Tailwind: worth a moveslot?

[locoghoul]

Tailwind: Doubles the Spe for 3 turns

So, Tailwind is pretty much an Agility or Rock Polish for 2 turns (one turn gets wasted upon activation).

Here is a list of usable Pokemon in the Ubers tier that can learn Tailwind:

Arceus - more of a sweeper, there are better moves for support sets
Giratina - not much space for a support move that won't benefit it
Giratina-O
Ho-oh
Latias
Latios - more of a sweeper (although Legends Never Die runs DD just for the speed boost)
Lugia
Mew - has better options (RP/BP, SR, Hypnosis, etc)
Rayquaza - has DD, not suppose to be a support poke
Scizor
Shaymin-S - too fragile to set it up, could set up LS on the switch
Zapdos - already has Agility(/BP), not too common in Ubers

So, in bold are some pokemons that I think can use Tailwind to a decent extent. But even if the +2 Spe is nice, the move is far from broken so let's talk about how would it be useful enough to be considered in a set.

Giratina-O has T-wave to cripple switch ins. However, RestTalk, Lumberry or Ground pokes don't mind it. Tailwind lets your Giratina-O be faster than most threats without losing 25% using a sub. You can even switch to a counter that would still benefit from one turn of +2 Spe.

Ho-oh was discussed a little in its own thread. As far as I know it is supposed to be under testing, although I recall battling against somebody that used it pretty well (I think it was Jibaku).

Latias is a support pokemon so it could use it. The thing is, Latias already has a lot of support moves (Wish, Roar, LS, Reflect, Safeguard, etc.) and most of the times it has Recover which takes away one moveslot.

Lugia also learns a variety of support moves (screens, whirlwind, status, etc.) and it has a form of recovery that takes away another moveslot.

Surprisingly enough I could see Scizor using Tailwind fairly well. He is not really a sweeper, he is more of a transition poke soaking up resisted attacks and forcing switches with U-Turn. Tailwind+U-turn on the switch (usually Scizor counter) could be viable. A 0 Spe EVs Scizor can outspeed positive nature 90 based pokemon like Kyogre and Dialga (most non-scarf versions don't even run Spe EVs) after Tailwind and even a non-scarf 252 Spe Timid Palkia (332 vs 328).

Like I said, this move is far from being broken or vital, but I'll leave it open for discussion. Some slow teams may benefit from just one Tailwind user even if it will require some skill to pull it off successfully.

 

[KnightoftheWind]

The main problem with Tailwind is only lasts a mere 3 turns, nowhere near the amount of time one might one to abuse it. That's pretty much why no-one uses it in any tier.

 

[shrang]

Tailwind: Doubles the Spe for 3 turns

So, Tailwind is pretty much an Agility or Rock Polish for 2 turns (one turn gets wasted upon activation).

Actually, usually only one turn. One on activation, one when you switch out to your designated user. Not worth it. If it lasted as long Trick Room or Gravity, you might consider using it, but one turn is WAY too short. 2 turns is only if you time your Tailwind right and killed right as you use it or get phazed when you use it or something.

 

[Zach]

Tailwind is like Trick Room except it doesn't last as long and its not as reliable. Trick Room is hard enough to use effectively in my opinion. Speaking of which, both Dialga and Palkia have access to Trick Room, and user Pirika made a very effective TR team a while ago.

 

[ΩDonut]

It's far better used in Doubles.

 

[locoghoul]

Actually, usually only one turn. One on activation, one when you switch out to your designated user. Not worth it. If it lasted as long Trick Room or Gravity, you might consider using it, but one turn is WAY too short. 2 turns is only if you time your Tailwind right and killed right as you use it or get phazed when you use it or something.

The user might still benefit from it for 2 turns. I've used a bulky Tailwind Giratina-o and the 2 turns help a lot against faster pokes like Mewtwo, the Lati@s and Rayquaza

 

[cim]

No, not really. I guess it "eases prediction" the way a Sub can for slower Pokemon, but a Sub is far more useful than 2 turns of going faster ever could be. It's useless passed too. I guess someone will come up with an obscure novelty set with it (like every other fucking move in Pokemon) but it's clearly not meant for Singles play.

 

[AccidentalGreed]

Well. Tailwind. About time someone brought this move up.

So yeah! In double battles, this thing is beast unless you're up against ninjask. It helps alot of things like Garchomp and slow sweepers take revenges against faster sweepers.

Back when I was a Double Battle n00b, I used Suicune and Articuno to soak up hits and use tailwind to predict hits and revenge sweep/toxic stall. Suicune can also use mimic to copy a healing move and calm mind along the way, and when tailwind is set up, the opponent better be ready for 3 turns of water hell. Not that Shedinja or Vaporeon care though. :P

Also, I tried tailwind Scizor in Ubers. It made up alot of hit it couldn't before, and has a LOT more time to use bug bite than usual.

The problem is...it's too short to make a sweep out of it. Although I think it's pretty justified since trick room exists and having insane speed for 5 turns is a bit overboard.

 

[Garganator]

Actually, usually only one turn. One on activation, one when you switch out to your designated user. Not worth it. If it lasted as long Trick Room or Gravity, you might consider using it, but one turn is WAY too short. 2 turns is only if you time your Tailwind right and killed right as you use it or get phazed when you use it or something.

I would never even consider using Tail Wind for supporting teammates except in doubles. I would use Tail Wind only for late-game cleaning and only for the user of Tail Wind. Probably the best choices are Ho-Oh (Kyogre won't switch it that happily knowing that even ScarfOgre is too slow) and Giratina-O as they have the biggest power from all of those and they're the hardest to wall. Anyway, I need to try both of them, it may be interesting ;). I think the main Scizors problem is that he's much easier to wall.

 

[Drab Emordnilap]

Scizor could just use agility.