Modest voir is nice. Just thought I'd say that Focus Miss could also be used over Taunt if Heatran is particularly problematic for the team. Also with the rise of Shed Shell ferro the threat of leftovers recovery preventing the 2HKO is less than before.
I love the set but just saying Diancie also resists that stab coverage, not just Azu ^^
I never liked focus miss on Voir. Its still a 2HKO on Heatran, and who hits 2 focus misses in a row? Its impossible.
one time i hit 8 in a row :]
This seems like a set that would give players a lot of trouble in certain situations, so I won't knock it. I would like to see some evidence of it being worth sacrificing Ice Punch though, and these calculations don't really show a whole lot.
Lopunny (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 156 Spe / 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Frustration
- High Jump Kick/Drain Punch
- Power-Up Punch
Got a nice little surprisingly effective threat in SubPuP mLopunny. This set changes mLopunny from a full on attacker to a decently hard hitting wall breaker capable of breaking through some of its otherwise hard checks while also dealing very heavy damage to other Pokemon daring to come in. It also has a huge benefit in avoiding any (non prankster) status coming its way, leaving way to begin spamming STAB moves. Clearly STAB hits every Pokemon in the game for at least neutral, and with High BP attacks like these, not many things want to come in and take an attack. With Substitute, it also allows mLopunny to avoid the Protect game, essentially gaining a free turn more times than not, while also alleviating any risk in losing 50% right from the start. Drain Punch at +1 also hurts anything that doesn't resist it while also giving mLopunny any health used in creating a sub. 156 Speed investment allows mLop to outspeed everything up to base 122 speed (Greninja) to include 232 Spe Weavile.
+1 252 Atk Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 186-220 (55.6 - 65.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Lopunny Frustration vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 228-268 (57.8 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Lopunny Frustration vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-T: 199-235 (52 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Lopunny Frustration vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Mega Venusaur: 162-192 (44.5 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Unfortunately, all 4 of those are Pokemon that would flat out wall any Mega Lopunny set regardless. Aside from Ice punch vs. Landorus Therian who still has a chance of living 2 Ice punches. However, if any move were to be substituted, I'd recommend it being PuP because Substitute allows for so much more ways of evading status which is a huge problem for mLopunny.
Did you even read the title? Both of these clearly classify as gimmicks. Shuckle should only be used as a Sticky Webs user and Houndoom is completely unviable in OU, not to mention that the bulky water types that normally wall him hit on the special side rendering that whole gimmick completely useless.
If you're getting most of your wins from ragequits, that's not it being effective. That's you trolling less experienced players. There is a fine line between "breaking away from standard" and "using a bad set". Beating low-ladder players is not proof of the former.
Just because it works against lower ladder players doesn't mean it is effective. The OU ladder is particularly infamous for being saturated with abysmally bad players near the bottom.
OP said:
Or they hit it with a Water attack, or a special attack, or let Rocks break its sash, or any number of possible outcomes. Besides, during team preview I don't think anyone makes plans that specific when Houndoom doesn't see action until later in the game. To make plans that specific for that late into the game is pointless because you're assuming that at least 3-4 turns are going to go perfectly planned, which is idealistic and foolhardy.
Birdspam: 3 mons
I could use this argument for almost every Mon in the game to make it sound viable. For example, Physically defensive Avalugg is an awesome Rapid Spinner and Wall given that the opposing team carries no special attackers. Is it good? No, it's terrible in OU because, realistically, my opponent will likely have a Special attacker or coverage moves that hit on the Special side. The question is never just "Will this work in the right situation?". You also have to ask "Is it reasonable to expect the right situation to appear within a battle?". If the answer to either question is no, you shouldn't use it.
Houndoom becomes more or less useless if it takes any sort of damage, including sandstorm, hazards, poison, getting hit on the switch in, and the like. Supporting a mon is one thing, but when you need to cater that much to it in order for it to not be more or less useless, most people would rather use something else. More significantly, it doesn't even do all that much. You're needing to keep everything clear for one, maybe two kills, if your opponent doesn't see Destiny Bond coming. Were it me dedicating an entire team around one mon, I would expect that mon to perform appropriately. If you're dedicating resources into something and you aren't profiting from it, it's a bad investment.
Nah the shuckle set is gimmicky. I will explain why in the next reply.
Sky high defenses, but nonexistent HP. The set is really easy to get around as it is complete taunt bait, and if you aren't using Shuckle to lay hazards just use Tyranitar or another better Rock-type. It meets the criteria for gimmick that is in the first post.
This dies to the entire special spectrum, and it isn't even a very good set. It is flawed by rocks, conkeldurr, special attackers... just to name a few. Also what is the point of Hasty when Timid has no effect on the power of Counter, and it is not like Houndoom will take physical hits well in the first place? And it isn't even fast enough to pull such a set reliably. If you want to pull off something like this, use Gengar with a set similar to the "icy wind lead" set from 4th gen:
What is the point of CM Keldeo with no special attacks .-.
Isn't this just the standard set but with HP Fire over Focus Blast? afaik MGardevoir rarely ever runs Timid since it needs Modest to 3HKO Chansey
Avalugg terrible in OU? No man, I peaked 1800 with poliwrath and avalugg as rapid spinner in xy OU. There are better rapid spinner but it's not terrible.
Are you talking with me? there is the button replay. I don't tell that avalugg is good, I told it's not terrible and there are better rapid spinner. However this is not the place to speak about Avalugg.
I've added a couple replays.. AKA my last 2 matches. And in those you can already see his usefulness.
You're going to need some way higher tier replays to convince anyone of this thing's usefulness. Just look at the games you provided:
