QC: Confluxx / scpinion / Zarif
GP: Mr. Uncompetitive / The Dutch Plumberjack
[OVERVIEW]
**Flying:**
Landorus is one of the most powerful special wallbreakers in the Monotype metagame, with access to Sheer Force and a decent Special Attack stat backed by Life Orb. It's able to hit a wide variety of targets and is even somewhat unpredictable due to its large movepool. One of its biggest strengths is its ability to break apart Steel and Fairy teams almost single-handedly, both of which can be difficult for Flying teams to deal with. Landorus has passable defenses for a wallbreaker, is immune to Electric, and even has great Speed allowing it to outspeed the very populated base 100 Speed tier. However, common offensive threats to Flying teams such as Keldeo and Mega Latias still outspeed it. Its Ground typing does also bring weaknesses to Water- and Ice-type attacks, leaving Landorus vulnerable to the many Aqua Jet and Ice Shard users in the metagame, which its defenses do little to protect it from. Landorus also suffers from severe four-moveslot syndrome, incapable of running all of the coverage moves it wants to, and will find itself walled by certain foes depending on its set. There is a difficult teambuilding choice between choosing which Landorus forme is more suitable for one's team; Landorus-T provides more utility, while Landorus is a more reliable wallbreaker.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker (Flying)
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Sludge Wave
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earth Power is a powerful Ground-type STAB attack that deals significant damage to almost any foe that doesn't resist it and is Landorus's main tool for wallbreaking. Importantly, it can KO most Steel- and Electric-types such as Bisharp and Magnezone and can 2HKO walls such as Slowbro and Hippowdon. Sludge Wave is mainly used for coverage against Fairy-types such as Clefable and Gardevoir and Pokemon that resist Earth Power such as Breloom. Focus Blast mainly hits specific targets that can otherwise be difficult to handle. For example, Focus Blast can sometimes OHKO Skarmory after Stealth Rock damage, and it can also defeat Air Balloon Heatran. To round off coverage, Rock Slide is chosen, as it allows Landorus to easily take out Flying-type Pokemon such as Zapdos and Mega Charizard Y. Because it forces many switches, Landorus can even take on a supportive role with Stealth Rock, which may be used to free up a teammate's moveslot. The loss in coverage is noticeable, as Landorus will now be even more easily walled by many of the Pokemon it normally defeats.
Set Details
========
252 Speed EVs with a boosting nature are used to take advantage of Landorus's Speed tier and outspeed base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Medicham. Naive is specifically chosen over Hasty to allow a full-health Landorus to always survive a Choice Scarf Victini V-create and generally take priority moves more easily. 252 Special Attack EVs make Landorus as powerful as possible to allow it to wallbreak when combined with Sheer Force, which greatly boosts Landorus's attacks, and Life Orb, which increases Landorus's damage without any downside.
Usage Tips
========
Landorus should often be used as early as possible to start breaking walls such as Ferrothorn and Clefable for its teammates. Because it forces many switches, take advantage of that with its wide coverage. Specifically, if Stealth Rock is being used, it can safely set it up against many retreating foes and most defensive Pokemon that try to come in and wall Landorus, such as Mew. Take full advantage of Landorus's wide movepool, which creates unpredictability. Opponents that don't know which coverage options are being used will need to play more carefully, so concealing them can put on significant pressure. Also, be aware of Sheer Force's other functions, as it will prevent certain items from activating as well. For example, opposing Eject Button users, such as Politoed and Hippowdon, cannot switch in to set their weather safely before jumping out. On the other hand, be aware that hitting an active Politoed does not force it out, meaning it's almost certainly going to OHKO Landorus back. While Landorus has passable bulk, it is incapable of taking many hits at all, meaning it should generally be brought in either against passive Pokemon that cannot harm it or through safe switches. It is also quite weak to status, because the residual damage in the form of burns and Toxic poison will wear down Landorus and make it difficult for it to break the walls it's meant to defeat. While it's tempting to use its Electric immunity often, most Pokemon such as Thundurus, Raikou, and Magnezone that carry Electric-type attacks commonly also carry Ice-type coverage, so be careful when trying to send Landorus in to absorb Electric-type attacks.
Team Options
========
Zapdos is a fantastic teammate due to its wide range of support options: slow Volt Switch helps bring Landorus in safely; Toxic can wear down walls that Landorus cannot beat, such as Mew; and even though Landorus doesn't take substantial damage from Stealth Rock, Defog is appreciated, as Landorus switches in and out often. Skarmory can set up Stealth Rock to support Landorus, improving its chances to OHKO many foes, such as opposing Skarmory, Dragonite, and Mega Scizor. It also serves as a great check to most Ice-types, which can threaten Landorus out with their STAB attacks. If Landorus has Stealth Rock, Skarmory appreciates being able to run either Defog or Spikes in that moveslot instead. To combat faster foes, Thundurus's Prankster Thunder Wave helps cripple revenge killers that threaten out Landorus, such as Choice Scarf Kyurem-B and Latios. It can also easily handle most Water-types that beat Landorus with its STAB Thunderbolt. Togekiss is a useful teammate, as it can be a revenge killer with Choice Scarf or carry utility moves such as Thunder Wave and Heal Bell. Choice Band Dragonite pairs well with Landorus, as they can defeat each other's walls and put immense pressure on opposing defensive cores, such as Mew + Slowbro and Chansey + Porygon2. Mega Charizard Y forms a similar offensive core, as few teams can handle their combined power. Mega Charizard Y's Drought can also weaken Water-type attacks such as Azumarill's Aqua Jet, although Landorus still should not switch into them. It also helps defeat most Ice-types. Sweepers appreciate Landorus's wallbreaking power to help them sweep more easily. Thus, Mega Gyarados and Dragon Dance Dragonite are great teammates that appreciate having their checks such as Skarmory and Porygon2 broken down by Landorus.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
**Flying:**
Knock Off can be used to OHKO Latios on the switch after Stealth Rock damage. It also helps break the Normal Eviolite core of Chansey and Porygon2, which can otherwise be incredibly frustrating to deal with. It provides far worse coverage than any of the moves it could replace, though. Hidden Power Ice can be used to deal significant damage to opposing Landorus, Landorus-T, and Garchomp, but such coverage is generally not needed and inferior to its main options. Psychic is a tempting option to hit certain threats such as Mega Venusaur, Gengar, and Heracross, but it is pretty horrible coverage otherwise and doesn't deal much damage to anything other than them. Rash is a potential alternative nature to give Landorus more power, as it will notably prevent Mew from being able to wall it. However, one of Landorus's selling points is being able to outspeed the positive-natured base 100 Speed tier, which it loses the ability to do with Rash. Similarly, Landorus can use a Modest nature to boost its damage while using Rock Polish to patch up its lower Speed, turning it into a very potent sweeper late-game.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying:**
**Ice-types**: While they cannot switch into its powerful attacks, most Ice-types, such as Cloyster and Weavile, either carry Ice Shard or are simply fast, making them very reliable offensive checks to Landorus.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Especially bulky Pokemon such as specially defensive Gastrodon, Mew, and Assault Vest Meloetta can take multiple hits from Landorus and either wall it or outright KO it. However, Mew and Meloetta will both take serious damage from Knock Off.
**Chansey**: Chansey in particular easily walls Landorus without Knock Off and easily sets up Stealth Rock on it.
**Revenge Killers**: Landorus's frailty and average Speed make it prone to being revenge killed by many faster Pokemon, such as Thundurus, Latios, and Choice Scarf Hoopa-U. Priority users such as Bisharp can also take out a weakened Landorus. In particular, Ice Shard and Aqua Jet users such as Mamoswine and Azumarill force even healthy Landorus out.
**Offensive Water-types**: Due to their high Speed, most offensive Water-types such as Keldeo and Starmie can easily check Landorus with their STAB attacks. They lack the ability to safely switch into Landorus in most cases, though.
**Ground-immune Pokemon**: Pokemon such as Latios and Landorus-T that are immune to Landorus's Earth Power through either Levitate or a Flying typing are decent checks to it, so long as they are not threatened by its many coverage moves.
GP: Mr. Uncompetitive / The Dutch Plumberjack
[OVERVIEW]
**Flying:**
Landorus is one of the most powerful special wallbreakers in the Monotype metagame, with access to Sheer Force and a decent Special Attack stat backed by Life Orb. It's able to hit a wide variety of targets and is even somewhat unpredictable due to its large movepool. One of its biggest strengths is its ability to break apart Steel and Fairy teams almost single-handedly, both of which can be difficult for Flying teams to deal with. Landorus has passable defenses for a wallbreaker, is immune to Electric, and even has great Speed allowing it to outspeed the very populated base 100 Speed tier. However, common offensive threats to Flying teams such as Keldeo and Mega Latias still outspeed it. Its Ground typing does also bring weaknesses to Water- and Ice-type attacks, leaving Landorus vulnerable to the many Aqua Jet and Ice Shard users in the metagame, which its defenses do little to protect it from. Landorus also suffers from severe four-moveslot syndrome, incapable of running all of the coverage moves it wants to, and will find itself walled by certain foes depending on its set. There is a difficult teambuilding choice between choosing which Landorus forme is more suitable for one's team; Landorus-T provides more utility, while Landorus is a more reliable wallbreaker.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker (Flying)
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Sludge Wave
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earth Power is a powerful Ground-type STAB attack that deals significant damage to almost any foe that doesn't resist it and is Landorus's main tool for wallbreaking. Importantly, it can KO most Steel- and Electric-types such as Bisharp and Magnezone and can 2HKO walls such as Slowbro and Hippowdon. Sludge Wave is mainly used for coverage against Fairy-types such as Clefable and Gardevoir and Pokemon that resist Earth Power such as Breloom. Focus Blast mainly hits specific targets that can otherwise be difficult to handle. For example, Focus Blast can sometimes OHKO Skarmory after Stealth Rock damage, and it can also defeat Air Balloon Heatran. To round off coverage, Rock Slide is chosen, as it allows Landorus to easily take out Flying-type Pokemon such as Zapdos and Mega Charizard Y. Because it forces many switches, Landorus can even take on a supportive role with Stealth Rock, which may be used to free up a teammate's moveslot. The loss in coverage is noticeable, as Landorus will now be even more easily walled by many of the Pokemon it normally defeats.
Set Details
========
252 Speed EVs with a boosting nature are used to take advantage of Landorus's Speed tier and outspeed base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Medicham. Naive is specifically chosen over Hasty to allow a full-health Landorus to always survive a Choice Scarf Victini V-create and generally take priority moves more easily. 252 Special Attack EVs make Landorus as powerful as possible to allow it to wallbreak when combined with Sheer Force, which greatly boosts Landorus's attacks, and Life Orb, which increases Landorus's damage without any downside.
Usage Tips
========
Landorus should often be used as early as possible to start breaking walls such as Ferrothorn and Clefable for its teammates. Because it forces many switches, take advantage of that with its wide coverage. Specifically, if Stealth Rock is being used, it can safely set it up against many retreating foes and most defensive Pokemon that try to come in and wall Landorus, such as Mew. Take full advantage of Landorus's wide movepool, which creates unpredictability. Opponents that don't know which coverage options are being used will need to play more carefully, so concealing them can put on significant pressure. Also, be aware of Sheer Force's other functions, as it will prevent certain items from activating as well. For example, opposing Eject Button users, such as Politoed and Hippowdon, cannot switch in to set their weather safely before jumping out. On the other hand, be aware that hitting an active Politoed does not force it out, meaning it's almost certainly going to OHKO Landorus back. While Landorus has passable bulk, it is incapable of taking many hits at all, meaning it should generally be brought in either against passive Pokemon that cannot harm it or through safe switches. It is also quite weak to status, because the residual damage in the form of burns and Toxic poison will wear down Landorus and make it difficult for it to break the walls it's meant to defeat. While it's tempting to use its Electric immunity often, most Pokemon such as Thundurus, Raikou, and Magnezone that carry Electric-type attacks commonly also carry Ice-type coverage, so be careful when trying to send Landorus in to absorb Electric-type attacks.
Team Options
========
Zapdos is a fantastic teammate due to its wide range of support options: slow Volt Switch helps bring Landorus in safely; Toxic can wear down walls that Landorus cannot beat, such as Mew; and even though Landorus doesn't take substantial damage from Stealth Rock, Defog is appreciated, as Landorus switches in and out often. Skarmory can set up Stealth Rock to support Landorus, improving its chances to OHKO many foes, such as opposing Skarmory, Dragonite, and Mega Scizor. It also serves as a great check to most Ice-types, which can threaten Landorus out with their STAB attacks. If Landorus has Stealth Rock, Skarmory appreciates being able to run either Defog or Spikes in that moveslot instead. To combat faster foes, Thundurus's Prankster Thunder Wave helps cripple revenge killers that threaten out Landorus, such as Choice Scarf Kyurem-B and Latios. It can also easily handle most Water-types that beat Landorus with its STAB Thunderbolt. Togekiss is a useful teammate, as it can be a revenge killer with Choice Scarf or carry utility moves such as Thunder Wave and Heal Bell. Choice Band Dragonite pairs well with Landorus, as they can defeat each other's walls and put immense pressure on opposing defensive cores, such as Mew + Slowbro and Chansey + Porygon2. Mega Charizard Y forms a similar offensive core, as few teams can handle their combined power. Mega Charizard Y's Drought can also weaken Water-type attacks such as Azumarill's Aqua Jet, although Landorus still should not switch into them. It also helps defeat most Ice-types. Sweepers appreciate Landorus's wallbreaking power to help them sweep more easily. Thus, Mega Gyarados and Dragon Dance Dragonite are great teammates that appreciate having their checks such as Skarmory and Porygon2 broken down by Landorus.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
**Flying:**
Knock Off can be used to OHKO Latios on the switch after Stealth Rock damage. It also helps break the Normal Eviolite core of Chansey and Porygon2, which can otherwise be incredibly frustrating to deal with. It provides far worse coverage than any of the moves it could replace, though. Hidden Power Ice can be used to deal significant damage to opposing Landorus, Landorus-T, and Garchomp, but such coverage is generally not needed and inferior to its main options. Psychic is a tempting option to hit certain threats such as Mega Venusaur, Gengar, and Heracross, but it is pretty horrible coverage otherwise and doesn't deal much damage to anything other than them. Rash is a potential alternative nature to give Landorus more power, as it will notably prevent Mew from being able to wall it. However, one of Landorus's selling points is being able to outspeed the positive-natured base 100 Speed tier, which it loses the ability to do with Rash. Similarly, Landorus can use a Modest nature to boost its damage while using Rock Polish to patch up its lower Speed, turning it into a very potent sweeper late-game.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying:**
**Ice-types**: While they cannot switch into its powerful attacks, most Ice-types, such as Cloyster and Weavile, either carry Ice Shard or are simply fast, making them very reliable offensive checks to Landorus.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Especially bulky Pokemon such as specially defensive Gastrodon, Mew, and Assault Vest Meloetta can take multiple hits from Landorus and either wall it or outright KO it. However, Mew and Meloetta will both take serious damage from Knock Off.
**Chansey**: Chansey in particular easily walls Landorus without Knock Off and easily sets up Stealth Rock on it.
**Revenge Killers**: Landorus's frailty and average Speed make it prone to being revenge killed by many faster Pokemon, such as Thundurus, Latios, and Choice Scarf Hoopa-U. Priority users such as Bisharp can also take out a weakened Landorus. In particular, Ice Shard and Aqua Jet users such as Mamoswine and Azumarill force even healthy Landorus out.
**Offensive Water-types**: Due to their high Speed, most offensive Water-types such as Keldeo and Starmie can easily check Landorus with their STAB attacks. They lack the ability to safely switch into Landorus in most cases, though.
**Ground-immune Pokemon**: Pokemon such as Latios and Landorus-T that are immune to Landorus's Earth Power through either Levitate or a Flying typing are decent checks to it, so long as they are not threatened by its many coverage moves.
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