SM OU Weekly Research

[Terrakion.]

Nihilego

​

Introduction

With Sun and Moon kicking off, we were introduced with a group of Pokemon known as Ultra Beasts, one of them being UB-01 which we all know as Nihilego. Nihilego takes a different approach on what we usually see from similar Pokemon with its typing. It has a great offensive movepool while also being able to carry useful utility moves. Its versatile as it can cover different types of roles on teams, all while being just as effective as the last. Its able to keep its place in the OU metagame because of its great offensive pressure, its coverage, specially defensive bulk, and decent speed tier.

Sets

Nihilego has a good movepool, giving it different options to run for different types of teams. One of the sets being a Lead, it can reliably set up Stealth Rock, and be able to pressure other common leads such as Landorus-T or Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice.

Nihilego @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Standard lead Nihilego set which is commonly found on offensive oriented teams as it puts pressure with its good coverage and can reliably set up Stealth Rock. As mentioned before, this set is commonly partnered with offensive Pokemon that appreciate the Stealth Rock support such as Pheromosa, Salamence, Ash-Greninja and the list goes on. This set is commonly used because of how easily its able to fit onto offensive teams while being able to check a good amount of Pokemon that offense may tend to struggle with.

Nihilego @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock / Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Fire]

Nihilego can afford to run Life Orb for a noticeable boost in power allowing it to break through Pokemon a lot easier with its great coverage. Running an entry hazard isn't a must if you already have the role covered in another Pokemon as Nihilego can run something different such as Substitute to avoid predicted Thunder Waves or another attacking move such as Thunderbolt to nail Pokemon such as Celesteela or Skarmory. Partners for it that appreciate Stealth Rock being up and can provide momentum for Nihilego to switch in could be Pokemon like Rotom-W (If you want a slower Volt-Switch), forcing your opponent to constantly switch due to your Volt Switch, Stealth Rock damage begins to rack up a lot. For more offensively inclined Pokemon, things like SD Garchomp or Dragon Dance appreciates the threat of bulky grounds such as Landorus-T being weakened or flat out gone and Nihilego does that.

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt / Psychic
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Fire]

I haven't used this set yet personally, but this set personally reminds me of how Choice Scarf Pheromosa, due to it boosting its Special Attack in respect to Pheromosa's Attack while still having great Speed. Once it starts getting kills, its damage significantly increases and will be incredibly hard to stop. Due to it lacking Stealth Rock, something such as Landorus-T is necessary as Stealth Rock gives Nihilego the most kill opportunity. Its not much to say about the Choice Scarf set outside of it being a viable revenge killer. I've seen some Choice Specs Nihilego on the ladder, it seemed to wallbreak decently because of how hard it pressures teams because of its wide movepool. As the game progresses, it gets harder to switch Pokemon as you don't want to give it +Special Attack from Beast Boost which would only make it harder to handle.

Importable

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 20 SpD / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 16 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- Shadow Bone
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Rock Polish

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

Video made by Tom Bus.

Nihilego is a unique Pokemon. I think it would find its place in the meta really easily because of what it does. Its really easy to fit onto a lot of teams, its user friendly for newer users as it isn't really hard to use, while still being able to reward a lot of experienced players who are able to make Nihilego shine in all possible ways. It hits hard, decent bulk, good speed, and has great coverage. Nihilego is easily one of the better additions that generation 7 has brought us.

 

[Vague]

#793
Nihilego​

Preface​

Nihilego, the Parasite Pokemon, is a rather idiosyncratic addition to the OU metagame for a variety of reasons. The most prominent is its unique combination of stats in tandem with it's unorthodox typing that gives it the edge necessary to stay ahead of the crowd. It bears the gift of outrageous 109 HP / 131 SpD special bulk for a primarily offensive 'mon, with 127 SpA / 103 Spe to back it up. Its movepool also provides it with nearly everything it needs to make the most out of it's great offensives with gems such as (no pun intended) Power Gem, Sludge Wave, Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, as well as supportive moves such as Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes to make it an excellent hazard setter as well.

In-Depth Analysis​

One of the main draws of utilizing Nihilego, as said earlier, is it's impressive offensive potential to function as a threat to several types of teams due to it's STABs, power, and speed. Power Gem and Sludge Wave rocks most of the tier alone, and with a coverage move in Hidden Power [Fire] / [Ice] or even Thunderbolt in some circumstances, it's a real menace to face. To top it all off, Beast Boost's snowballing effect isn't hard too activate making it even harder to progressively deal with. In addition to these excellent advantages, Nihilego's access to Stealth Rock and to a lesser extent Toxic Spikes makes it a great hazard setter for offensive teams considering it threatens one of the most common Defoggers in the tier for defensive and offensive teams alike, Tapu Fini. The general rarity of Latios / Latias is also great news for it as they were the common hazard removal staples of last generation and beat Nihilego with ease out of the virtue of their Psychic STAB.

It does have it's fair share of drawbacks though. It's physical bulk is horrendously low as even base 109 HP isn't enough redemption for base 47 Defense. This leaves it at the mercy of physical attackers that can tank a hit from it or outspeed it and hit Nihilego hard. It also bears weaknesses to very prevalent types at the moment, such as Water, Ground, Psychic (this is huge considering Psychic Spam's popularity), and Steel (which correlates their high usage to Psychic Spam's popularity). So it must be ever so careful when facing a team carrying (Ash) Greninja, Manaphy, Zygarde(-10%), Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, Mega Metagross, Mega Alakazam, Excadrill, Dugtrio, and Jirachi, all of which are very common. The surge in Rain Teams also does it no favors.

Sets​

Nihilego is a relatively versatile Pokemon with a range of set options to choose from. Each has their own advantages and they all depend on how the team Nihilego is added to functions. They're also fairly easy to utilize.

Nihilego @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire] / [Ice]

This set aims to take advantage of Nihilego's SpA and turn it into a devastating wallbreaker. The amalgam of it's STAB's + necessary coverage makes breaking down opposing teams a very simple task. A unique aspect of Nihilego I failed to mention was it's access to special Rock STAB. Rock STAB itself is already incredibly potent due to the lack of resists that can continuously come in on the move in question, and in this case Power Gem, or coverage moves.

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire] / [ Ice]

Donning a Choice Scarf transforms Nihilego into a potent revenge killer that outspeed nearly every relevant threat in the tier except for Scarf Terrakion and Keldeo as well as outrageously fast threats such as Kingdra in Rain and Scarf Pheromosa.

Nihilego @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire] / [Ice] / Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Finally, this set aims to utilize Nihilego as a decent Stealth Rock setter. Life Orb bolsters it's power considerably while a Focus Sash guarantees Nihilego will setup Stealth Rocks. Toxic Spikes is an option that some people use since it royally screws over some teams that weren't prepared for poisoning, which is especially useful against teams without hazard removal or a Poison-types. However, I personally haven't used it much.

Building​

I don't exactly have a team to showcase because I don't think it's good enough for pretty minisprites. It's framework is based around that of hazard stacking hyper offense with two strong breakers in specs ash greninja + band zygarde-10% making way for agility mega metagross to clean up later with assistance from stealth rock + tspikes nihilego. cm twisted spoon tapu lele is used as another wincon and powers up mega metagross pretty considerably with psychic terrain. tapu koko finishes off the team as a strong pivot alongside greninja's u-turn and a consistent way of breaking down bulky waters. It's pretty weak to a host of things like opposing ash greninja but it's really fun to play with since the immense amount of power in those six slots really messes around with bulkier teams while having a decent matchup against offensive in general bar pheromosa and scarfers.

Conclusion​

Nihilego is a very fun and cool Pokemon to play with since it's strange combination of strengths and weaknesses never make building with it a dull moment in my honest opinion. I believe it will remain a very strong Pokemon to use in the present and future metagame as nothing in the tier can quite do what Nihilego does in a single slot. Try it out if you haven't yet!

zygarde is coming up !_!

​

 

[Vague]

The Order Pokemon

#718
Zygarde​

Exordium
Zygarde is one of my favorite threats to utilize this generation. It's interesting combination of good enough power and speed in tandem with amazing bulk and typing didn't get it too far in ORAS. However, with the release of Thousand Arrows, a 90 BP Ground-types move that bypasses Flying-types and Levitate, Zygarde reigns supreme as a sweeper that's utterly dangerous to face. Thousand Arrows invalidates a large portion of its convential checks, which makes it much more difficult to deal with. Combine it with gems such as, Extreme Speed and two great setup moves in Coil and Dragon Dance, it's not hard to see why it's at the top of the food chain. Zygarde also received two new forms, Zygarde -10% and Zygarde-Complete, the latter of which wrapped the metagame around itself due to its ludicrous bulk alongsidd Coil and Dragon Dance. This led it its inevitable ban that reduced the strain on the tier immensely. Zygarde-10% is a fairly decent offensive threat with base 100 Atk / 115 Spe which puts it ahead of other prominent threats. The best set it runs at the moment is a Choice Band set that makes the most out of its speed and decent power.

Comprehensive Evaluation
The main draw of utilizing Zygarde is for its extreme offensive potential against all team archetypes, mostly due to the virtue of Thousand Arrows. It only has a few solid stops on stall in the form of Unaware Quagsire and Clefable, both of which are very prone to being worn down and just lose against Toxic variants. Before TArrows was released Skarmory was a great stop to it as well on stall, but now that notion is null and void. form my experience often relies on taking it down before Zygarde can garner enough boosts to run through it and preventing it from setting up with Taunt, Haze, or crippling it with burns. Offensive teams are harder for Zygarde to threaten as they usually pressure it, but Dragon Dance + boosted Extreme Speeds are decent forms of pressure.

Zygarde, like any other Pokemon, does have its share of flaws although they are very minimal and only has two worth mentioning. The first is its susceptibility to Ice-types attacks due to the crippling 4x weakness to it and considering that a few of Zygarde's usual setup fodder can viability use an Ice-type move or Hidden Power [Ice] it can possibly be picked off before it has done anything for the team it's on. The other flaw is it initial lack of power. Without a boost under it's belt it's going to be threatening more bulkier mons. This is exacerbated on Coil sets, as otherwise you're not doing enough damage at all to actually pressure the opposition. Otherwise, Zygarde is an extremely effective and relatively flawless Pokemon to use. This is all in my own opinion so other people may believe these aren't flaws or that it has other flaws worth mentioning.

Sets
Zygarde may not be the most versatile of threats, but the sets it does find itself utilizing undertake their roles exceedingly well, which is what makes Zygarde the immense threat it is now.

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 240 HP / 212 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed / Toxic
- Substitute
- Coil

This is Zygarde's classic and most common set, as well as the most effective. The premise is for Zygarde to setup a Substitute once the most threatening 'mons towards it have been eliminated or weakened enough that Zyagrde itself can pick them off. Once a Substitute is setup it then starts setting up Coils, which boosts it's already impressive physical bulk and attack making it progressively harder to deal with and stronger. The choice between Extreme Speed and Toxic is up to the jurisdiction to the builder. I personally like Extreme Speed as it's becomes quite strong after a few boosts and assists with a team's matchup against offense. Toxic, on the other hand, allows Zygarde to weaken its checks itself and hasten setting up.

Zygarde @ Life Orb
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance

This is Zygarde's other, less prevalent set. Instead of taking a defensive approach, it focuses on setting up with Dragon Dance then proceeded to terrorize the opposition with its fairly powerful moves and increase in Speed, which gives it an edge against offensive teams.

Team Fabrication

Zygarde Balance

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 76 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Bone
- Fire Punch

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 16 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Scald
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect
- Leech Seed

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Knock Off

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 240 HP / 212 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Coil
- Substitute
- Extreme Speed

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]

I absolutely love this team (and a few other iterations I've made). I made it when SM was first released with necessary tweaks to keep up with the metagame. It started around a core of Mega Venusaur + SubCoil Zygarde. From there the next components of the team seemed to fall together perfectly. Celesteela checks nearly half the tier alone, especially the increasing popular Psychic Spam. Alolan Marowak is pretty necessary for functioning as another mean of counterplay against Pheromosa, Mega Scizor, etc. while setting Rocks, spreading burns, and softening up the opposing team for Zygarde. Tapu Fini removes hazards while checking the other half of the tier and breaking down stall with Taunt + NM. Finally, Scarf Tapu Lele took the final slot as it amplified this teams offensive presence and another mode of counterplay against offensive teams. This team is super fun and easy to use. It has weaknesses like all teams but no matchup should be an instant loss.

Peroration
Zygarde is an incredible Pokemon in the current metagame and will most likely remain as one of the "big dogs" of the tier due to its many excellent qualities, splashability, and sweeping potential. Be sure you try this monster if you've yet to!

 

[blank]

sorry this is late. i wanted to wait an extra couple days to let more posts flow in, and then i ended up getting really busy with homework and other stuff irl.

the posts that'll be added to archive are this post on zygarde by Vague, this post on mega venusaur by @a (won't let me tag fsr), and this post on nihilego by Vague (again lol).

thanks Team Pokepals for helping me pick the posts to archive. REMEMBER: the archived posts aren't the definitive best posts due to the very subjective nature of choosing them. The archived posts are usually the ones that do a good job at highlighting a bunch of general stuff about the Pokemon rather than focusing on one specific aspect.

week 2

scolipede | kyurem-black | thundurus
​

scolipede was chosen due to the ladder prevalence of baton pass teams (see: the last suspect test) and how annoying baton pass is in general. however, that isn't scoli's only use this gen: in week 1 of SPL Axel10 used waterium z scolipede successfully. is scolipede really only limited to baton pass and lure sets, or are there more options for it. kyurem-black was a really powerful wallbreaker ORAS, and it seems to be holding up fine in SM. z stones allow it to use z freeeze shock to totally destroy things. thundurus faces a lot of competition as an offensive electric from tapu koko this gen, making it quite a bit less viable than SM. however, thundy has a niche with z fly and nastyplot sets.

REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want) and post here saying which one you're taking. if you don't want to reserve, you have between now and tuesday (1/24) evening to post.

i'm gonna stick with the hybrid reservation / just plain posting system for a bit. what that means is that you can either just post with no reservation between now and tuesday, or you can make a reservation post and post later on. the benefit to reserving is that i tag the people who make a reservation as a reminder.

 

[BlazeLatias]

Ill probably do research on Scoli n Thund. Been using those two anyways.

 

[Hayburner]

Reserving thundurus

 

[RonaldMcdonald]

Reserving Kyurem-B

 

[zCheshrye]

Reserving Kyruem-B

 

[blank]

tagging people who reserved a pokemon:

Baton Mash BlazeLatias shinychimchar RonaldMcdonald zCheshrye
​

the people i tagged and anyone else who wants to post have until wednesday (1/25) night to write up a post about whichever pokemon you took (scolipede / kyurem-b / thundurus). as a reminder to those unsure of what to post:

When posting, you can include (but are not limited to):

• strategies used
• sets used
• how you went about building with the Pokemon
• general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon
• if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not
• how the Pokemon fares in high level / tournament play (examples are nice here)
• and much more...

remember: you aren't limited to these guidelines; they're just here to help in case you aren't sure what to post. if you'd prefer to focus on 1 specific aspect of the pokemon you selected rather than a broad overview, that's okay! if you're still lost, try checking out this post by Infernal (rip).

if you signed up, but you cannot find the time to post, don't worry about it! just please don't do it regularly.

 

[BlazeLatias]

So i used both Scoli and thundy and i had some pretty good success with them this is pretty much what i have to say about the mons:

Scolipede:

Honestly the only reason i ever see to use Scolipede is for a set someone posted recently on the underrated sets thread. This sweeper sets actually really effective as somthing i commonly noticed was how weak a lot of teams were to offensive scolipede. I avoided using Hazard lead and baton pass because generally i don't like suicide leads and Baton pass is just boring to use.

Sets used:

Rosie (Scolipede) (F) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab

I found this set to be probably the most effective. I briefly used scoli in ORAS and didnt have all that much success with it offensively. In SM however you'd be suprised at how effective this set is. Waterium-z Scolipede gives you a very strong Water type move which can be the difference between losing out on a kill against landorus-t/volcarona/hippowdon/heatran. This extra strong water type move seriously helps scolipede with cleaning and gives it the extra damage is needs in order to do its job. Somthing ive found is that due to the nature of how uncommon offensive scolipede is it becomes really easy to win with. The other two moves are stabs which its pretty straight forward.

When building with scoli i decided to use 2 very strong wallbreakers alongside it. Scoilipede despite having swords dance needs quite a few things weakened before it can actually clean late game. I in this case went with Charizard-X and Specs Hoopa unbound. The rest from that point was focused on supporting scolipede defensively with hazard control and a rocks setter.

When using scolipede one of the obvious issues is that its very frail and has a really sup par defensive typing which can at times make setting up a swords dance really hard to pull off. Some of the strengths of scolipede would have to be its ability speed boost. Speed boost is actualy a god send on scolipede in a late game situation as it helps you outspeed and ko things such as scarf lele and tapu koko as well as most pheromosa and in combination with Swords dance you have a very scary late game threat. Having a strong stab in megahorn is also really nice.

I feel as if scolipede is a very situational yet still effective win-con. scoli is one of those pokemon that is not exactly favored or is not favored in the metagame. Its in the middle of its not really bad or good.

In high level tour play i can see this set having a nice Suprise factor but at the same time any competent player will know that scolipede is offensive when you don't lead with it or you never actually send it out until late game these two factors reveal that is some sort of offensive set.

Team used:

Sets

Rosie (Scolipede) (F) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab

Faldio Landzaat (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Alicia Melchiott (Magearna-Original) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Ramel (Charizard-Mega-X) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost

Isara Gunther (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 16 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Defog
- Taunt

Largo Potter (Hoopa-Unbound) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Trick

Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-522212198 Vs Sakis
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-518778133 vs Volcarona BO

Thundurus-I

When using thundy-i I wanted to deviate it from tapu koko and while Nasty plot 3 atk does sort of do that i wanted to try somthing that thundy could only do in SM as opposed to somthing old. I wanted to keep thundurus as a breaker but also do a interesting alternative.

Thundurus @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fly
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Grass Knot

I went with Z-fly full physical thundurus because of how it could abuse its Flying typing and do so quite well. Thanks to defiant, thundy is capable of boosting its attack and nuke things with stab Z-fly. Fly/superpower/wild charge pretty much hits everything hard and grass knot helps with Quagsire/Hippo which is really nice against more balanced/stall teams. This set in a way is not exactly a breaker but more or less just one big lure.

when building around thundy i went with the classic Dual genie core of lando+thund. its a pretty basic core but i felt as if it works fairly well. On the plus side Hp ice landot helps deal with opposing Lando which unfortunately walls this particular thundy set. Outside of that I put on two wallbreakers in M-Metagross and ash greninja which help weaken things for thundy and toped it off with Tapu fini+alolawak so that the team could deal with the usual threats. Basically A bunch of breakers to help thundy late game.

One of the weakness that thundy has is that it has tough competition against tapu koko and so it needs to rely on doing things tapu koko cant do which would be lo mixed, Nasty plot 3 atk and Flyinium-Z. These 3 sets take advantage of thundys better movepool and more "consistant" power (by consistant i mean tapu koko's non electric stab moves are somewhat weak). As far as pros go thundy still retains its fantastic offensive movepool which is somthing it still has over tapu koko. While not as great as it was in ORAS Nasty plot 3 atk is still stupid hard to deal with.

like scolipede, thundurus stands in between both bad and good in the current metagame. It still a giant force to reckon with but has to deal with competition from tapu koko for the most part. However this does not make thundy bad. Instead if anything thundy is very underrated because its still a giant threat. Its just that one of its previous sets (t-wave 3 atk) is pretty much outclassed by tapu koko which while koko does not have priority t-wave it does not give said set a good enough niche to really want to use it in this generation. Bulky offense is the most dominant playstyle. Nasty plot thundy loves to fight slower teams which makes it a pretty good balance breaker still.

Not going to lie but the Z-fly set would probably be sub-par in tour play however Nasty plot on the other hand would still be very effective due to its raw power and fantastic matchup vs balance teams.

Team used:

Sets

Thundurus @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fly
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Grass Knot

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 16 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Taunt

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Will-O-Wisp
- Bonemerang

Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn

Replays:
Dont have any. Z-fly actually sucks. Just use Nasty plot LOL

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Z-Fly Thundurus is very good on spike stacking or Sticky Web teams, if you're gonna try to build a team around it do it like that.

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

I'm just just curious if thunderous T using Z heal block has merit, it gives You a nasty plot boost while putting stall to a grinding halt for 5 turns, it could run knock off for Chansey


+2 252+ SpA Thundurus-Therian Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Chansey: 476-560 (74.1 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


And after a knock off thunderbolt is a 2 hit kill if You want hp ice/flying for regen cores/venusaur

I was trying to find a prankster user with a really good Z-move to cripple the other pokemon and set up at the same time. Heal block really doesn't get much from prankster and I thought T form was a better stall breaker, I wanna put together a team it works well with, I think choice scarf hoopa will go good with it for being able to punch through protect/sub stalling while also balance/switch in dugtrio

I want max special on it, and the rest into bulk unless there's a key speed I need.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ramses]

#545

Scolipede
​

Proem
Scolipede is a very sui generis Pokemon in the respect that it's capable of doing quite a few things that only it can do in the entire tier. With an incredible ability in Speed Boost and the handy move Baton Pass, it's the best Speed Passer in the tier bar none. The ongoing SPL Tournament has also unearthed a new set that utilizes Scolipede's decent base 100 Atk and 112 Speed to function as an independent sweeper or cleaner with the virtue that is Swords Dance + Speed Boost and a gem in Waterinium-Z + Aqua Tail which utterly decimates most of it's checks. It's typing is also fairly uncommon yet deadly; Scoplipede's STABs hit most of the tier very hard and it has exceptional coverage moves in Earthquake, Rock Slide, and the aforementioned Aqua Tail.

Evaluation + Sets
One of Scolipede's biggest advantages is Speed Boost. For offensive variants, it's a godsend as it puts it above a ton of prevalent threats in the metagame after a single turn such as Mega Alakazam, Tapu Koko, Tornadus-T, and Scarfers like Terrakion, Nihilego, and Tapu Lele. Considering how dangerous it's STAB combo is, forcing something out and setting up is a fairly easy task. The more difficult part is breaking past what you've setup on. This is where Z-Aqua Tail comes into play. At +2, Hydro Vortex hits stupidly hard achieving feats such as nearly OHKOing SpD Celesteela after Stealth Rock, doing upwards 50% to Physically Defensive Skarmory and Mega Scizor, 77-90% on 252 HP Magearan, and OHKOing Physically Defensive Landorus-T. Besides the mentioned Pokemon, nothing comfortably switches into Scolipede without taking a monstrous amount of damage.

Pros aside, Scolipede isn't the bulkiest Pokemon around which leaves it susceptible to being revenge killed if it can't quickly KO what it's facing against. It's also weak to common types in Fire, Psychic, and Rock, the latter of which unfortunately gives it a Stealth Rock weakness. Scolipede also lacks a solid way of breaking past some bulky Steel-types that resist Megahorn such as the aforementioned Skarmory and Mega Scizor. They also happen to be immune and hit neutrally by Earthquake respectively. Furthermore, Scolipede isn't that powerful, so don't overestimate it's power when the opposition is still relatively healthy.

Scolipede @ Waterium-Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance

This is Scolipede's offensive set. The premise is very simple; setup once the bulkiest of checks and counters are worn down to sweep or preserve it until late-game to clean up the opposition. Scolipede is actually very self-sufficient in the fact that Z-Aqua Tail's entire purpose is to muscle through it's counters at +2 and Speed Boost makes it increasingly difficult to handle for offensive teams.

Scolipede @ Black Sludge
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Protect
- Megahorn / Earthquake / Poison Jab

This is Scolipede's alternate set which is based around the idea of Scolipede garnering many Speed Boosts with the assistance of Substitute and Protect so it can pass it off to another teammate, usually a powerful breaker such as Manaphy.

Building + Conclusion

Scolipede VolTurn

Scolipede @ Waterium-Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 16 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- Defog

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

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Landorus-T @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 32 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Smack Down
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

Tapu Bulu @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt

This team is based around either a Scolipede or Charizard X sweep. The two support each other very well as Zard literally sets up on everything that trouble Scolipede, which helps lead up to a clean by it. Tapu Fini is a necessity to remove Stealth Rock, Defensive Landorus-T sets them, and AV Magearna checks threats such as Tapu Lele (which remains to be the most dangerous threat in the tier) while also completing the VolTurn core with Lando and finished the incredible backbone it makes with the two mentioned mons. Tapu Bulu was added last due to the virtue of being another Water and actual Ground resist. Beyond that, the set is pretty unorthodox, but Taunt + NM is actually good since Nature's Madness chunks everything that resists Grass STAB for very respectable damage. Wood Hammer + Horn Leech is used so Bulu's raw power can be accesses at any time and it can fall back on Horn Leech once the opposition is softened up. Really cool set and team overall.

In conclusion, Scolipede has its fair share of ups and downs. It can function as a pretty potent cleaner / sweeper in the right situation or a Speed Passer. There isn't too much that holds it back from reaching terrifying highs as an offensive Pokemon, so I suggest you go out and use it for yourself!

 

[Phantom Me]

Sorry to post so late, gonna research thundurus

Thundurus

Strategies Used
I wanted to use Thundurus as a Wallbreaker because its access to nasty plot and it has good coverage options.

Sets Used
Thundurus @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
This set really brings out the potential of Thundurus. With Prankster giving Nasty Plot priority, it is easy to setup and wallbreak. Thunderbolt is a powerful and reliable STAB move, hitting most neutral targets for good damage and destroying Water- and Flying-types. Hidden Power Ice targets Ground-types, especially Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Zygarde, and also grants Thundurus near-perfect neutral coverage. Focus Blast hits Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Excadrill, Kyurem-B, and Magnezone for super effective damage. I chose Leftovers over Life Orb to give it some longevity.

Teambuilding with Thundurus
I built my team around Thundurus. Added Tapu Lele to the team because it enjoys walls being weaked by Thundurus such as Celesteela, Skarmory and Ferrothorn. It also nullifies priority moves through Psychic terrain. Tapu Koko was added to form a Electric-type spam core, helping Thundurus get in safely with U-turn and cleaning after Ground- and Grass-types are weakened. Mega Charizard X was added to give me a wincon and appreciates Ground and Water types removed. Landorus-T was added to pressure Alolan Marowak and also gives me a hazard setter. Finally Latios was added since Thundurus's weakness to Stealth Rock. Overall, it is not the best team, but I did enjoy using it.

Importable

Thundurus @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- U-turn

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

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Defog

General Strengths and Weakness
Strength

• Base 125 SpA allows it to threaten a big part of the tier.
• It has access to Nasty Plot and an good offensive movepool with many coverage options.
• Base 111 speed allows it to outspeed Pokemon such as Mega Metagross, Latios and Mega Pinsir.
• With Prankster Thunder Wave it is able to halt sweepers and fast Pokemon such as Mega Charizard X and Mega Alakazam.

Weakness

• With Base 70 Def and 80 SpD and weakness to Stealth Rock it finds limited opportunity to switch-in.
• It faces competition from Tapu Koko, which is faster and has a stronger Thunderbolt.
  
• Due to Psychic Terrain and Prankster not being able to hurt Dark types, its usefulness is reduced.

Conclusion
I don't think the metagame is as beneficial as it was in ORAS to Thundurus. Tapu Koko is often better out of the two and the large usage of Tapu Lele hurts its viability. However, it is still a great Pokemon and I certainly enjoyed using it.

 

[zCheshrye]

I've been wanting to use this mon since sun and moon came out because of z rings making this thing use icuim z which does tons to mons who come in.
Sets Used:

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Roost

This set is pretty good because this thing able to be a mixed wallbreaker being to take down walls. Ice beam for stab being able to hit dragon ground and flying types that might affect the team. Earth power for coverage against fire and ground mons for the team. Fusion bolt for water flying types which just die to it. Roost to get back reliable recovery from being worn downed by life orb or damage by other mons.

TeamBuilding:
This thing is weak to fairy fire dragon and steel fighting
Possible partners
- mega scizor being able to kill fairys and being to set up on them.
-Mega Venusaur can being able to kill fairys
- Lando-t being able to kill fire types and ground types being able to set up or be a set up sweeper and win the game
-Mega Metagross being able to kill fairys and do damage to dragon types with ice punch
etc.......

Pros and cons about the pokemon:

-con: weak to fairy fighting steel dragon and fire
-pro: can be a wall breaker for the team
-con: weak to rocks

Metagame:

I think the metagame is in favor with the mon being able to sets that do good in the meta life orb scarf and icuim z


http://pastebin.com/Xj35zqBv sample team if you want to use it

 

[blank]

closing. sorry for the delay; i just wanted to wait and see if a post pops up and surely one did n_n. the posts being added to archive are this post on scolipede by -Magic-, this post on kyurem-b by zCheshrye, and this post on thundurus by BlazeLatias.

thanks Tressed for helping me pick the posts to archive. REMEMBER: the archived posts aren't the definitive best posts due to the very subjective nature of choosing them. The archived posts are usually the ones that do a good job at highlighting a bunch of general stuff about the Pokemon rather than focusing on one specific aspect.

week 3

tapu bulu | latios | bronzong
​

tapu bulu is a really huge pokemon in the meta with a lot of sets to explore and talk about. i'm mainly picking it because i want to try having some bigger threats in the slates moving forward. latios isn't as much of a powerhouse as last gen, but it's still a solid pokemon in sun and moon. it has some nice new options like gigavolt havoc, and it'd be cool to see how latios in the current meta differs from latios in ORAS. bronzong has been seeing some SPL usage, and it has been nom'd for B rank in the VR thread (here). it helps with 2 of the biggest threats in the current meta: landorus-t and megagross, making it a pretty interesting option for some teams.

i'm gonna go back to the original reserve to post system this week. REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want) and post here saying which one you're taking.

 

[Ramses]

bulu is great

 

[BlazeLatias]

Taking latios and Tapu Bulu. Not taking zong cause id honestly never use it over rachi.

 

[zCheshrye]

taking bulu

 

[Phantom Me]

Taking Tapu Bulu

 

[power]

Reserving Latios

 

[matthewc20090]

bronzong is cool

 

[skies]

latios :3

 

[Terrakion.]

gonna do bronzong, gives me excuse to actually use it.

 

[blank]

i just completely forgot to mention it in the post for the new slate: the reservation period will end on wednesday (2/1). the posting period will go from then to sunday (2/5) night.

i'll put a reminder for this in the slate post when i do it, but i'd like to know what you guys (the people who participate) think is the best system: reservations, open posting for a week, or a hybrid of reservations and open posting. to clarify, the reservation system is how i previously ran the project in ORAS (and how it's being handled this week), the open posting system is how HailFall did it when he took over, and the hybrid system is what i did for the first two weeks.

thanks and sorry again for forgetting to post the dates T_T.