QC: 1/3
GP: 0/1
[OVERVIEW]
* Tornadus-T is a notable threat in the S/M metagame due to its great speed, excellent Flying STAB in the form of Hurricane, and the coverage moves it needs to beat the Pokemon that resist Flying.
* Strong utility moves in Knock Off and U-Turn let Tornadus-T generate momentum versus or cripple common defensive switch-ins.
* Having access to a STAB Hurricane coming off of base 110 Special Attack makes Tornadus-T a potent offensive threat, as with base 121 speed, it outspeeds many common Pokemon on offense like Latios, Garchomp, Serperior, Gengar, and Mega Metagross.
* Regenerator is a fantastic ability for a pivot Pokemon, and synergizes well with U-Turn to let Tornadus-T recover momentum and HP simultaneously. Regenerator also enables Tornadus-T to run Life Orb and Assault Vest sets very effectively.
* A weakness to Stealth Rocks is unfortunate for a pivot Pokemon, and Regenerator recovery is mostly negated when Tornadus-T switches in while Stealth Rocks are up. Mono-Flying is also a lackluster defensive type, and also means Tornadus-T does not get any of the benefits afforded by Psychic, Misty, Electric, or Grassy Terrain.
* Tornadus-T has notable new issues in Sun and Moon. It is outsped and OHKO'd by the very common Phermosa and Tapu Koko, the latter of which resists Tornadus-T's STAB Hurricane. Nihilego, while being slower than Tornadus-T, easily forces it out as well due to great special bulk, resisting Hurricane, and threatening to OHKO back with Power Gem. Electric Terrain being so prevalent also really hurts Tornadus-T, which dies to almost any OU Electric attack with the Electric Terrain boost. Being a Flying-type, Tornadus-T also does not benefit from any of the terrains brought from the Tapu line.
* On the defensive side, Pokemon like Mantine, Magearna, and Celesteela all check or wall Tornadus-T.
* Powerful offensive threats like Tapu Koko, Greninja, and Weavile outspeed Tornadus-T and threaten to OHKO it with their super-effective STAB moves.
* All in all, Tornadus-T still has a decent spot in the S/M OU metagame due to its strong utility options, good speed, and hard-hitting STAB Hurricane.
[SET]
name: Life Orb Attacker
move 1: Hurricane
move 2: U-Turn
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Heat Wave/Taunt/Superpower
item: Life Orb
ability: Regenerator
nature: Naive
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Hurricane is Tornadus-T's best Flying STAB, and with max Special Attack investment and a Life Orb, it hits very hard. The miss chance is unfortunate, but the increased prevalence of rain teams can actually be a boon to Hurricane, which is perfectly accurate in the rain.
* U-Turn is a fantastic pivot move, and lets Tornadus-T gain momentum on common switch-ins like Heatran, Mantine, Zapdos, and more.
* Knock Off is a great utility option for Tornadus-T, as it does good damage to Psychic switch-ins like Latias, while also having tremendous utility of removing items of switch-ins like Heatran and Chansey (which rely on their items for recovery and bulk, respectively).
* If your team has a weakness to Ferrothorn, Mega Metagross, PhysDef Skarmory, Scizor, Excadrill, or Celesteela, Heat Wave is a great choice, OHKOing or 2HKOing all of the aforementioned Pokemon after Stealth Rock.
* Superpower lets Tornadus-T OHKO non-Chople Tyranitar and Offensive Excadrill, as well as doing good damage to Heatran (who otherwise walls Tornadus-T).
* Taunt is a good option to cripple defensive Pokemon like Chansey, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn who can otherwise set up several layers of hazards on Tornadus-T or cripple it with status.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Speed investment with a Speed-boosting nature is chosen so that Tornadus-T can outspeed base 120 Pokemon and below, and at least Speed tie with opposing Tornadus-T. A Naive nature is preferred to take on priority users such as Scizor, Azumarill, and Bisharp better.
* The remaining EVs go into Special Attack to maximize the power of Hurricane and the last coverage move. No Attack investment is needed because U-turn and Knock Off are both mainly used for utility as opposed to damage.
* If Superpower is being used, a spread of 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252+ Spe lets Tornadus-T OHKO Offensive Excadrill.
* Regenerator enables Tornadus-T to outlast its checks by healing a solid chunk of its health every time it uses U-turn or switches out directly.
* A Life Orb is used in order to increase Tornadus-T's damage output and because of its excellent synergy with Regenerator, which negates some the Life Orb damage by recovering 33% of Tornadus-T's health every time it switches out.
Usage Tips
========
* Early on in the battle, U-turn should be used frequently to determine the opponent's answers to Life Orb Tornadus-T, and keep up offensive momentum while wearing down Tornadus-T's checks. Knock Off can also be used so as to cripple Pokemon that rely on their item to check Tornadus-T and its teammates, such as Heatran and Chansey, but be wary of status (Thunder Wave from Chansey) and powerful attacks (Fire Blast and Magma Storm from Heatran), as Life Orb Tornadus-T is comparatively frail.
* Unlike the AV set, Life Orb Tornadus-T has very little defensive utility: it is OHKO'd or 2HKO'd by strong neutral or resisted attacks such as AV Magearna's Flash Cannon, Offensive Heatran's Lava Plume, Scarf Tapu Lele's Moonblast, Banded Tapu Bulu's Wood Hammer, or Life Orb Latios' Draco Meteor. This, in conjunction with Life Orb Recoil and a weakness to Stealth Rock, means that LO Tornadus-T should be brought in with either double switches or a slow pivoting move (Baton Pass, U-Turn, Parting Shot, Volt Switch, etc.).
* If LO Tornadus-T gets weakened and has to rely on Hurricane to KO a foe that can easily KO it back, it's usually better to not take the risk of missing Hurricane and instead U-turn out, allowing Tornadus-T to get a third of its HP back in the process.
Team Options
========
* Tornadus-T appreciates support from checks and counters to common Electric-types such as Rotom-Wash, Xurkitree, and Tapu Koko. Ground-, Dragon-, and Electric-types such as Hippowdon, Kyurem-B, and Magnezone are examples of good teammates in this regard. Dugtrio gets special mention as it forms a dangerous core with a U-Turn Tornadus-T, which often lures in Heatran and fast offensive Electric types such as Tapu Koko. If the switch is predicted, Tornadus-T can U-turn into Dugtrio and trap the opposing Heatran/Electric-type and eliminate with a strong Earthquake.
* In that vein, Tornadus-T enjoys support from Pokemon that can weaken its checks, which includes hazard setters as many checks are worn down by entry hazards (Thundurus, Zapdos, Rotom-W, the Tapus, and Mantine by Stealth Rock, and Hippowdon, the Tapus, and Mega Metagross by Spikes) to the point where they are 2HKO'd by Hurricane or the appropriate coverage move.
* Entry hazard removal from the likes of Latios and Mold Breaker Excadrill is also very helpful due to Tornadus-T's weakness to Stealth Rock. In addition, both Latios and Excadrill are able to check Rotom-Wash and do heavy damage back. As many teams rely on Rotom-Wash as their Tornadus-T answer, after Rotom-Wash is weakened to around 30%, LO Tornadus-T can spam Hurricane freely.
* Sand teams in general appreciate LO Tornadus-T, as it checks common grass types that wall Sand Rush Excadrill such as Tangrowth. On the flip side, LO Tornadus-T appreciates the presence of Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tangrowth and Dragon-types like Latios and Hydreigon on sand teams to switch into and beat Rotom-Wash. S
[SET]
name: Assault Vest Pivot
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: U-Turn
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Heat Wave/Sludge Wave
item: Assault Vest
ability: Regenerator
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP/ 8 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Hurricane is Tornadus-T's best Flying STAB, and even without any investment it hits Flying-weak targets hard. The miss chance is unfortunate, but the increased prevalence of rain teams can actually be a boon to Hurricane, which is perfectly accurate in the rain.
* U-Turn is a fantastic pivot move on a Pokemon with Regenerator and Assault Vest. U-Turn also lets Tornadus-T gain momentum on common switch-ins like Heatran, Mantine, Zapdos, and more.
* Knock Off is a great utility option for Tornadus-T, and while it does negligible damage, the main draw of it is the item removal, which is critical to wearing down Pokemon like Chansey and Heatran.
* The last move depends on what Tornadus-T needs to cover, and account for the fact that due to having no Special Attack investment or boosting item, this set's coverage moves will be far weaker than the Life Orb set's. Heat Wave still 2HKOs Ferrothorn, Scizor, Sand Rush Excadrill, and PhysDef Skarmory, but fails to 2HKO Mega Metagross most of the time. Sludge Wave still 2HKOs Tapu Bulu and Tapu Koko, but needs hazards to 2HKO Offensive Tapu Lele.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Speed investment with a Speed-boosting nature is chosen so that Tornadus-T can outspeed base 120 Pokemon and below, and at least Speed tie with opposing Tornadus-T. A Timid nature is chosen since Assault Vest Tornadus-T does not want to lower its defenses, and does not suffer from a minus Attack nature as U-Turn and Knock Off are solely there for utility as opposed to damage.
* 248 HP EVs maximizes Tornadus-T's physical and special bulk, and in conjunction with Assault Vest, lets Tornadus-T avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Gengar's Sludge Wave, Life Orb Latios's Draco Meteor, Timid Life Orb Tapu Lele's Moonblast, Life Orb Tornadus-T's Hurricane, Offensive Mega Venusaur's Sludge Bomb, Offensive Heatran's Magma Storm, and Mega Alakazam's Psychic.
* This spread also lets Tornadus-T avoid the OHKO the majority (75%+) of the time from Specs Latios' Draco Meteor and Psyshock after Stealth Rock, Timid Zap Plate Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt, Life Orb Protean Greninja's Ice Beam, Modest Specs Tapu Lele's Psychic, Life Orb Kyurem-Black's Ice Beam, and Specs Ash Greninja's Hydro Pump after Stealth Rock.
* Even some strong physical attacks can be lived: Scarf Tapu Lele's Psyshock only has a 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, Mega Metagross's Ice Punch does a max of 90%, Adamant Tapu Bulu's Wood Hammer does a max of 94%, and Jolly Mega Charizard X's Flare Blitz cannot OHKO from full.
* Regenerator lets Tornadus-T consistently take on special attackers over the course of the battle thanks to the passive recovery it provides and makes it very difficult to wear down via chip damage like Stealth Rock. Regenerator also synergizes excellently with Assault Vest, which prevents Tornadus-T from using any utility moves (such as Roost).
* An Assault Vest is critical to this set, as it enables Tornadus-T to take strong special hits from the likes of Latios, Tapu Lele, Mega Alakazam, and Gengar much more easily.
Usage Tips
========
* Tornadus-T should be sent in on special attackers that it checks such as Alakazam, Latios, and Gengar. It should almost exclusively use U-turn and Knock Off in the early and middle parts of the game to wear down the opposing team and gain momentum while scouting the opponent’s movepools and the like. Due to this set's respectable bulk and good speed tier, it can safely pivot into and out of almost any special attacker not carrying super-effective coverage. AV Tornadus-T should only start using Hurricane once its checks have been sufficiently weakened or if not doing so may lead to your team losing a Pokemon.
Team Options
========
* Assault Vest Tornadus-T functions well on balance and bulky offense teams that require a check to special attackers such as Mega Venusaur, Alakazam, and Latios that can also maintain offensive momentum. As a result, it also fits rather well on Hazards-stacking teams because most of its checks are vulnerable to entry hazards (Heatran, Mantine, Zapdos, etc.) and none of the common OU hazard removers (Lati twins, Starmie, Excadrill) appreciate Tornadus-T removing their items with Knock Off and gaining momentum on them with U-turn.
* Despite the Assault Vest and HP investment, this Tornadus-T set still needs an answer to Electric and Ice types. Tornadus-T appreciates support from checks and counters to common Electric-types such as Rotom-Wash, Zapdos, Magnezone, and Tapu Koko. Ground-, Dragon-, and Electric-types such as Hippowdon, Kyurem-B, and Magnezone are examples of good teammates in this regard. Dugtrio gets special mention as it forms a dangerous core with a U-Turn Tornadus-T, which often lures in Heatran and fast offensive Electric types such as Tapu Koko. Another Pokemon that gets special mention is Specially Defensive Excadrill, which resists Rock and is immune to Electric. SpDef Excadrill also can clear hazards for Tornadus-T (although AV Torn isn't as susceptible to being worn down by Stealth Rocks) and can set up Stealth Rock itself.
* Other Volt Switch and U-turn users are helpful to form momentum-generating cores with Tornadus-T; Landorus-T and Rotom-W are examples of ideal partners, as they are also able to check Electric-types and strong physical attackers. PhysDef Tangrowth and Amoonguss also are good partners for this set, as they form a good pivoting Regenerator core that can take on many powerful physical and special attackers while Knocking Off items, putting opposing Pokemon to sleep with Spore, and maintaining relatively high HP through Regenerator.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Focus Blast is an option for Life Orb Tornadus-T, as it 2HKOs Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Rotom-Wash (after Stealth Rock), and OHKOs all non-Chople Tyranitar. However, the shoddy accuracy is a huge detriment, as missing Focus Blast on any of those Pokemon means free hazards for your opponent, or even a dead Tornadus-T.
* Sludge Wave lets Life Orb Tornadus-T catch all of the Tapu line on the switch and either 2HKO or OHKO all of them. This is incredibly useful in the case of Tapu Koko, which otherwise can switch into any of Tornadus-T move's and outspeed and OHKO with Thunderbolt.
* Icy Wind and Hidden Power Ice can both be used to 2HKO Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Icy Wind also helps Tornadus-T beat Pokemon that attempt to check it by outspeeding it, such as Tapu Koko and Phermosa; however, Hidden Power Ice from the Assault Vest set guarantees the 2HKO on Gliscor, which Icy Wind does not. As a result, Hidden Power Ice is best on Life Orb sets that need the extra power on a non-STAB coverage move, while Icy Wind is more suitable for Assault Vest sets that are using it for the utility of the speed drop as opposed to the damage.
* Grass Knot enables Tornadus-T to reliably 2HKO Hippowdon and OHKO Gastrodon without having to worry about Hurricane missing.
* Iron Tail is a decent lure that lets Tornadus-T OHKO Nihilego, which otherwise walls it. It also hits fairies like Tapu Lele and Clefable hard (OHKOing Tapu Lele after Stealth Rock and 2HKOing standard Clefable).
* Choice Specs Tornadus-T is an option for rain teams, as it is able to fire off perfectly accurate STAB Hurricanes that blow through common Rain counters like Amoonguss, Tangrowth, and Mega Venusaur. In addition, Tornadus-T has solid coverage options that can benefit a Rain team. While it doesn't benefit from Swift Swim, Choice Specs Tornadus-T is fast enough outside of Rain to still function as an effective cleaner, making it a good backup sweeper for Rain teams.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: Tapu Koko, Zapdos, Rotom-Wash, and Thundurus are among the best Tornadus-T checks because they resist Hurricane and Tornadus-T's most common coverage moves. They all threaten to OHKO (or 2HKO in the case of Rotom-W) Tornadus-T, and Tapu Koko outspeeds Tornadus-T while Thundurus threatens a Prankster Thunder Wave to cripple Tornadus-T. Finally, Tapu Koko sets up Electric Terrain, which means that even weak Electric attacks like Volt Switch are likely to OHKO Tornadus-T.
**Special Walls**: Specially bulky Pokemon that are not 4 times weak to Tornadus-T's coverage moves such as Magic Guard Clefable, Mantine, Magearna, and Celesteela can counter or check Tornadus-T. The first two Pokemon also have reliable recovery which prevents them from getting worn down by U-turn and enables them to take advantage of Hurricane's poor accuracy. The latter two counter non-Heat Wave Life Orb Tornadus-T, but must be careful of being worn down over a match due to a lack of reliable recovery. If LO Tornadus-T is carrying Taunt, it can often muscle right past most of these special walls, as they are outsped and can do very little back to Tornadus-T if they cannot recover health or status Tornadus-T.
**Rock-types**: Tyranitar is a great answer to Tornadus-T that lack Superpower or Focus Blast, as it can Pursuit-trap Tornadus-T to do huge damage, or just kill Tornadus-T with Stone Edge. Terrakion also beats Tornadus-T that do not have Fighting coverage, while Nihilego resists or is neutral to all common coverage options, while threatening to OHKO back with Power Gem. Minior can boost in front of Tornadus-T lacking Ice-coverage, but must be wary of Knock Off.
**Faster Attackers**: Certain Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T, Garchomp, Tapu Lele, Nihilego, and Magneton can switch into Hurricane or a Fighting-type coverage move and OHKO Tornadus-T back, but they cannot reliably switch into Knock Off because they will then lose their item. Weavile is naturally faster than Tornadus-T and can OHKO it with Icicle Crash, while Mamoswine OHKO's LO Tornadus-T with Ice Shard after Stealth Rock. Greninja is also faster than Tornadus-T, and OHKO LO Tornadus-T with a Protean Ice Beam, or can U-Turn out versus AV sets that are not OHKO'd by Ice Beam. Mega Scizor is slower than Tornadus-T, but offensive variants that have boosted to +2 can OHKO LO Tornadus-T with Bullet Punch after 1 round of Life Orb Recoil.
Last edited:
