[OVERVIEW]
Gliscor is one of the best and most common Pokemon to find in the tier due to its bulk, typing and utility allowing it to have key immunities and resistances to Spikes, Electric-type moves, Fighting-types moves and status thanks to Poison Heal. Sand teams will usually need a bulky backbone to their frailer offensive weapons, and Gliscor is able to meet the needs of those sorts of teams. Utility Stealth Rock sets are able to reliably keep hazards up against users of Rapid Spin while being an excellent pivot or generally annoying with Knock Off and U-turn while consistently finding a way onto the field by entering against Tyranitar, defensive Heatran and Jirachi. Swords Dance makes Gliscor an incredibly bulky wallbreaker which can break down opposing defensive cores while still remaining an important defensive piece of a team. However, Gliscor’s general passivity, especially without U-turn means that strong or bulky wallbreakers like Garchomp, Dragonite, Reuniclus and Cloyster will find free entry to pressure Gliscor and its team. Its attacks also bounce off of anything with decent bulk. Being bait for Taunt from Jellicent and Custap Skarmory also isn’t good. Both of Gliscor’s sets share similar checks, so counterplay is pretty straight up against it. Landorus-T also is direct competition as it shares the same typing as Gliscor, while having a better Speed tier thanks to different EV spreads in tandem with the ability to directly fight Skarmory thanks to a sky high Attack stat, Swords Dance and a Fighting Gem-boosted Superpower.
[SET]
name: Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Protect
move 4: Knock Off / U-turn
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Impish
evs: 244 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Gliscor makes for an exceptional user of Stealth Rock as it's able to repeatedly set up the move over the course of a game thanks to its bulk and favorable matchup against two of the three common spinners in the metagame, Tentacruel and Excadrill. It also does well against opposing Stealth Rock users like Ferrothorn and Jirachi since everything aforementioned is pressured by its powerful STAB. Protect allows Gliscor to scout for which moves choice users will lock themselves into, but more importantly, it freely lets Gliscor heal an eighth of its health via Poison Heal. It also allows Gliscor to check for more uncommon moves such as Ice Beam from a Tyranitar with Choice Scarf, or Hidden Power Ice from Alakazam or Reuniclus. If the Toxic Orb hasn't been activated yet, Protect also allows it to trigger safely at the end of the turn.
The fourth moveslot is a bit more open to change. Knock Off, is useful in a longer game, where the chip from Stealth Rock adds up. Its ability to remove the items of its opponents is felt the most when those reliant on Leftovers for recovery, like Landorus-T or Ferrothorn are now unable to check Gliscor or a teammate of its, like Latios, when hazards are on the field. U-turn is a viable alternative, as pivoting out is very important in a fast paced metagame. Chipping Latios, Reuniclus and Alakazam is very important, and being able to follow it up with Pursuit from its common teammate Tyranitar is another major boon, especially since Alakazam's Focus Sash will be useless if it's hit by U-turn. It also takes advantage of switches, allowing Gliscor to send in something that can sit on or threaten out whatever switches in.
Set Details
========
This set offers security against physical attackers like Excadrill, Scizor and Garchomp. Most notably, it is not 2HKO'd by Adamant Sand Force Excadrill's Iron Head after Stealth Rock and is overwhelmingly likely to not be knocked out by two Outrages from Garchomp.
A specially defensive set using the same moves with a spread of 244 HP / 72 Def / 192 SpD with a Careful nature offers better security against some special attackers in the tier. With the Careful set, Gliscor will always survive Alakazam's Hidden Power Ice and Choice Specs Latios's Surf from full health. U-turn is best used on this, as pivoting out into a user of Pursuit after taking a hit is much more preferred than removing an item, especially since Alakazam’s Focus Sash will be broken if it’s hit.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock Gliscor is best used on sand balance teams where chip damage is most important for its offensive teammates to wallbreak and/or clean up in games. As such, sand and Spikes are necessary partners defensively for Gliscor. In the case of Spikes, either Ferrothorn or Skarmory serve as excellent users of the move. Ferrothorn freely comes in on many common Pokemon found on rain teams, like Politoed, Tentacruel and Latios while also carrying Knock Off to play the long game with Gliscor. Skarmory is able to come in freely against Alakazam and Latios and offers more security against physical wallbreakers like Garchomp and Dragonite thanks to its great defensive typing, Whirlwind and instant reliable recovery with Roost. Skarmory can also add potential chip damage for physical attackers by using the Rocky Helmet.
Jellicent serves as an excellent partner for Gliscor when used with Skarmory since it can block Rapid Spin and spread burns and chip damage with Will-o-Wisp and Night Shade. An outright immunity to Water-type moves is the biggest boon, as this makes it a perfect switch in to users of Scald and offensive Water-types like Keldeo and Gyarados. It also annoying opposing utility pieces thanks to Taunt is incredibly helpful for the team as a whole.
Tyranitar is preferred as a sand setter since it serves as another switch-in to Alakazam and Latios and is better pivoted in than Hippowdon. It’s a more active support Pokemon than Gliscor thanks to its mammoth Attack stat and arguably better support movepool which includes Fire Blast to force damage on Skarmory and Ferrothorn and Thunder Wave to cripple anything fast that tries to come in. Pursuit is the most important of its utility movepool since Tyranitar can easily dispose of Latios and Alakazam thanks to the move.
[SET]
name: Bulky Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Protect
move 4: Ice Fang / Facade
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Careful
evs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance allows Gliscor to become an incredibly bulky wallbreaker for teams that need one. Protect, like mentioned before lets Gliscor freely heal itself, set up the Toxic Orb or scout for moves. Earthquake is Gliscor’s main STAB move which becomes incredibly powerful when repeatedly boosted. Ice Fang lets Gliscor hit Earthquake immunities, primarily Flying-types very hard, while Facade is an incredibly powerful move when boosted by status and Swords Dance.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Defense investment allows it to come in on weak or resisted special attacks, like Tyranitar’s Fire Blast, or the many Focus Blasts in the tier. As this set intends to remain on the battlefield for a longer time, heavier defensive investment compared to the Stealth Rock set is needed to survive more attacks. Poison Heal recovery is optimized fully, as Gliscor’s HP stat is divisible by eight.
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A much more offensive Swords Dance set with Hyper Cutter, Flying Gem, Acrobatics and max Attack and Speed, better known as the AcroBat may seem like a good idea, however Landorus-T’s much higher Attack stat makes up for the Speed loss. Gliscor’s defensive utility is also too important to give up for this role. Giving a threatening teammate, like Latios or Scizor an Attack or Speed boost via Baton Pass might seem like a strategy, but like the AcroBat, the loss of utility is not worth it. Plus, due to BW OU’s Baton Pass clause, using your only Baton Pass slot on Gliscor when a teammate like Celebi may need it isn’t too good. Substitute + Protect sets, often paired with Toxic have heavily fallen out of favor due to the metagame shifting to Magic Guard offense with Alakazam, Reuniclus and Latios, the former two nullifying Toxic and the latter nullifying Earthquake. Rock-type moves to hit Thundurus-T and Volcarona may seem viable at first, since it can pair with Earthquake to create the EdgeQuake combination, resisted only by Breloom and some lower tier Pokemon. However, it doesn’t exactly do anything outside of hit Flying-types and Volcarona, and the most common Flying-types (Gliscor, Landorus-T and Skarmory) are neutral to Rock. The former two are chunked by Ice Fang.
Lowering Gliscor's Speed stat is viable on the Stealth Rock set for a slower U-turn, however it is very risky, as some Pokemon, like Rotom-W and Sassy Jirachi can now outspeed and heavily dent Gliscor before it can attack. Roost is another option, as Black and White 2 has made Roost and Poison Heal compatible on Gliscor, meaning that you can recover about 62% of your health in one turn. However, Protect has much more utility outside of healing. It scouts for moves while healing Gliscor up but at a much slower rate.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Skarmory**: Skarmory counters Gliscor. All of its moves bounce off of it, and it can punish Gliscor for staying in by laying down Spikes and/or crippling it with Taunt.
**Mamoswine**: Mamoswine also counters Gliscor, but unlike Skarmory, it outright threatens it out with its quad-effective STAB Icicle Crash.
**Landorus-T**: Landorus-T can find entry on Gliscor and proceed to 2HKO it with Hidden Power Ice. However, Ice Fang or a boosted Facade can chunk Landorus-T.
**Ice-type Moves**: Hidden Power Ice and Ice Beam will heavily chunk Gliscor to the point where it may not be able to switch in anymore. Lure sets, such as on Hidden Power Ice Volcarona or Ice Beam Tyranitar, can remove Gliscor's utility for the rest of a match.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Gliscor will not be able to handle Water-types over the course of a game. While it can duel with bulky Scald users to some extent, like Politoed and Tentacruel, offensive waters can simply KO it with their STAB right out of the gate, such as Keldeo with Surf and Gyarados with Waterfall.
**Dragon-type Pokemon**: Most Dragon-type Pokemon can shrug off Earthquake and/or Ice Fang and set up Swords Dance or Dragon Dance. A boosted Dragon-type STAB move will likely OHKO Gliscor.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Sagdiyev, 548404]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
Gliscor is one of the best and most common Pokemon to find in the tier due to its bulk, typing and utility allowing it to have key immunities and resistances to Spikes, Electric-type moves, Fighting-types moves and status thanks to Poison Heal. Sand teams will usually need a bulky backbone to their frailer offensive weapons, and Gliscor is able to meet the needs of those sorts of teams. Utility Stealth Rock sets are able to reliably keep hazards up against users of Rapid Spin while being an excellent pivot or generally annoying with Knock Off and U-turn while consistently finding a way onto the field by entering against Tyranitar, defensive Heatran and Jirachi. Swords Dance makes Gliscor an incredibly bulky wallbreaker which can break down opposing defensive cores while still remaining an important defensive piece of a team. However, Gliscor’s general passivity, especially without U-turn means that strong or bulky wallbreakers like Garchomp, Dragonite, Reuniclus and Cloyster will find free entry to pressure Gliscor and its team. Its attacks also bounce off of anything with decent bulk. Being bait for Taunt from Jellicent and Custap Skarmory also isn’t good. Both of Gliscor’s sets share similar checks, so counterplay is pretty straight up against it. Landorus-T also is direct competition as it shares the same typing as Gliscor, while having a better Speed tier thanks to different EV spreads in tandem with the ability to directly fight Skarmory thanks to a sky high Attack stat, Swords Dance and a Fighting Gem-boosted Superpower.
[SET]
name: Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Protect
move 4: Knock Off / U-turn
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Impish
evs: 244 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Gliscor makes for an exceptional user of Stealth Rock as it's able to repeatedly set up the move over the course of a game thanks to its bulk and favorable matchup against two of the three common spinners in the metagame, Tentacruel and Excadrill. It also does well against opposing Stealth Rock users like Ferrothorn and Jirachi since everything aforementioned is pressured by its powerful STAB. Protect allows Gliscor to scout for which moves choice users will lock themselves into, but more importantly, it freely lets Gliscor heal an eighth of its health via Poison Heal. It also allows Gliscor to check for more uncommon moves such as Ice Beam from a Tyranitar with Choice Scarf, or Hidden Power Ice from Alakazam or Reuniclus. If the Toxic Orb hasn't been activated yet, Protect also allows it to trigger safely at the end of the turn.
The fourth moveslot is a bit more open to change. Knock Off, is useful in a longer game, where the chip from Stealth Rock adds up. Its ability to remove the items of its opponents is felt the most when those reliant on Leftovers for recovery, like Landorus-T or Ferrothorn are now unable to check Gliscor or a teammate of its, like Latios, when hazards are on the field. U-turn is a viable alternative, as pivoting out is very important in a fast paced metagame. Chipping Latios, Reuniclus and Alakazam is very important, and being able to follow it up with Pursuit from its common teammate Tyranitar is another major boon, especially since Alakazam's Focus Sash will be useless if it's hit by U-turn. It also takes advantage of switches, allowing Gliscor to send in something that can sit on or threaten out whatever switches in.
Set Details
========
This set offers security against physical attackers like Excadrill, Scizor and Garchomp. Most notably, it is not 2HKO'd by Adamant Sand Force Excadrill's Iron Head after Stealth Rock and is overwhelmingly likely to not be knocked out by two Outrages from Garchomp.
A specially defensive set using the same moves with a spread of 244 HP / 72 Def / 192 SpD with a Careful nature offers better security against some special attackers in the tier. With the Careful set, Gliscor will always survive Alakazam's Hidden Power Ice and Choice Specs Latios's Surf from full health. U-turn is best used on this, as pivoting out into a user of Pursuit after taking a hit is much more preferred than removing an item, especially since Alakazam’s Focus Sash will be broken if it’s hit.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock Gliscor is best used on sand balance teams where chip damage is most important for its offensive teammates to wallbreak and/or clean up in games. As such, sand and Spikes are necessary partners defensively for Gliscor. In the case of Spikes, either Ferrothorn or Skarmory serve as excellent users of the move. Ferrothorn freely comes in on many common Pokemon found on rain teams, like Politoed, Tentacruel and Latios while also carrying Knock Off to play the long game with Gliscor. Skarmory is able to come in freely against Alakazam and Latios and offers more security against physical wallbreakers like Garchomp and Dragonite thanks to its great defensive typing, Whirlwind and instant reliable recovery with Roost. Skarmory can also add potential chip damage for physical attackers by using the Rocky Helmet.
Jellicent serves as an excellent partner for Gliscor when used with Skarmory since it can block Rapid Spin and spread burns and chip damage with Will-o-Wisp and Night Shade. An outright immunity to Water-type moves is the biggest boon, as this makes it a perfect switch in to users of Scald and offensive Water-types like Keldeo and Gyarados. It also annoying opposing utility pieces thanks to Taunt is incredibly helpful for the team as a whole.
Tyranitar is preferred as a sand setter since it serves as another switch-in to Alakazam and Latios and is better pivoted in than Hippowdon. It’s a more active support Pokemon than Gliscor thanks to its mammoth Attack stat and arguably better support movepool which includes Fire Blast to force damage on Skarmory and Ferrothorn and Thunder Wave to cripple anything fast that tries to come in. Pursuit is the most important of its utility movepool since Tyranitar can easily dispose of Latios and Alakazam thanks to the move.
[SET]
name: Bulky Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Protect
move 4: Ice Fang / Facade
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Careful
evs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance allows Gliscor to become an incredibly bulky wallbreaker for teams that need one. Protect, like mentioned before lets Gliscor freely heal itself, set up the Toxic Orb or scout for moves. Earthquake is Gliscor’s main STAB move which becomes incredibly powerful when repeatedly boosted. Ice Fang lets Gliscor hit Earthquake immunities, primarily Flying-types very hard, while Facade is an incredibly powerful move when boosted by status and Swords Dance.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Defense investment allows it to come in on weak or resisted special attacks, like Tyranitar’s Fire Blast, or the many Focus Blasts in the tier. As this set intends to remain on the battlefield for a longer time, heavier defensive investment compared to the Stealth Rock set is needed to survive more attacks. Poison Heal recovery is optimized fully, as Gliscor’s HP stat is divisible by eight.
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A much more offensive Swords Dance set with Hyper Cutter, Flying Gem, Acrobatics and max Attack and Speed, better known as the AcroBat may seem like a good idea, however Landorus-T’s much higher Attack stat makes up for the Speed loss. Gliscor’s defensive utility is also too important to give up for this role. Giving a threatening teammate, like Latios or Scizor an Attack or Speed boost via Baton Pass might seem like a strategy, but like the AcroBat, the loss of utility is not worth it. Plus, due to BW OU’s Baton Pass clause, using your only Baton Pass slot on Gliscor when a teammate like Celebi may need it isn’t too good. Substitute + Protect sets, often paired with Toxic have heavily fallen out of favor due to the metagame shifting to Magic Guard offense with Alakazam, Reuniclus and Latios, the former two nullifying Toxic and the latter nullifying Earthquake. Rock-type moves to hit Thundurus-T and Volcarona may seem viable at first, since it can pair with Earthquake to create the EdgeQuake combination, resisted only by Breloom and some lower tier Pokemon. However, it doesn’t exactly do anything outside of hit Flying-types and Volcarona, and the most common Flying-types (Gliscor, Landorus-T and Skarmory) are neutral to Rock. The former two are chunked by Ice Fang.
Lowering Gliscor's Speed stat is viable on the Stealth Rock set for a slower U-turn, however it is very risky, as some Pokemon, like Rotom-W and Sassy Jirachi can now outspeed and heavily dent Gliscor before it can attack. Roost is another option, as Black and White 2 has made Roost and Poison Heal compatible on Gliscor, meaning that you can recover about 62% of your health in one turn. However, Protect has much more utility outside of healing. It scouts for moves while healing Gliscor up but at a much slower rate.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Skarmory**: Skarmory counters Gliscor. All of its moves bounce off of it, and it can punish Gliscor for staying in by laying down Spikes and/or crippling it with Taunt.
**Mamoswine**: Mamoswine also counters Gliscor, but unlike Skarmory, it outright threatens it out with its quad-effective STAB Icicle Crash.
**Landorus-T**: Landorus-T can find entry on Gliscor and proceed to 2HKO it with Hidden Power Ice. However, Ice Fang or a boosted Facade can chunk Landorus-T.
**Ice-type Moves**: Hidden Power Ice and Ice Beam will heavily chunk Gliscor to the point where it may not be able to switch in anymore. Lure sets, such as on Hidden Power Ice Volcarona or Ice Beam Tyranitar, can remove Gliscor's utility for the rest of a match.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Gliscor will not be able to handle Water-types over the course of a game. While it can duel with bulky Scald users to some extent, like Politoed and Tentacruel, offensive waters can simply KO it with their STAB right out of the gate, such as Keldeo with Surf and Gyarados with Waterfall.
**Dragon-type Pokemon**: Most Dragon-type Pokemon can shrug off Earthquake and/or Ice Fang and set up Swords Dance or Dragon Dance. A boosted Dragon-type STAB move will likely OHKO Gliscor.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Sagdiyev, 548404]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
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