King of the hill!
[Overview]
<p>After Tornadus-T's ban, Tornadus got the chance to enter the spotlight of OU once again. Flying is a very good offensive type with few Pokemon that resist it in OU, and Tornadus makes excellent use of it with STAB Hurricane, base 125 Special Attack, and base 111 Speed. Most Steel-, Rock-, and Electric-types looking to tank a Hurricane can get promptly smashed by Focus Blast or Superpower, which means that walling Tornadus is not an easy feat. Furthermore, Tornadus has U-turn, a staple on special attacking sets, which lets it build up damage on its few counters and keep momentum. Tornadus can also use a physical set with Acrobatics, adding a bit to its versatility. To top it off, non-Choiced sets can put Prankster to use, which gives Tornadus many utility options, such as priority Tailwind and Rain Dance, letting it act as a crutch for its team or just take advantage of those moves by itself.</p>
<p>Despite the positive qualities of Tornadus, don't be fooled into thinking it is a Pokemon with little flaws. A Stealth Rock weakness and general frailty are Tornadus's biggest problems, and prevent it from coming in as much as it would like, while also necessitating the use of a spinner. Due to its frailty, it can also be easily revenge killed with faster Pokemon or priority. Finally, while Tornadus has only a few counters in OU, some of them are really popular, such as Jirachi and Rotom-W, which means that Tornadus will often fail to break past defensive cores by itself and therefore requires even further support to function.</p>
<p>So, all in all, Tornadus is very good at its job—wallbreaking and cleaning up—but it needs a lot of support to function, making it a high maintenance Pokemon that cannot be slapped on any team.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hurricane
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Air Slash / Heat Wave
item: Choice Specs
ability: Defiant
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set should always be used on rain teams, where Tornadus becomes a fearsome attacker and takes care of several Pokemon that trouble rain teams in general, such as Celebi and Amoonguss. Hurricane has perfect accuracy under rain and decimates everything that doesn't resist it not named Chansey or Blissey. Focus Blast takes care of some Pokemon that don't mind Hurricane, such as Tyranitar, Heatran, and Magnezone, and 2HKOes 252 HP Jirachi after Stealth Rock most of the time. U-turn racks up entry hazard damage on Tornadus's counters and makes trapping Jirachi, Heatran, and Tyranitar with Dugtrio a breeze. Air Slash is used to have a reliable STAB outside of rain, while Heat Wave almost OHKOes Ferrothorn in rain and 2HKOes Jirachi outside of rain.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Defiant is used so that in the case that a stat drop occurs to Tornadus (via Intimidate mainly) it can at least get a powered up U-turn, as Prankster is completely useless on this set. Hidden Power Ground can be used to OHKO offensive Heatran, OHKO 248/252+ Heatran 43.75% of the time after Stealth Rock, and do a minimum of 40% damage to specially defensive Jirachi. Sleep Talk is good if your team has trouble with Breloom and should be used with Prankster, as when Tornadus is asleep it can take advantage of a priority Sleep Talk.</p>
<p>Politoed is a mandatory partner in order for Tornadus to spam Hurricane. Rapid Spin support is also essential, so Starmie and Tentacruel both make good teammates; furthermore, both like to be in rain, where they can beat every spinblocker. Both spinners can also deal with Heatran and Bronzong, Pokemon that check or counter Tornadus; keep in mind that Tentacruel is the best spinner for Tornadus due to its ability to simultaneously be resilient and get past any spinblocker, while Starmie has to choose one of those. Ferrothorn can use specially defensive Jirachi, Chansey, and Blissey as setup bait, handles the Ice, Electric, Water, and Rock attacks aimed at Tornadus, and can lay both Spikes and Stealth Rock, helping Tornadus do its job better. Garchomp deals with any Pokemon that can keep Tornadus in check except for Bronzong, and can lay Stealth Rock as well. Dugtrio is an excellent partner for Tornadus, as it traps and KOes most Pokemon that give Tornadus trouble, namely Tyranitar, Jirachi, Heatran, Chansey, and Blissey, and can easily come into these Pokemon via Tornadus's U-turn. Because Tornadus fears pretty much every Pokemon faster than it, a fast revenge killer pairs well with Tornadus. Choice Scarf Keldeo is the best revenge killer for rain teams and can clean up easily after Tornadus has softened the opposition.</p>
[SET]
name: Prankster
move 1: Hurricane
move 2: Focus Blast / Superpower
move 3: U-turn / Taunt
move 4: Tailwind / Rain Dance / Substitute
item: Sharp Beak / Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Prankster
nature: Timid / Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While this set still relies on Hurricane's excellent power and neutral coverage to do damage, the item options allow Tornadus to change moves, unlike the first set, and thus better take advantage of Prankster and the interesting uses it has. As usual, the first few turns that Tornadus gets in should be used to spam Hurricane, which still hits very hard even without the Choice Specs boost, unless there are Pokemon that can take multiple Hurricanes. Focus Blast nails many of the Pokemon that resist Hurricane, such as Tyranitar, Heatran, and Magnezone, and provides excellent neutral coverage. On the other hand, Superpower gives the same coverage as Focus Blast, but with Life Orb has the benefit of 2HKOing Blissey, 2HKOing Chansey after Stealth Rock 38.67% of the time, and cleanly OHKOing 252 HP Tyranitar, as well as having perfect accuracy. Keep in mind that Superpower should only be used with Life Orb, as otherwise it is too weak to do anything that Focus Blast can't already. U-turn racks up damage on Tornadus's checks and counters, especially with the help of entry hazards, and is the best move to use when hard counters to Tornadus are on the opposing team, such as Jirachi, Rotom-W, or Bronzong. Taunt can be used over U-turn and is useful for shutting down the recovery of walls, enabling Tornadus to weaken or beat some of its best checks, namely specially defensive Skarmory and Chansey. Taunt is also useful for preventing setup from Pokemon such as Bronzong, Substitute + Calm Mind Jirachi, and Agility Thundurus-T, which could otherwise turn Tornadus into a liability.</p>
<p>For the last slot there are three choices. Tailwind is the best option overall, as it gives to the whole team a +2 Speed boost for three turns and has priority thanks to Prankster, meaning that no matter how fast a Pokemon gets, Tornadus can sacrifice itself in order to set up a Tailwind and allow its teammates to revenge kill the dangerous sweeper. Tailwind can even let Tornadus and its teammates get a last-minute sweep against normally faster Pokemon, and turns hard hitting Pokemon such as Choice Band Kyurem-B and Choice Specs Keldeo into absolute beasts for two turns. Rain Dance allows Tornadus to better combat sand and sun teams and alleviates the constant pressure on Politoed to keep rain up; Rain Dance can also act as a last resort option against Chlorophyll and Sand Rush sweepers in their preferred weather, allowing the rest of Tornadus's team to deal with them. Finally, Substitute protects Tornadus from status, priority, and revenge killers and can scout for Choice-locked attacks, even those with priority (Choice Band Scizor). Substitute should always be used with Leftovers, as otherwise Tornadus dies too fast.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Each item pairs well with certain moves. Sharp Beak is best used with Focus Blast and Superpower should always be used with Life Orb, as the Life Orb boost does not allow Focus Blast to OHKO or 2HKO anything that it couldn't before, making the recoil unneeded, while Superpower is too weak without Life Orb to do any real damage. As with Leftovers, it should only be used when running Substitute, for reasons already explained. As for natures, Timid is the best option unless running Superpower, where Naive becomes the most beneficial.</p>
<p>Politoed is once again a partner that Tornadus can't live without. The same goes for Rapid Spin support, so Tentacruel and Starmie are the best friends of Tornadus. Starmie fits better on offensive teams which appreciate the power that Starmie brings to the table while Tentacruel is best used in balanced and defensive teams due to its great longevity. Entry hazard support is also a good idea to allow Tornadus to wear down its counters faster with U-turn and also allow it to get a bunch of OHKOs and 2HKOs. Ferrothorn, Celebi, and Garchomp can set up Stealth Rock (and Spikes in Ferrothorn's case) and switch into many of the Pokemon that scare Tornadus out, such as Keldeo, Thundurus-T, Jolteon, Jirachi, and Rotom-W. Toxic Spikes greatly aid sets with Substitute to get past Chansey and Blissey, and can be provided by Tentacruel. Dugtrio can trap and eliminate Tyranitar, Jirachi, and Heatran, and can come in safely via Tornadus's U-turn, while also helping in weather wars, making for a great partner. Lastly, a hard hitting partner to take advantage of Tailwind is a good idea. Choice Specs Keldeo and Choice Band Garchomp both have good defensive synergy with Tornadus and are very difficult to wall.</p>
[SET]
name: Acrobatics
move 1: Acrobatics
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Bulk Up / Taunt
move 4: Tailwind / Bulk Up
item: Flying Gem
ability: Prankster
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tornadus has a good base 115 Attack and a strong physical STAB in Acrobatics, which allow it to be used outside of rain with a physical set. Flying Gem-boosted Acroabatics is almost as powerful as Terrakion's Life Orb Close Combat, OHKOing many offensive Pokemon with ease. Furthermore, Acrobatics transforms Tornadus into a very good Chansey and Blissey lure, as the first is 2HKOed by a combination of Flying Gem Acrobatics and Superpower after Stealth Rock while the latter is easily 2HKOed by any attacking move of Tornadus. Superpower provides good neutral coverage with Acrobatics and lets Tornadus OHKO any Tyranitar, 2HKO 248/0 Heatran after Stealth Rock, and deal with Chansey and Blissey by the ways already mentioned. Bulk Up makes Tornadus harder to revenge kill with priority and physical Choice Scarf users and makes Tornadus harder to wall, giving it some much-needed utility against balanced and stall teams. On the other hand, Taunt provides a way to prevent setup of any kind and stops Baton Pass chains cold, negating any Speed boosts thanks to Prankster, while also allowing Tornadus to weaken or get past certain Pokemon that rely on recovery to deal with it, such as Hippowdon and Skarmory. In the last slot, Tailwind is an excellent option that benefits from Prankster and makes Tornadus a useful crutch for its team under dangerous situations, allowing your team to deal with any speedy sweeper that can get past your team's defense; it can also allow Tornadus to do some late-game cleaning against very weakened offensive teams. Bulk Up is mentioned after Tailwind because it is a viable option if Tornadus has opted for Taunt in the third slot. Taunt + Bulk Up turns Tornadus into a potent stallbreaker that can get past defensive Pokemon such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Hippowdon much more reliably than with Taunt alone.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Heat Wave is an excellent choice in the third or fourth slot to lure and beat many Steel-types that feel confident switching in after Acrobatics has been revealed. Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress are all 2HKOed after Stealth Rock by any combination of Tornadus's moves that involves Heat Wave, while even 252 HP Jirachi can be 2HKOed by Heat Wave with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes. U-turn can be used in the last two slots for better switch initiative and is useful on teams that use a lot of entry hazards to rack up damage on Tornadus's counters. Substitute offers status protection, shields Tornadus from priority and revenge killers, and allows Tornadus to scout Choice-locked moves and stall for Life Orb damage; be careful, as Substitute and Stealth Rock damage can add up very fast, and avoid using this move when Tornadus's counters are still alive. Brick Break should only be used on sets that use Bulk Up, as it still gives Tornadus much-needed Fighting coverage but doesn't put to waste Bulk Up's hard-earned boosts. However, Brick Break's power is quite low and fails to do any significant damage even to Pokemon weak to it without a boost, so only use it if you plan on using Tornadus as a boosting sweeper.</p>
<p>The best teammates for this set are hard hitters that can take advantage of Tailwind and outspeed everything up to Timid Venusaur under sun, as well as Pokemon that benefit from the weakening or elimination of Pokemon that Tornadus lures. Choice Band Garchomp, Choice Band Terrakion, Life Orb Keldeo, and Life Orb Starmie are all powerful Pokemon that enjoy not having to worry about Blissey, Chansey, Hippowdon, and Skarmory, and can put the two turns that Tailwind lasts to great use. Teammates to weaken Steel-types that resist Acrobatics, mainly Jirachi, Skarmory, and Bronzong, are very helpful. Magnezone can trap and KO all of them, Fire Blast Garchomp can lure and weaken them, and Swords Dance Haxorus can just muscle past them. Finally, Rapid Spin support is nice to have but not mandatory, as Tornadus is not meant to come in multiple times or take many hits anyway. Starmie is the best option for offensive teams.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>With a Choice Scarf equipped, Tornadus outspeeds every single unboosted threat in OU, as well as all common Choice Scarf users. However, unlike most other Choice Scarf users, Tornadus has a nasty Stealth Rock weakness, lacks power, and has trouble switching into anything even remotely offensive because of its frailty. A pure support set with Rain Dance and Damp Rock can be used on dedicated Rain Dance teams to allow Swift Swim Pokemon to wreck havoc. Torment can be used on any non-Choiced set to mess with Choice item users, as after they land a hit or KO something Tornadus can force them to use Struggle with priority Torment. When running this move it is advised to use Protect or Substitute alongside it to better deal with Choice item users. Hidden Power Ice is an option to hit Zapdos, Thundurus-T, and Dragonite harder than any other move, while Grass Knot deals with Hippowdon without the need to gamble on Hurricane's 70% accuracy in sand and hits Gastrodon harder than anything else.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Most bulky Steel-types that resist Hurricane and are neutral to Fighting are good counters. Jirachi, Metagross, and Bronzong are all such Pokemon, with Jirachi being the best due to its reliable recovery. Specially defensive variants of Rotom-W and Zapdos are good short-term counters but may fail to wall Tornadus multiple times, the first due to lack of reliable recovery, and the latter because of its weakness to Stealth Rock and Tornadus's access to U-turn. Chansey and Blissey wall the Choice Specs set, but they both detest Superpower from the second set, which 2HKOes the former with Life Orb and the latter without it, and they outright lose to the third set. Specially defensive Heatran and any Tyranitar are good checks to the Choice Specs set, as they can easily tank multiple Hurricanes but must be careful to not get hit by Focus Blast, which 2HKOes the former and OHKOes the latter; Tyranitar has the added benefit of trapping Tornadus with Pursuit. Jolteon and Choice Scarf Thundurus-T can take a hit from Tornadus, outspeed, and OHKO it, so they can be used as one-time checks. Any faster Pokemon and priority users can usually OHKO Tornadus after Stealth Rock, except for weak Pokemon such as defensive Starmie and Stone Edge-less Dugtrio. Finally, taking away rain makes Tornadus much more manageable, as Hurricane's accuracy drops to 50% or 70% depeding on the weather, making it a very risky move to use.</p>
