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[B][U]QC checks:[/U][/B] Poppy, trickroom, barry4ever [B][3/3][/B]
[B][U]GP checks:[/U][/B] Zystral, Oglemi [B][2/2][/B]<p>When taking a first glance at Landorus, it may seem worthless in the Ubers metagame. It is weak to the common Water- and Ice-type moves of the tier and has no valuable resistances other than Fighting. Moreover, it has underwhelming defensive stats of 89 HP, 90 Defense, and 80 Special Defense, which means that even resisted moves will leave a mark. However, as prominent as these setbacks may be, do not put Landorus's qualities aside! It may not be good defensively, but that is surely made up by its high base 125 Attack and 101 Speed, as well as a notable base 115 Special Attack. In fact, Landorus's extraordinary Speed gives it the jump on common Choice Scarf users, such as Palkia and Salamence. Landorus's Sand Force ability makes it a phenomenal addition to any sandstorm-based team, as it boosts its fantastic Ground STAB. Landorus's coverage includes moves such as U-turn, which makes it a phenomenal scout in conjunction with its Speed stat, and Stone Edge, which is also boosted by Sand Force. Landorus can also boost its great Attack thanks to Swords Dance and become a deadly sweeper in sand once set-up. In addition, thanks to its typing, Landorus packs a natural immunity to both Ground- and Electric-type moves, both of which are extremely common in Ubers.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Rock Polish / Grass Knot / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sand Force
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Once it has a Swords Dance boost under its belt, Landorus's Attack reaches a shocking stat of 698. When this is backed up by Life Orb and Stone Edge, even Landorus's usual counters won't stand in its way. For example, 252/4+ Skarmory, one of Landorus's prime counters, takes a massive 72.75% - 85.92% from +2 Life Orb Stone Edge in sandstorm. Moreover, Stone Edge rounds off Landorus's coverage with Earthquake, which creates the EdgeQuake combo, which hits the vast majority of the tier for neutral damage. Earthquake is a phenomenal STAB and is Landorus's main attack; for example, 252/252+ Kyogre, one of the bulkiest Water-type Pokemon in the tier, has a 43.75% chance to be OHKOed by +2 Life Orb Earthquake from this set.</p>
<p>For the fourth move, Rock Polish can be used to turn Landorus into a fast, strong sweeper, and makes Landorus's job easier against faster, frailer teams. However, if Groudon troubles you, Grass Knot is a viable option over Substitute, as it manages to do a minimum of 62.37% to 252 HP Groudon, whereas Earthquake needs a boost to 2HKO. Don't worry about the nature, Life Orb still guarantees the 2HKO with Jolly. Substitute can be used to take advantage of the switches that Landorus forces, by giving Landorus a free turn to hit the foe for a ton of damage. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs and nature are fairly straightforward; they allow Landorus to outspeed everything it can and hit as hard as it can. The choice between Life Orb and Leftovers depends on the moveset. Leftovers should only be used with Substitute, as it lets Landorus create more Substitutes during the match. However, thanks to the high power Life Orb provides, it remains as the main item.</p>
<p>Smack Down and Gravity deserve a special mention, as they can work extremely well over Stone Edge. Once the effect is active, there's not a single Pokemon in the game that can avoid the immense power of Landorus's Ground STAB move. Smack Down gives Landorus a secondary coverage move, and although it's weaker then Stone Edge, it also allows Landorus to hit Rayquaza and Salamence immediately, if needed. Smack Down can be easily negated by switching out, whereas Gravity ensures that everything that switches in is going to be struck by Earthquake. In addition, Gravity means that Landorus's most common switch-ins, such as Skarmory and Giratina-O, will not only be vulnerable to Earthquake, but it also means they will take entry hazard damage. Moreover, while it can be a two-edged sword, it lowers the evasion of every Pokemon on the field by two stages. This means that moves that would sometimes miss, such as Draco Meteor, Thunder outside of the rain, and Fire Blast, are very likely to hit. Gravity does have a con though, as it also means that if Landorus switches into the battlefield while it's taking effect, Landorus will also take entry hazard damage.</p>
<p>Landorus also has a few other options for this set. Hidden Power Ice can be used to get past Gliscor immediately, which would otherwise become annoying if you do not carry Smack Down or Gravity. Outrage can be used to hit the Dragon-types lurking everywhere for super effective damage, namely Giratina, but being locked into the move is not desired as Landorus become bait for Steel-types. Moreover, there's a good chance Landorus will hit itself due to confusion, and when it's boosted, Landorus is going to take a lot of its own HP. Explosion is a good option when Landorus has done its job, and it actually hits quite hard; 252/252+ Groudon has only a 18.75% chance to survive when Landorus uses Life Orb.</p>
<p>Once Landorus gets to +2 Attack, nothing can switch into it safely due to its fantastic coverage, Smack Down, or Gravity. However, if Landorus is not using Substitute, it can be easily revenge killed by faster Pokemon, such as Latias and Mewtwo. If Smack Down or Gravity is absent, then Gliscor and Skarmory will become problematic. Thus, teammates that can handle the Pokemon mentioned above, such as Genesect and Xatu, can work along with this set. Sandstorm is a must for this set to become effective, as it dramatically increases Landorus's damage output. Tyranitar or Hippowdon are the only Pokemon for this job; Tyranitar is usually better as it can tank moves such as Palkia's Spacial Rend and Ice Beams much easier. Like any other sweeper, Landorus really appreciates entry hazards, so Pokemon such as Ferrothorn or Forretress make great teammates. Lastly, Landorus can take advantage of Wobbuffet's unique qualities. Wobbuffet can trap and kill Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Palkia, protect Landorus from status afflictions with Safeguard, and Encore moves that Landorus resists or is immune to, such as Earthquake or Thunder, to grant it a free turn of setup.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Grass Knot
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Sand Force
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Base 101 Speed turns Landorus into a fantastic Choice Scarf user, as it gets the jump on Palkia and Salamence, two prominent Choice Scarf users in Ubers, and Pokemon that can boost their Speed, such as Rayquaza. Landorus fits extremely well in sandstorm teams thanks to Sand Force, which makes it very powerful, but it is not limited to those only. Choice Scarf Kyogre, one of the most common sets Kyogre runs, is easily 2HKOed by Earthquake, even outside of sandstorm, which can be a big deal for sandstorm teams. Landorus's high Speed also means that when equipped with Choice Scarf, it can outrun faster threats such as Darkrai, Shaymin-S, and Deoxys-A. One of the more threatening fast Pokemon in the tier is Mewtwo, which takes a minimum of 64.12% from Sand Force Earthquake, whereas U-turn, one of the reasons to use this set, does 46.32% minimum. Stone Edge grants wide coverage to Landorus with Earthquake, whereas U-turn allows Landorus to scout the foe's team with its high base Speed. Grass Knot hits Groudon that can wall this set otherwise; support variants are easily 2HKOed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Once again, the EVs and nature are self-explanatory: hit as hard as possible, and as fast as possible. The leftover EVs are dropped into Special Attack to slightly bump up Grass Knot's power. Hidden Power Ice can be used over Grass Knot to hit Rayquaza and Salamence, but you have Stone Edge for them anyway. Hidden Power Ice does hit Garchomp and Gliscor very hard, however. Rock Slide can be used if risking the miss is not to your likeliness, while the flinch chances are. Do note that the loss in power is significant, however. Punishment can use Ghost Arceus's and Mewtwo's boosts against them by powering up the move. Landorus gets access to Outrage, and as appealing as the move might be, it makes Landorus a complete setup bait for Pokemon such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Steel Arceus.</p>
<p>Skarmory and the Giratina formes put a full stop to this set, as thanks to their high base Defense, they can easily tank any of Landorus's moves. Thus, Pokemon that can deal with them, such as Darkrai and Dialga, make good partners, as they clear the way for Landorus. This set also appreciates entry hazards because it can force many switches with its immense power and U-turn. Therefore, Ferrothorn or Forretress make good partners; Forretress in particular can use Volt Switch which works extremely well with U-turn. A Volt Switch partner, such as Zekrom, Thundurus, or Thundurus-T, can form the VoltTurn combo with Landorus, which can become deadly with entry hazards. Tyranitar and Hippowdon are again key teammates, as they power up Earthquake and Stone Edge thanks to Sand Force. Tyranitar is the primary option, as it can tank special attacks, such as Ice Beam, a lot easier then Hippowdon, but both can work nevertheless.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Landorus unfortunately does not have many other viable options in Ubers. Black 2 and White 2 gave it access to Stealth Rock via move tutors, so Landorus can run a set of Stealth Rock + 3 attacks very well. Landorus also has access to Bulk Up, but this move is outclassed by Swords Dance. Landorus can use Calm Mind to boost up its respectable Special Attack, but its special movepool is very shallow. A mixed Sheer Force set, consisting of Earth Power, Focus Blast, U-turn, and Stone Edge with Life Orb can work, but is generally unreliable unlike Landorus's other sets.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Many of Landorus's counters depend on its sets. Skarmory and the rare Bronzong completely wall Landorus, only fearing Smack Down or Gravity which negates their Ground immunity. Cresselia is capable of tanking Landorus thanks to her high bulk, access to Reflect and Moonlight, and has a 50% chance to OHKO with Ice Beam. However, if she switches into +2 Life Orb Sand Force Smack Down, she is OHKOed next turn by Earthquake, as Smack Down does 25.67% minimum, and Earthquake 77.25% minimum. She also must be wary of Gravity too. The Giratina formes are also bulky enough to take an Earthquake or Stone Edge, though Giratina has a small chance of breaking Landorus's Substitute with Dragon Tail and Giratina-O must be wary of Smack Down or Gravity. Bulky Arceus formes, such as Wallceus, Grass Arceus, and Ghost Arceus are bulky enough to take even a boosted Earthquake, can cripple Landorus with Will-O-Wisp, Recover the HP they have lost in the process, and hit hard with Return, Ice Beam, or Ghost Judgment, respectively. Choice Scarf Kyogre can outspeed Landorus and drown it with its Water STAB, whereas it can also tank a hit from the Choice Scarf set. Bulkier variants of Kyogre can tank a +2 Life Orb Earthquake and OHKO in return with Scald. Lugia can only tank an unboosted Stone Edge, even in sand, and proceed to OHKO Landorus with Ice Beam. Multiscale Lugia can now afford a faster EV spread, meaning Lugia will hit Landorus before Landorus even gets the chance. Latias and Latios are immune to Landorus's Ground-type STAB move, and can set up on the Choice Scarf set if it is locked into Earthquake. Both are also faster than the Swords Dance set, and both can do a lot of damage with their Dragon-type STAB moves.</p>
<p>If Landorus lacks Hidden Power Ice, then Gliscor turns it into setup bait and can stall it out with Toxic. Keldeo outspeeds the Swords Dance set and can OHKO with its STAB Hydro Pump. Hippowdon is not OHKOed by Grass Knot and can hit back hard with Ice Fang, although it takes massive damage from Grass Knot and Ice Fang does not score an OHKO. Landorus's low bulk makes it extremely weak to priority moves, such as Scizor's Bullet Punch and ExtremeSpeed from Rayquaza and Arceus. The rare Mamoswine deserves a mention, as not only does its STAB Ice Shard have priority, it can also score the KO on Landorus. Cloyster can tank an unboosted Stone Edge and break Landorus's Substitute with Icicle Spear, which OHKOs, or do a minimum of 96.23% with Ice Shard. If Landorus does not have a way to boost its Speed (Choice Scarf or Rock Polish), faster Pokemon such as Mewtwo, Darkrai, and Shaymin-S can become problematic.</p>
