Pokémon Tornadus-Therian

[bludz]

Approved by AM
Tornadus-Therian

#641

Base Stats:
79 HP / 100 Atk / 80 Def / 110 SpA / 90 SpD / 121 Spe

Abilities:
Regenerator: Recovers 1/3 HP after switching out.

Notable Moves (STAB in Bold):
Hurricane
U-turn
Knock Off
Superpower
Focus Blast
Heat Wave
Icy Wind
Acrobatics
Taunt
Grass Knot
Air Slash​

Overview:
Tornadus-Therian is a pokemon that has gained a lot of popularity recently in the OU metagame, in large part due to high usage in tournament play. With an excellent 121 base speed, Tornadus-T outspeeds almost every pokemon in OU and makes an excellent pivot thanks to its typing, access to U-turn and stellar ability in Regenerator. It has a pretty wide movepool but generally only needs a few different moves to be successful. Tornadus-T fits onto many team archetypes thanks to its mixed offensive capabilities that can be boosted with a Life Orb as well as an excellent Assault Vest set which checks some of the more threatening special attackers in OU, such as Gengar and Landorus.

Notable Sets:
Life Orb Attacker

Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower / Focus Blast
- Knock Off
- U-turn / Taunt

Tornadus-T’s Life Orb set is a threatening mixed attacker with few reliable answers. This set takes full advantage of Torandus-T’s ability Regenerator, which helps mitigate the Life Orb recoil. Hurricane is the primary STAB move with amazing neutral coverage, resisted only by Electric, Steel, and Rock types. Superpower smacks Steel and Rock types, and allows Torn-T to OHKO Choice Scarf Tyranitar which it naturally outspeeds. Knock Off is amazing utility that removes Leftovers from bulky walls and Life Orbs from deadly attackers like Landorus and Latios. U-turn is generally the best move in the last slot as it allows Tornadus-T to pivot out of most threats to it thanks to its high speed tier. Taunt is also an option to stallbreak. Other options include Icy Wind / HP [Ice] (if you hate missing) and Heat Wave.

The EVs are to OHKO Tyranitar and Excadrill with Superpower. If running Focus Blast, just max out special attack with a Timid Nature.

Bulky Pivot

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast / Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn

With an Assault Vest equipped, Tornadus-T can stand up to special attackers such as Life Orb Gengar and Landorus-I without Rock Slide. Tornadus-T can pivot into these pokemon and threaten to Knock Off their Life Orb and then U-turn out if the opponent switches out. The moveset is pretty basic but Focus Blast better hits most Rock and Steel types while Heat Wave is primarily for Scizor, Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Icy Wind / HP [Ice] is an option to better check Landorus. Ultimately the choice of 4 moves is up to you but U-turn and Hurricane are musts.

The EV spread guarantees that Hurricane will OHKO Keldeo, with the rest dumped into speed and HP for bulk. Timid Nature so not to compromise bulk and because Knock Off and U-turn are more used for utility and not damage output.

Note: Alternate speed benchmarks can be used on both sets. 216 Spe outspeeds Choice Scarf Tyranitar and 236 Spe outspeeds Adamant Mega Lopunny. However these days since Tornadus-Therian and base Alakazam have become more popular, it is usually important to run max speed.

An itemless Acrobatics set is another option for Tornadus-T. This would usually be fully physical with moves such as Superpower, Knock Off and U-turn, although Icy Wind becomes a better lure on such a set. Taunt is also a solid option there.

Conclusion:
Tornadus-Therian’s combination of unique traits makes it an excellent addition to many teams. Thanks to most “bird-spam” checks being physical walls to check Mega Pinsir and Talonflame, there are few reliable switch-ins to a special flying move like Hurricane. Tornadus-T can often remain healthy because it can U-turn out against anything it outspeeds and regain HP due to Regenerator. Life Orb sets are amazing on offensive teams while Assault Vest sets fit onto bulkier teams quite nicely and helps with speed control. Tornadus-T is also an excellent pokemon on Rain teams since Hurricane is 100% accurate under Rain and it deals with bulky grass types that Swift Swim sweepers have problems with such as Celebi, Ferrothorn and Mega Venusaur.

Potential Discussion Questions:
Is there a reason Tornadus-T was often overlooked for so long, and are there metagame trends that increased its effectiveness (and thus popularity)?

Are there any other viable sets or moves to run on Tornadus-T?

What pokemon does it check well and have a hard time with? What are good partners for it?

 

[Kurona]

As far as I know, the biggest reason Torn-T was ignored for so long was because Gren outsped and ice beamed it to death.

Also, EVs should probably be ordered HP/Atk/Dfc/Spa/SpD/Spd

 

[Teeny Victory]

You may want to mention icy wind as an option over Focus Blast/ Heat Wave on the AV Set. As although it means you miss out on coverage against Steel and Rock types, it allows you to beat Lando-I much easier, and also does more damage to Garchomp and Lando-T, but it is mostly for Lando-I which you are supposed to check.

160 SpA Tornadus-T Icy Wind vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Landorus: 268-316 (84 - 99%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
160 SpA Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Landorus: 199-235 (62.3 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock\

Definitely worth a mention considering how common Lando-I is and How well Torn-T checks it

Other than that, great thread, everything else looks in order

 

[Expert_Occultist]

Why Hasty over Naive in the first set? Isn't Naive preferred for being able to take common priority better?

 

[bludz]

Why Hasty over Naive in the first set? Isn't Naive preferred for being able to take common priority better?

I'm not 100% sure (I ripped this spread from the analysis). My guess is that Torn-T more commonly checks special attackers than physical ones, also it isn't weak to any form of priority attack and doesn't have much business staying in on the strong ones anyway.

 

[BlueLobster]

Slash heat wave with knock off on the AV set; Knock off isn't that good when you're timid, and it's often good to have both such as when against Tran and Skarm, who don't care about weak knock offs most of the time. It also helps in situations you are paired with SD Bish as your sweeper, a +2 LO knock off from Jolly Bish OHKOs Tran after SR (and possibly before), but not if tran is itemless. This applies to some other sweepers like SD Gallade too.

 

[DarkNostalgia]

Well tbh on the AV set Knock Off + U-turn are just utility moves, not really for dealing damage, so Timid nature isn't... bad. Heat Wave deserves OO imo, maybe even a slash on the Life Orb set, but really nothing more.

 

[casey90]

Why not have an itemless acrobatics set included? A set consisting of Acrobatics, Superpower/U-turn, Knock Off/U-turn, and Taunt can be a great harassment tool for the opponent. It get's Taunt over the AV set, as well as more reliable STAB, while unlike the Life orb set it doesn't kill itself, and again doesn't rely on a 70% accuracy move for damage.

 

[Karxrida]

Why not have an itemless acrobatics set included? A set consisting of Acrobatics, Superpower/U-turn, Knock Off/U-turn, and Taunt can be a great harassment tool for the opponent. It get's Taunt over the AV set, as well as more reliable STAB, while unlike the Life orb set it doesn't kill itself, and again doesn't rely on a 70% accuracy move for damage.

Incarnate does it better due to higher Attack and Defiant, and Incarnate kinda sucks.

 

[casey90]

yes but it lacks regenerator, which allows Torn-T to continue to threaten the opponents team throughout the course of the match

 

[DarkNostalgia]

Acro should go in other options. Talonflame exists >.<

 

[Karxrida]

yes but it lacks regenerator, which allows Torn-T to continue to threaten the opponents team throughout the course of the match

Even then it's probably OO at best. Some high-ladder replays of showing it work would be nice.

Also what DarkNostalgia said.

 

[bludz]

So yeah I've already listed Heat Wave as an option on the AV set next to Focus Blast - if you want to run it over Knock Off that's fine but I don't really see the need to slash it in multiple places. I updated the description saying you can really run any combination of moves you want after Hurricane + U-turn.

As for an itemless Acrobatics set - I've heard enough about it (and seen it a few times) that I included Acrobatics in notable moves but I don't know if it's mainstream enough to merit a main set. I can update the OP to mention it as another option.

 

[SketchUp]

Acro Stallbreaker should be in Other Options. It's definitely not mainstream enough to have its own set.

 

[WhiteQueen]

Tornadus-T is one of my favorite Pokemon to use right now. The sets you mentioned are both great, but the following is one that I often use.

Tornadus-T @ Assault Vest
Nature: Timid
248HP / 8 Sp.Def / 252 Spe
---
U-turn
Hurricane
Knock Off
Filler (depends on what your team needs)

This variant is suited for any type of teams, especially a bulky offensive one. With 248 HP and Assault Vest, Tornadus-T is extremely bulky, capable of checking powerhouses like Gengar, Latios and Latias, Starmie, Serperior, Keldeo, etc. Yes, even Landorus that lacks Rock Slide. The first three moves are obligatory. The last move depends on what your team has issues with. Heat Wave for Ferrothorn; Superpower/Focus Blast for Tyranitar and Heatran. Hidden Power Ice for Garchomp, Landorus, etc.

I opted for a Timid Nature, as it allows Tornadus-T to switch into Landorus without fearing getting OHKOed by Rock Slide. Also allows it to tank Psyshocks better. U-turn and Knock Off are both utility moves, so a little extra power isn't necessary.

Slowbro forms a formidable Regenerator core with Tornadus-T. It's capable of absorbing physical hits for Tornadus-T, while Tornadus-T can absorb Gengar's Shadowball and Latios' Draco Meteor for Slowbro. Between the two of them, they're able to check many threats in the metagame.

 

[firehusky]

I think maybe air slash and iron tail should be in notable moves. One of the main reasons why people don't like tornadus-t that much is because of it's main STAB move, hurricane, which has shaky accuracy. Personally I believe that isn't really a good reason to not use it, but air slash is still an option if you don't need the power and prefer consistency over damage output.

One of the best answers to tornadus-t atm is mega diancie, and with iron tail, it can be lured in and then swiftly removed, as long as iron tail hits lol. Tornadus-T can't get around most electric types such as rotom-w, zapdos, and raikou so kyu-b is a good partner which easily destroys all of them and walls them too.