The nom for Gastrodon moving up is certainly one I can get behind. Bar grass types or Energy Ball Manaphy this Pokemon can successfully wall a very large portion of the metagame. Though not a perfect check to many Pokemon, its presence on the enemy team will make the one playing against it a bit wary about spamming the normally un-punishable move of Scald. With Earthquake not even Sub/CM Keldeo can truly beat Gastrodon, with Earthquake doing enough damage to prevent it from being set up fodder. I think that Gastrodon has a growing niche in the OU metagame, and its move up to B is one I can support.Gastrodon to B+/B
Gastrodon hasn't been getting much love since XY first came out duo to the fact that Rain is no longer permanent. Lately, Squirrel. and I been using Gastrodon quite heavily around the ladder and few non-official tournaments held in the OU room. It turned out to be a Pokemon with a quite big niche in the current meta which will be explained below:
To begin with, Gastrodon can probably take down a Rain team by itself thanks to its ability Storm Drain which makes it one of the most reliable Water Moves switch ins mainly Scald Spam which is quite common in the current meta with Keldeo , Slowbro and Starmie being common. Moreover, it has a reliable recover form being the move Recover and such an amazing bulk allows it to take hits quite good and recover off the damage if needed or Toxic/Scald something:
Few Calcs:252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 190-225 (44.6 - 52.8%) -- 25% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 200-238 (46.9 - 55.8%) -- 76.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 136-161 (31.9 - 37.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 157-186 (36.8 - 43.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 202-238 (47.4 - 55.8%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (I'll mention later why I put this calc in here)
252 SpA Mega Diancie Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gastrodon: 213-252 (50 - 59.1%) -- 75.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Now getting into it's best niche in the current meta, the great typing it has with only one weakness which allows it to completely wall and check a lot in this meta and stop most of Volt-Turn cores. (Thundurus, Raikou, Mega Manectric, Zapdos, Magnezone, Starmie, Rotom-W, Can 1v1 Charizard X, Keldeo, Heatran, Talonflame, Lanodurs-T and a lot more)
So basically, this Pokemon beats at least 2 Pokemon most of the time at opposing teams looking at Team Preview, and it can literally wall quite a number in a team that lacks heavy hitters/status/grass moves.
The best set in my opinion through out using it was this one (a specially defensive variant is effective as well)
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Counter/Earthquake/Clear Smog
Counter is such a solid move on this Pokemon to consider, it allows you to beat/1v1 stuff that won't expect you to have it if you really wanted to (Lopunny, Conkeldurr, Excadrill) and anything that wants to U-Turn on it makes you punish something with quite some damage.
On the other hand, this Pokemon struggles quite a lot with Grass types especially the offensive ones and it might become a complete set up fodder for Serperior for example.
So, having the write team mates such as Spdef Talonflame and AV Tornadus-T to absorb and beat most Grass Type Pokemon can put up a small core which puts in a lot of work.
All in all, this Pokemon needs a bit more love and it definitely worth it.
Replays:
I agree on Megatar. It is indeed awesome, the trouble is the meta it's in. So many of the popular megas and others are it's natural enemy: Altaria, Lopunny, Metagross, Scizor, Gardevoir and Gyarados for megas alone. Then there's Keldeo, Lando-I, Lando-T, Clefable, etc. Now, Tyranitar has the tools to come out on top, but because it requires either setting up, or intense cleric support, necessitates a lower rank.On board with dropping Mega Sharpedo to B-. It's a good cleaner, but its base form has garbage defenses (and while Mega does improve, they don't become all that great), meaning even resisted attacks can greatly dent the thing (fortunately less the case with Megashark). Mega Sharpedo is overreliant on its base form's Speed Boost as well to get a +1 or +2 in and, once it's forced out, it simply can't do all that much. All for dropping the Shark.
Onto the main topic:
Mega Tyranitar
I'm not going to vouch it for a higher ranking. Instead, I intend to spark discussion about this Pokémon, as I've seen it discussed a few times and mentioned in posts detailing Mega Garchomp, whose rank it shares. Mega Tyranitar is often considered a luxury Mega, which I can agree with; however, I feel like this behemoth has some very standout traits that make it worth bringing up. First of all, unlike its base form, Mega Tyranitar is a set-up attacker, being able to choose between Dragon Dance and Rock Polish. With a Jolly nature, Mega Tyranitar hits 397 Speed at +1, a clutch number to outspeed base 130s with. Its Attack stat rises to a pretty dangerous level as well, so you've got quite a dangerous sweeper on your hands once it's boosted, which isn't hard to do considering its 100/150/120 (SDef is boosted in Sand) defensive stats. If Speed's your thing, Rock Polish works quite well, with which Mega Tyranitar turns into a powerful cleaner, preferably for late-game use. Adamant Rock Polish is less 'balanced' between speed and offense, but has its own uses that set it apart from Dragon Dance, namely picking off weakened teams later on after just one boost. It can't hold anything aside from the Tyranitarite, but 164 Attack is and remains a lot. It's got fantastic coverage, too, and is able to just pick whichever tool that lets it strike the intended targets: Crunch for Psychics, Earthquake for troublesome Steels, Ice Punch for Gliscor and both Landorus, and Thunder Punch for Water-types that decide to crash the party.
Now, the problems are that Mega Tyranitar has 7 weaknesses and some of them are extremely common (think Fairy and Steel, mostly), limiting its switch-in and set-up opportunities; it faces competition as a Dragon Dancer from Mega Altaria and Mega Charizard X; and it's highly vulnerable to status in general, making it reliant on cleric support. All in all, Mega Tyranitar is a support-reliant, yet highly effective Pokémon in the right hands.
So which rank do you think Mega Tyranitar belongs in? Again, the main point here is to raise discussion on this Pokémon, as I feel it's an interesting case.
Gastrodon to B+/B
Gastrodon hasn't been getting much love since XY first came out duo to the fact that Rain is no longer permanent. Lately, Squirrel. and I been using Gastrodon quite heavily around the ladder and few non-official tournaments held in the OU room. It turned out to be a Pokemon with a quite big niche in the current meta which will be explained below:
To begin with, Gastrodon can probably take down a Rain team by itself thanks to its ability Storm Drain which makes it one of the most reliable Water Moves switch ins mainly Scald Spam which is quite common in the current meta with Keldeo , Slowbro and Starmie being common. Moreover, it has a reliable recover form being the move Recover and such an amazing bulk allows it to take hits quite good and recover off the damage if needed or Toxic/Scald something:
Few Calcs:252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 190-225 (44.6 - 52.8%) -- 25% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 200-238 (46.9 - 55.8%) -- 76.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 136-161 (31.9 - 37.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 157-186 (36.8 - 43.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 202-238 (47.4 - 55.8%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (I'll mention later why I put this calc in here)
252 SpA Mega Diancie Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gastrodon: 213-252 (50 - 59.1%) -- 75.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Now getting into it's best niche in the current meta, the great typing it has with only one weakness which allows it to completely wall and check a lot in this meta and stop most of Volt-Turn cores. (Thundurus, Raikou, Mega Manectric, Zapdos, Magnezone, Starmie, Rotom-W, Can 1v1 Charizard X, Keldeo, Heatran, Talonflame, Lanodurs-T and a lot more)
So basically, this Pokemon beats at least 2 Pokemon most of the time at opposing teams looking at Team Preview, and it can literally wall quite a number in a team that lacks heavy hitters/status/grass moves.
The best set in my opinion through out using it was this one (a specially defensive variant is effective as well)
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Counter/Earthquake/Clear Smog
Counter is such a solid move on this Pokemon to consider, it allows you to beat/1v1 stuff that won't expect you to have it if you really wanted to (Lopunny, Conkeldurr, Excadrill) and anything that wants to U-Turn on it makes you punish something with quite some damage.
On the other hand, this Pokemon struggles quite a lot with Grass types especially the offensive ones and it might become a complete set up fodder for Serperior for example.
So, having the write team mates such as Spdef Talonflame and AV Tornadus-T to absorb and beat most Grass Type Pokemon can put up a small core which puts in a lot of work.
All in all, this Pokemon needs a bit more love and it definitely worth it.
Replays:
up to A
Yes, yes, kyurem black needs to move up. Here are 2 replays where i use it, let's see what work it puts in.
Alakazam: B- > B
Reuniclus: B- > B
Cresselia: B > B-
Alomomola: B- > C+
Gastrodon: C+ > B-
Gourgeist XL: C- > C
Bronzong: C+ > B-A- is fine for KyuB. Your replays really don't highlight KyuB well when I have no idea why your opponent didn't send Jirachi out if it had Scarf Iron Head, and the second one it survived a Draco Meteor after Latias' SpA was already halved. It's right where it belongs. Unlike other Dragons, KyuB is weak to Steel, which is becoming a prominent offensive type. And while its bulky as hell and wrecks balance, it's worn down very quickly from hazards, sand, and status, and pretty much all other Dragons are faster than it.
It leaves me scratching my head as to how people keep saying M-Sableye is the face of stall. I thought this was sort of established to be completely untrue when people took like 3 months to realize that M-Sableye hazard stacking teams are some of the best ways to utilize M-Sableye effectively. Manaphy and Serperior, are very extreme wall-breakers to take out M-Sableye. Most of the M-Sableye answers need to be hard as hell counters and this is easier than done. Every M-Sableye team or at least decent one is gonna have ways to pressure all these issues really easily cause they fit well with M-Sableye, such as Talonflame to handle Serperior and Kyurem-B to handle Manaphy.
