Pokémon Landorus-Incarnate

[Jaffa Ball]

Don't know If this set has been posted yet, but here is the way I run Landorus-I, it has had reasonable success...

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Psychic

 

[WebBowser]

Don't know If this set has been posted yet, but here is the way I run Landorus-I, it has had reasonable success...

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Psychic

That's literally the first set in the OP..... This topic isn't huge like other topics, you can afford to read at least the op before posting sets with little to no explanation. In fact, even if that wasn't the first set in the OP, you should still explain it with something beyond "I've had success with it", explain why it is so successful and stuff.

P.S. Welcome to Smogon, sorry if the above sounded hostile, but better to learn this kind of stuff here where not many folks are watching as opposed to embarrassing yourself in a much larger topic like a suspect thread or the viability thread (like I have). Also, we have not one but (at least, I'm still pretty new here myself) two new user forums, isn't that great? I highly recommend you check them out.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/mentorship-program.264/
http://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/battling-101.42/

P.S.S.

Try running 4 defensive EVs on lando-I as opposed to 4 hp EVs, it allows you to come into SR one more time without dieing (due to odd number of health) with exactly 0 drawbacks. Stupidly minor? Maybe, but it's a thing (this is 100 times more relevant on SR weak mons like talonflame, where one more time means the difference between the ability to come in once while SR is down and live and the ability to come in twice and live).

 

[Swami]

Landorus-I is amazing. It simply overwhelms stall with its brute force. Using knock off, you can lure Chansey in and take off thing that makes it viable. From there, focus blast does massive amounts of damage. I mean, it already heavily damaged Chansey but now it's doing so much more.

 

[Jaffa Ball]

I have played Competitive for ages, and understand all that just never got into the Forums and now I am...
I did read the OP sorry it just looked different you know how one of the sets included Sludge Wave, and the other included Calm Mind.
Thanks to this I read the entire thread. No mention of this set. So its a new set. I've been successful, with this because of the fantastic coverage and the raw damage it can deal, e.g An Unboosted Earth Power can kill Assault Vest Heatran...
It is a relatively good response to MOST leads.
And with that SR thing, I didn't know that, weird but interesting nonetheless..

 

[Vengeance417]

Does anyone here run U-Turn on their Lando-I sets? I'm not so sure if it's the best option when running the special attacking set w/ life orb, since it's the only move that causes recoil (even though I did serious damage to a Greninja on a predicted switch).

 

[WebBowser]

Jaffa Ball uhhh oops, heh heh. I forgot the OP got updated not terribly long ago and removed HP ice from the first set, for some reason TC doesn't like HP ice. I'm not sure if I like lando-I as a lead though, because he is actually pretty frail and a strong neutral hit from a faster mon (which there are plenty) means that you have just lost your best wall breaker. SR is used sometimes because lando-I has such good 3 move coverage that he can set up hazards on a predicted swap if lando can't simply bust down the swap in for whatever reason.

Vengeance417 I used to, but it only really works if you have other fast, hard hitting mons that can take advantage of the momentum. Lando-I is kinda like genesect in that he forces a lot of switches, so if you pair him with terrakion or something, you might get some work done.

Swami I dislike trying to use lando-I to take on chansey. Knocking off eviolite is great, but you still need to hit two consecutive focus blasts to kill it off, otherwise it just PP stalls with softboiled. I don't like banking on hitting 2 focus blasts unless I have gravity up.

 

[Jaroda]

^

Obviously I did my calcs with maxed or near-max special bulk :)

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Latias: 127-151 (34.98 - 41.59%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers

So not only can Latias counter the full special sets, but it can even set up a CM and then start recovering


Anyway the point I'm trying to get across is this: Landorus-I does pretty severe damage even to his counters. Paired up with a pursuit user like Bisharp, and a partner in crime such as LO Kyurem, and then it becomes pretty hard to punish or even just wall the special spam. Take the Latias example above. Yes it switches in and absorbs the special moves, but it's then a sitting duck for something like an Aegislash or Scizor to come in and pursuit it off.

Other pokemons that can handle Landorus-I, but bring different forms of offense to the table, is something I'm really interested in for my team building right now. I'm using a simple ice beam Latias at the moment, and it's alright if I can keep TTar out, but other options would be appreciated. A community can come up with a lot more ideas than one person!

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Surf vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 309-364 (96.5 - 113.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

That's a pretty safe bet if you want an offensive threat can can potentially set up Calm Mind. Only Sludge Wave can 2HKO if he hits you on the switch with it, but you will always outspeed with Surf. If you got in for free when he used Gravity or Earth Power, feel free to set up your Calm Mind.

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. +1 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 142-168 (47 - 55.6%) -- 68.8% chance to 2HKO

If he used Gravity though Earth Power still hurts a fuck ton even after a Calm Mind. Just goes to show Lando's power.

 

[Swami]

Jaffa Ball uhhh oops, heh heh. I forgot the OP got updated not terribly long ago and removed HP ice from the first set, for some reason TC doesn't like HP ice. I'm not sure if I like lando-I as a lead though, because he is actually pretty frail and a strong neutral hit from a faster mon (which there are plenty) means that you have just lost your best wall breaker. SR is used sometimes because lando-I has such good 3 move coverage that he can set up hazards on a predicted swap if lando can't simply bust down the swap in for whatever reason.

Vengeance417 I used to, but it only really works if you have other fast, hard hitting mons that can take advantage of the momentum. Lando-I is kinda like genesect in that he forces a lot of switches, so if you pair him with terrakion or something, you might get some work done.

Swami I dislike trying to use lando-I to take on chansey. Knocking off eviolite is great, but you still need to hit two consecutive focus blasts to kill it off, otherwise it just PP stalls with softboiled. I don't like banking on hitting 2 focus blasts unless I have gravity up.

I personally just switch out after I knock it off. I let another team member weaken it until I can kill it in 1 hit and sweep the rest of the team.

 

[Jaffa Ball]

Jaffa Ball I'm not sure if I like lando-I as a lead though, because he is actually pretty frail and a strong neutral hit from a faster mon (which there are plenty) means that you have just lost your best wall breaker. SR is used sometimes because lando-I has such good 3 move coverage that he can set up hazards on a predicted swap if lando can't simply bust down the swap in for whatever reason.

I think Lando-I, if it has an undesirable matchup just switches out, with amazing 4 move coverage, it can outspeed and hit MOST Pokemon, if it is afraid of getting KO'd it just switches into bulkier team mates. Lando-T is better at getting up rocks tbh..

 

[WebBowser]

Jaffa Ball In general, yes, lando-T is a better rock setter. However, lando-I is one of the relatively few special attacking rock setters, and is quite possibly the best one (giving it a niche over lando-T). It's not losing that much coverage by dropping that fourth move, so running 3 attacks + utility move (like SR, knock off, or gravity) is actually quite viable.

Swami that's probably the way to do it tbh. Gosh killing chansey without taunt is hard. I started running taunt on my TTar just to do something about it (bummer it's always paired up with mega venu, who forces out ttar easy).

 

[TiliLatino]

Not sure if it has been mentioned before, but I didnt find any comments on this, but "EVERY SET OF LANDORUS THAT FOCUS ONLY ON SPECIAL ATTACKS SHOULD CARRY 0 IV's INVESTED IN ATTACK!"

It already has to much attack to be severely damaged by Foul Play, we dont want to make the opponent's attack even stronger.

I bet this change can give you some specific situation advantage. BUt if you consider that you will actually have no disadvantages since you are running no Physical Moves it is a solid modification you should(MUST) consider.

 

[HypnoEmpire]

Not sure if it has been mentioned before, but I didnt find any comments on this, but "EVERY SET OF LANDORUS THAT FOCUS ONLY ON SPECIAL ATTACKS SHOULD CARRY 0 IV's INVESTED IN ATTACK!"

It already has to much attack to be severely damaged by Foul Play, we dont want to make the opponent's attack even stronger.

I bet this change can give you some specific situation advantage. BUt if you consider that you will actually have no disadvantages since you are running no Physical Moves it is a solid modification you should(MUST) consider.

This is usually quite minor, as popular Foul Play users, such as Klefki and Umbreon, can't take Landorus-I's attacks too well.

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Klefki: 359-424 (112.8 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon: 244-289 (61.9 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Even with some investment, Foul Play actually does very little to Landorus-I.

4 Atk Klefki Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus: 81-96 (25.3 - 30%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
4 Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus: 121-144 (37.9 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

I guess you may as well run it with 0 Attack IV's if you don't have a physical attacking move, but it isn't really necessary.

 

[WebBowser]

This is usually quite minor, as popular Foul Play users, such as Klefki and Umbreon, can't take Landorus-I's attacks too well.

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Klefki: 359-424 (112.8 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon: 244-289 (61.9 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Even with some investment, Foul Play actually does very little to Landorus-I.

4 Atk Klefki Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus: 81-96 (25.3 - 30%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
4 Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus: 121-144 (37.9 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

I guess you may as well run it with 0 Attack IV's if you don't have a physical attacking move, but it isn't really necessary.

You forget mandibuzz, who is the most popular foul playa atm. Does klefki even run foul play anymore now that swagger is gone?

 

[skies]

You forget mandibuzz, who is the most popular foul playa atm. Does klefki even run foul play anymore now that swagger is gone?

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 212-250 (50 - 58.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Doesn't really matter anyways.

 

[WebBowser]

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 212-250 (50 - 58.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Doesn't really matter anyways.

mandi may not be able to swap into lando, but it's not setup bait

4 Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 121-144 (37.8 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

More importantly, it can run knock off, which greatly inconveniences lando-I for the rest of the match

There's also the fact that the chances of focus miss hitting twice in a row is borderline hax territory, and that even if it does, there's only a 75% chance for a 2hko without SR, which is significant.

Unlike klefki or umbreon, lando-I does not particularly enjoy trying to take on mandibuzz without gravity.

Oh, and if lando-I swaps into knock off...

252 SpA Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 163-192 (38.4 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

enjoy getting focus miss PP stalled by roost.

This is one matchup I know rather well, as I've played it out dozens of times in OU.

 

[skies]

mandi may not be able to swap into lando, but it's not setup bait

4 Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 121-144 (37.8 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

More importantly, it can run knock off, which greatly inconveniences lando-I for the rest of the match

There's also the fact that the chances of focus miss hitting twice in a row is borderline hax territory, and that even if it does, there's only a 75% chance for a 2hko without SR, which is significant.

Unlike klefki or umbreon, lando-I does not particularly enjoy trying to take on mandibuzz without gravity.

Oh, and if lando-I swaps into knock off...

252 SpA Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 163-192 (38.4 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

enjoy getting focus miss PP stalled by roost.

This is one matchup I know rather well, as I've played it out dozens of times in OU.

Umm what:
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 212-250 (50 - 58.9%) -- 73.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

You took Life Orb out of that calc why?

 

[WebBowser]

because knock off exists, and focus blast isn't one shotting any time soon.

*edit*

after rereading my post, I realize that I made a CP error. Fixing that now

*double edit*

after rereading my post, I realized that I misread my post a second time and thought I made an error. I need to take a break from forums....

 

[HypnoEmpire]

One thing I noticed is that if Mandibuzz is running Knock Off and Foul Play, you pretty much know it's entire moveset and can bring in an efficient counter. However, Landorus-I shouldn't be dealing with Mandibuzz 1 on 1.

Does klefki even run foul play anymore now that swagger is gone?

Yes, I looked into it and almost every Klefki set includes Foul Play. It's basically so it isn't set-up bait.

 

[Scar Tissue]

mandi may not be able to swap into lando, but it's not setup bait

4 Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 121-144 (37.8 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

You should be running 0 attack IV's on Landorus anyway, so that brings it down to 34 - 40.3%. Little better.

 

[WebBowser]

One thing I noticed is that if Mandibuzz is running Knock Off and Foul Play, you pretty much know it's entire moveset and can bring in an efficient counter. However, Landorus-I shouldn't be dealing with Mandibuzz 1 on 1.

Yes, I looked into it and almost every Klefki set includes Foul Play. It's basically so it isn't set-up bait.

Most mandi's don't run both (they occasionally do, but mandi has better things to run tbh). Knock off is relevant though as it causes focus miss to be a 3hko as opposed to a 2hko, allowing mandi to PP stall lando with roost. A lando without focus miss or life orb loses a lot of it's offensive presence.

Ty for looking into klefki. Makes sense.

 

[chive]

So I'm thinking about building a team around Lando-I, maybe the Lando/Keldeo/TTar core, and I'm wondering.... Is Focus Blast absolutely necessary? I think it should be pretty self-explanatory why I'd like to not run it, and having Keldeo on the same team might enable me to free up the moveslot, whaddaya think?

 

[UltiMario]

You don't really need FBlast

Sludge Wave and Psychic are moves that Lando-i uses pretty well, so dropping FBlast for whatever one of those that you're not running is a solid option.

 

[chive]

I guess Psychic will do pretty well since it hits the Fighting-Types that TTar hates so much. Thanks for the suggestions, let's see what I can do with it lol.

 

[WebBowser]

There's always the option to run gravity with focus miss, which makes it pretty close to 100% accurate. This has the additional advantage of making Keldeo's hydro miss 100% accurate and ttars stone miss 100% accurate, as well as the always desirable loss of flying immunity for better e-power spam.

Just a thought, psychic and sludge wave are both good moves too, and HP ice usually deserves consideration as well.

 

[chive]

Hm, having all three of Focus Blast, Stone Edge and Hydro Pump consistently hit sounds like it could be pretty nice. Especially since Focus Blast and Stone Edge are pretty much the worst attacks in OU. I'll look into my moveslots and see if I find room for it, definitely an interesting idea though.