Deal with it: Lando's OP
Team at Glance:
Intro:
The goal of the team was to test the sweeping potential of the incredibly powerful special Landorus. Landorus has really proven itself as a Pokemon, its prowess on both the special and physical side make it versatile and deadly. Unfortunately, its typing and stats disallow it from switching in on much of the metagame. This is the primary reason Landorus requires support. The team is based around taking on many of Landorus' counters and checks, while at the same time being able to take what the majority of the metagame has to offer. With the help of its team, Landous usually is able to sweep, or at least kill off most of their team and allow the scarfer to do the rest.
Team In depth:
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rock Polish
The MVP and main sweeper of this team. Special Landorus-I is a monster, sporting very few true counters. Talks of having a suspect test of this guy have been buzzing around, so I decided I would make a team around him, giving him a team that would support him in his sweeping pursuits.
Earth Power, Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice are all givens when using Special Landorus. The last move is generally where the sets differ. I chose Rock Polish. Landorus at +2 Speed allows him to outspeed the entire metagame, which most importantly lessens the amount of checks. Most pokemon that would normally check Landorus by outspeeding it are easily dispatched by one of Landorus' devastating attacks.
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 HP / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
Tyranitar is likely on this team because it is my favorite Pokemon, but I don't think that will fly with the community so I have to make up reasons as to why he should be on my team. Luckily, that won't be to hard.
First, Tyrantar has an uncanny ability to deal with many of the pokemon who really piss the shit out of Landorus-I. With a combination of Pursuit and Crunch, Tyranitar can either take out or heavily weaken the following Landorus counters/ Checks: SpD Jellicent, SpD Celebi, Gengar, Latias, Starmie*, Latios*
*Most sets
Next Tyranitar has Sand Steam, arguably the primary factor contributing to its usage stat. Sandstorm does four very important things. First it works to interrupt other people's weather. Many people on the ladder develop weather reliant teams, and the best way of dealing with their team is eliminating and or fucking with their weather. Two, Sandstorm works to break down Blissey's younger sister, Chansey. Chansey's can still usually take 2 Focus Blasts from the mighty Landorus, but with Sandstorm damage and hazard support, she does not last long. Three, physical Landorus is often times run in sand. It creates a mindgame for my opponent. Often times I will be able to get off an Agility with Landorus as my opponent switches into their Physical wall. Lastly, Sandstorm gives a lot of opportunities for the other members of my team.
As for my moves, I went mixed to take on a variety of pokemon. Crunch and Pursuit to trap my Lando counters. Fire Blasts smacks steels before they set up pesky hazards. Stealth Rocks because they are obligatory.
The Attack ev's are to guarantee OHKO's with Pursuits on Gengar and Chople let's it survive a Focus Blast from Gengar.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 204 HP / 220 SDef / 84 Spd
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Recover
I love Mr.Pringles... erm I mean Jellicent. Jellicent is an excellent wall, it's typing and Water Absorb make it one of the very few counters to Keldeo, who has a tendency to wreck unprepared teams. It can also outlast odd threats like Trick Room Reuniclus. Jellicent's somewhat disappointing stats are definitely overshadowed by it's unique attributes. It's movepool really makes up for its shortcomings as well. Scald hits the usual physical switch ins and if hax is on my side cripples them with burns. Taunt makes a wonderful addition, as it protects Jellicent from status and prevents Reuniclus from setting up. Recover... because that's what walls do.
The main reason I chose Jellicent over Celebi though as my Keldeo counter/Special wall is because of it's ghost typing. Jellicent is a great spin blocker. It can spin block Donphan and Forretress with ease, and has a decent shot when dealing with Starmie.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 224 HP / 32 SDef
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
I needed a compliment to my SpD Jellicent, one with hazards and other general shenanigans. Ferrothorn was the obvious choice, but Ferrothorn doesn't have a goddamn phasing move so I settled with Skarmory. Don't get my wrong, I really like Skarm, but I just want a Ferrothorn with Whirlwind.
Skarmory works really well with hazards. It has rocks, it's own spikes, a spin blocker, Sandstorm, and access to whirlwind. There is a ton of residual damage... like a lot.
Overall, great defensive wall, not Ferrothorn, but until Game Freak deems Ferrothorn ferrous enough to learn roar or gives it the ability to bang something with whirlwind, Skarmory will have to do.
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
Red bull gives you wings. Terrakion has great STABs, solid speed, and good attack. Stone Edge takes out some of the most prominent sweepers in the tier while Close Combat punches some fatal dents into steels. The last two moves are the ones generally up for debate. X-Scissor hits bulky psychic types pretty hard, but generally only finds itself effective against Celebi, who Lando is walled by, so it was an obvious choice. EQ provides EdgeQuake coverage, the smogon analysis says don't use it. I say screw them, EQ is the only super effecitve move against Toxicroak, who can sometimes be a huge pain in the ass if its the Bulk Up set. A word to the wise though, smogon analysis has some merit. EQ is a dangerous move to be locked into, and should be used sparingly. It should be used as a last resort, also Secret Sword is largely useless, so take that smogon analysis.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stun Spore
Amoongus is the glue of my team. It spreads statuses, it takes certain threats that my team cannot handle without it, such as TechniLoom, and double checks pokemon like Keldeo. Spore is used because it's honestly the best move in pokemon, rivaled by Stealth Rocks. If you have Spore, you use it, end of story. With the new Sleep mechanics a sleeping Pokemon is essentially dead weight. Most generally switch out immediately after being put to sleep, leaving the next Pokemon open to a nice Stun Spore, a one-two punch of statuses that works to quickly break down the enemy team. Giga Drain is a nice STAB and gives it another form of recovery and in combination with Regenerator keeps it pretty healthy. Hidden Power Ice hits much of the meta hard, and prevents many metagame threats from taking advantage of Amoongus' rather lackluster offensive capabilities.
Concluding Notes:
The team has been very successful at showing the potential of special Landorus as a sweeper, and it has proven itself against the metagame. The suggestions helped alleviate my worries with Sub+Toxic Tenta, and has made the team overall stronger against the rain prevelant meta. The team still however, fears Sash Zam. With help of the community I think that the team can improve further.
Team at Glance:
Intro:
The goal of the team was to test the sweeping potential of the incredibly powerful special Landorus. Landorus has really proven itself as a Pokemon, its prowess on both the special and physical side make it versatile and deadly. Unfortunately, its typing and stats disallow it from switching in on much of the metagame. This is the primary reason Landorus requires support. The team is based around taking on many of Landorus' counters and checks, while at the same time being able to take what the majority of the metagame has to offer. With the help of its team, Landous usually is able to sweep, or at least kill off most of their team and allow the scarfer to do the rest.
Team In depth:
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rock Polish
The MVP and main sweeper of this team. Special Landorus-I is a monster, sporting very few true counters. Talks of having a suspect test of this guy have been buzzing around, so I decided I would make a team around him, giving him a team that would support him in his sweeping pursuits.
Earth Power, Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice are all givens when using Special Landorus. The last move is generally where the sets differ. I chose Rock Polish. Landorus at +2 Speed allows him to outspeed the entire metagame, which most importantly lessens the amount of checks. Most pokemon that would normally check Landorus by outspeeding it are easily dispatched by one of Landorus' devastating attacks.
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 HP / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
Tyranitar is likely on this team because it is my favorite Pokemon, but I don't think that will fly with the community so I have to make up reasons as to why he should be on my team. Luckily, that won't be to hard.
First, Tyrantar has an uncanny ability to deal with many of the pokemon who really piss the shit out of Landorus-I. With a combination of Pursuit and Crunch, Tyranitar can either take out or heavily weaken the following Landorus counters/ Checks: SpD Jellicent, SpD Celebi, Gengar, Latias, Starmie*, Latios*
*Most sets
Next Tyranitar has Sand Steam, arguably the primary factor contributing to its usage stat. Sandstorm does four very important things. First it works to interrupt other people's weather. Many people on the ladder develop weather reliant teams, and the best way of dealing with their team is eliminating and or fucking with their weather. Two, Sandstorm works to break down Blissey's younger sister, Chansey. Chansey's can still usually take 2 Focus Blasts from the mighty Landorus, but with Sandstorm damage and hazard support, she does not last long. Three, physical Landorus is often times run in sand. It creates a mindgame for my opponent. Often times I will be able to get off an Agility with Landorus as my opponent switches into their Physical wall. Lastly, Sandstorm gives a lot of opportunities for the other members of my team.
As for my moves, I went mixed to take on a variety of pokemon. Crunch and Pursuit to trap my Lando counters. Fire Blasts smacks steels before they set up pesky hazards. Stealth Rocks because they are obligatory.
The Attack ev's are to guarantee OHKO's with Pursuits on Gengar and Chople let's it survive a Focus Blast from Gengar.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 204 HP / 220 SDef / 84 Spd
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Recover
I love Mr.Pringles... erm I mean Jellicent. Jellicent is an excellent wall, it's typing and Water Absorb make it one of the very few counters to Keldeo, who has a tendency to wreck unprepared teams. It can also outlast odd threats like Trick Room Reuniclus. Jellicent's somewhat disappointing stats are definitely overshadowed by it's unique attributes. It's movepool really makes up for its shortcomings as well. Scald hits the usual physical switch ins and if hax is on my side cripples them with burns. Taunt makes a wonderful addition, as it protects Jellicent from status and prevents Reuniclus from setting up. Recover... because that's what walls do.
The main reason I chose Jellicent over Celebi though as my Keldeo counter/Special wall is because of it's ghost typing. Jellicent is a great spin blocker. It can spin block Donphan and Forretress with ease, and has a decent shot when dealing with Starmie.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 224 HP / 32 SDef
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
I needed a compliment to my SpD Jellicent, one with hazards and other general shenanigans. Ferrothorn was the obvious choice, but Ferrothorn doesn't have a goddamn phasing move so I settled with Skarmory. Don't get my wrong, I really like Skarm, but I just want a Ferrothorn with Whirlwind.
Skarmory works really well with hazards. It has rocks, it's own spikes, a spin blocker, Sandstorm, and access to whirlwind. There is a ton of residual damage... like a lot.
Overall, great defensive wall, not Ferrothorn, but until Game Freak deems Ferrothorn ferrous enough to learn roar or gives it the ability to bang something with whirlwind, Skarmory will have to do.
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
Red bull gives you wings. Terrakion has great STABs, solid speed, and good attack. Stone Edge takes out some of the most prominent sweepers in the tier while Close Combat punches some fatal dents into steels. The last two moves are the ones generally up for debate. X-Scissor hits bulky psychic types pretty hard, but generally only finds itself effective against Celebi, who Lando is walled by, so it was an obvious choice. EQ provides EdgeQuake coverage, the smogon analysis says don't use it. I say screw them, EQ is the only super effecitve move against Toxicroak, who can sometimes be a huge pain in the ass if its the Bulk Up set. A word to the wise though, smogon analysis has some merit. EQ is a dangerous move to be locked into, and should be used sparingly. It should be used as a last resort, also Secret Sword is largely useless, so take that smogon analysis.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stun Spore
Amoongus is the glue of my team. It spreads statuses, it takes certain threats that my team cannot handle without it, such as TechniLoom, and double checks pokemon like Keldeo. Spore is used because it's honestly the best move in pokemon, rivaled by Stealth Rocks. If you have Spore, you use it, end of story. With the new Sleep mechanics a sleeping Pokemon is essentially dead weight. Most generally switch out immediately after being put to sleep, leaving the next Pokemon open to a nice Stun Spore, a one-two punch of statuses that works to quickly break down the enemy team. Giga Drain is a nice STAB and gives it another form of recovery and in combination with Regenerator keeps it pretty healthy. Hidden Power Ice hits much of the meta hard, and prevents many metagame threats from taking advantage of Amoongus' rather lackluster offensive capabilities.
Concluding Notes:
The team has been very successful at showing the potential of special Landorus as a sweeper, and it has proven itself against the metagame. The suggestions helped alleviate my worries with Sub+Toxic Tenta, and has made the team overall stronger against the rain prevelant meta. The team still however, fears Sash Zam. With help of the community I think that the team can improve further.
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Rock Polish
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 180 HP / 76 Atk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 204 HP / 220 SDef / 84 Spd
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Recover
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 SDef
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stun Spore
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Rock Polish
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 180 HP / 76 Atk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 204 HP / 220 SDef / 84 Spd
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Recover
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 SDef
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stun Spore
