Pokémon Thundurus-I

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Is thundurus-I generally considered to outclass -T?

Looking at the bases it seems that -T would be better with the NP set, as it has the same (lack of) bulk and still a pretty trolly speed tier, sitting above all the base 100s, but a much nicer SpA. Or is that extra 10 base speed important to out-speed too many key pokemon? They both get out run by priority anyway. (I'm still pretty new to competitive so admit I might just be being blinded by the higher SpA and missing something here.)

Edit: And Volt absorb can help cancel out SR damage if you predict a switch into Rotom's Volt Turn. (Though Rotom is usually pretty bulky, so I'm not certain you'd WANT to trap him in and take a Hydro Pump/Overheat.)
 
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Is thundurus-I generally considered to outclass -T?

Looking at the bases it seems that -T would be better with the NP set, as it has the same (lack of) bulk and still a pretty trolly speed tier, sitting above all the base 100s, but a much nicer SpA. Or is that extra 10 base speed important to out-speed too many key pokemon? They both get out run by priority anyway. (I'm still pretty new to competitive so admit I might just be being blinded by the higher SpA and missing something here.)
Priority is the key word there. It was Prankster Thunder Wave that earned him a one-way ticket to Ubers last gen (well, he came back to visit OU once and was promptly booted again), on top of Prankster Taunt, blazing speed, and heavy offensive power. As a pure, double dancing sweeper, Thundy-T fits the role better, but Thundy-I has greater versatility and general utility on a team imo. Thundy-I saves lives, when that opposing Dragon Dancing sweeper starts to get out of hand.
 
Priority is the key word there. It was Prankster Thunder Wave that earned him a one-way ticket to Ubers last gen (well, he came back to visit OU once and was promptly booted again), on top of Prankster Taunt, blazing speed, and heavy offensive power. As a pure, double dancing sweeper, Thundy-T fits the role better, but Thundy-I has greater versatility and general utility on a team imo. Thundy-I saves lives, when that opposing Dragon Dancing sweeper starts to get out of hand.
I can understand the benefit of prankster with TWave or Taunt, but there is an NP+3 attacks set in the OP, and to me it seems that that set is outclassed by Therian The only benefit for -I seem to be that it can get off NP before a deoxys-S or Sableye taunt (which seems pretty negligible) and those 10 base speed points. Which goes back to my question of imo (as inexperienced as it is) 20 SpA > 10 Spe. If I'm wrong here, particularly around the tiers they're in, I'm happy to have it pointed out to me.
 
Speed in general is more important.

NP thundy-T loses to garchomp (who also gets a free switch-in if it predicts tbolt), terrakion, keldeo, gengar, and latias to name a few.
 
I can understand the benefit of prankster with TWave or Taunt, but there is an NP+3 attacks set in the OP, and to me it seems that that set is outclassed by Therian The only benefit for -I seem to be that it can get off NP before a deoxys-S or Sableye taunt (which seems pretty negligible) and those 10 base speed points. Which goes back to my question of imo (as inexperienced as it is) 20 SpA > 10 Spe. If I'm wrong here, particularly around the tiers they're in, I'm happy to have it pointed out to me.
Incarnate gets the jump on Specs Latios, Latias, Specs Keldeo, Gengar, Mega Pinsir, Garchomp, and doesn't risk the tie with Landorus-I and Thundy-T without first needing an Agility boost. In that sense I think Incarnate still wins out, because those are all common and heavy hitters that no Thundurus wants to tank. Aside from the damage on Latias, the +20 SpAtk doesn't change the outcome of any of the match ups, but it does mean taking 50-100% more damage for the Therian. But in general, I think any Thundurus set without Thunder Wave is outclassed by a Thundurus-I set with Thunder Wave.
 
Thanks for the replies, that does help clear things up for me. Didn't realise how many important things were 102-110.
 
Oh god, this thing... I shall have nightmares about facing it. Whenever I see it on team preview, I get this feeling of "wow, I'm actually glad to use Absol instead of Lucario".

One other set that hasn't been mentioned, dug up from the old BW days, is a mixed-attacking set with Hammer Arm, which lets you beat not only Tyranitar and Excadrill switch-ins, but Chansey and Blissey, which will be 2HKO'd with Stealth Rock or a bit of prior damage.

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 32 Atk / 224 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Hammer Arm
- Taunt / Thunderwave / Volt Switch / Rain Dance



I see them a lot in the ladder above 1800-ish, and for a good reason. It's not only ridiculously strong as a sweeper in its own right, but priority thunderwave is incredibly useful and horribly annoying for offensive teams.
I've actually been using this set a lot and Hammer Arm is such a nice surprise. People always seem to think Tyranitar can come in safely as he takes boltbeams neutrally and is very bulky on the special side. And then they get smacked with a Hammer Arm and they lose their Ttar.
 
I've actually been using this set a lot and Hammer Arm is such a nice surprise. People always seem to think Tyranitar can come in safely as he takes boltbeams neutrally and is very bulky on the special side. And then they get smacked with a Hammer Arm and they lose their Ttar.
It has Superpower.
 
Here are the builds i am using on mine. I do not have HP ice so that really sucks.

Prankster:

Thundurus @ Life Orb / expert belt
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- taunt
- Volt Switch

and sweeper

Nasty Plot Sweeper:
Thundurus @ Life Orb / expert belt
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- HFocus Blast
- Substitute

The builds seem ok but i feel thundurus may actually perform better as a pivot than as weeper etc. I find i rarely have the opportunity to set up a sub/nasty plot
 
Not a single mention of Knock Off? I use Thundurus-I as a support Pokemon and the surprise Knock Off has crippled to many Pokemon. I use this set:

Thundurus-I @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Naive Nature
252 HP/4 Sp. Def/252 Spe
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch
- Knock Off

Anybody else find this usable?
I think Defiant and U-Turn with Wild Charge would be better, and would be able to probably OHKO any Defogger at +2. I'm going to test this on my Hyper Offensive Team and see if it works because my only switch in for Lati@s at the moment is Tyranitar, lol. The only thing I wish is that there were more of was High-Powered Physical Flying Type moves. See, Thundurus only gets Sky Drop and Fly. He doesn't even get Hurricane/Air Slash or Drill Peck, lol.

Thundurus-I @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
Jolly
Nature
252 Attack/4 Def/252 Speed
- U-Turn
- Wild Charge/Thunder Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower

You could probably Sash this set if you're fearing Draco Meteor on Latios on the switch. But if you do that, give it Thunder Punch instead of Wild Charge.
 
Ok, so I know a ton of people are opting for Defiant Thundurus nowadays, but I fail to like it. I've been using it a lot and I'm very underwhelmed by it, as you now have a weaker Attacker if you don't switch into Defog. Defiant should be left to Bisharp in my opinion. Wild Charge is great, but there lies the problem, you lose a ton of health with Life Orb + Recoil, which Thundurus shouldn't need to, as Thunderbolt is just as powerful. Superpower is great, actually, and I'm currently using a set of Superpower / Thunderbolt / Knock Off / Grass Knot, as this allows you to use the full extent of Thundurus.
Here's a few calcs:
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 294-346 (70 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Tyranitar: 354-421 (103.8 - 123.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 354-421 (87.6 - 104.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 190-224 (47 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
an alternative spread with 72 Attack / 184 SpA / 252 Spe to secure the OHKO on Latios:
72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 265-312 (87.7 - 103.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
184 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 278-330 (66.1 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Blade: 380-447 (145.5 - 171.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 153-182 (58.6 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 307-361 (117.6 - 138.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Defiant + King's Shield)

The only thing I miss is Hidden Power [Ice] for Garchomp and Lando.
 
Wouldn't say he's the best OU tier Pokemon, although he has impressive stats and a variety of moves in his pool he is outclassed by many others..
 

Aragorn the King

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Wouldn't say he's the best OU tier Pokemon, although he has impressive stats and a variety of moves in his pool he is outclassed by many others..
What do you think outclasses him? He's the only offensive pokemon with priority thunder wave, which is very unique.
 
Ok, so I know a ton of people are opting for Defiant Thundurus nowadays, but I fail to like it. I've been using it a lot and I'm very underwhelmed by it, as you now have a weaker Attacker if you don't switch into Defog. Defiant should be left to Bisharp in my opinion. Wild Charge is great, but there lies the problem, you lose a ton of health with Life Orb + Recoil, which Thundurus shouldn't need to, as Thunderbolt is just as powerful. Superpower is great, actually, and I'm currently using a set of Superpower / Thunderbolt / Knock Off / Grass Knot, as this allows you to use the full extent of Thundurus.
Here's a few calcs:
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 294-346 (70 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Tyranitar: 354-421 (103.8 - 123.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 354-421 (87.6 - 104.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 190-224 (47 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
an alternative spread with 72 Attack / 184 SpA / 252 Spe to secure the OHKO on Latios:
72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 265-312 (87.7 - 103.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
184 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 278-330 (66.1 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Blade: 380-447 (145.5 - 171.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 153-182 (58.6 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 72 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 307-361 (117.6 - 138.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Defiant + King's Shield)

The only thing I miss is Hidden Power [Ice] for Garchomp and Lando.
Wild Charge should probably be used with Leftovers, or you can go with Thunder Punch and Life Orb.

72 Attack / 184 SpA / 252 Spe I was thinking about that set for a long time, but forgot to mention it, lol.
That's a great set you pointed out, but I was just stating that you can also go Physical with Thundurus to get the best out of Defiant.

I only chose U-Turn just to get off a little bit of Momentum at +2 and get off a chunk of damage to Latios/Latias when you absorb their Defog.
 
What do you think outclasses him? He's the only offensive pokemon with priority thunder wave, which is very unique.
Thundurus is extremely frail, so with that said, anything faster will practically OHKO it depending what you have on him. I'm not saying he's bad in this case, I'm just saying he's not the best. Thundurus is extremely hard to stop with a few nasty plots and the proper team to support him, other than that, meh.

Let's talk about Thundurus' competition, in this case: Electric types.

Here are some electric types with high stats also:

HP: Lanturn Base HP: 125
Attack: Electivire Base Attack: 123
Defense: Magnezone Base Defense: 115
Special Attack: Magnezone Base Sp. Attack: 130
Special Defense: Raikou Base Sp. Defense: 100
Speed: Electrode Base Speed: 140

Base 111 Spe, and Base 115 Atk is not bad, he is outclassed by a lot of electric type Pokemon, which is why I see a lot more electric types being used on teams than him. I rarely see him used, but that could be just me.

For one:

Electivire: It has average HP and defense. It has a nice 95 stat in speed and special attack. Its special defense is slightly above average, sitting at 85. So why did I pick this Pokémon? With a 123 base stat of attack and you get a beast. It has the highest attack stat of all electric Pokémon and it has a perfect moveset that hit Water, Flying, Grass, Dragon, Fire, Poison, Rock, Steel, Electric, Ice, Dark, Normal, and Ground types for x2 damage. Wait; did I just say Ground, an Electric type’s only weakness? Yes! With the moves: Thunder punch, Ice Punch, Earthquake, and Cross Chop, Electivire covers 13 types! Ground is included in those unlucky 13, meaning Electivire covers his weakness. Why wouldn’t you want to use this Pokémon? There are other sets that take advantage of its quite high 95 special attack, but I went with its 123 attack and the four moves I just told you about. Electivire has an ability called Motor Drive that could prove deadly. Electivire could be a little delicate at times, and not to mention that he can't really OHKO many Pokemon in the OU tier. Yet, this surprising Pokemon has potential in deed.
I could go on, but I'll leave it at this: Thundurus is a decent choice, but he's definitely outclassed.
 
Thundurus is extremely frail, so with that said, anything faster will practically OHKO it depending what you have on him. I'm not saying he's bad in this case, I'm just saying he's not the best. Thundurus is extremely hard to stop with a few nasty plots and the proper team to support him, other than that, meh.

Let's talk about Thundurus' competition, in this case: Electric types.

Here are some electric types with high stats also:

HP: Lanturn Base HP: 125
Attack: Electivire Base Attack: 123
Defense: Magnezone Base Defense: 115
Special Attack: Magnezone Base Sp. Attack: 130
Special Defense: Raikou Base Sp. Defense: 100
Speed: Electrode Base Speed: 140

Base 111 Spe, and Base 115 Atk is not bad, he is outclassed by a lot of electric type Pokemon, which is why I see a lot more electric types being used on teams than him. I rarely see him used, but that could be just me.

For one:



I could go on, but I'll leave it at this: Thundurus is a decent choice, but he's definitely outclassed.
None of those are good points as none compare to Thundurus. None have the same moves as Thundurus such as Knock Off and Thudner Wave. Plus none have Prankster Taunt. Anda ll of those are weak to Ground, but Thundurus is not. Thundurus is not outclassed by any other Electric-type, not even Arceus-Electric outclasses it!
 
None of those are good points as none compare to Thundurus. None have the same moves as Thundurus such as Knock Off and Thudner Wave. Plus none have Prankster Taunt. Anda ll of those are weak to Ground, but Thundurus is not. Thundurus is not outclassed by any other Electric-type, not even Arceus-Electric outclasses it!
We all have our opinions, even though I would take something like Rotom-W over Thundurus anyday.. like I said, he's not the best.

With that said, Thunderwave is a common electric type move.. and ground can be avoided easily by throwing on balloon, or simply having levitate. There's a check and counter to a lot of things friend.
 
We all have our opinions, even though I would take something like Rotom-W over Thundurus anyday.. like I said, he's not the best.

With that said, Thunderwave is a common electric type move.. and ground can be avoided easily by throwing on balloon, or simply having levitate. There's a check and counter to a lot of things friend.
Rotom-W plays a completely different role than Thundurus, and Thundurus has Prankster Thunder Wave making it far superior. Air Balloon is a one time thing and only Rotom makes uses of Levitate, and what does checks and counters have to do with anything?
 
Rotom-W plays a completely different role than Thundurus, and Thundurus has Prankster Thunder Wave making it far superior. Air Balloon is a one time thing and only Rotom makes uses of Levitate, and what does checks and counters have to do with anything?
You new to Pokemon? Checks and counters are practically what the game consists of. It doesn't matter if it's a one time thing, as long as it protects you once enough for you to switch out and go from there. Thundurus isn't going to sweep an entire team alone, he's "good" not unstoppable.. he needs a team to back him up. Other Pokemon know thunder wave and prankster too, Pokemon that are much better than Thundurus. I'm not going to continue, this is pointless. I'll just say that you need to do a little more research rather than defending a mediocre Pokemon like Thundurus. Good day sir.
 
You new to Pokemon? Checks and counters are practically what the game consists of. It doesn't matter if it's a one time thing, as long as it protects you once enough for you to switch out and go from there. Thundurus isn't going to sweep an entire team alone, he's "good" not unstoppable.. he needs a team to back him up. Other Pokemon know thunder wave and prankster too, Pokemon that are much better than Thundurus. I'm not going to continue, this is pointless. I'll just say that you need to do a little more research rather than defending a mediocre Pokemon like Thundurus. Good day sir.
I'm legitimately laughing, I'm not new to Pokemon, I know what checks and counters are, but Levitate in itself isn't a check or a counter. This is pointless because you're completely ignoring the fact that Thundurus is a great Pokemon and that it's not outclassed. I'll just say that you need to play more with and against Thundurus before being so against a phenomenal Pokemon. Good day sir / ma'am.
 
You new to Pokemon? Checks and counters are practically what the game consists of. It doesn't matter if it's a one time thing, as long as it protects you once enough for you to switch out and go from there. Thundurus isn't going to sweep an entire team alone, he's "good" not unstoppable.. he needs a team to back him up. Other Pokemon know thunder wave and prankster too, Pokemon that are much better than Thundurus. I'm not going to continue, this is pointless. I'll just say that you need to do a little more research rather than defending a mediocre Pokemon like Thundurus. Good day sir.
Thundurus is the only pokemon with prankster+twave that is viable in OU. He is the best electric type in the game outside of ubers and used frequently by top players. In fact, it is the most used pokemon in SPL so far. This is probably because of it's offensive presence along with the utility it offers. It is a versatile, powerful and unpredictable pokemon that can ruin any team if given the slightest chance; so why are you calling it mediocre? Are you trolling or are you just ignorant?
 
Thundurus is extremely frail, so with that said, anything faster will practically OHKO it depending what you have on him. I'm not saying he's bad in this case, I'm just saying he's not the best. Thundurus is extremely hard to stop with a few nasty plots and the proper team to support him, other than that, meh.

Let's talk about Thundurus' competition, in this case: Electric types.

Here are some electric types with high stats also:

HP: Lanturn Base HP: 125
Attack: Electivire Base Attack: 123
Defense: Magnezone Base Defense: 115
Special Attack: Magnezone Base Sp. Attack: 130
Special Defense: Raikou Base Sp. Defense: 100
Speed: Electrode Base Speed: 140

Base 111 Spe, and Base 115 Atk is not bad, he is outclassed by a lot of electric type Pokemon, which is why I see a lot more electric types being used on teams than him. I rarely see him used, but that could be just me.

For one:



I could go on, but I'll leave it at this: Thundurus is a decent choice, but he's definitely outclassed.
If you think Electivire outclasses Thundurus, idk what game you're playing.
 
Thundurus is extremely frail, so with that said, anything faster will practically OHKO it depending what you have on him. I'm not saying he's bad in this case, I'm just saying he's not the best. Thundurus is extremely hard to stop with a few nasty plots and the proper team to support him, other than that, meh.

Let's talk about Thundurus' competition, in this case: Electric types.

Here are some electric types with high stats also:

HP: Lanturn Base HP: 125
Attack: Electivire Base Attack: 123
Defense: Magnezone Base Defense: 115
Special Attack: Magnezone Base Sp. Attack: 130
Special Defense: Raikou Base Sp. Defense: 100
Speed: Electrode Base Speed: 140

Base 111 Spe, and Base 115 Atk is not bad, he is outclassed by a lot of electric type Pokemon, which is why I see a lot more electric types being used on teams than him. I rarely see him used, but that could be just me.

For one:



I could go on, but I'll leave it at this: Thundurus is a decent choice, but he's definitely outclassed.
Did you seriously just mention Lanturn, Electrode, and Electivire as Pokemon that outclass Thundurus? I seriously don't even know how to respond to that.

Anyway, I might update the OP with physical or mixed sets eventually, as they were practically unheard of when I made this thread. Physical Thundurus makes a great lure for Pokemon such as Latias and Mega Venusaur while also being good on Deoxys-D hyper offense teams thanks to Defiant.
 
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