I can give it a 2nd shot in PO but I highly doubt, I'll see it superior to CM Virizion, NP Luke or other random special attackers this time.
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Cobalion (Analysis)
- Thread starter Husky
- Start date
That's mainly irrelevant since it is Cobalion's most useful set.
It hits harder than Virizion due to Life Orb and not fearing Sandstorm so it can actually use that, and the advantage of using it over Lucario is not dropping dead at the sight of Gliscor and Landlos (both of which you outspeed and can OHKO with HP Ice, or 2HKO with Balloon and +1 Flash Cannon). I'm not saying it outclasses Virizion at all, just saying it's different typing may allow it to serve a different niche on your Sandstorm team. It also is much bulkier and faster than Lucario, so it is hardly "outclassed" as a pure special attacker. I tried it in practice, and it always took 2-3 pokemon down with it.
It hits harder than Virizion due to Life Orb and not fearing Sandstorm so it can actually use that, and the advantage of using it over Lucario is not dropping dead at the sight of Gliscor and Landlos (both of which you outspeed and can OHKO with HP Ice, or 2HKO with Balloon and +1 Flash Cannon). I'm not saying it outclasses Virizion at all, just saying it's different typing may allow it to serve a different niche on your Sandstorm team. It also is much bulkier and faster than Lucario, so it is hardly "outclassed" as a pure special attacker. I tried it in practice, and it always took 2-3 pokemon down with it.
I doubt the effectiveness of the lead set. I see no reason to use it over Borutorosu who gets Mischievous Heart for priority Taunt/TWave, better Speed, and STAB Volt Change. I understand Cobalion is much bulkier but Priority Taunt/TWave is better at shutting stuff down IMO.
I'm also not sure about the Scarf sets either, Cobalion isn't overwhelming powerful and its movepool isn't too wide. I'd like to see some logs of those sets in battle.
TBH I strongly suggest you retest that Calm Mind set, Cobalion's stat distribution and typing is pretty much perfect for it. (Tons of resists, high Speed, great physical defense, passable special defense CM can patch up...remember Cobalion is bulkier than Skarmory!) Immunity to Toxic, Sandstorm, and much better Defense are huge pluses over Virizion and the Speed and bulk are huge pluses over Lucario.
(PS I also think this guy is cool.)
I'm also not sure about the Scarf sets either, Cobalion isn't overwhelming powerful and its movepool isn't too wide. I'd like to see some logs of those sets in battle.
TBH I strongly suggest you retest that Calm Mind set, Cobalion's stat distribution and typing is pretty much perfect for it. (Tons of resists, high Speed, great physical defense, passable special defense CM can patch up...remember Cobalion is bulkier than Skarmory!) Immunity to Toxic, Sandstorm, and much better Defense are huge pluses over Virizion and the Speed and bulk are huge pluses over Lucario.
(PS I also think this guy is cool.)
I've seen the Calm Mind set in action, seen-and-questioned it in a few battles, and I can attest to its usefulness. Many threats target its lower Special Defense, so it ends up setting up on many things, and Cobalion's extremely useful against stall-based in general. It's also pretty bulky, so it's guaranteed to set up and take a few down with it. I see more variants with Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice to take care of Gliscor, so Volt Change is slightly off on a set up set.
So yeah, just retest it. In my opinion, it almost does a decent job of sweeping like Virizion, 'xept it can't actually switch into Doryuuzu (made up with resists) or Gliscor. On average, a Balloon Doryuuzu unboosted does 89.2% - 105.9% with Earthquake.
So yeah, just retest it. In my opinion, it almost does a decent job of sweeping like Virizion, 'xept it can't actually switch into Doryuuzu (made up with resists) or Gliscor. On average, a Balloon Doryuuzu unboosted does 89.2% - 105.9% with Earthquake.
Balloon sounds like a good idea on that kind of Cobalion set.
I tested the Calm Mind set you posted above for quite some matches now and I must say it has a really hard time against a major amount of opponents out there. It most likely has just the time to set up a single time before it's 'forced' to attack straight out unless it wants to get OHKOed by anything that's faster like technically anything that has a Scarf on it, is named Doryuuzu-in-Sandstorm, Borutorosu, Gengar, Latias, Latios, Azelf, Blaziken (after 1 speed boost)... I could go on with that list and any of them are shit common in current metagame. And any of them still KO you with their super effective moves even after +1 SpD. Balloon was a mere help because you really miss LO boost on it. Offensive Zapdos is no longer OHKOed by HP Ice at +1 after SR damage. Also, most other CM user but also Quagsire, Burungeru and Starmie cause all quite some problems as they are all able to take your hits way too easily.. Suprisingly, Gliscor was no problem to deal with in the end because Cobalion makes a perfect ToxicFling absorber and is faster overall so it was no problem to switch into it. After all, I don't think CM Coba is that strong. I currently test more bulky spreads with Substitute and FocusBlast/HP Dark and IronHead/HP Electric to avoid most of the mentioned problems. The latter is more inferior but I'm not done testing yet. *sigh* This thing causes more problems than I thought first..
well, these pokemon listed are going to be problematic for EVERY Cobalion set they are its counters :(. Your only suppposed to get one boost off anyway. Boro doesn't OHKO with Focus Blast after a CM and neither does Gengar, both are OHKOed by you unless I'm mistaken. Latios / Latias can only hit you with unSTABed attacks, where you have Super Effective HP Ice or STAB Flash Cannon. I listed Burungeru as a counter from the get-go, and Quagsire is a counter to all the sets anyway :(. Sounds like you just don't want to add it.
nah, guess you just missunderstood me.. i saw its effectivity and i'll add the CM set. i just wanted to point out that it has even more problems to deal with them as +1 SpA Coba doesn't hit as hard as +2 Atk, even though they both have different targets they want to hit. i just try some changes and see if it works better.
many Lati@s run HP fire probably to hit mainly scizor and nattorei. Cobalion is just unlucky it also shares this weakness.
many Lati@s run HP fire probably to hit mainly scizor and nattorei. Cobalion is just unlucky it also shares this weakness.
Ok, just a few updates:
- Calm Mind now got a set as it turned out to be quite efficient but requires some, well let's say 'preparations' in order to work.
- @Vengeance: I'm right the way I explained it. Even tested it again lately to be 100% sure.
- I would have posted some battle logs for the doubted sets but for whatever reason, PO haven't saved even a single log ._. I changed the saving path and now it works. Please don't ask me what's wrong there. I'll do more battles and put them in first post the next few days (busy week is busy).
- Still considering to scratch Choice sets. Lead set is very viable though as I tested this one to an extend and still use it with high success on wifi.
- Calm Mind now got a set as it turned out to be quite efficient but requires some, well let's say 'preparations' in order to work.
- @Vengeance: I'm right the way I explained it. Even tested it again lately to be 100% sure.
- I would have posted some battle logs for the doubted sets but for whatever reason, PO haven't saved even a single log ._. I changed the saving path and now it works. Please don't ask me what's wrong there. I'll do more battles and put them in first post the next few days (busy week is busy).
- Still considering to scratch Choice sets. Lead set is very viable though as I tested this one to an extend and still use it with high success on wifi.
Ya know Husky I was thinking, one of the things that can separate Cobalion from Lucario could be dropping Iron Head on the Swords Dancer for Hidden Power Ice. This will allow for a clean OHKO on Gliscor, which is an effective luring strategy for many sweepers. It also helps for Landlos as well. Unlike Lucario, your speed means you will outspeed them both. Iron Head IIRC doesn't allow any notable coverage other than rare resisters of Fighting / Rock such as Claydol and the Nido's, which are quite rare (and Iron Head does not OHKO Nidoqueen or Claydol anyway).
something like that was the basic idea behind the mixed scarf set but i guess you're right that mixed SD might work better. With neutral SpA nature, Life Orb and just 88 SpA EVs, it packs enough power to OHKO both with a good chance and is a definate OHKO with SR support. But that's all just theorymon atm.. I'll test it on PO the next few days.
I was very active for this the last days and I made quite some changes. First, thanks to RaikouLover for all his support, including the CM set. The Swords Dancer now got an improved EV spread and nature with a newly added Hidden Power Ice to deal with Gliscor and Landorus who think they can stop it.
Both Scarf sets were removed from the analysis, as the damage output was plain too low on average against anything that takes hits at least neutral.
The Lead is still mentioned as a set as it does a fairly good job. I'll post some logs to prove that soon, I more concentrated on other sets the last days..
In case you guys think they're not necessary, this is finally really ready for QC.
Both Scarf sets were removed from the analysis, as the damage output was plain too low on average against anything that takes hits at least neutral.
The Lead is still mentioned as a set as it does a fairly good job. I'll post some logs to prove that soon, I more concentrated on other sets the last days..
In case you guys think they're not necessary, this is finally really ready for QC.
I'm nitpicking here. On Swords Dance, don't do a paragraph explaining HP Ice and Landuros and gliscor. Those sentences are better written in one of the analysis paragraphs.
Also, I suggest you write up mentions of team support in each of the analyses. Calm Mind and Swords Dance have relatively different functions, requiring some different teammates.
Also, I suggest you write up mentions of team support in each of the analyses. Calm Mind and Swords Dance have relatively different functions, requiring some different teammates.
If you would've read the set comments first, you would've noticed it needs a neutral nature and the given SpA EVs combined with Life Orb in order to OHKO both Gliscor and Landorus, 2 very common Pokemon which else have an easy time on Cobalion.
- Remove the support set - 91/129/72 defenses are decent (not great), but Cobalion usually just ends up paralyzing something and then doing nothing except eventually die (and maybe sponge a draco meteor once).
- Make CM the first set as it helps distinguish it from Lucario.
Here's the results of QC's chat about Cobalion.
- Remove the Support set. Taunt isn't very interesting when nothing you really need to Taunt has any business being in on Cobalion. Its defenses are "okay" but nothing to write home about when you don't have any recovery. Its typing isn't amazing, and the Fighting type really doesn't provide a whole lot of benefit, while preventing it from switching into Psychic and Flying attacks easily due to no resistance.
- Move CM to the first set. Luke does SD better, and CM is really where Cobalion "shines" if anywhere.
- Slash Air Balloon on SD, but note that you lose some KO potential with HP Ice. Consider alternate spread for Air Balloon variants.
- Taunt in AC of both SD and CM sets, as it prevents PHazing and also allows you to prevent opponents from statting up against you. Allows Cobalion to win some CM wars.
Do this and you'll probably get stamped.
- Remove the Support set. Taunt isn't very interesting when nothing you really need to Taunt has any business being in on Cobalion. Its defenses are "okay" but nothing to write home about when you don't have any recovery. Its typing isn't amazing, and the Fighting type really doesn't provide a whole lot of benefit, while preventing it from switching into Psychic and Flying attacks easily due to no resistance.
- Move CM to the first set. Luke does SD better, and CM is really where Cobalion "shines" if anywhere.
- Slash Air Balloon on SD, but note that you lose some KO potential with HP Ice. Consider alternate spread for Air Balloon variants.
- Taunt in AC of both SD and CM sets, as it prevents PHazing and also allows you to prevent opponents from statting up against you. Allows Cobalion to win some CM wars.
Do this and you'll probably get stamped.
Well.. I made all changes that were asked for.
-CM is now first set and I must admit you're right with that. Still, I think bulky sets are somewhat viable but for now it's ok to drop the set. I changed OC a bit, now mentioning T-Wave there with Iron Head support.
-Air Balloon is now mentioned on both sets but I need 1-2 days to figure out an EV spread for the SD set, as the current one is very specific and calculated with Life Orb.
-Taunt got a slash on both sets for obvious reasons.
-CM is now first set and I must admit you're right with that. Still, I think bulky sets are somewhat viable but for now it's ok to drop the set. I changed OC a bit, now mentioning T-Wave there with Iron Head support.
-Air Balloon is now mentioned on both sets but I need 1-2 days to figure out an EV spread for the SD set, as the current one is very specific and calculated with Life Orb.
-Taunt got a slash on both sets for obvious reasons.
Bloo
Banned deucer.
Taunt's cool on Cobalion, but there's no need to slash it on the Calm Mind set; It's good for CM wars, but consider this: other Calm Mind users like Rankurusu still beat you one on one, since most of the time, if not all, they're carrying Focus Blast, which hits you super effectively. Rankurusu also has a form of recovery - Cobalion doesn't. So in the long run, Rankurusu will come out victorious, barring a critical hit. The other common CMer in OU is Latias, who also beats you thanks to Recover + HP Fire, while you fail to do any major damage with Flash Cannon / HP Ice after she grabs a couple of CMs. Shifting Taunt down into Additional Comments should suffice imo.
Remove the Air Balloon slash on the CM set as well; it definitely shouldn't be the main slash either. Cobalion needs Life Orb for power, or Leftovers for staying power. Air Balloon is really only for Earthquake, and Cobalion's respectable defense allows it to take at least one hit well enough. Making a mention of Air Balloon should be good enough.
QC APPROVED (2/3)
Remove the Air Balloon slash on the CM set as well; it definitely shouldn't be the main slash either. Cobalion needs Life Orb for power, or Leftovers for staying power. Air Balloon is really only for Earthquake, and Cobalion's respectable defense allows it to take at least one hit well enough. Making a mention of Air Balloon should be good enough.
QC APPROVED (2/3)
Blue is for additions
Red is for deletions
Green is for comments
[Overview]
<p>Fighting-types became very common in 5th generation. A total of 15 new ones came to us, including a the legendary trio. One of them is Cobalion, who also offers a secondary Steel-type. This makes Cobalion's typing is it almost unique, as it is only shared with Lucario. Still, both Pokemon work entirely different. While Lucario is more of a strong, but frail, set up sweeper with Swords Dance, Nasty Plot and Agility, Cobalion is works more of a bulky version with higher Speed speed, which makes the lack of priority almost a non-issue for it. Thanks to its total of 10 resistances, immunity to Toxic Spikes and 4x resistance to Stealth Rock, it can do its job rather well due to the switch in opportunities these resistances and immunities provide. not to mention its immunity to Toxic Spikes and 4x resistance to Stealth Rock giving it many opportunities to switch in. (rearranging info) Despite the fact its movepool is rather limited, it offers base 90 Attack and Special Attack and just enough moves to use both of them effectively with effective coverage.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: Flash Cannon
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
nature: Timid
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set utilizes Cobalion's its acceptable base 90 Special Attack SpA (I'm not sure if we're supposed to use abbreviations for stats or sets in analysises other than for listing EV spreads.) while also boosting its pitiful Special Defense SpD at the same time by simply using Calm Mind. Without access to any reliable recovery move, it has just the time to set up once or twice in the best case scenario, but that’s more than enough to attempt a sweep. Focus Blast is your main attacking option, though but it has shaky accuracy. Flash Cannon gives Cobalion a secondary STAB move which also gives acceptable coverage by hitting most things that resist Fighting for at least for neutral damage, most notably anything that’s part Ghost.</p>
<p>On the last slot you can choose between several Hidden Power types. Ice is most likely the best as it gives Cobalion you a strong overall coverage and deals especially well with both Landorus and Gliscor. When using Life Orb, 252/0 Gliscor and 4/0 Landorus are both easily OHKOed even without any Calm Mind boosts. Similarly, Same goes for any Garchomp that doesn't invest too much in HP or Special Defense will also be OHKOed. Hidden Power Grass is also very effective as Cobalion you otherwise has have a hard time against several Water-types that resist its your STABs, most notably Slowbro, Jellicent and Quagsire. Don’t worry about not having a your super effective move against Dragons;, with Life Orb and +1 SpA, Flash Cannon deals at least 95% to offensive Garchomp.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Taunt can be placed over Flash Cannon or Hidden Power to prevent the opponent from phazing PHazing or setting up on Cobalion, giving it stallbreakerish qualities. With it, it can beat even Skarmory and opposing Calm Mind CM users like Reuniclus, Latias and Suicune 1on1 as it also shuts down their recovery moves.</p>
<p>Cobalion doesn’t fear priority as long as it’s healthy enough. Adamant 252(space)Atk Mach Punch from Conkeldurr even fails to 2HKO. With 120(space)HP / 136(space)SpD, Conkeldurr barely survives +1 LO Focus Blast at from full HP. Without a Calm Mind boost, it’s still 2HKOed by Focus Blast, factoring in Leftovers and assuming both hit. Cobalion has more problems with faster opponents. At +1 SpD, Timid LO Thundurus deals 89.8% minimum damage to Cobalion with Focus Blast, while Timid LO Gengar does even 92.3%. LO Hidden Power Fire from Latios 2HKOs it without fail. Any sort of Ghost type makes an irreplaceable teammate team mate for Cobalion. Jellicent deals with both Fire- and Fighting-types very easily. Latias is also viable as it’s typing and ability allows it to resist absorbs any super effective move aimed at on Cobalion and together they the resist any attack type in the game bar Flying. Both recommended recommened partners have access to Recover which makes them effective sponges.</p>
<p>Excadrill is incredibly hard to deal with. Earthquake has a more than vital chance to OHKO from full HP;, that’s where Air Balloon comes into play, as it’s Cobalion's only chance to deal with it 1on1. In case you decided to run Life Orb, it’s recommended recommened to bring a good counter to deal with Excadrill., Gliscor is probably the most common option for this job at the moment, but Conkeldurr with its STAB Mach Punch is also effective. Hippowdon also makes a great check with its very high physical Defense defense with Roar and Slack Off as well as but also a STABed Earthquake that can KO Excadrill as long as it Excadrill doesn't have doens't hang on its Air Balloon anymore. Latios is able to live a +2 Rock Slide while Hidden Power Fire can KO back easily. Flygon with Fire Punch can stop Excadrill as well but also offers a quite useful U-Turn and a strong dual STAB in Outrage and Earthquake. Again, (You haven't mentioned Salamence at all previously) Mixed Salamence MixMence is probably one of Cobalion's best sweeping partners. A Dragon Dance variant is also viable as both Cobalion and Salamence can set up as soon as they get the opportunity, putting the opponent under pressure rather easily.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Stone Edge / Taunt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
nature: Naive / Hasty
item: Life Orb / Air Balloon
EVs: 212 Atk / 88 SpA / 208 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With many resistances and its impressive physical defense, Cobalion has an easy time to come in, set up and start sweeping through teams. With the given EVs, Cobalion hits 334 Speed, making it faster than positive natured Garchomp without a Choice Scarf and anything slower, which includes a huge amount of the current metagame. Close Combat is your main attacking move, offering great damage output, easily KOing 120/0 Conkeldurr with Close Combat after a Swords Dance. Stone Edge is there for coverage as it deals with Flying types like Gyarados, Zapdos, Salamence, Thundurus and many more Pokemon who resist your STAB. With the given investment in Special Attack SpA, Hidden Power Ice is able to OHKO 4/0 Landorus without fail, has a very high chance to KO 252/0 Gliscor without any prior damage and deals a huge amount to 4/0 Garchomp. Thanks to its new (it's not really new) ability, Justified, Cobalion it loves to switch into any Dark-dark type move and abuse the +1 Attack attack boost. Cobalion is probably the best abuser of it, mainly because of its 4x resistance to Dark-dark type moves and its great defensive capabilities, making Pokemon things like Tyranitar and other common users suddenly look looking quite harmless. With base 90 Attack and Special Attack, Cobalion isn't all that powerful so bulkier opponents like Vaporeon, Jellicent and Wobbuffet usually are able to live a hit even after a Swords Dance.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Thanks to its 108 base Speed, a an Naughty / Lonely nature can be used to deal more damage but you lose the jump over Volcarona and other positive nature base 100's plus Garchomp, which might cost your you Cobalion in the end, making it so it's the inferior option. If you don’t mind this loss of Speed, it still outruns max EV positive-natured base 95 Speed Pokemon pokemon and neutral-natured base 100 Speed Pokemon.</p>
<p>Again, Taunt can be a viable option to prevent phazing PHazing or set up moves,. though without Without Stone Edge, Cobalion you loses its your neutral coverage which Hidden Power Ice can't can fully replace with little restrictions (I don't really get what you're try to say here), leaving it open against Gyarados, Slowbro, Jellicent as well as almost any Ghost-type to name the most important Pokemon. However, Yet they are most likely shut down by Taunt anyways so it might be not too big of a deal. An Air Balloon might come in handy with the numerous all these Earthquake and Spikes users around. However Yet, without a Life Orb it, Cobalion loses its ability to beat Gliscor and Landorus which can't be recovered unless you invest investing a heavy amount amoung of EVs into Special Attack SpA.</p>
<p>Fast special attackers can cause some problems for to Cobalion, as its Special Defense special defense isn't the best. Despite this, Yet it's able to take some neutral hits at from full HP as long as its defense stats aren't dropped droped. For example, Life Orb 252 SpA Timid Starmie's Hydro Pump can't manage to OHKO Cobalion (77.2% - 91.0%). The same Same goes for Life Orb LO Thundurus's Thunderbolt which is even weaker, despite its higher base Special Attack SpA (eh, I think this is kinda unnecessary. If you think it's important though, you could probably keep it), as long as Cobalion runs a neutral SpD nature. Super effective hits still tear it apart though so be careful of to anything that might run Focus Blast, Earth Power, and almost any Fire-type move.</p>
<p>Cobalion likes the presence of mixed Salamence on its side. They can take each others weaknesses rather well but also can hit hard with their respective STAB moves. Salamence's Outrage and Draco Meteor are powerful moves resisted only by Steel types, which Cobalion can deal with thanks to with Close Combat. Gengar also helps a lot as it's immune to 2 of 3 weaknesses Cobalion has but also lures Dark-type moves which helps Cobalion activate its Justified ability.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Iron Head and Thunder Wave is a fairly quite common strategy and it's also usable by Cobalion. Without the Serene Grace ability support, it's not exactly as effective but still worth being mentioned. Volt Switch is an interesting interessting choice to allow Cobalion to scout for dangerous Pokemon before setting up, get field advantage (uh, I'm really not sure what you mean here by field advantage) but you won't like to switch out after setting up Swords Dance or Calm Mind. Additionally, Cobalion sadly has a natural ability to lure in virtually every Ground type in first place which is a major drawback. Rock Polish might seem like an attractive choice to set up, but without getting its attacking stats boosted, Cobalion becomes nothing more than a fast, average attacker. Cobalion's offensive movepool is rather restricted, including just Metal Burst, Poison Jab, X-Scissor and Retaliate(space)but Cobalion won't find much use for themwon’t be get happy with any of them due to their poor coverage.</p>
<p>Boasting Offering great defenses, Cobalion can make good use of its supportive movepool, including Substitute, Roar, Toxic, Safeguard and Reflect. However, the The lack of a reliable recovery move is just too big of a flaw lackluster for a Pokemon with such good that great defenses. With the new sleep mechanics, Rest became too unreliable without access to Sleep Talk. Feel free to run an Occa Berry to remove its Fire fire weakness which might help in a metagame full of Hidden Power Fire users, but it's most likely just inferior to the mentioned items on the sets.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Even with access to Swords Dance, too bulky Pokemon give Cobalion a hard time. The real problems are the high amount of bulky Water-s and Ground-types who can switch into come in Close Combat and but also switch into Swords Dance rather easily, being ready to take a hit and meanwhile scaring Cobalion out with effective moves against it. Slowbro, Slowking and Jellicent are prime examples because they resist both of its STAB moves and have extremely large strong movepools which allow them to cripple Cobalion easily with a variety of moves, including Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp and Boiling Water. Unaware Quagsire it probably Cobalion's your worst nightmare as it even nullifies any Swords Dance boosts thanks to Unaware while having offering a super effective STAB Earthquake at the same time. Gliscor, Hippowdon and its fellow Ground types also cause problems as long as you don’t have Hidden Power Ice for them. Speaking Speak of all the sand abusers, Excadrill is a tough Pokemon bone to deal with. Most likely the The opponent will likely expect you to switch switching out instantly, which gives them a free turn to set up with Substitute or Swords Dance. You'd better have a counter for it in backup or you'll be forced to risk Cobalion by just going go straight for Close Combat to nail it before it can set up and sweep.</p>
<p>Faster opponents, especially specially based ones have no problem switching to switch into Cobalion and immediately threatening him. In fact there are quite a few Pokemon that are being faster than Cobalion, including Gengar, Starmie, Raikou, Latias, Latios, Thundurus, Accelgor and several others who all usually have at least 1 super effective move against Cobalion. You might like to have Burungeru in your team as it absorbs both Fire and Fighting type moves rather easily. The same Same goes for Latias, which in addition even has the needed Ground immunity you look for. Both of them have access to Recover so you don’t have to fear losing to lose your special wall too early or for no reason. Volcarona deserves special attention,. as it resists Resisting both of Cobalion's your STAB moves and almost any other move Cobalion has access to bar Stone Edge and Volt Switch, making makes it a real threat to deal with. Usually they will try to KO Cobalion with their Fire STAB it at the first chance they have. You you need to know whether to risk Stone Edge missing miss or simply bring an effective counter to it.</p>
<p>Some former ex-Ubers are also able to counter Cobalion, in a better position such as the remaining Deoxys-S and -D, who are either faster or just too bulky for Cobalion to deal with, and have access to Superpower and Focus Blast to deal with Cobalion. Wobbuffet can be is maybe even more dangerous, as it can lock you down rather easily thanks to Encore and Shadow Tag. If you saw in team preview that you have to face one, it’s recommended to Volt Switch around (if you have it) until it’s not a threat thread anymore. If you're running Running the Swords Dance set, you have to rely on mindgames mindgaming. A +2 Iron Head is strong enough to 2HKO a Bold 28 HP / 252 Def Wobbuffet at from full HP but if you set up on the switch Cobalion might be screwed. It's better to Better use Swords Dance again to prevent the first Counter and use Iron Head the following turn to avoid Encore to beat Wobbuffet 1on1. (just a quick note on that last sentence, but if you put that there, wouldn't the Wobbuffet user learn to Encore first?)</p>
Red is for deletions
Green is for comments
[Overview]
<p>Fighting-types became very common in 5th generation. A total of 15 new ones came to us, including a the legendary trio. One of them is Cobalion, who also offers a secondary Steel-type. This makes Cobalion's typing is it almost unique, as it is only shared with Lucario. Still, both Pokemon work entirely different. While Lucario is more of a strong, but frail, set up sweeper with Swords Dance, Nasty Plot and Agility, Cobalion is works more of a bulky version with higher Speed speed, which makes the lack of priority almost a non-issue for it. Thanks to its total of 10 resistances, immunity to Toxic Spikes and 4x resistance to Stealth Rock, it can do its job rather well due to the switch in opportunities these resistances and immunities provide. not to mention its immunity to Toxic Spikes and 4x resistance to Stealth Rock giving it many opportunities to switch in. (rearranging info) Despite the fact its movepool is rather limited, it offers base 90 Attack and Special Attack and just enough moves to use both of them effectively with effective coverage.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: Flash Cannon
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
nature: Timid
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set utilizes Cobalion's its acceptable base 90 Special Attack SpA (I'm not sure if we're supposed to use abbreviations for stats or sets in analysises other than for listing EV spreads.) while also boosting its pitiful Special Defense SpD at the same time by simply using Calm Mind. Without access to any reliable recovery move, it has just the time to set up once or twice in the best case scenario, but that’s more than enough to attempt a sweep. Focus Blast is your main attacking option, though but it has shaky accuracy. Flash Cannon gives Cobalion a secondary STAB move which also gives acceptable coverage by hitting most things that resist Fighting for at least for neutral damage, most notably anything that’s part Ghost.</p>
<p>On the last slot you can choose between several Hidden Power types. Ice is most likely the best as it gives Cobalion you a strong overall coverage and deals especially well with both Landorus and Gliscor. When using Life Orb, 252/0 Gliscor and 4/0 Landorus are both easily OHKOed even without any Calm Mind boosts. Similarly, Same goes for any Garchomp that doesn't invest too much in HP or Special Defense will also be OHKOed. Hidden Power Grass is also very effective as Cobalion you otherwise has have a hard time against several Water-types that resist its your STABs, most notably Slowbro, Jellicent and Quagsire. Don’t worry about not having a your super effective move against Dragons;, with Life Orb and +1 SpA, Flash Cannon deals at least 95% to offensive Garchomp.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Taunt can be placed over Flash Cannon or Hidden Power to prevent the opponent from phazing PHazing or setting up on Cobalion, giving it stallbreakerish qualities. With it, it can beat even Skarmory and opposing Calm Mind CM users like Reuniclus, Latias and Suicune 1on1 as it also shuts down their recovery moves.</p>
<p>Cobalion doesn’t fear priority as long as it’s healthy enough. Adamant 252(space)Atk Mach Punch from Conkeldurr even fails to 2HKO. With 120(space)HP / 136(space)SpD, Conkeldurr barely survives +1 LO Focus Blast at from full HP. Without a Calm Mind boost, it’s still 2HKOed by Focus Blast, factoring in Leftovers and assuming both hit. Cobalion has more problems with faster opponents. At +1 SpD, Timid LO Thundurus deals 89.8% minimum damage to Cobalion with Focus Blast, while Timid LO Gengar does even 92.3%. LO Hidden Power Fire from Latios 2HKOs it without fail. Any sort of Ghost type makes an irreplaceable teammate team mate for Cobalion. Jellicent deals with both Fire- and Fighting-types very easily. Latias is also viable as it’s typing and ability allows it to resist absorbs any super effective move aimed at on Cobalion and together they the resist any attack type in the game bar Flying. Both recommended recommened partners have access to Recover which makes them effective sponges.</p>
<p>Excadrill is incredibly hard to deal with. Earthquake has a more than vital chance to OHKO from full HP;, that’s where Air Balloon comes into play, as it’s Cobalion's only chance to deal with it 1on1. In case you decided to run Life Orb, it’s recommended recommened to bring a good counter to deal with Excadrill., Gliscor is probably the most common option for this job at the moment, but Conkeldurr with its STAB Mach Punch is also effective. Hippowdon also makes a great check with its very high physical Defense defense with Roar and Slack Off as well as but also a STABed Earthquake that can KO Excadrill as long as it Excadrill doesn't have doens't hang on its Air Balloon anymore. Latios is able to live a +2 Rock Slide while Hidden Power Fire can KO back easily. Flygon with Fire Punch can stop Excadrill as well but also offers a quite useful U-Turn and a strong dual STAB in Outrage and Earthquake. Again, (You haven't mentioned Salamence at all previously) Mixed Salamence MixMence is probably one of Cobalion's best sweeping partners. A Dragon Dance variant is also viable as both Cobalion and Salamence can set up as soon as they get the opportunity, putting the opponent under pressure rather easily.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Stone Edge / Taunt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
nature: Naive / Hasty
item: Life Orb / Air Balloon
EVs: 212 Atk / 88 SpA / 208 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With many resistances and its impressive physical defense, Cobalion has an easy time to come in, set up and start sweeping through teams. With the given EVs, Cobalion hits 334 Speed, making it faster than positive natured Garchomp without a Choice Scarf and anything slower, which includes a huge amount of the current metagame. Close Combat is your main attacking move, offering great damage output, easily KOing 120/0 Conkeldurr with Close Combat after a Swords Dance. Stone Edge is there for coverage as it deals with Flying types like Gyarados, Zapdos, Salamence, Thundurus and many more Pokemon who resist your STAB. With the given investment in Special Attack SpA, Hidden Power Ice is able to OHKO 4/0 Landorus without fail, has a very high chance to KO 252/0 Gliscor without any prior damage and deals a huge amount to 4/0 Garchomp. Thanks to its new (it's not really new) ability, Justified, Cobalion it loves to switch into any Dark-dark type move and abuse the +1 Attack attack boost. Cobalion is probably the best abuser of it, mainly because of its 4x resistance to Dark-dark type moves and its great defensive capabilities, making Pokemon things like Tyranitar and other common users suddenly look looking quite harmless. With base 90 Attack and Special Attack, Cobalion isn't all that powerful so bulkier opponents like Vaporeon, Jellicent and Wobbuffet usually are able to live a hit even after a Swords Dance.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Thanks to its 108 base Speed, a an Naughty / Lonely nature can be used to deal more damage but you lose the jump over Volcarona and other positive nature base 100's plus Garchomp, which might cost your you Cobalion in the end, making it so it's the inferior option. If you don’t mind this loss of Speed, it still outruns max EV positive-natured base 95 Speed Pokemon pokemon and neutral-natured base 100 Speed Pokemon.</p>
<p>Again, Taunt can be a viable option to prevent phazing PHazing or set up moves,. though without Without Stone Edge, Cobalion you loses its your neutral coverage which Hidden Power Ice can't can fully replace with little restrictions (I don't really get what you're try to say here), leaving it open against Gyarados, Slowbro, Jellicent as well as almost any Ghost-type to name the most important Pokemon. However, Yet they are most likely shut down by Taunt anyways so it might be not too big of a deal. An Air Balloon might come in handy with the numerous all these Earthquake and Spikes users around. However Yet, without a Life Orb it, Cobalion loses its ability to beat Gliscor and Landorus which can't be recovered unless you invest investing a heavy amount amoung of EVs into Special Attack SpA.</p>
<p>Fast special attackers can cause some problems for to Cobalion, as its Special Defense special defense isn't the best. Despite this, Yet it's able to take some neutral hits at from full HP as long as its defense stats aren't dropped droped. For example, Life Orb 252 SpA Timid Starmie's Hydro Pump can't manage to OHKO Cobalion (77.2% - 91.0%). The same Same goes for Life Orb LO Thundurus's Thunderbolt which is even weaker, despite its higher base Special Attack SpA (eh, I think this is kinda unnecessary. If you think it's important though, you could probably keep it), as long as Cobalion runs a neutral SpD nature. Super effective hits still tear it apart though so be careful of to anything that might run Focus Blast, Earth Power, and almost any Fire-type move.</p>
<p>Cobalion likes the presence of mixed Salamence on its side. They can take each others weaknesses rather well but also can hit hard with their respective STAB moves. Salamence's Outrage and Draco Meteor are powerful moves resisted only by Steel types, which Cobalion can deal with thanks to with Close Combat. Gengar also helps a lot as it's immune to 2 of 3 weaknesses Cobalion has but also lures Dark-type moves which helps Cobalion activate its Justified ability.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Iron Head and Thunder Wave is a fairly quite common strategy and it's also usable by Cobalion. Without the Serene Grace ability support, it's not exactly as effective but still worth being mentioned. Volt Switch is an interesting interessting choice to allow Cobalion to scout for dangerous Pokemon before setting up, get field advantage (uh, I'm really not sure what you mean here by field advantage) but you won't like to switch out after setting up Swords Dance or Calm Mind. Additionally, Cobalion sadly has a natural ability to lure in virtually every Ground type in first place which is a major drawback. Rock Polish might seem like an attractive choice to set up, but without getting its attacking stats boosted, Cobalion becomes nothing more than a fast, average attacker. Cobalion's offensive movepool is rather restricted, including just Metal Burst, Poison Jab, X-Scissor and Retaliate(space)but Cobalion won't find much use for themwon’t be get happy with any of them due to their poor coverage.</p>
<p>Boasting Offering great defenses, Cobalion can make good use of its supportive movepool, including Substitute, Roar, Toxic, Safeguard and Reflect. However, the The lack of a reliable recovery move is just too big of a flaw lackluster for a Pokemon with such good that great defenses. With the new sleep mechanics, Rest became too unreliable without access to Sleep Talk. Feel free to run an Occa Berry to remove its Fire fire weakness which might help in a metagame full of Hidden Power Fire users, but it's most likely just inferior to the mentioned items on the sets.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Even with access to Swords Dance, too bulky Pokemon give Cobalion a hard time. The real problems are the high amount of bulky Water-s and Ground-types who can switch into come in Close Combat and but also switch into Swords Dance rather easily, being ready to take a hit and meanwhile scaring Cobalion out with effective moves against it. Slowbro, Slowking and Jellicent are prime examples because they resist both of its STAB moves and have extremely large strong movepools which allow them to cripple Cobalion easily with a variety of moves, including Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp and Boiling Water. Unaware Quagsire it probably Cobalion's your worst nightmare as it even nullifies any Swords Dance boosts thanks to Unaware while having offering a super effective STAB Earthquake at the same time. Gliscor, Hippowdon and its fellow Ground types also cause problems as long as you don’t have Hidden Power Ice for them. Speaking Speak of all the sand abusers, Excadrill is a tough Pokemon bone to deal with. Most likely the The opponent will likely expect you to switch switching out instantly, which gives them a free turn to set up with Substitute or Swords Dance. You'd better have a counter for it in backup or you'll be forced to risk Cobalion by just going go straight for Close Combat to nail it before it can set up and sweep.</p>
<p>Faster opponents, especially specially based ones have no problem switching to switch into Cobalion and immediately threatening him. In fact there are quite a few Pokemon that are being faster than Cobalion, including Gengar, Starmie, Raikou, Latias, Latios, Thundurus, Accelgor and several others who all usually have at least 1 super effective move against Cobalion. You might like to have Burungeru in your team as it absorbs both Fire and Fighting type moves rather easily. The same Same goes for Latias, which in addition even has the needed Ground immunity you look for. Both of them have access to Recover so you don’t have to fear losing to lose your special wall too early or for no reason. Volcarona deserves special attention,. as it resists Resisting both of Cobalion's your STAB moves and almost any other move Cobalion has access to bar Stone Edge and Volt Switch, making makes it a real threat to deal with. Usually they will try to KO Cobalion with their Fire STAB it at the first chance they have. You you need to know whether to risk Stone Edge missing miss or simply bring an effective counter to it.</p>
<p>Some former ex-Ubers are also able to counter Cobalion, in a better position such as the remaining Deoxys-S and -D, who are either faster or just too bulky for Cobalion to deal with, and have access to Superpower and Focus Blast to deal with Cobalion. Wobbuffet can be is maybe even more dangerous, as it can lock you down rather easily thanks to Encore and Shadow Tag. If you saw in team preview that you have to face one, it’s recommended to Volt Switch around (if you have it) until it’s not a threat thread anymore. If you're running Running the Swords Dance set, you have to rely on mindgames mindgaming. A +2 Iron Head is strong enough to 2HKO a Bold 28 HP / 252 Def Wobbuffet at from full HP but if you set up on the switch Cobalion might be screwed. It's better to Better use Swords Dance again to prevent the first Counter and use Iron Head the following turn to avoid Encore to beat Wobbuffet 1on1. (just a quick note on that last sentence, but if you put that there, wouldn't the Wobbuffet user learn to Encore first?)</p>