Tauros Serebii Pokedex entry.
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[OVERVIEW]
<p>In better days long gone, Tauros was rightly regarded as one of the best late game cleaners in existence. However, after the RBY era, Tauros has fallen into lower tiers. Gen.5 has brought it the salvation it has needed all these years. Through the Dream World, Tauros gets Encourage, one of the best new abilities this generation. Some of its other notable new move additions are Cheer Up and Wild Bolt. </p>
<p>It has also been confirmed in the B&W Research thread that Encourage negates Life Orb recoil, but only for moves with a secondary effect. Thus, Tauros is the fastest user of Encourage, and with its base 100 Atk. and Cheer Up, it can pose a threat even in OU.</p>
Note:Encourage gives a 1.3x boost to moves that have a chance related secondary effect when they hit, but prevents that effect from occurring. Also stops Life Orb recoil from occurring only for moves that gain the Encourage boost, but still gives the Life Orb boost.
[SET]
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1:Rock Climb
move 2:Earthquake
move 3:Rock Slide / Wild Bolt
move 4:Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
nature: Hasty / Naive
ability: Encourage
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Oh boy. Encourage and Life Orb together give Tauros a 1.733* boost to 3 moves on this set. Rock Climb is your basic STAB move, and with the said boosts it will climb to a fearsome 221 BP. Earthquake and Rock Slide together provide excellent neutral coverage(having 130 BP each). However, Wild Bolt can also be used in place of Rock Slide. It also hits bulky waters like Burungeru and Vaporeon hard, 2HKO'ing both of them.</p>
<p>Fire Blast rounds off the coverage nicely, 2HKO'ing physically defensive Skarmory and Nattorei, Forretress and Scizor even with Tauros's horrible Special Attack. Don't even bother using Flamethrower; Tauros needs the extra damage.</p>
Encourage Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 196 SplDef +ve nature Nattorei = 56% - 67%
Encourage Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 0 Spl Def neutral nature Nattorei = 72% - 86%
Encourage Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 252 Spl Def +ve nature Skarmory = 39% - 46%
Encourage Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 0 Spl Def neutral nature Nattorei = 72% - 86%
Encourage Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 252 Spl Def +ve nature Skarmory = 39% - 46%
[ADDTIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Zen Headbutt is a viable option, but you only hit Fighting and Poison types for super-effective damage. However, Tauros can OHKO 252 HP Roobushin with Zen Headbutt, but gets OHKO'd by Mach Punch. There is also the issue of Zen Headbutt's shaky accuracy. </p>
<p>Do not bother running any more Special Attack EV's on Tauros to nab the 2HKO on 252 HP 252 Spl Def Skarmory; that will result in taking away too much from Tauros's physical offense.</p>
<p>The EV's are also straightforward. Max Attack and Max Speed, with the 4 remaining EV's thrown in Spl Atk. That is why you should run a Hasty or Naive nature; to maximise Fire Blast's damage output. It is not advised to invest too many EV's in Special Attack,as Tauros 2HKO's even Max HP / Max Spl Def Skarmory with Fire Blast.</p>
[SET]
name: Cheer Up
move 1:Rock Climb
move 2:Earthquake
move 3:Cheer Up
move 4:Fire Blast / Rock Slide / Wild Bolt
item: Life Orb
nature: Hasty / Naive
ability: Encourage
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is arguably Tauros's most powerful set. After one Cheer Up, Tauros hits 447 Attack and 175 Special Attack. With those stats, and 350 Speed, Tauros can easily tear apart entire teams. Rock Climb is Tauros's primary STAB, and deals huge amounts of damage to anything that does not resist it. Earthquake hits the grounded Rock and Steel types which resist Rock Clib for super-effective damage .</p>
<p> For the fourth move, you have 3 options. Rock Slide hits the Levitating Ghost types that are immune to Body Slam and Earthquake, while Fire Blast roasts Skarmory, Nattorei and other Steel types who can take Tauros's physical hits. Wild Bolt also hits Skarmory for super-effective damage, but has the added advantage of OHKO'ing Burungeru and Vaporeon with a Cheer Up boost. Depending on what you are troubled by, take your pick.</p>
[ADDITONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The same EV's carry over from the previous set. If you want, you can run a different special move like Ice Beam to hit the Dragon types present in OU, since Tauros outspeeds most of them. Don't bother running Zen Headbutt, or any of Tauros's other physical moves; this set provides Tauros the coverage it needs.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1:Double Edge
move 2:Earthquake
move 3:Rock Slide
move 4:Wild Bolt / Pursuit
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
nature: Intimidate
ability: Jolly / Adamant
EV's: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tauros is an excellent user of a Choice item. For either Choice item, the moveset remains the same, since the purpose is more or less the same : Hit hard and fast. Double Edge is your main STAB option, and has 180 BP with the STAB boost. As such, it will be hitting anything that doesn't resist for a lot of damage. However, the recoil will be painful, and can spell Tauros's early demise if Double Edge is used recklessly. Once again, Earthquake and Rock Slide provide excellent neutral coverage, hitting the types which resist Double Edge. </p>
<p> For the fourth move, you have 2 options. Wild Bolt hits Bulky Waters like Burungeru and Vaporeon very hard, OHKO'ing both of them, though once again you will take high recoil damage, since these Pokemon have a lot of HP. Pursuit is a safer option,working in tandem with Intimidate, and can be used to nab some quick, heftty damage on fleeing Pokemon.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>You can also run Encourage, and moves with get the boost from it(Rock Climb and the like). In this case, you will have to drop Pursuit, and run a set of Rock Climb, Level Ground, Rock Slide and Wild Bolt.</p>
<p>When running Intimidate, having entry hazards on the field will be of great use, since Tauros will force switches with its ability. Nattorei is a good option, as along with providing Spikes and Leech Seed support, it can also take Special hits quite well with its base 116 Spl. Def. However, both Tauros and Nattorei are weak to Fighting types, so having a bulky Ghost type Spin blocker is advisable.</p>
[SET]
name: Pinch Berry
move 1:Return
move 2:Substitute
move 3:Rock Slide
move 4:Earthquake
item: Liechi Berry
nature: Intimidate
ability: Jolly
EV's: 4 Spl. Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> This is a very simple set. Scare out a physical attacker with Intimidate, Substitute on the switch, and bring your HP down with Substitute down till Liechi Berry activates. Make sure that you have a HP stat indivisible by 4, as otherwise you will not be able to create 4 Substitutes from full health. This is why there are 4 EV's in Special Defense, so that you have a HP stat of 291, which is indivisible by 4.</p>
<p>Return is your reliable STAB move, as it would be foolish to run Double Edge on a Pinch Berry set. Earthquake and Rock Slide provide excellent neutral coverage, and with the Liechi Berry boost, will be doing a lot of damage. However, note that even at +2 Atk, Tauros is not doing upward of 40% damage to the physical walls like Skarmory.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set lures in physical walls like Nattorei and Skarmory all the time, so having a Pokemon to deal with them will open up Tauros's sweep. Shandera and Magnezone are excellent Pokemon for this job; as they can effectively trap and kill the mentioned Pokemon unless they carry a Shed Shell.</p>
<p>Keeping Entry Hazards off your side of field is very important, as Tauros cannot afford to lose any HP on switching in. Tentacruel is an excellent partner, as it resists Fighting type attacks, and can eliminate Entry Hazards with Rapid Spin. Starmie and Forretress are other options for Rapid Spinning duties.</p>
[TEAM OPTIONS]
<p>For any Tauros set lacking Fire Blast, it is advised to have Pokemon who can eliminate physical walls like Skarmory. As mentioned, Shandera and Magnezone are good options, for the trap-killing duties they perform. Tricking a Choice item onto a wall is also a great option, to cut off their mode of recovery. TrickBand Metagross is an excellent option; it can Trick its Choice Band onto Skarmory, and permanently disable it, thus helping Tauros achieve a swep. </p>
<p>Tauros also appreciates entry hazard damage. As mentioned, Pokemon like Nattorei, Skarmory and Forretress are all good options. Forretress and Nattorei also pack Rapid Spin, to keep your side free of entry hazards.</p>
<p>Even though Tauros is fast, many Pokemon outspeed it. Unless you are running a Scarf set, Tauros is outsped by a host of Pokemon, such as Starmie, Azelf, Borutorosu and Scarf users. Having paralysis support can thus be very useful. Jirachi with its Steel typing, and Thunder Wave is a prime example. It can also provide Wish support to Tauros. </p>
[OPTIONAL CHANGES]
<p> On the Cheer Up set, you can run two Special attacks if you want-Ice Beam and Fire Blast.You will also have to change the EV spread if you do so. +1 Ice Beam OHKO's Salamence, Flygon, Garchomp, and even 2HKO's Multi Scale Dragonite. However, this would mean you will have to drop Earthquake. This will result in Tauros losing a lot of reliability.</p>
[COUNTERS]
<p>Since Tauros has no priority, faster Pokemon, or Pokemon with priority will be very difficult for it to handle.Roobushin is thus Tauros's best counter, as it OHKO's 100% of the time with Mach Punch if it does not get Intimidated. Another xamle would be Life Orb Starmie, who can exploit Tauros's low Special Defense, and OHKO it with STAB, LO boosted Hydro Pump. Likewise, there are many other Pokemon who can outspeed and eliminate Tauros with ease.</p>
<p>Gliscor, with its high Defense, can easily take most of Tauros's attacks, barring Ice Beam. It also 2HKO's Tauros with STAB Earthquake. None of Tauros's unboosted attacks can OHKO or even 2HKO Gliscor; so Gliscor stands out as a bulky Pokemon who can easily eliminate Tauros.</p>
