Choice Band Landorus (Done)


[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Explosion
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Landorus's good Speed and fantastic Attack stats mean that it can pull off a highly effective Choice Band set. It doesn't revenge kill as effectively as the Choice Scarf variant, or set up like the boosting set, but it does boast brute power, hitting extremely hard right off the bat, especially with the Sand Force boost. The opponent will be horrified when Landorus's STAB Earthquake smashes right through common switch-ins to the previously mentioned sets, such as Breloom and Virizion. Furthermore, Landorus is immune to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes and is neutral to Stealth Rock, meaning that it can repeatedly switch in and out of battle without getting worn down too quickly by entry hazards. Earthquake is Landorus's most powerful move, and will absolutely cripple anything that isn't immune to it or packs both a resistance and a good Defense stat. Stone Edge grants Landorus the excellent EdgeQuake coverage, hitting Flying-types for super effective damage. It is also boosted by Sand Force, which makes it a safe move to spam if the opponent packs multiple Ground-type immunities. U-turn allows Landorus to scout its counters by bring in a counter of your own, denting the opponent's Pokemon in the process. Additionally, it lets the genie put Celebi in a very sticky situation, since Landorus outspeeds and can threaten to OHKO the little pixie if it decides to stay in. Explosion is the preferred move in the last slot, as it allows Landorus to go out with a bang when at low health. Despite the nerf that came with it in BW, it is still an extremely powerful move capable of OHKOing Pokemon immune to Earthquake and neutral to Stone Edge, such as Rotom-A and max HP Gliscor, although the latter requires a little prior damage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EVs are very simple. Maximum Speed is required in order to outspeed positive base 100 Speed opponents, such as Volcarona and Salamence. Landorus's Attack stat is maximized in order to deal as much damage as possible, and the remaining four EVs are placed into Defense. An Adamant nature is also possible for even more destruction, but Landorus really appreciates the ability to outspeed all Pokemon in the base 100 Speed tier. Since almost all of these Pokemon run positive Speed natures, an Adamant nature usually isn't worth the risk. Landorus could also feasibly run a Naive nature with either Hidden Power Flying or Hidden Power Ice over Explosion. The former lets Landorus always OHKO Breloom and Virizion, and is Landorus's most powerful attack against Tangrowth, who would otherwise prove a reliable counter to this set. The latter lets Landorus OHKO Gliscor without killing itself, and is a safer option than Stone Edge against Dragon-types with a quadruple weakness to Ice-type moves, especially Dragonite and Salamence, due to Stone Edge's infamous accuracy problems.</p>

<p>It goes without saying that Landorus should always be used with sandstorm support. Tyranitar is the best option for providing sandstorm, as it can lay down Stealth Rock, and even lure out and kill Landorus's counters, specifically Skarmory and Gliscor, with Fire Blast and Ice Beam, respectively. Another fantastic teammate for this Landorus set is Magnezone. Landorus can lure out both Skarmory and Bronzong and U-turn to Magnezone, who can trap and KO both of them, leaving Landorus free to punch holes in the opponent's team. Rotom-W resists both of Landorus's weaknesses and can bring down both Skarmory and Gliscor with its STAB moves. It can also form a deadly Volt-Turn duo with Landorus to keep the pressure on the opponent. As this Landorus set acts as a wallbreaker, Pokemon that can clean up the mess Landorus leaves behind, such as Terrakion and Lucario, are also excellent teammates.</p>
 

TrollFreak

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A nitpick with the EVs, why not use the leftover 4 EVs into special attack if using HP Ice, or into Def if using Hammer Arm. This way it takes less damage when switching into stealth rock.
 
Try Punishment with the last slash. It works for me to hit CM Latias hard that don't fully invest in speed and CM Reuniclus
 
I agree with Pillsbury, this set doesn't play that much differently from the choice scarf set. i dont think this is worthy of a set, just a slash
 
i dont think this set plays the same as the scarf set at all tbh and i think cb is deserving of its own. cs spams u-turn and generally only attacks with EQ/Stone Edge/HP Ice to revenge kill, while cb is going to be busting holes with EQ and catching immunes with sand force-boosted Stone Edge. also Explosion is an important wallbreaking move that helps distinguish this set (as it usually isnt viable on anything else besides maybe sd) so i would encourage you to make it the fourth slot.
 
I think explosion is the best option in the fourth slot, it should be at least slashed. It's a really nice move for when Landlos is low on health and will only get off one attack for the rest of the game. It can do cool stuff like ohko 252/0 gliscor most of the time and is generally a move that you'll use very often as opposed to the other moves listed which you might use once every 5-10 games.
 
ok, sure, explosion as the primary slash, then hammer arm? And then HP ice in AC? I also like the sound of punishment, might be worth a mention?
 
Nah punishment doesn't hit anything that the other moves do, probably not even worth a mention IMO. But I agree with HP Ice being moved to the AC
 
I made the changes. So far I've given puishment a small mention, but probably won't put it in the analysis. Thanks for the help guys!
 

deinosaur

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Looks pretty good.
Punishment doesn't deserve a big mention, and Gliscor is always wary of HP Ice.
Explosion is a powerful and surprising force though.
 

PK Gaming

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I want to see more calcs (specifically, many of them involving explosion) because i'm on the fence on whether Choice Band deserves its own set or a slash on the Scarf set.
 

Pocket

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Personally I think HP Ice has more utility than Hammer Arm. It's much harder to take out Gliscor than Air Balloon-mons / Bronzong (who is now UU, lol). A neutral STAB Sand Force Earthquake (195 power) does virtually the same amount of damage as a super-effective Hammer Arm (200 power) without the 90% accuracy and the speed drop, so it's not useful for Ferrothorn and Blissey, either. In the same vein, a resisted STAB Sand Force Earthquake (97.5) is roughly as powerful as a neutral Hammer Arm (100), so Hammer Arm is not even useful against Virizion and Breloom. Not to mention Naive HP Ice 2HKOs 252 / 4 Tangrowth 66% of the time in the sandstorm, which is impressive.

I think HP Flying is worth a mention, since the currently popular Bulk Up Breloom poops on CB Landorus otherwise, not to mention it's a solid 2HKO on the annoying Regenerator Tangrowth that would just keep on healing against Landorus.
 
I'd put Fly in AC, maybe even the last slash, screw with the opponent and break through Virizion. Kinda how Bounce Gyara works. Fly also give pretty good coverage with Ground. And as Pocket said, Breloom (Bulk Up doesn't even matter, even at +5 you still have a 56% chance to KO).
 

Pocket

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The problem with Fly is that no Breloom / Virizion would stay in to get their asses pawned on the descent.

PS: The only reason why Gyarados uses Bounce is because it has no other alternative. Substitute, Dragon Dance, Leftovers, and being able to switch moves all compensates for the handicap imposed by Bounce on Gyarados, all variables that CB Landorus lack.
 
Still, I'll compare it to Bounce Gyara again. There's really not much that can switch into a Fly with that much force behind it. Hell, three of the top five steels are neutral to Fly (Ferro, Rachi, Tran, Scizor and Forre). I really think Fly deserves at least a mention because of it's good neutral coverage alongside EQ and SE.
 
The reason Gyrados uses Bounce is because as a Bulky sweeper, it gives him an extra turn of Lefties recovery, whether behind a Substitute or protection with Taunt i.e. prevents it from becoming setup bait. He also has the ability to switch moves even if a sponge comes in, but that sponge can get paralyzed. Meanwhile Fly on CB Landorus doesn't do any of these things. Fly will make you become setup bait. Lastly, the thing you try to hit with Fly often carries substitute to just dodge it all together (Breloom). Fly is a horrible option on Landorus and HP Flying would be the way to go.

Even then, HP Ice hits all the things Flying does super effectively.
 

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