The Therian Formes

[Furai]

Black 2 and White 2 introduced us a few more formes, between them: the Therian formes. These basically are another version of the genies—Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus—only with different stats and ability. Formerly known as the Sacred Beasts, the Therian formes will definitely have an impact on the Pokemon world, and Ubers specifically. Without further ado, let's move on, and research what can they do for us!

Note: the +,-,= compare the stat to the orignal genie.

Tornadus-T
Typing:

79 HP (=) / 100 Atk (-) / 80 Def (+) / 110 SpA (-) / 90 SpD (+) / 121 Spe (+)
Total BST: 580
Regenerator ability
Move Tutors: Dark Pulse, Foul Play, Heat Wave, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Knock Off, Role Play, Sleep Talk, Snore, Superpower, Tailwind, Uproar

Thundurus-T
Typing:

79 HP (=) / 105 Atk (-) / 70 Def (=) / 145 SpA (+) / 80 SpD (=) / 101 Spe (-)
Total BST: 580
Volt Absorb ability
Move Tutors: Dark Pulse, Foul Play, Iron Tail, Knock Off, Role Play, Sleep Talk, Snore, Superpower, ThunderPunch, Uproar

Landorus-T
Typing:

89 HP (=) / 145 Atk (+) / 90 Def (=) / 105 SpA (-) / 80 SpD (=) / 91 Spe (-)
Total BST: 600
Intimidate ability
Move Tutors: Block, Earth Power, Gravity, Iron Tail, Knock Off, Outrage, Role Play, Sleep Talk, Snore, Stealth Rock, Superpower

 

[TrollFreak]

actually, Tornadus-T looks p. cool

Wish they got better abilities though. Thundurus with Volt Absorb (could have been Lightingrod) and Landorus with Intimidate. Lando with Intimdate doesn't look half bad though, as it can come in on Pokemon such as Groundon and then just OHKO with Grass Knot.

 

[ZetoTarken]

It actually does, +3 LO HP:Fire 1hko's Ferrothorn in the rain and at +1, Thunder followed by HP:Fire has a fair chance of KOing Ferrothorn as well.

Honestly, Thundurus comes down to is 10 speed worth 40(80 after NP) SpAtk. The answer is probably because the 110 Speed tier is pretty empty at the moment.

Tornadus-T seems weaker since its primary role was setting up Tailwind and more speed doesn't help it do that while less attack hurts its abilities to do other things

Landorus I'm really iffy on because it falls down to(effectively) the base 90 speed where those 2 bonus points don't really matter. It no longer outspeeds Palkia or Rayquaza and if Ho-oh is behind a sub intimidate isn't hurting it anyway, while if it doesn't have a sub up you don't need intimidate to murder it with Stone Edge. Dropping to 91 just seems so meh because Groudon has more attack and similar/better defenses(The difference between 140 no investment and 90+Intimidate no investment is extremely negligible). It gets tilted in Landorus's favor if they both invest in full defense, but Landorus doesn't have any phasing moves. It comes down to if immunity to spikes is worth all that and I don't think it is.

 

[Furai]

Why would you HP Fire, however, when you have Focus Blast? Focus Blast from Life Orb Timid Thundurus-T does 71.02% minimum. Modest does 77.55% minimum, and Choice Specs does 81.25% minimum. With Stealth Rock, Specs Thundurus-T has 18.75% to OHKO. So I must a gree with Rayquaza_, Volt Absorb is good enough, as Thundurus-T does not require that boost to function.

 

[ZetoTarken]

Simply because HP:Fire doesn't miss. I know Focus Blast lets you get better coverage, doesn't mean I like missing with it and +3 Thunder would do enough to Dialga that I'd be comfortable with the worse coverage. And you'd never run Modest on Thundurus-T you lose one of the biggest perks to it, outspeeding Palkia. And its only a 13.125% chance to OHKO because you miss ~30% of the time and you have to take that into account.

 

[His Eminence Lord Poppington II]

i would never run hp fire. what a waste, i'd sooner just double switch or u-turn out. landorus-t looks to be pretty cool, its speed is a tad disappointing, but it's still above all the base 90s and it has uber-tier attack and STAB earthquake usable with sand force (RAPE). thundurus-t looks cool too, i'd just use life orb with thunder and use it as a moderately fast attacker.

tornadus is the one i'm most iffy about, with the addition of tailwind to thundurus' movepool tornadus is looking a tad outclassed, although STAB hurricane is rad as fuck.

 

[Groudon ex]

In sandstorm, an unboosted Earthquake from a Jolly Landorus-I still does slightly more damage than an unboosted Earthquake from an Adamant Landorus-T. That's quite disappointing, although there's still plenty of potential for Landorus-T on non-sand teams I guess.

 

[Jibaku]

Theorymon stated that he had some success with thundurus t. The speed drop in the therian forme seems to be less significant than in ou, while the increased satk let's it potentially Ohko mewtwo after sr with lo thunder, and volt absorb is pretty nifty (watch out for zekrom lol)

Of course, that was yesterday. Today, with news on soul dew, that might change.

I think Tornadus t has potential here. Regenerator and spikes immunity helps a lot in a hazard filled metagame, coupled with its troll 121 speed to outrun arceus is quite significant. 110 base sa hurricanes aren't the most powerful thing out there but they do hurt since there isn't a lot of flying resists in ubers. I can see this fitting into my rain team to help out against grass and fighting arceus

As for landorus t, I will have to think this one through. With intimidate it does have around Groudon level physical bulk against its target, and it also has around the same attack. It might have some use as a bulky ground that trades drought for a ground immunity and well...the ability to not change weather lol. Idk how that would work out in practice but it's a thought nonetheless

Also thundurus doesn't seem to get tailwind unless I'm missing something here

 

[Garganator]

As for landorus t, I will have to think this one through. With intimidate it does have around Groudon level physical bulk against its target, and it also has around the same attack. It might have some use as a bulky ground that trades drought for a ground immunity and well...the ability to not change weather lol. Idk how that would work out in practice but it's a thought nonetheless

Well Flying/Ground is different typing enough, but Groudon still takes well some even the strongest neutral physical hits anyway. The only other advantages I see are:

a) The ability to check Terrakion in more reliable way. +2 Life Orb Jolly Terrakion CC deals heavy 76,49% - 90,10% against Max HP/Max Def Impish Groudon and Adamant version has a chance to OHKO Groudon 46% of time with SR alone). But Scarf is still much more popular, so I think this point is moot for now.
b) Access to U-Turn. While maybe it's not that great advantage, it's still great scouting attack, which allows you to gain instant momentum in your favor.
c) Well immunity to Spikes/Toxic Spikes is actually great advantage, so I think this is worth to mention as well.

But outside of those... yeah, I can't think of anything else. And still those advantages are not that great to make Landorus-T different enough from Groudon, so not sure.

 

[mustay]

Landorus I'm really iffy on because it falls down to(effectively) the base 90 speed where those 2 bonus points don't really matter.

I understand what you mean but now IMO landorus fills a totally different role, intimidate gives it the physical bulk to rival groudon and that 145 attack is gonna hurt anything (even in ubers).... it will probably have trouble with giratina and stuff but then so do most physical attackers.
This means that the extra 1 speed point does matter. Because most other slowish bulkyish attackers are at base 90 speed meaning you can just outspeed them. whereas before landorus was a fast scarfed revenge killer, now it's a slow bruiser.