Project Core Analysis Workshop (Discussing Partners for Mega Sharpedo + Tank Chomp)

[Random Passerby]

Thundurus @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Psychic / Thunder Wave

Nasty Plot Thundurus applies a lot of pressure on Water-types like Manaphy and Suicune while also hitting Skarmory with Thunderbolt. The ability to boost its SpA also allows it to break down Mega Sableye and Clefable. Psychic also allows Thundurus to lure and 2HKO Mega Venusaur, which is nice for the core. Thunder Wave is also an option to slow down faster foes such as Mega Lopunny or +1 Mega Gyarados.

 

[Bendiving]

Are we allowed to do 2?

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

The support Charizard-Y receives from this core is just incredible. Spikes support to wear down bulky walls to bring them into OHKO range from Skarmory, Lati@s trapping, Talonflame check, and a weather reset button from Tyranitar - essentially, everything CharY needs to function as an effective wallbreaker. In return CharY brings sun to help mitigate the water weakness and can take out much of the threat list with fire blast, solar beam, and focus blast (Breloom, Slowbro, Heatran are 3 examples).

Defensively CharY covers Skarm's fighting and fire weaknesses, and Ttar's bug, steel, grass and fairy weaknesses. It does unfortunately stack water and electric weaknesses, although sun (and solar beam) mitigates the water weakness somewhat and Ttar can beat electrics such as Raikou, M-Mane and Thundurus with earthquake/stone edge. However a teammate to more reliably deal with water & electric threats is recommended.

 

[bludz]

Yeah gonna allow a second nom on the last day or if you ask me. I'll look into implementing an official rule about it, probably just steal Victim of the Week's format once again.

 

[SketchUp]

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 220 Atk / 4 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Substitute

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Taunt / Substitute

Regular Gyarados is a nice addition to this core because of its nice bulk, a resistance to fighting and a possible stallbreaker. Gyarados acts as a nice check to Mega Lopunny, Manaphy and Keldeo, while also soft checking Mega Medicham. With Sub and DD, Gyarados can also get rid of annoying defensive pokemon such as Mew, Alomomola and Crocune. Gyarados can eventually mega evolve to have an easier time against pokemon such as Mega Sableye, Rotom-W and Crawdaunt. Furthermore, Tyranitar supports Gyarados because it traps and weakens pokemon like Talonflame, Zapdos and Mega Manectric, supporting either regular Gyarados or Mega Gyarados in a sweep. Skarmory also supports Gyarados with Spikes, which turns switchins to regular Gyarados such as Garchomp, Slowbro and Unaware Clefable, and checks to Mega Gyarados like Keldeo, Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor to shaky checks.

 

[bludz]

Thanks once again for the contributions guys. Here's the new core for this week:

Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

Two powerful priority users that can crush weakened teams, also checking weather offense and fast megas. Breloom threatens ground, water, and rock types that check Talonflame (also Heatran), and is often able to use them as a free SD after clicking Spore on something. Talonflame checks faster stuff and bulky grass types and is generally kind of a pain in the ass for offense.

Discuss threats

 

[p2]

Chople TTar is pretty underrated but if it baits Mach Punch from Breloom instead of Bullet Seed by bluffing Scarf, TTar OHKOes it + it easily handles Talonflame. It's pretty situational against this core, but it's a cool set.

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast

0 SpA Tyranitar Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 228-270 (87.3 - 103.4%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO, (guaranteed after LO + Sand)

meanwhile Breloom does this back
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 80+ Def Chople Berry Tyranitar: 198-237 (49.1 - 58.8%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

and I don't even need to post calcs on how easily it handles Talonflame.

 

[heritage]

The Flood (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 68 SpA / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

Not the most common Pokemon in OU, although it was good in the Pinsir meta, but an underrated one nonetheless. Zapdos switches in freely against both of Breloom's STAB attacks and easily OHKOs it with Heat Wave. Doesn't like being put to sleep, but I think that can apply for most Pokemon. It's a bit more shaky against Talonflame, but it's able to take a +2 Flare Blitz from full health (has a reeeeaally small chance to OHKO after Rocks tho) and KO back with Thunderbolt. Switching in against Brave Bird is easy, though.

Core against Zapdos

252 Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 176+ Def Zapdos: 78-93 (20.3 - 24.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 176+ Def Zapdos: 42-50 (10.9 - 13%) -- possibly the worst move ever

+2 252 Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 176+ Def Zapdos: 246-289 (64.2 - 75.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Zapdos against core

68 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 120 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 338-398 (103.3 - 121.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

68 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 264-312 (101.1 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[MANNAT]

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Ironically, Talonflame is a huge threat to this core, as it OHKOs both members of the core with brave bird at +2, and doesn't need to boost to beat Breloom. However, it should be wary of switching into spores from breloom or brave birds from Talonflame as both of those cripple Talon on the switch in, but it still is a threat to the core nevertheless.

Calcs

252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 226-267 (76 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 450-531 (151.5 - 178.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 820-972 (314.1 - 372.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO (lol)

 

[Random Passerby]

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 220 Atk / 4 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Substitute

Gyarados's dual STABs allows it to OHKO both members of the core. It also weakens the physical Attacks with Intimidate and can survive a LO Mach Punch + LO Brave Bird.

 

[Bendiving]

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Nasty Plot

Thundurus resists both fighting and grass STABs from Breloom, outspeeds and does a minimum 95% with HP ice (guaranteed after nasty plot, stealth rock, or if running HP flying, but HP ice is generally better). Talonflame initially outspeeds but can be crippled by prankster T-wave or just straight up KOd with thunderbolt, and flare blitz can only KO after a swords dance.

calcs

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 250-296 (95.7 - 113.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 120 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 507-595 (155 - 181.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Thundurus: 190-225 (63.5 - 75.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Edit: Random Passerby pointed out that mach punch + flare blitz + LO recoil KOs, so you can run HP flying + lefties instead which is better vs this core, also helps vs M-Venu though has worse coverage overall :]

 

[Ramses]

Heatran @ Chople Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Toxic

Heatran walls Talonflame to death and OHKOes it with Stone Edge. Magma Storm with max Speed Investment allows Heatran to deal with Breloom. However Magma Storm has shit accuracy (so does Stone Edge) so you might miss.

 

[Tressed]

Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Hidden Power Ice

Manectric can OHKO both members of this core. Talonflame is obviously knocked out by Thunderbolt or Volt Switch, while Breloom can blasted by Overheat or taken out with HP Ice with a little prior damage. Intimidate helps Manectric stomach priority attacks from this core as well, allowing it a little extra room to take damage.

 

[Kav]

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 32 Atk / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Protect

Standard Diancie can sponge a hit from tflame at +2, is immune to spore, and can ohk both these fools.

Cant really set up on breloom because you get a 50-50 between SD mach (if you protect) and bseed (if you moonblast) but if youre already mega and get in for free then he gets fucked up.

 

[mmkzero0]

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 200 Def / 8 SpD / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Facade
- Roost

A rather underrated Pokémon imo, but it does a great job against this core. Gliscor walls both Breloom and Talonflame and can take a +2 Brave Bird or Bullet Seed while dealing big dmg in return: Breloom get's OHKO'd by Acrobatics and Talonflame dies to +2 Facade/Recoildmg. Passive Recovery in Poison Heal, reliable recovery in Roost, immunity to Status (no Sleep for Breloom) and boosting Facade to 140BP make Gliscor a serious thread that is not to be underestimated

calcs vs. Gliscor

252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 244 HP / 200+ Def Gliscor: 109-130 (30.9 - 36.9%) -- 36.6% chance to 4HKO after Poison Heal

+2 252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 244 HP / 200+ Def Gliscor: 220-259 (62.5 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal

252 Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 200+ Def Gliscor: 93-109 (26.4 - 30.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Poison Heal

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 244 HP / 200+ Def Gliscor: 82-97 (23.2 - 27.5%) -- possible 6HKO after Poison Heal

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 244 HP / 200+ Def Gliscor: 303-363 (86 - 103.1%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO

calcs vs. core

0 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 127-150 (42.7 - 50.5%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO

+2 0 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 255-300 (85.8 - 101%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

0 Atk Gliscor Acrobatics (55 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 276-328 (105.7 - 125.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

0 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 115-136 (44 - 52.1%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO

 

[Martin]

As much as I'd like to say the based lord Stunfisk, it gets ripped by Breloom ;;;; Instead...

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Wing Attack
- Fire Fang
- Aqua Tail

Aerodactyl outpaces both of these and hits them 4x super effectively with its STABs. In addition, it resists everything that Talonflame can throw at it (unless that SD set has suddenly changed to NG Ice or something lol).

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Toxic

Heatran walls Talonflame to death and OHKOes it with Stone Edge. Magma Storm with max Speed Investment allows Heatran to deal with Breloom. However Magma Storm has shit accuracy (so does Stone Edge) so you might miss.

I suggest Chople because it means that Mach Punch doesn't rip you a new one.

 

[bludz]

Discuss partners

 

[Ramses]

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 100 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Knock Off

Seismitoad is a great partner for this core because it alleviates the weakness it has to fast Electrics, like Mega Manectric and Raikou. It can beat those two threats 1v1. It 2HKOes Mega Manectric and Raikou with Earth Power. It can severely weaken Thundurus however with Scald, Life Orb recoil, and Hazard Support, which it provides with Stealth Rock. It also gives the team a decent at best Keldeo switch-in and remove it's item through Knock Off or fish for Burns with Scald.

 

[Rosen]

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Flamethrower/Thunder Wave/Ice Beam

Clefable can handle almost all the aforementioned mons (bar Heatran) to some extent, tanking hits from Mega Mane/Thundy like a beast and setting up some CMs or fucking up Gyara w/T-wave or Gliscor with Ice Beam. Depends on what the rest of the team looks like, but yeah, good partner.

 

[DennisEG]

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Flying]
- Nasty plot / Grass Knot / Focus Blast

This mon is a great partner because can lure al of the check Talon and Loom have, like Hippo/ Quag / Tran / Venu / Amoongus / BulkyChomp, yeah i know between Talon and loom can deal with each other check but that's is too obvious so most of the time people don't let Hippo if you bring Thundy so u gotta lure them on dobles or people think u already support Talon and Loom between them and don't expect a lure. Also can spread paralisys that help loom because isnt than fast.

 

[Random Passerby]

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

Azumarill provides the team with another priority move in Aqua Jet to pick off weakened foes such as Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Diancie. It also checks Heatran and other Fire-types (except Talonflame) outside of an unlucky burn. Play Rough and Waterfall provides good coverage to punch holes against Gliscor, bulky Waters, and other defensive threats. It appreciates Talonflame countering Ferrothorn and bulky Grass and Steel types.

 

[Albacore]

Stunfisk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 152 SpA / 32 SpD
Modest Nature
- Discharge
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic / Yawn

This team is weak to fast Flying- and Electric- types, and while Garchomp or Hippowdon would work fine here, Stunfisk has a Flying resist, unlike Garchomp isn't quad weak to ice, and fits better on HO than Hippowdon, and this is primarily an HO core. Yawn is nice for phasing, but kinda conflicts with Spore, and Toxic helps vs Latis and bulky Grounds which check Breloom and Talonflame respectively.

btw I was originally going to go with Lanturn for even more hipster points, but it's more of a balance mon and really can't work on HO, and as I said, this is mainly an HO core.

 

[EraiMHFU]

^^ gamer boy, lol.

A good teammate for this core would be Rotom-W, because it can check threats for this core like Talonflame, Gyarados, Diance, Heatran, T-Tar, Aero, and some fast electrics, and also completes a FWG core and can bring em' safely via slow Volt Switch.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split

 

[Kav]

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
- Dragon Dance

Jolly ZardX has pretty good offensive synergy with this core.

The core already puts immense pressure on physical walls. Hippowdon, Quagsire, Slowbro, gliscor, and lando would all have to come in early on to deal with tflame and breloom. In the case of the first three, breloom is extremely threatening to them, which if played right can keep them from recovering easily. ZardX is an amazing sweeper and can take out most physical walls if they have a bit of prior damage done to them. He can also just go for an early sweep and let the other two just spam priority until everything dies.

Zard can also easily set up after one of the teammates dies. Manectric, Raikou, Rotom-W/H, Zapdos, Celebi, Skarm, Weavile, Scolipede, Mew, Volcarona, Jirachi and a bunch of common choiced mons can all be threatening to Breloom or Tflame but be complete setup bait to ZardX. Both of them also carry priority, and breloom spore, so they deter the opponent from setting up or dropping a substitute if theyre going to die anyway; not to mention chip damage is nice.

The core still absolutely abhors paralysis and rain, and theres way more pressure to keep rocks down. Zard also provides very little defensive synergy beyond handling some of the electrics, though in sharing a lot of checks with tflame, it definitely helps break through teams. Fire spam in general is pretty neat since a lot of the typical answers have either pretty poor recovery, are passive as fuck, or get called in for other things (ttar for isntance).

 

[Tressed]

Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Stealth Rock

A little hazard support is always appreciated with offensive mons like Talonflame and Breloom, and Garchomp has a few nice perks. Yache Chomp is a nice lure for things like Manectric and Thundurus, who can otherwise kill it off easily and threaten the rest of the core. Additionally, three Swords Dancers puts a ton of pressure on an opponent's defensive core, which, combined with Breloom's ability to take a mon out of the match with Spore, makes it easy to break down an opposing team for a sweep.

 

[Bendiving]

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Stone Edge
- Explosion / Knock Off / Superpower

Intimidate + U-turn provides a large number of swords dance set-up opportunities which both Talonflame and Breloom really appreciate, and gains momentum, which is vital for the offensive kind of teams this core finds itself on. Lando also beats many key threats to the core: Going through the checklist, scarf Lando outspeeds and beats all those mons one-on-one (except Gliscor, which can't do much back anyway and explosion does a ton) - Earthquake takes out Tyranitar, Heatran, Mega-Manectric, and Mega-Diancie, with Stone edge for Zapdos, Talonflame, Gyarados, Thundurus, Aerodactyl.