[OVERVIEW]
Groudon is a defining part of Ubers. Sun is instrumental to some of the most consistent offensive team archetypes in the tier by fueling numerous offensive threats like Ho-oh, Arceus-Normal, Blaziken, all of which naturally synergize extremely well with Groudon by overloading similar defensive answers. Sun also effectively decreases the ability of defensive teams to establish control by making it easier to KO defensive staples such as Ferrothorn, Tentacruel and Dialga under it. Groudon in itself functions excellently in a support role or an outright sweeping role for these teams. Previously, Groudon was considered to have an achielles heel in its numerically unimpressive special defense, but this is far from the truth. With special defensive investment, it becomes extremely difficult to OHKO Groudon and therefore preventing it from setting Stealth Rock, spreading paralysis, or both. As a sweeper, Groudon requires more support as it has a damning weakness to Toxic Spikes and furthermore has no great way of pushing past certain defensive counters, like Gliscor.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Dragon Tail / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Drought
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 144 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
By investing EVs heavily in its middling base special defense, Groudon becomes capable of surviving common special attacks from the likes of Kyogre, Palkia, Latios, Latias, Rayquaza and Dialga. Groudon should not aim to switch into special attackers carelessly, as it does have limited survivability in the long term. Once it stares down a special attacker in a one-on-one situation, Groudon will be able to leverage its bulk to choose a move according to situation. Stealth Rock is in an invaluable move for any team, and it will generally be easy to set them up with this set. Earthquake is a reasonbly strong STAB move despite the lack of attack investments and will hit a number of key targets like Tyranitar, Dialga and Tentacruel for big damage. Stone Edge complements Earthquake well, allowing Groudon to not let Ho-oh run amok especially. It is also a useful move in the rare match-up against Xatu, which would otherwise easily prevent Stealth Rock via Magic Bounce. The last move slot is dedicated to a utility option of choice. Dragon Tail is primarily useful for checking Arceus-Normal and hitting Giratina-O with, but prevents almost any boosting sweepers from setting up if the situation calls for it. Thunder Wave provides a speed control option, helping Groudon to slow down many notable threats such as Latios, Latias and Palkia, Rayquaza, Darkrai, Mewtwo, and various Arceus formes. Outside of the listed moves, some alternatives are worth mentioning. Rock Slide may be used as a more accurate alterantive to Rock Slide, which still deals significant damage to Ho-oh. However, Groudon is rather slow and cannot utilize its flinch chance much. Roar may be used as an alterantive phazing move but its usefulness of phazing through substitutes is very limited- it may be used on a set without a rock move for teams deadly afraid of Substitute Ho-oh. A fire move, such a Fire Punch, Overheat, Fire Blast, or Lava Plume may be considered to hit Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Air Balloon Excadrill and even to an extent Gliscor. It should be appreciated that these moves should not replace Stealth Rock and Earthquake, which are obligatory for this set to function.
The EVs maximize Groudon's special defense, allowing it to live even a Latios's Grass Knot, Life Orb Rayquaza's Draco Meteor and scarf Kyogre's Water Spout (in sun). The speed allows Groudon to outrun max speed Tyranitar, a rather common Stealth Rock lead. However, if you do not need to meet this benchmark further investment in special defense is very useful to most notably reduce the risk of Choice Specs Kyogre outright OHKOing Groudon in sun with its Water Spout.
Groudon enables many strong hard hitters and sweepers. It goes without saying Ho-oh is an excellent partner - it is generally strong, has good defensive type synergy, and appreciates sun. Palkia or the one of the Lati twins provides Groudon teams with a Water resist and Kyogre switch in, which is generally very useful. Palkia especially enjoys the paralysis Groudon can inflict on opposing Lati twins. A more uncommon and defensively shaky option to Palkia is Kyurem-W, which is slightly more threatening to oppositing entry hazard users. Arceus-Normal enjoys sun as it reduces some defensive counterplay to it, such as Swift Swim Kabutops and Sand Rush Excadrill. Groudon can also often weaken Giratina-O, which commonly checks Arceus-Normal. Arceus-Ghost is another option, either as a Calm Mind user or a Swords Dance sweeper. It can protect the Stealth Rock Groudon sets up, and becomes another form of Arceus-Normal counterplay, thereby alleviating some risks of Groudon becoming overburdened. Genesect is the best Choice Scarf user in the tier, and may be used with Groudon to provide speed control. Blaziken is an excellent sweeper in sun and also appreciates Groudon's general defensive utility as it in itself has almost none. Espeon is another excellent teammate as it together with Groudon and Ho-oh forms the base of a style colloquially known as "Magic Sun". Its ability to hinder Stealth Rock for opposing teams for a prolonged enough period for hard hitters such as Ho-oh to wreak havoc makes its role integral to the style. Xatu is also an alternative for similar reason. Finally, Kyogre is indeed a viable partner for Groudon in general, the pair shares some interesting defensive type synergy and defensive checks, most notably the Lati twins and Arceus-Grass which Groudon can paralyze for Kyogre's benefit.
The item of choice for this set is generally Leftovers. Groudon is both Stealth Rock resistant and tends to force switches, which provides very useful passive healing. However, other options are possible. Lum Berry may be used to avoid a burn from Kyogre, Tentacrul, Ho-oh and Arceus-formes and to avoid being slept by Darkrai. Rocky Helmet may be used to chip damage most commonly Arceus-Normal and Genesect for what can sometimes be a crucial bit of health. Experiment with the item slot for this set is generally encouraged, as it is not crucial for the set to function.
There are no real downsides to this Groudon set. Very few things can outright exploit its presence and completely hinder it from doing its job. However, this Groudon does not OHKO even some entry hazard users weak to its attacks, such as Dialga, Tyranitar, Ferrothorn and Forretress (unless it opts to run a Fire move in the case of the latter two). This can sometimes be mildly annoying. If one needs these KOs secured for specific team needs, other sets are more suitable.
========
[SET]
name: Stealth Rock Tank
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Fire Punch
move 4: Thunder Wave / Dragon Tail / Fire Punch
item: Ground Gem
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 80 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
This set is a hybrid between more an outright offensive Stealth Rock Groudon set and the specially defensive set. The crux of this comes from the use of the item Ground Gem, which enables it to invest significantly less EVs in attack while still achieving OHKOs on Dialga and Tyranitar. This Groudon can thereby invest just enough HP and Special Defensive to live Draco Meteors from Latios, Life Orb Rayquaza and Life Orb Dialga from full. It is not necessary to invest 64 EVs in attack to OHKO Dialga, so depending on team needs, Groudon can invest further in special defense. The given speed EVs ensure outspeeding of max speed Tyranitar, which it always OHKOs too in contrast to the specially defensive set.
Stealth Rock and Earthquake are staples and need little explanation at this point. Stone Edge is once again a primary choice of coverage, hitting Ho-oh and the lesser used Xatu. Fire Punch is a strong option to achieve OHKOs on further entry hazard users like Ferrothorn. It may be used together with Stone Edge for maximum coverage. Thunder Wave is extremely useful on this set, as it eases prediction, which is even more valuable considering the lack of longevity compared to the specially defensive set. Dragon Tail may still be used, but its phazing properties are less useful as this Groudon is far less passiveagainst set up sweepers due to its much stronger Earthquake.
Many of the recommended teammates are similar to specially defensive set. It should be noted that Ho-oh and Espeon, may in some circumstances appreciate this Groudon's ability to OHKO hazard users more than the overall solidity of the specially defensive set. Cloyster is an alternative means of hazard control to Espeon with this Groudon set, as it very much apprecaites the high pace and OHKO potential against Tyranitar, which would break its Focus Sash with sand otherwise. It is also possible to run this Groudon set on a more general type of offense team. Hard hitters such as Rayquaza, Zekrom, Palkia and the like may appreciate this Groudon's ability to paralyze faster dragons.
An important consideration is that Ground Gem is not expended when used on switch-ins immune to Ground, which are by far the most common switch ins to Groudon. Therefore, making mispredictions, while costly, are not completely disastrous as forcing out a hazard user via the threat of an OHKO may well be worth it for the aggressive styles of teams this Groudon fits on.
This Groudon is hindered somewhat by its lack of longevity, making it slighly harder to win weather wars with against opposing rain teams. It is also very reliant on pure damage output as opposed to the specially defensive set. Therefore, being burned by Scald, Sacred Fire or Will-o-wisp may be detrimental to it.
Team Options
========
[SET]
name: Fast Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Rock Slide
move 4: Fire Punch / Dragon Claw / Dragon Tail
item: Life Orb / Earth Plate
ability: Drought
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
This Stealth Rock Groudon set completely forgoes any bulk in favor of speed. Consequently, Groudon becomes capable of outrunning all rapid spinners and often surprisingly at least speed tying with opposing Pokémon having a base speed of 90, most notably Ho-oh and Dialga, both of which it OHKOs. Another notable advantage is outrunning Excadrill and Kabutops, as its sun removes their speed boosting abilities.
Stealth Rock and Earthquake are again staple moves and should be left untouched. Stone Edge has legitimate competition from Rock Slide on this set. With a Life Orb equipped, Rock Slide will almost OHKO even maximum physically defensive Ho-oh, making its higher accuracy an option to consider. However, with a Life Orb equipped, Stone Edge nevertheless deals great damage, even to Ground immune Pokémon looking for an easy switch in. Fire Punch may be used, OHKOing Ferrothorn and Forretress and dealing huge damage to Skarmory, but also very importantly OHKOing Air Balloon Excadrill and massive damaging Arceus-Grass. Dragon Claw is an alterantive, hitting Giratina-O hard. Dragon Tail can still be used, especially with Earth Plate, to provide general phazing of for example Swords Dance Arceus without recoil damage in the process.
Life Orb amplifies this set's damage output on all coverage moves, but Earth Plate avoids recoil and still OHKOs Dialga with maximum HP investment if an Adamant nature is used.
Spikes users like Deoxys-S, Deoxys-A and Forretress appreciate this Groudon´s ability to directly pressure almost all user of Rapid Spin. Genesect is always useful for the offensively inclined builds this set fits on, in order to build momentum and revenge kill general threats. Its resistance to dragon is useful as Groudon cannot hope to live a Draco Meteor from the likes of Latios, Rayquaza or Dialga with this set. However, Genesect is not very bulky so a more substantial Steel type like specially defensive Heatran may be useful. Another notable Choice Scarf user is Zekrom, which provides more physical presence than Genesect at the cost of worse speed and typing. Darkrai is another good partner as it allows for an offensive counterplay to many support and Calm Mind Arceus formes, especially Arceus-Ghost, which plague this Groudon. Giratina-O and Arceus-Ghost are useful for spinblocking purposes if you go with the spikes route. A bulky Arceus-Ghost checks, albeit shakily, some special attackers like Latios too. Arceus-Normal is an alterantive as per usual for offensive teams. Solid Kyogre checks like Palkia, Latios, Latias and Arceus-Grass are mandatory when using this Groudon.
========
[SET]
name: Sweeper
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Polish
move 3: Dragon Claw / Stone Edge
move 4: Swords Dance / Fire Punch
item: Lum Berry / Ground Gem / Life Orb
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 224 Atk / 136 SpD / 148 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
In contrast to the previous sets, this Groudon plays very differently, completely forgoing its support role to sweep or at least break holes in opposing teams. The listed EV spread allows Groudon to outrun Deoxys-S after a Rock Polish, which also means it outruns all common Choice Scarfers in the metagame, most notably Genesect. However, one can invest up to 176 EVs in speed to outrun even the rare Choice Scarf Terrakion. The investment in special defense allows Groudon to stomach two neutral Judgments from any uninvsted Arceus after Stealth Rock, allowing Groudon to set up both Rock Polish and Swords Dance. The rest of the EVs are plunged into attack to maximize Groudon's damage output. However, there are numerous benchmarks Groudon can aim to achieve.
Earthquake and Rock Polish are staple moves, the former serving as a strong STAB move and the latter to patch up Groudon's middling speed. Dragon Claw provides excellent coverage to damage Giratina-O, Latias, Latios, and Rayquaza greatly, even OHKOing the latter three in some circumstances. Stone Edge is an alternative, mostly for Ho-oh but also for the rarer Lugia. Swords Dance amplifies Groudon's attack, making it excellent at breaking through Arceus-formes, such as Ghost and Fighting which would other otherwise happily cut an attempted sweep short. Fire Punch is another option, especially with Life Orb, as it provides great damage on Skarmory, an otherwise hard counter.
The choice between items is non trivial. Lum Berry allows Groudon to decrease its suspectibility to status, either from moves such as Will-o-wisp from Arceus-Ghost and Giratina, Toxic from Arceus-Fighting or Gliscor, Sacred Fire or Scald from Ho-oh, Tentacruel and Kyogre, or from Toxic Spikes. Ground Gem may be used to punch through a check. With a Ground Gem equipped, Groudon only need needs 44 EVs invested in attack to OHKO both 252 HP Arceus-formes and Ferrothorn, allowing for further investment in other stats. Finally Life Orb provides immediate damage output. One can consider Leftovers to passively heal health and making it easier to set up both Rock Polish and Swords Dance, but the item generally does not solve Groudon's underlying issues with status or power output.
This Groudon is suitable for extremely offensive teams. Fast Stealth Rock or Spikes uses like Deoxys-S or Deoxys-A are useful to get the match started at pace. Arceus-Normal has excellent offensive synergy with Groudon, the pair appreciating a common effort of weakening Giratina-O and Arceus-Ghost. Other sweepers like Cloyster and Blaziken are useful to pile on the physical pressure. Giratina-O or Arceus-Ghsot may be used to spinblock. Darkrai can provide a way to neuter bulky Arceus-formes. Finally, Kyogre checks like Palkia, Latias, or Latios are appreciated.
========
Other Options
A set of Stealth Rock, Earthquake, Fling and Overheat, and item of King's Rock and a maximum speed investment has an interesting niche of being able to flinch slower Focus Sash or Sturdy leads like Tyranitar, Excadrill, Cloyster Forretress and Skarmory and proceed to KO them before they can set hazards. A set with Thunder Wave and Swords Dance can provide paralysis support and breaking power, however it is usually better specialize Groudon for one of these tasks. A Choice Scarf set provides some speed control and surprise, but Groudon is better at doing other things. A Choice Band set has immense power but is in practice extremely prediction reliant and easy to exploit. Physically defensive Groudon is a vestige from a simpler time, and while it can tank some important hits, it is generally not useful on the margin to invest further into its defense stat. Substitute and Swords Dance with Leftovers can possibly set up with ease on Giratina-O, but it is very suspectible to Toxic Spikes and requires a lot of support as it can only carry limited coverage moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
As a general note, status is very hindering to Groudon. A burned Groudon is obviously not very threatening, and a poisoned Groudon cannot hope to sweep teams. However, support Groudon sets may happily trade status for a chance to set up Stealth Rock, which is veyr high value.
In terms of specific Pokémon counter Groudon, Gliscor is the best there is. Gliscor can even prevent Stealth Rock via Taunt. Groudon cannot do anything notable to Gliscor outside hoping for a Lava Plume burn before Toxic Orb has activated. In theory, Swords Dance and Lum Berry may in some situations make it possible to overcome Gliscor for sweeping sets, but it is hard to pull off in practice. Landorous-T and Landorous-I share typing with Gliscor and are decent checks, but the former usually has possibility of preventing further Swords Dances, and the latter has limited bulk.
Arceus-Grass is also an extremely solid counter, only fearing Fire Punch (which it lives) and often OHKOing with Grass Knot. It dislikes paralysis, however. Giratina-O and Skarmory both have massive physical defenses and do well into most Groudon sets. Giratina-O does suffer from lack of recovery in the long term outside of its Rest sets, whereas Skarmory fears Fire moves. Giratina-A lacks a immunity to Ground but has the physical bulk to make of up for it. Lugia is also extremely solid, but a little easier to exploit by Groudon's teammates.
Latias and Latios are common Ground immunities in the metagame, and are often used to pivot and/or damage Groudon greatly. They do hate paralysis and the Dragon Tail or Dragon Claw, however.
Kyogre is practically speaking a great counterplay to Groudon. It can rarely switch in directly, but it will threaten Groudon greatly if rain is up. Opposing Groudon can be used to trade damage and can phaze sweeper sets too in a pinch.
Other support Arceus-formes like Ghost, Fighting, Dark and Water are generally solid into most variants of Groudon, but they hate paralysis and the Lum Berry Swords Dance set can push through these.
Hippowdon is a very niche pick but is immune to Thunder Wave. It is very slow and suspectible to Swords Dance Groudon, however.
Any Groudon set without a Rock move is hard countered by Ho-oh, especially when Stealth Rock is not up.
Finally it is worth mentioning that Kyurem-W is unique in that it can reliably OHKO even a Groudon with maximum special defense investment in sun. Shaymin-S is another offensive threat to Groudon in a similar vein.
[CREDITS]
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Groudon is a defining part of Ubers. Sun is instrumental to some of the most consistent offensive team archetypes in the tier by fueling numerous offensive threats like Ho-oh, Arceus-Normal, Blaziken, all of which naturally synergize extremely well with Groudon by overloading similar defensive answers. Sun also effectively decreases the ability of defensive teams to establish control by making it easier to KO defensive staples such as Ferrothorn, Tentacruel and Dialga under it. Groudon in itself functions excellently in a support role or an outright sweeping role for these teams. Previously, Groudon was considered to have an achielles heel in its numerically unimpressive special defense, but this is far from the truth. With special defensive investment, it becomes extremely difficult to OHKO Groudon and therefore preventing it from setting Stealth Rock, spreading paralysis, or both. As a sweeper, Groudon requires more support as it has a damning weakness to Toxic Spikes and furthermore has no great way of pushing past certain defensive counters, like Gliscor.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Dragon Tail / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Drought
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 144 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
By investing EVs heavily in its middling base special defense, Groudon becomes capable of surviving common special attacks from the likes of Kyogre, Palkia, Latios, Latias, Rayquaza and Dialga. Groudon should not aim to switch into special attackers carelessly, as it does have limited survivability in the long term. Once it stares down a special attacker in a one-on-one situation, Groudon will be able to leverage its bulk to choose a move according to situation. Stealth Rock is in an invaluable move for any team, and it will generally be easy to set them up with this set. Earthquake is a reasonbly strong STAB move despite the lack of attack investments and will hit a number of key targets like Tyranitar, Dialga and Tentacruel for big damage. Stone Edge complements Earthquake well, allowing Groudon to not let Ho-oh run amok especially. It is also a useful move in the rare match-up against Xatu, which would otherwise easily prevent Stealth Rock via Magic Bounce. The last move slot is dedicated to a utility option of choice. Dragon Tail is primarily useful for checking Arceus-Normal and hitting Giratina-O with, but prevents almost any boosting sweepers from setting up if the situation calls for it. Thunder Wave provides a speed control option, helping Groudon to slow down many notable threats such as Latios, Latias and Palkia, Rayquaza, Darkrai, Mewtwo, and various Arceus formes. Outside of the listed moves, some alternatives are worth mentioning. Rock Slide may be used as a more accurate alterantive to Rock Slide, which still deals significant damage to Ho-oh. However, Groudon is rather slow and cannot utilize its flinch chance much. Roar may be used as an alterantive phazing move but its usefulness of phazing through substitutes is very limited- it may be used on a set without a rock move for teams deadly afraid of Substitute Ho-oh. A fire move, such a Fire Punch, Overheat, Fire Blast, or Lava Plume may be considered to hit Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Air Balloon Excadrill and even to an extent Gliscor. It should be appreciated that these moves should not replace Stealth Rock and Earthquake, which are obligatory for this set to function.
The EVs maximize Groudon's special defense, allowing it to live even a Latios's Grass Knot, Life Orb Rayquaza's Draco Meteor and scarf Kyogre's Water Spout (in sun). The speed allows Groudon to outrun max speed Tyranitar, a rather common Stealth Rock lead. However, if you do not need to meet this benchmark further investment in special defense is very useful to most notably reduce the risk of Choice Specs Kyogre outright OHKOing Groudon in sun with its Water Spout.
Groudon enables many strong hard hitters and sweepers. It goes without saying Ho-oh is an excellent partner - it is generally strong, has good defensive type synergy, and appreciates sun. Palkia or the one of the Lati twins provides Groudon teams with a Water resist and Kyogre switch in, which is generally very useful. Palkia especially enjoys the paralysis Groudon can inflict on opposing Lati twins. A more uncommon and defensively shaky option to Palkia is Kyurem-W, which is slightly more threatening to oppositing entry hazard users. Arceus-Normal enjoys sun as it reduces some defensive counterplay to it, such as Swift Swim Kabutops and Sand Rush Excadrill. Groudon can also often weaken Giratina-O, which commonly checks Arceus-Normal. Arceus-Ghost is another option, either as a Calm Mind user or a Swords Dance sweeper. It can protect the Stealth Rock Groudon sets up, and becomes another form of Arceus-Normal counterplay, thereby alleviating some risks of Groudon becoming overburdened. Genesect is the best Choice Scarf user in the tier, and may be used with Groudon to provide speed control. Blaziken is an excellent sweeper in sun and also appreciates Groudon's general defensive utility as it in itself has almost none. Espeon is another excellent teammate as it together with Groudon and Ho-oh forms the base of a style colloquially known as "Magic Sun". Its ability to hinder Stealth Rock for opposing teams for a prolonged enough period for hard hitters such as Ho-oh to wreak havoc makes its role integral to the style. Xatu is also an alternative for similar reason. Finally, Kyogre is indeed a viable partner for Groudon in general, the pair shares some interesting defensive type synergy and defensive checks, most notably the Lati twins and Arceus-Grass which Groudon can paralyze for Kyogre's benefit.
The item of choice for this set is generally Leftovers. Groudon is both Stealth Rock resistant and tends to force switches, which provides very useful passive healing. However, other options are possible. Lum Berry may be used to avoid a burn from Kyogre, Tentacrul, Ho-oh and Arceus-formes and to avoid being slept by Darkrai. Rocky Helmet may be used to chip damage most commonly Arceus-Normal and Genesect for what can sometimes be a crucial bit of health. Experiment with the item slot for this set is generally encouraged, as it is not crucial for the set to function.
There are no real downsides to this Groudon set. Very few things can outright exploit its presence and completely hinder it from doing its job. However, this Groudon does not OHKO even some entry hazard users weak to its attacks, such as Dialga, Tyranitar, Ferrothorn and Forretress (unless it opts to run a Fire move in the case of the latter two). This can sometimes be mildly annoying. If one needs these KOs secured for specific team needs, other sets are more suitable.
========
[SET]
name: Stealth Rock Tank
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Fire Punch
move 4: Thunder Wave / Dragon Tail / Fire Punch
item: Ground Gem
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 80 SpD / 112 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
This set is a hybrid between more an outright offensive Stealth Rock Groudon set and the specially defensive set. The crux of this comes from the use of the item Ground Gem, which enables it to invest significantly less EVs in attack while still achieving OHKOs on Dialga and Tyranitar. This Groudon can thereby invest just enough HP and Special Defensive to live Draco Meteors from Latios, Life Orb Rayquaza and Life Orb Dialga from full. It is not necessary to invest 64 EVs in attack to OHKO Dialga, so depending on team needs, Groudon can invest further in special defense. The given speed EVs ensure outspeeding of max speed Tyranitar, which it always OHKOs too in contrast to the specially defensive set.
Stealth Rock and Earthquake are staples and need little explanation at this point. Stone Edge is once again a primary choice of coverage, hitting Ho-oh and the lesser used Xatu. Fire Punch is a strong option to achieve OHKOs on further entry hazard users like Ferrothorn. It may be used together with Stone Edge for maximum coverage. Thunder Wave is extremely useful on this set, as it eases prediction, which is even more valuable considering the lack of longevity compared to the specially defensive set. Dragon Tail may still be used, but its phazing properties are less useful as this Groudon is far less passiveagainst set up sweepers due to its much stronger Earthquake.
Many of the recommended teammates are similar to specially defensive set. It should be noted that Ho-oh and Espeon, may in some circumstances appreciate this Groudon's ability to OHKO hazard users more than the overall solidity of the specially defensive set. Cloyster is an alternative means of hazard control to Espeon with this Groudon set, as it very much apprecaites the high pace and OHKO potential against Tyranitar, which would break its Focus Sash with sand otherwise. It is also possible to run this Groudon set on a more general type of offense team. Hard hitters such as Rayquaza, Zekrom, Palkia and the like may appreciate this Groudon's ability to paralyze faster dragons.
An important consideration is that Ground Gem is not expended when used on switch-ins immune to Ground, which are by far the most common switch ins to Groudon. Therefore, making mispredictions, while costly, are not completely disastrous as forcing out a hazard user via the threat of an OHKO may well be worth it for the aggressive styles of teams this Groudon fits on.
This Groudon is hindered somewhat by its lack of longevity, making it slighly harder to win weather wars with against opposing rain teams. It is also very reliant on pure damage output as opposed to the specially defensive set. Therefore, being burned by Scald, Sacred Fire or Will-o-wisp may be detrimental to it.
Team Options
========
[SET]
name: Fast Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Rock Slide
move 4: Fire Punch / Dragon Claw / Dragon Tail
item: Life Orb / Earth Plate
ability: Drought
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
This Stealth Rock Groudon set completely forgoes any bulk in favor of speed. Consequently, Groudon becomes capable of outrunning all rapid spinners and often surprisingly at least speed tying with opposing Pokémon having a base speed of 90, most notably Ho-oh and Dialga, both of which it OHKOs. Another notable advantage is outrunning Excadrill and Kabutops, as its sun removes their speed boosting abilities.
Stealth Rock and Earthquake are again staple moves and should be left untouched. Stone Edge has legitimate competition from Rock Slide on this set. With a Life Orb equipped, Rock Slide will almost OHKO even maximum physically defensive Ho-oh, making its higher accuracy an option to consider. However, with a Life Orb equipped, Stone Edge nevertheless deals great damage, even to Ground immune Pokémon looking for an easy switch in. Fire Punch may be used, OHKOing Ferrothorn and Forretress and dealing huge damage to Skarmory, but also very importantly OHKOing Air Balloon Excadrill and massive damaging Arceus-Grass. Dragon Claw is an alterantive, hitting Giratina-O hard. Dragon Tail can still be used, especially with Earth Plate, to provide general phazing of for example Swords Dance Arceus without recoil damage in the process.
Life Orb amplifies this set's damage output on all coverage moves, but Earth Plate avoids recoil and still OHKOs Dialga with maximum HP investment if an Adamant nature is used.
Spikes users like Deoxys-S, Deoxys-A and Forretress appreciate this Groudon´s ability to directly pressure almost all user of Rapid Spin. Genesect is always useful for the offensively inclined builds this set fits on, in order to build momentum and revenge kill general threats. Its resistance to dragon is useful as Groudon cannot hope to live a Draco Meteor from the likes of Latios, Rayquaza or Dialga with this set. However, Genesect is not very bulky so a more substantial Steel type like specially defensive Heatran may be useful. Another notable Choice Scarf user is Zekrom, which provides more physical presence than Genesect at the cost of worse speed and typing. Darkrai is another good partner as it allows for an offensive counterplay to many support and Calm Mind Arceus formes, especially Arceus-Ghost, which plague this Groudon. Giratina-O and Arceus-Ghost are useful for spinblocking purposes if you go with the spikes route. A bulky Arceus-Ghost checks, albeit shakily, some special attackers like Latios too. Arceus-Normal is an alterantive as per usual for offensive teams. Solid Kyogre checks like Palkia, Latios, Latias and Arceus-Grass are mandatory when using this Groudon.
========
[SET]
name: Sweeper
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Polish
move 3: Dragon Claw / Stone Edge
move 4: Swords Dance / Fire Punch
item: Lum Berry / Ground Gem / Life Orb
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 224 Atk / 136 SpD / 148 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
In contrast to the previous sets, this Groudon plays very differently, completely forgoing its support role to sweep or at least break holes in opposing teams. The listed EV spread allows Groudon to outrun Deoxys-S after a Rock Polish, which also means it outruns all common Choice Scarfers in the metagame, most notably Genesect. However, one can invest up to 176 EVs in speed to outrun even the rare Choice Scarf Terrakion. The investment in special defense allows Groudon to stomach two neutral Judgments from any uninvsted Arceus after Stealth Rock, allowing Groudon to set up both Rock Polish and Swords Dance. The rest of the EVs are plunged into attack to maximize Groudon's damage output. However, there are numerous benchmarks Groudon can aim to achieve.
Earthquake and Rock Polish are staple moves, the former serving as a strong STAB move and the latter to patch up Groudon's middling speed. Dragon Claw provides excellent coverage to damage Giratina-O, Latias, Latios, and Rayquaza greatly, even OHKOing the latter three in some circumstances. Stone Edge is an alternative, mostly for Ho-oh but also for the rarer Lugia. Swords Dance amplifies Groudon's attack, making it excellent at breaking through Arceus-formes, such as Ghost and Fighting which would other otherwise happily cut an attempted sweep short. Fire Punch is another option, especially with Life Orb, as it provides great damage on Skarmory, an otherwise hard counter.
The choice between items is non trivial. Lum Berry allows Groudon to decrease its suspectibility to status, either from moves such as Will-o-wisp from Arceus-Ghost and Giratina, Toxic from Arceus-Fighting or Gliscor, Sacred Fire or Scald from Ho-oh, Tentacruel and Kyogre, or from Toxic Spikes. Ground Gem may be used to punch through a check. With a Ground Gem equipped, Groudon only need needs 44 EVs invested in attack to OHKO both 252 HP Arceus-formes and Ferrothorn, allowing for further investment in other stats. Finally Life Orb provides immediate damage output. One can consider Leftovers to passively heal health and making it easier to set up both Rock Polish and Swords Dance, but the item generally does not solve Groudon's underlying issues with status or power output.
This Groudon is suitable for extremely offensive teams. Fast Stealth Rock or Spikes uses like Deoxys-S or Deoxys-A are useful to get the match started at pace. Arceus-Normal has excellent offensive synergy with Groudon, the pair appreciating a common effort of weakening Giratina-O and Arceus-Ghost. Other sweepers like Cloyster and Blaziken are useful to pile on the physical pressure. Giratina-O or Arceus-Ghsot may be used to spinblock. Darkrai can provide a way to neuter bulky Arceus-formes. Finally, Kyogre checks like Palkia, Latias, or Latios are appreciated.
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Other Options
A set of Stealth Rock, Earthquake, Fling and Overheat, and item of King's Rock and a maximum speed investment has an interesting niche of being able to flinch slower Focus Sash or Sturdy leads like Tyranitar, Excadrill, Cloyster Forretress and Skarmory and proceed to KO them before they can set hazards. A set with Thunder Wave and Swords Dance can provide paralysis support and breaking power, however it is usually better specialize Groudon for one of these tasks. A Choice Scarf set provides some speed control and surprise, but Groudon is better at doing other things. A Choice Band set has immense power but is in practice extremely prediction reliant and easy to exploit. Physically defensive Groudon is a vestige from a simpler time, and while it can tank some important hits, it is generally not useful on the margin to invest further into its defense stat. Substitute and Swords Dance with Leftovers can possibly set up with ease on Giratina-O, but it is very suspectible to Toxic Spikes and requires a lot of support as it can only carry limited coverage moves.
Checks and Counters
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As a general note, status is very hindering to Groudon. A burned Groudon is obviously not very threatening, and a poisoned Groudon cannot hope to sweep teams. However, support Groudon sets may happily trade status for a chance to set up Stealth Rock, which is veyr high value.
In terms of specific Pokémon counter Groudon, Gliscor is the best there is. Gliscor can even prevent Stealth Rock via Taunt. Groudon cannot do anything notable to Gliscor outside hoping for a Lava Plume burn before Toxic Orb has activated. In theory, Swords Dance and Lum Berry may in some situations make it possible to overcome Gliscor for sweeping sets, but it is hard to pull off in practice. Landorous-T and Landorous-I share typing with Gliscor and are decent checks, but the former usually has possibility of preventing further Swords Dances, and the latter has limited bulk.
Arceus-Grass is also an extremely solid counter, only fearing Fire Punch (which it lives) and often OHKOing with Grass Knot. It dislikes paralysis, however. Giratina-O and Skarmory both have massive physical defenses and do well into most Groudon sets. Giratina-O does suffer from lack of recovery in the long term outside of its Rest sets, whereas Skarmory fears Fire moves. Giratina-A lacks a immunity to Ground but has the physical bulk to make of up for it. Lugia is also extremely solid, but a little easier to exploit by Groudon's teammates.
Latias and Latios are common Ground immunities in the metagame, and are often used to pivot and/or damage Groudon greatly. They do hate paralysis and the Dragon Tail or Dragon Claw, however.
Kyogre is practically speaking a great counterplay to Groudon. It can rarely switch in directly, but it will threaten Groudon greatly if rain is up. Opposing Groudon can be used to trade damage and can phaze sweeper sets too in a pinch.
Other support Arceus-formes like Ghost, Fighting, Dark and Water are generally solid into most variants of Groudon, but they hate paralysis and the Lum Berry Swords Dance set can push through these.
Hippowdon is a very niche pick but is immune to Thunder Wave. It is very slow and suspectible to Swords Dance Groudon, however.
Any Groudon set without a Rock move is hard countered by Ho-oh, especially when Stealth Rock is not up.
Finally it is worth mentioning that Kyurem-W is unique in that it can reliably OHKO even a Groudon with maximum special defense investment in sun. Shaymin-S is another offensive threat to Groudon in a similar vein.
[CREDITS]
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