Umm, have you ever used Salamence before? SpA matters because Salamence relied on it to break its counters and it makes it a better dragon dancer, than Axe-Head dragon. Without Fire Blast, Salamence wouldn't be able get past some of the physical walls that counter it. You DD with Ononojusu and Skarmory comes in and laughs as you try to beat with non- STAB Stone Edge and it sets up and Whirlwinds you away. The SpA lets it be a deadly mixed attacker to roflstomps most physical walls, and makes it more versatile than Ononokusu, who will always be physical and thus always be hard countered by Skarmory and such. Mence also has 100 Speed which might be the most important thing, since it won't have to switch out or die every time Scarf Flygon or Jirachi switches in (Ononokusu is easily revenged by these and even Mence himself because of that lame 97 speed). Theres a reason I compare Onono with 'Chomp and 'Mence, because Onono is fairly one- dimensional, and has to compete for a team slot with those two. I didn't bring up Kingdra or Flygon because they both have their own clear advantages in an excellent Water typing and STAB for Kingdra and U-turn and Levitate for Flygon which both make them different enough to function on their own and have their own identity (even though they were still overshadowed which Chomp/Mence were around), while Ononokusu's only remarkable traits are slightly higher attack and mold breaker, which helps with a total of 1 pokemon in OU right now (and Rotom I guess, but he's gone soon)
@Naxte : Your post is better at defending your point, but still a little wrong so I'll address it and Garchomp too. First off, I don't see what Ononokusu is hitting better than Garchomp (FYI Skarmory is still immune to Earthquake with Molder Breaker), except Bronzong who might not even be relevant 5th gen, and was still dealt with with Fire Fang. Fire Fang is huge- you beat Bronzong, Foretress and Skarm who lol at Ononokusu, as well as destroy Scizor and the new grass/ steel who will surely be lurking OU soon. And just so you know, Garchomp's STAB Earthquake hits much harder than Ononokusu's, and he's a ton bulkier and can actually switch in and take a hit. And again the speed thing is huge- Garchomp's trolly 102 spe lets it beat some would be revenge killer like Jirachi and 'Mence, which is especially important with a Scarf attatched.
Taunt is notable though, I'll give you that.
Why mention skarmory whirlwinding/spiking on Ono when the last thing you mention is how Taunt is notable? It is one dimension, and so you compare it to a pokemon who has a much larger degree of options, i.e Mence? I've been playing mence since 3rd gen, and was forced to stop using him in OU when the new tiers set in place. I know damn well what Mence can, and will do, but your placing it up against a pokemon who can't compete with it's
versatility. Of course you can claim that it's a
better dragon dancer then Ono, but you obviously dont realize that Ono is still a
good dragon dancer, and
better then other dragon dancers. Lots of things can, and will wall it, but does that stop it from being a viable pokemon? NO it doesn't! It's not going to compete with a slot in a team over mence, or chomp because both can have there respected places!
You still aren't proving your facts behind why you continue to compare it with the other dragons. Your still trying to compare its ass of a SpAtk with Mence's. Your still trying to prove that it'll compete with a slot on a team with mence, when it wont for obvious reasons, and qouting, "
it's one-dimensional". You also seemed to not realize that after pointing out Kingdra's, and Flygon's differences, that Ono has plenty of differences himself that also give him a branch of individuality:
Mold Breaker- Regardless of one pokemon as you so claim to be the only perk to having Mold Breaker, your forgeting the other assload of levitaters that have been introduced that will also probably compete in OU. And despite this,
whats stopping others from playing pokemon outside of their specificied tiers? It sure as hell hasn't stopped various UU pokemon, and the likes to show their face in OU. What makes you think that'll change?
147 atk/ 97 spd isn't bad, it's a godsend for most- Those pokes that can't reach that higher amount of speed, let alone hope to possibly get even the slightest edge over 100 envy that spd. If Kingdra had 97 it would be alot more monsterous then it already is. If TTar had that spd, or Atk, it would be monsterous.
It's movepool allows it to have a niche, and it's niche will be a physical Sweeper- You
CAN'T dispute it!
It doesn't need a mixed-set. It doesn't want a mixed-set. And sure as hell doesn't give a rats-ass about Skarmory. that new grass/steel, yea, it's a pain in the ass, as it will be for several other pokemon. Is that going to stop it from sweeping other teams without it? Hell no!
