Landorus - Analysis

cosmicexplorer

pewpewpew
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Landorus

[Overview]
<p>Landorus has two things going for it: a strong STAB Earthquake, and a good defensive typing. While it may seem outclassed by Garchomp, with its better secondary STAB typing and superior Speed, Landorus distinguishes itself from Garchomp with access to Explosion, lack of a weakness to Dragon-type attacks, immunity to Ground-type attacks, and Sand Force, which can make its attacks ridiculously powerful. Similar to Garchomp, though, Landorus has a 4x weakness to Ice-type attacks, which makes it susceptible to a multitude of common attackers. While it has its downsides, Landorus's huge power, excellent speed, and spread coverage makes it a powerful attacker in its own right.</p>

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Protect
item: Yache Berry / Normal Gem
nature: Adamant / Jolly
ability: Sand Force
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Landorus's Speed and coverage make it a good check to most Rock- and Fighting-type attackers. Earthquake and Rock Slide have amazing type coverage, and with a Sand Force boost, Landorus hits incredibly hard with Earthquake, OHKOing or 2HKOing literally anything that doesn't resist it. Explosion is quite powerful and does good damage to Pokemon such as Abomasnow that Landorus can't normally beat. Explosion also has good synergy with Earthquake, as Earthquake does huge damage to the Rock- and Steel-types that resist Explosion. Protect is a staple move in VGC play.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>An Adamant nature boosts Landorus's Attack. While a Jolly nature allows Landorus to outspeed a few more Pokemon, its awkward 101 base Speed stat make the Speed increase just about useless. A Yache Berry lets Landorus take Blizzard and Ice Punch or an Ice Shard, while Normal Gem gives Explosion an extra boost to KO reasonably bulky stuff such as Abomasnow. Jolly Landorus outspeeds base 100s, but Adamant hits noticeably harder. Because Landorus still loses to a number of faster Pokemon such as Weavile and Latios with Jolly, an Adamant nature with less Speed investment is usable, giving Landorus greater power and bulk in exchange for some Speed. Landorus really loves Musharna as a partner; it can use Thunder Wave to slow down faster opponents and Helping Hand to boost Landorus's spread attacks, while being immune to Earthquake and Explosion due to Telepathy. Cresselia is just about as useful, with greater bulk but without an immunity to Explosion. Gengar is another good partner for that same reason and an immunity to Explosion. It can also use Icy Wind to slow down opponents, all while efficiently checking Latios, as long as Gengar holds a Focus Sash. Good teammates for Landorus are immune to Earthquake and preferably Explosion, and can complement Earthquake's coverage by hitting Flying-types and Levitate users. Pokemon that can provide Speed support for Landorus through Tailwind or Thunder Wave are also useful, since Landorus isn't extremely fast. Aerodactyl is a good example, with STAB Rock Slide to hit Flying-types and Tailwind to boost Speed.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Psychic / Grass Knot
move 4: Protect
item: Yache Berry / Life Orb
ability: Sand Force
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>While often overlooked in favor of its higher Attack stat, Landorus does possess a base 115 Special Attack stat, and can run an effective special-based set. This enables Landorus to surprise its normal counters and threaten many of the most common Pokemon in the tier. Earth Power provides a reliable STAB move, and unlike Earthquake, does not hit Landorus's ally, allowing any Pokemon to be run alongside it. Hidden Power Ice gives Landorus a way to hit Zapdos and Dragon-type Pokemon, who otherwise wall this set, for super effective damage. The last attacking move comes down to what the team needs. When using Psychic, this set is able to counter Hitmontop, one of the most common Pokemon in the metagame, with ease. Psychic 2HKOes Hitmontop, while Intimidate doesn't bother Landorus at all. On the other hand, Grass Knot allows Landorus to damage Pokemon such as Swampert, Jellicent, and Gastrodon, who can normally survive Landorus's assaults. Protect is generally recognized as a necessary move for any VGC Pokemon, and for good reason. This is because with Protect, Landorus can stall out the effects of Trick Room, wait for its partner to take out a threat, or let a weather condition whittle down its opponent's HP.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Because of Landorus's gaping 4x weakness to Ice, a Yache Berry must be used to allow it to survive one Ice-type attack. However, a Yache Berry may already be in use elsewhere, however, in which case a Life Orb is an acceptable alternative for the power boost provided. A positive Speed nature is wasted on Landorus, as it outspeeds nothing important with its peculiar base 101 Speed stat, so a Modest nature is used to raise Landorus's Special Attack.</p>

<p>Landorus greatly appreciates sandstorm support, weakening the omnipresent Blizzard and strengthening Earth Power, thanks to Landorus's ability Sand Force. Because of this, Tyranitar makes for a great partner, bringing permanent sand and the ability to hit the Special Defense beast Cresselia with Crunch. Any Pokemon who can take out the Ice-types that threaten Landorus would be a greatly appreciated partner, especially to defeat the deadly Abomasnow. While Landorus can run Rock Slide on the physical side to take care of these Pokemon, hitting with its unboosted Attack stat makes this method ineffective. Water-types are a constant bug to Landorus, so Electric-type Pokemon, such as Zapdos, make for great teammates. Zapdos is able to abuse STAB Discharge, thanks to Landorus's Ground-typing, while Landorus can use Earth Power to wreck the Rock-types who want to ruin Zapdos's fun.</p>

<p>Because of Landorus's inability to hit Ice-types, Focus Blast is an option. Whilst its 70% accuracy is less than desirable, it does give a way to take out the Ice-types who make Landorus's life miserable. Hidden Power Flying provides a secondary STAB and hits harder than Psychic, though the drop in power towards Dragon-types and other Landorus is noticeable. Hidden Power Fire is a decent choice if one is overly worried about Scizor or Abomasnow, but the sacrifice in coverage makes this a less attractive option.</p>

[Other Options]
<p>A Choice Scarf set with an Adamant nature provides an unexpected check to a ton of faster Pokemon, including would-be checks such as Weavile. U-turn cuts down on prediction, especially against Trick Room teams, and hits Abomasnow hard while escaping Blizzard. Imprison can stop Protect and Earthquake, which can be quite handy, and Sandstorm can be useful if your Tyranitar or Hippowdon is KOed, stopping rain and sun teams while activating Sand Force. Bulldoze acts as a pseudo-Icy Wind, and still hits reasonably hard, but it's somewhat difficult to use effectively since so many Pokemon are immune to it. Hammer Arm OHKOes non-Chople Berry Tyranitar, but has overlapping coverage with Earthquake and lowers Landorus's speed.</p>

[Checks and Counters]
<p>Ice-types, especially Abomasnow, are Landorus's worst enemy, easily OHKOing with their STAB attacks unless Landorus has a Yache Berry, although Rock Slide will do a number on any Ice-type. Bulky Water-types, and rain teams in general, can cause problems for Landorus as well, although Grass Knot from a special set will hurt. Breloom takes little from Earthquake or Rock Slide, and can use Spore to incapacitate Landorus, but it is easily KOed by Explosion or Psychic. Latios outspeeds and KOes Landorus, while Latias takes little from most attacks and can do good damage in return. Thundurus and Zapdos can severely damage or KO Landorus with Hidden Power Ice, but are damaged in return by Rock Slide. Rotom-W easily OHKOes with Hydro Pump, but is KOed by a Normal Gem or Helping Hand Explosion.</p>
 

Alaka

formerly Alakapimp
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Solid, mention that u-turn is especially useful against Abomasnow to hit it hard and flee from Blizzard. 2/2
 

muffinhead

b202 wifi vgc
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
danny did you quuit irc or soemthing D;

i know its 2 / 2 but can you add a special set? even outside of sand support its still ridiculously powerful and a lot of things go well with single target landorus that dont work with eq landorus. (plus it gets cool moves)
 

Solace

royal flush
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
edited in jrank's special set that has already passed qc and gp so that when this is all done we can get it up as one
 

TrollFreak

(╮°-°)╮┳━┳ (╯°□°)╯ ┻━┻
is a Contributor Alumnus
Amateur GP Check Placeholder

REMOVE ADD COMMENTS


[Overview]
<p>Landorus's STAB Earthquake is incredibly strong, and it has a good defensive typing. , with an immunity to Earthquake. While it may seem outclassed by Garchomp, which has a better secondary STAB typing and superior Speed, Landorus distinguishes itself from Garchomp with access to Explosion, lack of a weakness to Dragon-type attacks, an immunity to Ground-type attacks, (that phrase goes better here, as it shows what sets Landorus and Garchomp apart) and Sand Force, which can make its attacks ridiculously powerful. Similar to Garchomp, though, Landorus has a 4x weakness to Ice-type attacks, which makes it susceptible to a multitude of common attackers. While it has its downsides, Landorus's huge power, excellent speed, and spread coverage makes it a powerful attacker in its own right.</p>

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Protect
item: Yache Berry / Normal Gem
nature: Jolly / Adamant
ability: Sand Force
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Landorus's Speed and coverage make it a good check to most Rock- and Fighting-type attackers. Earthquake and Rock Slide have amazing type coverage, and with a Sand Force boost, Landorus hits incredibly hard with Earthquake, OHKOing or 2HKOing literally anything that doesn't resist it. Explosion is quite powerful and does good damage to P(Lower-Case P) pokemon such as Abomasnow that Landorus normally can't beat. It can't?, it does run Rock Slide. Explosion also has good synergy with Earthquake, as Earthquake does huge damage to the Rock- and Steel-types that resist Explosion. Protect is a staple move in VGC play.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Yache Berry(Capital B) lets Landorus take Blizzard and Ice Punch or Ice Shards(Capital S), while Normal Gem gives Explosion some extra oomph an extra boost extra oomph? to KO reasonably bulky stuff such as Abomasnow. Jolly outspeeds base 100s, but Adamant hits noticeably harder. Because Landorus still loses to a number of faster pokemon such as Weavile and Latios with Jolly, an Adamant nature with less Speed investment is feasible usable, giving Landorus greater power and bulk in exchange for some Speed. Landorus really loves Musharna as a partner; it can use Thunder Wave to slow down faster opponents and Helping Hand to boost Landorus's spread attacks, while being immune to Earthquake and Explosion due to Telepathy. Cresselia is just about as useful, with greater bulk but without an immunity to Explosion. Gengar is another good partner thanks to its immunity to Earthquake and Explosion. It can also use Icy Wind to slow down opponents, while efficiently checking Latios, as long as Gengar(Capital G) holds a focus sash Focus Sash. Good teammates for Landorus are immune to Earthquake and preferably Explosion, and can complement Earthquake's coverage by hitting Flying-types and Levitate users. Pokemon that can also provide Speed support for Landorus through Tailwind or Thunder Wave are also useful, since Landorus isn't extremely fast. Aerodactyl is a good example, with STAB Rock Slide to hit Flying-types and Tailwind to boost Speed.</p>

[Other Options]
<p>A Choice Scarf set with an Adamant nature provides an unexpected check to a ton of faster pokemon, including would-be checks such as Weavile. U-turn cuts down on prediction, especially against tr Trick Room teams, and hits Abomasnow hard while escaping Blizzard. Imprison can stop Protect and Earthquake, which can be quite handy, and Sandstorm can be useful if your Tyranitar or Hippowdon is KOed, stopping rain and sun teams while activating Sand Force. Bulldoze acts as a pseudo-Icy Wind, and still hits usably hard, but it has overlapping coverage with Earthquake, and it's somewhat difficult to use effectively since so many Pokemon are immune to it. Hammer Arm OHKOes non-Chople Tyranitar, but has overlapping coverage with Earthquake and lowers Landorus's speed.(Period)</p>

[Checks and Counters]
<p>Ice-types, especially Abomasnow, are Landorus's worst enemy, easily OHKOing with their STAB attacks unless Landorus has a Yache Berry Mention something about Rock Slide, it hits Ice-types for super effective damage. Bulky water-types Water-types, and rain teams in general, can cause problems for Landorus as well, although Grass Knot from a the special set will hurt. Breloom takes little from Earthquake or Rock Slide, and can use Spore to incapacitate Landorus, but it is easily KOed by Explosion or Psychic. Latios outspeeds and KOes Landorus, while Latias takes little from most attacks and can do good damage in return. Thundurus and Zapdos can severely damage or KO Landorus with Hidden Power Ice, but are damaged in return by Rock Slide. Rotom-W easily OHKOes with Hydro Pump, but is KOed by a Normal Gem or Helping Hand Explosion.</p>
Done, a few capitalization errors, but other than that, great read and a nice job at writing this. However, there is one thing I want to point out to you. On the second set, i found this.

A positive Speed nature is wasted on Landorus, as it outspeeds nothing important with its peculiar base 101 Speed stat, so a Modest nature is used to raise Landorus's Special Attack.
So I'm confused, if the second set says it outspeed nothing important, why does the first set have Jolly as the main option, shouldn't it be Adamant and Adamant alone? The two sets contradict one another.
 

JockeMS

formerly SuperJOCKE
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Explosion is quite powerful and does good damage to P(Lower-Case P) pokemon such as Abomasnow that Landorus normally can't beat.
-Ok, Pokemon is always capitalized, so don't change that (don't have to tell you that cosmicexplorer).

Pokemon that can also provide Speed support for Landorus through Tailwind or Thunder Wave are also useful, since Landorus isn't extremely fast. Aerodactyl is a good example, with STAB Rock Slide to hit Flying-types and Tailwind to boost Speed.</p>
Bulldoze acts as a pseudo-Icy Wind, and still hits usably hard, but it has overlapping coverage with Earthquake, and it's somewhat difficult to use effectively since so many Pokemon are immune to it. Hammer Arm OHKOes non-Chople Berry Tyranitar, but has overlapping coverage with Earthquake and lowers Landorus's speed.(Period)</p>
-I would do something about these two sentences. You use "but has overlapping coverage with Earthquake" in both of them. Just to avoid being repetitive.

-I would also adress the Speed nature issue Trollfreak brought up.

Do the above changes along with Trollfreaks check and you can consider this:

GP Approved 1/2

 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
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Amateur check #2...I can do that, right?
Removals in RED, changes in BLUE, comments in BOLD



Landorus

[Overview]
<p>Landorus's STAB Earthquake is incredibly strong, and it Landorus also has a good defensive typing. While it may seem outclassed by Garchomp, which has a with its better secondary STAB typing and superior Speed, Landorus distinguishes itself from Garchomp with access to Explosion, lack of a weakness to Dragon-type attacks, and immunity to Ground-type attacks, and Sand Force, which can make its attacks ridiculously powerful. Similar to Garchomp, though, Landorus has a 4x weakness to Ice-type attacks, which makes it susceptible to a multitude of common attackers. While it has its downsides, Landorus's huge power, excellent speed, and spread coverage makes it a powerful attacker in its own right.</p>

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Protect
item: Yache Berry / Normal Gem
nature: Adamant / Jolly
ability: Sand Force
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Landorus's Speed and coverage make it a good check to most Rock- and Fighting-type attackers. Earthquake and Rock Slide have amazing type coverage, and with a Sand Force boost, Landorus hits incredibly hard with Earthquake, OHKOing or 2HKOing literally anything that doesn't resist it. Explosion is quite powerful and does good damage to Pokemon such as Abomasnow that Landorus can't normally beat. Explosion also has good synergy with Earthquake, as Earthquake does huge damage to the Rock- and Steel-types that resist Explosion. Protect is a staple move in VGC play.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>An Adamant nature boosts Landorus's Attack. While a Jolly nature allows Landorus to outspeed a few more Pokemon, its awkward 101 base Speed stat make the Speed increase just about useless. A Yache Berry lets Landorus take Blizzard and Ice Punch or an Ice Shard, while Normal Gem gives Explosion an extra boost to KO reasonably bulky stuff such as Abomasnow. Jolly Landorus outspeeds base 100s, but Adamant hits noticeably harder. Because Landorus still loses to a number of faster Pokemon such as Weavile and Latios with Jolly, an Adamant nature with less Speed investment is usable, giving Landorus greater power and bulk in exchange for some Speed. Landorus really loves Musharna as a partner; it can use Thunder Wave to slow down faster opponents and Helping Hand to boost Landorus's spread attacks, while being immune to Earthquake and Explosion due to Telepathy. Cresselia is just about as useful, with greater bulk but without an immunity to Explosion. Gengar is another good partner thanks to its immunity to Earthquake and Explosion for those same reasons. It can also use Icy Wind to slow down opponents, all while efficiently checking Latios, as long as Gengar holds a Focus Sash. Good teammates for Landorus are immune to Earthquake and preferably Explosion, and can complement Earthquake's coverage by hitting Flying-types and Levitate users. Pokemon that can provide Speed support for Landorus through Tailwind or Thunder Wave are also useful, since Landorus isn't extremely fast. Aerodactyl is a good example, with STAB Rock Slide to hit Flying-types and Tailwind to boost Speed.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Psychic / Grass Knot
move 4: Protect
item: Yache Berry / Life Orb
ability: Sand Force
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>While often overlooked in favor of its higher Attack stat, Landorus does possess a base 115 Special Attack stat, and can run an effective special-based set. This enables Landorus to surprise its normal counters and threaten many of the most common Pokemon in the tier. Earth Power provides a reliable STAB move, and unlike Earthquake, does not hit Landorus's ally, allowing any Pokemon to be run alongside it. Hidden Power Ice gives Landorus a way to hit Zapdos and Dragon-type Pokemon, who otherwise wall this set, for super effective damage. The last attacking move comes down to what the team needs. When using Psychic, this set is able to counter Hitmontop, one of the most common Pokemon in the metagame, with ease. Psychic 2HKOes Hitmontop, while Intimidate doesn't bother Landorus at all. On the other hand, (comma) Grass Knot allows Landorus to damage Pokemon such as Swampert, Jellicent, and Gastrodon, who can normally survive Landorus's assaults. Protect is generally recognized as a necessary move for any VGC Pokemon, and for good reason. This is because with Protect, Landorus can stall out the effects of Trick Room, wait for its partner to take out a threat, or let a weather condition whittle down its opponent's HP.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Because of Landorus's gaping 4x weakness to Ice, a Yache Berry must be used to allow it to survive one Ice-type attack. However, a Yache Berry may already be in use elsewhere, however, in which case a Life Orb is an acceptable alternative for the power boost provided. A positive Speed nature is wasted on Landorus, as it outspeeds nothing important with its peculiar base 101 Speed stat, so a Modest nature is used to raise Landorus's Special Attack.</p>

<p>Landorus greatly appreciates sandstorm support, weakening the omnipresent Blizzard and strengthening Earth Power, thanks to Landorus's ability Sand Force. Because of this, Tyranitar makes for a great partner, bringing permanent sand and the ability to hit the Special Defense beast Cresselia with Crunch. Any Pokemon who can take out the Ice-types that threaten Landorus would be a greatly appreciated partner, especially to defeat the deadly Abomasnow. While Landorus can run Rock Slide on the physical side to take care of these Pokemon, hitting with its unboosted Attack stat makes this method ineffective. Water-types are a constant bug to Landorus, so Electric-type Pokemon, such as like Zapdos, make for great teammates. Zapdos is able to abuse STAB Discharge, thanks to Landorus's Ground-typing, while Landorus can use Earth Power to wreck the Rock-types who want to ruin Zapdos's fun.</p>

<p>Because of Landorus's inability to hit Ice-types, Focus Blast is an option. Whilst its 70% accuracy is less than desirable, it does give a way to take out the Ice-types who make Landorus's life miserable. Hidden Power Flying provides a secondary STAB and hits harder than Psychic, though the drop in power towards Dragon-types and other Landorus is noticeable. Hidden Power Fire is a decent choice if one is overly worried about Scizor or Abomasnow, but the sacrifice in coverage makes this a less attractive option.</p>

[Other Options]
<p>A Choice Scarf set with an Adamant nature provides an unexpected check to a ton of faster Pokemon, including would-be checks such as Weavile. U-turn cuts down on prediction, especially against Trick Room (extra O) teams, and hits Abomasnow hard while escaping Blizzard. Imprison can stop Protect and Earthquake, which can be quite handy, and Sandstorm can be useful if your Tyranitar or Hippowdon is KOed, stopping rain and sun teams while activating Sand Force. Bulldoze acts as a pseudo-Icy Wind, and still hits reasonably hard, but it's somewhat difficult to use effectively since so many Pokemon are immune to it. Hammer Arm OHKOes non-Chople Berry Tyranitar, but has overlapping coverage with Earthquake and lowers Landorus's speed.</p>

[Checks and Counters]
<p>Ice-types, especially Abomasnow, are Landorus's worst enemy, easily OHKOing with their STAB attacks unless Landorus has a Yache Berry, although Rock Slide will do a number on any Ice-type. Bulky Water-types, and rain teams in general, can cause problems for Landorus as well, although Grass Knot from a special set will hurt. Breloom takes little from Earthquake or Rock Slide, and can use Spore to incapacitate Landorus, but it is easily KOed by Explosion or Psychic. Latios outspeeds and KOes Landorus, while Latias takes little from most attacks and can do good damage in return. Thundurus and Zapdos can severely damage or KO Landorus with Hidden Power Ice, but are damaged in return by Rock Slide. Rotom-W easily OHKOes with Hydro Pump, but is KOed by a Normal Gem or Helping Hand Explosion.</p>
 
stamping Gato's check, with a few comments:

first set ac said:
its awkward 101 base base 101 Speed stat
omit this change ("such as" is correct):
second set ac said:
Water-types are a constant bug to Landorus, so Electric-type Pokemon, such as like Zapdos, make for great teammates.
and for the first sentence, suggestion / optional change:
Landorus has two things going for it: a strong STAB Earthquake, and a good defensive typing.


2/2
 

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