NU Suspect Coverage: Tauros

Introduction

NeverUsed is probably one of the most favorable tiers for Normal-types, as the relative lack of Steel-types without exploitable weaknesses, such as Registeel in RU, and variety of Scrappy users, such as Kangaskhan and Swellow, mitigate a lot of the type's weaknesses. Tauros is no exception to this, thoroughly enjoying a metagame where it can pound on most targets with a powerful Sheer Force-boosted Rock Climb while being able to get around the likes of Steelix and Ferroseed with Fire Blast (yes, really). However, this isn't to say that Tauros is on the same level as its brethren, as its impressive base 110 Speed makes it one of the fastest unboosted threats available, which combined with its excellent power and variety of other coverage options including Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, and Iron Tail makes it quite difficult for offensive teams to check properly without simply packing a faster attacker. As its popularity increased in recent times, this led to many people demanding a ban, as they felt it was too constraining against offensive teams, which could often be forced to sacrifice a Pokémon as soon as Tauros entered battle against a slower target. The NU Council thus decided it was finally worthy of a suspect test in ORAS NU.

History

Ever since DPP, Tauros has been a powerful presence in NU, starting off with a Choice Band + Intimidate set before gaining access to Sheer Force in BW. While this metagame was less favorable to Tauros due to the greater viability of Eviolite users such as Misdreavus and Tangela (Fire Blast wasn't common, as there were few other targets to hit with it) that could handle it, XY's buff to Knock Off alongside other metagame changes made these hard physical walls less common and gave Tauros more breathing room to break through weakened teams. As ORAS continued, powerful offensive threats that could check it, such as Sawk, Sceptile, and Gurdurr, also left the tier, slowly making conditions more and more favorable for Tauros until it became the sole S-rank in NU for a long time, prompting discussion about whether it warranted a ban.

Sample set

• Tauros @ Life Orb
• Ability: Sheer Force
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
• Naive Nature
• - Rock Climb
• - Earthquake
• - Fire Blast
• - Iron Tail / Zen Headbutt

Rock Climb is Tauros's main STAB move, dealing massive damage to the majority of Pokémon that don't resist Normal. Earthquake hits the tier's various Rock-types such as Rhydon and Regirock as well as avoiding contact with Garbodor, avoiding potential recoil damage from Rocky Helmet and Aftermath. Fire Blast allows Tauros to push past would-be checks such as Steelix and Ferroseed as well as some less common defensive Pokémon such as Tangela and Gourgeist-XL. The last slot is the most customizable depending on Tauros's teammates, as it has a few options left in its arsenal to top off its wallbreaking prowess. Iron Tail was a recently discovered option that, albeit sporting even lower accuracy than Rock Climb, allows Tauros to hit Regirock and Rhydon significantly harder than Earthquake as well as 2HKOing Piloswine and Mega Audino. Alternatively, Zen Headbutt is an effective way of hitting Weezing and Rotom, which would otherwise check Tauros.

Pro-ban arguments

Tauros's unmatched combination of power, fantastic type coverage, and speed were the main factors that led the Council to deem it worthy of a suspect test. Other fast revenge killers like Swellow, Floatzel, and Archeops all have glaring flaws that put them just a step below Tauros. Both of Swellow and Archeops are weak to common forms of priority in Aqua Jet, Ice Shard, and Bullet Punch, while Floatzel needs much more prior damage on foes to secure KOs. While Tauros is hit super effectively by Mach Punch, its high base 95 Defense stat allows it to survive hits like Life Orb Hitmonchan's Mach Punch even with some previous damage. Defensively, Tauros has very few complete counters, with the exceptions being Misdreavus and Carracosta. Another important factor in the pro-ban's favor is that the significant majority of the good Tauros checks either are very susceptible to entry hazards or have little to no forms of recovery, such as Rhydon, Musharna, and Rotom. Furthermore, unlike with other Life Orb users, Tauros's Sheer Force negates the recoil taken from Life Orb, and the slight improvement in longevity gained from this is crucial in the long run.

Anti-ban arguments

Offensively, NU has a fair number of tools to check Tauros, such as Swellow, Floatzel, and Choice Scarf users such as Jynx, Rotom, and Barbaracle. What is important to note about these Pokémon is that they are not solely used to check Tauros, as can also check other fast offensive Pokémon that roam the tier such as Archeops and Pyroar. This is the opposite of the previous suspected test of Sceptile, which made all Choice Scarf users slower than it unviable (there weren't many, but this was still a notable restriction) as well as making Floatzel nearly unusable as a revenge killer. While it is true that Tauros is not hindered by Life Orb recoil, it is a grounded Pokémon and as such susceptible to all forms of entry hazards, which is important in a tier with limited and unreliable hazard control. Another downside of Tauros is that it tends to be a prediction-reliant Pokémon, as missing a move or hitting a target with the wrong coverage move can result in a significant loss of momentum, which is crucial for offensive teams. Lastly, while it is not the strongest of arguments, it is important to note that the move Tauros prefers to be using most of the time has less-than-perfect accuracy, and all of its coverage moves that receive the Sheer Force boost also unfortunately sport less-than-ideal accuracy.

Conclusion

Overall, the general consensus was that while Tauros is certainly one of the most threatening offensive Pokémon in NU, there are enough checks for it on both offensive and defensive teams to ensure that it does not have an unhealthy influence on the tier. Floatzel, Swellow, and common Choice Scarf users such as Jynx, Primeape, and Rotom can all force it out if required, while bulky tanks such as Regirock, Musharna, and Gastrodon can usually tank enough hits from Tauros to cripple it or simply stall it out with their recovery options if they're kept health throughout the match. Meanwhile, Tauros cannot use all of its coverage moves at once, and its set can usually be identified with reasonable accuracy from Team Preview, allowing Pokémon such as Weezing or Mega Audino to check it if it lacks Zen Headbutt or Iron Tail, for instance. In a refreshing turn of events, a suspect test did not result in the ban of a Pokémon, showing that this process can encourage discussion about a potentially unbalanced threat without automatically consigning it to the dustbin. The suspect test putting a spotlight on Tauros allowed players to get creative with niche and creative answers to Tauros such as Bronzor and Frillish, which was another positive outcome of the suspect test.

Sample Team

Here is Blast's most recent RMT, which showcases the offensive core of Jynx and Tauros, with Jynx being able to incapacitate checks to Tauros and break through defensive cores with Nasty Plot allowing Tauros to clean up late-game.