Pokémon Tapu Koko

[Pokelatent5]

Why not run a defensive set with electric seed item and full def and hp investment with calm mind, roost, discharge and dazzling gleam. i prefer discharge over t bolt because of para chance

You get walled directly or very close to being rendered useless if you lack U-Turn if Alolan Dugtrio comes in with Arena Trap as you can't really fight that thing off and it OHKOs with EQ unless that thing didn't invest in Attack and you ran 252 HP / 252+ Defense just to avoid being run over. Calm Mind is nice seeing how Koko's Sp.Def is lower than its Def (only by 10 points) but it doesn't really learn many useful Special Attacks unless you factor in Hidden Power as it it's only actual damaging Fairy-STAB is Dazzling Gleam and most of its' Electric-STAB options are Special oriented so you don't really get a lot of coverage which hurts and as normal Koko gets locked down by Alolan Dugtrio (common answer to Koko) and you get slammed harder if you lack U-Turn at least. T-Bolt and Discharge both have chances of paralyzing the target(s) if they do damage (unless you are Ground-Type/Part Ground-Type or have Lightning Rod/Volt Absorb/Nimble). Sooner or later a lot of players might catch on that Koko runs Special sets to avoid taking recoil damage and if that happens then Chansey becomes a pain for Koko to get around if it only runs Special moves. Mixed sets aren't that rare as it helps Koko pivot around threats but you lack the firepower that the Attack and Special Attack sets each have. It's been stated that Koko's physical move sets have the wild flaw of doing recoil damage that really hampers it if you can't heal it enough. Roost is fine but you might not wish to use it until you find and opening seeing how Koko counters are nearly 'everywhere'.

The special set isn't that useless seeing that only Alolan Dugtrio is immune and resistant to both STABs and can possibly outspeed non-Speed positive nature Kokos. I would at least run U-Turn somewhere in the advent that you find yourself getting walled by a special wall, Post-Poke Bank this would fit Mega-Venusaur and Ferrathorn (won't show up in the Dex) as both can come in on the special sets without fearing much, Pre-Poke Bank Eviolite Chansey can stall/wall and status special set Kokos if it pops up at any time.

 

[legend slayer]

You get walled directly or very close to being rendered useless if you lack U-Turn if Alolan Dugtrio comes in with Arena Trap as you can't really fight that thing off and it OHKOs with EQ unless that thing didn't invest in Attack and you ran 252 HP / 252+ Defense just to avoid being run over. Calm Mind is nice seeing how Koko's Sp.Def is lower than its Def (only by 10 points) but it doesn't really learn many useful Special Attacks unless you factor in Hidden Power as it it's only actual damaging Fairy-STAB is Dazzling Gleam and most of its' Electric-STAB options are Special oriented so you don't really get a lot of coverage which hurts and as normal Koko gets locked down by Alolan Dugtrio (common answer to Koko) and you get slammed harder if you lack U-Turn at least. T-Bolt and Discharge both have chances of paralyzing the target(s) if they do damage (unless you are Ground-Type/Part Ground-Type or have Lightning Rod/Volt Absorb/Nimble). Sooner or later a lot of players might catch on that Koko runs Special sets to avoid taking recoil damage and if that happens then Chansey becomes a pain for Koko to get around if it only runs Special moves. Mixed sets aren't that rare as it helps Koko pivot around threats but you lack the firepower that the Attack and Special Attack sets each have. It's been stated that Koko's physical move sets have the wild flaw of doing recoil damage that really hampers it if you can't heal it enough. Roost is fine but you might not wish to use it until you find and opening seeing how Koko counters are nearly 'everywhere'.

The special set isn't that useless seeing that only Alolan Dugtrio is immune and resistant to both STABs and can possibly outspeed non-Speed positive nature Kokos. I would at least run U-Turn somewhere in the advent that you find yourself getting walled by a special wall, Post-Poke Bank this would fit Mega-Venusaur and Ferrathorn (won't show up in the Dex) as both can come in on the special sets without fearing much, Pre-Poke Bank Eviolite Chansey can stall/wall and status special set Kokos if it pops up at any time.

Thats why u have to use him late-game and wait for an opportunity to set up good partners to this set would probably be the things that beat it like kartana and dugtrio but i found this to be fairly effective at the battle tree in tandem with type:null and mega pinsir in singles gets super bulky after all that investment and can still outspeed much of the metagame while possibly paralyzing them with discharge and then setting up.

 

[D_what]

Alolan Dugtrio: Another counter to Koko but only if the former lacks a positive Speed nature while the latter has a positive Speed nature.
...
You get walled directly or very close to being rendered useless if you lack U-Turn if Alolan Dugtrio comes in with Arena Trap as you can't really fight that thing off and it OHKOs with EQ unless that thing didn't invest in Attack
...
as normal Koko gets locked down by Alolan Dugtrio (common answer to Koko)
...
The special set isn't that useless seeing that only Alolan Dugtrio is immune and resistant to both STABs and can possibly outspeed non-Speed positive nature Kokos.

Er. Alolan Dugtrio doesn't get Arena Trap. Related to that; Alolan Dugtrio is therefore really awful. With poor defenses and a HP of 35 it's not going to be making much use out of its resistances. In what meta is A-Dugtrio a common (or viable, or even accurately) a Tapu Koko answer? Even without U-turn, Tapu Koko could just... switch, and make use of the fact that the opponent has a really awful Pokemon on their team.

 

[legend slayer]

Er. Alolan Dugtrio doesn't get Arena Trap. Related to that; Alolan Dugtrio is therefore really awful. With poor defenses and a HP of 35 it's not going to be making much use out of its resistances. In what meta is A-Dugtrio a common (or viable, or even accurately) a Tapu Koko answer? Even without U-turn, Tapu Koko could just... switch, and make use of the fact that the opponent has a really awful Pokemon on their team.

Wow didn't even notice that but there are a lot of pokemon that can wall this thing like mega slowbro or mandibuzz for example can either foul play or set up on it and mandibuzz doesn't fear tangling hair with its mitigating speed anyways and slowbro scald can kill it one shot after a boost or two. also, mega pinsir and mega gyarados can set up, gyarados not even mega evolving and using 1 d dance outspeeds dugtrio and can waterfall it. pinsir resists eq and immune when mega and gyarados is immune before mega.

 

[Ylil]

Hey, I'm new and such but I'm a total fucking nerd and enjoy Pokemath way too much.

So anyway after watching him in game jump around like Bruce Lee I decided that he was my favourite of them so I made a cool set for him. I have a team designed around abusing this but I'm sure plenty of you can come up with more applications.

Topu Keko @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 152 HP / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Nature's Madness
- Roost
- U-turn

Basically I use this alongside a mixed attacking M-Absol to play with a kind of Dark/Electric type sweeper while chunking walls and making Thunderbolt effectively STAB for Absol. His primary goal is to get terrain, but he can kill things too due to his Electric attacks being boosted. I chose 104 SpA EVs because of this calculation;

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 200-236 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This of course assumes Electric terrain is up (which it probably will be) but it means you can Nature's Madness and KO the next turn. Leftovers is a thing but I have double Knock Off on my team lol. Basically, on a full health switch-in Nature's Madness is a decent chunk of damage, and when it isn't Discharge or U-Turn, only using Roost when you have to. On top of that Discharge's 30% paralysis chance is a big deal and can turn a threat into a free kill. Worthwhile when this Topu Keko build isn't designed to be a damage dealer primarily.

Thoughts appreciated.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Hey, I'm new and such but I'm a total fucking nerd and enjoy Pokemath way too much.

So anyway after watching him in game jump around like Bruce Lee I decided that he was my favourite of them so I made a cool set for him. I have a team designed around abusing this but I'm sure plenty of you can come up with more applications.

Topu Keko @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 152 HP / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Nature's Madness
- Roost
- U-turn

Basically I use this alongside a mixed attacking M-Absol to play with a kind of Dark/Electric type sweeper while chunking walls and making Thunderbolt effectively STAB for Absol. His primary goal is to get terrain, but he can kill things too due to his Electric attacks being boosted. I chose 104 SpA EVs because of this calculation;

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 200-236 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This of course assumes Electric terrain is up (which it probably will be) but it means you can Nature's Madness and KO the next turn. Leftovers is a thing but I have double Knock Off on my team lol. Basically, on a full health switch-in Nature's Madness is a decent chunk of damage, and when it isn't Discharge or U-Turn, only using Roost when you have to. On top of that Discharge's 30% paralysis chance is a big deal and can turn a threat into a free kill. Worthwhile when this Topu Keko build isn't designed to be a damage dealer primarily.

Thoughts appreciated.

One big issue I see with this is why would a Celesteela ever switch into a Tapu Koko, or any Electric type for that matter?

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 335-398 (84.1 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 258-306 (64.8 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I mean, I understand wanting to guarantee a 2HKO on a scary wall like Celesteela, but in that case you should probably run 160 SpA EVs.

160 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 212-252 (53.2 - 63.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[legend slayer]

Hey, I'm new and such but I'm a total fucking nerd and enjoy Pokemath way too much.

So anyway after watching him in game jump around like Bruce Lee I decided that he was my favourite of them so I made a cool set for him. I have a team designed around abusing this but I'm sure plenty of you can come up with more applications.

Topu Keko @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 152 HP / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Nature's Madness
- Roost
- U-turn

Basically I use this alongside a mixed attacking M-Absol to play with a kind of Dark/Electric type sweeper while chunking walls and making Thunderbolt effectively STAB for Absol. His primary goal is to get terrain, but he can kill things too due to his Electric attacks being boosted. I chose 104 SpA EVs because of this calculation;

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 200-236 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This of course assumes Electric terrain is up (which it probably will be) but it means you can Nature's Madness and KO the next turn. Leftovers is a thing but I have double Knock Off on my team lol. Basically, on a full health switch-in Nature's Madness is a decent chunk of damage, and when it isn't Discharge or U-Turn, only using Roost when you have to. On top of that Discharge's 30% paralysis chance is a big deal and can turn a threat into a free kill. Worthwhile when this Topu Keko build isn't designed to be a damage dealer primarily.
its not a bad set but his name is tapu koko man u r literally on a thread named after it and i personally use this set anyways and it becomes very bulky quickly under the right opponent
Tapu Koko @ Electric Seed
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Dazzling Gleam
- Roost
- Calm Mind

Thoughts appreciated.

 

[Ylil]

One big issue I see with this is why would a Celesteela ever switch into a Tapu Koko, or any Electric type for that matter?

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 335-398 (84.1 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 258-306 (64.8 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I mean, I understand wanting to guarantee a 2HKO on a scary wall like Celesteela, but in that case you should probably run 160 SpA EVs.

160 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 212-252 (53.2 - 63.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

I think I didn't communicate why this matters. The fact he can still perform his role of countering things such as Celesteela, showing he still does high damage with a small investment in SpA, all whilst not being the focus of his build at all (even Discharge is largely for the paralysis on a lot of targets) demonstrates that you're not gonna suddenly be wrecked by things you normally would deal with, but you have an enormous amount of utility and pivoting potential instead of extra damage.

Also legend slayer I know his name is Tapu Koko (I had to type it into the calculator)... it's a nickname... :/

EDIT: Just to show why I chose 104 SpA, here's some math;

Yay math!

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Primarina: 182-216 (50 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 172 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 336-396 (87.5 - 103.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 158-188 (51.9 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 240 HP / 216+ SpD Mandibuzz: 212-252 (50.3 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Fini: 168-198 (48.8 - 57.5%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 306-360 (94.7 - 111.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Pheromosa: 294-346 (103.8 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir-Mega: 306-360 (112.9 - 132.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skarmory: 252-296 (75.4 - 88.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 96 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Tornadus-Therian: 204-242 (63.1 - 74.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (OHKO on non AV variants)

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Weavile: 160-189 (56.9 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 222-264 (67 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 248 HP / 24+ SpD Mantine: 372-436 (99.7 - 116.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

He still wrecks his usual stuff without focusing on it, I figure that's pretty good.

 

[legend slayer]

I think I didn't communicate why this matters. The fact he can still perform his role of countering things such as Celesteela, showing he still does high damage with a small investment in SpA, all whilst not being the focus of his build at all (even Discharge is largely for the paralysis on a lot of targets) demonstrates that you're not gonna suddenly be wrecked by things you normally would deal with, but you have an enormous amount of utility and pivoting potential instead of extra damage.

Also legend slayer I know his name is Tapu Koko (I had to type it into the calculator)... it's a nickname... :/

EDIT: Just to show why I chose 104 SpA, here's some math;

Yay math!

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Primarina: 182-216 (50 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 172 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 336-396 (87.5 - 103.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 158-188 (51.9 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 240 HP / 216+ SpD Mandibuzz: 212-252 (50.3 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Fini: 168-198 (48.8 - 57.5%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 306-360 (94.7 - 111.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Pheromosa: 294-346 (103.8 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir-Mega: 306-360 (112.9 - 132.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skarmory: 252-296 (75.4 - 88.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 96 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Tornadus-Therian: 204-242 (63.1 - 74.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (OHKO on non AV variants)

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Weavile: 160-189 (56.9 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 222-264 (67 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

104 SpA Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 248 HP / 24+ SpD Mantine: 372-436 (99.7 - 116.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

He still wrecks his usual stuff without focusing on it, I figure that's pretty good.

That is good but i only have 2 of them and one is already att invested for an all out attacker role and the other is defensive calm mind that i showed you that can take a bulldoze from a golurk in the battle tree and not even go down half way however it does show a lot of merit but it would be better if the att and spA were reversed he has only ok spA without a boost or something maybe pair him with mew baton passing a nasty plot on when bank works on it.

 

[blank]

i change the sets in the OP to match the sets that will be in the analysis (written by Albacore here for those who want detailed explanations). this was probably long overdue, but i wasn't really sure what the etiquette is for these threads in regards to keeping the sets updated and stuff.

i haven't really played with tapu koko much honestly, and although i've seen it a lot in battles (friends using it and it being used against me), i pretty much always saw really standard sets. from what i have used of it, i gotta say i prefer zap plate to life orb because i really don't like the recoil when you're clicking u-turn / volt switch so much. it's annoying not to get the boost on hidden power ice considering how weak it is, but at the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[Dragontamer]

i haven't really played with tapu koko much honestly, and although i've seen it a lot in battles (friends using it and it being used against me), i pretty much always saw really standard sets. from what i have used of it, i gotta say i prefer zap plate to life orb because i really don't like the recoil when you're clicking u-turn / volt switch so much. it's annoying not to get the boost on hidden power ice considering how weak it is, but at the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference.

I've seen a bunch that are running some sort of Hidden-Power to lure Alolan Marowak and cripple it with ~50%+ damage with the Life Orb. I dunno which Hidden Power it is, maybe HP Ground? Seems to sacrifice a lot in terms of coverage though, I can't think of a good HP that hits Marowak but provides Tapu Koko coverage against other things.

 

[legend slayer]

I've seen a bunch that are running some sort of Hidden-Power to lure Alolan Marowak and cripple it with ~50%+ damage with the Life Orb. I dunno which Hidden Power it is, maybe HP Ground? Seems to sacrifice a lot in terms of coverage though, I can't think of a good HP that hits Marowak but provides Tapu Koko coverage against other things.

u could use hp water it takes out marowak and ground coverage is useful for it hp ground takes on steel and poison that could wall without. its all personal preference though

 

[BuoyantLlama]

I'd say Hidden Power Ground is more effective, unless you're really scared of Dugtrio and are bent on using Volt Switch > U-turn. Ground lets you hit Alolan Marowak, Heatran (4x effective), and Magnezone, while Water hits Alowak and Heatran (but not as hard as Ground). Dugtrio doesn't appreciate an HP Water, but it has a chance to be 2HKO'd by HP Ground anyway, and U-Turn lets you avoid it anyway.

 

[Gerbillard]

Due to its ability, Tapu Koko is an obvious pokemon to use in a volt turn team/core. I've been using it alongside standard Rotom-Wash and the two seem to work well together. Rotom very much appreciates the electric terrain support and can deal with the various ground types that wall Tapu Koko and Alolan-Marowak, whilst Physical Tapu Koko can help with grass types and taunt zap plate can help mess with certain walls and can act as a good anti lead.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Due to its ability, Tapu Koko is an obvious pokemon to use in a volt turn team/core. I've been using it alongside standard Rotom-Wash and the two seem to work well together. Rotom very much appreciates the electric terrain support and can deal with the various ground types that wall Tapu Koko and Alolan-Marowak, whilst Physical Tapu Koko can help with grass types and taunt zap plate can help mess with certain walls and can act as a good anti lead.

But Rotom has Levitate, so it doesn't get a boost to its Electric attacks. All the terrain does for Rotom is prevent the opponent from Resting away the burn from Will-o-wisp. Though you're right about Hydro Pump and Brave Bird covering stuff that the other Pokemon is scared of.

 

[Gerbillard]

But Rotom has Levitate, so it doesn't get a boost to its Electric attacks. All the terrain does for Rotom is prevent the opponent from Resting away the burn from Will-o-wisp. Though you're right about Hydro Pump and Brave Bird covering stuff that the other Pokemon is scared of.

Oh I completely forgot about that. However I still stand by my point that they work well together, since rotom can work as a good pivot and copes well with scarf Lando-I

 

[Ylil]

Oh I completely forgot about that. However I still stand by my point that they work well together, since rotom can work as a good pivot and copes well with scarf Lando-I

Which is banned. Sorry, your idea still has fine merit I just wanted to be that person. ^^

 

[Gerbillard]

Which is banned. Sorry, your idea still has fine merit I just wanted to be that person. ^^

Looks like I got it wrong again! What I meant to say was Lando T, seeing how it's used so often.

 

[Ziaf999]

I got a Naive one in-game without HP Ice and kept it because its IVs were great and I didn't think you get another chance to capture after the first encounter. My other Tapus have appropriate natures (Adamant, Modest, Timid), but this one's is questionable. I used the formatting from the OP, here's the set:

move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Dazzling Gleam
move 2: Brave Bird
move 3: U-turn
item: Life Orb
ability: Electric Surge
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Its IVs are great (the usual three at 31 but also other stats are each over 26), and I figured Naive was acceptable when playing the game, so I didn't bother restarting. How would you suggest running it if the nature has to be Naive?

Edit: On a related topic, why do standard sets use Timid and 4 Atk EVs? Between Atk and SpDef, the former is the higher stat. But we are lowering the former by a percentage and raising it by a flat amount (for level 100, Timid lowers Attack by 27 and Naive lowers Special Defense by 19). Why do we lower Atk by 27 then raise it by 1? If SpDef is more important, one can instead put the 4 EVs into SpDef with Timid nature.

Compared to neutral (bold options worth considering):
Timid 4 Atk EV has "-26 Atk" (Standard build)
Timid 4 Def EV has "-27 Atk, +1 Def"
Timid 4 SpDef EV has "-27 Atk, +1 SpDef"
Hasty 4 Atk EV has "+1 Atk, -21 Def" (Advantage of putting your Def exactly one point lower than SpDef for enemy Download)
Hasty 4 Def EV has "-20 Def" (Sets Def and SpDef equal; that's not helpful imo)
Hasty 4 SpDef EV has "-21 Def, +1 SpDef"
Naive 4 Atk EV has "+1 Atk, -19 SpDef" (Seems like the least loss of stats which puts a point somewhere useful)
Naive 4 Def EV has "+1 Def, -19 SpDef"
Naive 4 SpDef EV has "-18 SpDef"

That is to say, lowering the higher stat by a percentage results in a larger change. Why not commit those 4 Atk EVs elsewhere if Attack actually doesn't matter. And if Attack does matter, why not run Hasty (to control enemy Porygon2 Download) or Naive (to lose the fewest stats)?

 

[Plasmirror98]

I got a Naive one in-game without HP Ice and kept it because its IVs were great and I didn't think you get another chance to capture after the first encounter. My other Tapus have appropriate natures (Adamant, Modest, Timid), but this one's is questionable. I used the formatting from the OP, here's the set:

move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Dazzling Gleam
move 2: Brave Bird
move 3: U-turn
item: Life Orb
ability: Electric Surge
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Its IVs are great (the usual three at 31 but also other stats are each over 26), and I figured Naive was acceptable when playing the game, so I didn't bother restarting. How would you suggest running it if the nature has to be Naive?

Edit: On a related topic, why do standard sets use Timid and 4 Atk EVs? Between Atk and SpDef, the former is the higher stat. But we are lowering the former by a percentage and raising it by a flat amount (for level 100, Timid lowers Attack by 27 and Naive lowers Special Defense by 19). Why do we lower Atk by 27 then raise it by 1? If SpDef is more important, one can instead put the 4 EVs into SpDef with Timid nature.

Compared to neutral (bold options worth considering):
Timid 4 Atk EV has "-26 Atk" (Standard build)
Timid 4 Def EV has "-27 Atk, +1 Def"
Timid 4 SpDef EV has "-27 Atk, +1 SpDef"
Hasty 4 Atk EV has "+1 Atk, -21 Def" (Advantage of putting your Def exactly one point lower than SpDef for enemy Download)
Hasty 4 Def EV has "-20 Def" (Sets Def and SpDef equal; that's not helpful imo)
Hasty 4 SpDef EV has "-21 Def, +1 SpDef"
Naive 4 Atk EV has "+1 Atk, -19 SpDef" (Seems like the least loss of stats which puts a point somewhere useful)
Naive 4 Def EV has "+1 Def, -19 SpDef"
Naive 4 SpDef EV has "-18 SpDef"

That is to say, lowering the higher stat by a percentage results in a larger change. Why not commit those 4 Atk EVs elsewhere if Attack actually doesn't matter. And if Attack does matter, why not run Hasty (to control enemy Porygon2 Download) or Naive (to lose the fewest stats)?

Generally speaking, people want to avoid any sort of drop in defensive stats that might turn something like a 2hko into a chance to ohko. The exceptions are Pokemon that 1) are running a mixed set, and 2) have low defense(s) to begin with.
Porygon2 is the only Download Pokemon to consider (Bye Genesect, hello Adaptability Z-Conversion) which doesn't seem common or threatening enough for increased physical damage from Hasty imo.
The 4 attack Ev's are probably for a slight boost to U-turn, but the difference is so subtle that you can definitely dump them in either defense.

 

[ExXIII]

There is no Rain Abuser set in the OP.
I personally go with :

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
+Spe -Def nature
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Thunder
U-Turn
HP Ice
Brave Bird

Thunder hits insanly hard and has 100% accuracy, U-Turn so you can pivot against Grounds or A-Marowak, HP Ice for Landorus / Gliscor / Garchomp mainly, Brave Bird to finish Venusaur / Amoonguss / Tangrowth for example.

It works quite well.

 

[Psycho_Sunshine]

Hp water can be slashed into a rain set imo

in rain:
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Water vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mamoswine: 312-369 (86.4 - 102.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Water vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 250-296 (77.1 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

You also have a 2hko on driller which is interesting. The only relevant ohko i think you loose is lando-t (which is huge to be fair). Im also pretty sure you would have to run dazzling gleam for dragons if you take hp water.

Like is dazzling gleam even bad? it hits like everything not named lando, amoongus, or gliscor the same (or more) compared to hp ice. 90bp stab ~= 60bp se, but stab hits are more consistent.

 

[ExXIII]

Oh it looks nice, especially for A-Marowak, might test that

 

[Pvpkm1]

Tapu Koko isn't a "better thundurus" but you're overblowing how good it is. Tapu Koko's biggest flaw and an incredibly big one is that it's non electric attacks are piss weak. I'm seeing most people run Dazzling Gleam over HP Ice (God knows why) and with such poor coverage options, it'll struggle against Gliscor, Landorus-T, Ferrothorn, Excadrill, Tyranitar and most Non 4x GKnot weak ground types, while thundurus has the potential to hit them with LO Focus Blast from base 125 SpAtk. It has access to Nasty Plot which makes it far superior in breaking down teams, has the incredible utility of Priority TWave ( Game changing at times ) and has Knock Off and Superpower as options to surprise kill some special walls. The main reason to use Tapu

Koko is if your team lacks speed/priority so you need insurance against things like Weavile and Serpeior, as well as having BB for Ammongus and Mega Venu. Ground immunity is just the icing on the cake for Thundurus.

"Expect thund to drop to UU cause Tapu Koko" LOL what a joke

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Actually, the only reason to use hp ice over dazzling gleam is to deal with both landorus and gliscor,but since alot of landorus-t use a choice scarf you won't be able to counter it most of the time. Dazzling gleam will let you deal the same damage as hp ice on dragon with 4x weakness to ice and will deal more agaist the one's with 2x weakness like charizard x, mega alteria,goodra,hydreidon, kyurem black,latios,latias and do a little more damage than thunderbolt on pokemon like hoopa unbound mega heracross, breloom and more.Im not saying hp ice is not a great choice,but dazzling gleam is not a bad one either,it all depends on the weaknesses of your team.

 

[Psycho Cut]

Pretty much every Tapu Koko set I've seen is Special... Could a case not be made for a physical set? Or at the very least, mixed? Sure, it lacks coverage and a decent second STAB, but there's still plenty of useful moves such as Taunt, Brave Bird, Volt Switch / U-turn and Roost that could be used to fill the moveslots. With this you'd get the element of surprise, plus attacks of Tapu Koko's superior Attack stat.