Sputnik
Bono My Tires are Deceased
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Drain Punch
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Bulletproof
nature: Careful
evs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Kommo-o's main niche comes from its role compression, as it is a Stealth Rock setter that is capable of checking Heatran, Mega Tyranitar, and Ash-Greninja all in one slot. This is very valuable for many teams, as they would otherwise have to use multiple different Pokemon to check these threats while also giving Stealth Rock to the team. Drain Punch is the preferred for Fighting STAB due to its reliability and benefit of healing Kommo-o as it deals damage. Earthquake hits Heatran hard; it has a chance to OHKO Offensive Heatran and reliably 2HKOs Specially Defensive Heatran. Earthquake also forces damage onto threats such as Mega Mawile and Aegislash. Toxic is useful for punishing threats such as Landorus-T, Slowbro, and Gastrodon. Crucially, it can spread Toxic onto Zapdos, one of the more common forms of hazard removal in the tier. Protect can be considered to scout choice locked Pokemon such as Kartana and Ash-Greninja and sponge Z-Moves; this is especially useful for Steelium Z Heatran and Ghostium Z Gengar, which can break past Kommo-o otherwise. It can also be used to rack up Leftovers recovery and Toxic damage. It is hard to fit on the moveset, however. Bulletproof is used, as it allows Kommo-o to block certain moves such as Gyro Ball from Ferrothorn, Shadow Ball from Gengar, and Sludge Bomb from Mega Venusaur. 64 Speed EVs allows Kommo-o to outrun Adamant Tyranitar, Adamant or Modest Aegislash, and Modest Magnezone. 196 Speed EVs can be considered to outrun Modest Heatran as well as other threats such as Adamant Bisharp, but this noticeably cuts into Kommo-o's bulk.
Kommo-o's role compression is most appreciated by bulky offense teams that need a Stealth Rock setter that can check Heatran, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Tyranitar all in one slot. Steel-types are very beneficial for Kommo-o, as they can check threatening Fairy-, Psychic- and Flying-types. Corviknight, Mega Scizor, and Jirachi are all good teammates as a result. Kommo-o isn't a very good check to powerful Physical attackers like Garchomp, Landorus-T, or Melmetal. Something with significant physical bulk is therefore appreciated; Slowbro can provide a good physically defensive partner while also providing an extra Psychic-resist. Defensive Landorus-T is another notable partner, as it is a decent sponge to Mega Mawile and Mega Medicham. Kommo-o's presence can also free up Landorus-T to run a move other than Stealth Rock, which can allow Landorus-T to slot on another useful move such as Hidden Power Ice. These teammates appreciate Kommo-o checking Ash-Greninja, Mega Tyranitar, and Heatran for them. Kommo-o doesn't keep Stealth Rock up reliably against most of the tier's defogging options, so options against them are recommended. Pressuring Zapdos and Corviknight can be done with powerful attackers such as Mega Medicham, Mega Charizard Y, and Victini, while powerful Grass- and Electric-types such as Rillaboom, Kartana, Zeraora, and Tapu Koko can also help out.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Body Press is more powerful alternative to Drain Punch, but Drain Punch's benefit of recovery is very nice for Kommo-o, and Body Press doesn't significantly aid Kommo-o in any common matchups outside of guaranteeing an OHKO onto Choice Band Tyranitar. A Substitute+Belly Drum set bearing Drain Punch and Thunder Punch can be used on Hyper Offense teams in order to act as a very dangerous sweeper, but it has issues breaking past common threats such as Mega Latias and Gliscor, and Hyper Offense teams usually want other sweepers, such as Rillaboom, Bisharp, and Mega Garchomp. Kommo-o can use Kommonium Z with Clanging Scales on a few different sets. An offensive Stealth Rock variant with Kommonium Z can be used, as it can conceivably set Stealth Rock while also being a threat to sweep teams. Coverage moves on this set can include Close Combat and then either Poison Jab or Flamethrower. This set is marred by coverage issues, however, as Clanging Scales is required to use Clangorous Soulblaze and threats such as Clefable, Tapu Fini, Corviknight, and Mega Scizor can all deal with Kommo-o depending on what coverage moves it drops. It can also be rather hard to use the Z-Move, as it is blocked by common Fairy-types such as Clefable and Tapu Fini. In a similar vein, Kommo-o can use Clangorous Soulblaze and Clangorous Soul on the same set in order to get +2 in every stat, however this can be difficult to set up and is bothered by the same coverage issues. Dragon Dance sets with Clangorous Soulblaze can also be used, but they have many of the same issues that the above sets utilizing the move have.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Clefable and Tapu Fini don't care for anything the Specially Defensive set throws at them. Both of them can then proceed to set up with Calm Mind, and Tapu Fini can remove the Stealth Rock that Kommo-o lays down. They must be somewhat careful of offensive sets running Poison Jab, however. Offensive Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko and Mega Mawile can't safely switch in but force out Kommo-o with the threat of their STAB moves.
**Psychic-types**: Reuniclus doesn't care about Kommo-o at all thanks to Magic Guard and proceeds to set up on it with very little difficulty. Mega Latias, Mega Medicham, and Tapu Lele are equally as threatening provided they don't switch directly into Toxic. Slowbro and Slowking can also use Future Sight to apply a lot of pressure to Kommo-o, which can be used to prevent it from safely switching into threats that it is supposed to check, such as Heatran and Ash-Greninja.
**Flying-types**: Certain defensive Flying-types, such as Corviknight, Gliscor, and Skarmory, are not threatened by Kommo-o due to their immunity to Toxic, and Corviknight and Gliscor can remove the Stealth Rock Kommo-o sets with Defog. Gliscor can also set up Swords Dance, while Skarmory can freely set up Spikes. Standard Defensive Zapdos is beaten by Kommo-o, but offensive variants threaten it with Hurricane. The same goes for other offensive Flying-types, such as Flyinium-Z Landorus-T, Hawlucha, and Mega Pinsir.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Sputnik, 475916]]
- Quality checked by: [[Solaros & Lunaris, 471780], [The Dragon Master, 521275]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
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