paced offensive threats like M-Lopunny and M-Aerodactyl and this only a few of the stuff that can hit it after it mega evolves, which the list goes on even more before it mega evolves and the understanding that its switch in opportunities are found mostly against slower builds and even then teams that are prepped for other meta-game trends will do fine in handling M-Houndoom. It really shouldn't rise at all.
This seems to have slipped under the radar, but how is Serp still in B? B+ at the very least but it could probably go straight to A-. It pairs well with a lot of current heavy hitters because it breaks down bulky Waters and Grounds types easily (for example pressuring Slowbro and Hippo for Char-X). Offensive Grass types are pretty valuable when building and Serp is right up there with the best of them., thanks to its great speed tier and surprising bulk. It should also rise because its one of those threats that you have to have a game plan for, and it is not good if you Serp weak mostly due to the fact it is difficult to play around because its most spammable STAB gives it a +2 boost. And then there is the utility pool which can cripple common checks and counters with Knock Off and Glare. Chansey hates possibly losing the Eviolite, and Talonflame sure as heck doesn't want to be paralyzed. Does it have issues? It has to pick between different Hidden Powers and there will always be something that its coverage can't hit, but it still applies an insane amount of pressure. Oh yeah, it is more useable and prominent in OU than everything in B and probably everything in B+. Seriously, are Dragonite, Togekiss, Chesnaught, or Tentacruel more viable than Serp? I'm gonna say no.
Houndoom really only shines against stall and balanced teams. Against offense, its rarely switching in on something and it's hardly going to get a chance to even set up. Offense carries some pretty common houndoom checks such as scarf landorus-t, scarf keldeo, mega diancie, and scarf tyranitar. Houndoom is really match up based. A lot of the times its often deadweight against offensive teams, rarely getting an opportunity to set up. Houndoom needs a ton of team support, is match up based, and has a pretty bad match up against offense, and is very vulnerable against priority. I don't think the fact that mega houndoom destroys stall and balanced teams isn't really enough to bump it up to B. Even against balanced teams, pokemon such as azumarill, mega altaria, and keldeo are pretty common and houndoom really struggles against them.
Also the calc against chansey was
+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 546-643 (77.5 - 91.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Mega Houndoom's special attack is bumped up to 758 by a nasty plot, and then 1137 by solar power. Fire blast has 110 BP, STAB makes it 165, and sun raises fire blast's power to 247.5 So yeah, a 247.5 base power move coming off of 1137 special attack. Chansey is amazing for living that. In fact, that calc makes houndoom look weak tbh.
Idk how many people are gonna feel about this, but I would like to nominate:
---> A
So, Kyurem-B has been rising in popularity lately, and for good reason. It has pretty good coverage, and the ability to run physical or special or mixed. All sets hit something different. Well, the thing about Kyurem-B is that it is amazingly hard to wall, depending on the set. The physical set will destroy special walls that switch in such has Sylveon and Chansey. While the special set destroys physical walls that switch in such as Rhyperior and Mega Aggron. The unpredictability of this thing is what allows it to grab KO's. And when paired with a late game sweeper/cleaner, this thing is amazing. Early game it plows through the opponent's team with its wide movepool, and lets teammates finish up the job. Common switch ins to this thing involve Ferrothorn and Scizor. Both are able to wall the physical set, and do a pretty good job at walling the special set. But that is where the movepool comes in, and Kyurem-B can run HP Fire, catching the switch ins off guard and picking up a kill. Mega Metagross is considered a switch in for a reason I never understood, for Epower has a chance to OHKO after SR damage. This monster also has access to Roost/Substitute. Roost can preserve the monster perhaps from LO recoil, and Substitute, while giving up a coverage move, guarantees you to get a hard hitting move off onto whatever your opponent switches in. (Besides Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, and other sound moves that hit hard.) Also, with the wonderful ability Terravolt, which acts like a Mold Breaker, it is able to take down Rotom-W and Mega Venusaur.
When compared to other A mons, Kyurem-B is just as good as most, if not better. It is incredibly hard to wall, and teams are often punished if not prepared for this thing or play wildly. Hopefully people see what I am trying to say here and consider this rise, as it is definitely deserved. Below I will provide some calcs to prove previous statements.
Special Attacker:
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 216-255 (54.8 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Jirachi: 190-226 (47 - 55.9%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Cresselia: 157-187 (35.3 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
56 Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 161-190 (45.8 - 54.1%) -- 94.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 270-322 (76.7 - 91.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 176 SpD Mega Scizor: 296-354 (86.2 - 103.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Sableye: 130-153 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Physical Attacker:
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 302-356 (47 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 232 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 317-374 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 263-309 (66.7 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 179-213 (45.4 - 54%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Amoonguss: 234-277 (54.1 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Celebi: 179-212 (44.3 - 52.4%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 182-214 (47.2 - 55.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Mega Houndoom. Though Mega Houndoom has difficulty sweeping thanks to being OHKO'd by Landorus-T, the prime revenge killer. However, Mega houndoom is: only slightly below average bulky, very powerful, fast and neat speed tier and has utility in Will o Wisp, taunt and set up move in Nasty plot. It has priority in Sucker punch if you want to run a mixed version only for priority.
Is has the ability to beat all of it's counters. Chansey isn't a counter, it's almost OHKO'd under the sun at +2. That's not bad. All while Mega Houndoom can taunt it. Heatran is also killed since it's 2HKO'd by Dark pulse. It can run Taunt + Nasty plot. It can run Sunny day + Solar beam, Sunny day + taunt, Sunny day + Nasty plot, Will o wisp + All out attacker ect. It's a good list. I don't think it should be B-, it can easily be B+.
Idk how many people are gonna feel about this, but I would like to nominate:
---> A
So, Kyurem-B has been rising in popularity lately, and for good reason. It has pretty good coverage, and the ability to run physical or special or mixed. All sets hit something different. Well, the thing about Kyurem-B is that it is amazingly hard to wall, depending on the set. The physical set will destroy special walls that switch in such has Sylveon and Chansey. While the special set destroys physical walls that switch in such as Rhyperior and Mega Aggron. The unpredictability of this thing is what allows it to grab KO's. And when paired with a late game sweeper/cleaner, this thing is amazing. Early game it plows through the opponent's team with its wide movepool, and lets teammates finish up the job. Common switch ins to this thing involve Ferrothorn and Scizor. Both are able to wall the physical set, and do a pretty good job at walling the special set. But that is where the movepool comes in, and Kyurem-B can run HP Fire, catching the switch ins off guard and picking up a kill. Mega Metagross is considered a switch in for a reason I never understood, for Epower has a chance to OHKO after SR damage. This monster also has access to Roost/Substitute. Roost can preserve the monster perhaps from LO recoil, and Substitute, while giving up a coverage move, guarantees you to get a hard hitting move off onto whatever your opponent switches in. (Besides Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, and other sound moves that hit hard.) Also, with the wonderful ability Terravolt, which acts like a Mold Breaker, it is able to take down Rotom-W and Mega Venusaur.
When compared to other A mons, Kyurem-B is just as good as most, if not better. It is incredibly hard to wall, and teams are often punished if not prepared for this thing or play wildly. Hopefully people see what I am trying to say here and consider this rise, as it is definitely deserved. Below I will provide some calcs to prove previous statements.
Special Attacker:
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 216-255 (54.8 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Jirachi: 190-226 (47 - 55.9%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Cresselia: 157-187 (35.3 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
56 Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 161-190 (45.8 - 54.1%) -- 94.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 270-322 (76.7 - 91.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 176 SpD Mega Scizor: 296-354 (86.2 - 103.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Sableye: 130-153 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Physical Attacker:
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 302-356 (47 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 232 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 317-374 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 263-309 (66.7 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 179-213 (45.4 - 54%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Amoonguss: 234-277 (54.1 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Celebi: 179-212 (44.3 - 52.4%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 182-214 (47.2 - 55.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Kyu-B is actually fine in A for now. You forgot to mention Kyu-B's cons, which include a weakness to Stealth Rocks, making it hard to preserve, as well as weaknesses to priority in the form of Mach Punch and Bullet Punch. You also forgot to mention Kyu-B's mediocre speed tier, making it extremely difficult to sweep. Also, Ice/Dragon is a terrible defensive typing, coupled with a bad speed tier, which makes it less viable in this meta. It gets checked by many common things, like Megagross, Mega Altaria to name a few. To sum that up, its bad defensive typing, mediocre speed tier, and weakness to stealth rocks mean that it can't sweep the way you presume it can.
In addition to this, Kyu-B has an almost non-existant physical movepool. This extends to the fact that it has to run Ice Beam on its main physical set. Its special movepool is all right, although it has to run Fusion Bolt on it. Yes, both Ferrothorn and Scizor wall both the Physical and Special sets, but running HP fire is serious opportunity cost over running something like Roost or Sub to preserve it in order to keep it alive.
Also, don't bring up obscure Physical Walls like Mega Aggron, which sees almost no usage in the OU tier.
Kyu-B is actually fine in A for now. You forgot to mention Kyu-B's cons, which include a weakness to Stealth Rocks, making it hard to preserve, as well as weaknesses to priority in the form of Mach Punch and Bullet Punch. You also forgot to mention Kyu-B's mediocre speed tier, making it extremely difficult to sweep. Also, Ice/Dragon is a terrible defensive typing, coupled with a bad speed tier, which makes it less viable in this meta. It gets checked by many common things, like Megagross, Mega Altaria to name a few. To sum that up, its bad defensive typing, mediocre speed tier, and weakness to stealth rocks mean that it can't sweep the way you presume it can.
In addition to this, Kyu-B has an almost non-existant physical movepool. This extends to the fact that it has to run Ice Beam on its main physical set. Its special movepool is all right, although it has to run Fusion Bolt on it. Yes, both Ferrothorn and Scizor wall both the Physical and Special sets, but running HP fire is serious opportunity cost over running something like Roost or Sub to preserve it in order to keep it alive.
Also, don't bring up obscure Physical Walls like Mega Aggron, which sees almost no usage in the OU tier.
I'm sorry if it sounds like I made Kyurem-B out to be a sweeper (which I didn't imo) but it isn't. It is a wallbreaker, and an amazing one at that. And there is nothing wrong with running a special move on a physical move set or a physical move on a special move set. They could be considered mixed, but the set names are physical/special biased attacker. It helps beat the walls that would come in such as a primarily physical wall for the physical set, or a special wall for the physical set. Sometimes I can be bad at explaining things, so I understand that there can be some confusion. I am sorry for that. So hopefully this explained my thoughts a bit better.
Suicune is not really good in ORAS metagame. First of all, he lacks reliable recovery, what is his main flaw : he has to rely on Rest + Sleep Talk to get recovery, which makes Suicune very luck reliant. In fact, Suicune has only 33% chance to pick the right move (usually Scald) and 33% chance to waste his turn with Rest. So is a strategy which relies on luck a good one ? No definitely.
And that's why Suicune is not really good imo. His main draws over Slowbro (the best defensive Water-type) are Dark resistance, Ghost resistance and Bug resistance (which isn't that common except U-turn that Slowbro tanks quite well and Scizor). So Suicune is supposed take on Bisharp, Scizor, Tyranitar, Mega Heracross, Mega Gyarados, Weavile, powerful Knock Off users (Mega Gallade), Gengar and Mega Sableye.
But in fact, does he really wall them ?
Bisharp : Suicune can't switch in because he's 2HKOed by +2 Knock Off (factoring item loss)
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 263-309 (65 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
And even in 1v1, Suicune doesn't 2HKO Bisharp so he has to rely on Scald burn to beat Bisharp (what makes him luck reliant once again)
Scizor : Yes Suicune tanks CB Scizor's U-turn quite well.
252+ Atk Choice Band Scizor U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 124-147 (30.6 - 36.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
But what about SD Mega Scizor ? Offensive variants 2HKO Suicune at +2 with Bug Bite while Suicune can't even 3HKO with Scald, so luck reliant. Bulky variants need to be at +6 to score a clean 2HKO with Knock Off, so it doesn't seem difficult to grab a Scald Burn in 3 or 4 turns.
Tyranitar : Suicune walls and set up on Scarf Tyranitar easily, however CB variants have good chance to 2HKO even without SR.
252+ Atk Choice Band Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 180-213 (44.5 - 52.7%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
Mega Heracross : Jolly Mega Heracross 2HKOs Suicune after SR and OHKOs him at +2. So anti-hazard and Scald burn reliant.
Mega Gyarados : He litterally uses Suicune as a set up fodder and doesn't fear burn with Sub.
Weavile : Suicune walls Weavile pretty well and uses him as a set up fodder.
Mega Gallade : Close Combat and Zen Headbutt 2HKO at +2, so luck reliant once again.
Gengar : LO Gengar has 80% chance to 2HKO after SR with Sludge Wave and beats Suicune anyway with Taunt.
Mega Sableye : Utility variants beat Suicune with Taunt, however Mega Sableye is crippled by burn. CM variants lose because of PP stalling I suppose. Conclusion : Suicune only walls a few Pokemon over Slowbro and is very Scald burn reliant. Slowbro has reliable recovery, a far better movepool a useful Fighting resistance which allows him to wall Keldeo for example.
Now let's talk about Suicune late-game cleaning capacities with Calm Mind. Suicune is very bulky on the physical side and can boost his SpD with Calm Mind. His only way to heal is Rest (+ Sleep Talk), what makes him very luck reliant like I said before.
Even if Suicune is extremely bulky, powerful physical attackers can still beat him with Atk boost (Mega Scizor, Bisharp, DD Mega Altaria, Charizard X, SD Garchomp, Breloom...). On the special side, powerful special attackers can break him at +1 : LO Thundurus, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Manectric, Raikou, TG Energy Ball Manaphy. That's not all, a mono offensive water type makes him easily walled by Grass-types like Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, Celebi, Breloom. Suicune is also completely shut down by Taunt, so Taunt Users like Gengar, Mega Sableye and Mew easily beat it. Encore users also shut down Suicune, so Mega Alakazam and even Politoed make him very vulnerable. I don't have spoken about Rest + Sleep Talk which make Suicune quite easy to break in fact because you only need to be able to score a 3HKO to beat Suicune (Suicune sleeps during 2 turns).
Suicune is by no way a bad Pokemon but defensively he has only a few niches over Slowbro (being able to wall CB Scizor and Bulky SD Mega Scizor, Scarf Tyranitar, Weavile and CM Mega Sableye) and is extremely Scald burn reliant for stuff like Bisharp ; and luck (only 30% chance) isn't a reliable way to wall threats. His late-game cleaning capacities are quite limited and he's really too much luck reliant so definitely not B+ material.
I support Empoleon to B or even B+ because he walls many common threats and is one of the few solid hazard removers in OU.
I also support Scizor to B+ because he provides a lot of utility with powerful priority, strong U-turn, Pursuit trapping and checks the Fairies through the game. The LO SD set is also quite good and makes Scizor a good late game cleaner.
PS : sorry for double posting.
AraEdit: Ik you said sorry for double posting, but you really should just edit your posts. I merged them for convenience.
Psyshock hits on the physical side, why would you calc that? You also calculated Mega Gardevoir Hyper voice, there's not a single pokemon who lives Pixilated Hyper voices super effectively from Gardevoir. Calc something that's worth calcing.
Oh yes, absolutely. I wasn't arguing for Tyranitar as a switch-in for M-Garde or anything, just pointing out that there is indeed something that can live a SE Hyper Voice from it. (Interestingly, 252/252 Ttar also avoids the OHKO from Focus Blast, but again, not relevant to the current discussion.)
Ttar can successfully invest in either defensive stat. Spdef Ttar can actually take a focus blast from mega gardevoir believe it or not.
252 SpA Gardevoir Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 300-356 (74.2 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Edit: this is mega gardevoir, just had to use an old version of the calculator since the current one is down.
But this is neither here nor there, most of the time Ttar (spdef or otherwise) will not go up against mega gardevoir at all unless out of desperation or in using the scarf tar set to trap a weakened Gardevoir.
i honestly feel like scolipede should rise from B- to either B or even B+ since baton pass is really good in this generation.Thanks to its amazing ability speed boost and access to iron defense/swords dance it is an amazing baton pass mon.teams that are not prepared for baton pass can be easily overwhelmed.Of course it can be countered by taunt or set up mons with priority can probably take advantage of it. But still baton pass might come through more often than expected.
personally i feel like the 3 attack + bp set is even better and the main reason why it should go up to B. Its attack stat (100) isnt that great but it still can hit pretty hard.while its countered by skarmory, ferro, hippo and a few other mons+ its checked by the very common landorus, it can ruin offensive teams, faires and other common threats.you'll also be able to bp +1 or 2 speed very often and pressure youre opponent. Besides it has also the ability to stack hazards.
